Otto Bock Orthopaedische Industrie Besitz- Und Verwaltungs-Kommanditgesel

Peter Gammer

Heinz Broeckl

Hans Dietl

A forearm lifter for assisting in the articulation of a mating forearm part of an arm prosthesis with respect to a mating upper arm part about at least one elbow axis is disclosed. The forearm lifter includes: (i) a spring element; (ii) a mechanism having an input and an output, with the spring element directly or indirectly applying a tensile force to the input of the mechanism; and (iii) a tension element having one end acted upon by the output of the mechanism, and having another end which can be fastened at a fixed point on said mating upper arm part. The fixed point and the elbow axis define a torque lever, such that the force that is transmitted through the mechanism from the spring element applies torque to the mating upper arm part in such a manner that the curve of the torque acting at the fixed point, plotted against the angle of articulation of said forearm part, is approximately parabolic. The torque has its minimum values in both the forearm extended position and at maximum forearm bending. The torque has its maximum value when said upper arm mating part and said forearm are at approximately 90.degree..

Forearm lifter

An inner hand as an orthopedic fitting part of thermoplastic for accommodating a hand mechanism is disclosed. The inner hand has an annular groove which is made on the end portion of the hand and into which a ring which fixes the inner hand on the hand mechanism is inserted. To improve the functioning of the inner hand, a two-component sandwich design is proposed, the utilization region of at least the thumb and index finger being harder than the remaining hand element.

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Vienna, Austria

Peter Gammer