Knee Pads

For those who must work in a kneeling position, knee pads are a necessity.

While the ideal knee pad provides that the weight of the wearer will be transmitted directly to the surface on which the user is kneeling, see my co-pending application Ser. No. 40,046, filed Apr. 16, 1987, such knee pads are relatively expensive when compared to typical knee pads which only cushion the knees and are held in place by pairs of straps. Such straps, if tight enough to hold the knee pads in place during use, are usually a cause of discomfort.

The general objective of the present invention is to provide knee pads which, without requiring the use of buttocks supports substantially free the knees from the wearer's weight while in kneeling positions.

In accordance with the invention, this objective is attained with a knee pad having a flat bottomed support underlying a concavity for the knee cap and a substantial adjacent length of the tibia, the support also has a leg-receiving channel inclined upwardly away from the plane of the flat bottom and towards the foot and extending beyond the support and terminating adjacent the instep of the shoe on that foot in a manner permitting the flexing thereof. The depth of the concavity is such that the thickness of the cushioning material is enough greater than that on which the lower leg rests so that the weight of the wearer is primarily borne by the portion of the lower leg overlying the support.

Knee pads in accordance with the invention, due to the taper of a lower leg caused by its calf and the necessity of avoiding straps in contact with the leg, are provided with cuffs of a flexible, hard surfaced material between the flat bottomed support and the free end of the channel. Each cuff has first and second end portions. The first end portion is shaped and dimensioned to be wrapped about the lower leg and dimensioned to fit against substantially the entire length of the downwardly tapering portion of the calf and the second end portion of the cuff is shaped and dimensioned to overlie the first cuff portion, pulled to fit the first portion against the calf, and then releasably anchored. The thus fitted knee pad is prevented from movement relative to the lower leg by the supporting engagement of the lower or free end of the knee pad with the instep of the footwear being worn.

The snug fitting of the knee pad to the lower leg can be attained by offsetting the effect of the thickest part of the calf as by means of a protuberance on or attached to the channel adjacent its free end. In practice, an obtuse angular relationship is required between the first and second end portions of the cuff and the use of such a protuberance can be avoided by suitably decreasing the angle between the end portions of the cuff.

Another important objective of the invention is to enable such knee pads to be sufficiently flexible to ensure maximum comfort in use.

To that end, the portion of the support underlying the knee-receiving concavity has upper and lower sections interconnected in a manner enabling them to be flexed relative to a transverse hinge line. This objective is also attained with respect to the lower end of the channel by enabling the lower end to be flexed along transverse lines.

Other objectives of the invention and the manner in which they are attained will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment and the appended claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention of which

FIG. 1 is a side view of the knee pad attached to the lower leg of a person in a kneeling position;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the knee pad as seen from its undersurface;

FIG. 3 is a section taken lengthwise of the knee pad;

FIG. 4 is a transverse section of the knee pad taken through the flat bottomed support;

FIG. 5 is a somewhat schematic view of a modified form of the invention in which there are right and left knee pads;

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the knee pad components;

FIG. 7 is a side view of a device suitable for use in securing the cuff when fitted to the leg;

FIG. 8 is a view, similar to FIG. 1, illustrating another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a bottom plan view of the knee pad of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of a cuff in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.

The knee pad illustrated by the drawings has a flat bottomed support, generally indicated at 10, which includes an upper or forward section 11 and a lower section 12. The flat bottom is covered by a non-slip, non-marring layer 13 having sides and ends anchored to the sides and ends of the support 10. Three-ply polynitrate is a satisfactory material for that purpose.

The inner surface of the upper section 11 is a concavity 14 which is shaped and dimensioned to accommodate the knee cap and an adjacent portion of the tibia. The inner surface of the lower section 12 of the support establishes a seat 15 which is arcuate in cross section and inclined away from the plane of the flat bottom and from the concavity. It will be noted that the sections 11 and 12 are separated by a transverse shoulder 16 exposed in the concavity 14. The seat 15 is of sufficient length to underlie a substantial lengthwise portion of the tibia.

A channel 17 receptive of the lower leg has its upper end anchored to the seat 15 by screws 18 and its lower end is shown as terminating in an outwardly flared fork 19 shaped and dimensioned to straddle the shoe on the wearer's foot and permit it to be flexed in a normal manner. Adjacent the fork 19, the channel 17 has an underlying protuberance 20 which tapers downwardly and outwardly towards the fork as an offset to the calf.

The cavity 14 has a first layer 21 of cushioning material, felt for one example, which fills it to the level of the shoulder 16 and a second like layer which fills the cavity to the level of the proximate one of the series of cushioning layers 21, 22 and 23 which line the channel 17. The cushioning layer 23 extends beyond the free end of the channel to engage or be engaged by the shoe. As each knee pad is to accommodate a kneecap and extend to the ankle of the wearer, it is the practice, if the knee pads are made in but one size, to have the knee pads of a predetermined maximum length with the channel 17 cut back to have the knee pad of the correct length for a particular user before boring the holes in its upper end for the screws by which the channel is secured to the support 10.

In order to attach the knee pad to a lower leg of the wearer, a cuff generally indicated at 24, of a flexible, hard surfaced material such as a high density polyethylene, has its central portion connected to the channel 17 between the protuberance 20 and the support 10. The end portions 24A and 24B have an obtuse angular relationship as will be apparent from FIG. 6. Such a relationship is shown for the purpose of illustrating a general requirement that when the end portion 24A is wrapped about the calf, it will fit against the downwardly tapering length thereof as the end portion 24B is pulled over the end portion 24A between its guides 25 in a manner drawing the layer of cushioning material 26 with which the end portion 24A is provided snugly against the calf. The end portion 24B is then releasably locked against movement by means next to be described.

Reference is made to FIG. 7 wherein a toggle joint, generally indicated at 27, is shown having an operating lever 27A pivotally connected at one end to a mount 27B which is anchored to the central portion of the cuff 24, see FIG. 2. A link 27C is pivotally connected to an intermediate part of the lever 27A and is provided with the strap 28 shown as having transverse shoulders 28A.

A latch, generally indicated at 29, has its base 29A attached to the end portion 24B of the cuff close to its free end. A catch 29B is pivotally connected to the base 29A and is biased by the spring 29D to bring its locking end 29C into its operative position against the trailing margin of the base. The catch 29B is opened by manually depressing the other end thereof to enable the free end of the strap 28 to be passed through the latch and exposed and pulled until the end portions of the cuff have been fitted about the leg with the catch locking the strap against movement. During the fitting the cuff 24 to the leg, the toggle joint is open and when the strap 28 has been pulled to fit the cuff to the leg, the toggle joint is closed to effect a snug fit of the cuff.

As illustrated by FIG. 5, the knee pads may be made in pairs differing only in that the long axes of the concavities of each pair inclined slightly towards each other.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated by FIGS. 8-10 is generally similar to that previously described and hence will not again be detailed except for important structural differences. Corresponding parts, however, are identified by the same reference numerals which are distinguished by the prefix addition "A".

An important feature of the support A10 is that it consists of upper and lower sections 30 and 31 interconnected at 32 which is a web if the support A10 is molded from a plastic such as to permit the connecting web to be flexible. The adjacent margins of the sections 29 and 30 are shown as diverging to an extent permitting the sections to flex to the wanted extent during use. The sections 30 and 31 are each provided with a layer of three ply polynitrate.

Another important feature illustrated by FIGS. 8-10 is that the lower end of the channel A17 includes a series of transversely aligned slots 35 separated by a web 33. The lower end of the channel A17 is thus sufficiently flexible that the the exposed cushioning layer 23A may engage the instep of the shoe and flex freely in response to foot movements.

Another feature of the knee pad A10 is that the cuff A24 has its end portion A24A disposed at an angle relative to transversely positioned toggle joint A27 as is the section 34 which is angularly joined to the end portion A24B. While the cuff A24 is not drawn to scale it illustrates one enabling a snug fit of the cuff to be attained without a protuberance.

FIG. 10 illustrates a cuff which is sufficiently similar to those previously shown and accordingly like reference numerals are employed to designate corresponding parts but they are distinguished by the letter prefix "B". In this embodiment a tapering member B20 which is to become a protuberance, the cuff B24 and the toggle joint B27 are joined together when secured to a knee joint channel in a wanted position.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that with a knee pad attached to a lower leg and with the user in a kneeling position, substantially all the weight that would otherwise be borne by the knee joint is borne by a substantial length of the tibia adjacent the knee joint.