Wearable throat muscle training apparatus

A wearable throat muscle training apparatus comprising:

• a collar body frame configured to circumferentially engage an anterior and lateral cervical region of a user, the collar body frame including bilateral mounting openings positioned symmetrically about a vertical midline and a front central mounting bracket, the bilateral mounting openings defining fixed attachment interfaces maintaining positional alignment relative to the collar body frame;
• a first resistance module assembly secured within a first mounting opening and a second resistance module assembly secured within a second mounting opening, each resistance module assembly comprising:
• an outer housing fixed to the collar body frame;
• a spring chamber cavity defined within the outer housing along a longitudinal axis;
• a compression spring positioned within the spring chamber cavity;
• a central guide rod extending through the compression spring and through aligned central bores of an upper spring seat and a lower spring seat, the central guide rod being retained within the outer housing by engagement between a retaining head and an internal alignment shoulder positioned within the spring chamber cavity;
• the upper spring seat and the lower spring seat being configured to translate along the central guide rod while maintaining planar contact with opposite ends of the compression spring;
• a preload adjustment screw threadedly engaged with a threaded interface of the outer housing and aligned coaxially with the central guide rod, the preload adjustment screw including a distal contact surface positioned to engage a central region of the upper spring seat to impose an initial compression state of the compression spring;
• a mouthpiece arm assembly coupled to the front central mounting bracket through a pivot joint including a pivot interface block and a pivot pin extending through aligned bores and defining a transverse rotational axis fixed relative to the collar body frame;
• the mouthpiece arm assembly comprising:
• an outer arm housing;
• an internal reinforcement rib extending longitudinally within the outer arm housing and defining guiding surfaces;
• a force transmission rod extending longitudinally within the outer arm housing and constrained by the guiding surfaces to permit axial movement while restricting lateral and rotational displacement, the force transmission rod including a bifurcated proximal engagement portion having two engagement arms positioned in direct abutment with the upper spring seats of the first resistance module assembly and the second resistance module assembly;
• a detachable mouthpiece interface fixed to a distal end of the mouthpiece arm assembly and rigidly connected to the force transmission rod;
• wherein force applied at the detachable mouthpiece interface produces rotation of the mouthpiece arm assembly about the pivot pin, the rotation generating a moment about the pivot pin and producing axial displacement of the force transmission rod along a longitudinal axis offset from the pivot pin;
• wherein the axial displacement of the force transmission rod is transmitted simultaneously through the bifurcated proximal engagement portion to the upper spring seats of the first resistance module assembly and the second resistance module assembly to compress the compression springs along the central guide rods within the spring chamber cavities;
• wherein expansion of the compression springs upon release of the applied force produces return displacement of the force transmission rod toward an initial position defined by the preload adjustment screws, wherein each engagement arm of the bifurcated proximal engagement portion includes a planar contact interface oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the corresponding central guide rod, the planar contact interface maintaining continuous surface contact with the upper spring seat throughout compression and return movement while the bifurcated proximal engagement portion defines a fixed lateral spacing corresponding to spacing between the first resistance module assembly and the second resistance module assembly to maintain synchronous displacement of both upper spring seats, and wherein the central guide rod of each resistance module assembly extends through the upper spring seat and the lower spring seat and is retained between the retaining head and the internal alignment shoulder such that axial movement of the central guide rod is limited prior to coil-to-coil contact of the compression spring, and wherein the central guide rod maintains concentric alignment of the compression spring within the spring chamber cavity during repeated compression cycles;
• and wherein the preload adjustment screw includes a threaded shaft and the distal contact surface aligned with the central guide rod, rotation of the preload adjustment screw producing linear translation of the distal contact surface along the longitudinal axis to vary a gap between the distal contact surface and the upper spring seat in a pre-load state and to impose a predetermined compressive displacement on the compression spring;
• and wherein the preload adjustment screw of the first resistance module assembly and the preload adjustment screw of the second resistance module assembly are independently rotatable to establish distinct initial compression states such that displacement of the force transmission rod produces asymmetric compression responses of the compression springs, and wherein the pivot pin is oriented perpendicular to a plane defined by the bifurcated proximal engagement portion and is fixed relative to the collar body frame, and wherein the pivot interface block is fixed relative to the mouthpiece arm assembly such that rotation is confined to the mouthpiece arm assembly about the pivot pin.