Untitled record

Application filed August 17, 1885. Serial No. 174,596. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, John Wentworth Tuttle, of Watertown, in the county of Middlesex, of the Commonwealth of Massachu5 setts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Crutch-Feet; and I do hereby declare the same, to be described in the following specification and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which— io Figure 1 is a front elevation, and Fig. 2 a vertical and transverse section, of a crutchfoot embodying my invention, the nature of which is defined in the claims hereinafter presented. Figure 3 is a front view of the stem, 15 the metallic foot, and the tapering spiral spring connecting such foot and stem.

In such drawings, A denotes the lower portion of the staff of a crutch, it being extended within and fixed to a metallic thimble, B, 20 which goes across the lower end of the staff.

The-stem C, screw-threaded, screws into the head of the thimble and extends up into the staff. On one side of the stem the screw-. threads are filed or cut down to a flat surface 25 on each, as shown at b, for. the inner end of a set-screw, a, to bear against to keep the stem from revolving. This set-screw is screwed laterally into the thimble and against the flat part b of the stem. The lower end of the 30 stem is stepped in a metallic foot, c, such foot being connected to the stem by a tapering or conical spiral spring, d, that circumscribes the stem, the said spring at or near its lower end being fastened to the foot. At its upper 35 end the spring is fastened to the stem. The spring not only connects the stem to the foot, but allows the stem to swing laterally on the foot. Covering the foot and stem is a shoe, O', of vulcanized india-rubber, such shoe be40 ing formed as represented, and having within it an insole or disk, d, of metal. The disk has projecting downward from it at its center a spur or metallic point, e, that extends ) through the sole/ of the shoe, such point or | 45 spur being to prevent the shoe from slipping on a slippery floor or pavement. An auxiliary shoe or cap, D, of vulcanized india-rubber, formed as represented, encompasses the stem and the upper of the shoe C, and con50 tracts closely upon both, and when the crutch is in use yields readily to the lateral movements of the stem without becoming disen gaged from it or the shoe. The cap covers the shoe, so as to exclude from it and the stem, foot, and spring within it, all dust and moist- 55 ure. The screw-threaded stem and the thimble enable the crutch-foot to be adjusted nearer to or farther from the staff, as may be required by a party using the crutch.