Back to results
US 5,667,461 AGranted
Ambulatory traction assembly
OwnerRaymond F. Hallinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ambulatory traction system which is designed to provide decompressional forces to the lumbosacral spine, lower body and related connective tissues at varying speeds from static to ambulation speeds up to 12 MPH. The ambulatory traction system has an overhead support assembly for horizontal linear displacement and a novel harness assembly suspended from the overhead support assembly to support and suspend the patient's body. A variable ambulation speed system is provided beneath the harness assembly which allows the patient, while being suspended by the harness assembly, to stand, walk or run thereon.
Claims19
A traction system for supporting a patient comprising:
- a frame structure including a horizontal beam member;
- an overhead support slidably engaging said horizontal beam member for horizontal linear displacement in parallel with said horizontal beam member, said overhead support having a front end section and a rear end section;
- a patient harness assembly suspended from the overhead support, said harness assembly including a front strap assembly coupled to said front end portion and a rear strap assembly coupled to said rear end portion, wherein said front strap assembly and said rear strap assembly are diagonally angled with each other to generally define two sides of an inverted triangle;
- and
- a length adjusting assembly placed between said front end portion and said rear end portion for changing the separation between said front end portion and said rear end portion to thereby change the angle defined between said front strap assembly and said rear strap assembly,
- the length adjusting assembly including an elongated interior pipe and an elongated exterior pipe external to the interior pipe and slidably engaging the interior pipe and stopper means for stopping sliding movement of the interior pipe with respect to the exterior pipe and to provide the length adjusting assembly with a predetermined length.
3 more elements
A traction system for use in assisting a patient comprising:
- a frame having a front section and a rear section, said frame including at least two overhead horizontal beams longitudinally extending in parallel with each other between the front section and the rear section of said frame;
- a front wheeled sliding assembly slidably engaging said two overhead horizontal beams for horizontal linear displacement along said horizontal beams, said front wheeled sliding assembly having a pair of laterally spaced front coupling devices;
- a rear wheeled sliding assembly longitudinally spaced from said front wheeled sliding assembly and slidably engaging said two overhead horizontal beams for horizontal linear displacement along said horizontal beams, said rear wheeled sliding assembly having a pair of laterally spaced rear coupling devices;
- a length adjusting assembly connecting said front wheeled sliding assembly and said rear wheeled sliding assembly for longitudinally adjusting the separation between said front wheeled sliding assembly and said rear wheeled sliding assembly;
- the length adjusting assembly including an elongated interior pipe and an elongated exterior pipe external to the interior pipe and slidably engaging the interior pipe and stopper means for stopping sliding movement of the interior pipe with respect to the exterior pipe and to provide the length adjusting assembly with a predetermined length;
- a harness assembly suspended from said front and rear wheeled sliding assemblies, said harness assembly including a main body for releasable attachment to the body of the patient, a pair of front straps respectively connected to said pair of front coupling devices and a pair of rear straps respectively connected to said pair of rear coupling devices, wherein said pair of front straps and said rear straps diagonally angled with each other to define four sides of an inverted quadrangular pyramid and connect to said main body;
- a length adjustment device provided in each of said straps for adjusting the length of each of said straps;
- and
- a treadmill including means for changing speed, inclination and declination thereof, said treadmill being positioned below said harness assembly to allow the patient to use said treadmill while being suspended by said harness assembly.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.