On Mon, 23 Feb 1998 01:00:00 -0500 (EST) Jill McMahon
writes:
>Hi Chris.
>
>I traded post with youawhile back about the CP foot’s potential
>for caving. Now, I have a more pressing question. I have worn
>Mauch SNS knees since my amp, and, generally I’m pleased with
>them except for two items. First, I’ve managed to bust the arms
>that the bolts anchor to off several times by hyperflexing the
>knee. This exposes the screw housings of the vertically oriented
>screws that fix the knee to the Graflex shank, and I’ve had to replace
>the knee twice because of this. The other problem is that I
>repeatedly wear out the bushings, and I’m off for emergency repairs
tomorrow
>because the hydraulic fluid is leaking out and the leg has a
>significant extension lag. I guess my question is: are there more
durable knees
>out there that offer performance comparable to the SNS? I think the
>problem of shearing through the bolts is poor design, I can’t be
>the only amp who hyperflexes their knee.
>
>I’ll appreciate any information you can give me. -Jill
Jill:
Nice to hear from you again.
I think I can recommend a knee for you that you may like a lot and gain
in durability. I have not tried the knee myself (my leg would have to
get shorter for that), but I have handled it and visually inspected it.
The knee is Century 22’s new heavy-duty Total Knee. What a work of art!
I am partial to the total knee design anyway. One reason is it works
really stellar with our TruStep foot. For more active amputees, the
original design was a bit on the light side. This new version may be
perfect for the more active. If I was an AK, I’d be wearing this knee
for its performance (dynamic characteristics). I’d even show it off bare
legged, just because its a work of engineering art!
I’ve copied this to the oandp-l, so maybe others can give you advise as
well. Perhaps a way to increase durability on what you already have.
Chris (CJ) Johnson
Director of Engineering,
College Park Industries, Inc. (see www.college-park.com)
(810) 294-7950 (at CPI), (616) 664-4173 (home office)
