1. A valve, comprising:
a valve housing;
a stationary valve element positioned in the valve housing and having a hole there through;
a moveable valve element also positioned in the valve housing and for regulating fluid flow through the valve in response to movement of the moveable element adjacent the stationary element;
an operating member extending into the valve housing for moving the moveable element; and
a seal proximate an inlet side of the stationary valve element and having a first flexible load section for sealing the stationary valve element with respect to the valve housing and a second load section having rigidifying member forming a bend that in vertical cross section extends for more than 90 degrees;
wherein the rigidifying member has an essentially hook-shaped vertical cross sectional appearance;
wherein the seal is in the form of a ring in which the rigidifying member has an upper end which terminates adjacent an external surface of the seal; and
wherein the second load section is a generally annular body extending from a second side to an intermediate region having a circular bearing shoulder defined by said external surface of the seal, and wherein the first load section extends from the intermediate region to a first side opposite the second side and said upper end terminates adjacent the intermediate region’s bearing shoulder.
2. The valve of claim 1, wherein the rigidifying member is an annular member having, in vertical cross-section, a first leg and a second leg extending at an angle between the first and second legs of less than 90 degrees, the first and second legs being joined by an intermediate portion extending therebetween.
3. The valve of claim 2, wherein the second leg is parallel to the first leg or within ten degrees of being parallel to the first leg.
4. The valve of claim 2, wherein the rigidifying member has an essentially J-shaped or U-shaped vertical cross sectional appearance.
5. The valve of claim 1, wherein the rigidifying member is comprised of a metal.
6. The valve of claim 5, wherein the rigidifying member is made from brass.
7. The valve of claim 1, wherein the seal is a resilient material and the rigidifying member is a metal insert.
8. The valve of claim 1, wherein a radially inward flexible portion of the seal extends further into the valve housing than an uppermost portion of the rigidifying member.
9. The valve of claim 1, wherein the seal abuts a downwardly facing circular ledge formed along an interior of the housing.
10. The valve of claim 1, wherein the rigidifying member is associated with the bearing shoulder at the intermediate region and wherein the first and second sides are resilient.
11. The valve of claim 10, wherein the rigidifying member extends less than half way between the second side and the bearing shoulder at the intermediate region.
12. The valve of claim 1, wherein the rigidifying member opens toward the stationary valve member.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A device for implantation into a bone, comprising:
an outer body provided with an external screw-thread, with a front end and a base;
a damping device disposed in the interior of the outer body between a distal end and a proximal end, wherein the damping device includes an axially displaceable clamping sleeve disposed within the outer body and a spiral spring, wherein a proximal end of the clamping sleeve is inserted into the spiral spring, wherein the clamping sleeve includes a flange;
at least one fixing element disposed within the damping device, the at least one fixing element configured to fix at least one thread, which is guided out of the outer body at the proximal end of the device through a recess in the base, wherein the thread is clamped to the at least one fixing element, and
wherein the clamping sleeve is provided with an internal screw-thread extending from a distal end of the clamping sleeve for threading engagement with a screw over the entire length of the clamping sleeve excluding the proximal end of the clamping sleeve inserted into the spiral spring,
wherein the flange is provided with at least a portion of the internal screw-thread,
wherein the screw is to be screwed with its external screw-thread into the internal screw-thread of the flange of the clamping sleeve, and
wherein a screw head of the screw provides a recess in the form of a polygon or hexagon.
2. The device according to claim 1,
wherein the spiral spring is in contact with the base of the outer body at its proximal end and opposes an applied variable pressure.
3. The device according to claim 1,
wherein the spiral spring is in contact with the flange.
4. The device according to Claim 1,
wherein the clamping sleeve is arranged with its flange in the region of the distal half of the outer body.
5. The device according to Claim 1,
wherein the length of the cone corresponds approximately to the length of the internal screw-thread of the flange.
6. The device according to claim 1,
wherein the fixing element is configured as a cone for accommodation within at least the proximal end of the clamping sleeve, the cone being attached at its distal end to a screw extension of a screw.
7. The device according to claim 1,
wherein an elastic body, which encloses at least one thread or several threads, is provided on the thread at its distal end.
8. The device according to claim 7,
wherein the elastic body is a polymer or an elastomer.
9. The device according to claim 1,
wherein the device can be screwed into a borehole in a bone at an acute angle within the range from 40\xb0 to 50\xb0 relative to a tangent to a bone surface.
10. The device according to claim 1,
wherein the outer body is cylindrical in shape.
11. A system for a controlled loading of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructed from the two fiber bundles during the healing phase, which provides a device for implantation into a bone according to claim 1, fixes at least one thread as a replacement for the reconstructed anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), and provides a holding element for the at least one thread.
12. The system according to claim 11,
wherein the device can be screwed into a borehole in a bone at an acute angle (\u03b1) within the range from 40\xb0 to 50\xb0 relative to a tangent to a bone surface.
13. The system according to claim 11,
wherein a variable tensile stress can be applied via the device to the at least one thread.
14. The system according to claim 11,
wherein the at least one thread extends at one end within a first bone tunnel, wherein the first bone tunnel adjoins the borehole in the distal bone, and also extends within a second bone tunnel in a proximal bone of a joint and bridges a joint gap.
15. The system according to claim 14,
wherein the at least one thread emerges from the second bone tunnel and is fixed by the holding element at a proximal end of the second bone tunnel.
16. The system according to claim 15,
wherein the holding element comprises a metal plate and a stopper, wherein the metal plate is in contact with the proximal end of the second bone tunnel, and the stopper fixes the at least one thread to the metal plate.
17. The system according to claim 16,
wherein the stopper is formed as a knot in the thread or as a common knot of all threads.
18. The system according to claim 17,
wherein the stopper is formed as a bead, wherein one end of the at least one thread is welded or knotted to the bead.
19. The system according to claim 11, wherein the thread is configured to control the loading on the reconstructed anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
20. The system according to claim 11, wherein the thread coexists with the reconstructed anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during the healing phase when the device is implanted into a bone at the distal side of a joint.
21. A device for implantation into a bone, comprising:
an outer body provided with an external screw-thread, with a front end and a base;
a damping device disposed in the interior of the outer body between a distal end and a proximal end, wherein the damping device includes an axially displaceable clamping sleeve disposed within the outer body and a spiral spring, wherein a proximal end of the clamping sleeve is inserted into the spiral spring, and wherein the spiral spring is in contact with the base of the outer body at its proximal end and opposes an applied variable pressure;
at least one fixing element disposed within the damping device, the at least one fixing element configured to fix at least one thread, which is guided out of the outer body at the proximal end of the device through a recess in the base, wherein the thread is clamped to the at least one fixing element, and
wherein the clamping sleeve is provided with an internal screw-thread extending from a distal end of the clamping sleeve for threading engagement with a screw over the entire length of the clamping sleeve excluding the proximal end of the clamping sleeve inserted into the spiral spring,
wherein the at least one thread extends within the spiral spring, parallel to its longitudinal axis.