Artificial limb including a shin, ankle and foot

An artificial ankle and foot comprising:

• an elongate member having a toe section and a heel section;
• a mount coupled to the elongate member for supporting a shin or socket, where the mount is capable of rotation around an axis substantially perpendicular to a line connecting the toe and heel sections of the elongate member;
• and
• a rotation controlling element connected to both the mount and the elongate member to restrict rotation of the mount toward the heel section of the elongate member;
• where the elongate member includes two upwardly extending arms and the mount includes a downwardly extending section having a forward surface, the downwardly extending section fitting between the two arms, and further comprising an axle that extends between the two arms and through the downwardly extending section to support the mount;
• where the rotation controlling element is an elastic band attached to the forward surface of the downwardly extending section and which extends under the downwardly extending section toward the heel section and anchors on the elongate member.

An artificial shin comprising:

• a first mount for positioning below a user's knee;
• a second mount for positioning above an artificial foot;
• and
• a plurality of rods extending between the first and second mounts, where at least one rod is a load-bearing rod, and where the shin has an anterior side and a posterior side, the rods being mounted along a line which extends obliquely relative to the anterior and posterior sides of the shin, so that the rods are positioned similarly to a human's tibia and fibula bones, respectively.

An artificial shin comprising:

• a first mount for positioning below a user's knee;
• a second mount for positioning above an artificial foot;
• and
• a plurality of flexible rods extending between the first and second mounts, where at least one rod is a load-bearing rod, and where the rods are cylindrical, have different cross-sectional diameters and different flexibilities and are substantially parallel and spaced from one another.