US2778370A - Knee rest for crutch - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 22, 1957 w. M. CHAMBLEE 2,778,370

KNEE REST FOR CRUTCH Filed Jan. 10, 1955 INVENTOR. William PLChamblee W 1? '75 W His ent United States Patent KNEE REST FOR CRUTCH William M. Chamblee, Sunray, Tex.

Application January 10, 1955, Serial No. 480,712

8 Claims. (Cl. 135-49) This invention relates to improvements in an attachment for crutches, and more particularly to an attachment for a crutch which will enable the knee to be provided with a rest, for the greater comfort of the individual when moving from place to place, and which attachment may be provided for use by an individual before an injury or amputation, below the knee, has completely healed.

Various knee rests have been provided heretofore, but these, for the most part, were limited in adaptation in that they did not fit either the right or left knee, were not adjustable vertically, and were not readily removable from the crutch, when not needed.

An object of this invention is to provide a knee rest for a crutch, wherein an upstanding abutment prevents the leg from moving forward, once it is fitted within the knee rest.

Another object of this invention is to provide a knee brace for attachment to a crutch which may be positioned on either side of the crutch, thereby providing either a right or a left knee brace, depending on the positioning of the attachment on the crutch, without the necessity of providing right and left knee attachments.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a knee rest of double curve construction, which is light in weight, which may be easily padded, and which is reinforced to withstand rugged use.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a knee rest attachment for a crutch, which attachment may be readily removed from the crutch, without having to remove bolts, clamps, screws, or like fastening devices therefrom.

With these objects in mind and others that will manifest themselves as the description proceeds, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate like parts in the several views thereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevational view of the device embodying the invention as attached to the crutch, with parts of the crutch being broken away and shortened;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of a side of the crutch with the device embodying the invention mounted thereon;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the device embodying the invention, shown apart from the crutch; and

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

With more detailed reference to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates generally a crutch, which is of the type having a foot piece 2 mounting a central stem 4, which central stem 4 is secured between side members 6 by means of bolts 8, in such manner that the stem 4 projects upward between the bifurcated side members 6. The crutch has the usual cross member 10 secured between the side members 6 in such manner as to serve as a hand hold, in a manner well understood in the art. An arm rest 12 is attached to the upper ends of the bifurcated side members 6, in the conventional manner.

The knee rest, designated generally at 14, comprises a socket member 16, which is adapted to fit snugly over the upstanding portion of the stem 4. A pair of outstanding lugs 18 are formed integral with the socket 16 and extend outward to overlap the respective side members 6 so as to brace the stern against lateral movement relative to side members 6. The spacing between the outstanding lugs 18 is preferably the same as the thickness of the side members 6.

The socket member 16 has a pair of outwardly extending, inturned lugs 20, positioned substantially at right angles to outstanding lugs 18, which pair of outwardly extending lugs 20 form trackways to receive a T-member 22 therein in tight fitting relation, as will best be seen in Fig. 4.

The transverse portion of the interengaging T-member 22 preferably has down-turned sides thereon, which receive a pin 24 therethrough and through the stem 26 of the T-member 22. The member 26 forms a web or a flange around the sides and bottom of the knee rest member 28, which knee rest member is substantially of U- shape and has an upstanding U-shaped or curved end member, the curve of which is complementary to the curve of the member 28 and is made integral therewith. Each of the members 28 and 30 is lined with a cushioning material 32, which may be in the form of sheep skin with wool thereon, sponge rubber, kapok, or other suitable material which will give a resilient cushioning effect between the portions of the knee and the portions of the knee rest, with which the knee might otherwise come into harsh contact.

The T-member 22 has a series of holes 34 along the respective sides thereof, and each side of the knee portion 28 has a T-member 22, therefore, it is readily apparent that the knee rest 14 may be adjusted vertically with respect to the crutch, and a pin 24 may be passed through the selected holes and through the stem 26 of the T- member to hold the knee rest in adjusted position, regardless of whether it is positioned on one side or the other of the crutch.

It is also readily apparent, that with the present arrangement of lugs and holes, the knee rest may be positioned so as to form support for either the right or left knee of the individual using the crutches, thereby obviating the necessity of providing right and left knee rests that may be used only as such.

The knee portion 28 has a slight forward tilt toward its forward end, which will tend to cause the knee to move forward, but the padded, upstanding abutment 30 prevents the knee from moving beyond the correct point of balance. The upstanding portion 30 of the knee rest, has upwardly and forwardly sloping sides so as to conform to the angular position of the leg at certain times.

It is to be understood that the present knee rest may be made of aluminum, plastic, fiberglass, or other light weight but durable material, and that the knee rest may be adjusted to the particular requirements of an individual without the necessity of special and particular fittings.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in some detail in one embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that changes may be made in the minor details of construction and adaptations made to particular applications, without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A knee rest attachment for a crutch having a central, upstanding stem and a pair of side members secured to said stem, said knee rest attachment comprising a socket, which socket telescopes over said upstanding stern, a pair of lugs extending outwardly from each side of said socket and adapted to bindingly engage on opposite sides of said side members, a knee rest member secured to said socket,

and said member having a curved bottom and a curved, upstanding end portion, the axes of said curved portions lying within a vertical medial plane which is substantially parallel to the faces of said side members.

2. A knee rest attachment for a crutch having a central, vertical, upstanding stern and a pair of side members secured to said stem, said knee attachment comprising a socket, which socket telescopes over said vertical, upstanding stem, a pair of lugs extending outwardly from each side of said socket and adapted to bindingly engage on opposite sides of said side members, a knee rest member attachably secured to said socket, and said member having a curved bottom portion and a curved, upstanding end portion, the axes of said curved portions lying within a vert cal medial plane which is substantially parallel to the faces of said side members.

3. A knee rest attachment for a crutch having a central, vertical, upstanding stem and a pair of side members secured to said stem, said knee rest attachment comprising a socket having a closed upper end, which socket telescopes over said vertical upstanding stem, a pair of lugs extending outwardly from each side of said socket and adapted to bindingly engage on opposite sides of said side members, a reversible knee rest member attachably secured to said socket, and said member having a curved bottom and a curved, upstanding end portion, the axes of said curved portions lying within a vertical mediai plane which is substantially parallel to the faces of said side members.

4. A knee rest attachment for a crutch having a central, vertical, upstanding stem and a pair of side members secured to said stern, said knee rest attachment comprising a socket having a closed upper end, which socket telescopes over said vertical, upstanding stein, a pair of lugs extending outwardly from each side of said socket and adapted to bindingly engage on opposite sides of said side members, a vertically adjustable knee rest member secured to said socket, and said member having a curved bottom and a curved, upstanding end portion, the axes of said curved portions lying within a vertical medial plane which is substantially parailel to the face of said side members.

5. A knee rest attachment for a crutch having a central, vertical, upstanding stem and a pair of side members secured to said stem, said knee rest attachment comprising a socket having a closed upper end, which socket telescopes over said vertical, upstanding stem, a pair of lugs extending outwardly from each side of said socket and adapted to bindingly engage on opposite sides of said side members, an inclined knee rest member secured to said socket, and said member having a curved bottom and a curved, upstanding end portion, the axes of said curved portions lying within a vertical medial plane which is substantially parallel to the faces of said side members.

6. A knee rest attachment for a crutch having a central, vertical, upstanding stem and a pair of side members secured to said stem, said knee rest attachment comprising a socket having a closed upper end, which socket telescopes over said vertical, upstanding stem, a pair of lugs extending outwardly from each side of said socket and adapted to bindingly engage on opposite sides of said side members, a knee rest member, a T-shaped mem ber secured to said knee rest member transversely thereof and extending outwardly therefrom, said socket having a channel way formed therein to interengage the flanges of said T-member, means interconnecting said T-member and said socket, and said knee rest member having a curved bottom and a curved, upstanding end portion, the axes of said curved portions lying within a vertical medial plane which is substantially parallel to the faces of said side members.

7. A knee rest attachment for a crutch having a central stem and a pair of side members secured to said central stem, said knee rest attachment comprising a body having a socket in the closed upper end thereof, which socket telescopes over said central stem, a pair of lugs extending outwardly from each side of said socket and being adapted to bindingly engage on opposite sides of said side members, said body having an upright channel way formed in a side thereof, a knee rest member having curved, upstanding side portions, and a curved, upstanding end portion to form a knee receptacle, a T-shaped member secured to each side of the knee rest member with the flange portions thereof being outstanding and in substantially an upright plane, said T-member being adapted to complementarily engage said channel way, and means for interlocking said T-member within said channel way.

3. The device substantially as set forth in claim 6; wherein a web extends transversely below and is secured to the lower side of said knee rest member, and wherein said T-shaped flange members are secured to said web on each side thereof and having the flanges thereof outstanding to interengage within said channel way formed within said socket, so upon reversal of said T-member with respect to said channel way, said knee rest may be selectively used for either knee.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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