US2918055A - Hand massager - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 22, 1959 .1. w. BOERGER HAND MASSAGER Filed March 11, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR JULIUS w. BOERGER ATTORNEYS Dee: 22, 1959 J. w. BOERGER HAND MASSAGER Filed March 11, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F IN VENTOR JULlU S W. BOERGER ATTORNEYS States HAND MASSAGER Application March 11, 1957, Serial No. 645,124 2 Claims. (Cl. 12841) This invention appertains to massaging machines and, more particularly, to a massage machine adapted to be attached to the hand.

There has been a trend in recent years, to provide massage machines that may be held in the hand and, more particularly, efforts have been made to provide a machine that will vibrate the hands or fingers so that the fingers may be free to massage and the vibration of the machine will be transmitted thereto. Heretofore, massage machines of the above type have usually been strapped to the palm or back of the hand with the machine resting directly on the back of the palm and held there by means of suitable straps or the like. This required a relatively heavy motor to impart the necessary vibration to the fingers and usually some sort of eccentric weight was employed. While these machines possessed certain advantages over the hand held implements, they nevertheless were relatively heavy, thus tiring the user and were complicated both from the handling and the manufacturing standpoint.

There has long been a need, therefore, for a lightweight machine that could be attached primarily to the fingers and have means whereby the vibration is transmitted directly to the fingers rather than to the back of the hand, thus eliminating the need for heavy motors, eccentric weights and various types of complicated harnesses.

A primary object of my present invention is to provide a massage machine in which means is provided to support the vibratory portion of the machine on the back of the fingers instead of on the back of the palm.

Another object of my present invention is to provide novel means for properly positioning and attaching the device to the fingers.

A further object of my present invention resides in the shape of the housing in that it is formed up and away towards the rear of the hand to allow freedom of action of the fingers when the hand is in a straightened position.

A salient feature of my present invention resides in providing a massage machine having novel means for mounting the electromagnet and armature in the casing or cover in that the armature is rigidly fastened to a base plate of the housing and the electromagnet being free to swing its greater weight in a vibratory motion directly over the fingers of the hand, thus increasing its motion in relation to its size over any other known type of machine.

A still further object of my invention resides in the novel placement of the finger straps or loops wherein a center holding means is provided for the two middle fingers with a loop on either side to engage the small and index fingers, respectively, thereby holding the machine in a linear position with the hand to allow a maximum of freedom of the hand and fingers to massage in any position.

A still further object of my present invention resides in its unique design providing the single set of finger straps, the housing to give the maximum weight and vibration directly over the single finger pad.

Another important object resides in providing a massage device of the above character which eliminates the need for heavy motors or eccentric weights, requires no additional straps or harnesses and gives a more penetrating free vibration motion to the fingers.

Patented Dec. 22, 1959 A further object of my invention resides in providing a simple, practical and reliable construction that is economical to manufacture, easy to assemble and positive in its operation.

With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of my novel machine shown in proper position on the fingers of the hand;

Figure 2 is an enlarged bottom plan view of the machine shown in Figure 1 of the drawings, the machine being removed from the hand and illustrating the novel arrangement of the hand pad, finger pad and finger loops in the machine;

Figure 3 is a front elevational view on the same scale as Figure 2 of the drawings;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view in section showing details in construction and relative position of the armature and electromagnet directly over the finger pad, the position of the hand being illustrated in dotted lines;

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the machine with the cover removed to further illustrate the positions of the various parts;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary transverse section taken through the machine on the line 66 of Figure 4 of the drawings looking in the direction of the arrows and showing the manner in which the finger pad and finger loops are attached to the machine, and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary side eievational view in sec tion of the forward end of the machine similar to Figure 4 but illustrating how the finger pad and finger loops may be removed and a vibrating tool used in lieu thereof.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter M generally indicates my novel massage machine and the same includes broadly, a casing 10 housing the armature 11 (which is rigidly secured to the base plate 13), electromagnet 12., the hand pad 14, finger pad 15 and the finger loops l6 and 17 (which are secured directly under the armature and free-swinging end of the electromagnet).

The housing 1% also includes, besides the base plate 13 and the hand pad 14, a cover 18 having a top 19, a front wall 2% rear wall 21 and side walls 22. The base plate 13 is secured to the front and rear walls adjacent the lower ends thereof by means of screws or the like 23 which extend through suitable apertures 24 provided in the base plate and cover. It should be noted that the side walls of the cover terminate considerably beyond the base plate 13 so that the hand pad will cover a considerable portion of the back of the palm as illustrated more clearly in Figure l of the drawings and the hand pad 14 may be secured to the base plate by any desired means, such as gluing or riveting as indicated by the numeral 25.

The shape of the base plate 13 and hand pad 14 is important in that each includes a substantially horizontal stretch 26 and 27, respectively, an upward and rearwardly extending stretch 28 and 29, respectively, and a short substantially horizontal rearward stretch 3t and 31, respectively. This shape, up and away towards the rear, allows for freedom of action of the hand H when the hand is in a substantially straight position as illustrated in full lines in Figure l and dotted lines in Figure 4 of the drawings.

Directly over the fingers F is the enlarged aforementioned finger pad 15 and this pad is substantially thicker than the hand pad 14 and is securedto thetrans-- versely extending loop holding plate 32 which, in turn, is secured directly to the forward portion 26 of the base plate 13., The finger pad is substantially rectangular in shape but the rear portion 33 has its top surface cut out to receive the section 27 of the finger pad 14 and also is cut inwardly at the sides 34 for a purpose which will become readily apparent as the description proceeds.

It should also be noted that the side portions of the hand pad 14 extend beyond the side portions of the finger pad 15 and its upper side walls are extended to forman upper peripheral flange 35 into which the rear and side walls of the cover 18 are received to-give a finished appearance to the device.

A salient feature of my invention resides in the posi tioning of the armature 11 and electromagnet 12 directly over the finger pad 15. This is facilitated by securing the armature 11 and a U-shaped spring vibratory element 36 to the base plate 13 and the base leg 38 of the vibratory element 36 is secured between the armature 11 and the base plate 13 and all are secured by means of rivets 37 or the like. The electromagnet 12 is mounted on the U-shaped spring vibratory element 36 by fastening the same to the upper leg 40 utilizing suitable screws 39. The coils of the electromagnet are connected to any suitable source of power (not shown) through wires 41 and 42. Incorporated in the wire 42 is a hand switch 43 to enable the current to be shut off or on as desired and this switch 43 may be of any known make and, therefore, need not be shown or described in detail.

The finger loop holding plate 32 is turned downwardly and rolled at each end to provide a pair of parallel barrel portions 44 spaced on either side of the finger pad 15 and these barrels are received in the cut-out portions 34 as shown. Further, each barrel is provided with a plurality, preferably four, of spaced transverse slots 45 and each series of slots are aligned with a respective series on the opposite barrel. The finger loops or straps 16 for the two middle fingers include three aligned center loops 46, the hooked ends 47 of which are received in the first three slots respectively. While the finger loops 16 and 17 may be of any desired construction, it is preferable that they be resilient and elastic and in the preferred form, they are made from light spring metal. I also provide side loops 17, one loop 48 for the index finger and one loop 49 for the little finger and each of these loops 17 are formed from a single resilient metal band or loop and both ends 50 are brought together and inserted in the same slot.

For each barrel portion 44 I provide a locking pintle 51 which slides into the barrel and through the rounded or hooked ends 46 and 50, respectively, of the finger loops 16 and 17 to securely hold the same in position.

As previously mentioned, the finger pad 15 is secured to the transversely extending loop ho ding plate 32 and the whole attachment is secured to the base plate 13. This is accomplished by the following construction (note Figure 6). Suitable aligned apertures 52 are provided in the loop holding plate 32 and in the base plate 13 to receive the screws or bolts 53 and imbedded in the finger pad 15 in proper alignment with the apertures are a pair of spaced nuts 54. Obviously, by loosening the screws 53, the finger pad 15 and the finger holding plate 32 may be removed and it should be noted that both the armature and the base plate are provided with enlarged aligned central apertures 55 so that, if desired, the shank 56 of a massage tool 57 may be received therein. construction having a rubber massage end 58 and the device is then held in the hand and used as any present day hand held massage device. However, it should be stressed that the positioning of the armature, electromagnet and vibratory element will still enable the device to provide a maximum vibratory massage movement.

From theabove, it can be seen" that I have provided This tool 57, of course, may be of a standard a novel hand massage device in which the finger loops are attached directly to the fingers with the armature and vibratory weight directly over the fingers and not the back of the palm, therefore giving a maximum vibratory movement to the fingers with a minimum of weight and it is understood that changes in detail and construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hand massage device for vibrating the fingers of the operator and attached to the fingers of the operator only comprising a housing, including a cover having top, front, rear and side walls, a base plate secured to said front and rear walls forming a bottom and supporting plate for said device, a finger pad secured to the under portion of said base plate adjacent the forward end thereof, a hand pad secured to said base plate rearwardly of said finger pad, said housing being shaped upwardly and away towards the rear to allow freedom of action of the hand when the hand is in a straightened position and including a straight portion overlying the fingers, a straight portion overlying the back of the hand in rear of the fingers and an upwardly and rearwardly directed portion connecting the two straight portions, finger loops secured adjacent said finger pad, a fiat armature rigidly positioned in said housing directly above said finger pad, a U-shaped spring vibratory element secured to said base plate at a point adjacent the rear portion of said finger pad and having its upper leg spaced from and extending forwardly and horizontally with said base plate and over said armature, and an electromagnet in said housing adjacent said armature secured to said upper leg adjacent the forward end thereof and having its free-swinging end directly above said armature and said finger pad, whereby said electromagnet is free to swing its greater weight in a vibratory motion directly above the finger pad, thus increasing its motion relative to its size and imparting said vibration directly to the fingers.

2. A hand massage device for vibrating the fingers of the operator and attached to the fingers only of the operator comprising a housing, including a cover having top, front, rear and side walls, a base plate secured to said front and rear walls forming a bottom and supporting plate for said device, a finger pad secured to the under portion of said base plate adjacent the forward end thereof, a hand pad secured to said base plate rearwardly of said finger pad, finger loops secured adjacent said finger pad, a fiat armature rigidly positioned in said housing directly above said finger pad, a U shaped spring vibratory element secured to said base plate at a point adjacent the rear portion of said finger pad and having its upper leg spaced from and extending for wardly and horizontally with said base plate and over said armature, and an electromagnet in said-housing adjacent said armature secured to said upper leg adjacent the forward end thereof and having its free-swinging end directly above said armature and said finger pad, whereby said electromagnet is free to swing its greater weight in a vibratory motion directly above'the finger pad, thus increasing its motion relative to its size and imparting said vibration directly to the fingers, and said finger loops including a center loop for the two middle fingers and a pair of spaced loops one on each side and slightly to the rear of the center loop to engage the small and index fingers respectively.

References Cited in the file of this patent- UNITED STATES PATENTS 994,270 OBrien June 6, 1911 1,818,287 Wahl Aug. 11, 1 931 2,286,089 Harris June 9, 1942 2,468,949 Snyder May 3 1942 2,768,621 Wahl' Oct. 30, 1956

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