Circular hinge for orthotic braces

A brace for supporting an anatomical joint about which a first anatomical member rotates relative to a second anatomical member, the anatomical joint having an outwardly projecting bone adjacent one side of the joint, the brace comprising:

• a first limb-supporting member for orthopedically supporting the first anatomical member;
• a second limb-supporting member for orthopedically supporting the second anatomical member;
• the first and second limb-supporting members having confronting faces overlying one another adjacent the joint;
• a large substantially circular first opening in the confronting face of the first limb-supporting member;
• and
• circular hinge means joined to the confronting face of the second limb-supporting member and having an annular outer lip overlapping the outer face of the first limb-supporting member to rotatably interconnect the confronting faces of the first and second members to allow free relative rotation of the members about a transverse axis through the first and second openings while joining the first and second members in a side-by-side relation to substantially prevent relative lateral motion and relative longitudinal motion of the two members,
• the first and second openings being sufficiently large to allow the bone adjacent the side of the anatomical joint to project into the openings so that when the first and second limb-supporting members are secured to the first and second anatomical members to provide orthopedic support for the anatomical joint, the bone projects into said openings to avoid pressure contact on the bone from the orthopedically supportive interconnected faces of the first and second limb-supporting members.

An ankle brace for supporting the ankle joint, wherein the lateral and medial melleoli bones project outwardly from lateral and medial sides of the ankle joint, respectively, the brace comprising:

• a leg-supporting member for supporting the lower leg above the ankle joint;
• a foot-supporting member for supporting the foot below the ankle joint;
• the leg- and foot-supporting members having corresponding pairs of confronting faces overlying one another adjacent the ankle joint on the lateral side and on the medial side of the ankle joint;
• large substantially circular first lateral opening in a first of said confronting faces adjacent the lateral side of the ankle joint;
• a large substantially circular first medial opening in a first of said confronting faces on the medial side of the ankle joint;
• and
• lateral and medial circular hinge means for rotatably interconnecting the confronting faces of the leg- and foot-supporting members for relative rotation about a common transverse axis through the ankle joint, each circular hinge means having a corresponding tubular extension affixed to a second of said confronting faces and extending through the first opening in the adjacent first confronting face, each tubular extension having a large second opening through it aligned with the adjacent first opening, each tubular extension having a corresponding outer lip overlapping the adjacent first confronting face for rotatably interconnecting the confronting faces of the leg- and foot-supporting members on the lateral and medial sides of the brace,
• the first and second openings in the hinge means on the lateral and medial sides of the brace being aligned to rotate about said transverse axis through the ankle joint, the first and second openings in the circular hinge means on the lateral and medial sides of the ankle brace also being sufficiently large to allow the lateral and medial melleoli bones to project into the first and second openings on the lateral and medial sides of the brace, respectively, so that when the leg- and foot-supporting members are secured to the leg and foot to provide orthopedic support for the ankle joint, the interconnected orthopedically supportive confronting faces of the leg- and foot-supporting members substantially avoid applying pressure to the lateral and medial melleoli bones of the ankle joint.