Jaw exerciser
OwnerAlexis Garay-Arauzinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A jaw exerciser for providing passive motion therapy such as that used to treat trismus is provided. The jaw exerciser has a user-adjustable distance between the upper jaw support and the lower jaw support. The jaw exerciser includes a shaft, a first or upper jaw support frame including a first jaw support, a second or lower jaw support frame including a second jaw support, a distance adjuster which may be in the form of a jack screw for manually adjusting the distance between the first jaw support and the second jaw support, and a retaining screw. The jack screw may be received by the second or lower jaw support frame and engage the first or upper jaw support frame. Removable bite pads may optionally be provided for installing on the first jaw support and the second jaw support.
Claims20
A jaw exerciser comprising:
- a shaft;
- a first jaw support frame in sliding frictional engagement with the shaft and extending substantially perpendicularly to the shaft, the first jaw support frame including a first jaw support;
- a second jaw support frame in sliding frictional engagement with the shaft and extending substantially perpendicularly to the shaft, the second jaw support frame including a second jaw support;
- and
- a distance adjuster received by the first jaw support frame and engaging the second jaw support frame so as to be substantially parallel to the shaft, the distance adjuster being configured to adjust the distance between the first jaw support and the second jaw support.
A kit for assembling a jaw exerciser, the kit comprising:
- a shaft;
- a first jaw support frame including a first jaw support, the first jaw support being configured to slidingly frictionally engage the shaft;
- an adjustable second jaw support frame including a second jaw support, the adjustable second jaw support being configured to slidingly frictionally engage the shaft;
- and
- a jack, the jack being configured to engage the first jaw support frame and be received by the adjustable second jaw support frame so as to be substantially parallel to the shaft and to adjust the distance between the first jaw support and the second jaw support.
A method for assembling a jaw exerciser, the method comprising:
- positioning a first jaw support frame including a first jaw support, on a shaft in sliding frictional engagement;
- positioning an adjustable second jaw support frame including a second jaw support on the shaft in sliding frictional engagement;
- engaging a retaining screw with the shaft to prevent the first jaw support frame and, the adjustable second jaw support frame from disengaging from the shaft;
- and
- engaging a jack with the first jaw support frame through the adjustable second jaw support frame, the jack for adjusting the distance between the first jaw support and the second jaw support.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.