Abstract:
A foot support device applicable to a surgery table for locating and supporting a patient&#39;s foot, which includes: a main body; a space being formed in the main body; a bottom end of the main body being connectable to the surgery table; an operation member up and down movably fitted around the main body, the operation member having an insertion pin therein; and a support including a bracket and at least one support body; an insertion hole is formed on the bracket. The bracket is rotatably mounted in the space of the main body. When the operation member is moved downward, the insertion pin is inserted into the insertion hole of the bracket to fix the support. By means of rotating the operation member, the operation member can be latched with the main body.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to a device for locating and supporting a foot, and more particularly a foot support device for locating and supporting a patient&#39;s foot with the knee in a bent state to facilitate the knee operation. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     When performing a knee operation, a patient&#39;s knee must be bent and kept fixed. Therefore, a device or an implement is mounted on the surgery table for fixing the patient&#39;s foot with the knee in a bent state. 
     The conventional foot fixing device generally has a quite complicated structure and is inconvenient to operate. 
     Moreover, the conventional foot fixing device has a support member for a patient&#39;s foot to rest thereon. Some foot fixing devices have different support members with respect to left and right feet. That is, when fixing the left foot, it is necessary to selectively use a fixing device specifically designed for the left foot, while when fixing the right foot, it is necessary to selectively use a fixing device specifically designed for the right foot. Therefore, such foot fixing device cannot be commonly used for both left and right feet. As a result, it is inconvenient to use such foot fixing device. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a foot support device for locating and supporting a patient&#39;s foot during a knee operation. The foot support device is convenient to operate and use. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a foot support device, which can be switched between two directions for supporting a left foot or a right foot. In addition, the switch of the foot support device between the directions can be conveniently and quickly performed. 
     The foot support device of the present invention includes: a main body; a space being formed in the main body, the space passing through the main body between two sides thereof; an annular groove being formed on an outer circumference of the main body; a bottom end of the main body being connectable to a surgery table; an operation member, which is a sleeve member, at least one engagement block being disposed on an inner circumference of the operation member; an insertion pin being fixedly disposed in the operation member; the operation member being fitted around the main body and up and down movable along the main body; and a support including a bracket and at least one support body disposed on one side of the bracket; an insertion hole being formed on the bracket; the bracket being rotatably mounted in the space of the main body. 
     When the operation member is moved downward, a bottom end of the insertion pin is inserted into the insertion hole of the bracket to fix the support. A user can rotate the operation member to move the engagement block into the annular groove so as to latch the operation member with the main body. 
     After the support is released from the latched state, the support can be freely rotated. In this case, the user can switch the support bodies of the support between a left side and a right side of the foot support device for fixing the patient&#39;s left foot or right foot. 
     The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings, wherein: 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the foot support device of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective exploded view according to  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective exploded view of some components of FIG.  2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is an enlarged view of a part of the preferred embodiment of the foot support device of the present invention, showing that the support device is in an unlocked state; 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional view taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view according to  FIG. 5 , showing that the operation member is moved downward to an insertion position; 
         FIG. 7  is a sectional view taken along line  7 - 7  of  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a sectional view according to  FIG. 7 , showing that the operation member is rotated to a latched position; 
         FIG. 9  is a sectional view taken along line  8 - 8  of  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view according to  FIG. 8 ; and 
         FIG. 11  is a side view showing that a patient&#39;s foot is supported on the foot support device of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1 . According to a first embodiment, the foot support device  10  of the present invention serves to support a patient&#39;s foot with the patient&#39;s knee bent when the patient is having a knee operation as shown in  FIG. 11 . Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the foot support device  10  includes a main body  20 , an operation member  30 , an elastic member  40  and a support  50 . 
     The main body  20  has the form of a column or a cylinder. A space  22  is formed in the main body  20 . The space  22  passes through the main body between two sides thereof, whereby each of the two sides of the main body is formed with an opening. In this embodiment, the space further upward extends to a top end of the main body  20 . An annular groove  24  is formed on an outer circumference of the main body in communication with the openings of the two sides of the main body. A seat section in a necessary form is disposed at a bottom end of the main body  20  for installing the support device  10  on a surgery table. In this embodiment, the seat section is a connection rod  25 . A top end of the connection rod  25  is fixedly connected to the bottom end of the main body by means of such as thread connection or plug-in connection. A top board  26  is fixedly connected to the top end of the main body  20  by means of two screws. A circumference of the top board serves as a stop flange around the top end of the main body. 
     The operation member  30  is a sleeve member. At least one or two engagement blocks  32  are disposed on an inner circumference of the operation member  30 , and preferably on the inner circumference of a bottom end of the operation member  30 . The two engagement blocks  32  are angularly spaced from each other by 180 degrees. An insertion pin  35  is vertically fixedly disposed in the operation member  30 . To speak more specifically, referring to  FIG. 5 , the operation member  30  further includes a top cap  36  and a pin member  37 . The top cap  36  is disposed at the top end of the operation member. A top end of the insertion pin  35  is fitted in a socket  361  formed under a bottom side of the top cap  36 . The pin member  37  passes through the circumferential wall of the operation member  30 , the top cap  36  and the top end of the insertion pin  35  so as to fix the insertion pin in the operation member. The top cap  36  serves as a top wall of the operation member. The manner in which the insertion pin is fixedly disposed in the operation member is not limited to the above embodiment. 
     The operation member  30  is fitted around the main body  20 . A bottom end of the insertion pin  35  passes through a through hole  261  of the top board  26  and is positioned in the space  22  of the main body. When the operation member  30  is positioned in an angular position as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the two engagement blocks  32  are right aligned with the openings of the two sides of the main body  20 . Under such circumstance, the operation member can be moved up and down along the main body  20 . In this embodiment, when the engagement blocks  32  are stopped by two sidewalls w of the openings, the operation member  30  cannot be rotated. 
     The elastic member  40  is a compression spring installed in the operation member  30 . One end of the elastic member  40  abuts against the top end of the main body  20 , while the other end of the elastic member  40  abuts against the top cap  36  of the operation member  30 . When the operation member is positioned in a position as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5  and is free from any external pressing force, the elastic member  40  upward pushes the operation member and keeps the operation member moved upward. When the engagement blocks  32  are stopped by the stop flange of the top end of the main body  20 , (that is, the circumference of the top board  26 ), the operation member is positioned in an upper dead end without detaching from the main body. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 2 . The support  50  includes a bracket  52  and more than one, for example, two soft support bodies  55 ,  56 . The bracket  52  is U-shaped and has a straight main bar section  521  and two ends  522 . The two support bodies  55 ,  56  are substantially barrel-shaped bodies having an arched form with one side concave, while the other side convex. The concave side is for contacting with a patient&#39;s sole. Each support body has internal foam rubber and a skin layer enclosing the foam rubber. The two support bodies are respectively fixedly disposed at two ends  522  of the bracket  52  and forward and backward arranged on the same side of the main bar section  521 . The two support bodies have different sizes. The front support body  55  has a smaller diameter, while the rear support body  56  has a larger diameter. An insertion hole  54  is formed through the main bar section  52  of the bracket. The axial direction of the insertion hole  54  is vertical to the longitudinal direction of the two support bodies  55 ,  56 , that is, when the two support bodies  55 ,  56  are horizontally positioned, the insertion hole is vertically positioned. 
     The bracket  52  of the support  50  is mounted in the space  22  of the main body  20 , and the bracket  52  is rotatable in the space  22  with the insertion hole  54  positioned right under the insertion pin  35 . The support  50  further includes two restriction members  58  fixedly disposed on the bracket  52  and positioned on two sides of the main body  20  respectively. Each restriction member  58  is a ring body or composed of two semicircular bodies. A recess  201  is formed at each of the openings of the two sides of the main body  20 . An inner wall face of the recess  201  is formed with a stepped section  202 . An inner end of the restriction member  58  extends into the recess  201  to abut against the stepped section  202  so as to hinder the support  50  from sliding. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , in use of the present invention, the seat section  25  of the support device  10  is mounted on a chuck device  60 . The chuck device is movable along a guide rail  62  of the surgery table and fixable in a desired position. The chuck device  60  is not included in the scope of the present invention and thus will not be further described hereinafter. 
     When the support device  10  is positioned in a released position as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the support  50  is not locked. When it is desired to lock the support  50 , the two support bodies  55 ,  56  of the support  50  are turned on one side with the insertion hole  54  of the bracket  52  positioned in a vertical position. Then the operation member  30  is downward pressed to an insertion position as shown in  FIG. 6 . At this time, the insertion pin  35  is synchronously moved with the operation member, whereby the bottom end of the insertion pin  35  is inserted through one end of the insertion hole  54  into the bracket  52 . Under such circumstance, the bracket is locked without possibility of rotation and the elastic member  40  is compressed. In this case, the two engagement blocks  32  are moved to a position where the annular groove  24  of the main body  20  is positioned as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , whereby the two engagement blocks  32  can be moved into the annular groove. 
     Then an operator can 90 degrees rotate the operation member  30  to a latched position as shown in  FIGS. 8 to 10  to move the two engagement blocks  32  from the openings of the main body into the annular groove  24  to latch with the annular groove  24 . Under such circumstance, the operation member  30  is latched with the main body  20  to keep the insertion pin  35  locked with the bracket  52 . Accordingly, the support  50  is fixedly located and the patient&#39;s foot can be located and supported on the support device  10  with the knee in a bent state to facilitate the knee operation as shown in  FIG. 11 . 
     When it is desired to release the support device from the latched state, the operation member  30  is further 90 degrees rotated to move the two engagement blocks  32  out of the annular groove  24  as shown in  FIG. 7 . Under such circumstance, the operation member is unlatched with the main body  20  and the elastic member  40  applies an elastic force to the operation member to upward move the operation member back to the released position as shown in  FIG. 5 . In this case, the insertion pin  35  is moved out of the insertion hole  54  of the bracket  52  without latching with the support  50 , permitting the support  50  to rotate. 
     The solid lines of  FIG. 10  show that the two support bodies  55 ,  56  are positioned on one side of the support device  10 . At this time, one foot, such as the left foot of the patient can be supported. However, the present invention can be also used to support the other foot, such as the right foot of the patient. After the support  50  is released from the latched state (into the released state as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 ), the support can be freely rotated. In this case, the operator can rotate the support  50  to move the two support bodies  55 ,  56  to the other side of the support device  10  as shown by the phantom lines of  FIG. 10 . Then the support  50  is again latched (with the insertion pin  35  inserted in the other end of the insertion hole  54  of the bracket  52 ). Accordingly, the two support bodies can be switched between two positions for use of left foot or right foot. 
     In use of the support device  10  of the present invention, a user only needs to press and rotate the operation member  30  for latching with or releasing the support  50 . It is easy and convenient to operate the support device  10 . In addition, the support device  10  of the present invention has a simple structure and is easy to manufacture. 
     Moreover, the support device  10  of the present invention can be used to support left foot or right foot so that the usage of the support device  10  of the present invention is widened. Furthermore, the two support bodies can be conveniently switched between two positions for use of left foot or right foot. 
     The above embodiment is only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiment can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the operation member can be connected and latched with the main body in another manner.