Ramped, horizontal, on-bench adjustable stretch bench for relieving a user's back pain
OwnerMark A. Rouillard, Donald W. Hartfordinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ramped and horizontal stretching bench for relieving spinal and muscle conditions contributing to back pain. More particularly a stretching bench that has moveable and adjustable settings for increasing the effectiveness of such relief. An arm brace and hand grip assembly is located under a horizontal bench portion that receives and supports a user's upper torso. The arm brace is readily adjustable as stretching exercises are on-going and without the user leaving the bench proper. Additional bench adjustments provide an individualized height setting, and these combined adjustments allow the bench to be personalized for each given individual in order to increase the effectiveness of certain on-the-bench stretching activities.
Claims16
A combination self-mobilization and stretch bench about waist height for a user that positions his upper torso on a horizontal pad and allows his lower torso to be angled against an inclined support pad with the user's feet dangling away from the floor, which position allows the user to rely upon gravity action on the user's body in order to stretch the user's back for relief of back pain, said bench having a front and a rear base support and adapted for use on a level horizontal floor or other similar base surface, said bench comprising:
- a pair of spaced apart floor surface base supports, with the front support being vertical for the front of said bench and the rear supped of said bench being at an incline of about forty five degrees to the vertical;
- an inclined body support and knee receiving pad angled at about said forty-five degree angle for allowing the user, while his feet are on the floor, to first lean his knees against a knee receiving portion of said inclined body support pad and then lean his upper and lower body forward unto the bench:
- a horizontal body support pad horizontal to the base surface for supporting the upper torso of a user who may recline in a prone position with the user's upper torso on said horizontal body support pad and his lower torso supported on said inclined body support pad of the bench with the user's feet dangling off the floor for a stretching activity:
- a fixed rigid support frame held by said first and second floor supports and having horizontal and inclined frame sections respectively for supporting said horizontal and inclined body support pads in a fixed position on said rigid support frame;
- a pair of bench height adjustment means, one each at the front and rear base supports, for adjusting the height of both of said body support pads of said bench relative to said base surface in order to allow a user to set the height of said horizontal body support pad at about waist height and the inclined support pad so that the user's knees touch the knee receiving portion of said inclined pad while the user's feet are on the floor;
- and
- one single transverse arm brace and hand grip means located toward the forward portion of said bench under said horizontal body support pad, with said arm brace and hand grip means being position adjustable by a user while the user is lying prone on the bench;
- an arm brace portion of said transverse means allowing the user to rest a user's upper arms against the arm brace portion and thereby stabilize the position of the user's upper torso on said bench while the lower torso tends to slide down the inclined body support pad;
- and
- a hand grip portion of said transverse means allowing the user to grasp the hand grip portion and rock back away from said bench with the user's knees still resting against the inclined body support pad, with his feet on the floor and while holding said hand grip portion for a self-mobilization stretching activity.
In a stretch bench for doing at least two separate stretching activities which allow a user to rely upon gravity action on the user's lower body in order to stretch the user's back and which also allows the user to lift away from said bench, said bench having a pair of hand grips and a pair of arm braces, front and a rear base supports which are adapted for use on a level floor-type surface, and said bench also having
- a pair of spaced apart floor surface base supports for the front and the rear of said stretching bench;
- a height adjustable support frame held by said first and second floor supports for supporting at least one body support portion in a fixed position, with said height being at about waist height for the user;
- the bench improvement allowing a user to perform at least two separate stretch activities, with said bench improvement comprising:
- a combined inclined knee rest and lower torso body support pad connected to said support frame, with said combined pad angled at about forty-five degrees to the horizontal floor surface and extending upward from near the floor surface to about waist height as individually selected for a given user;
- a horizontal body support pad also connected to said rigid support frame and having a longitudinal body support pad for supporting the torso of a user who may recline in a prone position with the user's upper torso on said horizontal body support portion and his lower torso supported on the inclined body support pad of the stretch bench with the user's feet dangling away from the floor's surface during a gravity stretching activity;
- the angled position and nearness to the floor of said inclined pad, when said bench has been height-adjusted for an individual user, allowing the user's knees to be against the bench for mounting the bench and at the same time allowing the user to hold an arm brace and hand grip means with both hands while assuming a squat position with the user's back essentially horizontal in order to accomplish a self-mobilization stretching activity;
- arm brace means located toward the forward portion of said stretch bench and under said horizontal body support pad as part of said bench support frame for stabilizing the user's upper torso on said horizontal body support portion of said bench for a mild traction reverse gravity action on the dangling lower torso of the user while the user's lower torso is resting on said incline with the user's feet away from the floor;
- and
- said arm brace means further having hand grip means combined with said arm brace means for allowing the user to rock back away from said bench with the user's feet on the floor and his knees still against the knee rest portion of said incline support pad while the user holds said hand grip means with both hands and assumes a squat position with the user's back essentially horizontal in order to accomplish a self-mobilization stretching activity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.