Patent
Orthopedic brace with magnetic assistance
| العنوان: | Orthopedic brace with magnetic assistance |
|---|---|
| Patent Number: | 10653,548 |
| تاريخ النشر: | May 19, 2020 |
| Appl. No: | 15/400614 |
| Application Filed: | January 06, 2017 |
| مستخلص: | Apparatus for an orthopedic brace with magnetic assistance. A pair of braces are configured to each support and secure a magnetic device on each leg above the knee. The magnetic devices generate a magnetic force sufficient to reduce a spastic gait. Each magnetic device has a magnetic field that interacts with a magnetic field of the other magnetic device. The magnetic field produces a magnetic force that repels the other magnetic device as the magnetic devices move relative to each other when the wearer walks. The shape of the magnetic field is configured to aid the wearer in avoiding the legs colliding while walking. In one embodiment discrete magnets are disposed on the medial side of each brace. In another embodiment magnetic material is integral with the medial side of each brace and the magnetic material has a selected field strength curve. |
| Inventors: | Spencer, Edwin E. (Knoxville, TN, US) |
| Claim: | 1. An apparatus for assisting a person with a spastic gait, said apparatus comprising: a first support device dimensioned and configured to fit about a left thigh of the person; a first magnetic device attached to said first support device, said first magnetic device positioned medial to the left thigh when said first support device is worn by the person, said first magnetic device having a first magnetic field; a second support device dimensioned and configured to fit about a right thigh of the person; and a second magnetic device attached to said second support device, said second magnetic device positioned medial to the right thigh when second first support device is worn by the person, said second magnetic device having a second magnetic field, said first magnetic field opposing said second magnetic field; and said first magnetic device and said second magnetic device each includes a matrix containing a powder that is magnetic, said powder distributed with a density that is directly related to a desired magnetic field distribution. |
| Claim: | 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first magnetic field has a first field distribution that varies along a first portion of a first circumference of said first support device, and said second magnetic field has a second field distribution that varies along a first portion of a first circumference of said second support device. |
| Claim: | 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said first and second field distributions correspond to a force profile determined by a gait of the person. |
| Claim: | 4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said first and second field distributions have a field strength that is stronger at a medial anterior position and at a medial posterior position than at a medial position. |
| Claim: | 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first magnetic device opposes said second magnetic device with sufficient force to aid the spastic gait of the person when the person is wearing said first and second support devices. |
| Claim: | 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first magnetic device opposes said second magnetic device with sufficient force to prevent said first magnetic device from contact with said second magnetic device when the person is walking while wearing said first and second support devices. |
| Claim: | 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first and second support devices are structures configured to conform to said left and right thighs, respectively, when said first and second support devices are worn by the person. |
| Claim: | 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said powder in each of said first magnetic device and said second magnetic device is a magnetizable powder. |
| Patent References Cited: | 3421500 January 1969 Jacobson 5014981 May 1991 Prelich 5017185 May 1991 Baermann 5092320 March 1992 Maurer 5502901 April 1996 Brown 5715539 February 1998 Benecki et al. 6837862 January 2005 Driver, Jr. 7887462 February 2011 Bearden 8057472 November 2011 Walker et al. 8191180 June 2012 Berry 8308627 November 2012 Friberg 8419734 April 2013 Walker et al. 2010/0152808 June 2010 Boggs, II 2013/0310627 November 2013 Franco |
| Primary Examiner: | Hawthorne, Ophelia A |
| Attorney, Agent or Firm: | Knox Patents Kulaga, Thomas A. |
| رقم الانضمام: | edspgr.10653548 |
| قاعدة البيانات: | USPTO Patent Grants |
| الوصف غير متاح. |