Dynamic orthopedic knee brace assembly
OwnerKirby Smith, IIIinventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerKirby Smith, IIIinventor
Estimating the term…
A knee brace assembly for various uses, e.g., restricting anterior tibial movement. The knee brace assembly includes a proximal cuff for engaging the wearer's leg above the knee and a distal cuff for engaging the wearer's leg below the knee. The proximal and distal cuffs are linked together by a hinge that permits pivotal movement of the proximal cuff relative to the distal cuff. The proximal cuff has lateral and medial portions each having a slot extending there along. A strap guiding assembly is slidably mounted within each of the slots. Each strap guiding assembly is arranged to slide between a proximal extreme when the wearer's leg is in flexion and a distal extreme as the wearer extends his or her leg. A biasing device biases each strap guiding assembly towards its proximal extreme. A cross-strap, having free ends and a length, is provided for engagement with the wearer's leg. The cross-strap attaches to the wearer's leg below the knee and wraps behind the knee in crisscross fashion. The free ends of the strap attach to the strap guiding assembly. The cross-strap is operative in response to extension of the wearer's leg to pull the strap guiding assembly from the proximal extreme towards the distal extreme thus creating a force counteractive to abnormal anterior movement of the tibia.
A knee brace assembly for restricting anterior translation of a wearer's tibia, the wearer also having a leg including a thigh, a knee and a leg portion below the knee, said knee brace assembly comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.