US2168975A - Massaging device - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 8, 1939. D. CLARKE MASSAGING DEVICE Filed June 4, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l 3 woe/Wm 7 5's Jarrz 022i 674 Aug. 8, 1939. v CLARKE 7 2,168,975

' MASSAGING DEVICE I Filed June 4, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F76. 6; f /4 d,

6 j if I Gimp.

Patented Aug. 8, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

The device forming the subject matter of this application is adapted to be used for massaging or working upon the human back. One object of the invention is to provide a device of the class described which can be folded into small compass when not in use. Another object of the invention is to provide novel means whereby the working member, which engages the back immediately, may be disposed at any desired angle with respect to the body element which carries the working member. Another object of the invention is to supply a device of the class described in which there will be a little or nothing to catch upon the garments of the wearers, when the device is in use.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and to enhance the utility of devices of that type to which the present invention appertains.

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it

being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 shows in perspective, a device constructed in accordance with the invention, in a position of use;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an elevation with parts in section, the view showing the working member and its mounting on the body of the device;

Fig. 4 is an elevation showing how the article may be folded when not in use;

Fig. 5 is a plan showing a modification;

Fig. 6 is an elevation relating to the modification disclosed in Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a plan showing the article of Fig. 5 completely folded.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4 there is disclosed a body I, in the form of a rigid bar. Angle brackets 2 are attached by securing elements 3 to the body I, near the ends of the body. In the projecting portions of the angle brackets 2, combined clamping and pivot elements 4 are mounted. These pivot elements 4 may be bolts, carrying wing nuts 5.

The ends of rigid handles 6 project between the angle brackets 2, and the pivot bolts 4 pass through the ends of the handles. The wing nuts 5 may be left loose and, then, the handles 6 are mounted for swinging movement on the angle brackets 2. If desired, however, the wing nuts 5 may be tightened, the ends of the handles 6 being clamped between the angle brackets 2 and the 5 handles being held at any desired angles with respect to the body I. I

The numeral 7 indicates a rigid bridge of U- shape and preferably made of metal. The intermediate portion of the bridge 1 is connected by a 10 clamping and pivot element 8, such as a bolt 8, to the body I at any point between the ends of the body, and preferably midway between the ends of the body. The head of the bolt 8 is located in a recess 9 formed in the outer surface 15 of the body I. A wing nut I0 is threaded on the bolt 8 and is located within the bridge 1. Because the head of the bolt 8 is located in the recess 9, and because the wing nut Iii is located within the bridge 1, there are no projecting parts 20 to catch on the garments of the wearer.

By means of securing elements I2, the ends of the bridge I are secured to a working element Ii. The working element II is shown in the form of a pad, but it might be a wheel or any- 25 thing else, adapted to be used either cold, or in a heated condition. It is to be observed that by loosening the wing nut ill, the angle between the working member H and the body I may be changed as the occasion may require. 30

The device is used as shown in Fig. 1. The working member H, whatever be its form, is placed against the back of the wearer, and the body I is moved about by means of the handles 6, the working member I l engaging the back 35 of the patient.

In Figs. 56-7, parts hereinbefore described have been designated by numerals already used, with the suffix a. In this form of the invention, the .body la is made up of two parts H. To 40 the inner portions of the parts M of the body la, hinge plates l5 are secured. The pivot that connects the hinge plates 15 is the bolt 8a. The bolt 8a, therefore, has a function additional to that described in connection with the bolt 8. 45

The device shown in Figs. 5-6-7 of the drawings is operated like the device shown in Fig. 1. The wing nut Illa may be loosened and then tightened, thereby enabling the parts I4 to be disposd rigidly at any desired angle with respect to 50 each other, instead of a straight line as shown in Fig. 1.

In order to economize space, the handles 6 of Fig. 1 may be folded up in the same plane with the body I, as shown in Fig. 4. This can be done, 55

also, in connection with the form shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 of the drawings. In addition, the two parts I4 may be folded together in a plane at right angles to the pivot bolt 8a, thereby cutting down the length of the device about one-half, as compared with the structure shown, for instance, in Fig. 4.

Either of the forms depicted in the drawings is a simple construction, but will be found thoroughly eflicient for the ends in view. They enable a person to work upon his back, and when the occasion for the use of the instrument has passed, it may be folded to some extent, as shown in Fig. 4, or more completely, as shown in Fig. 7.

The rigid handles 6 give the operator better control over the device than do flexible handles. It is to be observed, also, that the combined clamping and pivot elements 8 and 8a enable the working members II and Ila, respectively,

to be placed at any desired angle to the parts I' and la on which they are mounted.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a device of the class described, an elongated rigid body, a working member, means for attaching the working member to the intermediate portion of the body for adjustment about an axis transverse to the length of the body, rigid handles located at the ends of the body, and

means for securing the handles to the body for swinging movement in a plane coincident with the body.

2. In a device of the class described, a body comprising cooperating members, hinge plates secured to the inner ends of said members, a combined clamping and pivot element connecting the hinge members, a working member carried by the pivot element, rigid handles located at the ends of the body, and means for connecting the handles to the body for swinging movement in a plane parallel to the body, the clamping and pivot element enabling the members of the body to be folded together in a direction at right angles to the axis of the pivot element.

3. In a device of the class described, a rigid body, rigid handles located at the ends of the body, means for connecting the handles to the body for swinging movement in a plane coincident with the body, a working member located intermediate the ends of the body, a bridge carried by the working member, and a combined clamping and pivot element connected to the intermediate portion of the bridge with the intermediate portion of the body, said member embodying a clamping element located within the bridge.

DUMONT CLARKE.

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