Patent Publication Number: US-2006020233-A1

Title: Orthopedic support

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates generally to apparel apparatus and, more particularly, such apparatus for putting on and removing boots and shoes.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      It is difficult for many people to dress themselves. Conditions such as arthritis, obesity and stroke can make it hard for some individuals to twist, turn or bend their bodies and limbs to enter articles of apparel. Putting on shoes is particularly tough and, for some, the task is impossible to accomplish without assistance.  
      To don shoes, an individual must typically bend to fetch the shoes from a storage place on the floor. Then, he must grasp the shoes in his hands as he slips his feet into them. Finally, if the shoes are provided with laces, they must be tied. Many infirm individuals simply lack the flexibility and dexterity to retrieve and put on shoes. In fact, bending over may, for some, pose a risk of serious bodily harm from falling or fainting.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      In light of the problems associated with donning and doffing shoes that are encountered by some individuals with limited flexibility and dexterity, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an orthopedic support that permits the easy manipulation of a shoe (or leg brace). The support firmly holds the shoe as it is being moved into a comfortable position for wear and guides the leg of a user toward the shoe. The assistance of other people to put on, and take off, shoes is no longer required with the orthopedic support.  
      It is another object of the invention to provide an orthopedic support of the type described that can be manually adjusted to accommodate shoes of different size. The adjustment can be accomplished without tools of any sort and with minimal instruction. In fact, the support is particularly intuitive to use.  
      It is a further object of the invention to provide an orthopedic support of the type described that features a prop that tilts the support rearwardly to ease the entry of a foot of a seated user into a shoe. The prop also serves to stabilize the orthopedic support and prevent it from being easily tipped over.  
      It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an orthopedic support for the purposes described that is lightweight in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and dependable in use.  
      Briefly, the orthopedic support in accordance with this invention achieves the intended objects by featuring a cradle for holding a shoe and guiding the shoe onto the foot of a user. The cradle has an elongated bottom wall for supporting the shoe. A retaining wall extends upwardly from the periphery of the bottom wall for holding the shoe on the bottom wall. The retaining wall has, adjacent the rear end of the bottom wall, an upward extension for guiding a user&#39;s leg toward the shoe. The cradle is also divided into two parts: a heel portion and a toe portion that are movably attached to one another. A handle is secured to the cradle and extends upwardly from it. A prop is secured to the cradle for increasing the elevation of the front end of the bottom wall relative to its rear end.  
      The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The present invention may be more readily described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a side elevational view of an orthopedic support in accordance with the present invention with the front portion broken away to reveal details thereof.  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the orthopedic support of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 3  is a bottom view of the front portion of the orthopedic support. 
    
    
      Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the accompanying drawings.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      Referring now to the FIGS., an orthopedic support in accordance with the present invention is shown at  10 . Support  10  includes a cradle  12  for holding a shoe  14  and guiding shoe  14  onto a user&#39;s leg  16 . A handle  18  extends upwardly from cradle  12  so that a user can easily move cradle  12  for access to shoe  14 . A prop  20  extends downwardly from cradle  12  to tilt cradle  12  rearwardly and stabilize cradle  12  during use.  
      Cradle  12  includes an elongated bottom wall  22  with an outline resembling that of shoe  14 . A retaining wall  24  extends upwardly from the periphery of bottom wall  22  to a height that is generally about one-half that of shoe  14 . The rear end of wall  22 , however, is provided with an upward extension  26  that serves as a guide for moving leg  16  toward shoe  14 . Extension  26  has a C-shaped cross section with a concave front surface  28  that opens forwardly to retain leg  16  in alignment with bottom wall  22  as leg  16  is slid downwardly along extension  26  toward shoe  14 .  
      Cradle  12  is divided into a heel portion  30  and a toe portion  32  that can be moved relative to one another so that the length of cradle  12  can be varied to accommodate shoes that are larger and smaller than shoe  14 . Heel portion  30  includes the rear part  22   a  of bottom wall  22  and the rear part  24   a  of retaining wall  24  along with upward extension  26 . Toe portion  32  has the front part  22   b  of bottom wall  22  and the front part  24   b  of retaining wall  24 .  
      An adjustable mounting bracket  34  secures toe portion  32  to heel portion  30 . Mounting bracket  34  includes a rail  36  attached at its rear end by rivets  38  or like fasteners to heel portion  30  and, more specifically, to the underside of rear part  22   a  of bottom wall  22 . Rail  36  extends forwardly from heel portion  30  and terminates in a pair of parallel branches  40  separated by a linear slot  42 . Mounting bracket  34  also includes a pair of threaded fasteners  44  secured to toe portion  32 . As shown, the heads  46  of fasteners  44  are secured to front part  22   b  of bottom wall  22  with the threaded shafts  48  of fasteners  44  extending downwardly beneath front part  22   b . Wing nuts  50  are rotatably secured to threaded shafts  48 .  
      Threaded shafts  48  of fasteners  44  are slidably positioned within slot  42  and retain wing nuts  50  against the undersides of branches  40 . When wing nuts  50  are loosened, toe portion  32  can be pulled away from heel portion  30 , for example, as is illustrated in moving toe portion  32  from the solid line position in  FIG. 3  to the broken line position. Retightening wing nuts  50  selectively locks toe portion  32  in an extended position on rail  36 .  
      Prop  20  includes an elongated bar  52  that has been deformed to elevate toe portion  32 . In this regard, bar  52  has a center portion  54  that is affixed to the underside of rail  36  beneath heel portion  30 . A pair of leg portions  56  extends outwardly and downwardly from center portion  54 . One of a pair of foot portions  58 , oriented substantially parallel to the bottom of portion  54  and cradle  12 , extends outwardly from each of leg portions  56 . When positioned on a horizontal supporting surface  60  (inclined for the sake of convenience in  FIG. 1 ), the rear ends of foot portions  58  and of rear part  22   a  provide a stable, three-point suspension for cradle  12 .  
      Secured to the bottoms of foot portions  58  are triangular foam pads  62 . Pads  62  maintain the stability of support  10  by evenly distributing loads from bar  52  to supporting surface  60 . Furthermore, pads  62  prevent bar  52  from scuffing floors.  
      Handle  18  has an elongated shaft  64  with an upright piece  66  connected to a reclined piece  68  in a configuration resembling an inverted “L”. The bottom of upright piece  66  is secured by rivets  70  or other suitable means to the top of extension  26 . Reclined piece  68  extends rearwardly from upright piece  66  with which it is integrally formed. A cylindrical handgrip  72  is affixed to the top of reclined piece  68  for ease in grasping handle  18 .  
      Use of orthopedic support  10  is straightforward. First, a user places shoe  14  atop bottom wall  22  of cradle  12 . (If bottom wall  22  is of insufficient length to receive shoe  14 , wing nuts  50  are temporarily loosened to permit toe portion  32  to be pulled away from heel portion  30 .) Then, while holding onto handle  18 , support  10  is lowered to surface  60  upon which the user should be standing. Next, the user slides the back of leg  16  downwardly along concave surface  28  of extension  26  and inserts his foot into shoe  14 . The user can now withdraw his shorn foot from support  10  and walk away in a normal manner. The entire process requires only a few seconds to complete.  
      A user doffs shoe  14  by reversing the steps noted above. Once shoe  14  is removed it can be positioned in a convenient location for future access when needed. Support  10  can be similarly located and may be kept on horizontal surface  60  if desired. Handle  18  has a sufficient length that a user need not bend or stoop to pick it up. Thus, orthopedic support  10  is always ready for immediate reuse.  
      While the invention has been described with a high degree of particularity, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications may be made thereto. Therefore, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the sole embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.