CA1199544A

CA1199544A - Body traction device

Info

Publication number: CA1199544A
Application number: CA000430328A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Hillar Lilles
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1983-06-14
Filing date: 1983-06-14
Publication date: 1986-01-21
Also published as: EP0131167A2; AU2919384A; EP0131167A3; AU572846B2

Abstract

BODY TRACTION DEVICE

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
Disclosed is a therapeutic device by the use of which a person may hang in an upside-down posture, with the spine straight, and in complete relaxation. The device has a tilting table, with a knee platform on which the person first kneels; a thigh platform against which he next rests his thighs; and a torso platform for supporting his chest as he leans forwards. A handle is used to control tilting of the table to freely hanging, or any intermdiate inverted, position. Relaxation while hanging is achieved by the provision of behind-the-knee restraint, which comprises a pad that fits in the crook of the bent knee. This restraint allows the body weight to be taken entirely by the thighs without the thighs being pulled off the thigh platform by the weight of the torso. The device is adjustable in various ways to suit the individual.

Description

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~IELD OI THE INVENTION
This învention relates to body traction devices, of the kind in which a person is supported in an upside-down position.
It is well known that there are therapeutic benefits to be had by hanging upside down. It stretches the spine, relieves tension, allows compressed nerves and blood vessels to dilate, and encourages internal organs to function smoothly.

PRIOR ART
Devices for supporting people in an upside down position have included special boots~ Here, a person dons a pair of boots which he attaches to a hook on the ceiling. He then allows himself to hang vertically, by his feet. There are three things wrong witll this: first, although the spine is subject to tension ~which is beneficial and relaxing) so too are the legs, which is not beneficial but is most uncomfortable; second, when hanging by the feet, a person's spine is not straight but curved, i.e., there is a hollow in the small of the back; third, getting into, and getting out of, the inverted position is diffîcult, and likely to lead to muscle strain and can hardly be done without assistance.
Another approach is typified by SIEBE~ in U.S.A. Patent No. 4,214,790 (July 29, 1980). A person sits in a chair, fastens a lap strap, and gradually tilts backwards until almost upside down. Apart from the enormous expense of such a chair if it is to be reliable and safe, the person cannot relax in the 27 inverted position because some of his muscles are being used to hold the posture.

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Another prior ar~ category is that of chairs or beds which a person mounts in a normal standing or kneeling position, after which he leans forwards and tips a pivoting platform and 50 assumes the inverted position. It is this category with which the invention is particularly concerned.
There was published in the U.S. Armed Forces ~edical Journal, Vol. IV, No. 6, June 1953, a disclosure of a device that had a pivoting table. A person knelt on a lower level of the table, and rested his chest on an upper level, both levels being horizontal during mounting. The person's thighs rested against a vertical thigh support. The table was arranged to tilt forward some 60 degrees, much of the person's weight then being talcen against the thigh support, and some tension being present in the spine. A similar device is shown in U.S.

2,228,793 (SWOFFORD, January 14, 1941) though here a person stood on a platform, rather than knelt on it, when mounting.
In U.S. 3,722,507 (KRAUSE, March 27, 1973) and in U.S.
4,292,962 (KRAUSE, October 6, 1981) the person's legs were restrained with the legs straight out, by means of restraints placed behind the ankle or behind the calf.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention is aimed at providing an improvement over all these prior art devices by providing means whereby a person can hang with his spine quite straight, and quite vertical, with all his muscles relaxed; and whereby the person feels no 27 vulnerability to uncontrolled tipping, and needs to exert no particularly strenuous muscle action to reach the vertical hanging posture, nor to return to the normal posture. It is 9s~

also an aim of the invention to do this with inexpensive and easy-to-use equipment.
The invention provides a pivoting table, as did the MEDICAL JOURNAL and the KRAUSE patents, but in the invention the table is arranged so that the person can hang vertically without any of his weight then being taken by the torso platform: the table itself is arranged so that it can swing a few degrees beyond the vertical to ensure that the person is quite freely hanging. In the prior art, if the table tipped so far that the person was hanging vertically then the person would tend to fall off the table. Even with either of the behind-the-lower-leg restraints of KRAUSE, a person's hips could start to slide forwards off the thigh platform and down the table once the person's torso was hanging vertically.
Naturally, the person would see to it that he did not slide off, but he would have to exert his muscles to do so, which militates against relaxation, and also the apparatus would not have a confidence-inspiring feeling of inherent safety, which might be unacceptable to, say, an infirm person. Besides, the legs-out-straight posture taught by KKAUSE strains the backs of the legs, and leads to some discomfort.
In the invention, the comfortable bent-knee posture of the MEDICAL JOURNAL is retained, but the person can safely hang vertically without sliding forwards off the thigh platform because of the provision of a behind-the-knee restraint. This behind-the-knee restraint provides a means of reacting the 27 tendency of a person's hip to slide forwards off the thigh platform. The person may thus hang freely vertically, with his spine straight and his entire body relaxed.

95~4 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERKED EMBODIMENT
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An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a pictorial view of a therapeutic device which emodies the invention;
Figure 2 is an exploded view of the device of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a side elevation of the device of Figure 1, in use by a person;
Figure 4 is the same elevation as Figure 3, but with the device in a different position.

The therapeutic device 2 comprises a table 3, and a frame 4. The table 3 includes a support 5 made of metal tubing and bent as shown. Braces 6 are welded between the two limbs of the table support S. To these braces 6 are fixed a knee platform 7, a thigh platform 8, and a torso platform 9. Three pivot tubes 10 (only one of which is shown in Figure 1) are also welded between the limbs of the support 5.
The frame 4 comprises two uprights 15 and a back piece 16.
The uprights 15 each have a hole 17 at the top. Handles 18, only one of which is shown, are pivoted to the frame 4. The handles may be independent, or may be linked so as to swing in unison.
The table 3 is pivoted to the frame 4 by means of a pivot pin 19 which engages one of ~he pivot tubes 10 to the holes 17.
27 The table 3 includes a knee restraint 20. This comprises a T-shaped cross-bar 23 on a post 24 formed by welded tubes; an 1 !L995~

elbow 25 also of welded or bent tubes; a tube 27 welded to two of the braces 6; and round pads 29 which fit over the cross-bar 23. The elbow 25 telescopes into the post 23 and into the tube 27.
In use, the table 3 is set to the position shown in Figure 1. A person kneels onto the knee platform 7, and tucks the pads 29 one behind each knee, i.e., in the crook of the knee.
The person leans forward until his thighs rest against the thigh platform 8. He then bends forwards at the hips until his chest rests against the torso platform 9. He takes hold of the handle 18, and commences to lower himself downwards, as shown in Figure 3. He carries on lowering himself until his torso is hanging vertically, as shown in Figure 4. A head-rest 30 is clipped to the support 5 to cushion the head during the lowering stage, but it will be seen that the head is clear of the head-rest 30, and also the chest is clear of the torso platform 9, when the person has reached the stage shown in Figure 4. Rather than a separable head rest, the torso platform could be long eough to include an integral head-rest. The person's torso hangs freely vertically with the spine straight:
the hands or arms may rest on the ground, as shown.
The person can remain in the posture shown in Figure 4 without any discomfort, and without using his muscles; i.e., in complete relaxation. It is a feature of the invention that there would be a tendency for the person's thighs to slide ~o the right (in Figure ~) were it not for the knee restraint ~0.
27 In order that the hip-end 34 of the thigh platform 8 may be firmly located against the hip-bone area of the person, it may be necessary that the position of the pad ~9 be adjusted 99S'~

with respect to the hip-end 34 of the platform 8. The elbow 25 may be telescoped and locked to the tube 27 at the desired position. Similarly, a person might need a greater distance between the thigh platform 8 and the pad 29 to accommodate the thickness of his legs, and the post 24 may be telescoped and locked to the elbow 25. Alternatively, it could be arranged that the thigh platform could be movable, and the pad 29 not movable, with respect to the support 5.
Another adjustment that might be required is to the angle between the thigh platform 8 and the torso platform 9. This adjustment can be achieved by means of packing placed between the appropriate brace 6 and the thigh platform 8, or by making the support 5 such that ;t hinges between the thigh platform 8 and the torso platform 9 and by also providing means to lock the angle between the two platforms at the desired value.
Yet another adjustment is provided by the three pivot tubes 10. The appropriate one is selected to receive the pivot pin 19 according to the ease with which the pivoting or tipping movement of the table 3 can be controlled. If the person finds himself, for instance, starting to gradually rise upwards from the hanging position, he can change the pivot position so that his centre of gravity when hanging is more nearly in line with the pivot.
Besides providing the means whereby a person can hang freely vertically without discomfort, the device 2 may also be used with the torso resting against the torso platform 9.
27 Here, the table 3 is not tipped quite so far so that part of the body weight is taken by the torso platform 9. To hold the table 3 in this position, a ~lip 35 (shown only in Figure 1) is ., ~9~S'~4 attached to the tahle support 5. The clip 35 comprises a fold of metal which is lined with rubber. The handle 18 may be inserted into the clip 35 at the desired position of tlle table

3, and will remain there until released. Alternatively, the handle 18 may include a peg which engages one of a series of suitably spaced holes in the table support 5, to hold the table at an intermediate hanging position.
When adjusted correctly for the user, the device described can be used with safety; not only that, but the device inspires confidence and relaxation in the user in that there is no feeling of being vulnerable to uncontrolled swinging, nor to falling down. A person may lower himself to, and raise himself from, the hanging posture without straining himself, and in a smooth, controlled manner: this can be important in avoiding giddiness due to blood leaving the head if a normal posture were resumed too suddenly. Even if the device is not adjusted correctly for a particular person, this merely may cause some slight discomfort, but it does not cause a loss of balance or other unsafe condition, and it is easy for the person to realise just what correction he should make. The device can be used without an assistant being needed, though of course an infirm person might need assistance.
The device may be used by physiotherapists, either for the hanging as described, or to support a patient for manipulation or other treatment of the back. For use by physiotherapists, or in hospitals, the device may be mechanised, so that the 27 swinging motion is under the remote control of a supervisor~
not of the patient.when the device is intended for use by many people, the various adjustments can be provided au~omatically.

~ ~.9~S~4 The device may be freestanding, as shown, or it may form part of other therapeut;c equipment. For instance, the frame of the device could include an attachment to the bench of a weight lifting outfit.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. Therapeutic device for enabling a person to adopt an inverted hanging posture in comfort and safety, comprising:
a table, having three platforms:
(i) a knee platform which is disposed so that a person may comfortably kneel on it;
(ii) a thigh platform against which a person kneeling on the knee platform may comfortably place the fronts of his thighs;
(iii) and a torso platform, disposed so that a person kneeling on the knee platform, and with his thighs resting against the thigh platform, may comfortably lean forwards and rest the front of his torso on the torso platform;
the device further comprising a frame, to which the table is pivoted for tipping;
wherein the extent of the permitted tipping movement is far enough that a person's torso may hang freely vertically without support between the person's torso and the torso platform, the body weight being taken, during such hanging, by the contact between the thighs and the thigh platform;
and wherein the table includes a restraint disposed behind the person's knees, and arranged to fit in the crook of the bent knees, the restraint being effective:
(a) to prevent the knees from lifting, and thus to keep the thighs firmly in contact with the thigh platform; and (b) by acting on the lower legs, to prevent the thighs from sliding forwards along the thigh platform.

2. Device of claim 1, wherein the thigh platform is of such dimensions that the hip-end of the thigh platform is in firm contact with the hip-bone area of a person's body, when the person is kneeling on the knee platform and resting his torso on the torso platform.

3. Device of claim 1, wherein the behind-the-knee restraint comprises a cross-bar, the position of which is adjustable with respect to the hip-end of the thigh platform, so that the cross-bar may be personally adjusted to be tucked in firmly and snugly behind the knees, and at the same time the hip-bone area of the body may be in firm contact with the hip-end of the thigh platform.

4. Device of claim 3, wherein the cross-bar is secured to the table with a post, and wherein the post is in the centre of the cross-bar so that a person's two knees are placed one on either side of the post.

5. Device of claim 4, wherein the length of the post is adjustable so that the cross-bar may be adjusted as to its distance from the thigh platform, independently of and in addition to its adjustment along the thigh platform with respect to the hip-end of the thigh platform.

6. Device of claim 1, wherein the torso platform has such dimensions and position as to be in contact with the chest area of a person's body when the person is resting his torso on the torso platform.

7. Device of claim 1, wherein the angle between the torso platform and the pad on the thigh platform is adjustable.

8. Device of claim 1, wherein the table includes a head rest.

9. Device of claim 1, wherein the frame is adapted to be placed on the ground, and is so dimensioned as to hold a person's head clear of the ground when the person is hanging vertically.

10. Device of claim 1, wherein the position of the pivot between the table and the frame is adjacent to the hip-end of the thigh platform, and wherein the position of the pivot is adjustable with respect to the table.

11. Device of claim 1, wherein a handle is provided, attached to the frame, by means of which a person may guide himself from a kneeling posture to a hanging posture and vice versa.

12. Device of claim 11, wherein the handle is pivoted to the frame, adjacent to ground level.

13. Device of claim 12, wherein the position of the handle may be set relative to the table, so that a person may set the table suitably for a posture intermediate between a kneeling posture and a hanging posture.