US1422468A - Artificial arm - Google Patents

Description

P. NICOLA.

ARTIFICIAL ARM. APPLICATIQN FILED MAY 23. 19,22.

Patented July 11, 1922 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

P. NICOLA. ARTIFICIAL ARM. APPLICATIGN FILED MAY 23, 1922.

' Patented July 11, 1922.

SHEET 2.

2 SHEETS r halwl we sit ARTIFICIAL ARM.

Application filed May 23, 19.22.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER NIooLA, a citizen of the United States, residing at Danville, in the county of Montour and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Artificial Arm, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an artificial arm, one of its objects being to provide a device of this character designed primarily for use where the stump extends below the elbow so that by manipulating the stump it becomes possible not only to bend the artificial arm but also to impart a turning motion to the hand portion thereof, thus to enable the device to be used in handling a spoon, in tipping the hat, and for similar purposes.

Another object is to provide an artificial arm with an articulated hand portion the members of which are shiftable by the movement of the shoulders of the user so as to cause said members to close together or to open as desired.

Another object is to provide a hand mechanism which is compact and durable, the parts of which are all neatly housed, and which, when closed, in a glove, will have the appearance of a natural hand.

Vith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that, within the scope of what is claimed, changes in the precise embodiment of the invention shown can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the pre ferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the artificial arm.

Figure 2 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section of the elbow joint.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the hand portion, the little finger and thumb being shown partly in section.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the hand mechanism.

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5, Figure 4.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Juiy 11, 1322.

Serial No. 563,088.

Figure 6 is a section on line Figure 41.

Figure 7 is a section on line 77, Figure Figure 8 is a section on line 8-8 Figure 3. 1

Figure 9 is a plan view of portions of the notched slides and the pawls cooperating therewith.

Figure 10 is a view showing in detail the two pawls.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates the body portion of the hand, the same having a narrow wrist portion 2and a widened hand portion 3. The wrist port-ion 2 is closed at one end as shown at 4.- and has a shank portion 5 extending therefrom and pivotally mounted as at 6 between ears '7 projecting from a sleeve 8. This sleeve is secured to the forearm portion 9 of the arm. The upper arm portion 10-is connected to the forearm portion by a stem 11 swiveled within a pivotally mounted sleeve 12 and having a forked end 13 pivotally connected to an car 14. Ear 14: is secured to the forearm portion 9 while sleeve 12 is movably mounted on the upper arm portion 10, these parts being located at one side of the center line of the two a-rm portions. Arranged along the center line of the two arm portions is a jointed stem'15 one end of which is pivotally connected to ears 16 on the forearm 9 while the other end portion is slidable within a guide sleeve 17 on the upper arm portion 10. A pin 18 extends from this end portion of the stem 15 and is adapted during the sliding movement of the stem 15 to enter an oblique slot 19 in sleeve 17. Thus when the forearm portion 9 is swung upwardly relative to the upper arm portion 10 about the parts 11, 12 and 1%. as the connection, the stem will be shifted longitudinally and the pin 18, entering slot 19, will cause stem 15 to rotate and impart a twist to the forearm 9 sufiicient to bring the hand portion in proper position to direct a spoon to the mouth or to carry the fingers to the hat worn by the user.

A reenforcing strap 20 is secured along the forearm 9 and links 21 connect this strap to the upper arm portion 10. A sheave 22 is mounted on the forearm portion 9 and is engaged by an actuating; cord 23 extending through an opening 24 in the forearm and adapted to be extended across the back of the shoulders of the wearer so that by manipulating the shoulders the wearer is enabled to pull on the cord while the arm is being held stationary.

Extending from the body portion 1 of the hand at that end thereof remote from the end 4: is a transverse series of cars 25 arranged in pairs, one pair of cars being provided for each of the four fingers and the space between the pairs of ears being filled with any suitable material such as blocks of cork 26. A pivot bolt 27 is extended transversely through these earsand formedwithin the ears are arcnate slots 28 in which is slida'bly mounted a stop rod 29. This rod extends through strips 30 which are arranged in pairs, one pair being mounted between the ears 25 of each pain The strips of each pair are formed-integral withthe inner member-"31 of'on'e of the fingers and pivotally mounted to the outer end of this inner member isthe outer member 32 of the fin er, the point ofconnection between the members being indicated at 33. A lever 34 is fulcrumed between the strips 30 of each finger and is connected by a link 35 to the outer member 32 of' the finger. Thus when lever- 34is swung. on its fulcrum 36 itwill' pull'o'r push the link 35 so as to cause the finger'm'ember 32 to swing relative to the member 31 of saidfinger;

transverse shaft 3711s fulcrumed in the sidesof tlie body 1 near the'ear's 25 and ex tending inwardly from this shaft are arms 38 to which the respective levers 34 are pivotally connected. Thus by'rotating shaft 37 all of the fingers will shift. v

Shaft 37 also has a pair of arms 39 eX- tendin'gftherefrom and connectedby a rod 40. A bracket 41 is 'extendedfrom the body 1' and pivotally mounted on this bracket is a bell crank 42'one arm 13 o'f'which bears downwardly on the rod 40f The other arm is pivotally connected to a rod 44 slidablc in a cross head 15 and within theclosed end l of the body. This rod has an angular notch 46therein. Ahotherrodll? is slidably mounted in the cross head 45 and inthe closed' end 4, this rodbeing pivotally connected to the stem 48 of a lifting hook 49 which extends under the rodlO a's'shown' particularly in Figure 6. This lifting hook is pivotally connected as at 50 to acam lever 51 having aslotted arm 52m'ovably engaged by a lug 53 extending from the rod 44-.

An ear 54 is provided on the body 1 and is slidably engagedby a stem 55 projecting from a slide 56; this slide having a stepped end 57 which is normally pressed against one of the arms 39 by a spring 581nounted on the stem 55 and bearing against" ear 54.

Said arm 39 has a, flat face adapted to engage any one of the steps 57. Thus it will be seen that the slide 56 constitutes abolt for holding arm 39 when shifted to any position away from that shown in Figure 5. This slide has a laterally extending finger 60 against which the cam lever 51 bears. This finger slides on a rod 61 supported by ears 62 and a spring 63 bears against the finger and cooperates with the spring 59 to hold the slide 56 normally pressed toward the arm 39.

The cross head 45has a stem 64@ projecting therefrom and slidable within the shank portion 5. A spring 65 is mounted on this stem and thrustsagainst' the cross head so as to hold it normally pressed toward the fingers. A pivot pin 66 is arranged in the cross head and oppositely disposed dogs or pawls-67 and 68 are mounted on this pin, there being cooperating projections 69 and 70 on the dogs or pawls for limiting-their relative movement under the action of a spreading spring 71 located between said dogs or pawls. A notch 72 is provided in the rod 47 and'the pawls or dogs 67 and 68' are arranged between the two rods 44 and -17 and are designed-to engage the respective notches.

. A leve'r 73 is fulcrumed on' a'b racketia' extending from the shank portion 5 and a link 75 connects this lever tothe stem 64.

A yoke 7 6 is pivotally attached to the free end'of the lever 73 and'is engaged by the" knotted end of tliecord 23.

A bell crank 77 is fulcrumed on one side of the body 1 (see Figureil) and is connected to one of the arms 38' of shaft 37 by a link 78. Thus each time shaft 37 is re} tated the link 7 8 will actuate bell crank 77 which, in turn, will transmit motion through a link T9 to the rod'29;' Obviously, therefore, while thelevers 3 1 are pulling'on the strips30 so as to rotate them about the pivot 27. the link 79 is thrusting on thepin 29 so extended therefrom and forked," as at 86 for engagement by a lug 87 extending laterally from a lever 88. This lever is fulcrumed onone side of the body 1 near the wristportion thereof and is connected by a link 89' to an arm 90 extending from one end of the shaft 37. Thus when the shaft is rotatedtopull on levers 34: and bend the fingers, arm 9 bers 81 and 82 toward the folding fingers,

cord 23.

'thereby to grip an article inserted between the fingers and the thumb.

As heretofore explained the shoulders of the user can be shifted so as to pull upon the A certain movement of this cord will cause lever 73 to pull stem 64 back against the action of spring 65 so that the dog or pawl 68 which is normally seated in the notch 72 will pull on the rod 47. Thus hook 49 will be swung so as to lift up on the rod 10 and cause shaft 87 to rotate. This will result in the bending of the fingers and the movement of the fingers and thumb toward each other. Cord 23 is then slackened whereupon spring 65 will move the cross head 45 back to its initial position. This will cause the pawl or dog 68 to move out of notch 72 and the spring 71 will be placed under compression. When it is desired to open the hand the cord 23 is again pulled taut and will slide the cross head until the pawl or dog 67 springs into notch 16 where upon rod 44 will be pulled. This will actuate bell crank 11 which will thrust the rod 10 downwardly and open the fingers and shift the thumb. At the same time the cam lever 51 will thrust against finger 60 and push the bolt 56 out of engagement with the adjacent arm 39 so that the parts are free to operate. It is to be understood of course that when the hand is closed the stepped portion 57 of bolt 56 wedges between one of the arms 39 and the body 1 so as to prevent the fingers from opening.

Obviously the hand portion of this device can be provided with a suitable housing, not shown so as to present a smooth surface to a glove or other covering placed on the hand. The movement of the fingers islimited by the rod 29 coming against the end walls of the slots 28.

What is claimed is 1. In an artificial arm a hand portion including a body, a shaft mounted for rotation, jointed fingers and a jointed thumb operatively connected to said shaft for movement toward or from each other, separate pivotally mounted members for rotating the shaft in opposite directions respectively, a cross head, means for actuating the cross head, and separate means operated by successive movements of the cross head in one direction for actuating the respective pivoted members.

2. In an artificial arm a hand portion including a finger and a thumb oppositely disposed and mounted for swinging movement, a shaft, connections between the shaft and the finger and thumb for moving said finger and thumb toward or from each other, separate pivoted members for rotating the shaft in either direction respectively, a slidable cross head, means for actuating it, and means operated by successive movements of the cross head in one direction for actuating the pivoted members successively.

3. In an artificial arm a hand portion including pivotally mounted finger and thumb portions, a shaft. means operated by the rotation of the shaft for swinging said members toward or from each other, separate pivoted members, means operated thereby for rotating the shaft in either direction respectively, a. cross head, means operated by the movement of the cross head in one direction for shifting one of said members to move the thumb and finger portions toward each other, means released by the same movement of the cross head for locking the thumb and finger portions against return movement, and means operated by a second movement of the cross head in the same direction for unlocking the thumb and finger portions and for moving them apart.

4. In an artificial arm a hand portionincluding a thumb portion and a finger portion pivotally mounted, a shaft, means operated by the shaft for moving the thumb and finger portion toward or from each other, a bolt, means on the shaft and cooperatin with the bolt for holding the thumb and nger portion against movement in one direction, a cross head, means for shifting the cross head in one direction, and separate means actuated by successive movements of the cross head for rotating the shaft in opposite directions respectively.

5. In an artificial arm a hand portion including pivoted thumb and finger portions, said portions being jointed, levers mounted within the thumb and finger portions, connections between said levers and parts of the thumb and finger port-ions for flexing said portions when the levers are actuated, a shaft, connections between the shaft and levers for moving the thumb and finger portions toward or from each other, a cross head, means for shifting the cross head in one direction, separate means operated by successive movements of the cross head in one direction for rotating the shaft in opposite directions respectively, and means for automatically returning the cross head to its initial position after each shift thereof.

6. An artificial hand including opposed finger and thumb portions pivotally mounted, a shaft, means operated by the shaft for moving said portions toward or from each other, a pin movable with the shaft and parallel therewith, separate levers co-operating with the pin for shifting it in opposite directions respectively, slidable rods connected to the respective levers, a string con trolled cross head slidably mounted on the rods, said rods being notched, spring controlled dogscarried by the (-rosshead for engagement With the respective notched rods, andmeans for shifting. the cross headsuccessively to successively couple the cross head to the respective rods through the dogs and notches.

7. An artificial hand including opposedfinger and thumb portions pivotallv mounted, a shaft, means: operated by the shaft for moving said portions toward or from each other, a pin movable- Withthe shaft and parallel therewith, separate levers cooperating with the pin for shifting it in-oppositedirections respectively, slidable rods connected to the respective levers, a springcontrolled cross headslidably mounted on-the rods, said rods being notched, spring controlled vdogs carriedby the cross head for engagement With the respective notched rods, and-means for shifting the cross head successively to successlvely couple thecross head to the respective rods through the:

means-operated by one of the rods for shifting the: bolt-toreleasethe shaft.

8. In an artificial arm the combination: With-an upper arm portion and a forearm portion, of a stem hingedly connected toand slidably engaged by the stem, said sleeve havin an oblique slot, and means on the shdab e stem for entering the slot to rotate the stem during the sliding movement thereof, said-stems cooperating-to im part. a turning motion to the forearm portion during its swinging movement relative-to thelupper arm portion.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afli ed-my sig; nature in 1 the presence of two witnesses.

7 PETER NICQLA. Witnesses-- C. HENRY, J .AS. RYAN.

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