Inflatable hand splint
OwnerPhilip G. Antypasinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An inflatable bandage splint for the hand comprising an inner glove of impermeable sheet material and an outer envelope of impermeable elastic sheet material. The inner glove and outer envelope are sealed together to form a fluid-tight chamber which may be inflated through a valve provided in the outer envelope. The inner glove and the outer envelope are secured together at selected distal locations and in the vicinity of the wrist. Eyelets are mounted to at least some of the distal locations where the inner glove and outer envelope are joined together. Eyelets are also provided in the vicinity of the wrist. Thus, when the bandage is inflated, tensile members such as elastic cord can be threaded through the eyelets and tied to pull the hand into the desired restrained position.
Claims16
An inflatable bandage splint for immobilizing the human hand comprising:
- an inner glove shaped to generally conform to the human hand,
- an outer elastic envelope just larger than the said inner glove,
- means for sealing the glove and envelope together at the proximal ends thereof,
- means for securing the glove and enclosure together at selected distal locations, and
- a plurality of eyelets associated with the outer envelope at at least some of the selected distal locations, and a plurality of eyelets at the proximal end of the inflatable bandage splint whereby tensile members may be strung through the eyelets and tied to provide the desired neutral position of the hand when the bandage splint is inflated.
A method of immobilizing the human hand for limited flexing comprising
- (a) placing the hand in a bandage splint comprising an inner glove and an outer envelope with joins therebetween to define a plurality of chambers about the hand with individual valves into each chamber
- (b) filling at least one chamber with a settable filler and
- (c) inflating at least one of the remaining chambers with a compressible fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.