Knee brace, and set of outer leg joint and inner leg joint

摘要

A knee brace capable of correction only in a required angle range and of reproducing a normal screw-home movement in a knee joint of a knee osteoarthritis patient having outer and inner leg joints including first and second couplings coupled at coupling portions. The coupling portion includes a cam groove, a long groove, a rotation fulcrum shaft, and a cam shaft. When flexing the knee, the rotation fulcrum shaft and the cam shaft slide in the long groove and the cam groove and the second coupling rotates around the coupling portion with respect to the first coupling to flex the leg joints, and when extending the leg joints, the rotation fulcrum shaft and the cam shaft slide in the long groove and the cam groove to move the second coupling on the outer leg side upward and rearward and the second coupling on the inner leg side downward and forward.

主权项

1. A knee brace comprising:
a femur fixing element to be mounted on a femur of a patient; a crus fixing element to be mounted on a crus of the patient; and an outer leg joint and an inner leg joint, each of the outer leg joint and the inner leg joint fixed to the femur fixing element at a first end and fixed to the crus fixing element at a second end, the outer leg joint adapted to be arranged on an outer leg side of a knee joint of the patient and the inner leg joint adapted to be arranged on an inner leg side of the knee joint of the patient for flexing, wherein each of the outer leg joint and the inner leg joint includes a first coupling to be arranged along a side of the femur and a second coupling to be arranged along a side of the crus, the first coupling and the second coupling being coupled together by a coupling portion to be arranged at a side of the knee joint, the coupling portion includes a cam groove provided in the first coupling or the second coupling, a long groove provided in the second coupling or the first coupling, a rotation fulcrum shaft sliding in the long groove and provided in each of the first coupling or each of the second coupling, and a cam shaft sliding in the cam groove and provided to the second coupling or the first coupling, when the patient is standing such that the femur is substantially vertical, the cam groove on the outer leg side takes a curved shaped convex forward and the cam groove on the inner leg side takes a curved shape convex rearward with respect to the standing patient, wherein the rotation fulcrum shaft and the cam shaft slide in the long groove and the cam groove, respectively, when the patient flexes the knee, and thereby the second coupling rotates around the coupling portions with respect to the first coupling to flex the outer leg joint and the inner leg joint, wherein the rotation fulcrum shaft and the cam shaft slide in the long groove and the cam groove, respectively, when the outer leg joint and the inner leg joint extend, and thereby the second coupling on the outer leg side moves upward and rearward and the second coupling on the inner leg side moves downward and forward, and wherein the rotation fulcrum shaft of the outer leg joint is located at a front end portion of the long groove when the outer leg joint extends, and the rotation fulcrum shaft of the inner leg joint is located at a rear end portion of the long groove when the inner leg joint extends.