Method of forming orthopaedic gel pads

A general purpose method for forming substantially flat orthopaedic gel pads of any desired peripheral configuration and thickness using a flat perforated base plate with a vacuum chamber comprising the steps of:

• placing a spacer pad over the base plate, with a patterned opening through the spacer pad and having the desired configuration of the gel pads, and with a plurality of drilled holes in the base plate communicating with the patterned opening;
• placing a thin flexible plastic film or sheet over and extending down into the opening in the spacer pad;
• drawing air through holes in the base plate for exerting force on the plastic film and pulling the film down into the opening and in engagement with said plate;
• pouring a measured quantity of liquid gel into said patterned opening;
• letting the gel harden to a semi-solid state;
• placing a backing layer on top of the plastic sheet;
• securing the backing layer to said plastic sheet to confine the gel into the resultant pocket and to seal the gel against contamination;
• removing the plastic sheet, the gel and the backing layer from the spacer pad;
• and
• cutting the layers around the confined gel to form an orthopaedic gel pad;
• whereby any desired gel pad peripheral configuration may be formed using the same perforated base plate and vacuum chamber, using spacers having differently shaped openings.

A method for forming orthopaedic gel pad assemblies using a substantially flat perforated base plate with a vacuum chamber comprising the steps of:

• placing a spacer pad over the base plate with a plurality of patterned openings through the spacer pad conforming to the desired shape of the gel pad, with drilled holes in the base plate communicating between said patterned opening and the vacuum chamber;
• placing an apertured front pad over the spacer pad with patterned openings through the front pad aligned with the patterned openings of the spacer pad;
• applying an adhesive coating to the upper surface of the front pad;
• placing a thin flexible plastic film or sheet over the adhesive coated surface of the front pad;
• drawing air through holes in the substantially flat base plate for exerting force on the plastic film and pulling the film down into the opening and in engagement with said substantially flat plate;
• pouring a measured quantity of liquid gel into said patterned openings;
• letting the gel harden to a semi-solid state;
• placing a backing layer on top of the plastic sheet, with the plastic sheet, being adhered to the backing layer, to confine the gel into the resultant pockets with no gel exposed, to protect the gel from contamination;
• separating the front pad, the confined gel and the backing layer from the spacer pad and the base plate;
• and
• cutting the layers around the confined gel to form an orthopaedic gel pad assemblies, with the gel pad protruding from the front thereof by a distance equal to the thickness of the spacer pad.

A general purpose method for forming substantially flat orthopaedic gel pad assemblies, of any desired peripheral configuration and thickness, using a flat perforated base plate with a vacuum chamber, comprising the steps of:

• placing a spacer pad over the base plate, with a plurality of patterned openings through the spacer pad having the desired peripheral configuration of the gel pads, and with a plurality of drilled holes in the base plate communicating between said patterned openings and the vacuum chamber;
• placing a thin flexible plastic film or sheet over and extending down into the openings in the spacer pad;
• drawing air through holes in the base plate for exerting force on the plastic film and pulling the film down into the openings and in engagement with said plate;
• pouring a measured quantity of liquid gel into said patterned openings;
• letting the gel harden to a semi-solid state;
• placing a backing layer on top of the plastic sheet;
• securing the backing layer to said plastic sheet to confine the gel into the resultant pockets and to seal the gel against contamination;
• removing the thin film, the gel and the backing layer from the spacer pad;
• and
• cutting the layers around the confined gel to form a plurality of orthopaedic gel pad assemblies;
• whereby any desired gel pad peripheral configuration and thickness may be formed using the same substantially perforated base plate and vacuum chamber, using spacer pads having shaped openings of the desired configuration, and spacer pads of the desired thickness.