Surgical brace

Oct. 1, 1957

2,808,050

T. C. WARD

SURGICAL BRACE

Filed July 27, 1954

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United States Patent Office 2308,050 . Patented Oct. 1, 1957

2,808,050 SURGICAL BRACE Thomas C. Ward, Waco, Tex. Application July 27,1954, Serial No. 446,123 10 Claims. (Cl. 128—78) strap members 44 and 46 are secured to the stay. The upper end of each of the pads 30 and 32 is provided with a further anchoring member 48 by means of which the . opposite ends of the straps 44 and 46 are attached thereto. 5 A further flexible strap 50 is secured to the upper end of one of the pads and extends therefrom for connection with a buckle 52 secured to the upper end of the other pad.

m ^^{ree en&lt;}^^s °£ band 28 carry a flexible strap to member 54 and a buckle 56, respectively, by means of which the lumbar support pad assembly 58 is attached to the band.

A metallic anchor strap 60 is secured to the free end of the strap 54 and carries at its opposite end a flexible strap 15 62 for cooperation with the buckle 56, as will be readily apparent. A pair of lumbar pads 64 and 66 are secured to the metallic strap 60 and each will be seen to consist of an elongated, vertically disposed backing strip on ^{68 havmg a} Protective body engaging pad 70 secured ^M thereto and it is to be noted that each backing strip is slightly arcuated and is secured at substantially its midpoint to the strap 60 for a purpose which will become presently apparent.

In use, as shown most clearly in Figure 2, the sternal and pubic support pads are engaged against the proper portions of the user’s body and the strap 62 is engaged with the buckle 56 to secure the device and obtain the proper amount of hyperextension. Thereafter, the strap 50 is engaged with the buckle 52 to complete the proper ^u positioning of the torso side support pads 30 and 32. A further flexible strap 72 is secured at one end to the anchor member 74 at the lower end of the stay 10, and its free end is engaged with the buckle 76 to complete the securement of the brace assembly.

³⁵ The stay 1© is, of course, of relatively rigid metallic construction, and it is to be noted that the provision of the hinge means 20 and 22 for connection thereto of the sternal and pubic support pads 12 and 14 permits these pads to flatly engage against the portions of the wearer’s body with which they come into contact without digging or gouging thereagainst and without the necessity of bending the stay 10 to shape for permitting their flat contact engagement. Furthermore, it will be seen that the band 28, being relatively flexible to twisting motion, in effect movably carries the torso side support pads 30 and 32 to permit their proper alignment with the wearer’s body once the strap 50 is secured. The pads 64 and 66 are, or course, arranged on opposite sides of the wearer’s spine, and due to their connection with the remainder of the brace by means of the straps 54 and 62, are rigidly but flexibly connected therewith such as to afford the maximum of comfort to the wearer. In fact, all the pad assemblies of the brace are movably connected with respect to the rigid brace frame and with respect to each other to properly engage the wearer’s body with a minimum of discomfort.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 4, the modification therein shown will be seen to consist of a sliding joint connection in the upper end of the main portion of the brace framework. The main portion is indicated by the reference numeral 78 and an extension therefor 8® carries the pad 82 which is identical in all respects to the previously described pad 12 and corresponds thereto. The connection between the brace portion 78 and the extension 80 is effected by means of a rectangular sleeve or collar 84 which embraces both of these members and is rigidly secured to one, such as the extension, by rivets or fasteners 86. A setscrew 88 is threadedly carried by the sleeve and bears against member 78 to maintain the adjusted connection therebetween.

It is, of course, appreciated that the brace portion 78 and the extension 80 are thus slidably interconnected .

This invention relates to surgical braces, and has for its primary object the provision of an improved form of back brace employing the three-point leverage principle.

The brace is particularly adapted for use in maintaining desired degrees of hyperextension of the lower dorsal and lumbar portions of the spine, following reduction of compression or wedged fractures of one or more of the vertebral bodies from the middorsal through the last lumbar segment, without the inconveniences encountered in the use of plaster casts. The brace is particularly adapted to provide a greater degree of comfort to the wearer than previously developed devices of this general nature by the provision of the simplest and lightest kind •of framework which carries various support pads thereon in such a manner that the pads readily adapt themselves to the portions of the user’s body against which they are engaged, this being accomplished, more specifically, by a movable connection of the pads to the frame.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved brace;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the brace as applied to the body of a wearer;

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the lumbar support pads; and . Figure 4 is an elevational view showing a modification m the brace construction.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 indicates the main portion of the brace framework which takes the form of a substantially rigid, vertical stay member which carries a sternal support pad assembly 12 at its upper end and the pubic support pad assembly 14 at its lower end. These assemblies embody relatively rigid backing plate members 16 and 18, respectively, which are secured by means of the respective hinges 20 and 22 to the opposite ends of the stay such that they are connected thereto about horizontal or transverse pivot axes. The body contacting portion ⁰⁰of each respective pad is provided with a layer of resilient material 24 or 26. The body contacting portions 24 and 26 are preferably formed of felt, sponge rubber or other similar soft material, and it is to be appreciated that these portions are to be made sufficiently thick as to prevent ⁵⁵discomfort to the wearer.

Somewhat below the midportion of the stay 10 is attached a semi-circular resilient band member 28 such that its opposite end portions trail behind and stay in waist encircling relation thereto, and the opposite ends of this ⁶⁰band carry the right and left torso side supports pads 30 and 32, respectively. Each of the torso side support pads embodies a metallic backing plate 34 provided with a resilient, body engaging pad or layer 36 similar to the previously mentioned sternal and pubic support pads. The lower ends of the backing plates 34 are rigidly connected to the rree ends of the band 28 and these pads, being vertically arranged, extend upwardly from the band in the manner shown. Attached to the stay 10 above the band 28 at substantially the height of the upper ends of 70 the pads 30 and 32 is a strap anchoring member 38 by means of which metal loops 40 and 42 of a pair of flexible

2,808, 050 such that the vertical height of pad 82 may be varied to properly fit the user.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation ot the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary.