CA2117151A1

CA2117151A1 - Device for training and/or re-education of individuals in an aquatic medium

Info

Publication number: CA2117151A1
Application number: CA 2117151
Authority: CA
Inventors: Claude Petit
Original assignee: FRANCE REVAL
Current assignee: FRANCE REVAL
Priority date: 1993-03-08
Filing date: 1994-03-07
Publication date: 1994-09-09
Also published as: AU5762194A; EP0614684A1; DE69405890T2; FR2702508B1; ES2110705T3; FR2702508A1; EP0614684B1; DE69405890D1; JPH08308954A

Abstract

DEVICE FOR TRAINING AND/OR RE-EDUCATION
OF INDIVIDUALS IN AN AQUATIC MEDIUM

Abstract Device for sports training and/or re-education of individuals in an aquatic medium, characterized in that it comprises a tank (10) fitted with means (16) for cir-culating the water so as to create a current in a given direction, and a mobile floor (12) fitted with means (14) for movement in height and for locking this floor in any intermediate position between a high position located at least in line with the brim of the tank and a low position substantially pressed up against the bottom of the tank, these movement and locking means being arranged outside this tank.

Figure 1

Description

. ,~

The subject of the preaent invention is a device for training and/or re-education of an individual in an aquatic medium ae well as the a~sociated re-education method.
Re-education pools are well known in the field of medicine and more particularly for re-education exercise~.
In fact, individuals doing work in water find relief owing to buoyancy which decreases their own weight - 10 and gives them homogeneous aupport over all parts of the body.
Thi~ has a beneficial effect both on the joint~
and the mu3cle~.
Ne~erthelese, these pools present ~everal probl6ms.
These pool~ have a given depth which generally corresponds to immersion of an individual of average height up to the ~houlders.
Thus, shorter individuals are hampered by the depth and taller individuals are not sufficient i ersed.
In large tank~, the solution con i~ts in pro-viding a ~loping pool botto~.
In smaller pools, the solution consist~ in providing a fitted floor, which can move in height, and which orms a walk passage.
Such pa~sages are ~uspended from an external arm integral with a screw/nut assembly resting on the peri-pheral side of the pool, similar cradle devices for getting i~to the water.
The individual walk~ lengths of this walk pa~sage ao a~ to exercise himself.
This is described in Patent US-A-4,712,788.
It i~ obvious that only certain part~ of the body are called upon which limit~ the re-education effect~ and the variety of the exercises.
This i8 also the case in French Patent FR-A-2~607,389 which deæcribes a tan~ with a travelling mat mounted on arm~ articulated in shear in order to allow height adjustment of the travelling mat.

` 2117~1 .

Over and above the bulk at the bottom of the travelling mat and the elevator means which rem~in permanently in thi~ tank, it is found that all theRe mechanical elements are permanently immçr~ed, which i~
contrary to the rules of hygiene.
The pools for re-education and/or training for sport~men are becoming ~maller and smaller, on the one hand in order to limit investment and running costR, and on the other hand in order to allow there to be more of them in order to vary the application~ within the ~ame establishment.
- Thu~, pools are more and more often fittad with a rever~e current installation allowing, despite the confi~d space of the tank, high-level sport~ training and variation of re-education exercine~.
The power of the current can be adju~ted and even programmed with time-power cycles.
The flow~ of water generated forming current~
have been improved and ~ome pools are eguipped with a closed-loop water circulation with paddle w~eel arranged in a ca~ing at one of the ends of the tank, which delivers to the other end a laminar flow through an adapt~d opening, after passi~g beneath the bottom of the pool, more particularly in a double bottom pro~ided for thi~ purpo~e, or through lateral channels made laterally in the pool it~elf.
Such pools are in particular marketed under the registered trademark "Swimex Pooln.
With the aim of improving the re-education exer-Gises, the pre~ent invention provides an improvement topools of the type with rsverse flow by combining them with a mobile floor, which can be adju~ted in height.
In fact, with this floor individual~ can remain ~tationary while working certain part~ of the body purely by exerting a resistive force against the flow.
In this ca~e, the individual may pre~ent hi~
body, also in a stationary manner, in all orientatio~, front, side, profile and furthermore, by virtue of the combined effQct of the height adjustment, the target area~ can be perfectly targeted.
Of courQe, this device nevertheless retains the advantages of the mobile floor ina~much as it allow~
progre~sion of the apparent weight to the actual weight or conversely, thi~ benefit being well-known in bathing therapy.
In the case of the pre~ent invention, the result-ing effect is still more advantageous ~ince it make~ it po~sible to vary an additional parameter which iR the - 10 force generated by the current.
The device according to the invention furthermore make~ it pos~ible to retain the advantages relating to the pxogres~ive immer~ion or the reduction of depth for ~hort individuals, in particular children.
Thus the floor may come into the prolongation of the deck, thereby en~uring ~urface continuity, which allowa ea~y passage for wheelchairs for example, directly from th~ deck to the moving floor, without any lifting-assi~tance apparatua.
The deviae according to the invention furthermore compriee~ guite particular means for moving the floor in height ~hich limit the bulk in the height direction, which are ~imple to produce, which give every guarante~
of ~afety, and which limit the bulk in the pool.
These means enable the floor to be moved over a h~ight greater than the depth of the tank and to carry out movam~nt in translation when this i~ necessary, a will be explained later.
The embodiment according to the invention makQs it pos~ible to comply strictly with the rules of hygiene.
The tank, devoid of a projecting element fa~tened to the bottom or to the walls, is not subject to any accumulation of particles.
In addition, in the preferential embodiment of the invention, the obligatory periodic cleaning i8 made ea~y by the raising of the floor into the maximum-height position, which gives access to the entire tank, without a di~turbing element.
Thus the device according to the invention for - 21171~1 . .

sports training and/or re-education of individuals in an aquatic medium, i~ characterized in that it comprise~ a tank fitted with mean ~or circulating the water ~o aa to create a current in a given direction, and a mobile floor fitted with means for movement in height and for locking thi~ floor in any intermediate poaition between a high position located at least in line with the brim of the tank and a low position ~ubstantially pressed up again~t the bottom of the tank, these movement and locking means being arranged outRide this tank.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the device i~ characterized in that the current i~ a laminar surface current over a given height, directed along the longitudinal axi8 of the tank.
The upper position of the floor i8 located above the brim ~o a~ to allow accsss to the entire tank.
As for the means for movement in height, they compri~ two pairs of bent arms which are articulated with respect to ~he edge of the pool at one of their ends and are fitted with support elementR which are provided in order to interact with the floor at the other end, a~
well as with ele~ator mean~ arranged between a fixed ~upport and the arms.
According to a preferential embodiment of the 2~ invention, the elevator means comprise, for each of the anms, a ~ack whose body i8 articulated in rotation about a fixed axle perpendicular to the direction of movement of the piston o~ this jack, the free end of thi~ piston being articulated to the corresponding arm.
Prefer~bly, the jacks are electrical jacks having ball~.
~here are furthermore provided end-of-travel indicators arranged on either side of the body of the jack ~o that they are actuated during the pivoting of the body of the jack about the fixed axle, according ~o angles which correspond to the high and low position~.
In addition, the device comprises a third end-of-travel indicator which i~ actuated by the body of the ~ack when the high-position indicator i~ disengaged, thi~

21171~1 third indicator corre~ponding to the position of the floor above the brim i~ order to allow acce~s to the entire tank.
One particular arrangement of the floor provides for it to be articulated on one ~ide to the end~ of the arms of one of the pairs with locki~g in translation, a~d Rupported on the other side by the arms of the second pair with free movement in translation.
According to one self-contained embodiment of the device, there i~ furthermore provided a ~upport frame re~ting on a floor area, into which the tank and i~8 means for circulating the water, means for treating the water, the arms and the floor, the elevator means, the brim a~d the deck of ~he tank are integrated, 80 as to facilita~e the initial installation and the possible subsequent mov~ment~.
The invention i~ described hereinbelow according to one particular embodiment, in connection with the attached drawings, in which:
- Figure 1 represenk~ a diagrammatic perspective view of the tank according to the invention, empty of water, equipped with a current generator, ~ymbolized by a broken line, - Figures 2 and 3 repres~nt the two, high and low, poRi-tion~ of the mobile floor, - Figure 4 represent~ the position of the mobils floor above the brim in order to allow access to the entire tank, - Figures 5, 6 and 7 represent the end-of-travel indica-tor~ and the ~arious positions of one of the arms, as well as of the floor in relation to the edge of the tank, - Figure 8 represents an embodiment variant which provides for an integration of all the elements attached to the tank into one frame, 80 as to render the device self-contained and, - Figur~s 9 and 10 repre~ent two ~tepa of implementation of the device according to the invention.
Figure 1 represents a tank 10 with a brim 11, and a deck 13, equipped with a mobile floor 12 compri~ing mean~ 14 for moving this floor in height, and means 16 for circulating the water 80 as ~o create a current of water.
The tank iR of ~ubstantially rectangular shape in order to allow good circulation of the water, given that the direction of the current generated by the means for circulating the water i8 directed along the longitudinal axis of thi~ tank.
As is represented diagrammatically in Figures 2 and 3, the means for circulating the water comprise a paddle wheel 18, mean~ 20 for delivering the water into ~he tank at one of the ends with a laminar flow, and mean~ 22 for sucking out the water at the oppo~ite end.
Water circulation pipe~ 23 are provided between the ~ucking-out and delivering mean~.
Preferably, a double bottom is made beneath the bottom of the tank, which allows circulation of the return flow without disturbing the forward flow.
Su~h tankg exi~t on the market under the "Swimex pool" registered trad~mark, which generate a laminar flow of water over a given and limited height, of the order of 40 centimetre~, to give an idea, with a ~peed which can be adjusted, by the speed of rotation of the paddle wheel, $rom a ~ew m/h up to 20 km/h.
25Some ars eguipped with a progra r"er for recordi~g particular eequences with a pre-establi~hed order.
The circulation may also come into the tank laterally via the side~, these circulation pipes in that cas~ acting as lateral ~tands.
30In the embodiment shown, the floor 12 comprises a plate 24 of dimensions ~ubstantially equal to the internal dimensions of the tank.
The means 14 fox movement in height compri~e two pairs of bent arms 26.
35Each of the~e arm~ i~ articulated via one of its end~ around an axle 28 in a yoke 29 integral with the edge of the tank, while the other end ~upports the floor.
The ends of one of the pairs of arme are articulated directly on~o the floor, without the - ` 21171~1 po~sibility of translation of the~e ends in relation to the floor.
The end~ of the arm~ of the other pair are conne~ted by a transverse axle 30 which pa~es beneath 5 the floor and which i8 equipped with roller 80 as to allow the movements, in translation, of these end~ of the arm~ in relation to the floor.
The arms are arranged laterally and are housed between the edge of the tank and the edge of the floor.
- 10 Jacks 32 are arranged between each of the arms and the edge of the tank.
Each of these jacks is an electrical jack with a ~crew having ball~, this ~crew forming the pi~ton 34 of the jack.
The body 36 of the jack is articulated about a ~ransverse axle 30, fixed in relation to the tank, 80 that the body pivot~ with angles which can be varied as a ~unction o~ how far out the piston o_ this jack i8, as may be eeen in Figures 2, 3 snd 4.
In Figure 2, the floor is in the low position, substantlally pres~ed up against the bottom.
In Figure 3, the floor is in the high positio~, in line with the brim, 80 as to form a continuity between the deck and the floor.
In Figure 4, the floor is abo~e the tank, allow-ing accsss to the entire ta~.
Figure 5, 6 and 7 Rhow, partially, an arm 26 w~th a jack in the three extreme positions of the floor, correspo~ding to Figure~ 3, 4 and 5.
The presence of end-of-travel indicators 40, 4~
and 44 i~ noted, these being arranged with the first o~e on o~e ~ide of the body of the jack and with the other two on the other side.
The ~ir~t indicator is aatuated when the jack ha~
ita pi~ton in the retrasted position, which correspond~
to the floor pre~sed up against the bottom.
Th~ second indicator i8 actuated when the jack has its piston partially out, which corre~pond~ to a pofiition of the floor in line with the brim 11 of the ts~.

~ 117151 This second indicator can be disengaged.
The third indicator i8 actuated when the piston of the jack i8 pu~hed out into the extreme position, after the ~econd indicator has been disengaged, which corresponds to the position of the floor above the brim 1, of the tank.
In Figure 8, an improvement of the device provides a frame which integrates all the element~, namely the tank 10, the brim 11, the deck 13, the arms - 10 26, the floor 12, the jacks 32, the mean~ 16 for circu-lating the water and means 46 for trea~ing the water.
A first known use of this device consist~ in adju~ting the dspth of water as a function of the height of the individual, in particular if the latter i8 a child. This i5 advantageous for learning to swim, for example.
Another known use, al80 retained with this device, is the progre~ive immersion of an individual I progre~i~ely as his confidence and skill in the water 320 increa~e~.
The novel re-education pos3ibilities provided by the original combination of a tank with an artificial current and a mobile floor, are numerous.
Referring to Figures 9 and 10, these pos~ibi-25 litiss may ke gra~ped better.
In Figure 9, the current circulates over a depth h with a force F compatible with the physical capabili-ties of thi~ individual.
In this ca~e, the floor i8 in the bottom 330 position, giving the tank it~ maximum depth of water.
The individual ia submerged/i~mersed, ~o that his weight i~ an apparent weight, that is to say the weight of the individual decreased by his buoyancy.
Taking into account the force of the current, the 35 individual is required to lean forward in order to re~ist it, which works certain elemQnts of the body.
During this ~tage, the individual doe~ not feel the weight of his body, which free~ him to work ¦specifically.

2 1 1 7 1 ~1 g Furthermore, it will be ob~erved that the current exerts its action at the height of the top of the chest, e~pecially in the ca~e of a laminar current, which correctly localise~ the forces of reaction of ~he individual.
During the same exercise, the floor may be raiQed 80 a~ to modify, on the one hand, the point of impact of the current, and on the other hand, in order to transfer the resi~tive effort of the individual into effort~ of - 10 taking up his own weight.
The method also provides for placing the indi-vidual face on, but also for orienting him with respect to the dir~ction of the current 80 as to work almo~t all the areas of the body.
This was previously impo~sible. In fact, only walking m~de it po~sible to allow a ~ubmerged/immersed per30n to work. This posed a problem when the joint~ were not functioning properly, for example.
Furthermore, it wa~ impossible to work the muQcles of the bac~ by a resi~tive effort because walking backward~ i~ hard to e~viQage, and in any case, the force~ developed are not ~ufficient.
The possibilities and the variants of exercises are multiplied by the available accessorie~, 3uch aa the guard rails or the moving mat, whether the context i~
that of re-education, or that of sports training.
It i~ pointed out that, in the position of the floor above the tank, cleaning is easy from the edges of the tan~ for the cleaning staff, especially with the aid of a bottom ~uction device.

Claims

1. Device for sports training and/or re-education of individuals in an aquatic medium, characterized in that it comprises a tank (10) fitted with means (16) for cir-culating the water so as to create a current in a given direction, and a mobile floor (12) fitted with means (14) for movement in height and for locking this floor in any intermediate position between a high position located at least in line with the brim of the tank and a low position substantially pressed up against the bottom of the tank, these movement and locking means being arranged outside this tank.

2. Device according to Claim 1, characterized in the the current is a laminar surface current over a given height, directed along the longitudinal axis of the tank.

3. Device according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the upper position of the floor is located above the brim so as to allow access to the entire tank.

4. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the means (14) for movement in height comprise two pairs of bent arms (26) which are articulated with respect to the edge of the pool at one of their ends and are fitted with support elements (30) which are provided in order to interact with the floor (12) at the other end, as well as with elevator means (32) arranged between a fixed support and the arms.

5. Device according to Claim 4, characterized in that the elevator means comprise, for each of the arms, a jack, the body of which is articulated in rotation about a fixed axle perpendicular to the direction of movement of the piston of this jack, the free end of this piston being articulated to the corresponding arm.

6. Device according to Claim 4, characterized in that the jacks are electrical jacks having balls.

7. Device according to Claim 5 or 6, characterized in that it comprises end-of-travel indicators arranged on either side of the body of the jack so that they are actuated during the pivoting of the body of the jack about the fixed axle, according to angles which corres-pond to the high and low positions.

8. Device according to Claim 7, characterized in that it comprises a third end-of-travel indicator which is actuated by the body of the jack when the high-position indicator is disengaged, this third indicator corresponding to the position of the floor above the brim, for access to the entire tank.

9. Device according to any one of Claims 4 to 8, characterized in that the floor is articulated on one side to the ends of the arms of one of the pairs with locking in translation, and supported on the other side by the arms of the second pair with free movement in translation.

10. Self-contained device for sports training and/or re-education according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it furthermore comprises a support frame resting on a floor area, into which the tank and its means for circulating the water, means for treating the water, the arms and the floor, the elevator means, the brim and the deck of the tank are integrated.