Balance board for exercise and physical therapy

A balance board which allows a user to move through a full range of motion without dismounting the board. Movement along a frontal plane as well as along a sagittal plane can be achieved using the disclosed board. Further, stops help stabilize the board and allow easier mounting and dismounting of the board. Finally, with hand openings the board can also be used in a prone position with the stops preventing impact by a user's hands/fingers with the ground surface during use.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention of the present application relates to devices for facilitating individual exercise and physical therapy.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Physical therapy and the exercise equipment industry are growing areas where health-minded individuals can find many devices, systems and methods for training, exercising and rehabbing injuries. Many of the known training and/or rehabbing devices can vary in effectiveness, as well as cost.

One popular and useful device is known as a balance board. The balance board comes in many different shapes and sizes. Therapists have also devised a number of exercises for its use. The different exercises are prescribed depending on the intended area (e.g., muscle group, joint, etc.) to be worked on.

A balance board should provide a user with the ability to balance in a standing position through full range of motion along the frontal and sagittal planes, without having to dismount the board. These devices should also include a feature to allow the user to maintain an inverted position of the ankle and move through full active ankle dorsiflexion and plantar flexion range of motion in a weight bearing position to strengthen the ankle in a position that most ankle sprains occur. A user should also be able to utilize the board at two different intensities in prone shoulder stabilization exercises.

Despite the need for these features, current balance boards do not provide the ability to balance in a standing position through full range of motion along the frontal and sagittal planes without having to dismount the board. These devices also lack a feature which allows the user to maintain an inverted position of the ankle and move through full active ankle dorsiflexion and plantar flexion range of motion in a weight bearing position to strengthen the ankle in a position that most ankle sprains occur. Furthermore, known prior art devices do not allow the user to utilize the board at two different intensities in prone shoulder stabilization exercise.

Currently, a device known as a “rocker board” is widely used for balance exercises. The device has two rails set wide apart. The user must dismount the rocker board, rotate the board 90 degrees, and remount the board in order to balance along both the frontal and sagittal planes. The rocker board does not allow the user to reach full range of motion across both planes.

A small sphere attached to a round board has been described as useful for balance exercises. The small diameter of the sphere tends to make the board unstable and too advanced for most users. Also, the round board makes the device difficult to mount against the flat surface of the floor without external support.

The Indo™ board, and similar devices, allow the user to balance through full range of motion along the frontal plane, but do not allow the user to balance along the sagittal plane.

The BOSU® ball includes a firm flat surface with a hemispherical bladder affixed centered on the bottom and has been used for balance training. The BOSU® ball can be used in standing balance with the bladder against the ground and the user may balance in any direction. But, because the bladder is spherical the user cannot balance through full range of motion along the sagittal plane in the anatomical standing position.

The invention of the present application is designed to address these and other issues faced by balance board users. The disclosed device provides a user-friendly exercise and physical therapy balance board with numerous advantages in simplicity and effectiveness.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

There is disclosed herein an improved balance board which avoids the disadvantages of prior devices while affording additional structural and operating advantages.

Generally speaking, the balance board is comprised of a frame, a base mounted to the frame and a plurality of stops positioned on the frame. The frame includes an upper and lower surface and at least one pair of hand slots extending through the frame proximate a periphery. The base has one of either a prolate spheroid shape or a truncated prolate spheroid shape, and is centered on and secured to the lower surface of the frame. Finally, the plurality of stops are positioned on the frame with one stop proximate each hand slot and extending from the lower surface a distance sufficient to provide a gap for a user's hand as it extends through a hand slot.

In a specific embodiment, the shape of the base is achieved by using a first rail positioned within a frontal plane of the board and a second rail positioned within a sagittal plane of the board. For stability and integrity, two additional rails positioned may be positioned on opposite ends of the first rail and parallel to the second rail. During use, these added rails allow the user to maintain inversion of the ankle and move through plantar flexion and dorsiflexion.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, a utilized portion of the first rail is longer than a utilized portion of the second rail, though the actual length of the first rail is shorter than the actual length of the second rail.

Preferably, as both the first rail and the second rail are contoured to allow a rocking motion of the balance board in at least two directions, the contour of the second rail has a greater arc angle than the contour of the first rail.

In another specific embodiment, the disclosed balance board comprises a base having a rounded contour along at least one plane, a frame having upper and lower surfaces and being secured to the base at the lower surface, the frame including at least one pair of hand openings extending through the frame, and a stop positioned on the frame and extending toward the lower surface a distance sufficient to protect a user's hand extending through an opening.

These and other aspects of the invention may be understood more readily from the following description and the appended drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the appended FIGS. and will herein be described in detail, at least one preferred embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to any of the specific embodiments illustrated.

Referring toFIGS. 1-17, there is illustrated a balance board, generally designated by the numeral10. The particular illustrated balance board10may be for a specific sized user, such as an adult male. However, while all the embodiments illustrated may be directed for use by an adult male, for example, it should be understood that the principles of the invention can be more broadly applied to balance boards for any size and type user, including children and elderly, wherein the board allows a user to move through a full range of motion—though some users may not be able to achieve his or her potential full range of motion at any given time due to other physical constraints.

Generally speaking, the board10is comprised of a frame12having two substantially flat surfaces, e.g., upper surface30and lower surface32, and a base14affixed to the lower surface32. The frame12includes a plurality of handles16thereon with safety stops18proximate each handle. In use, the base14is positioned in contact with the floor (or a flat supporting surface) and the user mounts the frame12of the board10in any number of positions by either standing on the upper surface30of the frame12or grasping the handles16, and then moving along the contour of the base14by shifting weight.

As can be seen in the embodiment ofFIG. 1A, the base14aof board10has a prolate spheroid (e.g., football) shape. The illustrated base14aofFIG. 1Ais a full-bodied component having a smooth, rigid surface about the entirety of the base14. However, as shown inFIG. 1B, the base14bcan be most simply created using two flat-edged beams or rails that are preferably about two inches (5.1 cm) wide and properly contoured, with one beam running along the frontal plane, one running along the sagittal plane, and both intersecting at their respective midpoints in the center of board10. The base ofFIG. 1Ais shown in dashed lines superimposed over the two rail base14bofFIG. 1B. As can be seen, the construction of base14binFIG. 1Bhas four open areas instead of the smooth complete surface of the base14aillustrated inFIG. 1A. The preferred embodiment of the board10would include a fully-formed base in any of the disclosed final shapes/forms.

As shown inFIGS. 2 and 3, a second embodiment of base14uses a truncated prolate spheroid shape (e.g., a football with both ends cut off). The truncation of each end of the base14along the frontal plane merely removes an otherwise unusable portion due to the impact of stops18with the floor. This does not necessarily affect the operation of the board10, but can directly attribute to a material cost savings in construction of the board10. Construction of this embodiment is similar to that of the base14bdescribed above, including a single rail20along the frontal plane and a second rail22along the sagittal plane. Though not shown, the second rail22along the sagittal plane can also be truncated to reduce material cost without affecting the board performance.

As shown inFIGS. 4-6, two additional rails,24and26, parallel to the sagittal plane rail22are positioned at each end of the frontal plane rail20. The added rails provide greater stability for the user, as well as a stronger construction for the base14. During use, rails24and26allow the user to maintain inversion of the ankle and move through plantar flexion and dorsiflexion, as explained further below.

Each rail of the disclosed board10has a portion of the two-inch wide flat-edge contour (i.e., surface length) which actually is capable of contact with the support surface (e.g., floor) onto which the board10is positioned during an exercise. This is referred to as the “utilized portion” of the rail. In the illustrated embodiment ofFIG. 2, the “utilized portion” of the frontal plane (or first) rail20is longer than the “utilized portion” of the sagittal plane (or second) rail22, though the shorter sagittal plane rail22may actually have a greater surface length due to using a greater arc length. The “utilized portion” for both the frontal plane rail20and sagittal plane rail22may be limited at both due to interference with the handles16, which is why the ends of either or both rails may be truncated.

As illustrated, the arc angle used to create the frontal plane rail20is smaller than that of the sagittal plane rail22, as the frontal plane rail20is of an arc from a much larger circle. The length of each rail is intended to accommodate a fuller range of motion along each plane for a user.

Of course, by changing any of the dimensions of the two rails (e.g., arc angle, arc length, etc.) before construction of a balance board10will alter the ratio of utilized portion of the rail length along the frontal plane to the utilized portion of the rail length along the sagittal plane. This can be done to achieve different “effort levels” for different boards, if desired. These alterations (and others) are considered to fall within the scope of the present application.

Using only the two flat beams or rails,20and22, along the shape of the base makes it possible for a user to maintain balance throughout the range of motion, but only being two inches wide challenges the user to balance along the direction of the rail, as well as perpendicular to it. For example, as a user balances along the frontal plane rail20(i.e., side-to-side balance), the user must also maintain balance in the sagittal plane (i.e., front-to-back balance), to retain position on the board10. As a user returns to a neutral position on the board10(i.e., the point of intersection of both rails,20and22) he or she may continue along the current plane or change directions to move along the sagittal plane rail22without having to dismount the board10.

In addition to the base14, a disc-like frame12is also an important component of the board10, as shown inFIG. 7. The frame12preferably includes four handles16, which are basically shown as open slots on the frame12, though two handles16may be sufficient for some uses. The handles16are preferably aligned with the frontal and sagittal plane rails,20and22. Protective stops18, as shown inFIGS. 5 and 6, are preferred to prevent smashing the fingers of the user during prone position exercises. The stops18preferably extend from the under lower surface32of the frame12such that they contact the floor (or other surface) leaving a gap for the user's fingers (seeFIG. 17).

With any of the above-disclosed base configurations, the balance board10may be used by a user in a standing position or from a prone position, depending on the target area to be worked. In all configurations the user is permitted, while in a standing position, to move along the frontal plane and the sagittal plane, switching from one to the other, without dismounting the board10. From the prone position, movement along the sagittal plane, though possible, is not typically used due to the demand on the user's wrists. However, the present board10allows a quick change in intensity for the prone user by merely rotating the board 90 degrees—i.e., the sagittal plane becomes the frontal plane.

From a standing position, referring toFIGS. 8-14, as a user progresses laterally along the frontal plane rail20the respective ankle moves further into inversion and the user can move the board anteriorly (FIGS. 9-10) and posteriorly (FIGS. 11-12) along the surface of the base to functionally strengthen the ankle in the position in which most ankle sprains occur.

As described previously, two pairs of handles (e.g., slots)16through the frame12of the board10are formed approximate the periphery and can be used in the prone position for shoulder stabilization exercises. With the arc of each rail,20and22, being of a different size, two different intensities are provided for utilization in the prone position—i.e., along the frontal plane and along the sagittal plane. Though the frontal plane rail20ofFIG. 2does not complete a full arc to the lower surface32of the frame12as a result of being truncated, but the entire useable range of the rail remains.

As previously noted, the purpose of the truncation of the frontal plane rail20is to provide space for the user's fingers when used in the prone position. When the user reaches the end range along either plane the board will hit the flat edge stop18that projects from the underside of the frame12, located laterally from the slots or handles16. Additionally, the stops18also provide a flat edge that serves to make the board10easier to mount and easier for the user to maintain position on the board when taken to the end range. With a flat edge meeting the flat ground the board is more stable than the round edge of many other boards that come in contact with the ground. With the stop being projected from the underside of the board at a position lateral to the handles it also prevents the user's fingers from being compressed against the ground when used in the prone position.