Patent Publication Number: US-11648174-B2

Title: Back clapping machine with chest percussion function

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to back clapping machines, and more particularly, to a fix tool for brake clamp maintenance. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     “Chest percussion” is a common clinical method for loosening the phlegm accumulated in lungs of the patient to discharge, thereby preventing the phlegm from continuous accumulation in the lung or trachea to cause pneumonia or bronchitis. 
     A conventional “chest percussion” operation is carried out by repeatedly clapping the back of human body by use of a palm, wherein the palm is humped (bowl alike) for gently clapping the back from the lower side upward. An elastic percussion cup is also applicable to be hand held for clapping the back of human body. However, the aforementioned chest percussion operation is manually carried out, which not only is time and manpower consuming, but also difficult to be conducted with proper force control. If the clapping force is insufficient, the chest percussion effect will not be ideal, so that the phlegm will not properly loosened from alveolus or cilium of the lung. If the clapping force is excessively large, the alveolus will collapse, causing a further accumulation of phlegm. 
     Accordingly, an automatic chest percussion machine is developed in the market for replacing the conventionally manual clapping operation. Such machine electronically drives a clap mechanism to clap the back of a patient. The operation thereof is simply without the need of manpower. However, the conventional automatic chest percussion machine has a fixed clapping travel which is unable to be automatically adjusted based on detection. Also, it does not have buffering function during clapping. Thus, the comfort and utility of such machine is not optimal. An improvement thereof is desirable. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Based on the wish of improving the aforementioned disadvantages of the conventional automatic chest percussion machine, the applicant files the present invention after multidimensional discussions, experiments, and modifications. 
     For achieving the aforementioned objectives, a back clapping machine with chest percussion function is provided, comprising: 
     a casing having an outer cover and a rear cap, the casing having a housing space therein, with a front end of the outer cover having a through hole connected with the housing space, the rear cap disposed on a rear end of the outer cover; 
     a movement mechanism disposed in the housing space of the outer casing, the movement mechanism having a gear, a first motor, a rack, and an infrared detector; the gear being connected with the first motor to be driven by the first motor for rotating in a forward and backward directions, the rack engaged with the gear to be driven to move forward or backward by the gear, the infrared detector disposed on a front lateral side of the outer casing; 
     a clap mechanism disposed in the housing space and combined with a front lateral side of the movement mechanism, the clap mechanism having a motor substrate, a second motor, a crank, a transmission rod, and a clap head, the motor substrate connected with the rack of the movement mechanism, the second motor disposed on the motor substrate, the crank connected with the second motor to be driven to reciprocate forward and backward by the second motor, the transmission rod connected with the motor substrate and protruding out of the through hole on the front end of the outer cover of the casing, the clap head disposed on a front end of the transmission rod; and 
     a buffer unit disposed in the housing space of the casing and arranged to elastically contact the outer cover of the casing and the rear cover therebetween. 
     The back clapping machine with chest percussion function of the present invention is able to automatically detect the distance for backing clapping and adjust the travel of the back clapping operation, so as to provide a clapping motion on the back of human body with a hand alike structure, thereby preventing pressure ulcer and achieve a chest percussion function. Therefore, the utility of the present invention is improved. 
     Also, the back clapping machine provides a shock buffering effect during chest percussion, so as to improve the comfort during usage thereof. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of the present invention. 
         FIG.  2    is an exploded view of the present invention. 
         FIG.  3    is a partially exploded perspective view of the present invention. 
         FIG.  4    is a partially sectional view of the present invention. 
         FIG.  5    is another partially sectional view of the present invention. 
         FIG.  6    is a schematic view of the operation status of the present invention. 
         FIG.  7    is a schematic view illustrating the clap mechanism clapping forward. 
         FIG.  8    is a schematic view illustrating the clap mechanism moving backward. 
         FIG.  9    is a schematic view illustrating the sliding movement of the present invention. 
         FIG.  10    is a schematic view illustrating the forward adjustment of the back clapping travel of the present invention. 
         FIG.  11    is a schematic view illustrating the backward adjustment of the back clapping travel of the present invention. 
         FIG.  12    is a schematic view illustrating the operation status of another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG.  13    is a partially enlarged schematic view of  FIG.  12   . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The aforementioned and further advantages and features of the present invention will be understood by reference to the description of the preferred embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings where the components are illustrated based on a proportion for explanation but not subject to the actual component proportion. 
     Referring to  FIG.  1    to  FIG.  5   , a back clapping machine with chest percussion function is provided by the present invention, comprising a casing  10 , a movement mechanism  20 , a clap mechanism  30 , a buffer unit  40 , a support unit  50 , and a slide device  60 . 
     The casing  10  comprises an outer cover  11 , a rear cap  12 , and a housing space  13  therein. A through hole  111  is formed on a front end of the outer cover  11  and connected with the housing space  13 . The rear cap  12  is disposed on the rear end of the outer cover  11 . 
     The movement mechanism  20  is disposed in the housing space  13  of the casing  10 . The movement mechanism  20  comprises a gear  21 , a first motor  22 , a rack  23 , a positioning slider  24 , and an infrared detector  25 . The gear  21  is connected with the first motor  22 , so that the first motor  22  drives the gear  21  to rotate forward and backward. The rack  23  is engaged with the gear  21 , so that the gear  21  rotates forward and backward to drive the rack  23  to move forward or backward. The positioning slider  24  is combined on the rack  23  for restraining the forward and backward linear movement of the rack  23 . The infrared detector  25  is mounted on the front lateral side of the outer cover  11  of the casing  10  for detecting the distance for clapping the back of user. 
     The clap mechanism  30  is disposed in the housing space  13  of the casing  10  and connected with the front lateral side of the movement mechanism  20 . The clap mechanism  30  comprises a motor substrate  31 , a second motor  32 , a crank  33 , a transmission rod  34 , and a clap head  35 . The motor substrate  31  is connected with the front end of the rack  23  of the movement mechanism  20 . The second motor  32  is disposed on the motor substrate  31 . The crank  33  is connected with the second motor  32  through an eccentric wheel, so that the second motor  32  drives the crank  33  to reciprocate back and forth. The transmission rod  34  is connected with the front end of the motor substrate  31  and protrudes out of the through hole  111  on the front end of the outer cover  11  of the casing  10 . The clap head  35  is disposed on the front end of the transmission rod  34 . 
     The buffer unit  40  is disposed in the housing space  13  of the casing  10  and arranged between the outer cover  11  and the rear cap  12  of the casing  10  to elastically contact the outer cover  11  and the rear cap  12 . The buffer unit  40  comprises a first buffer member  41  and a second buffer member  42 . The first buffer member  41  is a compression spring, and the second buffer member  42  is a torque spring. 
     The support unit  50  is disposed on the lower side of the casing  10 . The support unit  50  comprises a handle  51  and a connection seat  52 . The handle  51  is disposed on the lower side of the outer cover  11  of the casing  10 . The connections seat  52  is disposed on the lower side of the handle  51 . A battery unit  53  is disposed in the handle  51  and the connection seat  52 , so as to form a machine body  1  of the back clapping machine. 
     The slide device  60  comprises two fix units  61  and a slide seat  62 . Each fix unit  61  is applied for fastening the machine on a bed frame. The slide seat  62  is applied for combination with the connection seat  52  of the support unit  50 , such that the slide seat  62  drives the machine body  1  to slide along the slide device  60 . 
     During operation, referring to  FIG.  6    to  FIG.  8   , the second motor  32  of the clap mechanism  30  drives the crank  33  to reciprocate back and forth, and the crank  33  carries the transmission rod  34  and the clap head  35  to repeatedly reciprocate forward and backward, whereby the clap head  35  carries out the clapping motion on the back of user. Also, when the clap head  35  contacts the back of user, a shock buffering effect is achieved through the first buffer member  41  and the second buffer member  42  of the buffer unit  40 . Thus, the present invention provides a clapping operation on the back of human with a hand alike structure, thereby preventing pressure ulcer and providing the chest percussion effect. 
     Also, referring to  FIG.  9    to  FIG.  11   , the slide seat  61  drives the machine body  1  to slide along the slide device  60 , so as to automatically repeat the clapping motion toward the back of user. Also, during the movement, the infrared detector  25  detects the distance for back clapping the according to the curvature of the back of user, and accordingly controls the first motor  22  of the movement mechanism  20  to drive the gear  21  to rotate forward or backward, whereby the gear  21  rotates forward or backward to drive the rack  23  to move forward or backward. Accordingly, the rack  23  drives the whole clap mechanism  30  to move forward and backward for adjusting the back clapping travel, thereby ensuring that the clap head  35  carries out a proper clapping operation on the back of user. Further, a certain time duration can be set for transmitting information to relevant personnel (such as a nurse, patient family, or caregiver). 
     Referring to the schematic view of the operation of another embodiment, shown by  FIG.  12    and  FIG.  13   , the slide seat  62  of the slide device  60  is provided with two abut units  63  on one side in opposite to the fix units  61 . Each of the two abut units  63  comprises a stretch mechanism  631 , an abut member  632 , and a universal axle  633  disposed between the stretch mechanism  631  and the abut member  632 . The two abut units  63  adjust the distance and position of the back and the bottom portion of user through the stretch mechanism  631 , and the universal axles  633  are applied for adjusting the angle and allowing the abut members  632  to support the back and the bottom portion of user, so that the user is prevented from biased during laterally lying. Thus, it does not need a caregiver or family to support the back and the bottom portion of the user. The slide seat  61  is able to drive the machine body  1  to slide along the slide device  60 , and provide an automatically clapping cycle on the back of user, ensuring a proper clapping operation by the clap head  35 . 
     With the foregoing configuration, advantages of the present invention will be illustrated below. 
     The back clapping machine with chest percussion comprises a movement mechanism  20  applied for automatically detecting the distance for back clapping and adjusting the travel for back clapping, improving the utility of the present invention. 
     The back clapping machine with chest percussion comprises a buffer unit  40  for providing a shock buffering effecting, improving the comfort of usage. 
     The back clapping machine with chest percussion, with the aforementioned movement mechanism  20  and buffer unit  40 , is able to adjust the back clapping travel forward or backward and clap the back of user through a hand alike structure, so as to ensure that the clap head  30  provides a proper clapping motion on to the back of human body, thereby preventing pressure ulcer and achieving the chest percussion effect. Also, the present invention can be set to transmit information to relevant receiver (nurse, patient family, or caregiver) with after fixed time duration. 
     The back clapping machine with chest percussion comprises two abut unit  63  for supporting the back and the bottom portion of human body, preventing the user form biasing when laterally lying. Therefore, it does need a nurse, patient family, or caregiver to provide support for the patient. Also, the slide seat  61  drives the machine body  1  to slide along the slide device  60 , so as to provide an automatically clapping cycle on the back of user, ensuring a proper clapping operation by the clap head  35 . 
     Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.