Patent ID: 7192406

Claim:
A massage device, comprising: (a) a frame; (b) a working unit having a first end element and a second end element, said working unit being supported from said frame and having an axis of rotation, said working unit comprising (i) a plurality of elongate support bars, having lengths, and extending between the first and second end elements of said working unit, and being substantially uniformly radially spaced about the axis of rotation of said working unit, and (ii) an array of massage elements, each of said massage elements being a separate and distinct rotating sphere and being mounted to the respective said support bar with facile individual rotation of said massage element with respect to said support bar, said massage elements being exposed to ambient air so as to be available for direct massaging contact with a user, and (iii) said elongate support bars being closely spaced from each other and said spheres being closely spaced with respect to each other on said elongate support bars so that outer surfaces of said spheres on adjacent elongate support bars cooperate with each other so as to limit sizes of resultant spaces defined between respective said massage elements in adjacent ones of the arrays, to sizes wherein a conventional-size digit of an adult human cannot be easily inserted into such limited-size spacings; (c) a prime mover operatively coupled to said working unit and driving said working unit about the axis of rotation, said prime mover driving said working unit to rotate said working unit with respect to said frame; (d) a heel rest proximate said working unit, and below a top of said working unit; and (e) a heater proximate said working unit, said heater being effective to apply heat to outer surfaces of said spheres.