Prosthetic Limb Attachment
First Claim
1. An apparatus for attaching a prosthetic limb to the bone of a patient to failsafe if excess force is applied to the limb, the apparatus comprising:
- a proximal component to mount to a bone implant;
a distal component to mount to a prosthetic limb; and
a coupling body coupling together the proximal and distal components with freedom to articulate when, in use, a bending and/ or torsional force is applied to the prosthetic limb only when the force exceeds a threshold safe level whereby the force may be accommodated by articulation within the attachment apparatus.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides an apparatus (1) for attaching a prosthetic limb to the bone of a patient, the apparatus comprising a proximal component (2) to mount to a bone implant, a distal component (3) to mount to a prosthetic limb, and a coupling body (4, 5) coupling together the proximal and distal components (2,3) with freedom to articulate when, in use, a bending and/or torsional force is applied to the prosthetic limb, only when the force exceeds a threshold level, whereby the force may be accommodated by articulation within the attachment apparatus (1). The attachment apparatus (1) thus functions as a fail-safe articulation mechanism protecting the bone of the patient.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. An apparatus for attaching a prosthetic limb to the bone of a patient to failsafe if excess force is applied to the limb, the apparatus comprising:
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a proximal component to mount to a bone implant; a distal component to mount to a prosthetic limb; and a coupling body coupling together the proximal and distal components with freedom to articulate when, in use, a bending and/ or torsional force is applied to the prosthetic limb only when the force exceeds a threshold safe level whereby the force may be accommodated by articulation within the attachment apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. An apparatus for attaching a prosthetic limb to the bone of a patient to failsafe if excess force is applied to the limb, the apparatus comprising:
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a proximal component to mount to a bone implant; a distal component to mount to a prosthetic limb; and a coupling body coupling together the proximal and distal components with freedom to articulate when, in use, a bending and/or torsional force is applied to the prosthetic limb only when the force exceeds a threshold safe level whereby the force may be accommodated by articulation within the attachment apparatus, wherein the coupling body has an automatically disengageable connector that couples together the proximal and distal components so that one is in a fixed angle relation to the other (e.g. axially aligned with or at a fixed angle of incline to the axis of the other) in normal use, but with freedom to articulate away from the fixed angle relation when, in use, a bending force is applied to the prosthetic limb only when the force exceeds a threshold level.
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23. An apparatus for attaching a prosthetic limb to the bone of a patient to failsafe if excess force is applied to the limb, the apparatus comprising:
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a proximal component to mount to a bone implant; a distal component to mount to a prosthetic limb; and a coupling body coupling together the proximal and distal components with freedom to articulate when, in use, a bending and/or torsional force is applied to the prosthetic limb only when the force exceeds a threshold safe level whereby the force may be accommodated by articulation within the attachment apparatus, and wherein the coupling body has a clutch-like mechanism to rotationally couple the prosthetic limb to the bone implant in use but which automatically disengages, rotationally decoupling the prosthetic limb from the bone implant, when torque applied to the prosthetic limb exceeds a predetermined threshold and wherein the apparatus has adjustment means whereby the threshold level of torque on the prosthetic limb that will cause disengagement of the clutch-like mechanism may be increased or decreased.
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Specification