Pneumatic apparatus for holding the posture of paralyzed, diseased, disabled or wounded persons

Claim 2

In a pneumatic apparatus for supporting a part of the body which is paralyzed, deformed, diseased, disabled or wounded comprising: a garment of configuration for closely fitting at least said part of the body of a user requiring support and comprising flexible sheet material having longitudinal slits, fastening means attached to said material for closing at least some of said slits; adjusting means attached to said material for drawing together said material; flexible inflatable tubes of material which lImits the extent of expansion of the tubes and which are secured to and positioned longitudinally of and on the exterior of said garment; means for inflating said tubes to a desired stiffness to support said part of the body of the user; the improvement in which said inflatable tubes have circumferential wall-structure, the major portion of which is external and free from attachment to the material of said garment whereby when said tubes are fully inflated the common wall between the tubes and the garment is not significantly shortened and there is avoidance of development of compression forces radially inward of said garment which would impede blood circulation while imparting rigid support to the body.

Claim 3

Pneumatic apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said garment has leg portions with slits extending the length of each leg portion and to the height of the pelvis portion of the garment and lacing extending through the material on each side of said leg portion and across pelvis portion.

Claim 4

Pneumatic apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the lower ends of said leg portions include trouser-straps capable of extending under the user''s feet.

Claim 5

Pneumatic apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said tubes have lengthwise slits and fastening means attached to said tubes for opening and closing them.

Claim 6

Pneumatic apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein some of said tubes extend along said trouser-straps for lateral positioning thereof under the users'' feet.

Claim 7

An orthopaedic garment for supporting a portion of the body comprising: close-fitting trousers having at least one leg member formed from flexible lightweight sheet material and provided with longitudinal slits; adjustable fastening means attached to said material for closing said slits; and a plurality of elongated cylindrical inflatable tubes positioned longitudinally on the exterior of said material and having a limited extent of expansion; said plurality of tubes, including tubes positioned to provide rigid support of the front and rear of said leg member when inflated for substantially locking the knee joint of said leg member in an extended position; said tubes having wall-structure, the major portion of which is external to said material forming said trousers whereby when said tubes are inflated there is avoidance of development of forces radially inward on the body which impede blood circulation.

Claim 8

An orthopaedic garment for supporting a portion of the body comprising: close-fitting trousers having at least one leg member formed from flexible lightweight sheet material and provided with longitudinal slits; adjustable fastening means attached to said material for closing said slits; and a plurality of elongated cylindrical inflatable tubes positioned longitudinally on the exterior of said material and having a limited extent of expansion; said plurality of tubes, including tubes positioned to provide rigid support of the front and rear of said leg member when inflated for substantially locking the knee joint of said leg member in an extended position; said tubes having wall-structure, the major portion of which is external to said material forming said trousers whereby when said tubes are inflated there is avoidance of development of forces radially inward on the body which impede blood circulation.

Claim 9

Pneumatic means for making life more bearable for persons who are dependent upon wheelchairs or other applicances due to impairment by disease, paralysis or congenital defects of the lower extremities of their bodies, which comprises: enclosing means including flexible lightweight material for close contour fitting from above the hip joint to at least the ankle of at least one lower extremity subject to said impairment, bend-resisting means extending along the outer surface of said enclosing means from above the region of the hip joint to the region of the ankle comprising circumferential wall-structure forming a plurality of coextensive tubular enclosures some of which provide support in front of and behind the knee portion, said enclosures consisting of material closed throughout and at least in part separate from said enclosing means, and being limited in extent of expansion, gas impervious wall-structure associated with said tubular enclosures, said circumferential wall-structure separate from said enclosing means having a greater length than the length of said circumferential wall-structure common to said enclosing means so as to permit inflation of said tubular enclosures outwardly of said enclosing means in avoidance of development of compression forces impeding blood circulation radially of said enclosing means while imparting rigid support to the body, and means for inflating said tubular enclosures to produce a combined stiffness of said tubular enclosures greater than any bending moment which can be produced upon Them by the weight of the body thereby providing that degree of support which enables said persons to be ambulatory.

Claim 10

Pneumatic means for making life more bearable for persons who are dependent upon wheelchairs or other applicances due to impairment by disease, paralysis or congenital defects of the lower extremities of their bodies, which comprises: enclosing means including flexible lightweight material for close contour fitting from above the hip joint to at least the ankle of at least one lower extremity subject to said impairment, bend-resisting means extending along the outer surface of said enclosing means from above the region of the hip joint to the region of the ankle comprising circumferential wall-structure forming a plurality of coextensive tubular enclosures some of which provide support in front of and behind the knee portion, said enclosures consisting of material closed throughout and at least in part separate from said enclosing means, and being limited in extent of expansion, gas impervious wall-structure associated with said tubular enclosures, said circumferential wall-structure separate from said enclosing means having a greater length than the length of said circumferential wall-structure common to said enclosing means so as to permit inflation of said tubular enclosures outwardly of said enclosing means in avoidance of development of compression forces impeding blood circulation radially of said enclosing means while imparting rigid support to the body, and means for inflating said tubular enclosures to produce a combined stiffness of said tubular enclosures greater than any bending moment which can be produced upon Them by the weight of the body thereby providing that degree of support which enables said persons to be ambulatory.

Claim 11

The pneumatic means of claim 7, in which a zip fastener extends from the crotch to the waist for securing together the upper portion of said enclosing means, and zip fasteners extending from the crotch to each extremity to secure together each leg portion of said enclosing means.

Claim 12

The pneumatic means of claim 7, in which said enclosing means includes lacing structure extending from each leg portion up through and including the hip portion thereof, and lacing means for producing said contour fitting of said garment to the person being fitted.

Claim 13

The pneumatic means of claim 7, in which said bend-resisting means includes tubular enclosures extending from the remote end of each lower extremity upwardly to and including the hip portion and respectively located on the outermost portions of the leg structure intermediate the previously referred to tubular enclosures.

Claim 14

The pneumatic means of claim 7 in which there is included, valve structure for (1) selectively admitting air under pressure to the bend-resisting means associated with one leg portion to the exclusion of the bend-resisting means associated with the other leg portion, (2) jointly applying air pressure to all of said bend-resisting means, and (3) simultaneously releasing said air pressure to establish a lower pressure.

Claim 15

The pneumatic means of claim 7, in which each said gas-impervious wall-structure comprises a bladder, and normally closed zipper fasteners for each of said tubular enclosures which when open provide access to said bladders disposed therein.