Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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VIBRO-THERAPEUTIC
LIQUID RECEIVING CONTAINER
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a liquid-receiving
container used for vibro-therapeutic treatment of the human
body or parts thereof immersed in the liquid and wherein the
container has at least a side wall portion thereof vibrated by
a transducer of which the cone imparts a low frequency
oscillation to the side wall portions and the liquid contained
in the container.
BACKGROUND ART
Most bathtubs known to date for therapeutic massage
are whirlpools and utilize water jets connected in the side
wall of the tub and these displace the water within the tub
and provide pressure massage to a person immersed therein.
Such therapeutic tubs have various disadvantages one being
that the displacement of the liquid within the tub is
irregular and much stronger pressure is generated close to the
jet nozzles secured in the side walls of the tub.
Accordingly, any part of the human body placed close to the
water jets will be subjected to much higher pressure massage
than other parts of the body. This may not be desirable if
the person has a sensitive area disposed against the water jet
as this could further aggravate that sensitive area. Such
pressure massage could also cause cardiac problems as blood
flow is substantially increased by such therapeutic
treatments. The pressure in the water jet could also affect
sensitive skin areas which have been subjected to surgery or
treatments and are in the process of healing.
Another disadvantage of therapeutic tubs, utilizing
pressure jets, is that it is very difficult to clean and
disinfect the tub after use because water is lodged in the
conduits and various valve components of the flow circuitry
and constitute areas of bacterial growth as these areas are
not accessible. Accordingly, after use it is necessary to
introduce sterilizing liquids within the tub to try and flush
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out all bacteria that may be lodged in the water jet
circuitry. Often, this process is not followed and this may
constitute a health hazard.
A still further disadvantage is that it is necessary
to make orifices within the tub walls in order to install
these water jets and often the jet coupling secured to the
walls of the tub will eventually develop leaks thereby
requiring more frequent maintenance and further areas for
bacterial growth.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide
a liquid receiving container for vibro-therapeutic treatment
of a human body or parts thereof immersed in liquid contained
within the container and which substantially overcomes the
above-mentioned disadvantages of the above-described tub
provided with a water jet circulation system. This object is
achieved by mounting one or more transducers having a
vibratable cone directly on an outer surface of the outer side
walls of the tub and connecting it thereto in such a way that
a sub-sonic frequency signal causes the side walls of the tub
to oscillate and the liquid contained in the tub to vibrate at
a predetermined low frequency whereby to provide vibration
therapy which is simple, safe and which facilitates the
cleaning of the tub and provide a hygienic environment.
Reference is made to U.S. Patent 4,942,868 which
describes a container with an ultrasonic device for the
treatment of animals. The liquid within the container is
imparted an ultrasonic wave in the frequency range of between
15 kilohertz and 100 kilohertz. This is effected by imparting
a vibration to a plate which is in direct contact with the
liquid within the container. It is therefore necessary to
provide a hole within the side wall of the container to
install the vibrator and expose the plate to the liquid. This
again constitutes an area for bacterial growth and the
development of leaks and more frequent periodic maintenance.
Also, treatment at such high frequencies has been medically
proven as being undesirable particularly to people with heart
diseases or other diseases activated by high frequency
massage.
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I have found that by using a vibration generating
element capable of vibrating an elastic portion of the side
wall of a therapeutic tube or container, at sub-sonic
frequencies, without any part of the vibrator being in contact
with the liquid within the container, provides various
advantages. It becomes very simple to clean the container and
by this method the accumulation of bacteria and microorganisms
in the tub is substantially reduced or eliminated as there are
no pipes through which water flows during use of the
therapeutic container and therefore areas for bacterial growth
in contact with liquid in the tub. Also by using sub-sonic
frequencies, and preferably within the range of about 13 hertz
to 60 hertz, the patient is subjected to a therapeutic massage
without dangerously increasing blood flow.
There are many benefits associated with low-
frequency therapeutic treatment of a body within a liquid mass
as it massages the muscles and various parts of the human body
that are usually treated by physio-therapeutic, masso-
therapeutic and acupuncture treatment. By using sub-sonic
frequency vibration in the liquid mass there is provided
various advantages such as a safe increase in blood flow and
activation of the elasticity of collogenic tissues. Low
frequency massage also acts on the restoration of the
metabolic nervous system and stimulates the parts of the body
which are directly related to internal organs of the human
body. It also causes the pores of the skin to open and cleans
itself. Such low frequency therapy is also efficient in the
cleaning of wounds and areas of the human body which are not
easily accessible. The vibro-therapeutic container of the
present invention also provides a uniform therapeutic
treatment of a body immersed in a liquid contained within the
container and is very relaxing to the patient.
A still further advantage is that the use of
transducers vibrating at low frequency does not produce high
pitch noise, as does a tub equipped with water jets or a
vibrating element in contact with water and oscillating at
high frequency, as shown and described in the above-referenced
patent. The circuitry associated with the transducers has no
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parts thereof in contact with the water and accordingly
provides a very safe system with the water being isolated from
the vibration generating circuit and hardware. Such a system
also consumes much less energy than a container equipped with
a water jet system.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
According to a broad aspect of the present invention
there is provided a liquid receiving container for vibro-
therapeutic treatment of the human body or parts thereofimmersed in liquid contained in the container. The container
has a bottom wall, contour walls and a top opening for access
thereto. At least some of the contour walls are formed by a
vibratable elastic material capable of vibrating at very low
frequency. At least one transducer having a vibratable cone
secured to a coil is also provided with the cone secured in
peripheral contact onto a mounting means. Fastening means are
provided to secure the mounting means directly in facial
contact onto an outer surface of the thin elastic material of
one of the contour walls without penetrating the contour
walls. Control circuit means is provided to operate the
transducer. Signal generating means is provided for applying
a sub-sonic frequency signal to the coil to impart a low
frequency oscillation to the cone and the contour walls and
liquid contained in the container.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will
now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings
in which:
FIG. lA is a simplified side view showing a vibro-
therapeutic tub constructed in accordance with the present
invention;
FIG. lB is an end view of the vibro-therapeutic tub
of FIG. lA.
FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing how the
transducers are secured to a side wall of the tub of FIG. l;
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FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the electronic circuit
which generates the sub-sonic frequency signal and the control
circuit associated therewith;
FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate the minimum and maximum
wave forms producable by the signal generating circuit; and
FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmented and cross-sectional
view showing how the transducer is connected to the side wall
of the therapeutic tub.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings and more particularly
to Figs. 1 to 3, there is shown generally at 10 a liquid
receiving container or tub constructed in accordance with the
present invention to provide vibro-therapeutic treatment of a
human body or parts thereof (not shown) immersed in liquid
contained in the container. As herein shown the container is
a bathtub formed of fiberglass material and has a bottom wall
11, side walls 12 and opposed end walls 13. At least the side
walls are of a thin membrane material, such as fiberglass A
shell 14 is secured over the bottom wall, side walls and end
walls and is secured to the upper contour flange 15 of the
inner container 16. The fiberglass thin elastic membrane is
capable of vibrating at very low frequency. The bathtub also
has an open top end 17 for access thereinto.
As shown in Figs. lA and lB transducers 18 are
connected to the side walls 12 of the inner container 16 or to
the end wall 13 thereof. As shown in Fig. lA there may be two
transducers 18 connected to each of the side walls 12. With
specific reference to Fig. 2 it can be seen that each of the
transducers has a vibratable cone 19 secured to a coil 20 with
the cone 19 being secured in peripheral contact onto a
mounting means, herein a plate 21 formed of a material capable
of being vibrated by the cone. This mounting plate may be
formed of a plastic material or fiberglass material or any
other suitable material capable of being oscillated by the
displacement of the cone to transfer vibrations to the tub
side walls and the liquid therein.
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The plate 21 is secured to the side wall 12 of the
container 10 by fastening means herein in the form of
fiberglass strips 22 which are adhered directly onto the outer
surface 12' of the side wall 12 by resin. Accordingly, the
fastening means do not penetrate the side wall and there are
no holes or fasteners disposed in the inner surface 12" of the
container The only fitting provided in the inner surface 12"
of the tub is the coupling 23 for the drain pipe 24, as shown
in Fig. lA. The tub herein shown is of the type that is
vertically displaceable.
Referring now to Fig. 3 it can be seen that each of
the transducers 18 have their coils 20 connected in pairs and
in series to two outputs 30 and 31 of an output power
amplifier 32 of a signal generator 29. The outputs 30 and 31
have identical signals and are connected to switches (not
shown) provided in a switching circuit 28. The switching
circuit 28 is controlled by a control circuit 27 whereby to
actuate each of the two pairs of transducers 18 and 18'
independently or simultaneously.
The signal generator 29 has a d.c. supply circuit 33
connected to an input transformer 34 whereby to provide the
necessary supplies to the various circuit components of the
generator. The signal generator 29 has an oscillator circuit
35 capable of producing oscillations within the range of about
12.9 Hz to 60 Hz and in this particular embodiment a sub-sonic
frequency of 14 Hz is desirable. This 14 Hz signal appears on
the output 36 of the oscillator and connected to a buffer
circuit 37, the output 38 of which is amplified by a pre-
amplifier 39 and then filtered through a filter circuit 40 and
then again amplified by the power amplifier 33 whereby to
provide the waveform 41 as shown in Fig. 4B which is a clip
sine-wave frequency signal having a maximum amplitude of 14
volts a.c. This signal, we have found, is capable of
maintaining the transducers vibrating at a sustained rate
whilst providing very low noise below 50 dB which is
considerably less than that of conventional tubs equipped with
water jets which produces noise in the range of 80 dB. The
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signal strength can be varied down to 8 volts a.c. as shown by
the sine wave in Fig. 4A.
Referring now to Fig. 5 there is shown an enlarged
simplified view illustrating how the transducers 18 are
secured to the mounting plate 21 and the side wall 13 of the
container. As herein shown fastener 43 secures the peripheral
flange 44 of the cone 19 directly in facial contact with the
plate 21. The fiberglass strips 22 overlap corner portions
21' of the plate 21 with the resin 22' bonding the fiberglass
strips 22 and the corner portions 21' of the plate directly
onto the outer surface 12' of the flexible side wall 12 of the
container. When the sub-sonic frequency signal of 14 Hz is
applied to the connections 20' of the coil 20 it causes the
diaphragm to oscillate at 14 Hz thereby causing the plate and
the side wall 12 to also oscillate producing vibrations 45
into the liquid 46 contained within the container. This
liquid is preferably water having a disinfectant therein.
Accordingly, these vibrations are transmitted within the
liquid and onto the surface of a human body or parts thereof
immersed within the container to provide therapeutic massage
therapy.
The transducer 18 as herein provided is a
loudspeaker which has an outer cone diameter of 6 inches and a
coil diameter of 1.38 inches. The coil has a 23.7 pounds
magnet and is capable of oscillating at 50 watts R.M.S. This
transducer specification is not essential to the present
invention and it is also conceivable that larger or smaller
transducers may be used and capable of imparting the necessary
vibrations to the flexible side walls of the container. As
previously described, a single transducer may be mounted on
the end wall of the tub or on one or both of the side walls,
depending on the size of the container or bathtub. The
particular sub-sonic frequency signal applied to the
transducers as herein-described is preferred but not essential
to the invention as it is conceivable, particularly depending
on the type of transducers used that signals within the
described low frequency range may also be used. The tub may
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also be of small size to immerse only parts of the body
therein, such as the feet or lower body portion.
It is therefore within the ambit of the present
invention to cover any obvious modifications of the preferred
embodiment described herein, provided such modifications fall
within the scope of the appended claims.
