Prosthetic appliance

A prosthetic appliance for a residual limb, said appliance comprising a prosthesis member having a cavity at its proximate end defined by sidewalls formed of a rigid molded material;

• a separate removable molded socket member having sidewalls formed of a flexible material, said socket member being nested within the cavity of said prosthesis member being adapted to receive the residual limb;
• a plurality of separate, independently inflatable bladders disposed at predetermined intervals between the sidewalls of said prosthesis member and the sidewalls of said socket member and being attached to one of said members, said bladders when inflated acting against the other of said members to resiliently force discrete portions of the socket member sidewalls inwardly to grip the residual limb;
• and inflation control means comprising at least one manually operable air pump and a plurality of manually operable air valves, one for each of said bladders, for selectively inflating and deflating the associated bladder separately and independently of the other bladders, whereby the gripping pressure on the residual limb at each discrete portion of the socket member may be adjusted separately and independently by both said air pump and said air valves.