Rib belt

July 30, 1957

C. A. WILTROUT

2,800,902

RIB BELT

Filed Nov. 9, 1953

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2,800,902

Patented July 30, 1957

United States Patent Office

2,800,902 RIB BELT Creed A. Wiltrout, Milwaukee, Wis. Application November 9,1953, Serial No· 390,899 9 Claims. (CI. 128—167)

This invention relates to an improvement in rib belts and .deals' particularly with a belt designed to encircle the body just beneath the arms to hold the ribs in proper relation after one or more ribs have been broken or the rib muscles strained. - '

The breaking of ribs or, and straining of rib muscles are. relatively commonplace accidents. Under usual circumstances the ribs will heal and the muscles will heal properly if they are held in the proper position over a period of time. ..In the past it has been usual practice for the doctor treating a patient with broken ribs to apply adhesive tape over the rib area to hold the ribs in a set position during the. healing' operation. This adhesive .tape often causes severe skin, irritation and in some instances‘'the irritation caused by the tape is more painful to the patient than the broken rib or strained muscle.

A feature of the present invention lies in the provision of a belt which is particularly designed to encircle the '.chest. .‘Means are provided for' tightening this belt so that the ribs will be held in proper position during healing. The belt is mainly constructed of a fabric which will not irritate the skin even though the belt remains in place for a period: of several days.

A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a belt of the type described having a resilient insert therein. This insert normally extends from top to bottom of the belt in substantial alignment therewith or intermediate - the ends thereof and in the portion of the belt designed to overlie the back of the patient. This resilient insert is designed to permit the belt to snugly fit'about the chest and definitely prevents the bunching or bulging of the belt . When· this resilient insert is not present it is virtually impossible to secure the belt in such a manner that it will remain flat against the body while being worn. . The normal taper of the body makes it virtually impossible to draw'the belt properly about the body even though vertically spaced tightening elements are provided'. However, by providing the resilient insert in the belt at the point described the upper portion of the belt may expandmore than the lower portion so that the belt will fit properly regardless of the degree of taper of this portion of the body.

^: A further feature ^:of the present invention resides in the provision of a belt of the type described having a pair of straps secured to the belt on opposite sides of the resilient insert. . These belts are supported to cross upon the back of the wearer and to extend over the shoulders, the ends of the belt being secured through the front portion of the belt on opposite sides of the belt tightening. By mounting the supporting straps in this position ¹ the straps tend to contract the resilient portion of the belt.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a series of vertically spaced belt tightening elements which are located in the front of the belt by means of which the belt may be drawn tight about the body. These belt tightening means are located in such a manner that the belt can be easily tightened by the patient.

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An added feature of the present invention lies in the provision of a belt designed to encircle the body and which may be provided with a cut away portion in the upper edge thereof to fit beneath the bust portion of a 5 female body. The sides and the rear of the belt are of full height.

These and other objects and novel features will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of the specification:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of the belt in flat condition.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the belt encircling the chest of a male patient.

Figure 3 is a rear view of the belt applied to the body.

Figure 4' is a diagrammatic view of the belt as : it is constructed to fit the female body.

Figure 5 is a front'elevational view of the belt applied to a· female body, the rear view of the belt being similar 20 to Figure 3.

The belt A illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3, of the drawings is particularly designed to encircle the chest of a male. The belt includes: two elongated strips 10 and 11, in the same plane of alignment, of suitable webbing 25 or other fabric material. The material forming the portions 10 and 11 of the belt Is relatively nonresilient but the material is soft and flexible so as. not to irritate the portion of the body over which it extends. A'section'of elastic or resilient material 12 is inter³θ posed' substantially in the: same plane of alignment ..between the' adjacent ends of the . strips 10 and 11, and is secured thereto by binding tapes such as 13,-and 14. . The •elastic section 12 is'in that portion of :the belt A which is designed to overlie the back of the body. : -: :.

³³ A series of short fabric straps 15 are secured to the belt section 10 at a point spaced from the end 16 thereof. Straps 15 are shown connected to the belt .section .10 by rows of stitching 17. The ends of the straps 15 most remote from the end 16 of. the belt- section 10 are an⁴³ chored to the belt section by a tape strip 19 which extends transversely of the portion 10 or vertically on the belt A. -. ; ' .:

Each of the straps 17 supports a buckle element 20. These buckle elements may: be of any suitable type and ⁴⁰ are designed to engage a corresponding strap on the other end of the belt and to hold it in adjusted position..

A series of straps 21 arc secured to the. forward or free end portion of belt section11 at a. point in spaced 'relation to the end 22 of the belt Rectangular-areas of stitching 23 anchor the straps. 21 to the belt section 11. The straps'21 extend'substantially, .beyond the end 22 of the'belt so as to overlap the other end of the belt in actual operation. ‘ . .

__ By having the straps 15 and 21 anchored to the belt at points spaced from the ends of the belt, it is possible to have the belt: entirely encircle the body-so that the ends 16 and -22'are’ in overlapping relation.. These, belt ends are preferably provided with a; binding tape to prevent.the „„ ‘ tape from fraying and to reinforce the .same.

^b A shoulder strap 24 is'secured to the belt portion 10 at a point adjacent to the tape strip 13 connecting the section TO to the resilient- center section. : The . strap 24 is anchored at 25 by stitching, or the like, closely adjacent θ₅ to the upper edge 26 of the belt. The strap is anchored in such a Way as to extend upwardly at an angle to the vertical as illustrated in Figure 1.

A second shoulder strap 27 is anchored to the upper edge of the belt section 11 adjoining the tape 14 which 70 connects the section 11 to the elastic center section 12. This strap 27 is anchored at 29 and extends upwardly at an angle to the vertical so aS to cross the strap 24,

2.800,902

This particular arrangement of cross straps is of particular advantage in the specific arrangement illustrated as the straps are anchored at opposite sides of the elastic portion 12 and as any stretching of the resilient; center portion 12 tends to exert a pull upon the straps 24 arid 27.

A short strap 30 is secured in substantially vertical relation upon the belt section 11. The strap 30 is anchored by stitching, or other suitable means, at its lower end 31. A buckle 32, or other suitable belt holding means, is freely supported upon the upper edge of the strap 30 so that this strap may be secured to the shoulder strap 24. ·

A second strap 33 is supported upon the belt section TO and is anchored at its lower end as indicated at 34. The strap 33 supports at its upper end a buckle 35 of any suitable type to engage and hold the shoulder strap 27. , ;·· .-

In use the belt is worn as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings. The body of the belt is placed to encircle the chest just beneath the arms and the belt is then tightened by engaging the series of straps 21 in the buckles 20 supported by the straps 15. These belts 21 may be drawn up to apply the necessary tension against the body to hold the ribs and rib muscles in their proper place. As the straps 21 are tightened the elastic center portion stretches somewhat to cause the belt to conform with the shape of the body. Under usual circumstances the upper portion of the belt will have to expand more than the lower portion thereof and as a result the belt is of greater circumference at the top than at the bottom after it has been tightened.

The shoulder straps 24 and 27 are next placed over the shoulders and are secured to the cooperable buckles 32 and 35 so as to prevent the belt from moving downwardly. The straps thus prevent the belt from slipping down as the belt would otherwise tend to do when encircling a body which is smaller around the waistline than around the chest.

When the belt is positioned as described the elastic portion 12 will permit the belt to expand and contract to some extent but will resist expansion. Any expansion of the elastic section 12 of the belt exerts a pull upon the shoulder straps 24 and 27 and accordingly holding the belt from sliding downwardly. In practice it has been found that the elastic center section thereby places some slight tension upon the shoulder straps, this tension being insufficient to irritate the skin or to cause discomfort.

In Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings I disclose a modified form of belt B which is designed to fit about the female figure. In general the belt B is similar to the belt A but the forward portion of the belt is cut down somewhat to fit beneath the busts of the female figure. (

The belt B includes a belt section 36 and a belt section 37 in the same plane of alignment and which are formed of webbing, belting, or other fabric material, which is soft and flexible but is relatively inelastic. A central connecting portion 39 in alignment with the belt sections 36 and 37 is provided at the center of the belt which is formed of elastic or resilient fabric or other elastic material. The elastic section 39 is connected to the belt section 36 by suitable tapes 40 and is connected to the belt section 37 by similar tapes 41.

The end portions of the belt sections 36 and 37 which are most remote from one another in flat condition of the belt are provided with notches 42 and 43 which cut down the belt to approximately one-half its normal height. The notches 42 and 43 are defined by a substantially S-shaped curve, the center portion of which extends horizontally approximately midway between the upper and lower edges of the belt sections 36 and 37.

A pair of short straps 44 are secured in horizontal parallel relation to the belt section 10 at a point spaced from the end thereof by means of an anchoring tape 45. The belts 44 support buckles 46 which are designed to engage and hold a cooperable strap at the other end of the belt.

A pair of strips of fabric tape or other suitable material forming belt end 47 are anchored at their one end 5 to the belt section 37 at a point spaced from the forward portion or free end of the belt section 37. These belts 47 are designed for engagement into the buckles 46, at the forward portion or free end of belt section 36, so as to tighten the belt about the chest portion of the body 10 as is best illustrated in Figure 5 of the drawings.

A shoulder strap 49 is anchored to the belt portion 36 near the central elastic section 39 of the belt. The strap 49 is so secured as to extend upwardly diagonally across the center of the back. A similar shoulder strap 50 is 15 anchored at its lower end to the belt section 37 and extends upwardly in a diagonal direction to cross the strap 39. The straps 49 and 50 are designed to extend over the shoulders of the wearer.

As also indicated in Figure 4 of the drawings a pair 20 of short straps 51 and 52 are anchored to the belt sections 37 and 36 respectively near the notches 43 and 42 therein. The strap 51 is designed to engage the end of the shoulder strap 49 and is provided with a buckle 53 at its upper end for this purpose. The strap 52 is provided with a 25 similar buckle 54 to engage the shoulder strap 50 arid to hold the belt at a proper elevation.

We have found that the rib belts are extremely affective for their purpose, holding the ribs and rib muscles in proper position so that they can mend. The belt also 30 fits snugly against the body and is held from wrinkling by the elastic insert portion in the back of the belt. The shoulder straps fasten in the manner described and have ah unusual effect, the stretching of the elastic portion also tending to tighten these belts and to exert a ³³ pull thereupon,

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described the principles of construction and operation of my rib belt and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof I desire to have it understood that 40 obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.