WO2004009010A2

WO2004009010A2 - The apparatus of continuous pricking needles for a herb doctor

Info

Publication number: WO2004009010A2
Application number: PCT/KR2003/001389
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lai-Shing Tzou; Hee-Suk Yun
Original assignee: Lai-Shing Tzou; Hee-Suk Yun
Priority date: 2002-07-18
Filing date: 2003-07-14
Publication date: 2004-01-29
Also published as: KR100497115B1; WO2004009010A3; KR20040008268A; AU2003261605A1; AU2003261605A8

Abstract

Disclosed is an apparatus of continuously pricking needles for a herb doctor. The continuously needle-pricking apparatus includes: a needle storing part; a needle charging part; a needle protruding part having a needle discharge hole; a needle moving means for moving toward the needle discharge hole; a needle-pricking manipulating part to prick the standby needle into the region of the patient's body. According to the present invention, a number of needles is stored in a needle storing part of the apparatus and the stored needles are sequentially positioned at the region of a patient's body to be treated, thereby reducing the time period required for acupuncture and easily keeping and managing the needles.

Description

THE APPARATUS OF CONTINUOUS PRICKING NEEDLES FOR A HERB

DOCTOR

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a subsidiary apparatus used when a herb doctor applies acupuncture in an oriental medical clinic or an oriental medical hospital, and more particularly, to an apparatus of continuously pricking needles for a herb doctor, which allows a number of needles to be stored therein and the stored needles to be sequentially positioned at the region of a patient's body to be treated, thereby reducing the time period required for acupuncture and easily keeping and managing the needles.

Background Art

Acupuncture widely known in the Orient is one of Chinese medical treatments in which needles are pricked into the meridian points of the human body to control energy, i.e., qi related to Eum and Yang of the human body so that various diseases can be treated.

In general, the needle used for acupuncture has an acute portion made by polishing the front end of a needle bar made of elongated steel material as shown in FIG. 1, and a grip portion formed at the rear end thereof for a herb doctor to grasp it with his or her hand.

The herb doctor applies acupuncture by grasping the grip portion with his or her hand and pricking the acute portion into the region of a patient's body to be treated. Since acupuncture is to control circulation of qi within the human body, it is a common practice that a number of the needles rather than only one needle are pricked into the necessary region of the human body.

However, for a conventional acupuncture method, there has been a problem in that the herb doctor must put his/her heart and soul into the acupuncture and feels severe fatigue since he or she must prick the needles into the exact regions to be treated.

Meanwhile, most of the herb doctors grasp a number of the needles with one hand and apply acupuncture with the other hand to reduce the treatment period since they deal with lots of patients. However, the herb doctors are in need of a lot of experiences to apply acupuncture with one hand, and sometimes get the hand pricked by the needles.

To reduce the treatment period, there is another method of previously putting a number of needles into disinfected gauze, but, in this case, there is a little effect in spite of considerable preparatory period for acupuncture .

Such problems have been become more serious under the present circumstances that the herb doctor faces lots of the patients. Various attempts have been made to solve the above problems . One of the attempts is to apply acupuncture by touching the top end of a grip portion of the needle with an end of the herb doctor's hand after inserting the needle into a needle pipe and making the bottom end the needle pipe be in contact with the region of the patient's body to be treated.

As another attempt, Korean Utility Model Registration No. 0250631 (Application No. 20-2001-0021180) discloses "a needle for herb medicine" which is previously inserted and fixed into a needle pipe to apply acupuncture by touching the top end of the needle with an end of the herb doctor's hand.

However, the above attempts cannot also solve the above problems fundamentally since they cannot significantly reduce the treatment period.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus of continuously pricking needles for a herb doctor, which allows a number of needles to be stored therein and the stored needles to be sequentially positioned at the region of a patient's body to be treated, thereby both reducing the time period required for acupuncture by enabling a successive needle tricking operation only with simple manipulation and easily keeping and managing the needles.

To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus of continuously pricking needles for a herb doctor includes: a needle storing part for storing a number of needles therein in such a manner as to be arranged in a line; a needle charging part for inserting the needles into the needle storing part; a needle protruding part in contact with the region of a patient's body to be treated, the needle protruding part having a needle discharge hole penetrated therethrough for passing the needles stored in the needle storing part one at a time; a needle moving means for laterally moving the needles stored in the needle storing part toward the needle discharge hole; and a needle- pricking manipulating part for pushing a standby needle of the needles stored in the needle storing part toward the needle protruding part to prick the standby needle into the region of the patient's body to be treated through the needle discharge hole of the needle protruding part.

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings .

While the present invention has been described with reference to the attached drawings, the technical spirit and scope of the present invention are not to be restricted by the attached drawings. A needle storing part 10 is a space to store a number of needles therein, and it is preferable that about 50 needles are stored in the needle storing part 10 to allow a herb doctor to easily grasp it continuously needle-pricking apparatus with one hand. The needles 30 stored in the needle storing part 10 must be discharged through a needle protruding part 20. At this time, as only one needle must be pricked into a patient's body to be treated, the stored needles 30 are discharged one by one in order.

To discharge the needles 30 stored in the needle storing part 10 in a line and one by one to the desired positions, there are several methods.

Concretely, there is a method to arrange the stored needles 30 in a line and prick them into the desired positions one by one. To arrange the needles in a line, the size of the needle storing part 10 is somewhat larger than the diameter of grip portion 31 and the size of the needle to prevent dispersion of the stored needles 30.

When a needle 30a stored in the needle storing part 10 and standing by for acupuncture is pricked by a needle- pricking manipulating part 40, most of the pricked needle including a grip portion 31 exists in the needle storing part 10, but it can be separated from the needle storing part 10, for example, by raising up the continuously needle-pricking apparatus according to the present invention.

As described above, the pricked needle may not be come out of the continuously needle-pricking apparatus well as it is in contact with another needle 30a standing by for acupuncture when the pricked needle exists in the needle storing part 10. To prevent the above problem, a protrusion 11 may be formed on a lateral side portion of the needle storing part 10 where the grip portion of the standby needle 30a is contacted. According to the above structure, even though the pricked needle exists in the needle storing part 10 and a new needle is located into the place where the pricked needle was located, the two needles are not in contact with each other and the pricked needle can be smoothly separated from the needle storing part 10.

Furthermore, though the standby needle 30a and the pricked needle are somewhat in contact with each other, as a needle body 32 and the grip portion 31 are in slight contact with each other and the contracted portions of the two needles have weak friction force, it does not have any influence on separating the pricked needle from the apparatus.

As a result of tests, it is preferable that the protrusion 11 projects to be the size of about 0.5 ~ 1.5 times the thickness of the grip portion.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 2 , as a result of the tests, it is preferable that the lower end of the protrusion 11 is located above the lower end of the grip portion 31 so as to naturally discharge the grip portion of the pricked needle even though the movable distance of the prepared needle 30a is somewhat short. Meanwhile, it is preferable that acute portions 33 of the needles, which are stored in the needle storing part 10 and moved in order, do not reach the bottom surface of the needle storing part 10 to prevent damage of the acute portions 33 of the needles.

For this, as shown in FIG. 7, a guide protrusion 13 is formed in the needle storing part 10 to prevent the acute portions 33 of the moving needles 30 from coming into contact with the bottom surface of the needle storing part 10 by supporting the lower portions of the grip portions 31 of the needles 30 stored in the needle storing part 10 excepting the^' needle pricked into the region of the patient's body to be treated.

According to the above, as the needles stored in the needle storing part 10 do not go down by being caught to the guide protrusion 13, the acute portions 33 of the needles 30 are not in contact with the bottom surface of the needle storing part 10, and thereby, the needles 30 can be moved smoothly without strong resistance. Of course, as the guide protrusion 13 does not support the bottom of the grip portion of the applied needle pricked into the region of the patient's body to be treated, the needle pricked into the patient's body to be treated can be discharged without being caught to the guide protrusion 13.

A needle charging part 50 is to insert a number of the needles into the needle storing part 10, and may be formed in various types.

Concretely, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the needle charging part 50 is formed behind a needle discharge hole 21. After a number of the needles are inserted into the needle charging part 50, a needle moving means 60 is assembled, and the needle charging part 50 is stopped up with a cover 12.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, it would be appreciated that the size of the needle charging part 50 is a little larger than the diameter of the grip portion 31 to insert the needles only one by one.

As shown in FIG. 5, after the needle charging part 50, which is capable of inserting a number of the needles at the same time, on the side surface of the needle storing part 10, the inserted needles are arranged in the needle storing part 10 in a line, and then, the needle charging part 50 is closed.

The needle protruding part 20 is to discharge the needle 30a standing by for acupuncture after the standby needle 30a of a number of the needles stored in the needle storing part 10 is pricked into the region of the patient's body by operation of the needle-pricking manipulating part

40. Therefore, the needle protruding part 20 is directly in contact with the region of the patient's body to be treated.

The needle protruding part 20 becomes gradually narrow in the downward direction, and so, the herb doctor can check with his/her eyes where the needle protruding part 20 is contacted. Therefore, the herb doctor can prick the needles to the exact position to be treated.

The needle moving means 60 is to laterally move the needles 30 stored in the needle storing part 10 when it is desired that the needle 30a standing by for acupuncture is pricked into the region of the patient's body and discharged from the needle storing part 10, so that another needle stored in the needle storing part 10 is in a standby condition for acupuncture.

The needle moving means 60 can be embodied in various types .

Concretely, as shown in FIG. 2, the needle moving means 60 includes a movable body 61 in contact with the needles stored in the needle storing part 10, and an elastic body 62 whose one side contacts the movable body 61 to push the movable body 61 with its elasticity.

When the needle 30a standing by for acupuncture is pricked into the region of the patient's body to be treated and moves forward, the next needle is automatically located at the place, where the pricked needle was located, and in a stand-by condition.

The elastic body 62 for pushing the movable body 61 may be made of spring, rubber, or others.

According to the above structure, the needles are automatically moved, and the movement of the needles can be controlled by the herb doctor. The above function can be obtained by adding a movable body fixing means 63 for preventing the movable body 61 from being pushed beyond a predetermined location when the movable body 61 is pushed by the elastic body 62.

The movable body fixing means 64 shown in the drawings stops the movable body 61 when friction force is generated by strongly tightening a bolt to the movable body 61, and moves the movable body 61 by the elastic body 62 when the friction force is removed by loosening the bolt.

As another method for moving the needles, there is a method for moving the needles stored in the needle storing part 10 to a predetermined location by manually moving the movable body 61 which is in contact with the needles stored in the needle storing part 10 whenever the needle is pricked into the region of the patient's body (not shown). The needle-pricking manipulating part 40 is a part handled by the herb doctor so that the needle 30a standing by for acupuncture is applied to the region of the patient's body by pushing the standby needle 30a of the stored needles toward the needle protruding part 20. The needle-pricking manipulating part 40 can be embodied in various types, and concretely, there is an illustrative embodiment as shown in FIG. 2.

The needle-pricking manipulating part 40 shown in FIG.

2 includes a casing 42 having a guide hole 41 penetrated therethrough, and a guide bar 43 inserted at one side into the guide hole 41 and protruded at the other side from the casing 42 to be exposed to the outside. The guide bar 43 slides along the guide hole 41.

Furthermore, the needle-pricking manipulating part 40 includes a manipulating spring 44 connected at one end to the guide bar 43 for pushing the guide bar 43 toward the outside of the casing 42. when there is no force depressing the guide bar.

Moreover, the needle-pricking manipulating part 40 is provided with a separating preventing means 45 for preventing the guide bar 43 from being pushed over a predetermined length when the guide bar 43 is pushed by the manipulating spring 44.

Additionally, the needle-pricking manipulating part 40 is provided with a pricking bar 46 located above a number of needles stored in the needle storing part 10 and vertically moving together with the guide bar 43. The pricking bar 46 pushes a standby needle 30a of the stored needles toward the needle protruding part 20 when the guide bar 43 is moved into the casing 42. The separation preventing means 45 is made by coupling a nut to the guide bar 43. Therefore, under a condition in which the needle protruding part 20 is in contact with the region of the patient's body to be treated, when the herb doctor presses the guide bar 43, the pricking bar 46 and the guide bar 43 drop down into the casing 42, and the guide bar 43 pushes the standby needle 30a stored in the needle storing part 10, so as to apply acupuncture.

A part of the applied needle exists in the needle storing part 10, but the part of the applied needle is separated from the continuously needle-pricking apparatus by raising up the needle-pricking apparatus.

The herb doctor can prick the separated needle into the applied portion more deeply with one hand.

It is preferable that parts of the apparatus in contact with the needles are made of materials capable of being sterilized in consideration of sanitation.

Meanwhile, in the continuously needle-pricking apparatus for the herb doctor according to the present invention, when the needles stored in the needle storing part 10 are all used, new needles must be arranged in a line by inserting the new needles into the needle storing part 10 again.

However, in case of that the herb doctor must do the needle inserting process during the medical treatment for patients, the needle inserting process must be performed rapidly. For this, a needle receiving body 70 in which a number of needles are previously arranged in a line may be located between the needle protruding part 20 and the needle moving means 60. That is, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the detachable needle receiving body 70 and a main body 80 of the apparatus are prepared for acupuncture, and the needle receiving body 70 can be replaced with a new one like that magazines of automatic gun are replaced. In this case, a needle storing part 71 and a needle charging part 72 are formed in the needle receiving body 70, and the needle receiving body 70 has a first needle discharge hole 73 penetrated through the bottom surface thereof for discharging the needle 30a standing by for acupuncture.

The needle storing part 71 and the needle charging part 72 can be embodied in the same way as the previously described structure.

In the above structure, the needle receiving body 70 must have a structure that after the standby needle 30a of a number of the needles stored in the needle storing part 71 is discharged for acupuncture, another needle stored in the needle storing part 71 is in the standby condition.

Therefore, the needle receiving body 70 includes a moving-part inserting hole 74 for moving a portion of the needle moving means 60 in contact with the grip portion of the stored needle. The moving-part inserting hole 74 is formed on a lateral side thereof in the lateral direction of the needle receiving body 70 where the grip portion of the stored needle 30 is located. Furthermore, the needle receiving body 70 must have the structure that the standby needle 30a of the plural needles stored in the needle storing part 71 is discharged and applied to the patient.

For this purpose, the needle receiving body 70 has a pricking-part moving hole 75 for inserting and moving the pricking bar 46 of the needle-pricking manipulating part 40. The pricking-part moving hole 75 is penetrated through the top surface of the needle receiving body 70 in a straight line to correspond to the grip portion of the standby needle of the plural needles stored in the needle storing part 71.

The main body 80 has a receiving-body inserting part 81 for inserting and coupling the needle receiving body 70 thereto. Moreover, the needle protruding part 20 has a second needle discharge hole 21a penetrated therethrough for passing the needle, which passed through the first needle discharge hole 73, of the needles stored in the needle storing part 71 of the needle receiving body 70 which is in contact with and is connected to the region of the patient's body to be treated. Additionally, the needle moving means 60 has a movable portion 61a inserted and moved into the moving-part inserting hole 74 to push a number of the needles stored in the needle storing part 71 of the needle receiving body 70 toward the first needle discharge hole 73.

In the above structure, when the herb doctor handles the needle-pricking manipulating part 40, the standby needle 30a of the plural needles stored in the needle storing part 71 of the connected needle receiving body 70 is pushed toward the first needle discharge hole 73, and then, automatically pricked into the region of the patient's body through the first and second needle discharge holes 73 and 21a.

In adoption of the above structure, the needle receiving body 70 and the needles stored in the receiving body 70 are manufactured, sterilized and sold by their manufacturers, and the needle charging part 72, the first needle discharge hole 73, the moving-part inserting hole 74 and the pricking-part moving hole 75 are temporarily stopped with any adhesive tape. The continuously needle- pricking apparatus can be used sanitarily if the user uses it after taking off the adhesive tape only at the time of use (not shown) .

A depth control part 47 may be provided for controlling the needle pricking depth when the herb doctor sticks the needles into the region of the patient's body using the needle-pricking manipulating part 40.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the depth control part 47 controls the movement distance of the guide bar 43 by tightening or loosening the nut after the nut is coupled to the guide bar 43.

Additionally, the needle pricking depth can be controlled by controlling the protruded length of the needle protruding part 10.

The non-explained reference numeral 90 designates the patient's skin to be treated.

Brief Description of the Drawings

FIG. 1 is a brief view of a needle used for acupuncture.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view for explaining an apparatus of continuously pricking needles for a herb doctor according an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a brief view showing a state in which the needle is discharged out of the apparatus of continuously pricking needles according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a brief view of a needle charging part of the apparatus of continuously pricking needles:

FIG. 4A is a brief view showing a state in which the needles are inserted into the apparatus after the needle charging part is opened by pushing a needling moving part in the backward direction; and FIG. 4B is a brief view showing a state in which the inserted needles are arranged in a line by the needle moving means and the needle charging part is closed.

FIG. 5 is a brief view showing a state in which the needle charging part in which a number of the needles are inserted at once is formed on a side of the needle storing part.

FIG. 6 is a brief view of a needle storing part according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a brief view showing a process that the needles are moved along a guide protrusion formed on the needle storing part.

FIG. 8 is a brief view showing a first embodiment of the needle moving means according to the present invention. FIG. 9 is a brief view showing a second embodiment of the needle moving means according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a brief view of an apparatus of continuously pricking needles for a herb doctor including a separable needle receiving body and an apparatus body according to another, embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a brief view showing a used state of the apparatus of continuously pricking needles for a herb doctor including the separable needle receiving body and the apparatus body. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

The present invention will now be described in detail in connection with preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention cannot be restricted by the particular embodiments.

<Embodiment 1> Manufacture of the apparatus of continuously pricking needles for a herb doctor 1

A needle storing part 10 was a little larger than the diameter of grip portions 31 and the size of needles, and could store 50 needles. The needles 30 were arranged in the needle storing part 10 in a line, and located on a position one by one to discharge the needles.

At this time, the needle storing part 10 had a protrusion 11 formed on a portion thereof in contact with the grip portion of the needle 30a standing by for acupuncture, and the protrusion 11 protrudes to once of the thickness of the grip portion. The lower end of the protrusion 11 was located above the lower end of the grip portion 31.

The needle storing part 10 had a needle charging part 50 formed in the side surface for inserting a number of the needles into the needle storing part 10 at once. After a number of the needles were inserted at once, the inserted needles were arranged in the needle storing part 10 in a line, and then, the needle charging part 50 was closed. The needle charging part 50 was formed at the rear of a needle discharge hole 21. After a number of the needles were inserted, a needle moving means 60 was assembled, and the needle charging part 50 was closed with a cover 12. A needle protruding part 20 had a shape getting gradually narrow toward the lower portion, so that the herb doctor could check with eyes where the needle protruding part 20 was contacted.

The needle moving means 60 included a movable body 61 which was in contact with the needles stored in the needle storing part 10, and an elastic body 62 in contact with the movable body 61 at a side thereof to push the movable body 61 with its elasticity. At this time, the elastic body was made of spring. A movable body fixing means 64 stoped the movable body 61 when friction force was generated by strongly tightening a bolt to the movable body 61, and moved the movable body 61 by the elastic body 62 when the friction force was removed by loosening the bolt. A needle-pricking manipulating part 40 included a casing 42 having a guide hole 41, and a guide bar 43 having a side inserted into the guide hole 41 and the other side protruding to the outside of the casing 42, the guide bar sliding along the guide hole 41. Furthermore, the needle-pricking manipulating part 40 further included a manipulating spring 44 connected at one end to the guide bar 43 to push the guide bar 43 toward the outside of the casing 42 when there was no force pressing the guide bar 43, and a separation preventing means 45 for preventing the guide bar 43 from being pushed beyond a predetermined length when the guide bar 43 was pushed by the manipulating spring 44.

Moreover, the needle-pricking manipulating part included a pricking bar 46 located above a number of needles stored in the needle storing part 10 and vertically moving together with the guide bar 43. The pricking bar 46 pushed the standby needle 30a of the needles stored in the needle storing part 10 toward the needle protruding part 20 when the guide bar 43 was moved to the inside of the casing 42. The separating preventing means 45 was made by coupling a nut to the guide bar 43.

Through the above structure, the continuously needle- pricking apparatus for the herb doctor according to the present invention could apply acupuncture in such a manner that the guide bar 43 and the pricking bar 46 drop down to the inside of the casing 42 when the guide bar 43 was pressed in a state in which the needle protruding part 20 was in contact with the region of the patient's body to be treated, and then, the guide bar 43 pushed the standby needle 30a stored in the needle storing part 10. <Embodiment 2> Manufacture of the apparatus of continuous pricking needles for a herb doctor 2

The apparatus of continuously pricking needles for a herb doctor was manufactured in the same way as the embodiment 1, but the size of the needle charging part was made a little larger than the diameter of the grip portion 31 to insert the needles into the needle storing part only one by one .

<Embodiment 3> Manufacture of the apparatus of continuously pricking needles for a herb doctor 3

The apparatus of continuously pricking needles for a herb doctor was manufactured in the same way as the embodiment 1, but the needle storing part 10 included a guide protrusion 13 for supporting the bottom of the grip portions 31 of the 49 needles 30 excepting the standby needle located on the region of the patient's body so as to prevent acute portions 33 of the moving needles 30.

<Embodiment 4> Manufacture of the apparatus of continuously pricking needles for a herb doctor 4

The apparatus of continuously pricking needles for a herb doctor was manufactured in the same way as the embodiment 1, but the needle moving means 60 moved the needles stored in the needle storing part 10 to the predetermined location whenever the herb doctor applied acupuncture when the needles stored in the needle storing part 10 and the movable body 61 were moved manually.

<Embodiment 5> Manufacture of the apparatus of continuously pricking needles capable of replacing needle receiving body

The needle protruding part, the needle moving means and the needle-pricking manipulating part were manufactured in the same way as the embodiment 1, but they were detachably mounted to a main body.

A needle storing part and a needle charging part were formed in the needle receiving body 70, and the needle receiving body 70 had a first needle discharge hole 73 formed the bottom surface thereof for discharging the standby needle 30a of a number of the needle stored in the needle storing part.

The needle receiving body 70 had a moving-part inserting hole 74 for moving the needle moving means 60 of which a portion was in contact with the grip portions of the needles stored in the needle storing part, and the moving-part inserting hole 74 was formed in the lateral direction of the needle receiving body 70 where the grip portions of the stored needles 30.

Furthermore, to discharge and apply the standby needle 30a of a number of the stored needles to the region of the patient's body the needle receiving body 70 included a pricking-part moving hole 75 for moving the needle-pricking manipulating part 40 into which the a pricking bar 46 was inserted. The pricking-part moving hole 75 was formed in a straight line corresponding to the grip portion of the standby needle of a number of the needles stored in the needle storing part 10.

The main body 80 included a receiving-body inserting part 81 for inserting and coupling the needle receiving body 70 thereto. The needle protruding part 20 had a second needle discharge hole 21a penetrated therethrough for passing the needle, which passed through a first needle discharge hole 73, of the needles stored in the needle storing part 71 of the needle receiving body 70 which was in contact with and was connected to the region of the patient's body to be treated.

The needle moving means 60 had a movable portion 61a inserted into the moving-part inserting hole 74 to push the needles stored in the needle storing part 71 of the needle receiving body 70 toward the first needle discharge hole 73.

The standby needle 30a of the needles stored in the needle storing part 71 of the needle receiving body 70 connected with the needle-pricking manipulating part 40 was pushed toward the first needle discharge hole 73, and then, automatically pricked into the region of the patient's body through the first and second needle discharge holes 73 and 21a .

The needle charging part 72, the first needle discharge hole 73 and the movi g-part inserting hole 74, the pricking-part moving hole 75 of the needle receiving body 70 were temporarily stopped with an adhesive tape to provide sanitation, and then, the adhesive tape was took off only when the apparatus was used.

Industrial Applicability

As described above, the apparatus of continuously pricking needles for the herb doctor allows a number of needles to be stored therein and the stored needles to be sequentially positioned at the region of a patient's body to be treated, thereby both reducing the time period required for acupuncture by enabling a successive needle tricking operation only with simple manipulation and easily keeping and managing the needles .

Furthermore, since the needles can be applied into the exact region of a patient's body to be treated through the needle protruding part, a herb doctor escapes from mental fatigue due to acupuncture application carried out by concentrating his or her attention.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Claims

What Is Claimed Is:

1. An apparatus of continuously pricking needles for a herb doctor, which is used for hand acupuncture, the apparatus comprising: a needle storing part for storing a number of needles therein in such a manner as to be arranged in a line; a needle charging part for inserting the needles into the needle storing part; a needle protruding part in contact with the region of a patient's body to be treated, the needle protruding part having a needle discharge hole penetrated therethrough for passing the needles stored in the needle storing part one at a time; a needle moving means for laterally moving the needles stored in the needle storing part toward the needle discharge hole; and a needle-pricking manipulating part for pushing a standby needle of the needles stored in the needle storing part toward the needle protruding part to prick the standby needle into the region of the patient's body to be treated through the needle discharge hole of the needle protruding part .

2. An apparatus of continuously pricking needles for a herb doctor, which is used for hand acupuncture, the apparatus comprising: a main body and a needle receiving body detachably mounted to the main body, wherein the needle receiving body includes: a needle storing part for storing a number of needles therein in such a manner as to be arranged in a line; a needle charging part for inserting the needles into the needle storing part; a pricking-part moving hole penetrated through the top surface thereof in a straight line to correspond to a grip portion of a standby needle of a number of the needles stored in the needle storing part; a first needle discharge hole penetrated through the bottom surface thereof for discharging the needles stored in the needle storing part one at a time; and a moving-part inserting hole formed on a lateral surface of the needle receiving body where the grip portions of the needles stored in the needle storing part are located, and wherein the main body includes: a receiving-body inserting part for inserting and coupling the needle receiving body thereto; a needle protruding part in contact with the region of a patient's body to be treated, the needle protruding part having a second needle discharge hole penetrated therethrough for passing the needle, which passed though the first needle discharge hole, of the needles stored in the needle storing part of the needle receiving body; a needle moving means having a movable portion inserted into the moving-part inserting hole of the needle receiving body to laterally move a number of the needles stored in the needle storing part of the needle receiving body toward the first needle discharge hole; and a needle-pricking manipulating part for pushing a standby needle of the needles stored in the needle storing part of the needle receiving body toward the needle protruding part to prick the standby needle into the region of the patient's body to be treated through the first and second needle discharge holes.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the needle storing part has a protrusion formed on a lateral side portion thereof to contact the grip portion of the standby needle, and the protrusion has the size of 0.5

- 1.5 times the thickness of the grip portion.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the needle storing part has a guide protrusion for preventing acute portions of the needles from coming into contact with the bottom surface of the needle storing part by supporting the lower portions of the grip portions of the needles excepting the needle located on the region of the patient's body to be treated.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the needle moving means includes: a movable body which is in contact with the needles stored in the needle storing part; an elastic body which is in contact with the movable body at one side thereof to push the movable body with its elasticity; and a movable body fixing means for preventing the movable body from being pushed beyond a predetermined location when the movable body is pushed by the elastic body.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the needle-pricking manipulating part includes: a casing having a guide hole penetrated therethrough; a guide bar inserted at one side into the guide hole and protruded at the other side from the casing to be exposed to the outside, the guide bar sliding along the guide hole; a manipulating spring connected at one end to the guide bar for pushing the guide bar toward the outside of the casing when there is no force pressing the guide bar; a separating preventing means for preventing the guide bar from being pushed over a predetermined length when the guide bar is pushed by the manipulating spring; and a pricking bar located above the needles stored in the needle storing part and vertically moving together with the guide bar, wherein the pricking bar pushes a standby needle of the needles stored in the needle storing part toward the needle protruding part when the guide bar is moved into the casing.