Specification of John Henry Johnson : artificial legs and feet.

  • Johnson, John Henry
Date:
1858
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Specification of John Henry Johnson : artificial legs and feet. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Johnsons Improvements in the Construction of Artificial Legs arid Feet. direction; and as the foot is connected with the leg by the intervention of a ball-and-socket joint, it follows that the foot can be moved or flexed in any direction around the whole circle, which is a very great advantage in many cases, as, for example, in walking or standing on sidelong ground, such as the side of a steep hill, or when accidentally treading upon a stone or other 5 obstacle or irregularity of surface likely to twist the foot laterally or diagonally, or when one leg is required to be placed at some distance apart from the other, in all which cases the power of lateral and diagonal flexure of the leg upon the foot will be found highly advantageous. I do not confine myself to any particular form of or mode of attaching the springs, cords, and ball joint, so 10 long as the combination is such that the several springs and cords, or artificial muscles and tendons, will act antagonistically to each other on opposite sides of the joint, and permit of a lateral and diagonal play or action thereof. Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried 15 • into effect, I would observe in conclusion that I do not confine or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or refer to, as variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the principles or main features of the said Invention; but what I con¬ sider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured 20 to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,— First, the system or mode of providing for the lateral and diagonal flexion of the foot on artificial legs, substantially in the manner herein-before described. Second, the combination in artificial legs and feet of side cords and 25 springs, with a spherical joint or its equivalent, for the purpose herein-before referred to. In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of November, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight. 30 J. HENRY JOHNSON, (l.s.) LONDON : Printed by George Edward Eyre and Willi aim Spottiswoode, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty. 1858,
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