Clavicle brace

Claim 1

A shoulder brace for bracing a wearer's shoulders, said brace being of the type having a generally figure 8 configuration with right and left shoulder loops connected together to form said figure 8 configuration, the wearer's right and left arms being received through said right and left shoulder loops, respectively, when said brace is worn, said brace comprising a first shoulder strap that defines one of said brace's shoulder loops, and a second shoulder strap that defines the other of said shoulder loops, each of said straps having a shoulder contact section and a doubled back section, each strap's shoulder contact and doubled back sections being connected one to the other, and said doubled back section of each strap being adapted to overlie its associated shoulder contact section on the anterior surface of a wearer's shoulder between the wearer's trapezius muscle and the wearer's axilla when said brace is worn, a crossover strap connected to said first and second shoulder straps for maintaining said first and second shoulder straps in said generally figure 8 configuration, a link fixed to said brace with said shoulder straps being slidable relative to said link for increasing or decreasing the size of said shoulder loops, the tightness or looseness of said brace on a wearer's shoulders being a result of the decreased size or increased size, respectively, of said shoulder loops, and an adjustable fastener connected with each of said first and second shoulder straps, each fastener being partially carried by a shoulder contact section and partially carried by a doubled back section, said fasteners being connectable on the anterior surfaces of the wearer's shoulders between the wearer's trapezius muscle and the wearer's axilla, said fastener associated with said right shoulder loop being adjustable to permit the size of said right loop to be decreased personally by the wearer by pulling said right loop's doubled back section in a direction that includes a forward directional component with the wearer's left hand as desired while the brace is being worn, and said fastener associated with said left shoulder loop being adjustable to permit the size of said left loop to be decreased personally by the wearer by pulling said left loop's doubled back section in a direction that includes a forward directional component with the wearer's right hand as desired while the brace is being worn, the pulling of each loop's doubled back section in a direction that includes a forward directional component simultaneously tightening that loop on the wearer's shoulder and providing a rearward thrust to the wearer's shoulder for pulling the wearer's shoulder rearwardly into a desired braced position.

Claim 13

A method of bracing a person's shoulders through use of a shoulder brace of the type having a generally figure-8 configuration, said method comprising the steps of providing a pair of shoulder straps that each defines a shoulder loop, said shoulder straps being connected by a crossover strap into said generally figure 8 configuration, each strap having a shoulder contact section and a doubled back section connected one to the other, and that are movable relative one to the other, so that the size of said shoulder loops can be increased or decreased and, thereby, so that the tightness or looseness of the brace on a wearer's shoulders can be varied, positioning an adjustable fastener on each shoulder strap so that said fastener is connectable on the anterior surface of said wearer's shoulder between the wearer's trapezius muscle and the wearer's axilla, said fastener being partially carried by said shoulder strap's shoulder contact section and partially carried by said shoulder strap's doubled back section, when said shoulder strap defines a left shoulder loop, and when said brace is being worn, tightening said shoulder loop by said wearer through use of said wearer's right hand pulling said left loop's doubled back section in a direction that includes a forward directional component, and when said shoulder strap defines a right shoulder loop, and when said brace is being worn, tightening said shoulder loop by said wearer through use of said wearer's left hand pulling said right loop's doubled back section in a direction that includes a forward directional component, the pulling of each loop's doubled back section in a direction that includes a forward directional component simultaneously tightening that loop on the wearer's shoulder, and providing a rearward thrust to the wearer's shoulder for pulling the wearer's shoulder rearwardly into a desired braced position.

Claim 14

A method of bracing a person's shoulders through use of a shoulder brace of the type having a generally figure-8 configuration, said method comprising the steps of providing a pair of shoulder straps that each defines a shoulder loop, said shoulder straps being connected by a crossover strap into said generally figure 8 configuration, each strap having a shoulder contact section and a doubled back section connected one to the other, and that are movable relative one to the other, so that the size of said shoulder loops can be increased or decreased and, thereby, so that the tightness or looseness of the brace on a wearer's shoulders can be varied, positioning an adjustable fastener on each shoulder strap so that said fastener is connectable on the anterior surface of said wearer's shoulder between the wearer's trapezius muscle and the wearer's axilla, said fastener being partially carried by said shoulder strap's shoulder contact section and partially carried by said shoulder strap's doubled back section, when said shoulder strap defines a left shoulder loop, and when said brace is being worn, tightening said shoulder loop by said wearer through use of said wearer's right hand pulling said left loop's doubled back section in a direction that includes a forward directional component, and when said shoulder strap defines a right shoulder loop, and when said brace is being worn, tightening said shoulder loop by said wearer through use of said wearer's left hand pulling said right loop's doubled back section in a direction that includes a forward directional component, the pulling of each loop's doubled back section in a direction that includes a forward directional component simultaneously tightening that loop on the wearer's shoulder, and providing a rearward thrust to the wearer's shoulder for pulling the wearer's shoulder rearwardly into a desired braced position.