The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 23, 2010
Filed:
Jul. 19, 2007
Richard M. Greenwald, Norwich, VT (US);
Jeffrey J. Chu, Norwich, VT (US);
Alexander W. Jessiman, Wilmington, DE (US);
Aaron T. Buck, West Lebanon, NH (US);
David W. Bertoni, Beverly Farms, MA (US);
Joseph T. Gwin, White River Junction, VT (US);
Richard M. Greenwald, Norwich, VT (US);
Jeffrey J. Chu, Norwich, VT (US);
Alexander W. Jessiman, Wilmington, DE (US);
Aaron T. Buck, West Lebanon, NH (US);
David W. Bertoni, Beverly Farms, MA (US);
Joseph T. Gwin, White River Junction, VT (US);
Simbex LLC, Lebanon, NH (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a novel means of joint and body protection using engineered textiles to provide dynamic kinematic control within the device itself and for the underlying body part. The apparatus may be used in apparel or orthosis wherein a textile is organized about the proximal and distal aspects of a joint or body part and uses the mechanical and material characteristics of the engineered textile to dynamically control the kinetics of the body part and more specifically to prevent the body part from reaching extremes in range of motion. The engineered textiles can be designed to provide non-uniform increases in stiffness in any direction. The engineered textile may incorporate strain or strain rate dependant materials in which case stiffness properties would vary non-uniformly with velocity and/or acceleration within the device allowing for protection from blunt trauma, blast, or ballistic events anywhere on the body. A further aspect of the present invention is to provide a novel means of dynamically fitting and anchoring apparel, orthosis, body protection devices or other objects that need to be securely fixed to the body anatomy during joint flexion or extension, by using motion at a body joint to actuate a closure mechanism and bracing system that actively closes upon the body anatomy surrounding the joint and transfers loads created during dynamic restraint of the joint to anchor zones on the body.