Abstract:
A lumbar traction device includes a tabular base, an indentation, a lumbar tracking base, tightening pieces, a weight member, a driving member and a controller. The lumbar tracking device allows the user to grip the controller to control the rotation of the rotation axis, and drive the threaded rod to rotate spirally forward and backward so as to synchronously drive the lumbar tracking base to move forward and backward for stretching or releasing. Hence, the user can independently operate the lumbar traction device for optimal applicability and safety. The weight member is further provided with a weight adjustment component to adjust the weight levels required by the user for lumbar traction. A warning part emit warning signals to inform the user that the preset weight value is reached, helping to avoid discomfort or secondary injuries resulting from overload.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Not applicable. 
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not applicable. 
       NAMES OF PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
       [0003]    Not applicable. 
       REFERENCE TO AN APPENDIX SUBMITTED ON COMPACT DISC 
       [0004]    Not applicable. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0006]    The present invention relates generally to a body traction device, and more particularly to an innovative structural design of a lumbar traction device. 
         [0007]    2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98. 
         [0008]    There are many reasons causing pain or discomfort in the lumbar or lower back part. In the case of young people, the main reasons include: long-term poor posture, carrying heavy weights, sports injury etc., may cause herniated disk and nerve compression, and consequently cause pain in the lumbar or lower back part. In serious cases, the whole lower part of the body (such as buttocks and legs) can be affected. In the case of middle-aged and old people, apart from long-term poor posture, reasons also include lumbar degenerative arthritis or hyperosteogeny which lead to nerve compression and pain. Therefore, both young and old people are prone to this kind of disease. 
         [0009]    To solve the above-mentioned problems, general hospitals will usually adopt a rehabilitation method of physical traction in addition to hot compress or prescription to obtain a good curing effect. The conventionally known lumbar traction mechanism roughly includes a rehabilitation bed and a traction device provided on the rehabilitation bed. When the patient is lying on the rehabilitation bed, the medical personnel manually moves the traction device to stretch and release the lumbar part of the patient&#39;s body. However, a problem of the conventional structure is found in actual applications: as the affected part of each patient can only withstand different strengths, but the conventional lumbar traction mechanism can only be driven manually by the medical personnel, the patient may suffer from overload but fail to tell the medical personnel timely, leading to bad rehabilitation effect or even secondary injury. 
         [0010]    Moreover, as there is no appropriate resistance in the driving of the conventional lumbar traction mechanism, speedy stretching or releasing may cause discomfort or injury in the affected part. Hence, some improvements are necessary. 
         [0011]    Thus, to overcome the aforementioned problems of the prior art, it would be an advancement if the art to provide an improved structure that can significantly improve the efficacy. 
         [0012]    Therefore, the inventor has provided the present invention of practicability after deliberate design and evaluation based on years of experience in the production, development and design of related products. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0013]    Based on the innovative structural design of the “lumbar traction device” disclosed in the present invention wherein the lumbar traction device comprises as tabular base, an indentation, a lumbar tracking base, tightening pieces, a weight member, a driving member and a controller, the present invention surpasses the conventionally known structure described in prior art by enabling the user to grip the controller to control the rotation of the rotation axis, and drive the threaded rod to rotate spirally forward and backward so as to synchronously drive the lumbar tracking base to move forward and backward for stretching or releasing. Hence, the user can independently operate the lumbar traction device for optimal applicability and safety. 
         [0014]    The present invention can have the following new efficacies: 
         [0015]    Based on the technical characteristic wherein the weight member is further provided with a weight adjustment component to provide a function to adjust the weight levels required by the user for lumbar traction, and through configuration of a warning part to emit warning signals to inform the user that the preset weight value is reached, the present invention can help to avoid discomfort or secondary injuries resulting from overload. This is apparently a practical advancement. 
         [0016]    Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]      FIG. 1  is an assembled perspective view of the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the present invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 3  is a partially enlarged perspective view of the gear assembly of the present invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  is an operating state view of the present invention. 
           [0021]      FIG. 5  is an unused state view of the driving member and weight member of the present invention. 
           [0022]      FIG. 6  is an operating schematic view of the working state of the present invention. 
           [0023]      FIG. 7  is an operating schematic view of the driving member and weight member of the present invention. 
           [0024]      FIG. 8  is a partially enlarged sectional view of the driving member and weight member shown in  FIG. 7 . 
           [0025]      FIG. 9  is an embodiment view showing a further pivot shaft provided between the front backing portion and rear assembling portion of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0026]      FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  3 , and  4  depict a preferred embodiment of the lumbar traction device of the present invention. However, such an embodiment is illustrative only and is not intending to limit the scope of patent claims. 
         [0027]    Said lumbar traction device A comprises a tabular base  10 , being an integral or assembled plate, including a top surface  11 , a bottom surface  12 , a front end  13 , a rear end  14  and two side parts  15 . 
         [0028]    An indentation  19  is provided on the top surface  11  of the tabular base  10  and recessed downward and inward, located between the front end  13  and rear end  14  of the tabular base  10 , so that the tabular base  10  is formed with a front backing portion  16  and a rear assembling portion  17 . 
         [0029]    A lumbar tracking base  20  is provided inside the indentation  19  and able to slide forward and backward along the indentation  19 . 
         [0030]    At least two tightening pieces  30  are respectively attached to the lumbar tracking base  20  and front backing portion  16 , so as to fix the chest-back part, and lumbar part of the user respectively on the front backing portion  16  and lumbar tracking base  20 . Referring to  FIG. 1 , a preferred embodiment of said tightening pieces  30  can be, but not limited to, a tightening belt. Referring to  FIG. 4 , said tightening pieces  30  tightens and fixes the user&#39;s back part on the front backing portion  16 , and the lumbar part on the lumbar tracking base  20 , so that when the lumbar tracking base  20  slides to have stretching or releasing movements, only the lumbar part is stretched and pulled, while the user&#39;s chest-back part will not move along. This helps to achieve the rehabilitation and curing functions and purposes. 
         [0031]    A weight member  40  is assembled on the rear assembling portion  17  of the tabular base  10 , the weight member  40  comprises a fixed outer base  41 , a sliding inner base  42  pivoted inside the fixed outer base  41 , able to slide and protrude front the front end of the fixed outer base  41 , wherein a flexible weight piece  43  is configured between the fixed outer base  41  and sliding inner base  42 , to provide the weight force required to stretch the lumbar. 
         [0032]    A driving member  50  is provided including a rotation axis  51  extending to the two sides of the tabular base  10 , a gear assembly  52 , a threaded rod  53  extending to the front and rear ends, and a guide screw tube  54 , wherein the guide screw tube  54  of the driving member  50  is connected to the front end of the sliding inner base  42  of the weight member  40 , the rotation axis  51  and threaded rod  53  are pivoted on the bottom of the lumbar tracking base  20 , the rotation axis  51  and threaded rod  53  are linked through a gear assembly  52  so they are engaged and driven by each other, and the rear end of the threaded rod  53  is screwed into the guide screw tube  54 . Referring to  FIG. 2 , as an implementation method, the rotation axis  51  can be pivoted on the axis hole provided on the bottom of the lumbar tracking base  20  through the bearing attached to the rotation axis  51 , that the rotation axis  51  can rotate, while the rear end of the threaded rod  53  is screwed into the guide screw tube  54 , and its front end extends to and is pivoted on the bottom of the lumbar tracking base  20  and through the gear assembly  52 , it is engaged with and driven by the rotation axis  51 . Referring to  FIGS. 2  and  3 , the gear assembly  52  of the driving member  50  can include a first gear  60  provided on the middle section of the rotation axis  51 , a second gear  61  which meshes with the first gear  60 , a first bevel gear  62  provided on the front end of the threaded rod  53  and a second bevel gear  63  provided on one end of the second gear  61 , and the first bevel gear  62  meshes with the second bevel gear  63 , therefore, when the rotation axis  51  is driven to rotate, the first gear  60  can rotate synchronously, and drive the second gear  61  and second bevel gear  63  to drive the first bevel gear  62  and threaded rod  53  to rotate, and the threaded rod  53  can move spirally forward and backward relative to the guide screw tube  54 , and consequently, the lumbar tracking base  20  can synchronously move to cause the stretching or releasing functions. 
         [0033]    A controller  55  is provided on at least one side of the rotation axis  51 , to control the rotation of the rotation axis  51 . Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the controller  55  can be made of an operating crank provided on at least one side of the rotation axis  51 , and through this, the user can rotate the operating crank to drive the rotation axis  51  to rotate. 
         [0034]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the rear assembling portion  17  of the tabular base  10  is further provided with an elongated recession  171 , and the guide screw tube  54  of the driving member  50  can be connected to the front end of the sliding inner base  42  of the weight member  40  through a vertical connecting seat  56 , so that the weight member  40  and guide screw tube  54  are distributed up and down with some space, further a positioning frame seat  57  is used to lock the weight member  40  and position it inside the elongated recession  171  of the rear assembling portion  17 . 
         [0035]    Referring to  FIG. 9 , between the front backing portion  16  and rear assembling portion  17  of the tabular base  10 , a pivot shaft  18  can be provided to form a pivoting state, so that the front backing portion  16  and rear assembling portion  17  can be folded onto each other to reduce space. 
         [0036]    Referring to  FIG. 8 , one side of the weight member  40  can be further provided with a weight adjustment component  44 . The weight adjustment component  44  comprises an adjusting switch  45  and a driving member  46 . Said weight adjustment component  44  is preset with the weight value required to stretch the lumbar, and one side of the weight member  40  is formed with a trigger  401 . The driving member  46  of the weight adjustment component  44  includes a circuit connecting-disconnecting spring  47  and an adjusting circuit board  48 , so that when the trigger  401  provided on the weight member  40  presses on the circuit connecting-disconnecting spring  47 , the circuit connecting-disconnecting spring  47  will instantly contact the adjusting circuit board  48  to achieve the preset weight force. Further, on a preset position of the weight member  40 , a warning part  49  is provided. When the flexible weight piece  43  of the weight member  40  reaches the weight value preset by the user, the warning part  49  will emit a warning signal. The warning part  49  can be a buzzer, a luminous device or any other device with a warning function, to emit light or sound to remind the user, so as to avoid overload which may cause discomfort or secondary injury. 
         [0037]    Based on the structural design described above, the present invention operates as follow: 
         [0038]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , the user can lie on the tabular base  10 , with the back part leaning on the front backing portion  16 , and the lumbar part contacting the lumbar tracking base  20 , and use the tightening pieces  30  to tighten the chest-back part and lumbar part respectively onto the front backing portion  16  and lumbar tracking base  20 . Now, the driving member  50  and the weight member  40  provided on the tabular base  10  are in an unused state, as shown in  FIG. 5 . Then, referring to  FIG. 6 , the user can grip the controller  55  to control the rotation axis  51  to rotate (as indicated by Arrow L 1 ), to drive the threaded rod  53  to rotate spirally backward and synchronously drive the lumbar tracking base  20  to slide backward (refer to  FIG. 7 ), to pull the user&#39;s lumbar part backward (as indicated by Arrow L 3 ), so as to achieve the rehabilitation and curing function and purpose. Similarly, if the user grips the controller  55  and rotate forward, the threaded rod  53  will rotate spirally forward to achieve the releasing function. In this way, the user can easily control the lumbar traction device for optimal effect and safety. 
         [0039]    Referring to  FIG. 8 , another objective and innovative technical characteristic of the present invention is that the lumbar traction device A is further provided with a weight member  40 , and the weight member  40  comprises a weight adjustment component  44  and a warning part  49 , so that the user can preset a required weight value through the adjusting switch  45  provided on the weight adjustment component  44  (for example, a weight value recommended by the doctor, or an adjusted weight value based on individual body weight or enduring ability). In this way, when the user drives the threaded rod  53  to rotate spirally backward through the controller  55  (as indicated by Arrow L 2 ), counter force will be generated to pull the flexible weight piece  43  and move the trigger  401  and sliding inner base  42  forward (as indicated by Arrow L 4 ) to resist against the weight force, when the trigger  401  presses on the circuit connecting-disconnecting spring  47 , the circuit connecting-disconnecting spring  47  will contact the adjusting circuit board  48  to achieve the preset weight force. By this time, the warning part  49  will emit a warning signal to inform the user, so as to effectively avoid overload to cause discomfort or secondary injury.