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US 10,376,388 B2Granted
Ankle-foot prosthesis for automatic adaptation to sloped walking surfaces
AssigneeThe United States Government as represented by the Department of Veterans Affairs
InventorsAndrew H. Hansen, Eric A. Nickel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ankle-foot prosthesis includes a foot plate, an ankle frame attached to the foot plate, a yoke pivotally connected to the ankle frame and including a member for attaching to a leg, a damper having a first end connected to the yoke and a second end connected to the ankle frame, and a control mechanism for switching the damper between low and high settings.
Claims12
An ankle-foot prosthesis, comprising:
- a) a foot plate including a rear portion and a forward deflectable portion;
- b) an ankle frame including anterior and posterior portions and an apex portion;
- c) said posterior portion of said ankle frame attached to said rear portion of said foot plate;
- d) a yoke including front and rear end portions, and a fulcrum point therebetween;
- e) said yoke pivotally connected to said apex portion of said ankle frame at the fulcrum point thereof and including a member for attaching to a prosthetic leg;
- f) a hydraulic damper having a first end pivotally connected to the front end portion of said yoke and a second end pivotally connected to said posterior portion of said ankle frame;
- g) a stiffness member disposed in parallel to said damper;
- h) a fluid control circuit for controlling extension and compression of said damper;
- i) said anterior portion of said ankle frame including a curved surface inclined upwardly relative to said foot plate and forwardly toward said forward deflectable portion of said foot plate;
- and
- j) said curved surface forming a roll-over surface for limiting a dorsiflexion deflection of said forward deflectable portion of said foot plate by a direct engagement therewith.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.