RU199210U1 - NEEDLE APPLICATOR FOR REFLEXOTHERAPY - Google Patents

Abstract

The patented applicator contains an elastic single-layer base with a plurality of reflex projections on the working side, sockets for fixing metal needles, located coaxially with the reflex projections, and grooves for the needle heads in the sockets. Reflex protrusions and sockets for fixing needles are located on different sides of the base. Each socket has sequentially placed, towards the working side, elements: an inlet funnel-shaped hole on the non-working side of the base, a collar with an undercut in the form of a flat annular groove for the needle head and a tapered guiding needle The reflector protrusions on the working side of the base have the shape of a truncated cone with a flat top, and the wall thickness of the base between the flat top of the said cone and the tapered guide blind end is selected from the condition of perforation by the tip of the fixed needle of the said wall when the needle is pressed in with an interference fit of the needle rod at the base. The technical result is the removal of restrictions on the diameter of the needles used with a tighter girth of the needles with an elastic base. 1 n. and 2 h. p. f-ly, 8 ill.

Description

The utility model relates to medicine, to medical technology and is intended for physiotherapeutic needle-like effects on the human body, including reflexogenic zones.

Known needle applicators for reflexology consist of an elastic base in which a plurality of needles, usually metal, are fixed, intended for needle action on the human body. The configurations of the bases, as well as the methods for securing the needles in them, are described in sufficient detail in the publications.

So, in devices for stimulating reflex points, described in patents UA 54480 C2, 17.03.2003; RU 2252005 C2, 20.05.2005; UA 95708 C2, 25.08.2011, each needle has a thickening at one end and a point at the other. The thickenings of the needles are located in the body of the base and serve as means for securing the needles. The base is made by molding plasticized raw rubber followed by vulcanization to form a solid structure in which the needles are fixed. The needles can be in the form of studs in the form of a rod with a head and a sharp end. The tips of the needles protrude beyond the base and form the working side of the applicator, which may have protrusions (hereinafter referred to as “reflex protrusions”) that enclose and hold the needles. This technology has a number of disadvantages, in particular, the need to place the heads of hundreds or thousands of needles in the softened base material, followed by their fixation in the base due to curing (polymerization, vulcanization) of the base material, which complicates the manufacturing technology of the applicator and requires the use of special devices.

The fixing of metal needles in the elastic base can be carried out by installing the needles in the pre-made seats in the elastic base, using the elastic properties of the base. For example, in the international application for invention (WO 2019240735 (A1), 12/19/2019), a variant of an elastic base is described, in which holes are made in the form of seats for needles, the configuration of which corresponds to the configuration of the sections of the needles inserted into the said seats.

The closest to the patent is a needle applicator for reflexology (RU 194843 U1, 25.12.2019 - prototype), which contains an elastic single-layer base of a given configuration with reflex protrusions, in which needles are fixed with means for securing the needles at the base, the tips of which protrude beyond the base with the formation of the working side of the applicator. In the base there are seating nests, the shape and dimensions of which correspond to the shape and dimensions of the means for securing the needles in the base, and the needles are inserted into the said seating nests from the side of the working surface, the seating nests being made through.

In the aforementioned analogue of WO 2019240735, as well as in prototype RU 194843, one of the elements of the seats made in the elastic base are the needle outlets located on the working side of the applicator through which the needles extend beyond the base. The technology, in which the exit holes for the needles in the elastic base are made in advance and the diameter of these holes corresponds to the diameter of the needles, has the following disadvantages:

1. Do not use needles with a diameter smaller than the diameter of the needle exit holes in the elastic base, otherwise the needles will not be secured. At the same time, there are technological limitations on the minimum diameter of the outlet holes for the needles, which can be made in an elastic base (see Fig. 3, 7 of the prototype).

2. Insufficiently tight girth of the needles with the elastic base. In particular, when the needle is deflected, a gap (pocket) is formed between the metal needle and the outlet of the elastic base. Sweat and other debris can enter this gap (pocket). Taking into account the specifics of the operation of the product, this feature is a great disadvantage.

The present utility model provides the possibility of using needles with a smaller diameter than the minimum technologically possible diameter of the outlet holes of the needles in the elastic base, with a tighter grip of the needles with the elastic base.

The patented applicator for reflexology contains an elastic single-layer base with a plurality of reflex projections on the working side, sockets for fixing metal needles, located coaxially with the reflex projections, and grooves for the needle heads in the sockets.

The difference is that the reflex projections and sockets for securing the needles are located on opposite sides of the base.

Each socket has an inlet funnel-shaped opening on the non-working side of the base, and sequentially placed towards the working side a collar with an undercut in the form of a flat annular groove for the needle head and a tapered needle-guiding blind end.

Reflex protrusions on the working side of the base have the shape of a truncated cone with a flat top, and the wall thickness of the base between the flat top of the said cone and the tapered guiding blind end is selected from the condition of perforation by the tip of the fixed needle of the said wall when the needle is pressed in to ensure a tight fit of the needle rod at the base.

The applicator can be characterized in that the points of the needles are rounded to form a convex area in the form of an ellipse with a semiaxis ratio of 1: 3.

The applicator can also be characterized by the fact that it contains cylindrical permanent magnets located at the nodes of a square coordinate grid, the placement period of which is a multiple of the period of the reflex protrusions.

The technical result is the removal of restrictions on the minimum diameter of the needles used while ensuring a tighter grip of the needles with an elastic base.

The perforation of the elastic base directly by the needle at the time of assembly of the applicator ensures the most tight fit of the needle in the elastic base without restrictions on the minimum diameter of the needle. This excludes the possibility of cavities (pockets) between the needle and the elastic base when exposed to lateral force during operation, which can lead to the accumulation of dirt in these pockets.

In the patented design of the applicator, there are no holes previously made in the reflex projections of the base, i.e. the requirements of the prototype are removed, when the diameters of the socket must correspond to the diameters of the needle, which is more technological. The increase in manufacturability is due to the fact that the forming elements in the injection mold for casting an elastic base, which form the nests of the needles, are made shorter and at the same time have the shape of a cone, which increases their strength. Increasing the strength of these forming elements greatly facilitates the manufacture and operation of the injection mold. In addition, these forming elements, located on one side (plate) of the mold, do not come into contact with the opposite side (other plate) of the mold, as a result of which there is no need to provide perfectly accurate and uniform length of several hundred forming elements in order to avoid deformations of these elements when closing the mold.

The essence of the utility model is illustrated in the drawings, where: FIG. 1 - a fragment of the applicator with installed needles, in section; fig. 2 - for an explanation of the principle of assembling the applicator; fig. 3 - socket for securing the needles in the section; fig. 4 is a view of a metal needle; fig. 5 - a needle in a longitudinal section; fig. 6 - photograph of the assembled applicator; fig. 7 - a variant of the arrangement of metal needles and permanent magnets on a rectangular base; fig. 8 is a drawing of the assembled applicator, view of the working side.

The applicator contains a single-layer base 10 made of an elastic polymer material by injection molding into a mold. The base has a working 11 and non-working 12 sides. Reflex projections 13 are made on the working side 11, in which metal needles 20 are fixed. Needle 20 has a point 21, a head 22 and a rod 23 itself.

The protrusions 13 have the shape of a frusto-conical 14 with an outer surface 15 and a flat top 16. The slots 121 for the needles 20 are located inside the protrusions 13 and coaxially with them. The slots 121 have funnel-shaped inlet openings 122 located on the non-working side 12 of the base. On the working side 11, the base of the socket 121 is made deaf.

Each seat 121 has the following elements arranged in succession towards the working side 11: a funnel-shaped opening 122; collar 1211; undercut 123 in the form of a flat annular groove for the needle head; a tapered blind end 125 that guides the needle 20 when the needle is pressed into the base.

The funnel shape of the opening 122 provides a technological advantage by: a) facilitating the placement of the needles 20 during the assembly of the applicator; b) more durable cone-shaped forming elements that provide the formation of cavities in the mold for casting an elastic base. The diameter D2 of the entrance funnel-shaped opening 122 of the socket 121 of the elastic base is approximately 3 times the diameter d of the needle shaft 23.

The collar 1211 with a diameter D3 and height m is designed to strengthen the base structure in order to prevent the longitudinal movement of the needle 20 during the operation of the product. Diameter D3 of collar 1211 is 0.5-0.75 of diameter D1 of undercut 123. Height m is selected empirically.

The undercut 123 is made in the form of a flat annular groove with a diameter D1. The undercut 123 is designed to fix the head 22 of the needle 20 in order to prevent the longitudinal movement of the needle 20 during the operation of the applicator. The size of the undercut 123 corresponds approximately to the size D1 of the needle head 22. The head 22 of the needle takes a predetermined position in the undercut 123 during the pressing in of the needle 20, passing through the taper 1211 due to the elastic properties of the base.

The tapered blind ends 125 act as guides for the needles as they are pressed in to ensure that the points 21 emerge in the center of the flat top 16 of the projection.

The thickness K of the wall 124 between the flat top 16 of the reflective protrusion 13 and the tapered blind end 125 is chosen so as to ensure reliable fixation of the needles based on the characteristics of the elastic base material. The thickness K of the wall 124 should ensure an interference fit of the needle bar 20 in the body of the projection 13.

The needles 20 of the serial applicator have approximately the following dimensions, in millimeters: diameter of the shaft 23 - d = 1; head thickness 22 - p = 0.5; needle length 20 - w = 8. The size of the protruding part in the working position of the needle is S = 4. The tapering angles α and β of the points 21 are about 20 °. The needles 21 of the needles are rounded along the radii 211 (R1) and 212 (R2) to form a convex area in the form of an ellipse with a semiaxis ratio of approximately 1: 3. This shape of the tip prevents micro-damage to the patient's skin.

Assembling the applicator takes place in two stages. First, the needles 20 are placed in the slots 121 with the points 21 towards the flat tops 16 of the projections 13 (Fig. 2). Then, the heads 22 of the needles are subjected to a force along the axis of the rod 23 by means of a press or other device (shown by arrow F), which ensures longitudinal movement of the needles relative to the elastic base 10.

As a result of the force action, the needles 20 are pressed in with the perforation of the walls 124 of the projections 13 of the base with the tips 21 and the exit of these tips 21 on the working side 11 of the base. Force F is applied until the heads 22 of the needles are in the undercuts 123, and the needles 20 themselves come out from the working side 11 of the base at the calculated distance s. In the process of force action, the heads 22 of the needles pass through the collar 1211 of the seats 121 due to the elastic properties of the base material 10.

Upon completion of pressing, the needles are tightly fastened, ensuring that the needle rods are tightly seated in the walls 124 of the reflex protrusions, and the heads 22 of the needles are in the undercuts 123.

In the photograph of a fragment of a serial applicator assembly (see Fig. 6, enlarged), one can see the tips of the needles 21 protruding at the same distance from the cones 14 of the reflex projections 13 of the base 10, as well as one of the permanent magnets 30.

FIG. 7 shows the arrangement of the elements on the working side 11 of the serial applicator. Reflex protrusions 13 are arranged in rows (pos. 40, 41 and 42, 43) with offset and equal distance from each other. With this arrangement, it is possible to provide a pitch of 20 needles of the order of 6 mm, which is necessary for effective needle action.

It is possible to install permanent magnets 30 in the base 10. The permanent magnets 30 have a cylindrical shape and are installed in protrusions 31 located at the nodes of a square coordinate grid. The period of placing the magnets is 30 times the period of the reflex protrusions 13.

A general view of a serial applicator is shown in FIG. 8. The applicator has a rectangular base measuring about 150 × 220 mm.

Thus, the claimed set of features ensures the achievement of the technical result - the removal of restrictions on the minimum diameter of the needles while increasing the reliability of fastening the needles in the elastic base. This is ensured by a new solution - fixing the needles by piercing the elastic base with the needles themselves along the guide nests of the original configuration. As a result, due to the grip of the elastic base of the needle in the puncture zone, a hermetic fastening of a wide range of needles with both smaller and larger diameter of the rod is provided. In the prototype, pre-made holes do not allow the use of needles of a smaller diameter, since they will not be held in the applicator.

Claims (7)

1. Applicator for reflexology, containing an elastic single-layer base with many reflex protrusions on the working side, sockets for fixing metal needles, placed coaxially with reflex projections and grooves for the needle heads in the sockets, characterized in that reflex projections and sockets for fixing needles are placed on different sides of the base, while each socket has sequentially placed, towards the working side, elements: a funnel-shaped opening; a collar with an undercut in the form of a flat annular groove for the needle head; a tapered needle-guiding blind end, and Reflex projections on the working side of the base have the shape of a truncated cone with a flat top, and the thickness of the base wall between the flat top of the said cone and the tapered guiding blind end is selected from the condition of perforation by the tip of the fixed needle of the said wall when the needle is pressed in to ensure a tight fit of the needle rod at the base. 2. An applicator according to claim 1, characterized in that the tips of the needles are rounded to form a convex area in the form of an ellipse with a semiaxis ratio of 1: 3. 3. An applicator according to claim 1, characterized in that it contains cylindrical permanent magnets located at the nodes of a square coordinate grid, the placement period of which is a multiple of the period of the reflex protrusions.

Images