Articulated Joint for Orthopedic Braces with Modular Stops
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional articulated joints for orthopedic braces are cumbersome, heavy, and difficult to adjust, limiting user comfort and increasing manufacturing costs due to their bulky components and complex adjustment systems.
Innovation Solution
The articulated joint design features lighter materials, such as aluminum alloy and plastic with stainless steel cores, and innovative stop mechanisms that unload counteracting forces onto an outer plate, allowing for simpler adjustment and reduced size, weight, and complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional articulated joints are designed with robust components and adjustment mechanisms, then strength and reliability are improved, but weight and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite construction by integrating stainless steel cores within plastic housing components. This allows the joint to achieve the strength and durability of metal while significantly reducing the overall weight compared to traditional all-metal articulated joints. The plastic exterior provides structural integrity and mounting surfaces, while the stainless steel cores reinforce critical load-bearing areas.
2Adaptability or versatility
If traditional articulated joints use pin insertion and removal for adjustment, then adjustability is achieved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to complexity and time required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the adjustment function from complex mechanical pin-based systems and implements it through simple removable stops. These stops can be easily taken out and replaced to adjust the range of motion without requiring insertion and removal of multiple pins or disassembly of the joint structure. This simplifies the adjustment process while maintaining adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustment mechanism is segmented into modular stops that can be independently selected and installed. Each stop corresponds to a specific range of motion setting, allowing users to quickly swap between different adjustment configurations without affecting other parts of the joint. This modular approach greatly improves ease of operation compared to integrated adjustment mechanisms.
3Reliability
If traditional articulated joints are designed for durability, then reliability is improved, but ease of manufacture worsens due to complex components
Solution Approach 1:
The composite design of plastic housings with stainless steel cores optimizes both manufacturing ease and reliability. The plastic components can be efficiently molded using standard injection molding processes, while the stainless steel cores can be separately manufactured and inserted. This division of manufacturing processes simplifies production compared to creating complex metal joints, while the reinforced core structure ensures long-term durability and reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
An articulated joint for orthopedic orthoses or braces, where the brace comprises rods for the tibia (51) and rods for the femur (52) and an articulated hinge (53) provided with four pivots designed to ensure the necessary mobility obtained by the presence of multiple centres of rotation, and where the articulated hinge (53) comprises two plates (55, 56) reciprocally connected by means of four quadrilaterally positioned hinging means such as rivets (57) or similar, in order to enclose the ends of the rods (51, 52) which face each other, wherein between the ends of the two rods (51, 52) there are spacers or stops (63), and where the outer plate (55) of the articulated hinge (53) presents openings (61, 62) in which are inserted pairs of stops (63) which limit the ROM of the joint.