Knee brace

An improved knee brace for constraining a wearer's knee to its natural position and motion despite tension forces tending to open medial portions of the knee joint upon application of an applied compressive force to lateral portions of the knee, comprising:

• a hinged support means including a lower plate member extending below the wearer's knee and an upper plate member extending above the wearer's knee and upper plate member attaching above the wearer's knee, and means for pivotally attaching said lower and upper plate members adjacent the wearer's knee;
• support means, including straps of pliable stretch-resistant material attached to the upper and lower plate members and lying along lines which intersect the medial center of the knee, laterally opposite said hinged support means;
• means for connecting the straps together so as to support the medial center of the wearer's knee and so as to maintain the point of intersection generally at the medial center of the knee throughout normal range of motion of the knee;
• and
• lower and upper securement means for securing said hinged support means to a lateral portion of the wearer's leg, and for stretch-resistant securing of said straps to respective plate members, whereby forces tending to open the medial portion of the wearer's knee are transmitted in tension through said straps to said plate members at points remote from the wearer's knee joint.