GB2413080A

GB2413080A - Magnetic therapy device worn by animals having alternate pole concentric annular magnets

Info

Publication number: GB2413080A
Application number: GB0406222A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Roger Edward Flaherty
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-03-19
Filing date: 2004-03-19
Publication date: 2005-10-19
Also published as: GB0406222D0

Abstract

The therapy device is suitable to be worn by animals or humans and may comprise a strap (fig 3), animal collar (fig 5) or a coat or animal blanket (fig 6). The device comprises a flexible fabric with means for attaching to the human or animal body, the fabric having magnets mounted on or in the fabric using adhesive and a receiving recess (fig 4) or by sewing (fig 7). The magnet means comprises a first annular permanent magnet 12 and a second disc magnet 10, the disc 10 arranged within the annulus 12 and orientated such that the first and second magnets present alternating north and south poles to the wearer's body. A third magnet 16 may be included as an outer annulus concentric with the first and second magnets and again arranged to provide alternating poles.

Description

24 1 3080 P105625GB 1

MAGNETIC THERAPY DEVICE

This invention concerns provision of magnetic field producing means in or on a body appliance, that it to say any form of appliance, including but not limited to bands, sleeves, collars, belts, coats, other garments, footwear and headgear, which in use encircles or overlies a surface of a human or animal body.

Magnetic therapy by mounting static magnets adjacent a human or animal body at positions overlying main blood vessels or pain affected areas is known. It is believed to work by increasing the efficiency of blood flow and fluid exchange.

GB 2307178A, EP-A-0774275 and EP-A-0898982 describe magnetic therapy devices wherein a plastics housing encases a magnet mounted on a ferrous keeper plate or inside a cup shaped ferrous keeper. This provides a surface where the central magnet face of a first polarity is surrounded by a region of reverse polarity. This is believed to be advantageous. . in presenting successive opposite magnetic poles (N-S-N or S-N-S) to blood flowing:.. ë

parallel to any body surface with which such a device is held in contact. :::.

An object of the invention is to provide an alternative or improved magnetic therapy device.

According to the invention a magnetic therapy device comprises a body appliance of flexible fabric having means adapted for securing said appliance to a human or animal body so as to overlie a surface of the body and magnetic field producing means comprising a permanent annular magnet and a permanent disc magnet disposed inside the annular magnet, these magnets being mounted in or on the appliance so as to present three alternating magnetic poles in a direction parallel to the surface of the body, namely N-S-N or S-N-S.

Thus, in the device according to the invention the magnetic field producing means need not be encased in a rigid or semi-rigid housing of plastics or non-ferrous metal.

P105625GB 2 More importantly, the magnetic field producing means consists of at least two permanent magnets, arranged concentrically, resulting in a stronger and more durable magnetic field than hitherto.

There may be two or more annular magnets, one within the other, with a disc magnet still present inside the inner of the annular magnets.

These magnets, whether two, three or more in number, are preferably formed of a rare earth called neodymium which maintains its magnetic strength with minimal loss over decades.

Moreover, is not subject to demagnetising by impact or by heating.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the.

accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a first embodiment of a magnetic field producing.

means as used in a magnetic therapy device in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a similar view of a second embodiment of such magnetic field producing means; Fig. 3 is an underside plan view, to a reduced scale, of a first embodiment of a magnetic therapy device of the invention in the form of a collar for a greyhound; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, enlarged cross section along line A-A in Fig. 3 showing how the magnetic field producing means is mounted into the collar; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sketch showing the collar of Fig. 3 fitted onto a greyhound; Fig.6 is a sketch showing use of two further embodiments of a magnetic therapy device of the invention in the form of a horse blanket and an equine hood; and Fig. 7 is an enlarged plan detail showing how magnetic field producing devices as in Fig. 1 may be mounted onto the blanket of Fig. 6.

Defeating firstly to Fig. 1, a preferred and simplest version of a magnetic field producing means used in a device of the invention consists of a pair of magnets, namely a small circular disc magnet 10 disposed inside an annular magnet 12, with a gap 14 therebetween P105625GB 3 varying from 0. lmm to 2mm or thereabouts. The annular faces of the annular magnet 12 have N and S polarity and the circular faces of the disc magnet 10 have reverse polarity, namely an S face adjacent the N surface of the annular magnet 12 and an N face adjacent the S surface of the annular magnet. The faces of the disc magnet 10 may be substantially level with the faces of the annular magnet 12, but this is not essential. The gap 14 is maintained naturally by virtue of the equally distributed attractive forces between the magnets 10, 12.

Both magnets 10, 12 are permanent magnets, preferably of a rare earth material, neodymium or similar rare earth magnets. Such magnets are available commercially, as separate items and in a range of sizes from Magnacut Ltd of Vulcan Road, Sheffield S9 lEW.

A suitable external diameter for the annular magnet 12 where it is to be used, for example, in a dog collar, is l.Scm. The disc magnet 10 may then have a diameter of about 0.5cm. A However, larger, or even smaller, sizes may be used depending on availability, cost, : ..

intended purpose and precise positioning in a body appliance. .

In accordance with the invention such a magnetic field producing means (hereafter referred to as a magnetic field producer) is mounted in or on a body appliance which is of flexible fabric and is intended and adapted to be secured to a human or animal body so as to overlie a surface thereof. Such appliance may take any form known or yet to be devised. As mentioned in the introduction, the appliance may take the form of a band (wrist band, ankle band, head band, arm band etc.), a sleeve, a wrap, a collar, a belt, a coat or any other garment, but this is not an exhaustive list.

Fig. 2 shows another version of magnetic field producer wherein an additional annular magnet 16, also a permanent magnet, preferably of neodymium or a similar rare earth magnet, is positioned outside the first pair of magnets 10, 12 corresponding to those in Fig. 1. Again, a natural gap between the respective magnets 10 and 12, and 12 and 16 is maintained. The gap is usually of about 1 to 2mm. Again, the faces of the respective P105625GB 4 magnets 10, 12, 16 may be substantially level, but that is not essential. With this arrangement, the polarity at one face of the inner annular magnet 12 is reversed compared to the polarity at the corresponding adjacent face of the disc magnet 10 and the outer annular magnet 16. Therefore across a diameter of the magnetic field producer the polarity will be, successively N-S-N-S-N at one side and correspondingly S-N-S-N-S at the other.

The magnetic field producer as shown in Fig. 1 or Fig. 2, or indeed any other variant with additional annular magnets, can be mounted in or on a selected appliance in any convenient manner. For example, it may be located in a pocket or tunnel between layers of fabric, optionally with additional adhesive or stitching so that it is retained in a selected position.

In some cases, stitching alone, or adhesive alone or an overlying adhesive strip, or a combination of these may be adequate. .... ë

Most body appliances to which the invention is applied will have at least two magnetic field producers mounted thereto. Some will have a large number in order to cater for large. .

animals or individuals where application of a magnetic field is required at numerous.

locations in order to have prospects of a noticeable effect.

::::e Moreover, the magnetic field producers will be mounted to the appliance at predetermined spaced locations so as to overlie, on the body surface, the positions of blood vessels. Blood flowing parallel to a facing surface of the magnetic field producer will then be subject to successive changes in magnetic field direction as it passes the reversing poles of the producer, i.e. N-S-N or S-N-S in the case of the Fig. 1 version of magnetic field producer.

By way of example only, Figs. 3, 4 and 5 illustrate the invention as applied to a particular style of collar 20 designed for greyhounds or lurchers or similar breeds of dog, which is known as a fish collar. Two magnetic field producers 10, 12, as in Fig. 1, are mounted into the underside of the collar 20 at a spacing of about 5cm apart, so that they will lie over the path of the jugular veins at either side of the trachea of the animal when the collar is fitted (Fig. 5).

P105625GB 5 The collar 20 is formed from a moderately stiff leather outer layer 22 and a softer leather or felled under surface layer 24, as shown in Fig. 4, which in use faces the body of the animal.

Respective circular recesses 26 are cut out from the layer 24 at the required spacing so as to accommodate the respective magnetic field producers, which may have a thickness of about 3-5mm. A layer of thin webbing 28, which may be a non-woven fabric is then applied across the under surface layer 24 so as to retain the respective magnetic field producers. This webbing 28 can be stitched on or bonded by adhesive, and a simple iron on operation may be all that is required if it is of a type which is impregnated by temperature sensitive adhesive.

As a refinement, the magnetic field producers may be located in the same polar orientation in both the recesses 26 so that, for example, both have either N-S-N or S-N-S facing the....

animal's body. It is believed this may have a beneficial reinforcing effect on the blood.

flow in the vessels which pass through the magnetic field. The poles of the magnets 10, 12 can be colour coded as N or S to enable this to be accomplished easily during manufacture. . .

Fig. 6 illustrates two further examples of the invention, this time applied to a horse blanket and an equine hood 40, respectively. In these examples, a large number of magnetic field producers, again as shown in Fig. 1, but designated now by simple reference numeral 18 for simplicity, are mounted on the blanket 30 and the hood 40, respectively. On the blanket 30 there are ten arranged at spaced intervals at each side of the centre line, about 10cm from the centre line, so as to overlie blood vessels at each side of the horse's spine.

There may be a further two to four each side overlying the horse's neck, a further four each side overlying its shoulder and a further four each side overlying its flanks. Obviously the exact number and the selected positioning may vary in other embodiments and this is only by way of illustration. On the hood 40, respective lines of magnetic field producers 18, probably between nine and fifteen in each case, are mounted at each side of the neck to overlie at a spacing of about 5cm from each side of the horse's trachea, when in use.

A simple way in which these magnetic field producers 18 could be mounted is by stitching the annular magnets 12 directly to the underside of the blanket material 30, as shown by P105625GB 6 stitches 32 in Fig. 7. The disc magnets 10 would be retained by the strength of magnetic attraction, but there could be a further layer of lining material applied over the producers 18.

Many other embodiments of magnetic therapy device are possible within the scope of the invention, including but not limited to dog coats, collars and leg wraps and shin wraps, leg wraps, hoods, neck wraps and rugs for horses. A gap between the magnets of the magnetic

field producer is not essential. -. :' :.'. - - e e c

Claims

P105625GB 7 CLAIMS

1. A magnetic therapy device comprising a body appliance of flexible fabric having means adapted for securing said appliance to a human or animal body so as to overlie a surface of the body and magnetic field producing means comprising a permanent annular magnet and a permanent disc magnet disposed inside the annular magnet, these magnets being mounted in or on the appliance so as to present three alternating magnetic poles in a direction parallel to the surface of the body, namely N-S-N or S-N-S.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the magnetic field producing means comprises two permanent annular magnets, a smaller one disposed inside a larger one with a spacing therebetween, and a permanent disc magnet disposed inside the smaller annular magnet with a spacing therebetween so as to present five alternating:. .. ' magnetic poles to the surface of the body, namely N-S-N-S-N or S-N-S-N-S. ., :''*

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the magnets are formed of neodymium.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein two or more magnetic field . . : producing means are mounted in or on the appliance at predetermined spaced locations so as to overlie positions of blood vessels in the human or animal body.

5. A device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the annular magnet or magnets are mounted in or on the appliance by means of stitching.

6. A device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the flexible fabric comprises plastics material, or leather or felting in which one or more wells or recesses are formed and each magnetic field producing means is mounted into the or each well or recess and retained there by a further layer of flexible fabric overlying the or each well or recess.

P105625GB 8

7. A device as claimed in claim 6 wherein the further layer of flexible fabric comprises an adhesive material.

8. An animal collar incorporating magnetic field producing means as claimed in any preceding claim.

9. An animal coat or blanket incorporating magnetic field producing means as claimed in any preceding claim.

10. A sleeve or wrap adapted for securing around an animal's leg and incorporating

magnetic field producing means.

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