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:
Jul. 26, 2011
Filed:
Sep. 09, 2005
David Sheehan, County Waterford, IE;
Morgan Tierney, County Offaly, IE;
David Sheehan, County Waterford, IE;
Morgan Tierney, County Offaly, IE;
Fastform Research Limited, County Waterford, IE;
Abstract
A protective and/or splint device, for example a distal radial splint device (), comprises a protective and/or splint member () and a spacer member (). The protective and/or splint member () comprises a composite protective and/or splint material and is formable at a forming temperature and is substantially rigid at ambient temperature. The material comprises a polycaprolactone and a ligno-cellulose additive material. The protective and/or splint member () comprises a mesh of elements (), with a plurality of openings () through the protective and/or splint member (). Away from the periphery of the splint member (), the openings () are diamond-shaped. Two border elements () extend along the two sides of the periphery of the splint member (). The three point bending strength to openness ratio of the member is greater than 0.1 and the unidirectional bending strength to openness ratio of the member is greater than 4. This results in a device () with sufficient strength, which is breathable with open surfaces, and the volume of material used is optimized. The strength of the member () parallel to the longitudinal direction of the arm is greater than the strength parallel too the circumferential direction. At the forming temperature the member () is stretchable. The member () is rounded between the outer surface of the member () and the edges around the openings ().