Traction benches

A traction bench for the treatment of the vertebral column and extremities of a human body comprising a table on which a patient to be treated may lie, said table comprising a pair of elongated separate table sections disposed in spaced longitudinally aligned relation to one another, support means attached to at least one of said table sections for mounting said one table section in a manner permitting said one table section to be displaced relative to the other of said table sections in any selected one or more of four different movements, said support means including first means supporting said one table section for translational movement longitudinally relative to said other table section along a first translational axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of said elongated one table section, second means supporting said one table section for translational movement transversely relative to said other table section along a second translational axis that is oriented at right angles to said first translational axis, third means supporting said one table section for tilting movement in a first angular direction relative to said other table section to tilt the plane of said one table section relative to the plane of said other table sections about a first pivotal axis which extends transversely to the direction of elongation of said one table section, and fourth means supporting said one table section for further tilting movement in a second angular direction transverse to said first angular direction to tilt the plane of said one table section transversely relative to the plane of said other table section about a second pivotal axis which extends parallel to the direction of elongation of said one table section, and fixation means on each of said table sections for fixedly securing one portion of the patient's body to one of said table sections and for fixedly securing another portion of the patient's body to the other of said table sections, said fixation means comprising a mounting structure which is adapted to be selectively moved to any one of a plurality of positions on the surface of its associated table section, means for securely attaching said mounting structure to the surface of said table section at the selected position on said surface, and a harness attached to said mounting structure for engagement with a portion of the patient's body adjacent said selected position on the surface of said table section, said mounting structure comprising a circular disc having an elongated bar extending across the diameter thereof, said disc being adapted to be attached to the selected position on the surface of said table section with said bar oriented in any selected one of a plurality of possible directions relative to the side edges of said table section, said harness being attached to said bar.