GB2570142A

GB2570142A - Ball supported massage instrument

Info

Publication number: GB2570142A
Application number: GB1800529.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Lark David
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: David Paul Lark
Priority date: 2018-01-12
Filing date: 2018-01-12
Publication date: 2019-07-17
Also published as: GB201800529D0

Abstract

A massage instrument 0 comprising a base 1, at least three supporting balls 3, and a rolling body 5, in which the supporting balls are individually and protrudably housed in the base. At least one of the supporting balls may be supported by a number of smaller ball bearings (7, fig 7b) which may have freedom to reorder in a contained cavity. A supporting ball together with smaller supporting ball bearings 7 may be bound by a retaining fixture (9, fig 7b) that is preferably retained in the base. A retaining fixture 9 may be removably magnetically retained in the base 1 by a permanent magnet 11 affixed to the base.

Description

Ball Supported Massage Instrument

The present invention is a novel massage instrument.

It is well known that massage instruments can be beneficial in traditional massage therapies, self-massage, and the practice of self-myofascial trigger point pressure release. And that massage instruments with a ‘roller ball’ comprising a ball in a socket can allow moving pressure to be applied to the body in any direction without substantial abrasive sliding across the skin. A recent example of such a massage instrument is detailed in Cockerill & Willmot (UK Pat. No. GB2495973).

One of the limitations of roller ball massage instruments is that the ball bears directly against the socket. This rubbing action can result in significant friction. Only modest improvements are attainable through the use of wet or dry lubrication as described in Cockerill & Willmot (UK Pat. No. GB2495973) and Whitmarsh (UK Pat. No. GB984900).

A second limitation of roller ball massage instruments is that they require regular cleaning because foreign material can enter the bearing interface. Where foreign material is present in the bearing interface both performance and product life can be compromised.

A third limitation of roller ball massage instruments is the limited exposure of the included rolling element/s. Particularly when performing deep tissue massage, direct contact between skin and the base of the massage instrument can occur, causing discomfort to the skin.

In order to improve upon these limitations, the present invention proposes that a ball or otherwise rolling body can rest upon a number of smaller rolling balls which are fixed in position and free to rotate in any direction. The smaller rolling balls contact a minor spherical cap of the rolling body, locating it and allowing it to rotate in any direction without rubbing. This form can achieve exceptionally low rolling friction, require little or no maintenance, and expose the majority of a rolling element. This form also permits the rolling element to be removed for heating, cooling, lubrication, cleaning or exchange.

The massage instrument of this invention is dissimilar to pointing devices such as a computer mouse or trackball because the rolling element is supported by freely rotatable balls capable of low-friction rolling performance under the requisite loads of this application. For clarity, a trackball is described in Eleyan et al. (US Pat. No.

US6144370).

The massage instrument of this invention is dissimilar to a ball-transfer unit which independently provides neither the rolling element exposure nor the tolerance to lateral loading required in this application. Some embodiments of the invention enclosed include ball-transfer units as components within the overall assembly. For clarity, a balltransfer unit is described in Townsend (UK Pat. No. GB856745).

The invention may be expressed as a massage instrument 0 comprising a base 1, at least three supporting balls 3, and a rolling body 5, in which the supporting balls 3 are individually and protrudably housed in the base 1 at any position with respect to an axis A such a minor spherical cap B of the rolling body 5 can contact all supporting balls 3 whilst its spherical centre C is coincident with the axis A.

In one embodiment of the invention the acute angles between the axis A and at least three lines with ends defined firstly by the spherical centre C of the rolling body 5 and secondly by a location of contact D between the rolling body 5 and a supporting ball 3, are greater than or equal to 45 degrees and less than or equal to 75 degrees.

The three supporting balls 3 may be approximately equally spaced around the axis A.

At least one of the supporting balls 3 may be supported by a number of smaller ball bearings 7 which have freedom to reorder in a contained cavity. A supporting ball 3 together with smaller supporting ball bearings 7 may be bound by a retaining fixture 9 that is retained in the base 1. A retaining fixture 9 may be removably magnetically retained in the base 1 by a proximate permanent magnet 11 affixed to the base 1.

The rolling body 5 may be removably magnetically retained by a permanent magnet 13 affixed to the base 1 in close proximity to the rolling body 5 and along the axis A. One embodiment features a hole 15 coincident with the axis A between a position of proximity with the permanent magnet 13 and the furthest position from the rolling body 5 such that the massage instrument 0 may be retained in a position by a docking pin 19.

The base 1 may feature at least one through-hole 17 directed outwardly from the spherical centre C of the rolling body 5, perpendicular to the axis A, and between two supporting balls 3.

The rolling body 5 may be a spherical ball. And in other embodiments of the invention the rolling body 5 may be a spherically-ended elongated body which may be flexible between its spherical ends.

And proportion of the rolling body 5 may be hollow. And any proportion of the surface of the rolling body 5 may be elastically depressible.

In another embodiment of the invention the named features are replicated within the massage instrument 0 and integrated by a common base 1.

The invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an isometric view that shows a massage instrument 0 according to the present invention, in an assembled state;

Figure 2 is a top view of the massage instrument 0 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a partially exploded view of the massage instrument 0 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a partially shown isometric view of the massage instrument 0 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an isometric view of the massage instrument 0 being another embodiment of the invention;

Figure 6 is a top view of the massage instrument 0 of Figure 5;

Figure 7a is a top view of the massage instrument 0 featuring a cross section line for derived views;

Figure 7b and Figure 7c are each section views of possible embodiments of the invention according to the section line of Figure 7a;

Figure 8 is an isometric view of the massage instrument 0 being a further embodiment of the invention;

Figure 9a is a top view of a pair of massage instruments 0 of another embodiment of the invention featuring a cross section line for a derived view;

Figure 9b is a section view of the massage instrument 0 of Figure 9a according to the section line of the same;

Figure 10 is an isometric view of the massage instrument 0 being another embodiment of the invention;

Figure 11 is an isometric view of the massage instrument 0 being another embodiment of the invention.

Referring to Figures 1,2 and 3 of the drawings, a massage instrument 0 according to the present invention comprises a base 1, at least three supporting balls 3, and a rolling body 5, in which the supporting balls 3 are individually and protrudably housed in the base 1 at any position with respect to an axis A such a minor spherical cap B of the rolling body 5 can contact all supporting balls 3 whilst its spherical centre C is coincident with the axis A.

The base 1 may be made from any material or composite of sufficient rigidity and structural integrity including wood, metal, plastic, rubber or ceramic. The base 1 may be shaped to maximise access to the rolling body 5 while still providing the structure required by the supporting balls 3. In this way a rolling body 5 may be removed to be heated, cooled, lubricated, cleaned or exchanged with great ease.

The supporting balls 3 will preferably have low-friction surfaces of high polish and be made of a suitable rigid material or composite such as wood, metal, plastic, ceramic or glass to facilitate low-friction rotation in all directions.

The rolling body 5 may be solid or hollow and be made from any sufficiently rigid material or composite including wood, metal, plastic, rubber, ceramic or glass. At least a proportion of the surface of the rolling body 5 may be elastically depressible. These measures will reduce the severity of impact if the rolling body 5 is accidentally dropped.

Referring to Figure 4 of the drawings, it is preferable that the acute angles between the axis A and at least three lines with ends defined firstly by the spherical centre C of the rolling body 5 and secondly by a location of contact D between the rolling body 5 and a supporting ball 3, is greater than or equal to 45 degrees and less than or equal to 75 degrees. This range of angles is a good compromise between maximising rolling body 5 exposure, minimising loading on the supporting balls 3, and locating the rolling body 5 in lateral loading. For clarity one such angle is shown in Figure 4 by the character a.

Referring to Figures 1,2,5 and 6 of the drawings, the supporting balls 3 may be approximately equally spaced around the axis A. This results in good apportionment of loading across the supporting balls 3 which reduces the likelihood of premature wear. A massage instrument 0 according to the invention may comprise three or more supporting balls 3. The massage instrument 0 must have at least three supporting balls 3 to function however additional supporting balls 3 are superfluous.

Referring to Figures 7a, 7b and 7c of the drawings, supporting balls 3 may be supported by a number of smaller ball bearings 7 which have freedom to reorder in a contained cavity. A supporting ball 3 together with supporting smaller ball bearings may be bound by a retaining fixture 9 that is retained in the base 1. Such an assembly describes a balltransfer unit such as the simple type of Figure 7b and the recirculating type of Figure 7c.

A retaining fixture 9 may be removably magnetically retained in the base 1 by a proximate permanent magnet 11 affixed to the base 1. This provides great ease of component exchange for maintenance and retrofitting purposes. For example, if the original retaining fixtures 9 are exchanged for fixtures of a longer body, the massage instrument 0 will accommodate rolling bodies 5 of a smaller diameter.

Referring to Figure 7b and 7c of the drawings, the rolling body 5 may be magnetically retained by a permanent magnet 13 which is affixed to the base 1 in close proximity to the rolling body 5 and along the axis A. In this way the rolling body 5 will not generally separate from the rest of the massage instrument 0 unless intended by the user. The base 1 may include a hole 15 that is coincident with the axis A and extending from a position of proximity with the permanent magnet 13 to the furthest position from the rolling body 5 such that the massage instrument 0 may be located by and removably magnetically retained by a docking pin 19. In this way the massage instrument 0 can hold a desired position unless removed by the user.

Referring to Figure 8 of the drawings, the base 1 may feature at least one through-hole 17 directed outwardly from the spherical centre C of the rolling body 5, perpendicular to axis A, and between two supporting balls 3. This through-hole provides additional lateral access to the rolling body 5. The rolling body 5 may be a spherically-ended elongated body utilising the through-hole 17, as per Figures 9a, 9b and 11. The through-hole 17 also provides additional access to a rolling body 5 of the spherical ball type, as per Figures 1 - 8 and 10).

Figure 9a and 9b also shows how two massage instruments 0 can be used together. Referring to Figure 9b, a spherically-ended elongated rolling body 5 may be designed to bend between its spherical ends under load. This can be achieved for example, by constructing the region between the spherical ends of a tubular fibre reinforced plastic. This allows a greater area of the musculature to be massaged at a given time.

Referring to Figures 10 and 11 from the drawings, any combination of named features of the construction may be replicated within the massage instrument 0 and integrated by a common base 1. Figure 10 illustrates a base 1 comprising two groups of supporting balls 3 each supporting a rolling body 5 of the spherical ball construction. Figure 11 illustrates the same arrangement as Figure 10 except a single rolling body 5 of a spherically-ended elongated construction is supported across the two groups of supporting balls 3. Such arrangements could be useful, for instance, when massaging the erector spinae.

Claims

Ball Supported Massage Instrument

1. A massage instrument 0 comprising a base 1, at least three supporting balls 3, and a rolling body 5, in which the supporting balls 3 are individually and protrudably housed in the base 1 at any position with respect to an axis A such a minor spherical cap B of the rolling body 5 can contact all supporting balls 3 whilst its spherical centre C is coincident with the axis A.

2. A massage instrument 0 according to claim 1 in which the acute angles between the axis A and at least three lines with ends defined firstly by the spherical centre C of the rolling body 5 and secondly by a location of contact D between the rolling body 5 and a supporting ball 3, is greater than or equal to 45 degrees and less than or equal to 75 degrees.

3. A massage instrument 0 according to any of claims 1-2 in which at least three supporting balls 3 are approximately equally spaced around the axis A.

4. A massage instrument 0 according to any of claims 1 -3 in which at least one of the supporting balls 3 is supported by a number of smaller ball bearings 7 which have freedom to reorder in a contained cavity.

5. A massage instrument 0 according to claim 4 in which at least one of the supporting balls 3, together with supporting smaller ball bearings 7, is bound by a retaining fixture 9 that is retained in the base 1.

6. A massage instrument 0 according to claim 5 in which at least one retaining fixture 9 is removably magnetically retained in the base 1 by a proximate permanent magnet 11 affixed to the base 1.

7. A massage instrument 0 according to any of claims 1-6 in which the rolling body 5 is removably magnetically retained by a permanent magnet 13 which is affixed to the base 1 in close proximity to the rolling body 5 and along the axis A.

8. A massage instrument 0 according to claim 7 in which the base 1 features a hole 15 coincident with the axis A from a position of proximity with the permanent magnet 13 to the furthest position from the rolling body 5 such that the instrument 0 may be retained in a position by a docking pin 19.

9. A massage instrument 0 according to any of claims 1-8 in which the base 1 features at least one through-hole 17 directed outwardly from the spherical centre C of the rolling body 5, perpendicular to the axis A, and between two supporting balls 3.

10. A massage instrument 0 according to any of claims 1-9 in which the rolling body 5 is a spherical ball.

11. A massage instrument 0 according to any of claims 1 -9 in which the rolling body 5 is a spherically-ended elongated body.