KNEE BRACE HAVING FREECENTRIC LOCKING HINGE

摘要

The present invention relates to a knee support (10) comprises an upper support part and a lower support portion (11, 12) attached to the medial and lateral sides of the knee joint by lockable hinges open center . The free hinge center comprises a free rotation center that allows the movement and simultaneous rotation of the upper hinge arm (13) relative to the lower hinge arm (14). The free hinge center may further include a locking mechanism composed of a pin (23) located on the upper hinge arm (14) and a hook (26) on the lower hinge arm (14) can be pushed so as to engage to prevent any further rotation of the hinge when one wishes to avoid hyperextension of the knee of the user. A pair of tension straps (18, 19) can be attached, through the back of the knee of the user, of the upper support portion (11) to the lower support portion (12), and their length can be adjusted so that extension of the knee tends to produce a tension in the straps (18, 19), which serves to draw the upper and lower support (11, 12) towards one another. The movement of the support portions (11, 12) towards each other is used to set the hook (26) and ankle (23) of the locking mechanism in a proper position to come into reciprocal engagement and lock the hinge so as to prevent any additional extension rotation. If necessary, the top hinge arm (13) can be fixed to the upper support portion (11) in a manner allowing free sliding movement therebetween to compensate for forces acting on the support (10) and due to motion the hinge while it follows the rotation of the knee of the user.