Electromechanical back brace apparatus
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A back brace apparatus comprising:
- a brace body adapted to be wrapped around the trunk of a patient, said brace body comprising two separate segments;
means at the end of each brace segment for allowing the two ends to be detachably connected together around the patient'"'"'s trunk; and
,means for automatically tightening the brace comprising a cable operatively connected to said two segments, a motor operatively connected to apply tension to said cable, means for controlling said motor, a reduction gear train connected to said motor, a worm attached to said gear train, a worm gear engaged with said worm, a spool connected to said worm gear to which is attached one end of the cable with the other end of the cable affixed to the other brace segment so that operation of the motor shortens or lengthens the cable in order to tighten or loosen the brace.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A back brace apparatus disclosed which has electromechanical means for tightening a brace around the trunk of a patient to a desired tension. The electromechanical means is controllable by the patient to effect predetermined tension settings. A cable and pulley arrangement tightened by a motor provides a mechanical advantage so that the brace may be tightened by a small motor. A microprocessor controls the motor to obtain the desired repeatable tension settings.
124 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A back brace apparatus comprising:
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a brace body adapted to be wrapped around the trunk of a patient, said brace body comprising two separate segments; means at the end of each brace segment for allowing the two ends to be detachably connected together around the patient'"'"'s trunk; and
,means for automatically tightening the brace comprising a cable operatively connected to said two segments, a motor operatively connected to apply tension to said cable, means for controlling said motor, a reduction gear train connected to said motor, a worm attached to said gear train, a worm gear engaged with said worm, a spool connected to said worm gear to which is attached one end of the cable with the other end of the cable affixed to the other brace segment so that operation of the motor shortens or lengthens the cable in order to tighten or loosen the brace. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A back brace apparatus comprising:
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a brace body adapted to be wrapped around the trunk of a patient, said brace body comprising two separate segments; means at the end of each brace segment for allowing the two ends to be detachably connected together around the patient'"'"'s trunk; and
,means for automatically tightening the brace comprising a cable operatively connected to said two segments, a motor operatively connected to apply tension to said cable, means for a set of pulleys mounted on each controlling said motor, and brace segment with the cable running through a pulley on each segment in alternation, shortening of the cable pulling the two brace segments together and tightening the brace with the aid of a mechanical advantage dependent upon the number of pulleys mounted on each brace segment.
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7. A back brace apparatus comprising:
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a brace body adapted to be wrapped around the trunk of a patient, said brace body comprising two separate segments; means at the end of each brace segment for allowing the two ends to be detachably connected together around the patient'"'"'s trunk; and
,means for automatically tightening the brace comprising a cable operatively connected to said two segments, a motor operatively connected to apply tension to said cable, means for controlling said motor comprising a microprocessor for controlling the operation of the motor by controlling the number of revolutions made by the motor; and
means for inputting the number of revolutions made by the motor into the microprocessor;wherein the microprocessor can store for later recall the number of revolutions made by the motor, the stored number thereby constituting a position setting for the brace.
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8. A back brace apparatus comprising:
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a brace body adapted to be wrapped around the trunk of a patient, said brace body comprising two separate segments; means at the end of each brace segment for allowing the two ends to be detachably connected together around the patient'"'"'s trunk; means for automatically tightening the brace comprising a cable operatively connected to said two segments a motor operatively connected to apply tension to said cable, and means for controlling said motor; and means for automatically loosening the brace tension when the brace is taken off of a user comprising means to periodically sense the tension of the brace, means to store information of a last user input, means to compare tension of the brace with what it should be in accordance with the last user input, and means for spreading the brace segments when the tension sensed is substantially less than what it should be in accordance with the last user input. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. A back brace apparatus comprising:
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a brace body adapted to be wrapped around the trunk of a patient, said brace body comprising two separate segments; means at the end of each brace segment for allowing the two ends to be detachably connected together around the patient'"'"'s trunk; means for automatically tightening the brace comprising a cable operatively connected to said two segments, a motor operatively connected to apply tension to said cable, and means for controlling said motor; means for determining whether user has removed said brace without loosening the tension setting and for operating said means for controlling said motor to loosen said cable; and means for loosening the tension setting and unspooling the cable. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification