US3454002A - Orthopaedic splint - Google Patents

Description

y 1969 F. M. WESTLAKE ETAL 3,454,002

ORTHOPAEDI C SPLINT Filed Feb. 28. 1966 INVENTORS FRANK M. WESTLAKE FIG4 United States Patent 3,454,002 ORTHOPAEDIC SPLINT Frank M. Westlake, Oakville, Ontario, and Gabriel J. M. Van Der Heyden, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, assignors to Westlake-Van Der Heyden & Co., Oakville, Ontario,

Canada Filed Feb. 28, 1966, Ser. No. 530,672

Int. Cl. A61f /04 US. Cl. 128-87 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An improved orthopaedic splint is adjustable in length and has locking means locking the splint in any one of several predetermined lengths. The splint according to the present disclosure includes a pair of limb supporting members which are both divided into a tubular portion and a rod portion which is slidable within the tubular portion to adjust the length of the splint. Locking means is provided for locking the first tubular members relative to the circular rod members and then this locking means is adapted to be easily disengaged in response to circumferential relative movement between the tubular member and the rod member while exhibiting considerable resistance to longitudinal relative movement between the tubular member and the rod member when the detent is in position within a recess.

This invention relates to an orthopaedic splint.

In particular this invention relates to an orthopaedic splint which is adjustable in length and adapted to be easily located in an operative position.

Known orthopaedic splints are of a very simple construction and include a continuous limb encircling ring and a pair of non-extendable limb support members extending from the limb encircling ring and interconnected at their lower end to be disposed in an operative position relative to the limb. In order to ensure the availability of splints to suit limbs of various lengths it is necessary for hospitals and other medical centres to carry a very large stock of splints. Furthermore, as the known splints have a continuous limb encircling ring at their upper end it is necessary to pass the ring over the entire length of the limb in order to locate the splint in its required operative position. This can be a very awkward process and can cause unnecessary suifering to the patient resulting from movement of the limb. Considerable time is also wasted in selecting the required size of splint from a group of various sized splints.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an orthopaedic splint which is adjustable in length to accommodate various limbs.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a splint which can easily be located in an operative position.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a splint which includes a pair of adjustable limb support members adapted to be adjusted to vary the length of the support members and a limb encircling member including at least two releasably connected elements adapted to be released to facilitate the location of the splint in a required operative position.

With these and other objects in view the present invention provides an orthopaedic splint comprising a pair of limb supporting members having adjustment means to permit adjustment of the length of the support members as required in use and means for maintaining the support members in an operative position to support a limb.

Another embodiment of the invention provides an orthopaedic splintcomprising a pair of limb supporting members having means for maintaining said support members in an operative position to support a limb, said means in cluding an upper limb encircling means comprising at least two releasably connected elements releasable to receive a limb therebetween and connectable to encircle a limb.

The invention will be more clearly understood after reference to the following detailed specification read in conjunction with the drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a pictorial view of an adjustable splint according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a partial view of the upper end of the splint of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view of the telescoping connection of the splint of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 showing the method of releasing the adjustment means.

With reference to FIGURE 1 of the drawings it will be seen that the reference numeral 10 refers generally to an orthopaedic splint used to provide support for a limb such as the leg outlined in broken lines at 12.

The splint 10 comprises upper limb encircling means 14 which includes a bridge element 16 and a releasable element 18 connectable with one another as will be described hereinafter.

A pair of limb supporting members generally indicated at 20 are connected to the limb encircling member 14 at their upper ends and extend downwardly therefrom to be connected at their lower ends by means of a bridge 24. The bridge 24 and the limbs encircling member 14 serve to dispose the limb supporting members 20 in the required operative position relative to the limb 12.

An important feature of the present invention lies in the provision of adjustment means in each of the support legs 20 to permit the length of the splint to be adjusted to accommodate various limbs. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated each of the support members 20 include an upper rod member 26 which is rigidly connected to a hollow tubular member 28 by rivets 30. The support members 20 also have lower rod members 32 which are adapted to fit within the bore of the tubular members 28 in a close fitting sliding relationship. It will be apparent from the aforegoing that the length of the splint can be adjusted by telescoping the rod members 32 within the tube members 28. In order to lock the relatively telescoping elements in a required position the rods 32 are provided with a plurality of recesses 34 which are adapted to receive a ball 36 which is carried by the tubular members 28. A sleeve 38 of an elastic material surrounds the ball and tubular members 28 in order to maintain the ball 36 in its required position and to apply a force to the ball tending to seat the ball in the recesses 34.

Turning to FIGURE 4 of the drawings it will be seen that the opening 40 provided in the tubes 28 is of a greater diameter than the ball 36' so that the ball may be moved outwardly of the recess 34 as required. The ball 36 is seated in the recess 34, thereby locking together the tube 28 and the rod 32 to prevent longitudinal telescoping of these members relative to one another. Any attempt to telescope the tube 28 and rod 32 in a longitudinal direction when the ball 36 is in the position shown in FIGURE 4 of the drawings requires the ball to rise out of the recess 3'4 and due to the sharp lip of the recess in the longitudinal direction, excessive force, such as that not normally experienced by a splint in use would be required.

In FIGURE 5 of the drawings it will be clearly seen that the recess 34 is provided with areas 42 which serve to reduce the elfective depth of the recess 34 in a circumferential direction relative to the rods 3-2. Due to the reduction in effective depth of the recess 34 it requires only a moderate force to rotate the tube 28 relative to the rod 32 and thereby displace the ball 36 from the recess 34. When the ball 36 is disengaged from the recess 34 the rod 32" is free to telescope relative to the tube 28 to locate the ball 36 in any of the plurality of recesses 34 provided in the rods 32. It has been found that this adjustment can be made very easily by firmly securing the lower end of the splint, as by standing on it, and rotating the upper limb encircling means 14. This has the effect of twisting the entire assembly and causing relative rotation between the tubes 28 and the rods 32. The force required to effect adjustment is dependent upon the effective depth of the recesses 34 and the force applied by the elastic sleeve 38.

In FIGURE 2 of the drawings the limb encircling means 14 is shown in detail as comprising a bridge member 16 which interconnects the rods and a removable connecting element 18. The provision of a completely removable element 18 permits the splint to be used in the manner of the known splint which do not completely embrace the upper end of the limb and it simplifies the handling of the present splint. Also elements 18 of various sizes can be employed as required in use. A feature of the bridge member 16 is the provision of a flattened area which has been formed to increase the comfort of the patient when in a reclining position, At the junction of the bridge member 16 and the rods 20' there is a substantially U-shaped bend 44- which cooperates with the free ends 46 of the member 18 as shown at 48 to form the limb encircling means 14. The free ends 46 of the member 18 are bent upon themselves to lock within the U-shaped bend 44 and are released by deflecting the member 16 with respect to the member 18. The provision of a releasable element as a component of the limb encircling means permits the splint to be located in its required position with the releasable element disconnected and then to connect the releasable element to complete the splint. This construction has considerable advantage over the known construction wherein it has been necessary to pass the limb embracing ring over the entire length of the limb to its required location, The known splints are awkward to work with and can cause unnecessary suffering to the patient in the process of locating the splint in its required position.

The known splints are generally used in conjunction with a sling and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the known slings can be used with the splint of the present invention. The conventional type of padding may also be employed around the limb encircling elements 16 and 18. In the drawing, plastic sleeves 50 and 52 are shown surrounding the elements 16 and 18 to prevent direct contact between the limb and the metal frame.

Other embodiments and modifications of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In particular it will be apparent that alternative manually releasable telescoping support members may be employed to permit the effective length of support members to be adjusted as required. Also it will be apparent that the limb embracing member may employ alternative means for releasably connecting the two halves thereof.

What we claim is:

1. In an adjustable orthopaedic splint the improvement comprising: a pair of limb supporting members each having a first hollow tubular section and a second circular rod section adapted to telescopically slide within said first section to vary the effective length of said limb supporting members, locking means for locking said second rod member within said first tubular member to prevent relative longitudinal and rotational movement of said second rod member within said first tubular member in any one of several predetermined positions providing several predetermined lengths of said limb supporting members, said locking means including a plurality of recesses formed in each of said second members at predetermined intervals along the leng h of said second members, passage means extending through each of said tubular' members and adapted to be aligned with the recesses formed in said second members, a detent member slidably mounted in said passage means, a sleeve of elastomeric material surrounding said tubular member and said detent member and urging said detent member into engagement with a recess formed in said rod member, said sleeve of elastomeric material being resiliently deformable to permit said detent member to move radially out of engagement with said locking recess to permit telescopic length adjustment of said splint, each of said recesses having detent restraining wall portions disposed opposite one another and spaced longitudinally of said second sections adapted to react against said detent to exert a substantial and uniform resistance to the initial displacement of said detent required to permit longitudinal relative movement between said first and second members when said detent is located in any one of said recesses, and each of said recesses having detent restraining wall portions disposed opposite one another and spaced circumferentially of said second sections and adapted to react against said detent to exert a resistance to relative rotational displacement of said second member to said first member which is substantially less than the resistance to telescopic expansion and contraction of said first and second member whereby length adjustment may be readily effected by rotating said first member relative to said second member to displace said detent and then telescopically moving the first member relative to the second memher.

2. An orthopaedic splint as claimed in claim 7 wherein said detent members have a curved surface disposed toward said circumferentially spaced detent restraining walls of said recess and said circumferentially spaced detent restraining walls of said recess being substantially shallower than said longitudinally spaced detent restraining walls of said recess whereby said detent may easily be removed from said recess by relative rotational movement between said first and second members causing said detent to rise out of said recesses and pass over said shallow walls.

3. In an adjustable orthopaedic splint the improvement comprising: a pair of limb supporting members each having a first hollow tubular section and a second circular rod section adapted to telescopically slide within said first section to vary the effective length of said limb supporting members, locking means for locking said second rod member within said first tubular member to prevent relative longitudinal and rotational movement of said second rod member within said first tubular member in any one of several predetermined positions providing several predetermined lengths of said limb supporting members, said locking means including a plurality of recesses formed in each of said second members at predetermined intervals along the length of said second members, passage means extending through each of said tubular members and adapted to be aligned with the recesses formed in said second members, a detent member slidably mounted in said passage means, a sleeve of elastomeric material surrounding said tubular member and said detent member and urging said detent member into engagement with a recess formed in said rod member, said sleeve of elastomeric material being resiliently deformable to permit said detent member to move radially out of engagement with said locking recess to permit telescopic length adjustment of said splint, each of said recesses having detent restraining wall portions disposed opposite one another and spaced longitudinally of said second sections adapted to react against said detent to exert a substantial and uniform resistance to the initial displacement of said detent required to permit longitudinal relative movement between said first and second members when said detent is located in any one of said recesses, and each of said recesses having detent restraining wall portions disposed opposite one another and spaced circumferentially of said second sections and adapted to react against said detent to exert a resistance to relative rotational displacement of said second member to said first member which is substantially less than the resistance to telescopic expansion and contraction of said first and second member whereby length adjustment may be readily effected by rotating said first member relative to said second member to displace said detent and then telescopically moving the first member relative to the second member, and limb encircling means at the upper end of said splint comprising: an upper bridge member formed integrally with and connecting the upper ends of said limb supporting members and extending substantially normal to said limb supporting members and having a suflicient extent to encircle a substantial portion of a limb, each end of said bridge member being joined to said limb support members by a substantially U-shaped connector portion, and a detachable substantially seIni-circular limb encircling member having free ends each bent radially inwardly upon itself to form a shoulder detachably engageable within each of said U-shaped connector portions to form a complete limb encircling member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner. JOHN D. YASKO, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

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