Claims
- 1. A tragus acupressure clip which prevents over-opening comprising:
- a concave spring having two opposing jaws separated by an opening of a slot delineated by an inner surface of said concave spring,
- two opposing pressure pads, each attached to the end of a different one of said jaws on said inner surface of said concave spring, and separated by said slot,
- two finger tabs, which are mutually non-touching when said spring is in a state of rest, each of said finger tabs having one end attached to the end of a different jaw, on an outer surface of said spring, and having a second end extending away from said end of said jaw, along an outer surface of said spring approximately only as far as a portion of said spring opposite to said opening of said slot separating said jaws,
- whereby said second ends of said finger tabs are urged towards one another, against a compression bias of said spring to enlarge said slot separating said pressure pads, and
- wherein each of said finger tabs comprises a bend between said first and second ends of said finger tabs so that said second ends are angled towards each other, said bend in said second ends of said finger tabs decreasing an ability to grip said second ends of said finger tabs as said second ends of said finger tabs are urged towards one another, said decrease in ability to grip said finger tabs limiting an opening of said slot beyond an elastic limit of said concave spring.
- 2. The tragus acupressure clip of claim 1 wherein said angle of said bend is in the range of 5.degree.-20.degree..
- 3. A tragus acupressure clip which prevents over-opening comprising:
- a concave spring having two opposing jaws separated by an opening of a slot delineated by an inner surface of said concave spring,
- two opposing pressure pads, each attached to the end of a different one of said jaws on said inner surface of said concave spring, and separated by said slot,
- two finger tabs, which are mutually non-touching when said spring is in a state of rest, each of said finger tabs having one end attached to the end of a different jaw, on an outer surface of said spring, and having a second end extending away from said end of said jaw, along an outer surface of said spring approximately only as far as a portion of said spring opposite to said opening of said slot separating said jaws,
- whereby said second ends of said finger tabs are urged towards one another, against a compression bias of said spring to enlarge said slot separating said pressure pads, and
- wherein each of said finger tabs comprises a bend between said first and second ends of said finger tabs so that said second ends are angled towards each other, said second ends of each of said finger tabs meeting as said finger tabs are urged towards one another to prevent urging said finger tabs towards each other beyond a certain limit so as to limit an opening of said slot beyond an elastic limit of said concave spring.
- 4. The tragus acupressure clip of claim 3 wherein meeting edges of said second ends of said finger tabs are twisted relative to one another.
- 5. A tragus acupressure clip comprising:
- a concave spring having two opposing jaws separated by an opening of a slot delineated by an inner surface of said concave spring,
- two opposing pressure pads, each attached to the end of a different one of said jaws on said inner surface of said concave spring, and separated by said slot,
- two mutually non-touching finger tabs, each having one end attached to the end of a different jaw, on an outer surface of said spring, and having a second end extending away from said end of said jaw, along an outer surface of said spring approximately only as far as a portion of said spring opposite to said opening of said slot separating said jaws,
- whereby said second ends of said finger tabs are urged towards one another, against a compression bias of said spring to enlarge said slot separating said pressure pads, and
- wherein said concave spring is made of high yield tempered stainless steel.
- 6. A tragus acupressure clip comprising:
- a concave spring including an inner concave spring positioned with an outer concave spring and attached thereto to define two opposing jaws separated by an opening of a slot delineated by an inner surface of said inner concave spring,
- two opposing pressure pads, each attached to the end of a different one of said jaws on said inner surface of said inner concave spring, and separated by said slot,
- two mutually non-touching finger tabs, each having one end attached to the end of a different jaw, on an outer surface of said outer concave spring, and having a second end extending away from said end of said jaw, along an outer surface of said spring approximately only as far as a portion of said outer concave spring opposite to said opening of said slot separating said jaws,
- whereby said second ends of said finger tabs are urged towards one another, against a compression bias of said concave spring to enlarge said slot separating said pressure pads.
- 7. A tragus acupressure clip with clamping pressure adjustment comprising:
- a concave spring having first and second opposing jaws separated by an opening of a slot delineated by an inner surface of said concave spring,
- a threaded shaft having a first end disposed in a hole formed through said first clamping jaw and a second end extending into said opening, wherein a rotation of said shaft extends said second end into and withdraws said second end from, said opening of said slot,
- first and second opposing pressure pads, said first pressure pad being attached to said second end of said threaded shaft and said second pressure pad being attached to the end of said second jaw on said inner surface of said concave spring, said first and second pressure pads being separated by said slot,
- two finger tabs, which are mutually non-touching when said spring is in a state of rest, each of said finger tabs having one end attached to the end of a different jaw, on an outer surface of said spring, and having a second end extending away from said end of said jaw, along an outer surface of said spring approximately only as far as a portion of said spring opposite to said opening of said slot separating said jaws,
- whereby said second ends of said finger tabs are urged towards one another, against a compression bias of said spring to enlarge said slot separating said pressure pads.
- 8. The tragus acupressure clip of claim 7 wherein a rotation of said shaft in a first direction extends said first pad so as to narrow said slot and to increase a clamping pressure of said clip.
RELATED PATENTS AND PATENT APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/343,014, entitled "Tragus Acupressure Clip with Over-Opening Prevention," filed on Nov. 21, 1994 now, abandoned for Theodore Voss and Karl D. Kirk, III, which is a continuation in part U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/994,195 entitled "Tragus Acupressure Clip" filed for Theodore Voss, Barbara Curran, Karl D. Kirk III and Ellen Cohen on Dec. 21, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,475 issued on Nov. 22, 1994.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2 466 244 |
Oct 1995 |
FRX |
Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
343014 |
Nov 1994 |
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Parent |
994195 |
Dec 1992 |
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