Patent Publication Number: US-2004043876-A1

Title: Therapeutic exercise device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
     [0001] PPA Ser. No. 60/406267 filed Aug. 27, 2002 
    
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] This invention relates to therapeutic portable exercising devices for conditioning and strengthening the muscles and tendons in the leg. Also this device may be employed in the therapeutic rehabilitation of the upper extremities and lower back exercises.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003] Lower extremity injuries and other types of debilitating illnesses frequently require prolonged immobilization which tends to cause general weakening of the muscles in the human body. Appropriate medical devices are therefore used in the process of physical rehabilitation. The use of portable leg exercising devices of known designs and configuration is known in prior art:  
       [0004] a. By way of example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,001 to Roman, U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,521B1 to Foucault and U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,448B1 to Hassler, inventors created several types of portable leg exercise devices where the knee and hip are constrained to move in a linear fashion.  
       [0005] b. Furthermore, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,271 to Gonzales and U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,675 to Aruin inventors created portable leg exercise devices which are designed to be used by a person in a sitting position.  
       [0006] c. Lastly, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,530 to Hess, inventor created a portable leg exercise apparatus where resistance is provided by one or more elastic cords. These types of devices may be dangerous for debilitated patients because of the specific elastic load tension created while exercising.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007] The general purpose of the present invention is to provide specific structural and functional arrangements for a more versatile therapeutic exercise device for rehabilitation professionals and patients. A person may exercise with this device in a supine or sitting position.  
       [0008] To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a generally rectangular base support having a generally flat top surface. The top carriage is mounted on a guide block which is slidably guided by track members of a rectangular shape inserted on the top of the base support. The carriage assembly typically includes, on the top surface, a pair of spaced receptacles designed to support the feet, hands or elbows of the user. Furthermore, typically a loop and hook fastener arrangement may be provided to attach the desired body member to the carriage. A plurality of hand adjustable elements will be provided with the purpose of side way slack elimination in between one side of the rectangular board and the corresponding inner side of the carriage in an appropriate manufactured recess to maintain if desired a sliding resistance. In addition, in order to provide increased sliding resistance control, a plurality of spring loaded resistance hand adjustable elements are provided laterally, towards each end of the carriage side.  
       [0009] Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing where a particular embodiment of the invention is disclosed as an illustrative example.  
       OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES  
       [0010] Accordingly, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new more versatile exercise device which is hand portable, easy to handle and to use in the process of human rehabilitation. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.  
       [0011] Therefore, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:  
       [0012] a. To provide a hand portable leg exercise device where the knee is not constrained to move only in a linear fashion  
       [0013] b. To provide an easy to handle lower and upper extremity exercise device, that can be comfortably used in a supine, prone or in a sitting position.  
       [0014] c. To provide an exercise device that is safe and simple to use in a wide range of applications in the physical rehabilitation process.  
       [0015] Particularly, the carriage can be moved by the user with an appropriate set degree of resistance in between the carriage and the support base according to the user&#39;s therapeutic needs. In the case of a patient with a stroke, the affected lower extremity needs to be subjected to a process called neuromuscular rehabilitation where extensive movement is recommended for the affected lower extremity and extensive hands on physical therapy is required.  
       [0016] With the present invention decreased professional hands on therapy is needed, since the patient will be able to assist the movement of the affected extremity with the assistance of the healthy extremity on the carriage. In the process of lower extremity rehabilitation a loop and hook fastener arrangement may be provided to support the affected lower thigh to the stronger lower thigh, thus preventing unwanted external rotation in the weak leg. In the case that increased range of motion is desired in the affected leg such as due to contraction after a total knee replacement, the patient can assist with the stronger lower extremity in order to achieve increased range of motion in the operated knee.  
       [0017] Another advantage of the present invention , even though is designed primarily as a therapeutic exercise device, is the fact that it may be used as a sliding board for transferring a person with physical limitations from one surface to another in sitting position.  
       [0018] Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description. It is to be understood that the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.  
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0019]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the therapeutic lower extremity exercise device in accordance with the present invention with the carriage and platform arrangement shown in the middle position on the support base.  
     [0020]FIG. 1A illustrates a cross sectional view of the adjustably sliding resistance arrangement of the preferred embodiment.  
     [0021]FIG. 1B is perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention with the detachable platform arrangement removed.  
     [0022]FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention in a perspective View.  
     [0023]FIG. 2A illustrates a cross sectional view of the track rail adjustable resistance mechanism according to FIG. 2, of the sliding resistance arrangement mounted medially to the underside of the carriage.  
     [0024]FIG. 3 shows a further embodiment of the present invention with an air pressure resistance arrangement.  
     [0025]FIG. 3A illustrates a cross sectional view of the track rail in combination with the air pressure arrangement.  
     [0026]FIG. 3B is an illustrative diagrammatic representation of the air pressure arrangement.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
     [0027]FIG. 1 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the present invention. It mainly comprises a generally rectangular support base  10  having a substantially flat top surface and a carriage  16 . The carriage is slidably associated with the support base by a track rail  12  in such a manner as to enable the carriage to move relative to the support base in a longitudinal fashion. As it is further apparent from FIG. 1B the carriage  16  is mounted on the guide block  14  with fasteners  16 A. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 1A the carriage also includes a lateral slidable member  30  and an adjustable screw spring plunger  24  associated with the lateral guide track  22 , in such a manner as to provide the ability of a reaction force against the longitudinal movement of the carriage  16  relative to the support base  10 .  
     [0028] The support base and the carriage may be constructed of any suitable material, including but not limited to laminated wood, aluminum, plastic, fiberglass, or any combination of these materials The track rail  12 , the guide block  14 , and the lateral slidable member  30  may be constructed of slidable polymer-lined elements such as Mc Master-Carr catalog part No. 6723K13 and 6723K42 or any other suitable low friction elements such as ball bearing elements guided by the track rail in a suitable manner.  
     [0029] As FIG. 1 shows, a platform arrangement  18  is removably attached to the carriage  16  with fastener means  16 B. The platform arrangement  18  includes a pair of spaced apart receptacles  18 A, designed to support the feet of the user with his or her shoes on. Also, the receptacles  18 A may include a plurality of hook and loop fastener arrangements  18 B with the purpose to provide increased support for user&#39;s feet while exercising.  
     [0030] In certain stages of the therapeutic process, it is desirable to make the movement of the carriage more difficult by imposing a resistance force thereon which must be overcome to slide the carriage on the support base. In the preferred embodiment, as seen in FIG. 1A, the resistance force is provided by the adjustable screw spring plunger  24  and it may be supplemented by Belleville disc springs  32  available by catalog order such as the Mc Master Carr. The sliding resistance force may be adjusted either by one screw plunger  24  or by both if deemed necessary.  
     [0031] Furthermore, this embodiment of the present invention includes travel stops  20  mounted laterally on the support base in the lateral guide track  22 .  
     [0032] As will be apparent on examining FIG. 1A, an adjusting knob  26  is removably attached to one end of the screw spring plunger  24  with set screws  26 A to prevent the adjusting knob to turn on the screw.  
     [0033] Furthermore, the adjusting knob  26  is preferably marked with numbers in such a manner as to show the direction trend of the sliding resistance. By tightening the adjusting knob  26  clockwise, the attached male screw plunger  24  is guided by a female threaded insert  28  and will exert increased mechanical pressure on the lateral sliding member  30 . Consequently, when increased mechanical pressure is applied on the sliding member  30 , increased lower extremity muscle energy is required to achieve the longitudinal sliding motion of the carriage on the support base. This will result in increased neuromuscular control in the exercised lower extremity. It is known by one familiar with the art that when increased range of motion is the goal of exercise the bending or stretching of the lower extremity is done in increments, as many as a patient may tolerate. With the present invention, this may be achieved by stretching or bending the lower extremity in a tolerable position. The carriage  16  may be locked on the base support  10  by clockwise tightening the adjusting knob  26  as much as needed to prevent sliding of the carriage on the support base. When the patient can tolerate further movement of the lower extremity, the carriage may be longitudinally displaced on the support base per patient tolerance.  
     [0034] As seen in FIG. 1B the platform arrangement  18  may be removed, whereby making possible for the present device to be employed as a transferring board.  
     [0035]FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention. The details of this embodiment are best illustrated in FIG. 2 in conjunction with FIG. 2A. As described previously in the preferred embodiment of the present invention; similarly this embodiment includes a carriage  16  which is slidably associated with the support base  10  by means of a track rail  12  and guide block  14 . In order to permit decreased friction operation, the guide block  14  may be mounted on ball bearing arrangements which are guided by the track rail  12 .  
     [0036] Furthermore, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 2A in conjunction, the sliding resistance force may be adjusted by an adjustable knob  46  attached to a generally cylindrical member  44 . The cylindrical member is constructed in such a manner as to have a clockwise female thread on part of its length, plus a counter clockwise female thread on another part of its length. Furthermore, the generally cylindrical member  44  is functionally connected with two accommodating male threaded screw spring plungers  42  and  42 A which are removable supported by a plurality of brackets  88  or any other suitable means to the underside of the carriage  16 . As is further evident from FIGS. 2 and 2A the screw plunger is intended to be connected to a low friction slideable member  40 , a plurality of lock nuts  42 B and  42 C may be provided to prevent unwanted movement of the screw plungers. Instead of the slidable member  40 , a rollable element such as polymer coated ball bearings may be employed. In addition a plurality of adjustable travel stops  92  may be provided in order to limit the length of the travel of the carriage  16  in the rail track  12 .  
     [0037] The sliding resistance in between the carriage  16  and the track rail  12  may be increased by rotating the adjustable knob  46  attached to the cylindrical member  44  counter clockwise. This rotation will cause a linear movement of the associated plungers  42  and  42 A in such a manner as to increase the pressure on the sliding members  40  against the inner side walls of the track rail  12 .  
     [0038] As seen in FIG. 2, in addition a lateral guide track  50  may be mounted longitudinally on each lateral side of the support base  10 . Furthermore each track  50  includes a plurality of guide blocks  52 . The guide block  52  includes removable connective means such as hooks which may be employed in combination other fastener means such as adjustable straps, hook-and-loop fastener, or any other suitable means deemed necessary to assist in the process of stretching the affected lower extremity.  
     [0039]FIG. 3 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention. The details of this embodiment are best illustrated in FIG. 3A.  
     [0040] As described previously in FIGS. 2 and 2A of the present invention, similarly this embodiment includes a carriage  16  which is slidably associated with the support base  10  by means of a track rail  12 A and guide block  14 . As is further evident from FIG. 3, the carriage also includes an arrangement of adjustable set screw  60  and  60  B which are medially connected to the knob  46  and laterally to a plurality of rolling elements  62  which are supported in place by brackets  64  and  64 A. Furthermore, as FIG. 3 indicates the set screws  64  and  64 A are preferably mounted with brackets  88 , similarly to FIG. 2 , to the underside of the carriage  16  in a manner that enables the user to adjust the resistance force of the longitudinal displacement of the carriage over the support base  10 . Typically, the resistance force is applied on an intermediate wear strip  66 , as seen in FIG. 3A, towards the inner longitudinal side walls of the guide track  12 A which is mounted on the top surface of the support base  10 . An elongated inflatable member  68  is inserted longitudinally and is positioned in between the inner longitudinal side wall of the guide track  12  and the wear strip  66 .  
     [0041] In addition as seen in FIG. 3B the present embodiment includes an air flow directional check valve  70  which allows the inflatable member  68  to be pressurized by means such as a generic air pump. Furthermore an additional check valve  76 , an air flow control valve  78  and an air pressure gauge  74  are connected to each longitudinal end of the pressurized inflatable member  68 .The longitudinal ends of the inflatable member  68  are connected through air conductive means such as copper tubing arrangement  80  inserted laterally to the track rail  12  in the support base  10 . Similarly to the previous embodiments of the present invention the carriage  16  in this embodiment is longitudinally displaced on the support base  10  by muscle energy. When increased sliding resistance is desired, the knob  46  is rotated counterclockwise. This movement will have an effect of increased positive air pressure in the inflatable member  68  which corresponds with increased sliding resistance of the carriage  16  on the support base  10 .Consequently increased muscular energy is required to initiate a longitudinal displacement of the carriage  16  on the support base  10 .  
     [0042] Depending on the directional movement of the carriage  16 , part of the air contained in the inflatable member  68  will be forced in a closed circuit manner through the directional check valve  76  located at the corresponding longitudinal end of the inflatable member. Furthermore the forced air will continue to flow through the tubing  80  towards the opposite end of the longitudinal member  68 . The air pressure gauges  74  in this embodiment of the present invention have a function to prevent over inflation of the inflatable member  68  and, to measure the sliding resistance in combination with the knob  46 .  
     [0043] Accordingly, the reader will see that the previously described embodiments of the present invention provide a portable versatile and easy to use therapeutic device for lower extremities. In addition, this invention permits a simple method of adjusting the sliding resistance, and the recording of measurements if desired. In this way, the rehabilitation progress can be properly recorded and demonstrated.  
     [0044] Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the preferred embodiments of this invention. Any combination of the previously described features may be considered in any of the embodiments of the present invention. Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents rather than by the examples given.