Abstract:
A walkable plate is provided for assisting the motor function of living creatures, especially human motor function. The plate has positions of different hardness across its surface.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a walkable plate for assisting the motor function of living creatures, especially human motor function. 
         [0002]    Persons with Parkinson&#39;s disease are distinguished outwardly not only by excessive shaking of their limbs, but are also impaired in the coordination of their movements and also in their sense of balance. In particular, due to impairments in coordination and also due to the impairment in their sense of balance, many persons with Parkinson&#39;s lack the self-confidence to move forward by walking, especially in the advanced stage of the disease. Due to the lack of movement, the muscles of the entire body then also atrophy, and here, in particular, also the muscles of the lower legs. For assisting the motor function of persons with Parkinson&#39;s it is already known to allow these persons to walk with aids, for example, on railings or also with known walkers. It has been shown, however, that the self-confidence of such persons with Parkinson&#39;s is not sufficient, even with practice with walkers or also on railings, to move these persons to the point of walking by themselves without such aids. The reason for this is essentially that nearly all surfaces feature a certain amount of unevenness, which raises the risk for persons with Parkinson&#39;s of losing their balance when walking on such unevenness, that is when setting one foot in front of the other. 
         [0003]    As mentioned above, due to the lack of training, these persons with Parkinson&#39;s also lack the muscles that are needed to move forward by themselves. These include, not only leg muscles, which are the primary muscles to be named, and here particularly the lower-leg muscles, but also all of the muscles of the body that are needed to stabilize the body while walking. 
         [0004]    From European patent application publication EP 1 743 989 A1 a walkable plate of the type named above is known, which has a relief-type surface. It has been shown that persons with Parkinson&#39;s walking on such walkable plates with relief-type structures achieve a certain security while walking. Due to the relief-type structure with peaks and valleys, which under some circumstances have a height difference of several centimeters, visual stimuli are simultaneously practiced by the patient walking on the structure, wherein, by processing such stimuli, the patient must think about how such an uneven surface should be traversed. In particular, the combination of visual stimuli and appropriate corresponding physical stimuli assists the motor function and the proprioceptive observations not only of persons with Parkinson&#39;s, but also that of children. 
         [0005]    As already explained at other points, the relief-type structure on such plates presents visual stimuli for patients. However, this also means that the patient or even the child, whose fine motor function is being treated, adjusts himself or herself visually to the relief-type structure. Now, it is not always possible for patients, and here particular persons with Parkinson&#39;s, to adjust himself or herself visually to the surface while moving during day-to-day life, because ultimately the further surroundings also must be observed. This means that the motor function of the patient should not be controlled only by means of visual stimuli, but independent of this, the patient should also learn to adjust himself or herself to randomly changing surfaces. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    In this respect, according to the present invention a walkable plate of the type named above is proposed, which distinguishes itself in that the plate has on its upper side positions or zones of different hardness. That is, such a plate is differently soft or hard over its surface. This means that the patient walking over such a plate or a combination of plates cannot identify, at least visually, which positions are soft or hard. The patient thus sinks lower at different positions than at other positions, which produces a misalignment of the foot that the patient could not have anticipated visually in advance. In this respect, the patient cannot adjust himself or herself to the surface. This also means, however, that the patient must depend just on his or her proprioceptive observations. 
         [0007]    Thus, it is provided particularly that the plate has inserts, wherein the hardness or firmness of the inserts is different relative to the material of the rest of the plate, in order to produce such a plate with different compression strengths. Here, it is essential that a difference in hardness should not be detectable visually. In this respect, the soft and hard sections are not to differ visually within the surface of the plate. 
         [0008]    According to another embodiment, the plate can be provided with chambers on the underside, whereby merely by formation of chambers in the plate on the underside, the possibility is given to provide positions of different hardness; however, there is also the possibility to position inserts in the chambers, wherein the inserts themselves have a different hardness or stiffness, such as being made from soft-foam plastic. 
         [0009]    Another embodiment involves providing a plate made from essentially stiff material having an at least partial coating made from a material that is, in comparison, more flexible. Particularly when the more flexible material has different thicknesses, this arrangement likewise produces positions of different hardness on the plate. In this context, it can furthermore be provided that the material, which is deposited on the plate and is more flexible in comparison with the material of the plate, has a varying hardness across the surface of the plate. In this way it is also achieved that the plate itself exhibits zones of different penetration depth. 
         [0010]    According to another feature of the invention, the plate is made of a plastic, whereby, as already discussed, the insert is advantageously formed of a soft plastic and the insert is furthermore advantageously extrusion coated with the material of the plate during manufacture. 
         [0011]    According to one particular embodiment, it can be provided that the plate has on its upper side a relief-type structure; that is, a relief-type structure with positions of different firmness or softness is combined into one plate. Thus, through a combination of unevenness on the plate in connection with sections of different hardness on the plate, the fine motor function is stimulated to a much stronger degree than is the case individually, which very much adds to the success of therapy, as has already been shown in studies. 
         [0012]    The subject matter of the invention is also a floor covering with several plates of the type described above, which are advantageously laid in a laterally aligned or staggered pattern. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]    The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings embodiments which are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings: 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  is a perspective plan view of a combination made from several plates of the type according to one embodiment of the invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a partial, side-sectional view of a walkable plate according to  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a perspective plan view of a plate with chambers arranged on the underside according to another embodiment of the invention; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a partial, side-sectional view of a plate with a coating made from a flexible material, according to a further embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0018]    As is to be taken from  FIG. 1 , a plate  1  comprising a combination of several plates has a relief-type structure  2 . This relief-type structure  2  comprises peaks  2   a  and valleys  2   b.  The combination of the plates is here realized such that the plates run seamlessly one into the other when their upper surfaces are positioned in a state one next to the other. 
         [0019]    The subject matter of the invention is now the construction of a plate according to  FIG. 1 , for example, having a relief-type structure, wherein the plate has positions of different hardness. A plate made of plastic, for example an elastomer, has an insert  5 , which distinguishes itself from the rest of the plate in that it is softer or even harder than the surrounding material of the plate. At this point it should be noted that the subject matter of the invention is also a plate without such a relief-type surface. 
         [0020]      FIG. 3  shows a construction of a walkable plate having a relief-type upper surface, wherein the plate shows on the underside chambers  10 , which are filled with a soft material  11 . In this way, positions of different penetration depth are produced when walking over the plate or, in other words, positions of different hardness, wherein it must be ensured that the material of the plate is not so stiff or hard that, despite the chambers arranged on the underside, it is not possible to deform the plate itself due to its material when a force is applied. 
         [0021]      FIG. 4  shows a further embodiment, in which the relief-type plate is provided with a coating  20 , which has a lower hardness in comparison with the material of the plate. Here, in particular, if the coating  20  over the upper surface has a varying thickness, different penetration depths result under loading, which means that for the person walking over such a plate, positions of different hardness are present. 
         [0022]    It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof. It is understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but it is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.