US 12,121,466 B2
External ankle brace
Michael W. Bean, South Bend, IN (US); and Frederick John Ferlic, South Bend, IN (US)
Assigned to TAYCO BRACE, INC., South Bend, IN (US)
Filed by TayCo Brace, Inc., South Bend, IN (US)
Filed on Nov. 14, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/986,290.
Application 17/986,290 is a continuation of application No. 17/345,103, filed on Jun. 11, 2021, granted, now 11,497,644.
Application 17/345,103 is a continuation of application No. 15/642,430, filed on Jul. 6, 2017, granted, now 11,413,180, issued on Aug. 16, 2022.
Application 15/642,430 is a continuation in part of application No. 15/074,339, filed on Mar. 18, 2016, abandoned.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/135,823, filed on Mar. 20, 2015.
Prior Publication US 2023/0071044 A1, Mar. 9, 2023
Int. Cl. A61F 5/01 (2006.01); A43B 7/20 (2006.01)
CPC A61F 5/0127 (2013.01) [A43B 7/20 (2013.01); A61F 5/0195 (2013.01)] 46 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An external ankle brace for restricting movement of an ankle in a first direction and permitting movement of the ankle in a second direction, wherein said external ankle brace is disposed on the exterior of a shoe and the shoe has a heel portion, a sole, and oppositely disposed sides, comprising:
a rigid heel enclosure having a rear portion and a forward portion, said rear portion for receiving the heel of the shoe, said forward portion having a medial sidewall and a lateral sidewall for surrounding the sides of the shoe, the medial and lateral sidewalls being cantilevered from the rear portion of the rigid heel enclosure, the medial and lateral sidewalls each being configured to extend from the heel portion of the shoe in a longitudinal direction beyond a talus of a wearer's foot and toward the toes, each of the medial and lateral sidewalls being at least partially located adjacent to an instep area of a corresponding medial or lateral side of the shoe;
a lateral upright extension movable to and from a perpendicular orientation relative to said rigid heel enclosure and pivotally attached to said lateral sidewall;
a medial upright extension movable to and from a perpendicular orientation relative to said rigid heel enclosure and pivotally attached to said medial sidewall;
a lower fastening system comprising at least one connecting strap for connecting said lateral sidewall to said medial sidewall underneath the sole of the shoe forward of the talus of the wearer's foot, the lower fastening system being the only structure connecting the lateral and medial sidewalls underneath the sole of the shoe such that a portion of the sole of the shoe configured to be underneath a heel of the wearer's foot is exposed to ambient space beneath the shoe; and
an upper fastening system comprising at least one connecting strap for removably connecting said lateral sidewall to said medial sidewall across the top of the shoe, the at least one connecting strap being fixed to at least one of the medial or lateral sidewalls,
wherein, when viewed from the bottom, the rigid heel enclosure forms a U-shaped body, and
wherein the external ankle brace is configured so that at least a chosen one of the lateral or medial upright extensions is selectively pivotally attached to a corresponding lateral or medial sidewall, the chosen one of the lateral or medial upright extensions including a pivot prevention feature configured to selectively prevent pivoting of the chosen one of the lateral or medial upright extensions with respect to the corresponding lateral or medial sidewall and thus maintain the chosen one of the lateral or medial upright extensions in a vertical orientation substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.