Prosthetic foot and keel therefor having progressive stiffening under increasing load
US5549711A · kind A · utility
33Cited by
7References
24Claims
0Family size
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 30, 1993 |
| Grant date | Aug 27, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 30, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61F2250/0018
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A prosthetic foot having a keel formed by a flexible sole plate connected to the lower end of an ankle portion that is attachable to a user's leg or leg prosthesis. A plurality of resilient bending ribs extend from the angle portion to spaced apart locations on the upper surface of the sole plate to resiliently bias the sole plate to a neutral configuration. As the forward portion of the sole plate is progressively loaded, the sole plate flexes causing the bending ribs to deflect until they successively stack up against each other, thereby progressively stiffening the keel.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.