| abstract |
The present invention describes a safety suction valve that releasably secures a residual limb to an artificial limb. The safety suction valve synchronously actuates a latch mechanism and a valve mechanism, thereby providing superior retention of a residual stump in a stump socket and resulting in ease of donning and doffing of a stump socket by an amputee. The consolidation of the latch and valve mechanisms of the safety suction valve is an improved feature over conventional artificial limb supporting devices. This consolidation provides a redundant system for reliably suspending an artificial limb from a residual limb. The invention also includes an alignment kit and prescribes an alignment method which result in an accurate and reliable alignment between the residual and artificial limbs |