Patent ID: 8579840

Claim:
Apparatus for massaging a body part of a user, the apparatus comprising: a horizontal base member; a pair of upright support members extending upwardly from the base member; an elongate shaft having a plurality of spaced-apart cams affixed along a central portion and terminating at both ends in rotary elements aligned along a common axis, the rotary elements rotatably supported by the upright support members; an electric motor coupled to a reduction gear assembly; an output of the reduction gear assembly coupled to one of the rotary elements of the shaft; a plurality of elongate spring fingers, each finger having a first end directly fixed to the base, an intermediate portion springably engaging an exterior surface of one of the cams, and a free second end provided with a projection adapted to comfortably press against a body part; the cams and fingers cooperating so that rotation of the cam forces the free second end of the finger to move away from the base as the distance from the cam surface in contact with the finger to the common axis increases, while spring bias moves the free second end closer to the base as that distance decreases; and the cams being disposed on the shaft such that the free second ends of the lingers move away from the base at different times during rotation of the shaft.