U.S. patent number 3,608,541 [Application Number 04/886,188] was granted by the patent office on 1971-09-28 for poor posture detectors.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Oasis Electronics. Invention is credited to Leland V. Hall.
United States Patent |
3,608,541 |
Hall |
September 28, 1971 |
POOR POSTURE DETECTORS
Abstract
Flexible columns hinged at one side thereof have actuating
cables at the opposite sides thereof which actuate warning
indicators when the columns are flexed to extents in which the
wearers have poor postures.
Inventors: |
Hall; Leland V. (Riddle,
OR) |
Assignee: |
Oasis Electronics (Riddle,
OR)
|
Family
ID: |
25388567 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/886,188 |
Filed: |
December 18, 1969 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
600/594;
340/573.1; 128/905; 340/668 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B
23/0244 (20130101); G01B 7/281 (20130101); Y10S
128/905 (20130101); A61B 5/1116 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A63B
23/02 (20060101); A63B 23/00 (20060101); G01B
7/28 (20060101); A61b 005/10 () |
Field of
Search: |
;128/2 ;340/279,283 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Chamblee; Hugh R.
Claims
What is claimed is
1. In a poor posture detector,
a flexible column articulated along one portion thereof and
expansible along a second portion parallel to and spaced laterally
from said one portion,
an actuator strand carried by the second portion of the column,
harness means adapted for mounting the column on the back of a
wearer with said first portion adjacent the back,
and indicator means operable by the actuator strand to provide a
warning signal when the back of the wearer is bent to a
predetermined extent.
2. The poor posture detector of claim 1 wherein the flexible column
includes a plurality of segments articulated together along said
one portion and spacing the strand laterally from said one
portion.
3. The poor posture detector of claim 2 wherein said one portion
extends along the spine of the wearer and the segments space the
strand outwardly from the spine.
4. The poor posture detector of claim 3 wherein the flexible column
comprises an elongated member having a strip-like base portion
adapted to lie flat against the back of the user and a web or riser
portion in a plane perpendicular to the central portion of the base
portion,
the web portion being notched to form segments and carrying the
strand.
5. The poor posture detector of claim 4 wherein the base portion
has pairs of notches staggered relative to the notches in the web
portion.
6. The poor posture detector of claim 1 wherein the indicator means
includes means for varying the effective length of the strand to
adjust the point of actuation.
7. The poor posture detector of claim 2 wherein the flexible column
comprises a flat strip articulated along one edge portion and
carrying the strand at the opposite edge portion, the strip being
notched along said opposite edge portion.
8. The poor posture detector of claim 1 wherein the harness means
includes strap means adapted to be secured to the wearer and sleeve
means enclosing the column and carried by the strap means.
9. The poor posture detector of claim 1 wherein the harness means
comprises a vest.
10. The poor posture detector of claim 9 wherein the harness means
includes a belt portion carrying the indicator means.
Description
DESCRIPTION
This invention relates to poor posture detectors, and more
particularly to spinal curvature detectors.
An object of the invention is to provide poor posture
detectors.
Another object of the invention is to provide spinal curvature
detectors.
A further object of the invention is to provide a poor posture
detector attachable to the back of a wearer and having a warning
indicator when the back of the wearer is bent to a poor
posture.
Another object of the invention is to provide an elongated flexible
column hinged at one side and having an actuator cable at the other
side which is tensioned when the spinal column is curved too much
and a warning indicator is actuated by the tensioning of the
cable.
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a person wearing a poor posture
detector forming one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary vertical sectional view of the
poor posture detector of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken along line
3--3 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view of the poor
posture detector of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a warning circuit of the poor posture
detector of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a poor posture detector
forming an alternate embodiment of the invention.
Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown in FIGS. 1
to 5 a poor posture detector 10 forming one embodiment of the
invention and including a flexible column 12 carried by a vest 14
having a belt portion 16 carrying an indicator 18. The column 12
lies along the spine of the wearer, and has an actuator cable 20
parallel to and spaced from a hinged side 22 of a segmental core
24. When the wearer's back bends to a poor posture position, the
cable is tensioned and, through a compression spring 26 (FIG. 5)
permitting overtravel, moves a switch contactor 28 into engagement
with an adjustable, fixed contact 30 to actuate a buzzer 32. This
indicates to the wearer that he has moved to a poor posture. The
contact 30 is carried by a rack 34 adjustable by a pinion 36 in a
thin housing 38 attached to the belt portion 16 of the vest. A
detented dial indicator knob 40 may be turned to turn the pinion to
move the rack vertically to adjust the position of the contact 30
thereby adjusting the extent to which the column 12 can be moved
before the buzzer 32 is actuated. A battery 42 in the housing
supplies power to the buzzer when the switch comprising the contact
30 and the contactor 28 is closed.
The vest 14 (FIG. 1) includes shoulder straps 50, chest straps 52
and a covering sleeve 54. The straps hold the upper portion of the
vest to the upper portion of the back of the wearer and the upper
end of the core 24 is fixed by riveting or stitching to the upper
portion of the vest. The lower end of the core 24 is fixed by
riveting or stitches to the belt portion 16 of the vest. The core
is enclosed in the very flexible sleeve 54. Soft, flexible filler
strips 56 fill the spaces in the sleeve.
The core 24 is T-shaped in transverse cross section and preferably
is composed of one of the well-known tough, flexible plastic
materials and is formed by extruding and then cutting notches 60 in
the stem portion of the T to form segments 62 to cause base portion
64 to be articulated. The base portion has notches 66 and 68 at
opposite sides of the central portions of the segments 62 to
articulate the core in a plane perpendicular to the other plane of
articulation of the core. The segments 62 have beaded sleeve
portions 70 through which the cable 20 slidably extends, the upper
end of the cable being knotted to fix it to the upper segment 62. A
flexible reinforcing strand 72 of wire, fiberglass or the like is
embedded in the base portion 64.
When the hinged side of this apparatus is strapped or otherwise
fastened so that it fits the contour of the wearer's back, parallel
to the spine, it is capable of measuring the amount or degree of
change of postural curve of the spine because the opening of any
segment will cause a pull on the operating cable, thus triggering
the warning device. The apparatus may be constructed so the length
of the operating cable may be adjusted from either end, one end of
the cable will be stationary and the other will be attached to a
mechanical warning device as illustrated, or to operate an
electrical warning device such as a vibrator. The electrical
warning device would not have to be attached directly to the
operating apparatus except for the switch leg of the electrical
circuit. This method of attachment may give more versatility as the
warning device could be installed in a less conspicuous or more
sensitive place, and could be embedded in the harness or
arrangement used to hold the segmented apparatus in place.
A layer of plastic or other material used to form the extrusion may
be provided to go over the top of the center riser attaching to the
riser and extending down to and attached to the base at or near the
outer edge. This construction will give the riser support and fill
the void on each side of the riser section. In other words, the
extrusion will resemble the shape of both harness and extrusion
combined in FIG. 3.
EMBODIMENT OF FIG. 6
A poor posture detector 80 forming an alternate embodiment of the
invention is similar to the detector 10 except that the detector 80
is designed to detect and apprise the wearer of side curvature
only. The detector 80 includes a flexible column 82 which is a
thin, flat extruded strip 84 having notches 86 from an edge 88 only
to articulate the strip at edge 90 and form segments 91, a
reinforcing strand 92 being embedded in the edge portion 90. An
actuating cable 94 is slidable in aligned bores 96 in the segment
91 near the edge 88. The actuating cable 94 is spaced laterally a
substantial distance from the articulated portion so that when the
wearer bends to the right too far, the cable 94 is tensioned and
actuates an indicator (not shown) like the indicator 18. The column
82 is enclosed in a sleeve 98 forming a part of a vest or harness
like the vest 14. The column 82 is positioned as shown in FIG. 6 to
detect poor posture to the right, and may be turned over with the
notches to the right to detect poor posture to the left. The
sleeves 54 and 98 may be part of the extrusions if desired.
The core 24 may be constructed without the notches 66 and 68, if
desired, in which case the stem or web 60 is formed of a thickness
much less than that of the base 64 and adapted to stretch
extensively within its elastic limit while the base 64 articulates.
The web 60 may taper from thicker at the base to thinner at its
edge remote from the base. Each half of the base also may taper
from thicker adjacent the web 60 to thinner at the outer edges of
the base 64.
The poor posture detectors described above are compact, light in
weight, durable and effective to warn of poor postures, and are
quite comfortable to the wearers while being inconspicuous.
* * * * *