JPH10305066A - Function restoring training tool - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a safety function restoring training tool adapted to the complicated moving of the joint of a leg. SOLUTION: An air bag 3 is arranged in contact with the joint part of a leg and is fixed onto the ankle by a supporting band and a stretching band 5 consisting of a loop-shaped rubber elastic body for turning a sole between toes and a heel is fixed to its upper face. The leg in the state of a sharp leg is elastically stretched by a stretch band by the expansion of the air bag to bend an ankle joint and stretching force is made to vanish by the contraction of the air bag to forcedly extend/contract a shrunk muscle by repeating this operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a patient having a functional disorder on his / her feet due to an accident or the like, a chronic bedridden patient such as a bedridden elderly person,
Alternatively, the present invention relates to a functional recovery training device that is effective when applied to a patient or the like who has not been able to extend and contract the leg muscles for a certain period of time due to surgery.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a patient who cannot walk or has difficulty walking like the above-mentioned patients, the muscles of the feet may atrophy, and joints such as ankles may be difficult to bend. Such a condition is commonly called "contracture". Without generating such contracted state,
Alternatively, in order to treat this, it is necessary to perform a function recovery exercise for forcibly bending the joint of the foot and expanding and contracting the muscle.

[0003] In the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, training equipment for rehabilitating the function of the legs is already commercially available. Such an apparatus uses a gear motor as a driving source, and a leg supporting part made of a metal is placed 30 m above the floor.
It reciprocates horizontally at a height of cm50 cm higher, and places the lower part from the knee on top of it to bend or extend the legs (hip and knee joints) with the hip as the fulcrum. However, no device has been developed to extend the feet, ie the ankles and toes, or to spread the soles.

[0004]

In the training device for functional recovery of the leg, since the portion for applying force to the human body is made of metal, a part of the human body is injured by being caught by the metal driving portion. There is danger. In addition, this kind of device requires a certain degree of freedom so that it can be changed according to the complicated movement of the joint, but the above structure is difficult to adjust to the movement of the leg because the movement is mechanical, hard and monotonous. There is.

The present invention solves such a problem.
An object of the present invention is to provide a safe, lightweight, and compact function recovery training device having a degree of freedom of deformation according to a complicated movement of a foot.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention (claim 1) provides:
An airbag disposed at an ankle joint site on the instep side of a human body, and a fixing member for fixing the airbag to the joint site and applying an inflation deformation force of the airbag to the joint site as a joint bending force. The fixing member,
A band supported on the knee side from the ankle joint, a part of which is connected to the airbag and fixes the airbag at the ankle position; and A part is formed of a tension band supported on the upper surface of the airbag, and the tension band is formed of a rubber elastic body that extends in accordance with a tensile force, and supplies or exhausts the airbag to inflate or inflate the airbag. The joint of the ankle is forcibly bent by contracting and pulling or loosening the tension band.

[0007] Usually, a foot in a contracted state is in a state in which the tip of the foot is extended forward due to atrophy of the calf-side muscle (called a tiptoe). When air is supplied to the airbag and the airbag is inflated in such a state, the tension band pulls the sole between the toes and the heel elastically toward the body, and the ankle is bent and the atrophied muscle is stretched. When the airbag contracts due to exhaustion, the stretched muscle contracts again and assumes the state of equinus. By inflating and deflating the airbag, the ankle is repeatedly bent and stretched to forcibly expand and contract the muscle to treat or prevent contracture symptoms.

According to the present invention (claim 2), the tension band is formed by a ring-shaped rubber band, and a portion located between the upper surface of the airbag and the finger and heel of the support member is provided.
One or a plurality thereof is detachably mounted. In such a configuration, by arbitrarily setting the number of bands, the pulling force is adjusted according to the patient's condition.

According to the present invention (claim 3), the tension band is provided with a display for displaying the magnitude of the tensile force. With such a configuration, the magnitude of the tensile force can be specifically known as a numerical value.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a training device for functional recovery of a foot, and a support member 2 and an airbag 3, which are made of elastic cloth mixed with rubber fibers or the like. Support band 4 for supporting and fixing airbag 3 to support member 2
And a tension band 5 having rubber elasticity for applying a tensile force to the sole of the foot. The support band 4 can be made of a woven cloth, and the tension band 5 can be made of a ring-shaped rubber band. The support member 2 covers the lower part of the leg 6 from the knee to the vicinity of the finger, and elastically adheres to the skin, and is attached to the foot in use. The airbag 3 is made of a two-stage airbag having a substantially rectangular plane and connected to each other, and a flexible sheet having a nylon woven fabric as a core material and coated on both sides with a thermoplastic polyurethane resin can be used.
Such a sheet has excellent confidentiality and strength, and is suitable as a material for this type of airbag. Such a sheet is cut into an appropriate size, and its periphery is bonded by high frequency welding to form an airbag. Reference numeral 7 denotes an air hose for supplying and exhausting air to and from the airbag 3.

Reference numeral 8 denotes three support band passing portions provided on the left, right, and center of the calf portion of the support member 2, through which the loop-shaped support band 4 passes, and a part of which passes through the air bag 3.
Is sewn and fixed to the upper end of the body side. Reference numeral 9 denotes a hook-shaped hook provided at an intermediate position between the finger and the heel of the support member 2 on the sole, particularly at a position between the arch and the finger, and the finger side (right side in the figure) is open. The loop-shaped tension band 5 is hooked on the hook 9. On the other hand, a part thereof is hooked on another similar hook 10 formed substantially at the center of the upper surface of the airbag 3. The hook 10 is open on the ankle side (left side in the figure). In the above structure, the support band 4 is fixed to the support member 2 by passing through the band passing portion 8, but may be directly sewn and fixed to the support member 2. In addition,
In the above-described configuration, the tension band 5 is formed in a loop shape, but may be formed in a string shape instead, and a hook fitting engaged with the hook 10 may be attached to both ends thereof. Further, a part of the support band 4 may be extended to approximately the center of the upper surface of the airbag 3 and the tension band 5 may be fixed to the extended end portion.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, when the patient wears the support member 2 on the foot with the airbag 3 contracted, the airbag 3 is placed on the ankle of the contracted foot (tip). Located in. As shown in FIG. 3, when air is supplied to the airbag 3 and inflated, the fixed portion of the airbag 3 of the tension band 5 is lifted, and as a result, the tension band 5 elastically pulls the sole of the foot and exerts a bending force on the ankle joint. Is added. This forces the joints to flex and extend the atrophied muscle. Thus, the inflation and deflation of the airbag 3 are repeated at an appropriate cycle, and the muscle is forcibly expanded and contracted to treat or prevent contracture. One or a plurality of tension bands 5 can be used, and the tensile strength is adjusted according to the number.

FIG. 4 shows a tensile force indicator 11 attached to the tensile band 5, which is made of a rectangular resin flat plate.
A rectangular window 12 is formed at the center, a circular opening 13 is provided at one end, and a pair of guides 14 are provided at the other end. A scale 15 indicating the tensile strength is printed on the display 11 facing the window 12. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the indicator 11 is attached to the tension band 5, and a projection 16 formed on the tension band 5 is inserted into the opening 13,
By sandwiching the tension band 5 between the guides 14, 14,
The display 11 is fixed to the tension band 5. Tensile band 5
A mark 17 is printed on the surface of the mark. When the mark 17 is fixed to the projection 16 and no tensile force is applied to the tension band 5, the mark 17 is positioned at the zero scale (indicated by a broken line in the figure). (Shown), the positional relationship between the protrusion 16 and the scale 15 is set. In the case of the drawing, it is shown that a tension force of 0.5 kg is applied to the tension band 5.

FIG. 6 shows a drive device 18 of the foot function recovery training device 1 having the above-described structure, 19 is an air pump, 20 is an air switching unit for introducing air from the air pump 19, and 21 is an air pump 19 and an air switching unit. The muffler interposed between the mufflers 20 suppresses the air discharge sound of the air pump 19 and smoothes the air pulsation. The air pump 19, the muffler 21 and the air switching unit 20 are connected by an air hose 22. Reference numeral 23 denotes a motor serving as a drive source of the air switching unit 20, and reference numeral 24 denotes a rotary cam driven by the motor 23. The cam 24 controls air switching of the air switching unit 20. By driving the cam 24, air is discharged alternately from the two air nozzles 20a and 20b of the air switching unit 20. 7a, 7b are air nozzles 20a, 20
The air hoses 3a and 3b connected to b are the airbags of the function recovery training device 1 described above, and two air hoses are prepared corresponding to the right and left feet. In the above example, the motor 23 is used as a drive source of the air switching unit 20, but the air switching unit 20 may be driven by a combination of electromagnetic solenoids instead.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a control unit for controlling the driving of the air pump 19 and the motor 23; 26, a limit switch for detecting the rotation speed of the rotary cam 24; 27, a pressure sensor for detecting the pressure of the air fed into the air switching unit 20; 28 is a pressure adjustment switch for adjusting the pressure of the air discharged from the air pump 19, 29 is an on / off cycle of the airbags 3a and 3b, that is, a cycle adjustment switch for adjusting the rotation speed of the motor 23, and 30 is a power switch. As the pressure adjustment switch 28 and the cycle adjustment switch 29, a dial type switch using a potentiometer is used. Detection signals of the limit switch 26 and the pressure sensor 27,
The signals from the pressure adjustment switch 28 and the cycle adjustment switch 29 are input to the control unit 25.

The pressure adjustment switch 28 is for variably adjusting the air pressure in the airbags 3a and 3b according to the severity of contracture symptoms of the patient. If the air pressure is set to be large, the tension band 5 (FIG. 1) 3) becomes stronger, and conversely, if the air pressure is set smaller, the generated tensile force becomes weaker. The air pressure is detected by the pressure sensor 27, and when the detection signal reaches a value set by the pressure adjustment switch 28, the supply of air to the airbag 3a or 3b is stopped.

Further, the tension is adjusted by the tension band 5. That is, by changing the number of the tensile bands 5, the tensile strength is adjusted. For example,
When two tension bands 5 are attached between the hooks 9 and 10, if the inflation of the airbag 3 generates a tension of 0.5 kg per one tension band 5, a total of 1 kg of tension is obtained. become. This tensile force is a tensile force applied directly to the foot and can be read directly from the scale 15 of the display 11. Further, by using the tensile bands 5 having different elasticity values, it is possible to change the tensile strength.

The cycle adjusting switch 29 similarly controls the inflation of the airbags 3a and 3b depending on the severity of contracture symptoms of the patient.
The deflation cycle is variably adjusted, and the airbags 3a and 3b are inflated and contracted alternately in a cycle of about 2 to 15 minutes. This adjustment is performed by intermittently driving the motor 23, and the intermittent driving is controlled by a timer function built in the control unit 25.

FIG. 7 shows waveforms of the inflation and deflation operations of the airbags 3a and 3b, and drive waveforms of the motor 23 and the air pump 19. When the power switch 30 is turned on, the driving of the air pump 19 and the motor 22 starts. When the cam 23 is rotated by the drive of the motor 22, the limit switch 26 is turned off at a predetermined position, and the supply of air to the airbag 3a is started at the same time as the motor 23 stops. When the air pressure reaches a preset value p, this value is detected by the pressure sensor 27, the motor 23 is driven, and the air supply to the airbag 3a is stopped, and this air supply state is maintained. When the cam 24 rotates by a predetermined angle, the limit switch 26 is turned on, and the motor 23 is stopped, and at the same time, the air in the airbag 3a is rapidly exhausted. After that, the motor 23 is switched to the cycle adjustment switch 2
Stop at the time determined in 9. During this period, the airbags 3a and 3b are both in a contracted state.

After a lapse of a predetermined time, the motor 23 starts driving,
When the cam 24 rotates a predetermined angle, the limit switch 26
Is turned off, the motor 23 stops, and at the same time, air supply to the airbag 3b is started. When the air pressure reaches the set value p, it is detected by the pressure sensor 27 and the motor 23 is driven to stop the supply of air. Thereafter, the air pressure in the airbag 3b is maintained. When the cam 24 rotates by a predetermined angle due to the driving of the motor 23, the limit switch 26 is turned on to stop the motor 23 and, at the same time, exhaust the air in the airbag 3b. After a lapse of time determined by the cycle adjustment switch 29, the motor 23 starts driving, and when the limit switch 26 is turned off, air supply to the airbag 3a is started, and the second inflation starts. Thus the airbag 3
a, 3b alternately expand and contract alternately at a predetermined cycle.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Two airbags, 20 cm in length and width, are superimposed on each other, and two airbags having four sides welded are overlapped. Configured. When the airbags 3a and 3b are attached to the left and right feet respectively, and repeated inflation and deflation in each 5-minute cycle (1 minute inflation, 4 minutes deflation), the patient can be trained without causing pain or discomfort. Was. The air pressure and the inflation and deflation cycles are set in accordance with the severity of contracture symptoms of the patient.

FIG. 8 shows a modification, in which a plurality of ring-shaped air cells 31 are provided on a portion of the support member 2 corresponding to the calf.
a, 31b,..., and a massage bag 31 comprising an air pump 1 through an air hose 32.
From FIG. 9 (FIG. 6), air is periodically supplied and exhausted, and the calf portion of the leg is massaged by the expansion and contraction action.

[0023]

According to the present invention (claim 1), a flexion force can be applied to the joint of the foot by inflation and contraction of the airbag to forcibly bend the joint. It can be expanded and contracted, and can prevent and treat contracture symptoms.

Further, according to the present invention (claim 1), the airbag which gives the joint bending force to the foot is soft and easily deformed even when inflated, and the tension band is made of a rubber elastic body. It can cope with the complicated movements of the joints of the patient and does not apply excessive force to the human body and rarely causes pain or discomfort to the patient.

Further, according to the present invention (claim 1), since a metal component is not required in a portion in contact with a human body, there is no danger of being injured by being sandwiched between mechanical components and there is no danger of a conventional mechanical structure. Safer than the device. Further, since the airbag is lightweight and compact, it does not hinder function recovery training, and can reduce patient fatigue.

According to the present invention (claim 2), the tension band is formed of a ring-shaped rubber band, and one or more of the tension bands are detachably mounted. By using the band, the tensile strength can be arbitrarily adjusted according to the patient's condition.

According to the present invention (claim 3), the tensile strength can be accurately known. That is, the tensile strength is
Although it can be changed and adjusted to some extent by the internal pressure of the airbag, it cannot be accurately known only by this, due to individual differences such as the size of the patient's feet, differences in the parts to be pulled and the like. On the other hand, since the elongation of the tensile band directly corresponds to the tensile strength, the tensile strength can be accurately and easily known by reading the scale of the display.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a use state (an airbag contracted state) of a foot function recovery training device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a use state (airbag contraction state) of the foot function recovery training device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a use state (airbag inflated state) of the foot function recovery training device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a display body.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state where the display body is attached to a tension band.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a drive device of the function recovery training tool.

FIG. 7 is a signal waveform diagram for explaining an operation of the driving device.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing a modification of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Function recovery training tool 2 ... Support member 3, 3a, 3b ... Airbag 4 ... Support band 5 ... Tension band 6 ... Legs 7, 7a, 7b, 21, 32 …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 17 Mark 18 Drive

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An airbag disposed at an ankle joint portion on the instep side of a human body, fixing the airbag to the joint portion, and applying an inflation deformation force of the airbag to the joint portion as a joint bending force. And a fixing member to be added,
The fixing member is a band supported on the knee side from the ankle joint, a part of which is connected to the airbag, and a support band for fixing the airbag at the ankle position. A tension band supported and partly supported on the upper surface of the airbag is formed of a rubber elastic body that extends in accordance with a tensile force, and supplies and exhausts air to and from the airbag. A function recovery training device for forcibly bending the ankle joint by inflating or contracting the arm and pulling or loosening the tension band. 2. The tension band according to claim 1,
A function recovery training device comprising a ring-shaped rubber band, one or more of which are detachably attached to a portion between the upper surface of the airbag and the finger and heel of the support member. 3. The function recovery training device according to claim 1, wherein a display for displaying the magnitude of the tensile force is provided on the tensile band.