Exercising of the muscle in a human body is of utmost importance to maintain an active life, and those unable to do so, voluntarily, can be enabled to exercise by walking with the aid of physical therapy exercise apparatus of this invention, for re-training a patient to walk.
Physical therapy exercise apparatus of this invention includes a base for mounting the components of a gear motor drive, a V belt sheave attached to the gear motor drive, a V belt on the V belt sheave attached to the gear motor drive and the V belt extending, to a driven fly wheel, and two beams, each hinged on one end, and each beam concentrically attached to the driven fly wheel axle leg, a foot placement shoe mounted on each of the beams, and the hinged ends of each beam attached to a separate pivot mounted lever, and a handle bar attached to each pivot mounted lever. Knee stabilizer attachment pads, attached to reciprocating pivoted rods, on actuation of the apparatus, and a control panel mounted on an upright pillar between handle bars. A back rest mounted on a vertically adjustable height pillar. A gantry crane head mounted on a horizontal beam attached to a vertical adjustable height and the horizontal beam, pivoting or movable, in a horizontal plane, and electrodes attached to the patient/manikin thighs, and leads to the electrodes extending from a monitor to control the electric stimulation frequency and amount of electrical charge.
None of the above cited patents either singly or collectively, would anticipate or make obvious the invention of this application.
FIG. 1—Elevation right side view of physical therapy exercise apparatus.
FIG. 2—Left side elevation view of physical therapy exercise apparatus
FIG. 3—Side elevation view of foot action contour.
FIG. 4—Side elevation view of manikin in the physical therapy exercise apparatus
FIG. 5—Plan view of physical therapy exercise apparatus.
FIG. 6—Physical therapy exercise apparatus control panel.
The physical therapy exercise apparatus of this invention can be described by reference to
Boots 7, 7′ mounted on boot toe bindings 24, 24′ attached to drive beams 6, 6′ to allow tilting of the boots 7, 7′ on actuating of the apparatus 1, by electric motor 58, of motor and gearbox drive unit 2 mounted on bracket 45.
Referring now to
As noted above, this apparatus is for physical therapy, particularly for re-training the patient, to walk, and includes knee stabilizer attachment pads 8, 8′ attached to knee stabilizer reciprocating guide rods 9, 9′, and each reciprocating guide rod 9, 9′ extending through guide rod bearings 10, 10′ which prevents side wobble of the patients knees on actuation of the apparatus 1. The above noted knee stabilizer attachment pads 8, 8′ are strapped onto the outside of the patients knees, to prevent knee wobble.
Body lift stabilizer 13, hangs downward from winch assembly 53, attached to horizontal crane arm 14. The crane arm 14, mounted on telescoping vertical crane pillar 49, telescoping into vertical crane arm support 15, and the vertical crane pillar 15 mounted on base frame 25 for the crane and physical therapy rehabilitation/exercise apparatus 1. Lift bar 48 attached to body lift stabilizer 13.
Rehabilitation session timer 30, which display includes q—on/off button; r—program mode button; s—set hours button; t—set minutes button.
Motor drive control key pad and display 31, which display includes: g—program mode button: h—forward/reverse button: i—start button: j—faster button: k—slower button: l—stop button.
Main power on/off switch with indicator light 32.
Ground fault circuit interrupter 33, which includes: u—ground fault circuit interrupter test switch: v—ground fault circuit interrupter reset switch.
Muscle stimulation units 34, which includes: m—frequency modulation control dial: n—intensity and duration control dial: o—on/off switch: p—program selection dial.
Load cell cable connector 35.
Load cell display meter 36, which includes: a—alarm—1 set point adjustment: b—alarm—1 hysteresis adjustment: c—alarm—2 set-point adjustment: d—alarm—2 hysteresis adjustment: e—span adjustment: f—offset adjustment.
On/off switch for load cell meter 37, and fuse holder 38.
Power cord 28 with male plug extends from control panel 23. Remote motor control switch 29 is mounted in control panel 23.
Referring to the physical therapy rehabilitation/exercise apparatus 1, boot binding mounting brackets 40 for boots to be mounted on boot toe bindings, to allow for raising of the heel on going through the walk step. Horizontal handle bar 41, connected to vertical extension support for control panel 26.
The motor and gearbox mounting bracket 45, is for adjusting the tension of the V-belt 4. Motor 58, motor gearbox drive unit 2, and cooling fan 46, are mounted as shown in
Load cell 47, mounted on body lift stabilizer 13 adjacent to the lift bar 48 to control the proper weight load to the feet of the patient, in the physical therapy walking exercise apparatus of this invention.
Drive arms 55, 55′ are attached to the axle 57 of driven sheave and apertures 56, 56′ are provided in the drive arms 55, 55′ to adjust the stride of the patient in the therapy apparatus.
Drive beam linkage arms 11, 11′ are mounted on swing bearings 59, 59′ for the drive beam linkage arms, and vertical handlebars 12, 12′ are attached to the drive beam linkage arms 11, 11′, to give a natural swing of the arms in opposite direction to foot movement.
Electrotherapy is part of this apparatus for walking and on referring to
Photoelectric light beam emitter 42, mounted on vertical back rest pad mount pillar 22, aimed at photoelectric light beam receiver 43, is a safety feature to allow the apparatus to operate only when the photoelectric beam pathway is blocked by the manikin/patient.
Apertures 60, 60′ in drive beam linkage arms 11, 11′ (see
Referring to
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