Selectively removable prosthetic nail

Claim 1

A prosthetic nail adapted for use on one of the digits of a person's hand or foot, comprising the combination of: (a) a nail plate comprising a sheet having front and rear ends and a longitudinal axis extending therebetween, and the plate being adapted to be placed on top of the distal end of a digit so that the longitudinal axis extends in the same general direction as to the distal phalangeal bone of the digit, and said plate being slightly curved as viewed in a transverse plane so as to approach the generally cylindrical cross-sectional shape of a typical digit, and said plate having a thin edge at its rear end that is adapted to be at least partially buried within the eponychial fold of the digit; and (b) a bifurcated anchor member extending downwardly from near the front end of the nail plate, and said anchor member having two legs with proximal and distal portions, and the distal portions of the legs having a rest condition at which they are spaced apart appreciably further than are their proximal portions, and said distal portions being susceptible of being temporarily brought together so that the distal portions are essentially as close as are the proximal portions, and the two legs lying in a transverse plane where they are exposed to being externally gripped from the front of the nail plate, whereby the nail plate is held in place on a digit when the leg distal portions are in their rest condition and when they are in contact with a pocket of tissue on the forward end of a person's digit, and whereby said leg distal portions may be temporarily brought together so that the anchor member may be lifted vertically away from the person's nail bed without damaging the pocket of tissue.