Body limb movement limiter
OwnerSusan Davis Alleninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A body limb movement limiter restrains the movement of a person's arm so as to protect the person's shoulder or restrains the movement of a person's lower leg with respect to the upper leg so as to protect the person's knee. The device uses a housing having a reel disposed therein with a tether attached thereto and a shear thickening non-Newtonian fluid disposed within the housing so that the fluid acts on the reel during a payout procedure of the tether. The housing is attached to a strap secured about the torso of the person while the free end of the tether is secured about the person's arm. Alternately, a pair of arms are pivotally secured to each other within a housing having the non-Newtonian fluid therein for limiting movement of one arm with respect to the other.
Claims7
A method of limiting the movement of a person's limb comprising the steps of:
- providing a housing having an opening and a reel rotatably disposed therein and securing the housing to the person;
- providing a tether having a first end and a second end;
- attaching the first end of the tether to the reel, winding the tether about the reel, and securing the second end of the tether to the person's limb;
- and
- placing a shear thickening non-Newtonian fluid within the housing for acting on the reel whenever the tether pays out from the housing and such that the pay out of the tether from the housing is decelerated.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.