Other

Aspen Laboratories, Inc.

Exoflex, Inc.

Design Medical, Inc.

William L McCune

Michael E Berkeley

David P Harris

Robert R Oden

Mark L Purnell

Eric A Sampson

A knee brace includes a thigh cuff having inner and outer spaced brace arms adapted to extend along the user's thigh toward the knee, a calf cuff including inner and outer spaced brace arms adapted to extend along the user's calf toward the knee, and floating pivot axis hinges rotatably connecting the inner and outer brace arms of each pair. The hinge is formed by a pair of juxtaposed hinge plates, each having a pivot face in opposition to a pivot face ont he juxtaposed plate, with a concave groove in each of the face. A pivot bearing ball is confined between the opposed faces and retained in the concave grooves. A spring, bellville spring, or disk spring biases the hinge plates together when the pivot bearing ball is positioned in the opposed grooves between. The pivot bearing ball provides a floating pivot axis for hinge rotation of said hinge plates and thereby said braces relative to each other, the ball and concave grooves allowing the hinge plates simultaneously to slide and pivot relative to each other. The pivot axis floats between the hinge plates depending on the degree of pivoting and sliding movement in a wearer' s knee joint as a result of flexion thereof.

Floating pivot hinge and knee brace

A bicycle pedal is mounted on a spindle secured to a crank arm. A pedal platform has a stepped upper surface. A cycling shoe is provided with a cleat section extending under the ball area of the cyclist's foot. The cleat section is provided with a stepped surface that is complementary with the stepped surface of the pedal. These complementary stepped surfaces include risers and steps that interlock or matingly engage when the shoe is pressed downwardly onto the pedal. When the risers of the shoe and the pedal matingly engage, they permit rearward and downward thrust of the shoe against the pedal to rotate the crank arm in the customary direction for driving a chain of the bicycle. Apertures provided in the pedal between the risers permit debris from the stepped surface of the shoe to fall through the pedal and not interfere with the mating engagement of the pedal with the shoe. A scraper blade secured to the rear of the pedal allows a cyclist wearing a cycling show to scrape the show clean and to otherwise additionally engage the shoe to the pedal to assist in rotating the crank arm.

Bicycle pedal and shoe having mating stepped surfaces

A knee brace includes a thigh cuff having inner and outer spaced brace arms adapted to extend along the user's thigh toward the knee, a calf cuff including inner and outer spaced brace arms adapted to extend along the user's calf toward the knee, and floating pivot axis hinges rotatably connecting the inner and outer brace arms of each pair. The hinge is formed by a pair of juxtaposed hinge plates, each having a pivot face in opposition to a pivot face on the juxtaposed plate, with a concave groove in each of the face. A pivot bearing ball is confined between the opposed faces and retained in the concave grooves. A spring, bellville spring, or disk spring biases the hinge plates together when the pivot bearing ball is positioned in the opposed grooves between. The pivot bearing ball provides a floating pivot axis for hinge rotation of said hinge plates and thereby said braces relative to each other, the ball and concave grooves allowing the hinge plates simultaneously to slide and pivot relative to each other. The pivot axis floats between the hinge plates depending on the degree of pivoting and sliding movement in a wearer' s knee joint as a result of flexion thereof.

Apparatus and methods for use in performing surgical operations such as anterior or posterior cruciate ligament reconstructions wherein the apparatus has means for positioning a target area at the center of an arc of a circle so that when the target area is positioned at a location relative to the anatomical center of the original attachment of the cruciate ligaments on the tibia and femur bones, kirschner wires may be pushed through guide means having a longitudinal axis coinciding with a ray emanating from the center of the circle and indicate the proper location for holes in the tibia and femur for the proper attachment of a cruciate ligament graft substitute. The apparatus is also used in the placement of kirschner wires to serve as guide wires in the performance of an osteotomy.

Apparatus and method for use in performing a surgical operation

Apparatus and methods for use in performing surgical operations such as anterior or posterior cruciate ligament reconstructions wherein the apparatus has means for positioning a target area at the center of a an arc of a circle so that when the target area is positioned at a location relative to the anatomical center of the original attachment of the cruciate ligaments on the tibia and femur bones, kirschner wires may be pushed through guide means having a longitudinal axis coinciding with a ray emanating from the center of the circle and indicate the proper location for holes in the tibia and femur for the proper attachment of a cruciate ligament graft substitute. The apparatus is also used in the placement of kirschner wires to serve as guide wires in the performance of an osteotomy.

This invention relates to a new control valve intended to be used to control the supply and exhaust of fluids to a dual tourniquet system. The tubes supplying and exhausting the tourniquets are of a flexible nature, and as such may be squeezed to stop the flow of fluids therethrough. The inventive valve includes cam members with camming projections formed thereon at various predetermined positions on the circumferences thereof. Simultaneous rotation of the cam members by a control knob results in sequential filling and emptying of the tourniquets in a predetermined sequence. The valve is especially useful in the practice of the Bier block procedure.

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Denver, CO, United States of America

William L McCune