# US 10,245,173 B2 · Method and system for relieving and preventing excessive back and joint discomfort, poor posture, and lack of energy > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,245,173 B2 - Document ID: US10245173B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/028,345 - Filed: 2018-07-05 - Published: 2019-01-17 - Granted: 2019-04-02 - Earliest claimed: 2017-07-11 - Applicants: Posture Newmatic Technologies, LLC - Inventors: David A. Badger - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10245173B2 ## CPC - A61F 5/026: {Back straightening devices with shoulder braces to force back the shoulder to obtain a correct curvature of the spine (for clavicle fractures A61F5/05808; restraining devices A61F5/37)} - A61F 5/024: {having pressure pads connected in a frame for reduction or correction of the curvature of the spine} - A61H 1/008: {Apparatus for applying pressure or blows almost perpendicular to the body or limb axis, e.g. chiropractic devices for repositioning vertebrae, correcting deformation} - A61H 23/02: with electric or magnetic drive - A61F 5/028: {Braces for providing support to the lower back, e.g. lumbo sacral supports} - A61H 2201/0103: inflatable - A61H 2201/0157: portable - A61H 2201/1626: Holding means therefor - A61H 2201/1652: Harness - A61H 2201/5056: pneumatically controlled - A61H 2203/0406: Standing on the feet - A61F: FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS (dental prosthetics A61C) - A61H: PHYSICAL THERAPY APPARATUS, e.g. DEVICES FOR LOCATING OR STIMULATING REFLEX POINTS IN THE BODY; ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION; MASSAGE; BATHING DEVICES FOR SPECIAL THERAPEUTIC OR HYGIENIC PURPOSES OR SPECIFIC PARTS OF THE BODY (electrotherapy, magnetotherapy, radiation therapy or ultrasound therapy A61N) ## Abstract A posture alignment system improves posture by posture modification and spinal alignment. A back plate for positioning along a user's back provides a rigid structural foundation. A separation plate hingedly couples to the posture alignment system. A spinal mold mechanism includes a spinal mold positioned on the spinal mold plate for interfacing and providing posture modifying support and alignment force to the user's spine. The spinal mold includes posture alignment guide rails for guiding posture modification and spinal alignment according to a posture alignment goal. A pneumatic force generating mechanism controllably generates pneumatic force for forcibly and controllably interfacing the spinal mold mechanism and the neck aligning mechanism with the user's spine and neck, and, thereby guide posture modification and spinal alignment of the user according to the posture alignment goal. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A posture alignment system for improving the posture of a user by posture modification and spinal alignment according to a predetermined posture alignment goal, comprising: a back plate for positioning said posture alignment system along a user's back and in alignment with the spine when the user is standing, said back plate providing a rigid structural foundation configured to extend from approximately the user's head down vertically to at least to the user's hip region; a separation plate hingedly coupled to said posture alignment system at a position configured to be adjacent the user's hip region when positioning said posture alignment system along the user's back, said separation plate having a length approximately the length of said back plate and positionable in parallel with said back plate and further for forming a first variable wedge space from said back plate upon being pivoted at a hinged coupling; a spinal mold mechanism having a length approximately equivalent to that of and positioned in parallel with said separation plate, said spinal mold mechanism being hingedly coupled to said posture alignment system adjacent the user's hip region when positioning said posture alignment system along the user's back, said spinal mold mechanism further comprising: a spinal mold positioned on said spinal mold plate mechanism and having a length equal to at least approximately the length of the user's spine for interfacing and providing posture modifying support and alignment force to the user's spine, said spinal mold comprising a posture alignment guide rails for guiding posture modification and spinal alignment according to a posture alignment goal; and a spinal mold plate for providing structural support and foundation for said spinal mold and for forming a second variable wedged space from said separation plate upon being pivoted at said hinged coupling; and a neck aligning mechanism on said posture alignment system and positioned to be above said spinal mold when positioning said posture alignment system along the user's back for aligning the position of the user's neck with the user's spine, as said posture alignment guide rails guide said posture modification and spinal alignment; a user harnessing mechanism for harnessing said posture alignment system to the user, further comprising a head harnessing mechanism further comprising at least one head harness for firmly harnessing the user's head and a tether harness for firmly connecting set head harness to said back plate; a shoulder harness mechanism comprising at least one harness for each shoulder of the user for firmly harnessing the user's shoulders to said spinal mold mechanism; and a hip harness for harnessing the user's hips to said posture alignment system; and a pneumatic force generating mechanism for associating said back plate, said separation plate, and said spinal mold mechanism for controllably generating pneumatic force at said spinal mold plate for transmission through said user harnessing mechanism for forcibly and controllably interfacing said spinal mold mechanism and said neck aligning mechanism with the user's spine and neck, and, thereby guide posture modification and spinal alignment of the user according to said posture alignment goal. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The posture alignment system of claim 1, further comprising a vibration mechanism for vibrating and applying massaging vibration to the user's spine when the user wears said posture alignment system for enhancing said posture modification and spinal alignment force. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The posture alignment system of claim 1, wherein said pneumatic force generating mechanism further comprises an air shim for controllably spacing said separation plate from said back plate for controllably varying the force applied during said forcibly and controllably interfacing said spinal mold mechanism and said neck aligning mechanism with the user's spine and neck. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The posture alignment system of claim 1, wherein said pneumatic force generating mechanism further comprises a first pneumatic air shim positioned in said first variable wedge space for controllably spacing said separation plate from said back plate and a second pneumatic air shim positioned in said second variable wedge space for controllably spacing said separation plate from said spinal mold plate for controllably varying the force applied during said forcibly and controllably interfacing said spinal mold mechanism and said neck aligning mechanism with the user's spine and neck. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The posture alignment system of claim 1, wherein said neck aligning mechanism further comprises an hourglass-shaped roller mechanism for permitting smooth controlled positioning of the user's neck when interfacing said neck aligning mechanism. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The posture alignment system of claim 1, wherein said head harnessing mechanism further comprises a headband for harnessing said harnessing mechanism to the user's head and a chin harness for harnessing said head harnessing mechanism to the user's chin for firmly harnessing said posture alignment system to the user. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The posture alignment system of claim 1, wherein said spinal mold further comprises a lower back mold for modifying and aligning the posture of the user's lower back region. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The posture alignment system of claim 1, wherein said spinal mold further comprises an upper and lower back mold for modifying and aligning the posture of the user's upper and lower back regions. ### Claim 9 A method for improving the posture of a user by posture modification and spinal alignment according to a predetermined posture alignment goal, comprising the steps of: positioning a posture alignment system along a user's back and in alignment with the spine when the user is standing using a back plate, said back plate providing a rigid structural foundation extending from approximately the user's head down vertically to at least to the user's hip region; forming a variable separation between said back plate and a separation plate, said separation plate hingedly coupled to said posture alignment system at a position adjacent the user's hip region when positioning said posture alignment system along the user's back, said separation plate having a length approximately the length of said back plate and positionable in parallel with said back plate and further for forming a first variable wedge space from said back plate upon being pivoted at a hinged coupling; forming a separation between said separation plate and a spinal mold mechanism having a length approximately equivalent to that of and positioned in parallel with said separation plate, said spinal mold mechanism being hingedly coupled to said posture alignment system adjacent the user's hip region when positioning said posture alignment system along the user's back, said spinal mold mechanism further comprising: interfacing and providing posture modifying support and alignment force to the user's spine using a spinal mold positioned on said spinal mold plate and having a length equal to at least approximately the length of the user's spine, said spinal mold comprising a posture alignment guide rails for guiding posture modification and spinal alignment according to a posture alignment goal; and providing structural support and foundation for said spinal mold and forming a second variable wedged space from said separation plate upon being pivoted at said hinged coupling using a spinal mold plate; and aligning the position of the user's neck with the user's spine, as said posture alignment guide rails guide said posture modification and spinal alignment using a neck aligning mechanism on said posture alignment system, said neck aligning mechanism positioned to be above said spinal mold when positioning said posture alignment system along the user's back; harnessing said posture alignment system to the user using a user harnessing mechanism, said harnessing further comprising the steps of: firmly harnessing the user's head using a head harnessing mechanism comprising at least one head harness for and a tether harness for firmly connecting set head harness to said back plate; firmly harnessing the user's shoulders to said spinal mold mechanism using a shoulder harness mechanism comprising at least one harness for each shoulder of the user; and harnessing the user's hips to said posture alignment system using a hip harness; and associating said back plate, said separation plate, and said spinal mold mechanism for controllably generating pneumatic force at said spinal mold back plate for transmission through said user harnessing mechanism using a pneumatic force generating mechanism for forcibly and controllably interfacing said spinal mold mechanism and said neck aligning mechanism with the user's spine and neck, and, thereby guiding posture modification and spinal alignment of the user according to said posture alignment goal. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The posture aligning method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of vibrating and applying massaging vibration to the user's spine when the user wears said posture alignment system for enhancing said posture modification and spinal alignment force using a vibration mechanism. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The posture aligning method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of controllably spacing said separation plate from said back plate for controllably varying the force applied during said forcibly and controllably interfacing said spinal mold mechanism and said neck aligning mechanism with the user's spine and neck using an air shim. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The posture aligning method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of controllably spacing said separation plate from said back plate using a first pneumatic air shim positioned in said first variable wedge space and controllably spacing said separation plate from said spinal mold plate using a second pneumatic air shim positioned in said second variable wedge space, said first and second pneumatic air shim controllably varying the force applied during said forcibly and controllably interfacing said spinal mold mechanism and said neck aligning mechanism with the user's spine and neck. ### Claim 13 (depends on 9) The posture aligning method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of permitting smooth controlled positioning of the user's neck when interfacing said neck aligning mechanism using an hourglass-shaped roller mechanism. ### Claim 14 (depends on 9) The posture aligning method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of harnessing said harnessing mechanism to the user's head using a headband and harnessing said head harnessing mechanism to the user's chin using a chin harness for firmly harnessing said posture alignment system to the user. ### Claim 15 (depends on 9) The posture aligning method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of modifying and aligning the posture of the user's lower back region using a lower back spinal mold as said spinal mold. ### Claim 16 (depends on 9) The posture aligning method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of modifying and aligning the posture of the user's upper and lower back regions using upper and lower back spinal mold as said spinal mold. ### Claim 17 A detachable spinal mold mechanism for detachable use with a posture alignment system for improving the posture of a user by posture modification and spinal alignment according to a predetermined posture alignment goal, comprising: a spinal mold mechanism having a length approximately equivalent to that of and positioned in parallel with a back plate of the posture alignment system, said spinal mold mechanism being hingedly coupled to said posture alignment system and configured to be adjacent the user's hip region when positioning said posture alignment system along the user's back, said spinal mold mechanism further comprising: a spinal mold positioned on said spinal mold plate and having a length equal to at least approximately the length of the user's spine for interfacing and providing posture modifying support and alignment force to the user's spine, said spinal mold comprising a posture alignment guide rails for guiding posture modification and spinal alignment according to a posture alignment goal; and a spinal mold plate for providing structural support and foundation for said spinal mold and for forming a second variable wedged space from said separation plate upon being pivoted at a hinged coupling; and a neck aligning mechanism on said posture alignment system and positioned to be above said spinal mold when positioning said posture alignment system along the user's back for aligning the position of the user's neck with the user's spine, as said posture alignment guide rails guide said posture modification and spinal alignment; a user harnessing mechanism for harnessing said posture alignment system to the user, further comprising a shoulder harness mechanism comprising at least one harness for each shoulder of the user for firmly harnessing the user's shoulders to said spinal mold mechanism; and a hip harness for harnessing the user's hips to said posture alignment system; said spinal mold mechanism being detachably associated with a back plate for positioning said posture alignment system along a user's back and in alignment with the spine when the user is standing, said back plate providing a rigid structural foundation extending from approximately the user's head down vertically to at least to the user's hip region; a separation plate hingedly coupled to said posture alignment system at a position adjacent the user's hip region when positioning said posture alignment system along the user's back, said separation plate having a length approximately the length of said back plate and positionable in parallel with said back plate and further for forming a first variable wedge space from said back plate upon being pivoted at said hinged coupling; and a pneumatic force generating mechanism for associating said back plate, said separation plate, and said spinal mold mechanism for controllably generating pneumatic force at said spinal mold back plate for transmission through said user harnessing mechanism for forcibly and controllably interfacing said spinal mold mechanism and said neck aligning mechanism with the user's spine and neck, and, thereby guide posture modification and spinal alignment of the user according to said posture alignment goal. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The detachable spinal mold mechanism of claim 17, wherein said spinal mold further comprises a lower back mold for modifying and aligning the posture of the user's lower back region. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The detachable spinal mold mechanism of claim 17, wherein said spinal mold further comprises an upper and lower back mold for modifying and aligning the posture of the user's upper and lower back regions.