RS59202B1 - Coin collecting device - Google Patents

Description

PREVENTION OR RELEASE DEVICE

LOWER BACK PAIN

FIELD AND ORIGIN OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a stretching device, particularly useful for

preventing or relieving lower back pain.

It is well known that most adults, especially the middle-aged and elderly, suffer from lower back pain. As a consequence, most of the suffering and disability experienced by the majority of the population results, among other things, in a large number of lost working days and a significantly reduced quality of life.

A short analysis from the point of view of physiology will help to illustrate the cause of pain in the

back and give insight into possible solutions.

The spinal column consists of thirty-three vertebrae connected to each other by cartilage and ligaments. The upper twenty-four vertebrae are separated and movable, while the lower nine are immobile. Five of the nine lower vertebrae are fused together to form the sternum while the last four vertebrae are fused together to form the coccyx. A normal spinal column can be considered to have seven cervical, twelve thoracic, five lumbar, five lumbar and four coccyx vertebrae. The mobility of the vertebrae in the cervical, thoracic and lumbar regions is relatively free compared to the movement of the fused vertebrae of the cross or coccyx, which is relatively limited.

The main causes of common back pain are continuous experiences of stress and strain on the lower part of the spine, which is the main, though not the only, supporting element of the weight of the upper part of the body.

These stresses and strains ultimately cause the injury symptomatic of back pain as the disc-shaped cartilaginous parts that separate the vertebrae wear away over time. In its extreme pathological state, the patient can develop ankylosing spondylitis, namely, partial, bent-down stiffness of the spinal column.

The sensation of pain is felt because the space that separates the vertebrae has become narrower, causing pressure on the roots of the nerves that extend from the spinal cord.

Due to the degenerative nature of the causes of back pain of this type, there is currently no permanent solution available for pain relief other than surgery where appropriate. There are, however, many known procedures for relieving pain in the lumbar region of the back. These procedures include stretching the lower back to achieve separation of the discs in the affected lumbar region. However, these procedures typically require the use of weights and other mechanical devices and should only be performed under close professional supervision.

U.S. Patent No. 5,772,612 to Daniel Hahn, presented herein by reference, proposes a device suitable for home use where the user lies supine on a single surface with their legs over a frame and their feet resting on a single foot support surface. The lower end of the device is in contact with the underlying substrate, acting as a lever. When the user pushes against the device, the device rotates so that it tends to lift the user's legs along a slightly arcing path. Also, a motorized version of this device is proposed.

The device of the aforementioned patent is a useful attempt to provide a low back pain relief device for home use. It was noted, however, that the resulting movement, namely a slightly arched alternating movement (forward - backward), was significantly different from the sequence of movements performed by a trained physiotherapist. More specifically, with reference to Figures 1A-1C, a trained physical therapist typically performs the initial upward movement by raising the patient's legs from a position, as in Figure 1A, to a position, as in Figure 1B, so as to neutralize the arched concavity of the back. This is then followed by a horizontal movement while simultaneously stretching in the horizontal direction (SI. 1C), so that the applied stretching force tends to release pressure between the lumbar vertebrae. the stretch is then released, allowing the body to return to its resting position due to the earth's gravity.

Therefore, there is a need for a device to prevent or relieve human lower back pain that would more faithfully mimic the previously mentioned therapeutic movement applied by trained physical therapists.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE INVENTION

This invention is a device that serves to prevent or relieve pain in the lower back of a person.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for preventing or relieving lower back pain of a human while lying on a mat in a supine position, the device comprising: (i) a support plate configured to engage a surface behind both of the human's knees; and (ii) a drive mechanism mechanically connected to said support plate, where said drive mechanism is configured to drive said support plate continuously in a cyclic motion consisting of: (a) a working stroke along a first path where the upper part of both legs are moved together, in the direction away from the body, fairly parallel to their longitudinal axes, i.e. the effect of a stretching force on the lumbar vertebrae of the lower back of a person, and (b) a return stroke along a second path, wherein said second path usually lies below said first path.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for preventing or relieving lower back pain in a human, configured for use with the human being on a mat in a supine position, wherein the device comprises: (a) a support plate configured to engage the surface behind both of the human's knees; and (b) a rotary drive for driving said support plate, wherein said rotary drive comprises a sliding plug hinged to the support plate, which can slide along a slot during the rotation of said rotary drive so as to drive the support plate, and both knees together when supported thereon, from the initial position through continuously rotating cycles along a closed curve shape path, each cycle comprising: (i) a working stroke having a vertical component along which the engaged surfaces are raised behind both knees in order to neutralize the naturally arched concavity of the human back and the horizontal component along which the engaged surfaces behind both knees are stretched in order to release the human lumbar vertebrae from pressure; and (ii) a return stroke that is different from (the working stroke) and lies below the path of the working stroke, and to return the engaged surfaces behind both knees to their initial position.

According to further features described in the recommended assemblies of the present invention, along the first path a vertical upward movement is first performed followed by a horizontally stretching movement; and along the second path, a downward vertical movement is performed, followed by a horizontal return movement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described here, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1A-1C are schematic representations of a sequence of movements during manual physiotherapy for lower back pain, which are mimicked by devices in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of a first assembly of a device constructed and operative in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, for preventing or relieving pain in the lower back of a shoe;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, partially cut away, showing the main internal components of the device;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2, with the sides of the device removed;

FIG. 5 is a partially cut away side view of the device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6A-6D are schematic views similar to those of FIG. 3, which show the successive positions of the working parts of the device during the operation of the device itself (it is slightly exaggerated for clarity of presentation)

FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of the drive mechanism of the device of FIG. 2 showing the manner of its movement;

FIG. 8A and 8B show a side view of the device of FIG. 2, showing the recommended range of settings;

FIG. 9 is a partially cut away side view of another device assembly constructed and operative in accordance with the teachings of the present invention for preventing or relieving lower back pain in a patient;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged portion of FIG. 9 marked with an X; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic representation of a third assembly of a device constructed and operative according to the teachings of the present invention, for preventing or relieving human lower back pain, where the device is incorporated as part of a chair.

DESCRIPTION OF RECOMMENDED ASSEMBLIES

This invention is a device that serves to prevent or relieve pain in the lower back of a person.

The principles of operation of the device according to the present invention can be better understood with reference to the drawings and accompanying descriptions.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 2-8 show a device, designated 10, constructed and operative according to the teachings of the present invention. The device 10, configured for use in a supine position, is useful for preventing and relieving lower back pain in humans.

In general, the device 10 provides at least one support plate 12 configured to engage at least a portion of the patient's body below his lumbar vertebrae, and a drive mechanism 14 mechanically connected to the support plate 12. A particular feature of the present invention is that the drive mechanism 14 is co-configured to drive at least a portion of the support plate 12 continuously in a cyclic motion consisting of a working stroke along a first stretch path of the patient's lower back, and a return walk along the second path, where the second path usually lies below the first path.

The second path is described as "usually lying lower than" the first path. In other words, the path followed by at least part of the support plate12 when viewed from the side encircles a certain surface. This property advantageously results from the preferred shape of one or both of the first and second trajectories. More specifically, a favorable working stroke along the first path includes a vertical upward movement followed by a horizontally stretching movement. Furthermore, a favorable return stroke along the second path involves a downward vertical movement followed by a horizontal return movement.

It will be immediately apparent that this cyclic movement provides a much better imitation of the aforementioned therapeutic movement used by trained physiotherapists than does the prior invention. More specifically, the preferred form of the operating stroke along the first path is almost identical to the sequence of motions explained earlier with respect to Figures 1A-1C. Moreover, the preferred form of the backstroke serves first to fully lower the body to the ground before releasing the horizontal stretch, thereby maintaining a harmonious stretching effect at the end of each cycle. Without limiting, in any way, the scope of the present invention, it is believed that this residual stretching effect of each cycle encourages the creation of a cumulative stretching effect that may be responsible for the extremely effective pain relief experienced by the subjects during the trial testing of the device.

Turning now to the features of the device 10 in more detail, it should be noted that the support plate 12 can engage any part of the body below the patient's lumbar vertebrae to apply the appropriate stretch to the lumbar region of the patient's back. In the preferred non-limiting examples described herein, the support plate 12 has at least one surface engagement portion behind each of the patient's knees. Optionally, although not necessarily, the plate 12 may be provided with at least one surface 16 configured to support the rear of the patient's legs below the knee for greater comfort. In this case, the patient lies supine on the surface with his or her legs resting on the surface 16. Preferably, the surface 16 is angled down away from the patient's body so that the patient's knees can effectively lock around the surface 16 and provide a stretching effect along the thighs and away from the body. A favorable angle of inclination in relation to the base is between about 5° and about 70°. For compact storage, all or part of the surface 16 can be hung or otherwise folded to be in a stowed position when not in use. If desired, additional mechanical means for attaching the body to the base plate, such as leg straps (not shown) or the like, may be provided to more securely attach the patient's body to the device. In most cases, however, such additional equipment was not necessary.

As mentioned earlier, the continuous cyclic motion generated by the drive mechanism14 consists of a working stroke along a first path and a return stroke along a second path, where the second path usually lies below the first path. In other words, at least one, and typically all, of the points on the surface 16 are subjected to cyclic motion along a closed curved path encircling a certain surface. Preferably, in order to avoid jerky movement, the first and second paths are chosen so that together they form a closed curve lying in the vertical plane. It is most desirable that the closed curved path approximately corresponds to the shape of an ellipse. Optionally, although not necessarily, at least one point on the surface16 can move along a sufficiently circular path (where a circle is a special case of an ellipse).

The dimensions of the movement path depend on the type of treatment required and the patient's health condition. In most cases, the maximum dimension of the closed curve is less than 10 cm, and in the most favorable cases it is in the range of about 2 cm to about 6 cm. Optionally, a user setting can be provided to allow selection of the amount of movement as desired.

Technically speaking, FIG. 3-6 illustrate a particularly simple implementation of the drive mechanism 14 for creating an elliptical motion. More precisely, the drive mechanism 14 as shown contains at least one rotating element, typically a drive wheel 18 driven by an electric motor 20 with a corresponding gearbox with a reducing transmission. By way of example without limitation, a typical embodiment uses a single 80W AC electric motor at 1400 7min, with a reduction gear, etc. which reduce the frequency of the final output movement to about 30 °/min. Suitable motors with external and/or built-in gearboxes are commercially available everywhere. The continuous cyclic movement of the support plate 12 is then generated, at least in part, by a mechanical connection (link) 22 that connects the part 12 to an eccentric point on the rotating element. In the embodiment shown, the second part of the connection 22 is mounted by means of one or more sliding plugs 24 inside the slot 26.

The resulting movement of this construction is illustrated schematically in FIG. 7. While the attachment point of the connection 22 moves parallel to the movement of the drive wheel 18 through the positions a, b, c and d, the highest part of the surface 16 follows the movement along an elliptical path through the positions a', b', c' and d' respectively. This corresponds to the required vertical upward movement (a' to b') and horizontally stretching movement (b' to c'), together making up the first path, and a backward movement (c' to d' and back to a') along the lower second path. A similar movement is represented by a series of figures 6A-6D, where in each, for the sake of clarity, the initial position is shown by a broken contour line.

It will be noted that the smoothly rounded shape of the movement provides gradual transitions between the various "vertical" and "horizontal" movements. As a result, the specific points marked with the symbols a', b', c' and d' are not necessarily uniquely and unambiguously defined. Nevertheless, it is clear that the movement along the ellipse in the vertical plane inseparably includes parts in which the vertical component of the movement is significantly greater than the horizontal one and vice versa, that the paths containing such parts refer to "basic vertical" or "basic horizontal" movement.

To facilitate the use of the device 10 by patients of different sizes, a height adjustment mechanism is provided from the base to the support plate 12. This adjustment mechanism can be accomplished in a variety of ways, including, but not limited to, varying the length of the link 22, either above or below the plugs 24, or by raising or lowering the entire drive mechanism 14.

As part of FIG. 2-8B, adjustment is achieved by mounting the entire drive mechanism 14 on a support 40 (see FIG. 4) which can be raised and lowered, along a vertical guide 41, relative to the device housing. More specifically, as seen in Figures 2, 3, 8A and 8B, the side walls 42 of the housing have a set of adjustment slots 44 through which the lever arm 46 can be locked. 8A and the raised position in FIG. 8B. The slots are made so that they are long enough to provide adjustment ranges and ranges of movement during operation in each of the end positions. The adjustment range may extend from about 30 cm to about 65 cm measured from the base to the highest point on the surface 16. In practice, a range of about 40 cm to about 55 cm is sufficient to suit most adult users.

It should be noted that this is only one derived example of the tuning mechanism. Clearly, there are various other solutions to this type of mechanism available to those well-versed in this issue. Further, another mechanism will be illustrated herein with reference to FIG. 9 and 10.

Referring to Figures 9 and 10, there is shown an assembly of a second device, designated 100, constructed and operating in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. Device 100 is generally similar to device 10, where equivalent parts are similarly labeled. The device 100 differs fundamentally in the adjustment mechanism employed.

More precisely, FIG. 10 illustrates a schematic representation of a further possible application of the adjustment mechanism, where the adjustment of the length of the link 22 is carried out above the plugs 24. This is achieved by using a lockable telescopic link in which the main support element of the link 22 is slidably connected within a sleeve 28 which is further connected to the support plate 12. The sleeve 28 is characterized by a pin 30 that engages in one of a series of notches 32 in the support part. The part with the spring 34 forces the supporting part to be against the pin 30 thus maintaining the connection between the pin 30 and one of the notches 32. The height adjustment is performed by twisting the elements so that by compressing the part with the spring 34 the connection between the pin 30 and the notch 32 is released from the initial state. The support plate 12 can then be raised or lowered telescopically in relation to the support part and then be brought into contact with the corresponding notch 32 by the pin 30 in order to maintain the desired height.

Finally, considering FIG. 11, it should be appreciated that the device of the present invention can be incorporated into various other devices and structures. By way of a specific example, FIG. 11 shows an implementation of an assembly of the present invention, generally designated 200, in which a support plate 12 is used as at least one body support surface on a chair. The "base" against which the patient's back is supported, in this case, is the back of the chair 202. Incidentally, as will be noted in this example, the "base" of the present invention is not necessarily horizontal. In other respects, device 200 is similar in construction and operation to device 10, previously described, where equivalent parts are similarly labeled.

It will be understood that the above descriptions are intended to serve as examples, and that many other solutions are possible within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims (13)

1. A device for preventing or relieving lower back pain in a human while the human is on a mat in a supine position, the device comprising: (i) a support plate configured to engage a surface behind both of the human's knees; and (ii) a drive mechanism mechanically connected to said support plate, where said drive mechanism is configured to drive said support plate continuously in a cyclic motion consisting of: (a) a working stroke along a first path where the upper part of both legs are moved together, in the direction away from the body, fairly parallel to their longitudinal axes, i.e. the effect of a stretching force on the lumbar vertebrae of the lower back of a person, and (b) a return stroke along a second path, wherein said second path usually lies below said first path. 2. The device of claim 1, characterized in that said first path contains a vertical upward movement, followed by a horizontally stretching movement. 3. The device of claim 1, characterized in that said second path comprises a downward vertical movement, followed by a horizontal return movement. 4. The device of claim 1, characterized in that said first and second paths together approximately correspond to the shape of an ellipse. 5. The device from claim 1, characterized by the fact that said drive mechanism contains at least one rotating element, and said continuous cyclic movement is generated by at least part of the link that is eccentrically connected to said rotating element. 6. The device of claim 1, characterized in that said support plate is connected to said drive mechanism via an adjustable link configured to allow adjustment of the height of said support plate relative to said drive mechanism. 7. A device for preventing or relieving lower back pain in a human, configured for use with the human lying on a mat in a supine position, the device comprising: (a) a support plate configured to engage a surface behind both of the human's knees; and (b) a rotary drive for driving said support plate, wherein said rotary drive comprises a sliding plug hinged to the support plate, which can slide along a slot during the rotation of said rotary drive so as to drive the support plate, and both knees together when supported thereon, from the initial position through continuously rotating cycles along a closed curve shape path, each cycle comprising: (i) a working stroke having a vertical component along which the engaged surfaces are raised behind both knees in order to neutralize the naturally arched concavity of the human back and the horizontal component along which the engaged surfaces behind both knees are stretched in order to release the human lumbar vertebrae from pressure; and (ii) a return stroke that is different from (the working stroke) and lies below the path of the working stroke, and to return the engaged surfaces behind both knees to their initial position. 8. The device from claim 7, characterized in that the said drive contains: a rotary element revolving around its axis of rotation, a clamp connected at one end to the said rotary element eccentrically with respect to its axis of rotation, and the opposite end to the support plate; said sliding plug carried on said link between its opposite ends and slidably in said slots by rotation of said one end of link by said rotary element to cause said opposite end of link and said support plate connected thereto to be driven through said revolving cycle whose path has the form of a closed curve. 9. The device from claim 8, characterized in that the said drive is located in one frame, and the said slot in which the said sliding plug can slide, is made at an angle. 10. The device from claim 7, characterized by the fact that in the mentioned return stroke, a stretching force is maintained on the engaged surfaces behind both knees during their descent, and before their return to the original position is completed. 11. The device of claim 7, wherein said support plate comprises a support plate configured to support both lower portions of a person's legs, and said plate is angled downward to face the person's legs. 12. The device of claim 11, characterized in that said support plate is vertically adjustable relative to said base to accommodate users of different sizes. 13. The device of claim 7, characterized in that said continuous rotating cycles of an elliptical configuration.