Patent ID: 7427297

Claim:
A prosthetic socket comprising: a rigid, structural, load-bearing, air impervious inner wall in the form of a close ended cup having an open inner wall proximal end and a closed inner wall distal end area, said inner wall defining an inner volume adapted to contain a distal portion of a residual limb, and said inner wall proximal end adapted to receive a distal portion of a residual limb to be located within said inner volume; a generally continuously cup-shaped, rigid, air impervious structural, load-bearing outer wall section having an outer wall section proximal end and a closed outer wall section distal end area; a hermetic sealing connection between an outer side of said inner wall and an inner side of said outer wall section located proximally relative to said closed outer wall section distal end area; a vacuum reservoir chamber defined between an outer side of said inner wall and an inner side of said outer wall section, said chamber hermetically sealed along said hermetic sealing connection, the chamber defining a constant and fixed volume; at least one aperture in said inner wall communicating the inner volume of said inner wall with said chamber, the aperture being substantially smaller in cross-section than the closed inner wall distal end area; a port communicating said chamber with an area external of said outer wall section; whereby a partial vacuum may be established within said chamber via said port when a residual limb is contained in said inner volume of said inner wall and said partial vacuum may be communicated to said inner volume of said inner wall to effect a vacuum suspension of the prosthetic socket on the residual limb via said at least one aperture in said inner wall.