Hinged ankle brace

• US 20060084899A1
• Filed: 10/04/2005
• Published: 04/20/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DJO LLC (Enovis Corp.)
• Original Assignee: DJO LLC (Enovis Corp.)
• Inventors: Verkade, Drew R., Walters, David Rodwell II, Nathanson, Jeremy
• Granted Patent: US 8,641,654 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 602/27
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2005/0137 with two parallel pivots
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2005/0172 with cushions
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 5/0111 for the feet or ankles
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 5/0127 for the feet A61F5/0111 takes precedence

Abstract

A hinged ankle brace having a semi-rigid ankle cuff and a semi-rigid foot bed rotatably connected by a medial hinge and a lateral hinge provides enhanced stability and support to a wearer'"'"'s ankle. The medial hinge of the ankle brace may be higher than the lateral hinge to accurately replicate the bending motion of an ankle. The ankle brace also includes ratchetably interconnected semi-rigid straps. These semi-rigid straps provide a semi-rigid structure encircling the ankle of a wearer for enhanced support. The ratchet mechanism may include a curved window that enables angular adjustment of the ratchting straps. The ankle brace may also include a soft inner liner and a soft outer sleeve. The outer sleeve is configured to provide compression to the semi-rigid shell, which in turn provides additional compression to the ankle. The semi-rigid foot bed may include posterior extensions that cup and support the wearer'"'"'s heel, and a posterior cut-out portion that receives the wearer'"'"'s heel.

Claims

1. An ankle brace comprising:

a semi-rigid ankle cuff including a calf-supporting portion configured to extend around a posterior side of a lower calf of a wearer, a medial upright extending generally downward from a medial side the calf-supporting portion, and a lateral upright extending generally downward from a lateral side of the calf-supporting portion;

a semi rigid foot bed including a foot plate contoured to underlie at least a portion of a foot of the wearer, a medial wing extending generally upward from the medial side of the foot bed, and a lateral wing extending generally upward from the lateral side of the foot bed;

a medial hinge rotatably connecting the medial wing with the medial upright; and

a lateral hinge rotatably connecting a lateral wing with the lateral upright;

wherein the medial hinge is positioned higher than the lateral hinge relative to the foot plate.

2. The ankle brace of claim 1, further comprising an inner liner.

3. The ankle brace of claim 2, wherein the inner liner comprises padding removably attached to the ankle cuff.

4. The ankle brace of claim 3, wherein the inner liner comprises an Achilles pad configured to cover an Achilles heel of a wearer.

5. The ankle brace of claim 3, further comprising an outer sleeve configured to be disposed over an ankle joint of a wearer.

6. The ankle brace of claim 5, wherein the outer sleeve is further configured to surround a forward edge of the foot bed.

7. An ankle brace comprising:

a semi-rigid ankle cuff including a calf-supporting portion configured to extend around a posterior side of a lower calf of a wearer, a medial upright extending generally downward from a medial side of the calf-supporting portion, and a lateral upright extending generally downward from a lateral side of the calf-supporting portion;

a semi rigid foot bed including a foot plate contoured to underlie at least a portion of a foot of the wearer, a cut out portion configured to receive a heel of the wearer, a medial wing extending generally upward from a posterior medial edge of the foot plate, and a lateral wing extending generally upward from a posterior lateral edge of the foot plate, wherein the foot bed is rotatably coupled to the ankle cuff.

8. The ankle brace of claim 7, wherein the foot bed is constructed of a heat-moldable material.

9. The ankle brace of claim 7, wherein the foot bed is configured to fit within a shoe of a wearer.

10. The ankle brace of claim 7, wherein the ankle cuff is constructed of a heat-moldable material.

11. The ankle brace of claim 7, wherein the medial wing and the lateral wing each further comprise posterior extensions that are configured to provide calcaneal support to the wearer.

12. The ankle brace of claim 11, wherein the foot bed further comprises a medial bend region joining the medial wing to the foot plate and a lateral bend region joining the lateral wing to the foot plate, and wherein the foot plate is more rigid than the medial bend region and the lateral bend region.

13. The ankle brace of claim 7, wherein the foot plate is configured to underlie the foot of the wearer over an area spanning a width of the wearer'"'"'s foot and extending from adjacent a ball of the wearer'"'"'s foot to adjacent the heel of the foot.

14. An ankle brace comprising:

a semi-rigid ankle cuff, the semi-rigid cuff comprising;

a calf-supporting portion configured to support a posterior side of an ankle of a wearer; and

at least one semi-rigid strap extending from the calf-supporting portion and including a ratchet mechanism to adjustably position the ankle cuff on the ankle of the wearer.

15. The ankle brace of claim 14, further comprising a semi-rigid foot bed rotatably coupled to the ankle cuff.

16. The ankle brace of claim 14, wherein at least part of the strap is formed integrally with the calf-supporting portion.

17. The ankle brace of claim 14, wherein the at least one semi-rigid strap comprises:

a medial strap extending forward from the medial side of the calf-supporting portion; and

a lateral strap extending forward from the lateral side of the calf-supporting portion; and

wherein the medial strap and the lateral strap are configured to mate such that a circumference of the ankle cuff is incrementally adjustable.

18. The ankle brace of claim 17, wherein the ratchet mechanism provides incremental adjustability.

19. The ankle brace of claim 17, wherein at least one of the medial strap and the lateral strap comprises a first segment and a second segment, and wherein the first segment is more rigid than the second segment.

20. The ankle brace of claim 19, wherein the first segment is adjacent the calf-supporting portion and the second segment is spaced apart from the calf-supporting portion.

21. The ankle brace of claim 19, wherein the second segment comprises a plurality of hook fasteners, and an outer surface of the ankle cuff comprises a plurality of loop fasteners such that the second segment is configured to be adjustably secured to the ankle cuff.

22. The ankle brace of claim 17, wherein the ratchet mechanism comprises:

a slot disposed on one of the medial strap and the lateral strap; and

a plurality of ridges on the other of the medial strap and the lateral strap; and

wherein the slot and the plurality of ridges are mateable to rachetably adjust the circumference of the ankle cuff.

23. The ankle brace of claim 22, wherein a side of the slot configured to mate with one of the plurality of ridges comprises a curved profile.

24. An ankle brace comprising:

a semi-rigid shell configured to overlie and support at least a portion of a wearer'"'"'s ankle and/or foot; and

an outer sleeve configured to overlie at least a portion of the semi-rigid shell, and configured to apply compression to the semi-rigid shell.

25. The ankle brace of claim 24, wherein the semi-rigid shell comprises:

a semi-rigid ankle cuff configured to overlie and support at least a portion of a calf and/or ankle of the wearer;

a semi-rigid foot bed configured to underlie at least a portion of the wearer'"'"'s foot; and

at least one hinge rotatably connecting the semi-rigid ankle cuff and the semi-rigid foot bed.

26. The ankle brace of claim 24, further comprising an inner liner configured to provide a cushioning interface between the semi-rigid shell and the wearer'"'"'s ankle and/or foot.

27. An ankle brace comprising:

a semi-rigid ankle cuff configured to overlie and support at least a portion of a calf and/or ankle of the wearer; and

a semi-rigid foot bed configured to underlie at least a portion of the wearer'"'"'s foot;

wherein the foot bed includes at least one of a medial posterior extension and a lateral posterior extension, and the at least one posterior extension is configured to cup and support a heel of the wearer.

28. The ankle brace of claim 27, wherein the at least one posterior extension is a medial posterior extension, and the foot bed includes a medial wing configured to overlie a medial side of the wearer'"'"'s ankle, and the medial posterior extension extends rearward from the medial wing.

29. The ankle brace of claim 27, wherein the at least one posterior extension is a lateral posterior extension, and the foot bed includes a lateral wing configured to overlie a lateral side of the wearer'"'"'s ankle, and the lateral posterior extension extends rearward from the lateral wing.

30. A method of applying an ankle brace to an ankle of a wearer the method comprising the steps of:

applying an inner liner to the ankle of the wearer;

applying a semi-rigid shell over the inner liner, the semi-rigid shell comprising at least one semi-rigid strap and a ratchet mechanism to incrementally adjust a circumference of the shell;

incrementally adjusting the circumference of the shell; and

securing the strap with respect to the calf-supporting portion.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the semi-rigid shell further comprises a foot bed and an ankle cuff rotatably coupled to the foot bed, the ankle cuff comprising a calf-supporting portion, and wherein the at least one semi-rigid strap extends from the calf-supporting portion.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the at least one strap comprises a medial strap and a lateral strap, the ratchet mechanism comprises a slot in one of the medial strap and the lateral strap and a plurality of ridges on the other of the medial strap and the lateral strap, and the incrementally adjusting step further comprises advancing the plurality of ridges through the slot to adjust the circumference of the ankle cuff.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein the at least one strap comprises a first portion of a hook and loop fastener and the calf-supporting portion comprises a mating portion of a hook and loop fastener, and the securing step comprises the step of mating the first portion of the hook and loop fastener and the mating portion of the hook and loop fastener.

34. The method of claim 30, further comprising the steps of:

applying an outer sleeve over the semi-rigid shell; and

securing the outer sleeve with respect to the semi-rigid shell.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the outer sleeve comprises at least one lace extending through at least one pair of opposing eyelets such that advancing the lace through the eyelets adjusts an inner circumference of the outer sleeve, the lace having an end affixed to a patch of a first portion of a hook and loop fastener, wherein the outer sleeve comprises a surface having a mating portion of the hook and loop fastener, and wherein securing the outer sleeve comprises advancing the lace to adjust the inner circumference of the outer sleeve and mating the first portion of the hook and loop fastener with the mating portion of the hook and loop fastener.

36. A method of applying an ankle brace to an ankle of a wearer the method comprising the steps of:

applying a semi-rigid shell to the ankle, the semi-rigid shell including structure that overlies and supports at least a portion of the ankle;

securing the semi-rigid shell about the ankle;

applying an outer sleeve over the semi-rigid shell, the outer sleeve being configured to overlie and compress at least a portion of the semi-rigid shell; and

securing the outer sleeve with respect to the semi-rigid shell.