JP2001293020A - Knee joint tractor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a knee joint tractor specialized in the knee joint which enables implementing of effective traction treatment for the knee joint. SOLUTION: A seat part 4 and a back part 3 are retained by a leg part 2 to link a panel-shaped tilt support part 5 to the tip part of the seat part so as to be tiltable about the horizontal axis H. A massager 6 is arranged at a border position between the seat part and the tilt support part to massage the knee cavity part of a person P receiving traction. A traction drive source part 71 and a wire guide 72 are fixed on the tilt support part and a traction wire 73 linked to a holding belt 74 at a ankle part of the person receiving traction and an attachment 76 is allowed to be pulled in the direction of the extension of the tilt support part. The tilt support part, the traction drive part and the like are totally tilted by a link mechanism 81 and an electric motor 82 actuating the link mechanism to be kept at a specified angle of tilting.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a knee joint retraction device used as a kind of physical therapy, particularly for retraction of a knee joint.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, traction therapy has been used as physical therapy in the field of orthopedic surgery. This traction therapy is mainly performed on the lumbar spine and the like, and is usually performed with the towed person lying on a bed (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 9-135857). That is, using a traction device including a bed, a holding belt disposed at each of both ends of the head side and the foot side of the bed, and a traction drive unit that pulls one side of the holding belt, The towed person in the supine state on the bed is held by the holding belt at two places, such as the ankle part and the lower part of the chin, and the towed person is actuated by the traction drive unit to the head via the holding belt. A pulling force is exerted on a side that pulls the ankle and the ankle apart from each other.

On the other hand, there is no known traction device for pulling only the knee joint, and the traction device is used even when the knee joint is pulled. That is,
By pulling the entire body of the towed person in the supine state, the traction force acts on the knee joint indirectly. Alternatively, the towed person is seated on the bed so that the upper part of the knee and the lower part of the knee extend in a straight line, and the thigh on the knee is simply restrained by placing a weight belt or the like on the ankle. A simplified method of applying a horizontal traction force via a belt is also employed.

[0004]

By the way, in recent years, the weakening of the lower body, especially the weakening of the knee function, has become remarkable due to the arrival of an aging society and the increase of lifestyle-related diseases. In other words, wear of the articular cartilage between the femur and tibia, aging of the knee ligaments connecting them, or atrophy and stiffness of the muscles around the knee occur, and people who complain of the onset of knee osteoarthritis or knee pain It tends to increase. In addition, knee ligament damage tends to occur in sports activities and outdoor activities.

[0005] In such a case, by applying knee traction therapy, knee pain can be alleviated and an early recovery can be achieved by applying appropriate stress.

However, the knee ligament of the knee joint is composed of different functions such as the anterior cruciate ligament, the posterior cruciate ligament, the lateral collateral ligament, and the medial collateral ligament. Desirable directions are different from each other, for example, a bending direction at a crossing angle of 30 degrees or a bending direction at a crossing angle of 90 degrees with respect to the extension direction of the femur.

However, in the above-described conventional traction device, the traction force can be applied only in one direction in a state where the upper knee portion and the lower knee portion are linearly extended with respect to the knee joint. However, there is an inconvenience that an appropriate and effective traction therapy cannot be performed according to the condition.

In addition, there is an inconvenience that the traction force is applied to the whole body, and the traction force is applied only indirectly to the knee joint itself.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a knee joint traction device dedicated to a knee joint capable of performing an effective traction treatment on the knee joint. It is in.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is to provide a traction method in which a towed person has a seat surface facing upward and a lower part of a knee of the towed person is bent from a thigh. A seat portion for supporting the thigh of the person, and an ankle portion of the towed person in an extension direction of the lower part of the knee at a position on the distal end side of the seat portion and below the extension surface of the seat surface. And a traction drive unit.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the thigh is supported by the seat while the towed person is seated on the seat and the lower part of the knee is bent, and the ankle is extended by the traction drive unit. Will be towed in the direction. Then, the traction force applied to the ankle directly acts on the knee joint in the bent state, and the knee ligament is extended.

As a further development of the first invention, at a position on the tip end side of the seat portion, a state where the seat portion extends in the seat surface extending direction and a state where the seat portion is bent downward with respect to the seat surface are used. A tilting support portion that is disposed so as to be tiltable and supports at least the ankle portion of the towed person, and further includes a support mechanism that holds the tilting support portion in a tilted state at a predetermined crossing angle with respect to the seat portion, The traction drive unit may be configured to be held so as to be tilted with the tilt support unit with respect to the tilt support unit.

In this case, when the tilt support section is held in a predetermined tilt state by the support mechanism, the traction drive section also tilts together with the tilt support section, and the tilt support section is set at a predetermined crossing angle with the seat section. The toe's thigh and the lower part of the knee are bent at an angle corresponding to the intersection angle, and at the same time, the towing direction of the lower part of the knee is set to an angle corresponding to the bent state. That is, it becomes possible to apply a traction force at an appropriate angle in accordance with the target to be extended by traction, that is, the type of the knee ligament.

A second aspect of the invention is a more specific version of the first aspect of the invention, and has a leg, a seat facing upward, and a thigh of a towed person supported by the leg. And a tilt support portion attached to be capable of tilting between a state in which the front end portion of the seat portion extends in the seat surface extending direction and a state in which the seat portion is bent downward from the seat surface. A support mechanism for holding the support portion at a variable crossing angle with respect to the seat portion, and a support mechanism attached to the tilt support portion so as to be tilted integrally with the tilt support portion, to pull the ankle portion of the towed person in the extension direction of the lower part of the knee. And a traction drive unit.

In the second invention, the tilt support portion is tilted so that the crossing angle of the tilt support portion with respect to the seat portion corresponds to the extension direction determined according to the type and symptom of the knee ligament of the towed person, When the tilt support section is held by the support mechanism in this tilt state, the direction of the towing by the towing drive section also corresponds to the extending direction. When the towed person is seated on the seat and the thigh is supported by this seat, the lower part of the knee of the towed person is placed on the tilting support part and the lower part of the knee is bent with respect to the thigh. The angle corresponds to the extension direction. When the ankle portion of the towed person is towed by the towing drive unit in this state, a traction force is applied in the above-described extension direction, and the knee joint is extended.

The "support mechanism" in each of the first and second inventions is, for example, a rod-shaped support bridged between a seat and a tilt support or between a leg and a tilt support. A member may be used, and the tilt support portion may be held in a predetermined tilt state by the support member. In this case, the intersection angle of the tilting support member with respect to the seat portion is manually changed and adjusted by changing the locking position of the rod-shaped support member. Alternatively, the above-mentioned “support mechanism” may be configured by a tilt actuator that tilts and drives the tilt support portion so that the intersection angle with respect to the seat portion can be changed and adjusted. In this case, by changing and adjusting the operation amount of the tilt actuator, the intersection angle of the tilt support portion with respect to the seat can be changed and adjusted by mechanical force. As the tilt actuator, for example, between the seat and the tilt support portion, or, may be used a hydraulic cylinder bridged between the legs and the tilt support portion, or
A combination of a link member and an electric motor that operates the link member may be used.

In each of the first and second inventions, a massager for massaging the popliteal region may be further added. In this case, the massage device may be provided so as to extend in the width direction of the seat at the position on the distal end side of the seat. By adding such a massager, it is possible to loosen the stiff muscles near the knee joint before, during, after, or together with the extension of the knee ligament to further increase the physiotherapy effect by traction therapy. Will be possible. Examples of the massager include a low-frequency vibration type and a rotary type.

[0018]

As described above, according to the knee joint traction device of the present invention, the traction force can be directly applied to the knee joint. Moreover, it is possible to apply traction force in an appropriate direction for each towed person according to the type or symptom of the knee ligament as a subject to which the traction treatment is to be applied, so that an effective traction treatment can be applied to the knee joint. become. In addition, by using a massager for the popliteal region, the effect of the traction therapy can be further enhanced.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a seat-type knee joint traction device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
Shows a side view of the knee joint traction device.

In the above knee joint traction device, a back portion 3 and a seat portion 4 are fixed to a leg portion 2 erected on a base portion 1, and a panel-shaped tilt support portion 5 is attached to a tip portion of the seat portion 4. Are rotatably connected around a horizontal axis H. A massager 6 is disposed at a tip position of the seat portion 4 and at a boundary position between the seat portion 4 and the tilt support portion 5, and a traction drive unit 7 is integrally attached to the tilt support portion 5. The tilt support portion 5 is held by the support mechanism 8 together with the traction drive portion 7 so that the tilt position about the horizontal axis H can be changed and adjusted. An operation panel 9 is provided at the upper end of the back portion 3.
When various settings and input operations are performed on the operation panel 9, the traction operation by the traction drive unit 7 and the support mechanism 8 are performed.
Tilting is performed. Hereinafter, each component will be described in detail.

The seat portion 4 is disposed obliquely so that the base end side, which is the back portion 3 side, is lower than the distal end side, and the seat surface 41 of the seat portion 4 has a thigh of the towed person P. A recess 42 corresponding to the shape from the to the buttocks is formed. As a result, the hips of the towed person P are lower than the knee joint, and the towed person P is restrained and fixed in position so that the body of the towed person P does not slip down during towing described later. I have. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numerals 31 and 31 denote armrests of the towed person P, and 21 in FIG. 2 is selectively wound around the abdomen of the towed person P as necessary. Is a belt for supporting the belt.

A recess having a size corresponding to the massaging device 6 is formed in the widthwise direction at the front end of the seat portion 4, and the massaging device 6 is positioned slightly above the seating surface 41 with respect to this depression. It is arranged in a protruding state. The massage device 6 is configured to apply, for example, low frequency vibration or low frequency vibration to the popliteal region of the towed person P by a switch operation using the operation panel 9.

The tilting support portion 5 is formed in a panel shape having a length corresponding to the length of the lower part of the knee of the towed person P, and has a base end with respect to a front end of the seat 4. Horizontal axis H
It is rotatably connected around, while the tip is a free end. The traction drive unit 7 is fixed to the tilt support unit 5, and the traction drive unit 7 also tilts together with the tilt support unit 5 tilting around the horizontal axis H.

The traction drive section 7 has a drive source section 71 fixed to the back surface of the tilt support section 5, and extends downward from the drive source section 71, that is, in the extension direction of the tip side of the tilt support section 5. An L-shaped wire guide 72 and a pulling wire 73 guided by the wire guide 72 are provided. The wire guide 72 is provided with guide pulleys 721 and 721 for guiding the pulling wire 73, of which the tip side guide pulley 721 is provided when the ankle portion of the towed person P is placed on the tilt support section 5. It is arranged so that it will be located on the extension line below the knee. To the towed person P,
Holding belts 74, 7 wound around and attached to the ankles
4 and an attachment consisting of attachment wires 75, 75 disposed on the sole side from each holding belt 74 and an attachment plate 76 connecting both attachment wires 75, and the pulling wire 73 is attached to the attachment plate 76. Are connected via pulleys. When the towing wire 73 is wound up, a towing force is applied to the ankle portion of the towed person P via the holding belt 74 in the direction in which the lower part of the knee is extended.

The drive source 71 receives and receives an input command from the operation panel 9 to wind and unwind each wire 73, thereby loading and releasing the traction force on the ankle. .

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, one pulling wire 73 bent and inverted by the pulley of the attachment plate 76 is wound around the winding drum 711, and the other pulling wire 73 is used as a coil spring for applying a pulling force. 712. A rod 714 with an end plate 713 penetrates through the coil spring 712, and the rod 714 is supported by a bracket 715 so as to be able to advance and retreat, and the pulling wire 73 is fixed to the end thereof. Then, when the slack of the pulling wire 73 is wound by the rotary winding of the winding drum 711,
By detecting a predetermined resistance generated, the winding drum 711 is detected.
Will be locked by the action of the automatic brake. When the traction drive motor 716 is operated in this state, the lever member 717 squeezes the traction wire 73, so that the rod 714 moves forward while compressing the coil spring 712, and the traction force corresponding to the compression restoring force of the coil spring 712. Acts on the ankle of the towed person P via the attachment plate 76 or the like. At this time, the advance amount of the rod 714 is detected by the rotary encoder 718, and the traction force acting on the ankle is detected from the advance amount, that is, the compression amount of the coil spring 712, and the traction force is set by the operation panel 9. The traction drive motor 716 is rotated until the applied traction force is reached.

On the other hand, the support mechanism 8 is constituted by a tilt actuator capable of changing the tilt angle of the tilt support section 5 by mechanical force. This tilt actuator is provided between the tilt support section 5 and the seat 4. A link mechanism 81 composed of a pair of link members that are bridged,
And a tilt drive source section (for example, an electric motor) 82 that operates in response to an input command from the operation panel 9. The tilt drive source 82 operates the link mechanism 81 by driving the tilt drive source 82 to extend the tilt support 5 downward substantially perpendicularly to the seat 4 (the seat surface 41) (FIGS. 1 and 2). The state shown in FIG. 2) and the state extending in the direction in which the seat surface 41 extends with respect to the seat part 4 (the state shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 4) can be tilted about the horizontal axis H. I have. Then, by stopping the operation of the tilt drive source section 82, a desired tilt state (for example, a tilt state shown by a solid line in FIG. 4), that is, an intersection angle between the seat surface 41 and the tilt support section 5 is set to a desired angle. Tilting support 5 in the state set to
Can be stopped and held.

Next, a method of using the knee traction apparatus will be described. First, a power switch 91 of the operation panel 9 shown in FIG. The numerical value of the section 92a is set so as to be a traction force according to the symptom of the towed person P. For example, "30
kg ". On the other hand, if the tilt angle of the tilt support section 5 is acceptable in the current state, the tilt switch 93 is turned on to operate the tilt drive source section 82 until the desired tilt angle is obtained by turning on the tilt switch 93 when it is necessary to change the tilt angle. Let it.

Then, selection is made between continuous traction and intermittent traction as the type of traction. That is, in the case of the continuous towing, the user presses the continuous button 94 and operates the duration setting button 95 to display the duration on the display unit 95a by, for example, “30 seconds”.
c ". In this case, the start switch 98
If a is turned ON, the traction drive motor 716 is driven following the winding operation of the winding drum 711,
30 kg based on the compression restoring force of the coil spring 712
Is applied to the knee joint of the towed person P for 30 seconds, and automatically stops after the elapse of 30 seconds. Conversely, in the case of intermittent towing, the towing button 96a is pressed, and the setting button is similarly operated to set the towing continuation time to, for example, “10 sec” on the display unit 97a, and
By pressing the pause button 96b and operating the setting button, the display section 97b displays and sets the pause time to, for example, "10 sec". In this case, the traction force of 30 kg is applied for 10 seconds by the ON operation of the start switch 98a, and thereafter, the traction force is applied again for 10 seconds with a pause time of 10 seconds when the traction force is released. Become.

When massaging the popliteal region by the massaging device 6 before or during the application of the traction force, the vibration switch 99 is turned on to perform the massage.

When it is desired to stop the load of the traction force during the execution of the traction, the traction operation is stopped and the traction force is forcibly released by pressing the stop switch 98b.

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 6 shows a knee joint traction device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, each component of the first embodiment is common,
Unlike the panel-shaped tilt support section 5 that supports the entire lower part of the knee in the first embodiment, the tilt support section 5a that supports only the ankle section is provided. In the second embodiment, components other than the tilt support portion 5a have the same configuration as those of the first embodiment, and therefore, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted. I do.

The tilt support portion 5a includes a support frame 51 rotatably mounted on the front end of the seat portion 4 about a horizontal axis H, and guide members 52, 52 extending from the support frame 51 in parallel with each other. These two guide members 52,
And an ankle holding member 53 guided forward and backward by the lever 52. The traction drive source 71 of the support mechanism 7 is fixed to the support frame 51, and the entire tilt support 5a can be tilted together with the traction drive source 71 by a link mechanism 81 connected to the traction drive source 71. It is supported by.

The ankle holding member 53 has a groove into which the ankle of the towed person P enters, and is restrained by sandwiching the ankle inserted into the groove. The ankle holding member 53 is held by the guide members 52 in such a manner that it is allowed to move only in the advancing and retreating directions and is prevented from moving in other directions. Further, the forward and backward movement of the ankle holding member 53 is further prevented by the support frame 51 on the base end side and by the distal end stoppers of the guide members 52 on the distal end side. ing.

The ankle holding member 53 is connected to the attachment plate 76 by a pair of connecting wires.
3 is pulled through the wire guide 72,
The ankle holding member 53 holding and restraining the ankle portion of the towed person P is forcibly advanced in a direction of a predetermined tilt angle to apply a traction force to the toeed lower part of the knee of the towed person P.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention relates to the first embodiment.
The present invention is not limited to the second embodiment, and includes various other embodiments. That is, in the first and second embodiments, the traction drive unit 7 is configured to apply a traction force via the traction wire 73. However, the invention is not limited thereto, and the traction force may be directly applied. Good. For example, in the second embodiment, the forward / backward driving force is directly transmitted from the tilt driving unit 7a (see FIG. 7) to the ankle holding member 53 of the tilt supporting unit 5a, and the ankle held by the ankle holding member 53 is provided. Traction force. In this case, the traction drive unit 7a includes an electric motor and a driving force conversion member (for example, a combination of a rack and a pinion) that converts a rotational driving force of the electric motor into an advance / retreat operating force. The ankle holding member 53 is driven by the rotation of the motor.
May be operated.

In the first and second embodiments, the tilt supporting portions 5 and 5a may be tiltably attached to the leg 2 or the base 1 instead of the seat 4.
In this case, a support mechanism 8 that supports the tilt support portions 5 and 5a in a tiltable manner may be bridged between the leg portion 2 and the base portion 1.

In the first and second embodiments, the back portion 3 is not an essential component and only has to have at least the seat 4, and the tilt support portions 5 and 5a are not essential components and are at least towed. What is necessary is just the drive part 7. In this case, the traction drive unit 7 may be supported by the support mechanism 8 so as to adjust the tilt. Further, the tilt support portions 5, 5
a may not be configured to be tiltable, but may be fixedly disposed in a predetermined tilted state. Even in this case,
The knee joint can be pulled in a bent state.

As the support mechanism 8, a link mechanism 81,
Even if it is not a combination with the drive source part 82, it is rotatably attached to one of the seat part 4 and the tilt support parts 5, 5a,
Alternatively, the tilt angle may be manually converted by using a rod-shaped diagonal member that is locked so that the locking position can be changed. Further, as a tilting actuator for tilting by mechanical force, for example, a fluid pressure cylinder spanned between the base portion 1 and the tilting support portions 5, 5a or between the seat portion 4 and the tilting support portions 5, 5a is used. You may.

As the traction drive 7, only the wire guide 72 is fixed to the tilt support portions 5 and 5a so as to be able to tilt together, and the traction drive source 71 is fixed to the leg 2 or the base 1, and the wire guide 72 is fixed. The pulling wire 73 may be guided from 72.

The seat 4 may be supported on the leg 2 so as to be swingable about a horizontal axis, and the seat 4 may be tiltable about this horizontal axis. Thus, the degree of inclination of the seat surface 41 can be changed and adjusted according to the physique and the like of the towed person P to increase the degree of physical restraint of the towed person P. Further, the seat portion 4 may be movable up and down with respect to the leg portion 2 so that the vertical position of the seat surface 41 can be changed and adjusted according to the physique and the like of the towed person P.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a principle diagram of a traction drive source that generates traction force of the traction drive.

FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 in a state where the tilt support portion is tilted.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an operation panel.

FIG. 6 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1, showing a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 6, showing another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 4 seat part 5, 5a tilt support part 6 massager 7, 7a traction drive part 8 support mechanism 41 seat surface 81 link mechanism (tilt actuator) 82 drive source part (tilt actuator)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A seat having an upwardly facing seating surface and supporting the towed person's thigh with the towed person's lower knee bent from the thigh, and a tip end side of the seated portion. A traction drive unit for traction the ankle of the towed person in the extension direction of the lower part of the knee at a position below the extension of the seating surface. . 2. The knee joint traction device according to claim 1, wherein both a state in which the seat extends in a seat surface extending direction and a state in which the seat is bent downward with respect to the seat at a distal end position of the seat. A tilt support portion that is arranged to be tiltable between the support portions and supports at least the ankle portion of the towed person; and a support mechanism that holds the tilt support portion in a tilted state at a predetermined crossing angle with respect to the seat portion. A knee joint traction device, wherein a traction drive is held to tilt with the tilt support with the tilt support. 3. A leg portion, a seat portion having a seat surface facing upward and supported by the leg portion to support a thigh of a towed person, and a seat surface extending direction with respect to a tip portion of the seat portion. A tilting support portion attached so as to be capable of tilting between a state in which the tilting portion extends and a state in which the tilting portion is bent downward from the seat surface; and a support mechanism that holds the tilting support portion at a variable crossing angle with respect to the seat portion. A knee joint traction device, comprising: a traction drive portion attached to the tilt support portion so as to be integrally tilted and traction the ankle portion of the towed person in an extension direction of a lower portion of the knee. 4. A knee joint traction device according to claim 1, wherein a massager for massaging the popliteal region of the towed person is provided at a position on the distal end side of the seat in the width direction of the seat. A knee joint traction device, which is arranged to extend to the knee. 5. The knee joint traction device according to claim 2, wherein the support mechanism is configured by a tilt actuator that tilts and drives the tilt support portion so that the intersection angle with respect to the seat can be changed and adjusted. , Knee joint traction device.