Patent ID: 8628585

Claim:
A lower limb prosthesis comprising a shin component defining a shin component axis, a foot component, and an ankle joint mechanism coupling the shin component to the foot component, wherein the ankle joint mechanism comprises a hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly, the hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly comprising a cylinder having a cylinder wall within which a piston is slidably mounted to move linearly, the hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly providing a continuously hydraulically damped range of ankle flexion and being constructed and arranged such that, over at least part of the range, the damping resistance is the predominant resistance to flexion, and wherein the shin component is in the form of a telescopic unit in which a superior shin component part and an inferior shin component part are resiliently interconnected so as to be translationally displaceable relative to each other according to the axial load on the shin component, the direction of relative displacement being substantially vertical when the foot component is at rest in an unloaded state on a horizontal supporting surface, the superior part and the inferior part respectively comprising an outer sleeve and a cylindrical housing slidably received in the sleeve, the cylindrical housing forming the cylinder wall.