Surgical appliance

Dec. 26, 1933.

1,940,904

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R. P. DAYTON ET AL

SURGICAL APPLIANCE

Filed Oct. 13, 1930

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Patented Dec. 26, 1933

1,940,904

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

1,940,904

SURGICAL APPLIANCE

Robert P. Dayton, Ridgeley, and-Oliver J. Dayton, Keyser, W. Va.; said Oliver J. Dayton assignor to L and Y Plumbing Co., Pinto, Md.

Application October 13, 1930. Serial No. 488,530

Claims.

The present invention relates to surgical appliances and has for its primary object to provide a device for returning certain of the bones of the human body, which have been displaced, 5 to their normal position and retain them in such position until they remain there naturally.

By reason of strains 'set up in the sacro-iliac region of the human body for various causes it quite often happens that certain of the bones in 10 this region become displaced. As a result of. this displacement a tension is placed On the muscles, nerves and ligaments associated with these particular bones .and cause considerable suffering to the patient. Attempts have been made to re15 lieve this condition by the use of elastic belts and the like, but such devices have proven ineffective, partly for the reason that the belts extend entirely around the patient’s body and any pressures applied at the proper points are counter20. acted by the pressure on the abdominal region.

An object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide an appliance which will exert the desired pressure at the proper points and at the same time be free of any movements of the ab25. doniinal region.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of such a device which will equalize the pressures on the affected parts and which may be readily adjusted by the patient to. obtain the 30 desired pressure.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which 35 Figure 1 is a plan view of the device partly in section, and showing in dotted outline the clamping element in partly open position.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the appliance as applied to a patient.

Figure 3 is a sectional view through one of the pads taken on line 3—3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of that portion of the appliance to which the clamping element is attached; and

Figure 5 is a similar view of the extensible connection between certain of the parts.

Referring to the drawing in more detail, the numeral 1 indicates two pads of sponge rubber or the like adapted to press on the ilium sec50 tion at the right and left sides of the human body, while the numeral 2 indicates a similar pad adapted to press on the sacrum section at the back of the human body. These pads are preferably provided with metal backings 3, by means 55 of which they may be loosely mounted upon a (Cl. 128—78) substantially U-shaped resilient member to be described..

This. U-shaped member is composed of two metal .sections. 4 and 5; the. section 4 being Iongitudinally slotted .as indicated by the.numeral 60 6 and. receiving two headed pins 7 formed on the adjacent .end of the member 5, By this means. a . slidable connection is made between the two sections and provide for the necessary adjustment between them to : adapt the device .65 . _: to persons of varying sizes and also to vary the . amount of pressure applied to the body. For the purpose of equalizing the pressures to be applied oil the sever al. regions affected, a pressure equal- . izer 8 is provided .and consists of a leaf spring riv- .70 eted or otherwise connected to the member 5 as indicated.by the numeral 9 and extending between, the Overlapping ends of the sections 4 and 5.

In a device of this kind it is highly desirable . that the construction and operation be relative- .75 ly simple in order that necessary adjustments may be made by the patient from time to time as desired, .and to this end a flexible hand 10 is provided for securing the .pads 1 in their proper relative position. This band has one end releasably 80. . secured to the section 4 by means of a conventional clamp 11 and is preferably threaded under a guide 12 for the purpose of retaining the band in proper relation to the sections 4 and 5.

The band is then threaded through an eye 13 of a 85 connecting link 14 pivoted to a clamping member 15. The band 10 is then returned upon itself and permanently secured to the section 4 as indicated by the numeral 16. It will be apparent, of course, that by releasing the clamp 11, the length of the 90. . bond may be readily varied so as to adjust the appliance to the particular patient or for the purpose of changing the pressure to be applied.

By ah inspection of Figure 1 it will be clear that the two ends of the connecting link 14 are 95 . disposed to the inner side of the pivot of the clamp member 15 when the latter is in clamping position, and for this reason the clamping member will be automatically retained in clamping position when its free end is swung against the 100 section 5 of the U-shaped member.

The pad 2 adapted to press upon the sacrum section of the body is preferably secured to the U-shaped supporting member 4—5 by tapes or the like 17; while the pads 1 which bear against 10.5 .. the right and left ilium are adjustably mounted on the free ends of the U-shaped member as by means of a threaded bolt 18 adapted to be received in any one of a plurality of spaced threaded openings 19 formed in the backing plate 3 of H9

1,940,904 the particular pad. Also, in order that the position of these pads 1 may be varied as regards the ends of the U-shaped member, these ends are slotted so that the bolt may be placed at any one 5 of a plurality of positions longitudinally of the section 4 or 5 as the case may be. It will be apparent, therefore, that a wide margin of adjustability is provided in connection with the pads 1 so as to best adapt them to the needs of the par10 ticular patient.

In the operation of the device the same is placed on the patient with the pad 2 bearing on the sacrum section of the body and the pads 1 on the right and left ilium. The clamp 11 is 15 raised so as to permit the band 10 to be adjusted to the proper length and the clamp 11 is then returned to clamping position. The clamp 15 is now moved to clamping position and thus causes a relative movement between the two sections 4 20 and 5 and brings the pads 1 into proper position to cause the necessary pressure on the right and left ilium; and in this connection it is to be noted that the pressure equalizer 8 provides the necessary resiliency to cause the equalizing of the 25 pressure of these two pads and the pad 2 on the bone structure. It will thus appear that the adjustment and operation of the clamping device is extremely simple and may be readily attended to by the patient, thus permitting its removal ₃₀ and replacement from time to time as desired, as well as permitting the necessary adjustment to afford the desired pressure on the affected parts.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing it will 35 be apparent to those skilled in the art that we have devised an exceedingly simple construction of surgical appliance which is especially adapted to relieve disorders and derangement of the sacro-iliac region of the human body; that it is so 40 constructed as to provide the desired pressure on the sacrum and right and left ilium so as to relieve the tension on the muscles, ligaments and nerves of this region; that it is adapted to be readily and simply applied and removed by the 45 patient; that it is readily adjustable to suit varying needs; and that it is so designed as to leave free the abdominal portion of the body, and thus avoid interference with the proper functioning of these organs. 80

In accordance with the patent statutes we have described what we now believe to be the best embodiment of the invention, but we do not wish to be understood thereby as limiting ourselves or the scope of the invention, as many 85 changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention; and all such we aim to include within the scope of the appended claims.