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US 8,986,398 B2Granted
Hydraulic prosthetic ankle
AssigneeFreedom Innovations, LLC
InventorsArlo Marsh Poulson, III, Roland Christensen, Steven Heath, Henry Hsu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A range of motion (ROM) prosthetic foot and passive dampening ankle joint have limited dorsiflexion-plantarflexion (up and down) pivoting to accommodate different environments, and a spring to provide resilient resistance to plantarflexion (or lowering of the toe), and to bias the foot in dorsiflexion (or raising the toe). The ankle joint has a rear pivot rearward of a hydraulic link for a smooth feel. The ankle joint has an internal bumper in a hydraulic cylinder for a smooth feel. The ankle joint has an internal hydraulic compensator disposed in the cylinder and carried by the piston to equalize volume.
Claims23
A prosthetic foot device, comprising:
- a) an attachment configured to be coupled to a socket or pylon attached to a remnant limb of an amputee;
- b) a prosthetic foot coupled to the attachment and including a toe end at a toe location of a natural foot, and a heel end at a heel location of the natural foot;
- c) a passive dampening ankle joint coupled between the attachment and the prosthetic foot to provide limited dorsiflexion-plantarflexion pivoting of the foot with respect to the attachment about a horizontal medial-lateral pivot axis, the ankle joint including:
- i) an ankle platform attached to the foot;
- ii) a body with a cylinder rigidly attached to the attachment and pivotally coupled to the ankle platform at the pivot axis;
- iii) a piston reciprocally disposed in the cylinder and dividing the cylinder into upper and lower chambers;
- iv) a link pivotally coupled to and between the piston and the ankle platform;
- and
- v) a spring disposed in the lower chamber and bearing against the piston to raise the piston, and thus the foot during swing phase, and to provide resilient resistance to plantarflexion during heel strike;
- and
- d) the pivot axis being disposed rearwardly with respect to the link and the link being disposed forwardly of the pivot axis.
8 more elements
A passive dampening ankle joint device coupled between an attachment and a prosthetic foot to provide limited dorsiflexion-plantarflexion pivoting of the foot with respect to the attachment about a horizontal medial-lateral pivot axis, the passive dampening ankle joint comprising:
- a) an ankle platform attached to the foot;
- b) a body with a cylinder rigidly attached to the attachment and pivotally coupled to the ankle platform at the pivot axis;
- c) a piston reciprocally disposed in the cylinder and dividing the cylinder into a pair of chambers, including upper and lower chambers;
- d) a spring always under compression and disposed in the lower chambers and bearing against the piston to raise the piston, and thus the foot during swing phase, and to provide resilient resistance to plantarflexion during heel strike;
- e) a pair of flow channels extending between the pair of chambers;
- f) a pair of check valves each disposed in a different one of the pair of flow channels configured to allow hydraulic fluid to flow from one chamber to another chamber through one channel, and from the another chamber to the one chamber through another channel;
- g) a pair of control valves each disposed in a different one of the pair of flow channels configured to vary resistance to flow of the hydraulic fluid;
- h) a link pivotally coupled to and between the piston and the ankle platform;
- and
- i) the pivot axis being disposed rearwardly with respect to the link and the link being disposed forwardly of the pivot axis.
7 more elements
A prosthetic foot device, comprising:
- a) an attachment configured to be coupled to a socket or pylori attached to a remnant limb of an amputee;
- b) a prosthetic foot coupled to the attachment and including an elongated forefoot keel extending between a toe location of a natural foot and near a heel location of the natural foot, and an elongated footplate coupled to the forefoot keel at the toe location and extending between the toe location and the heel location, the forefoot keel and the footplate being formed of a composite material with fiber in a resin matrix and forming springs that are resilient and bendable to store energy in the springs when deflected and return the energy from the springs when released;
- c) a passive dampening ankle joint coupled between the attachment and the prosthetic foot to provide limited dorsiflexion-plantarflexion pivoting of the foot with respect to the attachment about a horizontal medial-lateral pivot axis, the ankle joint including:
- i) an ankle platform attached to the foot;
- ii) a body with a cylinder rigidly attached to the attachment and pivotally coupled to the ankle platform at the pivot axis;
- iii) a piston reciprocally disposed in the cylinder and dividing the cylinder into a pair of chambers, including upper and lower chambers;
- iv) a pair of flow channels extending between the pair of chambers;
- v) a pair of check valves each disposed in a different one of the pair of flow channels configured to allow hydraulic fluid to flow from one chamber to another chamber through one channel, and from the another chamber to the one chamber through another channel;
- vi) a pair of control valves each disposed in a different one of the pair of flow channels configured to vary resistance to flow of the hydraulic fluid;
- and
- vii) a link pivotally coupled to and between the piston and the ankle platform;
- and
- viii) a spring always under compression and disposed in the lower chamber and bearing against the piston to raise the piston, and thus the forefoot keel during swing phase, and to provide resilient resistance to plantarflexion during heel strike;
- d) the pivot axis being disposed rearwardly with respect to the link and the link being disposed forwardly of the pivot axis.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.