Patent Application
20200375774
The present disclosure relates to a knee brace. More specifically, the disclosure is directed towards a knee brace that includes a body configured to circumferentially extend around a knee of a subject, a flexible strap including a body end and a handle end and secured to the body at the body end, and a handle secured with the handle end of the flexible strap.
Knee braces, or knee orthoses, are commonly employed to resist excessive movement of the knee joint in humans. In particular, knee braces provide support to the patella and surrounding ligaments. Knee braces are used during physical activity, such as sports, recovering from an injury, and to prevent injury. In instances where a knee brace is used with subjects having diseases causing impairment of muscles surrounding the knee, the knee brace can prevent flexion or extension instability of the knee.
Because knee braces are generally desired to provide stability to the knee without excessively limiting range of motion in the subject, existing knee braces are not positionally secure, or do not allow the subject to adjust the position of the knee brace without excessively limiting range of motion in the subject. Thus, a need exists for knee braces that can be positionally adjusted or secured with the subject while the subject maintains a sufficient range of motion.
In one aspect, a knee brace includes a body configured to circumferentially extend around a knee of a subject. The knee brace has a flexible strap including a body end and a handle end. The flexible strap is secured to the body at the body end. The knee brace includes a handle secured with the handle end of the flexible strap. The body may include a plurality of supports configured to circumferentially extend around the knee. The plurality of supports may include a superior support, an inferior support, and a center support disposed between the superior support and the inferior support. Each of the plurality of supports may be connected to a leg member that extends substantially parallel to a sagittal plane of the subject. The body end may be secured with the superior support. Some embodiments of the knee brace have a body that includes a medial portion and a lateral portion disposed opposite from the medial portion, with the flexible strap secured to the lateral portion of the body.
In an embodiment of the knee brace, the flexible strap is constructed of an elastic synthetic polymer. The elastic synthetic polymer can be, for example, nylon. The handle may include a rigid member. The flexible strap may be releasably secured with the body.
In a second aspect, a knee brace includes a body configured to circumferentially extend around a knee of a subject. The body includes a plurality of supports configured to a circumferentially extend around the knee. The plurality of supports include a superior support, an inferior support, and a center support disposed between the superior support and the inferior support. Each of the plurality of supports is connected to a leg member that extends substantially parallel to a sagittal plane of the subject. A flexible strap is configured to vertically secure the superior support with a belt or a belt loop. In some embodiments of the knee brace, the body includes a medial portion and a lateral portion disposed opposite from the medial portion, and the flexible strap is secured to the lateral portion. The knee brace may include a fastener, such as a self-locking clasp, configured to secure the flexible strap with the belt or the belt loop. The knee brace may include an additional flexible strap configured to vertically secure the inferior support with a foot member or vertically secure the superior support with a torso member or a shoulder member.
In another aspect, a knee brace includes a body configured to circumferentially extend around a knee of a subject. The body has a plurality of supports configured to circumferentially extend around the knee. The plurality of supports include a superior support, an inferior support, and a center support disposed between the superior support and the inferior support. Each of the plurality of supports connects to a leg member extending substantially parallel to a sagittal plane of the subject. A flexible strap is configured to vertically secure the inferior support with a foot member. The foot member is dimensioned to receive at least a portion of a foot of the subject. In an embodiment of the knee brace, an additional flexible strap is configured to vertically secure the superior support with a belt or a belt loop or to vertically secure the superior support with a torso member or a shoulder member.
It should be noted that identical features in different drawings are shown with the same reference numeral.
Reference now will be made in detail to the embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the teachings of the present disclosure without departing from the scope of the disclosure. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a further embodiment.
Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. Other objects, features, and aspects of the present disclosure are disclosed in or are apparent from the following description. It is to be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the present disclosure is a description of exemplary embodiments only and is not intended as limited the broader aspects of the present disclosure.
For the sake of clarity, not all reference numerals are necessarily present in each drawing Figure. In addition, positional terms such as “upper,” “lower,” “side,” “top,” “bottom,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” etc. refer to the knee brace when in the orientation shown in the drawings. The skilled artisan will recognize that the knee brace can assume different orientations when in use.
A knee brace has been developed. The knee brace of the present disclosure is intended to retain a position on a subject while still allowing the subject to have a comfortable range of motion while wearing the knee brace. The knee brace resists migration and/or can be easily adjusted by the subject to a desired position to continue to provide support in the desired area on the subject.
One embodiment of the knee brace is shown in
The strap 14 includes a body end 16 disposed toward the body 12 and a handle end 18 disposed oppositely to the body end 16 when the strap is in an extended position, as shown. The strap 14 may be flexible or rigid. The strap 14 may be constructed of any suitable material, such as a rigid polymer or an elastic flexible polymer such as nylon. The strap 14 may be releasably coupled, or attached, with the body 12 at least one strap connection member 20. By way of example, the handle connection member 20 may be a hook and loop fastener, a snap, a zipper, a buckle, a clasp, a button, a grommet, or any combination thereof. A handle 22 is disposed at the handle end of the strap 14 and secured to the body 12 by the strap 14. The handle 22 may be rigid or flexible, and the handle 22 may have a rigid member 42 disposed thereon. The handle 22 or rigid member 42 may include at least one gripping member 24 disposed thereon such that a user can conveniently and ergonomically grip the handle 22.
The knee brace 10 may include a plurality of supports 24, each plurality of support 24 configured to circumferentially extend around the knee region 4 and secured by a leg member 34 on the body 12. The leg member 34 may extend substantially parallel to a sagittal plane 6 of the subject 2. Alternatively, the knee brace 10 may have a single support 24 (not shown) configured to circumferentially extend around the knee region 4. The plurality of supports 24 may include a superior support 26 positioned at the upper end of the knee brace 10. The plurality of supports 24 may include an inferior support 28 positioned at the lower end of the knee brace 10. The plurality of supports 24 may include a center support 30 disposed within the superior support 26 and the inferior support 28. The plurality of supports 24 may define a plurality of apertures 32, each aperture disposed between two supports 24. Advantageously, in embodiments of the knee brace 10 having the plurality of supports 24 and plurality of apertures 32, the knee brace 10 is lightweight, provides support to the knee region 4, and is breathable for the subject 2. The plurality of supports 24 may have an adjustable feature 36, such as a hook and loop fastener, to fit on the knee regions 10 of different sizes and ages of subjects 2.
The strap 14 may be positioned on and secured with the plurality of supports 24, such as the superior support 26, the inferior support 28, the center support 30 (as shown), or any combination thereof. Advantageously, the handle 22 and strap 14 may be configured and dimensioned such that when the handle 22 and the strap 14 are in the extended position, handle 22 is conveniently reachable for the subject 2, and when the handle 22 and the strap 14 are in a relaxed position, the handle 22 and the strap 14 do not reach the ground. This feature prevents the handle 22 from being a tripping hazard for the subject 2 while maintaining convenient access for the subject 2. The strap 14 may be constructed of any suitable material, such as a rigid polymer or an elastic flexible polymer such as nylon.
Problematically, conventional knee braces migrate, or slide, down the leg of the subject when they are in-use. When the conventional knee braces migrate, they are unable to provide adequate support to the associated knee region and become uncomfortable. However, in embodiments of the knee brace 10 having the strap 14 and the handle 22, the subject 2 can readjust (i.e., pull upwardly) on the brace 10 to restore the brace 10 to its desired position to maintain efficacy and comfort.
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The strap 14 may be dimensioned to extend a length 50 of about 25% to 250% of a body length 44 of the body 12. When the strap 14 is secured with belt or belt loop 46, the belt or belt loop 46 provides vertical support such as to prevent the knee brace 10 from migrating downwards. The strap 14 may be constructed of any suitable material, such as a rigid polymer or an elastic flexible polymer such as nylon.
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Although embodiments of the disclosure have been described using specific terms, devices, and methods, such description is for illustrative purposes only. The words are words of description rather than of limitation. It is to be understood that changes and variations may be made by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure, which is set forth in the following claims. It is further noted that any range provided herein provides support and a basis for any subset within that range. Further embodiments of the disclosure contain combinations, or exclusions, of different embodiments described herein.
Thus, although there have been described particular embodiments of the present invention of a new and useful knee brace, it is not intended that such references be construed as limitations upon the scope of this invention except as set forth in the following claims.
This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/651,139, filed Jul. 17, 2017, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15651139 | Jul 2017 | US |
| Child | 16998005 | US |
