GB2227156A - Load bearing pelvic girdle harness - Google Patents

Abstract

A harness for transferring, directly to the pelvic girdle of a human wearer, loads due, for example, to lifting, carrying or pulling which would otherwise be transmitted to the pelvis via the spine. The harness comprises a belt having load transfer attachments through which the loads are transmitted to the belt, the belt being of such material, and of such dimensions, that loads transmitted through the attachments are then effectively distributed over the pelvis. The harness snugly fits around the wearer's pelvic region and may be knitted, woven and of any natural or synthetic fibre or combination thereof. The harness has just enough resilience to fit snugly around the pelvic region without being significantly deformed by externally applied forces. <IMAGE>

Description

A HARNESS This invention relates to a harness for tsansferring loads directly to a human wearer.

When the human body is doing mechanical work of a kind which involves the transfer of a load to the body. it is normal to use the hands. Thus, for example, a weight may be pulled or listed by hand. so that the load is then transmitted through the arms and the shoulders to the upper spine. The load is then transmitted down the length of the spine to the pelvis, and from there down the legs to the grounc the reaction force on the body being taken by the feet.

Because of the leverage involved, the stresses imposed on various parts of the skele- > -.n are generally greatest at the lower spine, so that t. S is where back problenis are most commonly encountered. By contrast. relatively few problems arising from externally-applied stressing are experienced from the pelvis downwards.

A principal object of the invention is therefore to provide a harness for transferring loads from an external load source directly to the pelvic girdle of the human wearer.

According to the invention such a harness comprises a fitment, adapted to be worn around te pelvic girdle and being ot material having only enough resilience to enable the fitment to hug the wearer's contours firmly around the girth, and over substantially all of the pelvic girdle, without significant deformationwhen the fitment is under local externally-applied stress. the harness further comprising at least one load transfer attachment secured to the fitment and adapted to receive loads transmitted from the load source.

It is desirable that the fitment should extend, in the vertical direction, over the whole depth of the pelvic girdle above the femurs, but ideally it should not extend below the level of the top of the femur at all, or at least not to such an extent as to transfer any significant part of the applied load to the femurs or to inhibit free movement of the thighs.

Accordingly the vertical depth of the fitment is preferably such that it will extend substantially down to the level of the top of the femoral trochanter, but will preferably not be so great that the fitment overlaps the femur to any significant extent. A harness which in use does overlap the femur to some extent, or which does not quite extend down as far as the top of the femoral trochanter, is not however excluded from the scope of the invention.

Preferably also, the vertical height of the fitment is such tnat its upper edge lies, in use, above the iliac crest, but not so far above it as to interfere significantly with the spine. Again, a harness in which the upper edge lies, in use. level with the iliac crest or slightly below it is not excluded from the scope of the invention.

The fitment may most conveniently be made in the form of a deep belt. By enabling the load to be transmitted directly to the pelvis, the harness enables the vulnerable spine to be by-passed either wholly or partly.

It may in some cases be only partly by-passed if the arms are used to assist, as will often be the case, but even in these instances the load taken by the spine will be very much reduced by te bulk of the load being directly taken by the pelvis.

The fitment can be of any suitable material, for example knitted or woven material of a high tensile. low stretch type, such as that commonly used for safety harnesses in road transport vehicles or aircraft.

The fitment may be provided with any suitable number of load transfer attachments, which may take a wide variety of forms depending on the kind of load they are tn transmit. Convenience to the wearer is of course an important consideration here. Such an attachment may be formed integrally with the fitment itself. or be a separate member or assembly suitably fixed to the belt.

In general, a load transfer attachment is secured to the fitment in such a way as to spread the applied load over as large a part of the surface area of the latter as is practicable, so that localisation of stresses in the fitment is minimised. This enables the load to be spread more evenly over the wearer's pelvis.

Various embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a back view of a person wearing a harness in one form according to the invention; Figure 2 is a general view of a typical harness according to the invention seen from the front:: Figure 3 shows part of a belt of a harness built up of strips of material; Figure 4 is a cross section of a belt with one form of load transfer attachment, taken on the line IV-IV in Figure 5; Figure 5 is an outside view of the attachment shown in Figure 4; Figures 6 to 10 are diagrams illustrating various possible uses of harnesses having load transfer attachments generally of the kinds shown in Figures 1 to 5; Figure 11 is a view generally similar to Figure 4 but showing a load carrying attachment which includes a flexible loop, the section being taken on the line HI-XI in Figure 12; Figure 12 is an outside view of the attachment shown in Figure 11; Figure 13 shows a rigid loop for use, for example, with a load carrying attachment such as those shown in Figure 5 or Figure 12; Figure 14 shows the same loop as seen from the left hand side of Figure 13;; Figure 15 shows another flexible loop which can be used in place of the one in Figure 11; Figure 16 is a view from the right hand side of Figure 15; Figure 17 is a diagram illustrating a possible use of a harness with an attachment such as those shown in Figures 11 to 16; Figure 18 is a front view of a load carrying attachment in the form of an elbow or forearm support, shown in a working position; Figure 19 is a side view. seen from the left hand side of Figure 18; Figure 20 is a view similar to Figure 18 but shows the elbow support partly folded; Figure 21 is a diagram illustrating an elbow or forearm support in use; and Figure 22 is a diagram showing a harness according to the invention in use by the wearer of a back pack.

Referring to Figure 1, a harness 10, for transferring loads to the pelvic girdle of the wearer directly from an external load source, comprises a fitment in the form of a belt 12 which, as shown in the Figure, is worn around the pelvic girdle.

By contrast with a conventional orthopedic belt. the belt 12 is worn over those of the wearer's clothes which generally follow the contours of the body. Thus, for example, a person wearing shirt, trousers and sweater can wear the belt over those garments. Similarly, a person wearing a boiler suit or other fairly close fitting type of overall would normally wear the belt 12 outside the overall. But the belt would not normally be worn outside a jacket or overcoat. The important criterion in this connection is that the belt should hug the contours of the wearer firmly around the girth, so that it can, as far as possible, transfer externally applied loads as evenly as possible to the pelvic girdle.

To this end. the belt 12 is made of any suitable material which has only enough resilience to enable the fitment to hug the wearer's contours firmly around the girth of that part of the body which is embraced by the belt. This is true even when the fitment is under local stress, due to loading applied externally via one or both of two load transfer attachments 14 which are fixed to the belt 12.

The material of the belt may be knitted or woven. and may be any suitable synthetic or natural fibre. or combination of these.

The upper edge 11 of the belt 12 lies just above the iliac crest of the pelvis, but not far enough above the iliac crest to interfere with the spine, e.g. by transferring any load or constraint to the spine itself.

The lower edge 13 of the belt 12 lies substantially level with the top of the wearer's femoral trochanter. It may lie above or below the top of the femoral trochanter, but it is preferred that it should where possible not be above it, and that it should not significantly overlap the femur.

In Figure 1, the attachments 14 are eyelets. attached in any suitable way to the belt 12, and having traction cords 16 attached to them. The other end of each traction cord carries a hook 18, and these may for example be engaged with a suitable part of a load to be pulled or carried by the wearer.

The belt 12 shown in Figure 2 is fastened snugly around the girth of the wearer by means of four hooks 22 engaging in eyes 23 which are suitably attached to one end of the belt. In this example, a strip of material 24 is sewn to that end of the belt, in such a way as to leave the eyes 23 open. The eyes may however take any other suitable form. Each hook 22 is carried by a respective one of four straps 25, each having a conventional buckle 26 whereby the length of each strap 25 can be adjusted individually by the wearer to ensure that the belt will fit. The straps 25 are associated with the other end of te belt and secured to the latter at a distance from this other end such that, whatever the length to which each strap is adjusted, the two ends of the belt will overlap each other when the hooks 22 are secured in the eyes 2tug.

Figure 2 also shows another kind of eyelet-type load transfer attachment 27, which may for example be made of a high impact polymer and bonded by a suitable adhesive over a comparatively large area of the belt as shown, so as to spread the transmitted load over a large area and thereby help to distibute the load as evenly as possible over the pelvis. Each eyelet 27 is shown with a ring 98 for attachment of a cord, strap or the like.

Figure 3 shows one form of possible construction for the belt 12, in which a series (tour in this example) of horizontal strips of material 30 are joined together by seams 32 which thereby reinforce the structure of the belt.

Figures 4 and 5 show yet another possible form of load transfer attachment. comprising a hanger 40 of metal wire, having at one end a loop 42 for attachment of a cord or the like, with a second loop 44 at its other end.

The loop 44 is pivoted by means of a rivet 46 to a metal bracket 48 which is trapped between the material of the belt 12 itself and a patch SO which extends substantially the full height of the belt and which is stitched to it in such a way as to hold the bracket 48 immovably. The stitching also reinforces the belt in the region which it covers. Some of the stitching is indicated at 52.

The various applications of the harness illustrated in Figures 6 to 10 are merely examples of the many ways in which a harness, such as those shown in Figures 1 to 5, may be used with a traction cord. In Figures 6 and 7, the wearer of the harness 10 is walking backwards and forwards respectively, pulling a rolling load 20 through the cord 16. When used in this way, it can be seen that the force exerted by the wearer of the harness in pulling the load 20 will be transferred through the belt 12 direct to the pelvis, none of it being taken by the spine Figure 8 indicates a wearer, in a kneeling position, picking up a heavy suitcase 60 by means of a short traction cord, for example the cord 16 with its hook 18 in Figure 1, prior to walking away carrying the load as shown in Figure 9.The part played by the hands in attaching the case and in steadying it while walking imposes only a small load on the spine, the whole weight of the case being taken by the pelvis through the harness 10.

In Figure 10, the traction cord 16 has attached to it a rigid extension piece 62, for reaching a load t4 so that by moving backwards, he can pull the load t4 to the left (as seen in the Figure), the load being taken by the pelvis through the harness 10.

In general, non-horizontal loads should. be transferred to the harness in the lower part of the belt 12, so as to avoid as far as possible any moment tending to pull the upper part of the belt away from the wearer's body.

Thus, for a use such as shown in Figures 8 and 9, the hanger 40 would preferably be attached as close as possible to the bottom edge 13, rather than half-way up the belt as in Figures 4 and 5.

Figures 11 to 18 are concerned with arrangements in which the applied load is essentially downward. Figures 11 and 12 show a load transfer attachment for a belt 12 which is essentially the same as that shown in Figures 4 and 5, except that (a) the bracket 48 is located as close as practicable to the bottom edge 13 of the belt. and (b) in place of the wire hanger 40, a hanger 70 is secured to the bracket 48. In this example the hanger 70 comprises a large flexible loop 7 (of a suitable non-stretching material) attached to a metal hook 74, which is releasably secured to the bracket 12 by any convenient means, in this example a thumbscrew 76 for which the bracket 48 is provided with a suitable mating thread.

Figures 13 and 14 show a rigid wire hanger 78 having an upper loop 44 like the hanger 40 in Figure 4, and a relatively large lower loop 80. Figures 15 and 16 show a hanger 82, similar to the hanger 78 except that the ends of the loop are provided with ferrules 84. The hanger 82 can be secured by means of the screw 76 passing through holes 86 in the ferrules. The hangers78 and 82 are examples of possible alternatives to the hanger 70.

In Figure 17, the wearer of the harness 1 is shown pushing a load 92. This is shown as a wheelbarrow with rearwardly projecting handles engaged in the lower loops of the hangers ot the kinds typified by Figures 11 to 16.

In particular, the hangers 70 may be suitable to enable the barrow handles to be below the level of the harness.

In this arrangement, the weight of the barrow (or a large proportion of it) is taken by the pelvis directly through the harness 10, the hands being used merely to steady the handles of the barrow and to apply a torward pushing force which is generally very much smaller than the weight of the barrow.

A particularly useful application for the harness is where its wearer is supporting a load in the hands, such as a heavy package or tea-tray, at or above waist level so that the forearms must be approximately horizontal.

This can normally impose some considerable strain on the spine.

Figure 22 shows a package 100 held in the hands by the wearer of a harness 10 having a forearm or elbow support 102 at each side, i.e. one for each arm. The load imposed by the package 100 is taken through the forearms and the supports 102 directly by the pelvis, thus bypassing the spine.

One-form of forearm support 102 is shown in Figures 19 and 20. It comprises a backing patch or plate 104 which is secured to the belt 12 so as to extend down to the bottom edge 13. As in some of the previous embodiments, it is important that the support be attached to the lower part of the belt. so as to minimise moments applied by the forearm and tending to separate the other part of the belt from the wearer's body. For this reason, in this example the patch 104 is secured, by stitching 105 or any other suitable means. to the lower part of the belt only, though other arrangements to minimise the above mentioned applied moments can easily be envisaged.

A light foldable frame 10t is secured to the patch or plate 104. This frame here extends the full height of the belt, but its top end could if desired be below or above the upper edge 11 of the latter. An important consideration here is that the forearm should preferably be supported at a level such that the upper arm is held slightly in compression, to ensure that none of the applied load is transferred to the spine. The top of the frame 106 will be positioned accordingly.

In the embodiment shown, the frame 106 is a light Aframe, made for example of aluminium or a rigid high impact polymer, and includes a conventional toggle strut 110 at front and back to hold the frame releasably in the extended position shown in Figure 19. The top of the frame 106 carries a canvas support strip 108 to support the forearm indicated at 109. Figure 21 shows the frame 106 in a partly folded position. When not in use it folds flat against the belt 12.

Figure 23 shows a harness 10 with a bracket 112 at the back to support a back pack 114. The back pack 114 may be secured conventionally around the wearer's shoulders, but - in contrast to conventional means of mounting back packs whereby the weight is taken by the spine - most or all of the weight in this case is taken, through the bracket 112 and belt 12, by the pelvis.

Numerous other embodiments within the scope of the invention will suggest themselves. For example, if the harness fitment is in the form of a belt, it may be secured by any suitable means, for example buttons, studs, or cooperating strips of interlocking fibre of the kind available under the Trade Mark VELCRO. It straps are used, they may be secured by any suitable means. The fitment, instead of being made in the form of a belt, may also be made for attachment to the wearer's clothing, so long as the latter is suitable for then transferring the load effectively from the harness to the pelvis without imposing any significant strain on the spine.

Claims (13)

1. A harness for transferring loads from an external load source directly to the pelvic girdle of a human wearer, and comprising a fitment adapted to be worn around the pelvic girdle and being of material having only enough resilience to enable the fitment to hug the wearer's contours firmly around the girth and over substantially all of the pelvic girdle, without significant deformation when the fitment is under local, externally-applied stress, the harness further comprising at least one load transfer attachment secured to the fitment and adapted to receive loads transmitted from the load source.

2. A harness according to Claim 1, wherein the fitment is vertically deep enough to extend substantially down to the level of the top of the wearer's femoral trochanter, but not so deep as significantly to overlap the femur.

3. A harness according to Claim 1 or Claim 2. wherein the vertical height of the fitment is such that its upper edge lies, in use, above the ;liac crest, but not so far above it as to interfere significantly with the spine.

4. A harness according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the fitment is in the form of a belt.

5. A harness according to any one of the preceding Claims. wherein the fitment has reinforcing means extending generally horizontally at intervals around the girth.

6. A harness according to any one of the preceding Claims. having a load transfer attachment adapted for at least one elongate member to extend from it for coupling with the load source.

7. A harness according to Claim 6, wherein the attachment is arranged for the elongate member to extend generally horizontally for traction purposes

8. A harness according to Claim 6, wherein the attachment is adapted for the elongate member to extend generally vertically at one or both sides, for lifting purposes.

9. A harness according to any one of the preceding Claims, having a load transfer attachment for receiving loads applied downwardly to the attachment and arranged to transfer the said loads to the fitment substantially closer to the lower edge of the fitment than to its upper edge.

10. A harness according to Claim 9, including a hanger secured, removably or otherwise, to the attachment, the hanger having a loop in which the load can be supported.

11. A harness according to Claim 9, having an elbow or forearm support at one or each side, extending to the lower edge of the fitment.

12. A harness according to Claim 10, wherein the elbow or forearm support comprises a foldable frame carrying a flexible member on which the elbow or forearm can rest.

13. A harness tor transferring loads from an external load source directly to the pelvic girdle of a human wearer, substantially as described herein with reference to any one or more of the drawings of this Application.