This application is a U.S. National Stage Application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Patent Application No. PCT/IL2013/050816, filed Oct. 8, 2013, and claims priority to IL222663, filed Oct. 24, 2012, all of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties. The International Application was published on May 1, 2014 as International Publication No. WO2014/064677 A1.
The present invention relates to a device for releasing muscle cramps, more particularly, to a device for releasing legs muscle cramps, by rocking them.
Muscle cramps in the human body in general, and specifically in the legs is a common phenomenon, which can be even extremely troubling to those who suffer from it. The suffering can cause pain and decrease the quality of living.
There are various different reasons for the formation of muscle cramps, such as in response to physical effort, for example from sports. There are many medical reasons for muscle cramps as well.
Muscle cramps may go away after several days, however, there is a need to shorten the duration of the cramps, in many cases, immediately.
The most commonly known solutions for this include massaging the cramped muscle, often by rocking or manipulating it.
A typical example of this is during soccer tournaments, when the games run into overtime, are not settled even after 120 minutes of play, and come to the point of being determined by penalty kicks. In the brief interval prior to starting the kicks, many players can be seen lying down on the turf, with their teammates holding their ankles and rocking them in order to relieve the leg muscles that are cramped from the excessive effort of the long game.
There is therefore a need for a device that will enable effective release of muscle cramps.
The background art does not teach or suggest a device for effective release of muscle cramps.
The present invention is of a device that mechanically rocks the legs of a user for their release from muscle cramps.
As used herein this application, in the specifications, the illustrations, and the claims section that follows, the term ‘pivotally connected’ and the like refer to a connection of one element to one or more other elements, such as arms, such that the connection enables both elements to have angular movement with regard to each other, while they are connected to each other. The connection can be any suitable type of mechanical connection, such as by means of a shaft, and can include one or more bearing. This kind of connection also enables the transfer of forces between connected elements.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
In order to leave no room for doubt, the elements shown in the illustrations of the present patent application in a manner that enables understanding them clearly, and the scales, size relations, and shapes are not in any way limiting their embodiment.
To remove any doubt, note that the manner in which the elements of the present invention are described in the illustrations can be highly detailed, however is not in any way limiting the present invention, however is for the purpose of clarification and furthering understanding. The present invention can be implemented in embodiments that differ from the specification given with regard to the illustration.
The present invention is of a device that mechanically rocks the legs of a user for the purpose of release from muscle cramps.
The principles and operation of the device that mechanically rocks the legs of a user for the purpose of release from muscle cramps according to the present invention may be better understood with reference to the drawings and the accompanying description.
Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The materials, dimensions, methods, and examples provided herein are illustrative only and are not intended to be limiting.
The following list is a legend of the numbering of the application illustrations:
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention are explained in detail by referring to the drawings.
User 1 lies on his back 11, his legs 12 are connected the rocker 2. Rocker 2 is capable of rocking the legs 12 of the user 1 in various rocking movement patterns, which are not limited by the present invention. These movements can include movement components in any possible directions, combined with movement components such as horizontal vibration, which is practically parallel to the direction in which the user 1 is lying, a horizontal vibration component which is perpendicular to the direction of the previous movement component, and a vertical movement component.
According to the present invention, user 1 can choose the frequency of vibration of these movement components, and the result is vibration with a complex spatial movement.
Lying on the back has been found to be most effective for this, seeing as in this case the leg muscles are in almost no effort whatsoever.
The leg 12, a right leg in the case shown in the present illustration, is connected to the right leg holder 101r near the ankle 13, which is gripped by a gripping means, which is in the present case a clamp, which is composed of two components, an aft clamp part 101a and a frontal clamp part 101b, carried by two holder support members 101c, whose shape can also be close to an arched shape, and they can be composed of one or more elastic materials.
The frontal clamp part 101b can be opened and closed relative to aft clamp part 101a so that leg 12 can be inserted between them and released as necessary.
Piston 101d applies closing force on the frontal clamp part 101b.
The rocker 2, shown here, includes two main assemblies, a rocking assembly 100 and a chassis assembly 200, which are mechanically interconnected.
The chassis assembly 200, as noted, carries the rocking assembly 100 (not shown in the present illustration, shown in
The chassis assembly 200 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present illustration includes a chassis base 201 including two chassis frames 202, to each of which is connected a chassis side wall 204, and in between them is connected a chassis back wall 203.
Both chassis frames 202 are connected to each other by means of chassis lateral poles 205.
Furthermore, the chassis assembly 200 includes a chassis housing 206, which can be cylindrical and be closed by two chassis housing side walls 207.
The chassis housing 206 is designated to carry at least some of the rocking assembly 100 (not shown in the present illustration, shown in
These elements can be separate, interconnected components, or some of them can be made as a single, integrated component.
The rocking assembly 100 also includes a right leg holder 101r and a left leg holder 101l, or at least one leg holder. One of the movement components that the right leg holder 101r and the left leg holder 101l can perform is lateral movement 401. This movement is, when the user 1 (not shown in the present illustration, shown in
The present illustration also shows a lateral rocking engine 110 and a longitudinal rocking engine 120 which are connected to a rocking assembly base 130.
The right leg holder 101r is slanted at angle alpha to the horizon, and the present illustration demonstrates an additional possible movement component, a longitudinal movement 301, which occurs practically at this angle and at least approximately perpendicular to the component of the lateral movement 401 (not shown in the present illustration, shown in
The longitudinal rocking engine 120 composes a part of the longitudinal rocking sub-assembly 100′.
The longitudinal rocking engine 120, which is mechanically connected to the rocking assembly base 130, transmits rotational movement to a shaft 121 to which two first eccentric arms 122 are rigidly connected at a phase difference of 180 degrees, with regard to its rotational movement.
Each of both first eccentric arms 122 is pivotally connected to a longitudinal rocking sub-assembly arm 124, which is pivotally connected to a rider element 126.
This method of connection grants each of both rider elements 126 a rider element movement 302 in opposite directions, thanks to the phase difference of 180 degrees. If the phase difference is other than 180 degrees, the relative movement directions will differ.
The rider element movement 302 is mechanically transmitted to the left leg holder 101l and the right leg holder 101r.
The illustration shows several elements in more detail than in the previous illustration.
The longitudinal rocking engine 120, which in the case shown in the present illustration is an electric engine, electrically fed from an electrical connection box 154, which is electrically fed from a frequency controller 153 connected by means of electrical wires 152 to an electrical power supply, not shown in the present illustration. Namely, the longitudinal rocking engine 120 is electrically connected to the frequency controller 153.
The longitudinal rocking engine 120 is mechanically connected to the shaft 121 for transferring a rotational movement 303.
User 1 (not shown in the present illustration, shown in
The longitudinal rocking engine 120 grants a rotational movement 303 to the shaft 121.
The present illustration shows the longitudinal rocking sub-assembly first pivot 123 and the longitudinal rocking sub-assembly second pivot 125, demonstrating possibilities to achieve the pivotal connections noted with regard to the previous illustration.
Furthermore, the present illustration shows track 128, on which one of the rider elements 126 is riding.
The shaft 121 has two ends, a shaft first end 121′ and a shaft second end 121″ each of which is connected to one first eccentric arm 122.
The two first eccentric arms 122 are connected to the shaft 121 at a predetermined phase angle, which in the case shown in the present illustration is 180 degrees, namely during the rotation of shaft 121, when one first eccentric arm 122 is pointing upward, the other first eccentric arm 122 points downward.
The lateral rocking engine 110 composes a part of the lateral rocking sub-assembly 100″.
The lateral rocking engine 110 transmits combined linear and angular movements to a lateral rocking sub-assembly first arm 113. The lateral rocking sub-assembly first arm 113 is pivotally connected to a lateral rocking sub-assembly third arm 115 near its upper end 115u. The lateral rocking sub-assembly third arm 115 is connected to a first axis 129 which is pivotally connected to a rider element 126 (not shown in the present illustration, shown in
This method of connection grants both lateral rocking sub-assembly third arms 115 rotational movement 402 in opposite directions which cause lateral movement 401 in opposite directions of the left leg holder 101l and the right leg holder 101r.
The lateral rocking engine 110 transmits rotational movement to a second eccentrics arm 112, wherein the second eccentrics arm 112 is pivotally connected to the lateral rocking sub-assembly first arm 113, which as a result, is granted rotational movement. The connection point of a first axis 129 to a second lateral rocking sub-assembly third arm 115 composes a lateral rocking sub-assembly third arm rotational center 115c.
A second axis 127 enables a pivotally connection between a second lateral rocking sub-assembly third arm 115 and a leg holder, such as the left leg holder 101l, and/or the right leg holder 101r.
The lateral rocking engine 110, which is in the case described in the present illustration an electrical engine, electrically fed from an electrical connection box 154, which is electrically fed from a frequency controller 153 connected by means of electrical wires 152 to an electrical power source, not shown in the present illustration, namely the lateral rocking engine 110 is electrically connected to the frequency controller 153.
User 1 (not shown in the present illustration, shown in
The detailed specification of the invention as is described in the illustrations shows that the rocker 2 is configured to enable a user 1 to lie on his back 11, connect his legs 12 to the rocker 2, and activate it such that the rocker 2 rocks his legs 12 thus enabling full or partial release of leg muscle cramps.
The rocker 2 is also configured to enable a user 1 to control the frequencies of the rocking movement components.
According to the present invention user 1 can also connect only one leg 12 and rock it instead of rocking both legs at the same time.
According to another embodiment of the present invention the rocker 2 is configured to rock only one leg 12 at a time.
While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, it will be appreciated that many variations, modifications and other applications of the invention may be made.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
222663 | Oct 2012 | IL | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/IL2013/050816 | 10/8/2013 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2014/064677 | 5/1/2014 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
4862875 | Heaton | Sep 1989 | A |
4949712 | Torii | Aug 1990 | A |
5411469 | Wang | May 1995 | A |
5417644 | Lee | May 1995 | A |
5468215 | Park | Nov 1995 | A |
6056706 | Hung | May 2000 | A |
6342042 | Martin | Jan 2002 | B1 |
6511447 | Huang | Jan 2003 | B1 |
20040102724 | Hirt | May 2004 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2101486 | Apr 1992 | CN |
0285438 | Oct 1988 | EP |
2001321410 | Nov 2001 | JP |
Entry |
---|
International Search Report dated Feb. 2, 2014 in corresponding application PCT/IL2013/050816. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20150290070 A1 | Oct 2015 | US |