referring now to the drawings and in particular to fig1 a cross - sectional view of a prosthetic socket 15 with a smooth plunger 30 engaged in a locking device 10 is shown . the plunger 30 is attached to the distal end of a sleeve 6 adapted to fit over the residual limb of an amputee . typical sleeve materials are urethanes , thermoplastic elastomers , or silicone based polymers . the socket 15 and locking device 10 are secured to the proximal end of a prosthesis , typically a prosthetic limb . the plunger 30 is shown fully engaged within the locking device 10 . the distal end 31 of the plunger has passed through the locking device 10 and occupies the prosthetic socket plunger cavity 16 . the plunger 30 may be tubular or rigid as depicted in fig2 a , or flexible such as the braided or twisted cable depicted in fig6 . in a preferred embodiment the plunger 30 should be substantially smooth along its length , however , as in the case of braided cable , ridges in and around the circumference of the plunger 30 are not objectionable . in addition , the plunger 30 should not be limited to a cylindrical form and may also be a multifaceted prismatic member ( triangular , rectangular , hexagonal , etc .). typically , the locking device 10 contains a release mechanism 19 that detaches the plunger 30 by depressing a release button 22 , shown in fig1 . also shown is button shield 23 to prevent accidental release of the locking device 10 . the release mechanism 19 is not essential to the success of the invention and may be any one of a variety of means to disengage the plunger 30 from the locking device 10 . for instance , cam mechanisms that are linearly or radially actuated , a pin hinged linkage , or gear - to - gear or gear - to - rack mechanisms that may be actuated by a pushing member or a drawing member may be used . an exemplerary release mechanism is disclosed in more detail in fig7 . [ 0026 ] fig2 a - b , 3 a - b , 4 a - b , and 5 a - b depict the plunger 30 , at various stages of engagement with the locking device 10 . for convenience of illustration plunger 30 is shown in isolation from sleeve 6 ( shown in fig1 ) in which it is secured during use . [ 0027 ] fig2 a shows the locking device 10 in an unlocked position with no plunger 30 engaged in the lock . the plunger 30 is shown entering the proximal end of the lock housing 20 just before making initial contact with rolling elements 35 . once separated by the plunger 30 , the rolling elements 35 remain in contact with the tapered interior 32 of the clutch lock body 29 due to force applied by a lift such as , lock spring 37 , which biases the rolling element retainer 36 to the top most portion 33 of the tapered interior 32 . the shape of the rolling elements 35 may be cylindrical , spherical , elliptical or any other shape that allows rolling elements 35 to contact the tapered lock - housing interior 32 when force is applied by the plunger 30 . the number of rolling elements 35 may also be variable . the embodiment shown in fig2 a has three rolling elements 35 within the rolling element retainer 36 , but it is possible to have a larger plurality or only one rolling element 35 in a properly configured retainer 36 . for instance , single rolling element 35 requires that at least one interior surface not be tapered . with a single cylindrical rolling element 35 , only one wall of the retainer 36 would need to be tapered . as illustrated in fig2 a the rolling elements 35 have not yet begun begun to be forced outward . before the plunger comes into contact with the rolling elements 35 the lock spring 37 has not yet been compressed . cam followers 27 are shown attached by the cam spacers 28 to the rolling element retainer 36 . the cam follower 27 are shown between upper cam track wall 34 a and lower cam track wall 34 b . [ 0029 ] fig2 b shows the exterior of the locking device 10 and the position of cam follower 27 when plunger 30 is in the uncompressed position depicted in fig2 a . the cam follower 27 is at the top of radial cam track 18 . [ 0030 ] fig3 a shows the plunger 30 beginning to penetrate the interior of the clutch lock body 29 . the downward force placed on the rolling elements 35 begins to compress the lock spring 37 . the rolling elements 35 begin to spin or roll along the walls of tapered interior 32 as the plunger 30 is inserted deeper into the clutch lock body 29 . the rolling element retainer 36 and rolling elements 35 descend within the tapered interior 32 of the clutch lock body 29 . as illustrated , a small clearance space has developed between the retainer 36 and the top most portion 33 of the tapered interior 32 . [ 0031 ] fig3 b shows the exterior of the locking device 10 and the position of cam follower 27 when the plunger 30 is in the position depicted in fig3 a . the cam follower 27 has descended down the cam track 18 a distance , which corresponds to the partial compression of the lock spring 37 . [ 0032 ] fig4 a shows the plunger 30 after fully penetrating the clutch lock body 29 . in addition the plunger distal end 31 has passed through the lock spring 37 and out of the locking device 10 . once the distal end 31 has passed the rolling elements 35 , and the full diameter of plunger 30 is disposed between those elements 35 , the plunger 30 resists removal . notably , in this locked position the plunger 30 may still pass freely downward through the rolling elements 35 of the locking device 10 until the plunger face 17 strikes the plunger guide 21 . in the locked position shown in fig4 a the plunger 30 has moved the rolling elements 35 down the tapered interior 32 to a position where the width of the interior 32 is just adequate to accommodate the plunger 30 and the rolling elements 35 . this position generally results after the full diameter of plunger 30 has passed the equator of the rolling elements 35 . at this point the plunger 30 cannot be retrieved from the locking device 10 without activating the release mechanism . after the plunger 30 has passed the equator of the rolling elements 35 it cannot be removed from the locking device 10 because the rolling elements 35 are biased upwards by lock spring 37 and inwards against plunger 30 by the tapered interior 32 . pulling the plunger 30 upward in the direction that would remove it from the lock 10 causes the plunger 30 to frictionally interface with rolling elements 35 , which are thereby encouraged to roll up the tapered interior 32 of the clutch lock body 29 . this action causes the rolling elements 35 to be even more tightly compressed against the plunger 30 . because rolling elements 35 , plunger 30 and the tapered interior 32 are not made of compressible material , the plunger 30 and rolling elements 35 in rolling element retainer 36 effectively form a wedge , which cannot be moved upwards within the lock 10 . while the rolling elements 35 , plunger 30 and tapered interior 32 are not made of compressible material , they are preferably made of softer more corrosion resistant materials than prior art prosthetic locking devices . examples include corrosion resistant grades of stainless steel , titanium , and other corrosion resistant alloys . this is possible because the invention , unlike prior locks , displaces wear over a larger surface area and requires less force to initially secure and hold the prosthesis in place . because the rolling elements 35 roll and spin during the locking process no single portion of the rolling elements 35 consistently contacts the plunger 30 . the plunger 30 also being cylindrical offers more surface area to contact the rolling elements . the use of a plurality of spherical rolling elements acts to both distribute the contacting portions of rolling elements 35 over the entire surface of those elements , and to maximize the number of contacts between plunger 30 and rolling elements 35 . [ 0035 ] fig4 b shows the exterior of the locking device 10 and the position of cam follower 27 when plunger 30 and retainer 36 are positioned as depicted in fig4 a . the cam follower 27 has descended down the cam track 18 a distance , which corresponds to the partial compression of the lock spring 37 . the lock spring 37 does not need to compress further to accommodate any length of plunger 30 , because the width of the tapered interior 32 is adequate at this point to accommodate the plunger 30 and the rolling elements 35 . thus even as the plunger 30 is inserted further until the plunger face 17 interfaces with guide 21 , there is no additional downward pressure to further compress the lock spring 37 . [ 0036 ] fig5 a shows the plunger 30 in an unlocked position as the release mechanism has compressed the lock spring 37 to the extent that the rolling elements 35 are no longer in intimate contact with both the plunger 30 and the tapered interior 32 . so long as the release mechanism holds the lock spring 37 in this compressed position the plunger 30 can be pulled back through the top 11 of the locking device 10 , because the rolling elements 35 will not simultaneously engage both plunger 30 and tapered interior 32 and roll upward as the plunger 30 is removed . [ 0037 ] fig5 b shows the exterior of the locking device 10 and the position of cam follower 27 when the retainer 36 is in the position depicted in fig5 a . the cam follower 27 has descended to the bottom of the cam track 18 , a distance , which corresponds to the nearly total compression of the lock spring 37 . the cam follower 27 is typically placed in this position by a radially actuated release mechanism . a linearly actuated release mechanism is disclosed in greater detail below in connection with fig7 . [ 0038 ] fig6 illustrates a unique feature of the present invention , which allows flexible plungers 30 to enter the locking device 10 at irregular angles while maintaining reliable locking function . this is particularly beneficial when the locking mechanism has been cast into the prosthetic socket or limb at an imperfect angle . as shown in fig6 the plunger 30 has entered the locking device 10 at a slight angle from the right side of the plunger guide 21 . the rolling elements 35 accommodate the angled entry directing the plunger 30 through the rolling element retainer 36 and the locking device 10 while establishing a reliable lock . as previously described once the full diameter of plunger 30 has passed the equator of the rolling elements 35 it cannot be removed through the locking device top 11 . other locking devices that allow angular plunger 30 entry usually impart some amount of play in the locking hold . the present invention provides a consistent lock while minimizing any play or looseness due to an angled entry . [ 0039 ] fig7 illustrates one embodiment of the release mechanism 19 that can be used with the invention . the plunger 30 is shown fully engaged within the locking device 10 . the plunger 30 is released by pressing the release button 22 that communicates via release pin 25 to release cam 26 . the release cam 26 has a downwardly slanted face 26 a , which pushes the cam follower 27 downward in the linear cam track 18 in the clutch lock body 29 . cam follower 27 is connected to the rolling element retainer 36 . as the downward slanted face 26 a passes over cam followers 27 , both cam followers 27 and attached rolling element 36 move downward compressing the lock spring 37 to the extent shown in fig5 . the rolling element retainer 36 also moves the rolling elements 35 downward within the tapered interior 32 to a wider portion . the width of the tapered interior 32 at this point is such that rolling elements 35 do not simultaneously contact both the plunger 30 and the tapered interior 32 of the clutch lock body 29 , thereby effecting the release of the plunger 30 from the locking device 10 . release button 22 is normally held in the locked position by the release spring 24 and may be protected from accidental actuation by a button shield 23 as shown in fig1 . while a preferred embodiment has been shown and described , it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the disclosure , but rather it is intended to cover all modifications and alternate methods falling within the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims .
a device is provided to lock the residual limb of an amputee into a prosthesis . the device is comprised of rolling elements within a tapered housing which accepts a smooth plunger , such as a wire , cable , or rod connected to a suspension sleeve , with minimal resistance while opposing removal of the plunger from the locking device until the rolling elements have been retracted with a release mechanism . the nature of this device allows it to compensate for irregularities or wear in the plunger while continuing to securely lock the prosthesis to the sleeve . this locking device will function properly with a certain amount of misalignment between the lock and the plunger .