US 11,752,022 B2
Thermoformable semi-rigid orthoses
Thierry Fontaine, Marsanne (FR)
Assigned to MILLET INNOVATION, Loriol sur Drome (FR)
Appl. No. 15/735,212
Filed by MILLET INNOVATION, Loriol sur Drome (FR)
PCT Filed Jun. 7, 2016, PCT No. PCT/FR2016/051355
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 11, 2017,
PCT Pub. No. WO2016/198778, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 15, 2016.
Claims priority of application No. 15 55282 (FR), filed on Jun. 10, 2015.
Prior Publication US 2018/0168840 A1, Jun. 21, 2018
Int. Cl. A61F 5/01 (2006.01); A61D 9/00 (2006.01); B29C 51/02 (2006.01); B29C 51/26 (2006.01); B29C 51/42 (2006.01); B29L 31/00 (2006.01)
CPC A61F 5/0104 (2013.01) [A61D 9/00 (2013.01); A61F 5/0106 (2013.01); A61F 5/019 (2013.01); A61F 5/0109 (2013.01); A61F 5/0111 (2013.01); A61F 5/0118 (2013.01); B29C 51/02 (2013.01); B29C 51/264 (2013.01); B29C 51/421 (2013.01); B29L 2031/753 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An orthosis for maintaining a limb or joint of a human or a vertebrate animal, the orthosis comprising:
a sleeve formed of a single piece of elastic fabric shaped to compress the limb or the joint,
a plate made of a thermoformable material which is in a malleable state at a temperature between 65 and 75° C. and in a rigid state at a room temperature, and
a pocket formed on the sleeve and configured to receive the plate, the pocket having a shape corresponding to a shape of the plate,
wherein
a surface of the plate is covered with a coating, the coating being configured to prevent threads of the elastic fabric from being embedded in the plate, the embedding resulting from a thermoforming operation of the plate, the thermoforming operation including placing the orthosis on the limb or the joint with the plate in the malleable state in the pocket, the prevention of embedding enabling relative movement of the plate with respect to the elastic fabric forming the pocket when the plate is in the pocket during and after the thermoforming operation, and
the sleeve is configured to provide a suitable tension around the limb or the joint, during the thermoforming operation which shapes the plate in the pocket to a morphology of a region of the limb or joint where the plate is applied, and when the sleeve is worn at the room temperature with the plate in the rigid state in the pocket.