Gripping aid for the manually disabled
OwnerHal Brodyinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A semi-flexible gripping aid is provided whereby a person with a manual or digital disability, such as an arthritis victim, can grasp a large, semi-flexible body which in turn captures a thin instrument such as a knife or fork, pen or pencil, or toothbrush. The semi-flexible body in its preferred form is hinged to define two half shells which clamshell together around the handle of a knife or fork or the like, there being predefined channels along the meeting plane of the half shells in which the instrument is captured. For those having insufficient manual and digital dexterity to grip even the large body of the gripping aid, a strap is provided which passes behind the palm to secure the body to the hand, making the aid usable even though the hand is virtually totally immobilized, or is missing fingers.
Claims16
A grasping aid for a person having a manual/digital disability comprising:
- (a) a generally palm-sized, body shaped and dimensioned to be grasped in the palm of the hand;
- (b) said body being longitudinally split into a pair of half-shells hinged at one edge to clamshell together into mated relation defining a mating plane generally bisecting said body;
- (c) at least one elongated channel lying generally along said plane and opening through the perimeter of said body;
- (d) said body being resilient at least in those portions defining said channel, whereby implements having handles at least slightly oversized in cross-section can be gripped in said channel, whereby a person with a manual/digital disability who would have trouble grasping said instrument directly can nevertheless engage said instrument in said channel by clam shelling said half-shells together, and grasping said body.
A method of gripping an instrument by a person having a manual/digital grasping disability using a body comprised of two hinged halves which clam shell together and latch, said method comprising the following steps:
- (a) clam shelling said halves together around an instrument and latching same together;
- (b) grasping said body with the hand.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.