There is a company called KISS Technologies LLC and they are located at 8517 Loch Raven Boulevard in Baltimore, MD 21286-2316, USA.
Their main offering seems to be a new liner to socket mount, using a velcro strap system aimed specifically at above the knee and below the knee leg amputees. Somehow, the company Otto Bock seems to have laid hands on that patent and some products there and now seems to offer ready-made kits for usage with leg prostheses. But from knowing how Otto Bock operates there is absolutely no way they ever could have come up with that on their own. Nor are they interesting partners at the high end of loads on any prosthetic – read their disclaimers, try their customer service and you want to run and hide.
The patent itself was provisonally filed on October 2000, and then definitely filed on October 2008 by Dale and Matt Perkins with the aid of patent law firm Pedersen & Company PLLC in Boise, Idaho, USA. Matt Perkins is an above knee amputee and Dale Perkins a CPO (cerfitied prosthetic technician). Obviously they are an optimal team to develop and improve prosthetic design. Currently they seem to be associated with Coyote Design in Boise, Idaho, USA. Their patent can be seen here [Google patents] [freepatentsonline] [direct PDF].
Based on my previous experiences with Otto Bock and Ossur components my technician was fast to bypass these commercial products. Besides they only cater for prosthetic legs anyway. They have nothing specifically geared towards arms.
Instead of purchasing cheap straps for massive prices, my technician built my custom liner with a heavily embedded heavy duty velcro strap – knowing that heavy embedding was the way to go to ensure that his custom liner was going to have a chance to survive with me. He added some wedges to stabilize the liner further inside the socket. Since there is no pin lock necessary, my stump end finally will get some serious damping by thick padding that lives in the space that previously held the pin lock.
So there will be an update here soon with stuff to see.
