US851950A - Ankle-supporter. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED APR. 30, 1907.

R. F. LE MAT. ANKLE SUPPORTER.

APPLICATION IILED DBO. 27,1906.

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PATENT OFFICE.

OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ANKLE-SUPPORTER.

Specification of Letters Patent- Patented April 30, 1907.

Application filed December 27,1906. Serial No. 349,646.

To all wlwm it ml/Ly concern.-

Be it known that I, RAOUL F. LE M T, a citizen of the United States, residing in lVashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Ankle-Supporters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in ankle supporters adapted particu larly for the use of athletes.

The object of my invention is to provide a device of this character in which the seam or stitching uniting the parts are located over the depression in the ankle in the rear of the ankle knuckle or protruding bones, thus avoiding the irritation or galling which occurs when the seams are located over a part of the ankle on which the supporter presses or which moves with the use of the joint.

A further object of my invention is to provide, in a device of this character, a soft nonirritating piece at its rear, adapted to bear upon the cords of the feet at the rear of the heel, and another object is to provide a more simple, cheap and effective supporter which is readily adjusted to the contour or shape of the ankle and afford reinforcement therefor.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention: Figure 1 is a side elevation; Fig. 2 is a rear elevation; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation showing a modification.

As shown in the drawings, my supporter comprises the upper or ankle portion 1, and the foot portion 2, having the openings 3 and i for the heel and foot respectively.

It is preferably made of a single piece of tion-elastic material, leather being preferred, stitched with a single seam 5 adjacent to the .ear of the ankle portion, and is laced over ;he instep of the foot and front of the ankle, "or which purpose it is slit down the front at 5 and provided with eyelets 7 adjacent to the :dge of the slit.

In articles of this character as heretofore :onstructed, the seam or stitching uniting i he upper or ankle portion has been located 11 the rear thereof, thereby locating the cam immediately over the large tendon or rd at the back of the ankle. The enlargement and irregularity in the inner face of the supporter at the back of the heel usually produced an unpleasant effect upon that part of the foot which would be irritated by the friction caused by the action of the foot.

In my improvement, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, one side of the ankle portion is enlarged and the opposite side reduced, whereby the enlarged side laps over the rear of the ankle and is united with the opposite side by a seam located over the depression in the ankle back of the knuckle.

In the modification shown in Fig. 3, the extension or flap 8 of the enlarged side of the ankle portion, is made of a soft non-irritating material, which is stitched thereto by a seam 10 also located over the depression on the side of the ankle.

In use, the supporter is tightly laced on the foot and ankle to provide reinforcement .for a weak 01' injured ankle, and the effectiveness of the supporter is greatly enhanced by eliminating the irritating seam over the tendon at the rear of the ankle.

The means for carrying out the herein described invention will be readily understood upon reference to the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings, and it will be appreciated that the parts and combinations employed may be varied from the specific exempliiications thereof shown and described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and Letters Patent, is

An ankle supporter comprising an ankle part and a foot part having openings for the foot and heel and a slit and lacings in the front thereof, said parts being .made of nonelastic material united by a seam located on the side of the supporter between the ankle joint and the back of the heel, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses:

RAOUL F. LE MAT. lVitnesses:

N. S. FAUoET'r, RALPH WV. SIMONS.

desire to be secured by.

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