Patent ID: 8545424

Claim:
A hip support member, comprising: a frame made of a rigid member for carrying a heavy object and configured to be worn by a wearer; a hip protective belt having a flexibility that allows the hip protective belt to conform to a body contour of the wearer, and configured to be wrapped around a hip of the wearer; and an intermediate member interposed between the hip protective belt and the frame and having a rigidity intermediate between those of the hip protective belt and the frame so as to absorb a difference in deformation between the hip protective belt and the frame, wherein the hip protective belt is surrounded by the intermediate member over a range that corresponds to a back of the wearer, and wherein the intermediate member comprises a flexible body-side plate configured to be located on an outer side of a body of the wearer and pliant enough to conform to an outer contour of the hip of the wearer and an outer plate arranged on an outer side of the flexible body-side plate and configured to locally engage the flexible body-side plate at a higher rigidity than the flexible body-side plate.