Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to fixation of bone fracture, and more particularly, to an external fixing member having at least one screw connected with a reconstruction plate to achieve the purposes of fixation and anatomical configuration of the bone fracture. The present invention is especially suitable for comminuted fracture and the fractured bones of four limbs. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The fixations for bone fractures generally comprise internal fixation and external fixation according to the areas and complexity of the fractures. 
         [0003]    The internal fixation of fractures utilizes metallic screws, reconstruction plates, bone marrow screws to directly fix the fractured bones from inside or outside thereof. The major benefit of the internal fixation is to provide strong support or compressing feature to the fractured area to keep the fractured bones in correct anatomical configuration and maintain the stable circumstance during the period of restoration of the fractured area. There is no object projecting from the body and the limitation to the patient is reduced. The related disclosures of prior art are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,733, US20030105462 and US20090093849. 
         [0004]    The external fixation of fractures utilizes multiple bars  1  which are located in the patient&#39;s body and connected with the fractured bones  2 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . The bars  1  are connected with a connector located externally to the patient&#39;s body to form a support frame  3 . The support frame  3  is installed to the outside of the area of fractured bones  2  to provide the support among a larger area. This way provides firm support to the open fracture or comminuted fracture. The related disclosures of prior art are disclosed in US Patent No. US20090216282, US20110190770, US20040260223, US20050043730, US20090326532, US20070055234 and US20070161984. The drawback of the external connector is that the support frame  3  is too bulky which is not convenient for the everyday living and the scope of the activities of the patients. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The present invention intends to provide a new external bone fixing member which uses the external reconstruction plate to replace the bulky external support frame and the volume of the external bone fixing member is reduced. The present invention further provides a screw wherein the angular positions of the screw can be adjusted to meet requirements of fixation of the fractured bones (limb bones) at different positions or comminuted fractures. The use of the screw is further cooperated with the reconstruction plate to reinforce the stability of the connection between the reconstruction plate and the screw to prevent the screw from withdrawing, moving, angle changing or movement of the reconstruction plate. 
         [0006]    The external bone fixing member of the present invention is named multiple axes external reconstruction plate bone fixing member which provides strong support to the fractured area to complete the fixation and anatomical configuration of the bone fracture, the debridement space is also preserved. Compared with the conventional external fixing member, the inconvenience of activities of the patient after surgery is reduced and provides more operational benefits to the clinical surgeries. 
         [0007]    In order to achieve the above mentioned objects, the external bone fixing member of the present invention comprises an external reconstruction plate which comprises multiple locking portions and a connection member is connected to the locking portion. A screw extends through the connection member and the external reconstruction plate. The head of the screw is a convex and curved head which is rotatably cooperated with the concaved and curved inner wall of the connection member to allow the screw to change to different angles. The connection member has a locking member and a pressing plate to secure the screw to prevent the screw from withdrawing and moving. 
         [0008]    The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1 . shows the external fixation of the prior art; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view to show the external bone fixing member of the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  shows the perspective view (a), the plan view (b) and the cross sectional view (c) of the external reconstruction plate of one preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  shows the cross sectional view of the external reconstruction plate of another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  shows the perspective view (a), the end view (b) and the cross sectional view (c) of the connection member of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  shows the perspective view (a), the end view (b) and the cross sectional view (c) of the screw of the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  shows the top perspective view (a), the bottom perspective view (b), the side view (c) and the cross sectional view (d) of the pressing plate of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  shows the top perspective view (a), the cross sectional view (b) and the cross sectional view (c) of the locking member of the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view to show the external bone fixing member of the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 10  is a cross sectional view of the external bone fixing member of the present invention; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 11  is the utilization status of the preferred embodiment of the present invention for external fixing. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0020]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , the external bone fixing member of the present invention comprises an external reconstruction plate  10 , at least one connection member  20 , at least one screw  30 , at least one pressing plate  40  and at least one locking member  50 . 
         [0021]      FIG. 4  shows the external reconstruction plate  10 , however, the external reconstruction plate  10  of the present invention is not restricted as disclosed, the outer appearance, the length, the width and the thickness can be designed as any geometric shape according the applied areas. The external reconstruction plate  10  has multiple locking portions  13  and each locking portion  13  has an inner threaded hole  131  and a through hole  132 . The inner threaded hole  131  extends into the external reconstruction plate  10  a depth from the top surface of the external reconstruction plate  10 , and the through hole  132  extends into the external reconstruction plate  10  a depth from the bottom surface of the external reconstruction plate  10 . The through hole  132  is a cone-shaped hole with a small opening which communicates with the inner threaded hole  131  and shares the common axis of the inner threaded hole  131 . The locking portions  13  can be allocated at different positions depending on the shape and function of the external reconstruction plate  10 . The disclosed positions are not restricted for the invention. 
         [0022]      FIG. 4  shows the cross sectional view of the external reconstruction plate of another preferred embodiment of the present invention. The only difference between the  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4  is that the number and location of the locking portions  13  of the external reconstruction plate  10 . 
         [0023]    As shown in  FIGS. 5 ,  9  and  10 , the connection member  20  and the connection with other parts are disclosed, wherein the connection member  20  is a ring-shaped member and has an outer threaded section  21  and a polygonal section  22 . The connection member  20  has an inner threaded hole  23  and a reception hole  24  which communicates with the inner threaded hole  23  of the connection member  20 . The top end diameter  241  of the reception hole  24  of the connection member  20  is larger than the bottom end diameter  242  of the reception hole  24  of the connection member  20 . The inner wall  243  that is located adjacent to the top end diameter  241  is a vertical wall. The reception hole  24  has a concaved and curved inner wall  244  which is located adjacent to the bottom end diameter  242 . The connection member  20  can be rotated by using a tool (not shown) to operate the polygonal section  22 . The outer threaded section  21  is threadedly connected with the inner threaded hole  13  of the locking portion  13  of the external reconstruction plate  10 . 
         [0024]      FIGS. 6 ,  9  and  10  disclose the screw  30  which has a shank  31  with outer threads. The lower end of the shank  31  is a self tapping end  32  which is a tip end in this embodiment, and a head  33  is connected to the top end of the shank  31 . The head  33  has a convex and curved outer wall  331  and a first recess  34  is defined in the top of the head  33  so as to be cooperated with a tool (not shown). The screw  30  extends through the connection member  20  and the external reconstruction plate  10 , and the self tapping end  32  and the shank with the outer threads is locked to the bone. The head  33  of the screw  30  is accommodated in the reception hole  24  of the connection member  20 . The concaved and curved inner wall  244  is matched with the convex and curved outer wall  331 , and the cone-shaped through hole  132  of the external reconstruction plate  10  provides the space for the screw  10 , so that the screw  10  is pivotable and can be set at different directions to fix and align the fractured bones. 
         [0025]      FIGS. 7 ,  9  and  10  disclose the pressing plate  40  which is a plate and has a locking member contact surface  41  on the top thereof and a concaved screw contact surface  42  on the underside thereof. The locking member contact surface  41  transfers a compressing force and can be a flat surface or a rough surface. The concaved screw contact surface  42  is shaped to be in contact with the head  33  of the screw  30  so that the head  42  is constantly in contact with the concaved screw contact surface  42  no matter the screw  30  is pivoted to any angle and direction. The movement of the screw  30  is not restricted in any direction. 
         [0026]      FIGS. 8 ,  9  and  10  disclose the locking member  50  which has outer threads  51  in the outside thereof and a second recess  52  is defined in the top thereof so as to be cooperated with a tool (not shown). A washer contact surface  53  is defined in the underside of the locking member  50 . The locking member  50  is connected to the connection member  20  by engaging the outer threads  51  with the inner threaded hole  131 . Along with the threading action, the washer contact surface  53  provides a compression force to the pressing plate  40  so as to connect the external reconstruction plate  10 , the connection member  20 , the screw  30  and the pressing plate  40 . 
         [0027]      FIG. 11  illustrates a utilization status of the preferred embodiment of the present invention for external fixing. The external bone fixing member of the present invention uses the external reconstruction plate  10  to replace the conventional large external support frame to reduce the volume of the external fixing member. As shown in  FIG. 11   a , the present invention provides more operational benefits to the clinical surgeries and the debridement space is preserved. The inconvenience of activities of the patient after surgery is reduced. The screw  30  is cooperated with the external reconstruction plate  10  and can be adjusted to desired angle, as shown in  FIG. 11   b , so as to fix the fractured bones of different parts such as the limbs or the complicated fractures. Besides, the external reconstruction plate  10 , the connection member  20 , the screw  30  and the pressing plate  40  are connected to the external reconstruction plate  10  to lock the external reconstruction plate  10  to prevent the screw  30  from withdrawing, moving, angle changing or movement of the external reconstruction plate  10 . 
         [0028]    While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

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