Leg aid device and method

A leg aid device for increasing the stamina of a body-supporting user's leg for repeated flexure and extension at the knee, comprising two elongated flexibly resilient biasing members for placement along opposite lateral portions of a user's leg in approximate alignment therewith from a level near the ankle area up to at least the level of the mid-thigh area, each said biasing member comprising a bundle of a plurality of elongated flexibly resilient biasing elements not embedded in any matrix for at least the major portion of their length and means uniting at least the upper ends of said biasing elements of a said bundle together in a manner obstructing longitudinal shift of one or more of said biasing elements with respect to the others thereof in said bundle, said biasing members being adapted to bias a user's leg toward a straightened condition without significant torsion or twisting of the user's leg, and holding means for maintaining said biasing members approximately aligned upon a user's leg for bending yieldingly therewith during flexure thereof at the knee, said biasing members when held by said holding means upon a body-supporting user's leg, functioning to support a portion of the user's body weight during times said biasing members are in bent condition with the user's leg in flexed condition, and functioning to aid the user's leg muscles in causing extension of the user's leg from flexed condition as said biasing members resiliently return toward a straightened condition with the extension of the user's leg.

A leg aid device for increasing the stamina of a body-supporting user's leg for repeated flexure and extension at the knee, comprising two elongated flexibly resilient biasing members for placement in approximate alignment with a user's leg from a level near the ankle area up to at least the level of the mid-thigh area, said biasing members being adapted to bias a user's leg toward a straightened condition without significant torsion or twisting of the user's leg, and holding means for maintaining said biasing members approximately aligned upon a user's leg for bending yieldingly therewith during flexure thereof at the knee, said holding means including

• (a) an upper holder for maintaining the upper portion of said members in spaced relationship at a level of a user's thigh area, said upper holder comprising a contoured seat member and means fastening said biasing members in spaced relationship to said seat member,
• (b) a lower holder for maintaining the lower end of said members in spaced relationship at a level near a user's ankle area, and
• (c) an intermediate holder for maintaining a mid-portion of said members along opposite lateral portions of a user's knee area,
• said biasing members, when held by said holding means upon a body-supporting user's leg, functioning to support a portion of the user's body weight during times said biasing members are in bent condition with the user's leg in flexed condition, and functioning to aid the user's leg muscles in causing extension of the user's leg from flexed condition as said biasing members resiliently return toward a straightened condition with the extension of the user's leg.

A leg aid device for increasing the stamina of a body-supporting user's leg for repeated flexure and extension at the knee, comprising two elongated flexibly resilient biasing members for placement in approximate alignment with a user's leg from a level near the ankle area up to at least the level of the mid-thigh area, said biasing members being adapted to bias a user's leg toward a straightened condition without significant torsion or twisting of the user's leg, and holding means for maintaining said biasing members approximately aligned upon a user's leg for bending yieldingly therewith during flexure thereof at the knee, said holding means including

• (a) an upper holder for maintaining the upper portion of said members in spaced relationship at a level of a user's thigh area,
• (b) a lower holder for maintaining the lower end of said members in spaced relationship at a level near a user's ankle area, said lower holder comprising footwear having fastening means mounted thereon and cooperative means at the lower end of each said biasing member for removably fastening the same to said fastening means for pivotal movement of said biasing members with respect to said fastening means, and
• (c) an intermediate holder for maintaining a mid-portion of said members along opposite lateral portions of a user's knee area,
• said biasing members, when held by said holding means upon a body-supporting user's leg, functioning to support a portion of the user's body weight during times said biasing members are in bent condition with the user's leg in flexed condition, and functioning to aid the user's leg muscles in causing extension of the user's leg from flexed condition as said biasing members resiliently return toward a straightened condition with the extension of the user's leg.

A leg aid device for increasing the stamina of a body-supporting user's leg for repeated flexure and extension at the knee, comprising two elongated flexibly resilient biasing members for placement in approximate alignment with a user's leg from a level near the ankle area up to at least the level of the mid-thigh area, said biasing members being adapted to bias a user's leg toward a straightened condition without significant torsion or twisting of the user's leg, and holding means for maintaining said biasing members approximately aligned upon a user's leg for bending yieldingly therewith during flexure thereof at the knee, said holding means including

• (a) an upper holder for maintaining upper portions of said members in spaced relationship at a level of a user's thigh area,
• (b) a lower holder for maintaining the lower ends of said members in spaced relationship at a level near a user's ankle area, and
• (c) an intermediate holder comprising knee cover means for maintaining a mid-portion of said members along opposite lateral portions of a user's knee area,
• said biasing members, when held by said holding means upon a body-supporting user's leg, functioning to support a portion of the user's body weight during times said biasing members are in bent condition with the user's leg in flexed condition, and functioning to aid the user's leg muscles in causing extension of the user's leg from flexed condition as said biasing members resiliently return toward a straightened condition with the extension of the user's leg.

A leg aid device comprising elongated means for placement upon a user's leg and holding means for maintaining said elongated means upon the user's leg, wherein:

• (a) said elongated means consists essentially of elongated resilient biasing means comprising a strip member having a length sufficient for placement behind the leg of a user in approximate alignment with the user's leg from a level near the ankle area up to at least the level of the mid-thigh area and having a flexibility sufficient for said length to be repeatedly yieldingly bent into at least a semi-circle without taking on a permanent set, said biasing means, when held upon a body-supporting user's leg by the holding means hereinafter recited, functioning to support a portion of the user's body weight during times the user's leg is in flexed condition and functioning to aid the user's leg muscles in causing extension of the user's leg from a flexed condition, and
• (b) said holding means consists essentially of
• (i) a lower holder for fastening the lower end of said biasing means at a level near and behind the user's ankle area,
• (ii) an upper holder for maintaining the upper end of said biasing means at a level at least as high as and behind the user's mid-thigh area, and
• (iii) an intermediate holder comprising means for applying a forward pulling force transversely upon said biasing means at a mid-portion thereof at the level of and behind the user's knee area, said intermediate holder being separate from said lower and upper holders but functioning in cooperation therewith to cause said biasing means to urge the user's leg toward a straightened condition without significant torsion or twisting of the user's leg and also functioning in cooperation therewith during leg flexure to cause said biasing means to take on an arcuate contour throughout substantially the entire length of said biasing means.

The method of increasing the stamina of a leg for repeated flexure and extension at the knee in physical activity involving leg support of the body, said method comprising

• (a) forming elongated flexibly resilient biasing means having a length sufficient for placement in approximate alignment with said leg from a level near the ankle area up to at least the level of the mid-thigh area and having a flexibility sufficient for said length to be repeatedly yieldingly bent into at least a semi-circle without taking on a permanent set,
• (b) fastening the lower end of said biasing means at a level near the ankle area,
• (c) maintaining the upper end of said biasing means at a level at least as high as the mid-thigh area,
• (d) applying a forward pulling force transversely upon said biasing means at a mid-portion thereof at the level of the knee area, whereby said forward pulling force in combination with the fastened condition of the upper and lower ends of said biasing means causes said biasing means to urge said leg toward a straightened condition without significant torsion or twisting of said leg and causes said biasing means during leg flexure to take on an arcuate contour throughout substantially the entire length of said biasing means, and
• (e) repeatedly flexing and extending said leg at the knee, to thereby cause a portion of the weight of said body to be supported by said biasing means during times said leg is in flexed condition, and to thereby cause the muscles of said leg to be aided by said biasing means as said biasing means resiliently returns toward a straightened condition when said muscles extend said leg from a flexed condition.