US2674994A - Motor operated kinesitherapy device - Google Patents

Description

April 13, 1954 o. K. MURPHY MOTOR OPERATED KINESITHERAPY DEVICE Filed June 19, 1952 @a2/Mm @au l l I lllllll t k|.lllllall l in which 'the motor is adequately UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOTOR OPERATED KINESITHERAPY DEVICE Gwen K. Murphy, Adamsville, Pa.

Application June 19, 1952, Serial No. 294,458

(Cl. 12S- 36) 4 Claims. l

This invention relates to a motor operated kinesitherapy device and more particularly to a simple and durable device of this character with an applicator having gyratcry motion and which device can be effectively used for treatments o the human body.

This application is a companion to my copending application Serial No. 294,457 led June 19, 1952 for Cushion Type Motor Operated Kinesitherapy Device.

As hereinafter more fully described the present invention is concerned with such a device having a motor operated gyrator and which device can be held in the hand and applied to different parts of the body or may be embodied in a device having the form of a cushion as shown in my said companion application. In such appliances as heretofore made, considerable difficulty has been experienced in providing an instrument which is Beca-use of simple, rugged and highly effective. the gyratory motion, the bearings of the motor are particularlysusceptible to destructive action, and undue Wear in these parts leads to other failures. In the device embodying the present invention a novel and simple construction is provided for mounting the entire motor unit as an entity, and With a measure of resiliency or free dom of movement which eliminates the cause of failure and at the same time provides a motion or action having both a pleasing and a thera peutic effect.

Accordingly, one of the objects of the-present invention is to provide such a motor operated kinesitherapy device which Will operate without change in characteristics for a long period of time and which has both a pleasing vand therapeutic effect.

Another object is to provide such a device which is composed of simple and low cost parts l that can readily be puttogether.

Another object is to provide such a device composed of sheet metal housing or shell sections which can be lhighly polished and readily kept in a sanitary condition.

Another object' is to provide such a device which has ends of different'degrees of bluntness to facilitate application `to different parts of the body. l

Other objectsandadvantages of the invention 2 will be apparent from the following description and drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of a therapeutic device adapted to be held in the hand of the user and applied to different parts of the body.

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through the hand device shown in Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken generally on line 3-3, Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 2 and showing one of the casing or shell parts disassembled froin the motor to illustrate the original shape of the rubber ring mounting for the motor contained within the casing sections.

In the form of the invention illustrated the numeral l0 represents an electric motor having a generally cylindrical casing il and a motor shaft I2. A fan I3 is mounted on one end of the motor shaft l2, the blade of this fan being shaped to move the air longitudinally through the casing i I of the electric motor for the purpose of cooling the same. The fan includes a hub le from which its blades I 5 radiate, and screwed into the fan hub i4 is a screw l5 which projects radially and has a head Il at its outer end.4 One or more Weights I8 are carried by the screw` l5. these Weights being preferably of washer-like form and held against the screw head El by lock nut I9. The screw l5 and its weights il! provide an eccentric weight on the motor shaft I2 which tends to gyrate the motor shaft and the motor as a function of itsfoperation.

An important feature of the invention resides in the provision of a pair of rubber rings 2t surF rounding each of the opposite ends of the motor casing Il. These rings are preferably cementil tiously secured, as indicated at 22, to the motor casing and provide a resilient radial extension of the motor casing thereof. i

An important feature of the invention resides in the unstressed form of the rubber rings 2Q. Thus, upon reference to Fig. e, the rubber rings 2li are of frusta-conical form with conical faces 2l converging toward the end of the motor.

This convergence isfor the purpose of facilitating the insertion of the motor unit intothe tvvo parts 25 and 26 of the `housing or shell of .the device. A layer 2 of suitable cement is prefer ably applied to the peripheral faces 2l of the rubber rings before such insertion to secure the housing sections to the rubber rings and motor casing. Each of these housing or shell parts is made ofone piece of sheet metal vand the partie a hemisphericalend'head 29` with an annular disposed within the chamber in fully spaced relation to the walls of said housing and extending across the mating ends of said housing sections, said motor having a relatively stationary generally cylindrical casing arranged with its axis lengthwise of said chamber and having a rotary shaft journalled coaxially within said casing, an eccentric weight driven by said shaft and providing a predetermined, mechanical. rotary unbalance well in excess of any accidental unbalance due to inaccuracy of manufacture, a pair of axially spaced, soft, resilient cushion rings each encircling a corresponding end of said motor casing and interposed under stress between said motor casing and one of said housing sections, and serving as the connector between said housing sections and also as the sole and floating support between said motor and said housing whereby rotation of said eccentric weight will cause a gyratory movement of said motor in a relatively small, closed-loop path which is transmitted through said rings to said housing, a cementitious bond between said rings land motor casing, and a cementitious bond between each of said rings and a corresponding housing section, and said rings in the normal unstressed condition thereof being of frusto-conical form with their peripheral faces converging in opposite directions and toward the corresponding ends of said motor casing to facilitate insertion thereoff into said housing sections.

4. A therapeutic device adapted to ine held in the hand, comprising two generally cylindrical, rigid, hollow, metal housing sections having opiposing open ends adapted to be brought into mating relation with each other to provide a generally cylindrical housing, an electric motor disposed within the chamber in fully spaced relation to the walls of said housing, said motor having a relatively stationary generally cylindrical casing arranged with its axis lengthwise of said chamber and having a rotary shaft journalled coaxially within said casing, an eccentric weight driven by said shaft and providing a predetermined, mechanical, rotary unbalance well in excess of any accidental unbalance due to inaccuracy of manufacture, a pair of axially spaced, soft, resilient cushion rings each encircling a corresponding end of said motor casing and interposed under stress between said motor casing and said housing walls, and serving as the sole and floating support between said motor and said housing whereby rotation of said eccentric weight will cause a gyratory movement of said motor in a relatively small, closed-loop path which is transmitted through said rings to said housing, one of said housing sections being formed with an axially elongated nose, and a concave-convex rubber `pad having an integral ring projecting from its convex face and adapted to be fitted frictionally over said nose.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 854,983 Clark May 28, 1907 2,425,655 Tompkins Aug. 12, 1947

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