Importance

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Abstract

An ankle brace for limiting flexing and pivoting movement of the ankle joint. The brace includes a soft resilient sock and a pair of brace panels positioned and retained over the sock on opposite sides of the ankle and foot. Each panel is formed by a pair of brace sections hinged together by a floating pivot axis hinge. The hinge includes a pair of juxtaposed hinge plates adapted to pivot and slide with respect to each other. One of the plates is secured to the ankle section of the brace and the other is secured to the foot section of the brace. Each plate defines a pivot face, with a concave groove defined in each face. The concave grooves are normally positioned at right angles with respect to each other when the pivot faces are juxtaposed. A single pivot bearing ball is positioned between the opposed pivot faces and retained in the concave grooves. A spring resiliently biases the hinge plates together against the ball pivot bearing. A second spring biases the plates for relative sliding movement. The pivot bearing ball and grooves provide a floating pivot axis for hinge rotation and sliding movement of the hinge plates, and thereby the brace sections, relative to each other. A post-injury sleeve is provided to cover the wearer's ankle after injury to provide some support thereto and/or to hold an ice pack against the swollen ankle. A kit for ankle support includes the ankle brace and a post-injury sleeve. A method for aiding the healing of an injured ankle includes the use of a post-injury sleeve and a brace.

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First Claim