Protectors And Knee Guards

Abstract

Our invention covers a protector and knee guard primarily intended to prevent or lessen the tendency of athletes to suffer knee injuries and for pre-and-post-operative protection, stabilization, and support in rehabilitation treatment; it comprises essentially an encasement with suitable protection for the knee, both front and side portions thereof and supporting oppositely disposed elastic members for the limbs above and below the knee with several modifications including but not limited to "SNAP-ON" pockets for the insertion of sponge rubber or other material for the protection of the knee.

Description

The invention relates to the protection of the knee parts and to the areas above and below the knee. A primary object is to provide maximum protection to the knee cap and parts of the knee and vulnerable spots above and below the sides of the knee, for participants of any sport, including but not limited to the sports of football, baseball, basketball, soccer, skiing, hockey and rugby.

Another object is for use by crippled and disabled persons for pre-and-post-operative protection, stabilization, and support in rehabilitation treatment. Other objects will be manifest.

Said knee guard is so designed and constructed as to help prevent injuries, with a minimum or no restriction to movement of the athlete in whatever sport in which he or she participates.

The manner in which maximum protection with the least movement restriction is accomplished is fully explained in the following description with reference to functional parts as shown in the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of our protector and guard.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of our invention.

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation thereof.

FIG. 4 is a horizontal section-taken on line 4--4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section-taken on line 5--5 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of snap-on pocket modification.

FIG. 7 is a front elevation of the modified form of our invention.

FIG. 8 Horizontal section-taken on line 8--8 of FIG. 6

FIG. 9 Top plan of modified knee cage

FIG. 10 Front elevation of modified knee cage

FIG. 11 Side elevation of modified knee cage

FIG. 12 Side elevation of inside of snap-on pocket flap

FIG. 13 Top plan of pocket flap

FIG. 14 side elevation of inside of pocket flap for second modification

FIG. 15 exploded perspective of second modification

FIG. 16 fragmentary assembly view of upper and lower pivotal protective strips

FIG. 17 side elevation of FIG. 16

FIG. 18 fragmentary assembly view of upper and lower pivotal protective strips in approximate 65.degree. knee bend position

FIG. 19 front elevation of second modification

FIG. 20 side elevation with breakaway

FIG. 21 horizontal section taken on line 21--21 of FIG. 20

FIG. 22 side elevation of invention in full knee bend position

Referring to the drawings, the guard unit 20 consists of the elastic support 22 which is made an integral part of the knee protector by adhesion to the inner surfaces 30,31 of knee cage 24, said elastic being free of the front and knee cap guard part 25 of cage 24. Elastic support 22 also has a cut-out 21 in rear portion, more clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, for ease of slip-on and less movement restriction. Said elastic extending 7 or 8 inches above and 2 or 3 inches below the knee cage 24. The cage 24 which is contoured to the shape of a knee, custom made to individual or general sizes as small, medium or large, is made of spring or resilient material such as spring steel, rubber, formed leather, "Teflon" or other forms of plastic. The sides of the cage 24 are formed with partial pockets 32,34, said pockets open at top and rear and receive two separate pieces 36 and 38 referred to as pivotal guard strips which are interchangeable. Each pivotal guard strip is shaped so that the lower and round portions 37,39 slip into aforementioned pockets 32,34 and are spoon shaped and contoured to the same contour as the pockets 32,34 and inner cage walls 26, 27. The upper portions of the pivotal guards are strips 28,29 extending from lower rounded parts 37,39 which nestle in side packets 32,34 upward 5 or 6 inches or more along each side of the thigh portion of the leg and below top of elastic support, so that the wearer may fold top of elastic support downward over top of side strips, anchoring said pivotal strips 28,29 in a manner in which they would respond to the movement of the leg, thus transmitting the motion to the cup-like parts 26,27 of the pivotal guards inside of their respective pockets. Above described anchoring means is mentioned as just one way of accomplishing this. Other means such as pocket inserts, separate straps, etc. may be used.

Referring back to the structural details of the knee cage guard we refer to the front and knee cap protective portion 25. Said portion is slightly extended forward of knee cap with enough clearance as at 33 for full knee bend as shown in FIG. 4. Also adhered to the inside portion of knee cap guard part 25 are split sponge rubber pads 23,23.sup. 1 for added protection. Cap guard portion 25 of cage 24 is provided with vertical and horizontal slits for more flexiblity.

The wearer of the knee protector has the options of removing the pivotal guards and utilizing the pocket space as a buffer against damaging blows to the knee, or inserting foam rubber pads into pockets 32,34 minimizing the force of the blow.

POCKET SNAP-ON MODIFICATION

In FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 is shown the snap-on pocket modification 50, wherein the cage 51 is structurally the same excepting for the pocket flaps 52,54 comprising the left and right sides of cage 51, respectively. Flaps 52 and 54 each has a number of male or female snap parts of conventional snap fasteners.

For simplicity of description and clarification there are shown three female parts of fasteners 61, 62 and 63. The mating part, in this case, the male part of fasteners 61', 62', and 63' are depicted in FIGS. 8, 9, 10 and 11.

Knee protector unit 50 consists of elastic support 22, with cut-out 21, and adhered to inside surface of walls 56,58 of cage 51 and free of the knee cap protective part 55 and sponge rubber 53, as shown in FIG. 8.

Round portions 37,39 of pivotal guard strips 36 and 38 are inserted into pockets 64 and 66 which in this case are formed by snap-on flaps 52,54 recessed as shown at 57, FIGS. 12 and 13, to receive round portion of guard strips and contoured in cage walls 56,58. Upper portions 28, 29 of the pivotal guard strips extend upward along each side of the thigh portion of the leg and elastic support anchored by any one of the means previously described, thus transmitting the motion to the cup-like parts 37,39 located in pockets 64, 66. Again there is the option of removing pivotal guards and utilizing the pocket space as a buffer or inserting foam rubber pads.

It is now apparent that the snap-on pocket modification as illustrated and described accomplishes the desired protection of the knee and related area with a minimum restriction to movement without departing from the scope of the invention.

KNEE BRACE TYPE MODIFICATION

In yet another modified form 100 as shown in FIGS. 15,16,17,18,19,20 and 21 the desired protection of the knee and related areas is accomplished with a varied type of pivotal guard units 70,80 and the use of modified snap-on pocket flaps 90,92, wherein snap fasteners 61,62 and 63 are located forward of flap recesses 91, 93, forming partial pockets open at the top, bottom, and rear as shown at 95 in FIGS. 14 and 20.

Upper pivotal guard unit 70 consists of an elastic band 71, or could be a spring metal band to encircle the thigh of the leg L1.

Attached to each side of this band, herein referred to as an elastic band, are rigid spring members 72,74, made of metal or plastic, terminating as rings 73,75 wherein the Upper and forward sectors of the circumference have larger thicknesses, as shown at 76 and 77.

In cooperation with upper pivotal guard unit 70 is lower pivotal guard unit 80, wherein a metal, plastic or elastic band 81, hereon referred to as elastic, are rigid spring members 82, 84 adhered or attached by conventional means to 81. The extremeties of 82, 84 terminate in round drum like members 83,85. Rings 73,75 and drums 83,85 are slightly spoon shaped to conform with the contours of sides 94,96 of cage 97. Drum like members 83,85 have a slightly smaller diameter than inside diameters of rings 73,75 and a slightly larger thickness than sectors 76,77 of rings 73,75. Said drum like members being inserted from inner sides of rings 73,75 and units 70 and 80 being adjusted on thigh L.sub.1 and below the knee L.sub.2 so that drum and ring assemblies are located in center of the sides of the knee, best illustrated in FIG. 20. Assembled units 70 and 80 are put on over stocking or elastic support. Knee cage 97 is then slipped over the knee and under ring and drum assemblies. Cage 97 may be slipped on with or without flaps 90,92, flaps 90,92 and recesses 91,93 forming pockets for pivotal ring and drum assemblies.

Motion of L.sub.1 or L.sub.2 is transmitted by rigid members 72,74,82 and 84 to pivotal ring and drum members 73,75 and 83, 85 respectively. Wider sectors 76,77 of rings 73,75 bearing on outside and upper circumferential surfaces of drums 83 and 85 supply stabilizing brace-like added support.

Cage 95 is designed and structurally similar to the previously described knee cages, affords the protection of the knee from injury in pre-and-post-operative rehabilitation treatments.

Strips 72,74,82 and 84 afford support and protection of areas above and below the knee. By no means is this modification limited to rehabilitation patients, as illustrated in FIGS. 16,17 and 18, the pivotal means are not restrictive and could be used in the world of sports. Although by structure and design the modified forms vary, FIG. 22 is illustrative of all forms of the invention in a full knee bend position.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained, and since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A knee protector and guard comprising: a cage made of semi-rigid material for wearing on the knee joint, said cage including a front portion positioned over the knee cap and two side portions, each secured to the front portion and extending around the sides of the knee joint, said front portion formed with slots cut in its face to increase flexibility; and a woven elastic covering which surrounds the leg above and below the knee joint, said covering including an intermediate joining member secured to the cage for holding the cage at the joint position.

2. A protector and guard as claimed in claim 1 wherein pads of sponge material are positioned between the side portions and the elastic covering.

3. A protector and guard as claimed in claim 1 wherein each side portion is formed of two layers of semi-rigid material and a layer of sponge material is positioned between said layers.

4. A protector and guard as claimed in claim 1 wherein said slots in the front portion are in the form of a cross, thereby producing four flexible slabs, each an integral part of the cage adjacent to the edge of the front portion.

5. A protector and guard as claimed in claim 1 wherein said side portions include additional hinged flaps and snap-on fasteners for holding pads of resilient material.

6. A protector and guard as claimed in claim 1 wherein said elastic covering includes a cut out portion opposite the knee to facilitate bending the joint.

7. A protector and guard as claimed in claim 1 wherein said elastic covering includes an upper cylindrical portion for surrounding the upper limb, a lower cylindrical portion for surrounding the lower limb and two side strips of flexible material joining the two coverings, each of said strips including a pivotal hinge whose axis of movement is aligned with the axis of the knee joint.

8. A protector and guard as claimed in claim 7 wherein each of said pivotal hinges includes a flat circular disk and a ring which fits over the disk, said hinges positioned contiguous with the side portions of the cage and knee.

9. A protector and guard as claimed in claim 8 wherein said rings include wider sectors on the upper ring surfaces for increasing the stabilizing support of the circular discs.