Measuring means for checking the circumferential size of a body portion

The present invention relates to a waist band of a non-stretchable material intended as an aid to weight reduction and long-term maintenance of a weight reduction and as an aid to preventing fatness in persons of normal weight. The waist band (1) is characterized in that it is provided with a clasp (2) in the form of a one-way lock which only allows tightening of the band (1) around the waist but which does not allow for loosening thereof.

TECHNICAL FIELD
 The present application relates to a waist band having a one-way lock and a
 centimeter indication intended as an aid to weight reduction and long-term
 weight control.
 The waist band is provided with a one-way lock which is designed in such a
 way that the effective waist circumference can be maintained constant or
 reduced but never increased. The band is intended to be used as an aid
 during weight reduction, as an aid for long-term weight control after
 weight reduction and as an aid to preventing fatness. The waist band,
 which may be produced in different versions for men and women, can be
 provided with markings for normal, moderate and great increases in waist
 circumference, and also with centimeter indications which allow the waist
 circumference to be read.
 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 Fatness is a serious and common health problem in the whole western world.
 Certain surgical operations of the stomach or the intestine result in
 large and permanent weight reductions but these measures are associated
 with high costs, substantial discomfort and certain risks. Some
 conventional weight reduction methods can give short-term weight
 reductions but no currently known non-surgical methods can give permanent
 weight reduction for a majority of treated greatly overweight individuals.
 A basic reason for the poor long-term results is that the overweight
 persons are unable to make a life-long change of lifestyle. Such a change
 of lifestyle should in principle have to be applied every day during the
 rest of one's life after a weight reduction. The registering of the body
 weight every morning and the introduction of a so-called monitor weight
 which should not be exceeded is a usual way to make individuals who have
 lost weight aware of the need for a permanent change of lifestyle. Persons
 who have lost weight are encouraged to introduce a strict restriction of
 calories every day the body weight exceeds the monitor weight. Already the
 next day the person will then usually be on the right side of his or her
 monitor weight. Many correctly instructed patients manage the
 above-described or similar regimes for some months, but less than 10% of
 the treated persons succeed in maintaining their weight reduction for 24
 months. Persons with a tendency towards fatness are evidently in need of
 support from more tangible aids than a scale to be able to manage their
 weight control in the long term.
 Degrees of over- or underweight are traditionally indicated in so-called
 BMI-units (Body Mass Index). BMI is calculated as (body weight in
 kilograms)/(bodylength in m).sup.2. The normal area for BMI is 20-25
 kg/M.sup.2. Overweight exists between 25 and 30 kg/m.sup.2 and individuals
 having a BMI&gt;30 kg/M.sup.2 are classified as obese or fat. A BMI of 25
 kg/m.sup.2 corresponds to a waist circumference of about 89 cm in adult
 men and about 80 cm in adult women. The body length has surprisingly no
 significant influence on the waist circumference. A great number of
 epidemiological studies have shown that poor health, mortality and
 so-called risk factors for cardio-vascular disease (increased blood sugar,
 insulin, blood fats, blood pressure etc.) increase both with increasing
 BMI and with increasing waist circumference. Consequently, the waist
 circumference, like BMI, is both an indicator of overweight and a risk
 indicator.
 In a majority of western populations the average body weight increases
 between the age of 20 and 60 years. This weight increase, which is
 associated with bad health should, if possible be prevented.
 Own (Lars Sjostrom) unpublished sensitivity- and specificity data from
 combined normal weight and overweight populations indicates that a waist
 circumference of 94 (men) and 82 (women) cm, respectively, would be
 desirable upper normal values from a risk point of view. These waist
 circumferences are associated with moderate overweight. At waist
 circumferences of 102 (men) and 90 (women) cm, respectively, obvious
 overweight exists and also increased cardio-vascular risk in the majority
 of individuals.
 The Solution:
 According to the present invention, an auxiliary means for solving the
 above problems has been brought about and a waist band of non-stretchable
 material intended as an aid to weight reduction and long-term maintainance
 of weight reduction has been constructed and the invention is
 characterized in that the band is provided with a clasp in the form of a
 one-way lock which only allows tightening of the band around the waist but
 which does not allow for loosening thereof.
 According to the invention, the lock includes a passage for the free end of
 the band which on one or both sides or all around is provided with barbs,
 teeth or the like and the passage on one or both sides or all around is
 provided with one or more resilient counterhooks intended to cooperate
 with the barbs, the teeth or the like and lock the waist band against
 being drawn backwards out of the lock.
 According to the invention, the lock with its passage may be mounted on,
 under or at the side of the waist band in its locking end.
 According to the invention, the band may have a square, rectangular,
 triangular, round, oval or polygonal sectional area.
 The band can also, according to the invention, consist of a chain or a
 tube.
 According to the invention, it is suitable that the lock consist of a
 bottom plate from which the band starts, a cover having a passage for the
 free end of the band and a part lying therebetween having a passage and
 resilient hooks at either side of the passage.
 As stated above, the waist band is provided with a one-way lock, which has
 been designed so that the effective waist circumference of the band can
 only be maintained unchanged or reduced but cannot be increased. The band
 is applied around the waist at the beginning of a weight reduction and is
 tightened as the waist circumference is reduced. The excess band which has
 passed the locking mechanism is cut off regularly. The band shall not be
 drawn too tightly but only so much that it comfortably conforms to the
 waist. In the event of a weight increase, the band will immediately be
 felt and the patient will have to choose between reducing calory intake
 (alternatively, increasing physical activity) or cutting off the band.
 Common psychological mechanisms indicate that many patients would be
 reluctant to cut off the waist band and, by doing so, in a marked way give
 up the weight struggle. Thus the waist band would work as a long-term
 automatically supporting aid for many individuals who cannot manage to
 maintain the attained weight reductions in a more traditional way. In the
 same way, the band could be used to prevent the weight increase which
 commonly occurs in middle age.
 The band is produced from skin-friendly material and so formed that it does
 not give rise to any skin irritations. If the wearer of the band, in spite
 of reminders from the band, increases in weight, the band shall be cut off
 and removed before it causes skin damage.
 Obese persons do not have any waist. The band is then placed above the
 stomach at the lower part of the chest. When a weight reduction has
 resulted in a waist, the band should be placed there, i.e. between the hip
 bone and the lower part of the chest, as these anatomic structures can be
 felt at the side of the trunk.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
 In FIG. 1 a band 1 is shown which is attached in a locking mechanism 2 in a
 suitable way and which is intended to make a loop around a waist and
 therefore comes back on the other side of the locking mechanism 2 to be
 pushed therein and come out with a suitable length, for example above the
 outgoing band. As appears from the figure, the outgoing part of the band
 is smooth, whereas the ingoing part of the band 1 into the locking
 mechanism 2 is provided with barbs or teeth 3.
 In the locking mechanism 2 a through-going passage 4 is present so that the
 band 1 can be moved in through the locking mechanism 2. To prevent the
 band 1 from being drawn back out of the locking mechanism 2, two outwardly
 resilient counterhooks 5 are, according to the present embodiment,
 arranged on an intermediate piece in the lock 2. When the barbed band is
 drawn through the locking arrangement 2 to the right in the figure, these
 counterhooks will be swung outwardly due to contact with the band 1 and
 will fall into the recesses between the barbs after a certain length has
 been drawn. Since these locking hooks cannot be moved outwardly without
 drawing the band 1 to the right, it is not possible to draw the band to
 the left. Accordingly, it is barred against moving in that direction.
 FIG. 2 shows the same arrangement as the one according to FIG. 1 seen from
 the side. The locking arrangement 2 has here a bottom plate 6 which in the
 present case is screwed to a cover 7 by means of four countersunk screws,
 or the like. The parts may of course also be glued together or attached to
 each other in some other way. Between the cover 7 and the bottom part 6
 two holders 8 for the outwardly swingable counterhooks 5 are arranged.
 FIG. 3 shows more in detail the cover 7. The passage 4 exists therein. The
 cover is at the surface 9 intended to abut against the bottom part and at
 the surface 10 against the holders 8 for the counterhooks 5.
 FIG. 4 shows the holders 8 with the counterhooks 5. The holders 8 are kept
 together by an intermediate piece 11 which in its right part consists of
 the heel 12. The heel 12 fits in the recess 13 of the bottom plate (FIG.
 5). The holders 8 have a recess with a surface 14 which shall abut against
 the surface 15 of the bottom plate and a surface 16 which shall abut
 against the surface 17 of the bottom plate. Accordingly, the recess
 creates in the lower, outer part of the holders 8 a heel 18. The heels 12
 and 18 guarantee that the holders 8 are mounted correctly in relation to
 the bottom plate 6 and prevent the holders and counterhooks from being
 drawn to the right in the lock when the band passes through the lock. The
 surface 19 is the one that shall abut against the surface 10 of the cover
 7.
 Finally, FIG. 5 shows the bottom plate 6 from which the band 1 starts. The
 band may be attached in any way in the bottom plate 6, for example by
 screwing, but it may also be made integrally with the bottom piece. The
 band 1 is suitably smooth along the major part of its length but has barbs
 3 on a suitably long length of the free end. The smooth part can suitably
 be 70-80 cm and the part provided with barbs from 40-200 cm. The bottom
 plate 6 is suitably square and on that side where the band 1 shall
 re-enter the lock it has a recess 13 for the heel 12 on the holders 8.
 The waist band must be made of a non-stretchable material which does not
 irritate the skin. Both the waist band and the lock can be produced from
 gold, silver, stainless steel, other metals, plastics, glass fibre,
 polymers or from natural materials or combinations of one or more of said
 materials. For exclusive variants of the waist band the lock can be
 decorated with precious stones or other decorations.
 The waist band may be provided with centimeter indications whereby the
 waist circumference is read at the entrance to the lock.
 In a plastics version for men, the waist band may for example be produced
 with a green field between 80-94 cm waist size, yellow between 94-102 cm
 and in red above 102 cm. Corresponding colour-circumference ratios for
 women may be 70-82 cm, 82-90 cm or more than 90 cm. These
 colour-circumference ratios may be revised if more accurate
 epidemiological data are produced.
 If precious metals or other embodiments are used the above colour-distance
 ratios may be marked in some other suitable way.
 The invention is not limited to the shown embodiment but can be varied in
 different ways within the scope of the claims.