US2048712A

US2048712A - Electric vibrator

Info

Publication number: US2048712A
Application number: US676611A
Authority: US
Inventors: Adolf P C Schramm
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1933-06-20
Filing date: 1933-06-20
Publication date: 1936-07-28
Anticipated expiration: 1953-07-28

Description

July 28, A D c SCHRAMM' 2,048,712

ELECTRIC VIBRATOR Filed June 20, 1933 ATTORNEY' Patented July 28,

, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

7 Claims.

This invention is a' novel electric vibrator such as is adapted for massage purposes, although the features of improvement would be available for other practical purposes such as treatment or mixing of liquids, or use in the laboratory or otherwise for grinding, cutting, polishing or other treatments of solids, such as a vibratory razor.

The general object of the invention is to provide an electric vibrator operated by a motor of the type having an oscillating shaft, permitting a simple construction in that a plain iron armature without windin may be employed, with a restoring spring opposing the field magnet. Such a motor may be operated by intermittent or alternating current and in the latter case the vibrations may be synchronous with the frequency of current alternation, as 60 cycles per second, the vibrator delivering an oscillating movement which is powerful although scarcely perceptible to the eye. V

A special object is to provide for the varying of the power or action of the vibrator, for massage or other purposes, preferably by adjustment ,of the spring which operates on the armature.

Another object is to provide a structure and arrangement of parts whereby the user of the vibrator is protected from possible short circuit, all accessible parts being insulated from straycurrents. Another object is to provide acontrol arrangement whereby the picking up and the gripping of the handle of the vibrator effects the closing of the circuits and the operation of the apparatus, the laying down of the vibrator causing its stoppage.

Other objects include providing, in the case of massage, of special applicators, to'be subjected to the oscillating motion and to deliver effective massage action.

Other and further objects and advantages will be explained in the hereinafter following description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention or will be understood to those conversant with the art.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is what may be termed a front view or elevation of an electric massage vibrator embodying the present invention, with a special type of applicator applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a right elevation of the apparatus of Fig. 5 is a detail cross section showing the preferred construction of each of the elements of the ball type of applicator shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4; and Fig. 6 is a right elevation thereof.

Fig. '7' is a bottom view of the button type of applicator shown in Fig. 8; and Fig. 8 is a central section thereof.

Fig. 9 is a central section of a comb type of applicator, adapted to be mounted on the form shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a sectional and Fig. 11 a perspective view of a detail of construction of the fixed parts of the apparatus. I

Fig. 12 is a rear elevation partly in section of a detail of the mounting and adjustment of the armature spring.

Figs. 13 and 14 are diagrams of the action magnet body 24 of ring, octagon or other suit.

able shape.

' A front bearing bracket 26 in the nature of a bridge extends horizontally across from one side to the other of the magnet body and at its center carries a bearing 21 for one end of the shaft 2|. Extending down from the bridge or bracket 26 are .a pair of spaced apart ears 2B perforated for 1 t At its ends the bridge is formed with a through the body of the magnet, making a tight fit therewith, and. issuing at the rear sidewhere are further insulating washers and a nut 32 by which the front and rearbearing brackets are rigidly attached to the magnet. The tabs center the washers and thus center the bolt which is thus kept from metallic contact with the front and rear bridges or bearing brackets.

A rear bracket or bridge 36 is bent or looped rearwardly so that the bearing 31 thereon for the shaft 2| is spaced well to the rear, that is at the left side of Fig. 4. The bridge 36 has a pair of upstanding ears 38 perforated for an attaching 10011; and at its ends has tabs 39 straddling an in: 'j sulating washer-40. By the described arrange- I I shown, to receive a securing bolt 64. When tightened in placethe three' bolts 58; 5.9 and 64 hold.

70. 1 and closes itsicontact with spring 13; By this ai 7 V Washers and the securing bolt 3| is mainhorizontal slot as seen in Fig. 3 and horizontal tained spaced so as to be free of metallic contact .with the two bearing brackets. The rear bracket 36 has a bent downward extension 4| having a ears 42 perforated to receive an adjusting shaft. The mountings for the oscillating motor shaft 2| have'thus' been completely described.

The armature 201s to be resiliently held. in or restored to its neutral position indicated by the diagram axis a. or a. in Figs. 13 and 14. For this purpose. the armature has an outstanding stud 45 atone. side receiving an eye on the free end of a restoring spring 46, which is preferably a. helical spring surrounding the shaft 2|.

other or anchored end of the spring extends downwardly through a swivellinghead .41, shown in detail in Fig. 12, this head being rotary within a sliding carriage 48, the threaded shank 49 of which is .slidable horizontally, guided in the slot.

of thebracket extension v ||.;;A threaded shaft 50 passes through and is threaded in'the shank.

'49, theshaft being rotaryin the ears 42 of the extensionQand being there confinedby an enlargeinent or" head at each end. The right end ofthe threaded shaft 50 isprovided with'a thumb nut or adjuster 5| extending through to the. outside of th'ehousingto be described, and the inner side of thisfknurled thumb piece is engaged byi'a' spring toothor click 52 which; securely holds the'thumb piece against accidental displacement.

The entire mechanism thus described is preferably enclosedin a non-metallic housing which;

is shown as composed of a right half 55 and a left half 56 interlocking-with each other; these having-ventilating; slots to minimize overheating.

ey' may be composed ofa strongcomposition contact member '|2 adapted to be thrust at'will 'intoecontactwith a secondicontact member or material'such asbakelite or fiber, and each half has an

extension

55 or 56%,which match to form" a convenient handle 51.

The two halves of the housing and the enclosed mechanism are all; interconnected by -,an upper bolt 58'and a lower, bolt 59; The right half has a pair of threaded seats Boone for each of the bolts,

one of jthern appearing in Fig. '3, Whilethe left half has a pair of receiving'sleeves 6| for the r.e-.

spective bolts ,on e suchsleeveappearingin Fig.3, The handle part 55 has athreaded seat 62 and the complementary handle part -a"sleeve, .not

the entirety in rigid relation,- j

- The electricarrangementsj and circuits maybe passes ffromfthis point upwardly to the upper. magnet coil 23; which in turnis connected by'a single'wir e TU'With the lower coil'23', this in turn being connected by a singlewire 1| with'a spring spring l3, to: which 'the other line wire is directly connected The circuit 'is thusjnormally open.

The two contact members: are mounted in a slit lug Him the left-'handlepartwand apivoted lever.

15 projecting beyond thehandle 'is so arranged I that gripping the handle deflects :the spring 12 rangement the vibrator is; put into operation at "will, and'on laying "it down the contact auto-' 'maticallyopens;

.may carry massaging elements either axial or The Tthumb piece '5 The adjustment o f'Fi'g. 13 may becons'id'ered the strong adjustments The transverse axis a,

of the armature, in its neutral position; is swung away to a maximum degree from thecenter line cators are'attachable to or operable fromthe 08-.

cillating shaft 2|. 'Devicesare illustrated in the nature of massage implementsbut as stated, other devices might be actuated from theoscillating.

shaft. 'Iheshaft is shown with a threadedend 16 on which the threaded head or shank 11 of the applicator or'other device is attached, with a Wing nut 18 to lock it in place. The head 11 offset. Thus in Figs. 1 2 and 4 are shown a series of three or two rounded or ball sha pe applicator elements. Each of these has a shank 19 attached by driving fit, eccentrically in the head, and on each shank is a ball 80, which in these cases is preferably rotatable on its shank and also preferably is arranged for yielding along its shank,

beingrnade with a recess for this purpose. Figs.

5 and. 6 showsuitable details, there being a screw terior headj82, with .a spring 83 compressed be tween the shank head and thebase of the recess. Theball may be composed of 'bakelite, fiberor 'the like and .may yield progressively along its shank, giving a graded. action according to the ate along small arcs'around the main shaft 2| as an axis, this arrangement being very effective for O A button type applicator is shown in Figsfil certain muscular treatments.

and 8 where the shank. 85 is threaded to be mounted upon the main shaft 2| and carries the sleeve 8| attached withinthe non-metallic applicator element 80, the shank 19 having a round in- 0 button applicator 86 which in this casis not to be rotary. on its shank since the shank must i transmit. oscillatory movements to the button.

,As' before the nonametallic button has a threaded;

sleeve 81 through which the shank passesfljihe shank having a squarehead 88 sl'idable in-"the' square recess 89 against the resistance of compression spring 90.

V For scalp treatment the comb -like'attachment.".

9| of: Fig. '9 may be used, this having afcircular series of teeth 92 and the entiretybein'gfl applica- .ble for example to the button applicatorf 86 of.

Figs. 7 and 8.- The ends of theteeth contacting the scalp will have oscillating motions along the line of their own circle. Variousf other' applicators operable by oscillating motion will' suggest themselvesl The subject matter of Figs 7,'8 and 9 thus de-' scribed is not'specifically herein claimed, but is 7 madeitheisubject of claim in copending appllcae tion Serial No. 714,896,; filed March 10, 1934.

The cooperation action' of the magnet: and;-

armature is diagrammatically shown-in Figs; 13 7 I and 14, these' twofigures"showing"substantially' the separate wires are split.. A single wire 69.

the extreme adjustments o fthe action by the Fig.3 shows an: intermediate adjustment-,the carriage 48' having been slid part way from one end toward the center. of the feed. screw 50. It will be "notedthat as the vibrator is held naturally in the hand; the thumb I piece is readily accessible to th'ethumb andfmay i easily be turned in either direction to vary the adjustment and the power while the massage operations are in progress. This. is of considerable advantage, saving time, facilitating'thegder. T

sired adjustment. and economizin'geurrent J or axis of 'the 'polesof the mag net.) j In thisjad j fustment, at rest 'the armature stands at the 7 position a. When the handle is gripped to press the switch lever and close the circuit the mag- I net becomes alternatingly energized, and the armature jumps from its neutral position toa position nearer to the magnet axis, where it undergoes short oscillatory vibrations, for example between the radial lines D and c. The action is substantially that as the magnetism approaches maximum in each cycle the armature is pulled bodily from b toward 0, the pull continuing until after the magnetism has passed maximum and is reducing toward zero, until a point is reached where the .spring, meanwhile put under tension or strain by. the movement of the armature, overcomes the weakening strength of the magnet. About this instant the armature will start its reverse movement from position 0 back toward position b while the magnet strength decreases to the zero point and thereupon increases with reverse polarity, until, by the time the armature has been pulled back by its spring as far as position b the increasing strength of the magnet has overcome the pull of the spring. In a sense the armature is suspended in an intermediate position under short vibration, the magnet intermittently tending to pull it into line with the magnet poles, while the spring is constantly tending to pull it back to neutral position a; the armature never reaching either the magnet pole position or the neutral position, until indeed the current is discontinued when the spring restores the armature to its neutral position a.

In the diagrams it is not intended to illustrate the exact positions and amplitudes of movements. In practise the actual movement may be quite small, so as to be scarcely perceptible to the vision, and yet quite powerful so as to be extremely perceptible to the parts being massaged. In Fig. 13 the spring is under greater tension than Fig. 14 and the power delivered is greater. In the adjustment of Fig. 14 the amplitude and power are less. The change of adjustment may be considered as the shifting of the neutral axis a or a between the extreme and intermediate positions. Fig. 14 shows the weak adjustment, with an oscillation between radii b and c, of small amplitude and energy. This change of adjustment of action is effected by a suitable change in the restoring spring, which preferably, as shown, is a mere shift of the spring by adjusting rotarily the position of its anchored end.

The type of applicator shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 is of certain special value for muscular massage, for example in treating the arm muscles. Each ball 80 is freely rotatable on its own shank 19, but both, or all three, of the balls cooperatively move about the general axis, during which each of them may roll slightly on the skin, with a short oscillatory planetation. In addition to the rolling massage effect described the balls 80 are subject to yielding along their shanks, as explained in connection with Fig. 5. The result is that when light application pressure is increased the rolling balls may slide relatively inward along their shanks, which not merely increases the tension of the spring 83 and the massage pressure upon the flesh, but causes the relative approach of the two or the three balls so as to give a gentle pinching or gathering action upon the flesh. This type of applicator therefore affords simultaneous pressure, vibration, rolling motion, and gathering or kneading of the muscles, according to the manual pressure applied to the operation.

The button type applicator of Figs? and 8 is on different principles, although possessing the yielding action due to its spring 96. The spring may for example be normally under substantially zero compression, so that the applicator may be operated with very gentle action, the spring yielding with increase of pressure and thus affording a progressively increasing, but always resilient massaging pressure. For facial treatments this is of great advantage. The applicator 86 is not rotary upon its shank 85, but due to its square recess 89 and head 88 it partakes of the oscillation of the motor shaft, thus delivering a combination of pressure and oscillatory vibration of the muscles in the plane of the operating surface of the applicator, which is shown preferably flat, but obviously might be somewhat curved or otherwise contoured.

The vibrator hereof is safe, electrically speaking, and the user is protected from possible contact with the charged parts and from stray currents due to possible looseness or breakage of connections. The housing is non-metallic and no metallic parts are exposed other than the end of the'armature shaft and the applicator head or shank connected therewith. The armature and its shaft are effectively insulated from the magnet and its coils. The bolts 3| by which the

bridge pieces

26 and 36 are attached to the magnet are insulated not from the magnet but from disclosed electric vibrator; while the particular forms of applicators hereinabove described are made the subject of divisional application, see application Number 714,896, filed March 10, 1934.

The following claims of invention are hereby made:

1. An electric vibrator comprising a shaft mounted to oscillate about an axis longitudinal to its length and adapted to carry an implement or applicator in position intersected by such axis, a field magnet consisting of an electromagnet energized by alternating current, an armature carried by said shaft in magnetic relation to said magnet, a resilient means or spring connected with and tending to hold the shaft at a normal idle position wherein the armature is out of magnetic alinement with the magnet and said spring cooperating with the magnet for oscillating the armature and. shaft, and adjusting means for changing the relation of the spring to the armature and thereby effecting variations of the strength or amplitude of oscillation of the shaft and applicator.

2. An alternating current electric vibrator comprising a shaft mounted to oscillate about an axis longitudinal to its length and adapted to carry an implement or applicator in position intersected by such axis, a windingless armature on said shaft, a field magnet consisting of an electro-magnet energized by alternating current, with a spring tending to hold the shaft at a normal idle position wherein the armature is out of magnetic alinement with the magnet, and said spring cooperating with the magnet for oscillating the armature and shaft, and means for adjusting the spring for changing its position and thereby the normal position of the armature for effecting variations of the strength or amplitude of oscillation of the shaft and implement carried thereon.

3, A 'vi bratoras in claim 2 and wherein the spring has one part anchored and the adjustment 'of oscillation is by shifting the anchored part, of the spring thereby to vary the normal position and the range of oscillationof the shaft-. a

4. A portable electric massage vibrator com prising a shaft mountedto oscillate about an axis longitudinal to its length and adapted to carry an implement or applicator in position intersected by s'uch axis, an armature on said-shaft, and an AC. field magnet; with a spring tending to holdthe shaft and armature at a normal idle position and'cooperating withrthe magnet for oscillating the armature and'shaftand adjusting means for-shifting the normal position t me spring andpthereby effecting variations of the strength or amplitude of oscillation of the arma-" ,ture and shaft thereby to adjust the strength of i 1 action" of the applicator; the spring being a coil spring surrounding the'shaf t with one end attached to the shaft or armature and the other end attached to a carriage; the adjustingmeans being arranged to shift the position of the care 5. An electric vibrator comprising an armature shaftmounted to oscillate about an'axis longitudinal to its length and adapted to carry an im-- plement or applicator in position intersected by such axis,an armature thereon, and a field magnet energized'by alternating current for oscillating the armature and shaft, a spring tending to hold the shaft at a normal idle position, said :spring passing helically around the shaft, with one end attached to the shaft, a carriage to which i V V I v the other end of the springisattached, andadjustablemeans' to shift the carriage ina manner to shift the attachedend of the spring and thus vary the action of the'spring. V

V 6. An electric vibrator as in claim 5 and wherein the adjustable means-to shift the carriage and 7 thereby vary the action of the spring comprises a threaded shaft engaging the carriage and a thumb piece'on the shaft exteriorly accessible 7 i for turning it. V V

'1, In a portable massage instrument; in combination, anAqC. 'magnet and a windingless V armature, anfoscillating shaft having fixed bearings and carrying the armature in a position to os- 3 V cillate concentrically to the axis of the shaft, and

the magnet having a fixed position with its pole or poles radially outwards of the armature pole or poles, such that oscillation of the armature changes the angular relation of the armature poles and magnet poles without contact; each' armature'pole having a normal position with its "magnetic center out of alinement between'the a magnet pole and shaftaxis; and a spring connected to the armature to hold it resiliently inf such normal position and having means for in 25 itially adjusting the'spring to determine the nor-' 7 'mal position of thearmature and thereby the manner of oscillation of the shaft; and a massage applicator mounted at the end of such oscillatory jshaft'and with the'shaft axis passing substantially centrally through the applicator, whereby the applicator applies a reversely twisting movement to the parts contacted by it.

V ADOLF P.,.c.' SCI-IRAMMQ V 1