Artificial ankle, artificial foot and artificial leg

申请公布号：: US9204979(B2)
申请号：: US201113979249
申请日期：: 2011.01.11
申请公布日期：: 2015.12.08
申请人：: FALZ & KANNENBERG GMBH & CO. KG;NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
发明人：: Starker Felix;Schneider Urs;Hansen Andrew H.;Childress Dudley S.;Pauli Joachim;Pauli Carsten
分类号：: A61F2/66;A61F2/68;A61F2/50;A61F2/60;A61F2/74
主分类号：: A61F2/66
代理机构：: Jacobson Holman, PLLC.
代理人：: Jacobson Holman, PLLC.
地址：: Brandis DE
摘要：: The present invention relates in the field of orthopedics to an artificial ankle which imitates the natural human gait in a proper way, thereby enabling its user to walk not only in a plane environment but also uphill and downhill without any unpleasant effects. The present invention further relates to an artificial foot and an artificial leg containing said artificial ankle.
主权项：: 1. Artificial ankle (3) comprising a housing (4) comprising a hollow body (40) for retaining a hydraulic fluid, the hollow body (40) having an inner face, at least a part thereof having a cylindrical surface area (41); a vane type piston (50) arranged in the hollow body (40), the vane type piston (50) being pivotable about the rotational axis of said cylindrical surface area (41) in a sealing manner with at least said cylindrical surface thereby separating in a fluid tight manner both sides of the vane type piston (50), and the vane type piston (50) having an aperture (502) to allow fluid to move between both sides of the piston (50); at least one gravity controlled means (7) for opening or closing said aperture (502); the piston (50) having a supporting element (51a, 51b, 507) at at least one of its axial ends, the supporting element (51a, 51b, 507) being arranged in a fluid tight sealing manner in order to retain said hydraulic fluid within the hollow body (40); and attachment means (6) for attaching a shank to the artificial ankle (3), said attaching means (6) being fixed to the at least one supporting element; wherein the vane type piston (50) and the gravity controlled means (7) are configured to close said aperture (502), when the attachment means (6) is in a position so as to fix a shank in a substantially vertical position; and the hollow body (40) comprises a separating member (42) configured to separate the inner volume of the hollow body (40) in two separate partial volumes (43, 44), the partial volumes being separated from each other in a fluid tight manner, the partial volumes (43, 44) being bordered each by one side of the vane type piston (50).