Dynamic seals for a prosthetic knee
AssigneeOssur Hf
InventorsCharles Bisbee, Henry Hsu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention in some embodiments relates to a dynamic seal for a prosthetic knee. The dynamic seal in one embodiment is utilized to seal a magnetorheological fluid comprising a liquid and solid particles within a chamber of the knee. The dynamic seal embodiments are specially configured with a pre-loaded tensioned garter spring which has a coil spacing that is at least as large as the size of the particles or maximum size of the particles in the magnetorheological fluid. Desirably, this allows the magnetorheological fluid particles to flow in and out of the dynamic seal without clogging the seal and advantageously provides for a reliable dynamic seal.
Claims15
1-41. (canceled)
A prosthetic knee, comprising:
- a housing comprising a chamber containing a magnetorheological fluid, said fluid comprising a mixture of solid particles and a liquid;
- at least one side plate within said housing and forming a barrier to contain said fluid in said chamber;
- and
- at least one dynamic seal fitted between said housing and said side plate to contain said fluid in said chamber during relative rotation between said housing and said side plate, said dynamic seal having a tensioned spring with coils being spaced by a distance at least as large as the largest size of said particles of said fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.