US734926A - Artificial foot. - Google Patents

Description

I No. 734,926. PATENTED JULY 28, 1903.

W. I. MUMBERG.

ARTIFICIAL FOOT.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 30, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

Ice. 734,926.

UNITED STATES rammed July as, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM F. MUM-BERG, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS;

ARTIFICIAL FOOT;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 734,926, dated July 28, 1903 Application filed April 30,1903. Serial No. 155,073. (No model.)

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM F. ll/IUMBERG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Artificial-Foot Construc:

tion; and I do hereby declare the following to,

vide an artificial member of the character specified which will possess a maximum degree of flexibility and power to yieldingly conform to the various movements of the limb to which it is secured consistent with a proper location or disposition of the foot at all times, therefore insuring that all blows and jars incident to the use of the member will be reduced to a minimum and a natural carriage or action of the limb to which the foot is secured shall be attained.

A further object of my invention is to insure a perfect union of the various parts composing the foot and at the same time provide for natural relative movements of all of the component parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically set forth, reference being had to. the accompanying drawings, which are made a part of this application, and in which Figure 1 shows a longitudinal central section of myimproved artificial foot. Fig. .Zis a sectional view of the foot, taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. at is a detail view of a mud or shield disposed around the ankle portion, and Fig. 5 a plan view of the bolt used in connecting the parts together.

In order to conveniently designate all of the various details of my invention and accessories deemed necessary to show a practical application thereof to use, numerals will be employed, the same numeral referring to a similar part throughout the several views.

In carrying out my invention I provide the member 1, designed to constitute the central portion of the foot proper, which is preferably formed of some rigid substance, as wood or the like, and this central member 1 is Wholly embedded in or surrounded by a suitable material, as composition of canvas and rubber, (indicated by the numeral 2 in Fig. 1,) it being understood that the composition forming the member 2 should be ofjproper resilient or yielding character.

I provide for the upper side of the member 2 a convex or raised portion, as indicated by the numeral 3, said raised portion 3 being designed to fit in a suitable concavity provided upon the under side of the rocker 0r ankle section 4, which latter is preferably formed. of some hard substance, as hickory wood, hard rubber, or other suitable material, it being understood that the contour or outline of the rocker or member 4 shall conform in symmetry to the ankle portion of the foot. The ankle portion or rocker-section 4 is also provided with a substantially centrally disposed aperture in which is located acushion of rubber or other resilient material, as indicated by the numeral 5, and through said cushion 5 and the raised member 3 I extend the lower end of the bolt or connecting-rod 6, which also reaches down through a suitable aperture in the central core 1, upon the lower side of which the T-head 7 of the bolt is disposed, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. I also provide the ankle-section proper, 8, which is preferably hollow and is so formed as to have the horizontal section or cross-bar 9 near its upper end, said cross-bar being provided with an aperture to receive the upper end of the bolt or connecting-rod 6, said bolt being also of suificient length to extend through the resilient cushion 10, of rubber or the equivalent. The extreme upper end of the bolt is threaded and adapted to receive the clamping-nut 11, a suitable Washer 12 being interposed between the nut and the cushion 10. By adjusting said nut up or down the action of the foot may be regulated-that is, when the nut is tightened or turned down upon the bolt the rocker 4 will be held more firmly against the flexible member 2, thus limiting the rocking movement of the rocker 4 and adapting the movement thereof for slow walking, and when the nut is turned up or loosened the rocker 4 is given freer movement and adapting the foot for long strides or fast walking. In this construction the cushion 10, in conjunction with the bolt 6 and rocker 4, will regnlatethe action of the ballof the foot and lower part of the heel, the same as if flexible cords or the like were used to connect the parts, as indicated by the dotted lines 13 and 14, and the cushion 5, in conjunction with the bolt and rocker, controls the action of the instep and upper portion of the heel in like manner, as shown by the dotted lines 15 and 16. Inasmuch as the members 1, 4, and 8 are thus separately formed, it follows that they will possess the requisite amount of relative movement and at the same time all'of said parts will be reliably able to perform their office, while the cushioning members 5 and 10 will permit a free flexing of the toe of the foot sufficient to closely counterfeit the movements of the natural foot.

In order to present a neat and attractive appearance for the parts to cover the point of union of the ankle member 8 through the mediation of the rocker-section 4 with the foot proper, I provide the mufi or shield-sec tion 18, (shown as an entirety in Fig. 4,) consisting of a piece of suitable sheet metal extending entirely around the ankle-section and overlapping each other upon the rear side, where the free ends may be secured in any preferred way, as by riveting, brazing, or by passing screws through the apertures 19 and 20, as will be clearly understood. This shield also serves to keep the foot portion from turning and getting out of alinement with the ankle portion.

Itwill thus be seen that I have provided the component cooperating parts of an artificial foot, which will possess the requisite degree of mobility for imitating the movements of the natural foot to the fullest possible extent, and while I have described the preferred combination and construction of parts I wish to comprehend such substantial equivalents and substitutes as may be considered as falling fairly within the scope and purview of my invention.

Believing that the construction and manner of assembling the variousparts of my improved artificial foot have thus been made clearly apparent, further description is deemed unnecessary.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The herein-described artificial foot comprising the combination of a central member proper 1 formed of relatively hard and rigid substance and a covering for said part of yielding material formed of rubber and canvas or the equivalent; an ankle portion of relatively hard substance as hickory wood or the like; a raised member fitting a concave seat in the under side of the ankle member; an ankle-section proper fitting upon the ankle member and adapted to have a slight relative movement therewith; a connecting-rod yieldingly uniting said parts; suitable cushionin g devices for said parts cooperatin g with said rod whereby the foot proper will be held in a natural position though permitted to yieldingly conform to the movements thereof incident to the use, all combined substant-ially as specified and for the'purpose setforth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM F. MUMBERG.

\Vitnesses:

RICHARD A. PEAKE, JOHN DROHN.

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