Physical therapy apparatus

Claim 1

An apparatus suitable for physical therapy comprising: (a) a frame structure; (b) an angularly movable shaft carried by the frame structure and engaged by a patient; (c) (i) first and second clutch discs mounted on the shaft, (ii) a first one way drive means for moving the first clutch disc with the shaft only when the shaft angularly moves in a first direction, and (iii) a second one way drive means for moving the second clutch disc with the shaft only when the shaft angularly moves in a second direction opposite the first direction; and (d) a pair of frictional adjusting means mounted proximate to the clutch discs, each adjusting means comprising a cylinder containing hydraulic fluid, a piston positioned in each cylinder for engaging a respective one of the clutch discs, and means associated with each cylinder for varying the pressure of the hydraulic fluid in each cylinder for varying the friction between each piston and its respective clutch disc, and thereby independently varying the frictional resistance of the shaft's angular movement alternately in the first direction and then in the second directions.

Claim 2

An apparatus suitable for physical therapy comprising: (a) a frame structure; (b) an angularly movable shaft carried by the frame structure and engaged by a patient; (c) (i) first and second clutch discs mounted on the shaft, (ii) a first one way drive means for moving the first clutch disc with the shaft only when the shaft angularly moves in a first direction, and (iii) a second one way drive means for moving the second clutch disc with the shaft only when the shaft angularly moves in a second direction opposite the first direction; and (d) a pair of frictional adjusting means mounted proximate to the clutch discs, each adjusting means comprising a cylinder containing hydraulic fluid, a piston positioned in each cylinder for engaging a respective one of the clutch discs, and means associated with each cylinder for varying the pressure of the hydraulic fluid in each cylinder for varying the friction between each piston and its respective clutch disc, and thereby independently varying the frictional resistance of the shaft's angular movement alternately in the first direction and then in the second directions.

Claim 9

An apparatus useable for physical therapy comprising: (a) a frame structure having a vertical longitudinal axis and including a base resting on the ground; (b) a shaft carried by the frame structure and engageable by a patient, the shaft being angularly movable about an elongated cross member in both the forward and reverse directions; (c) means for varying the resistance of the shaft to said angular motion; (d) means for varying the length of the shaft; (e) means for rotating the shaft about its own longitudinal axis; (f) means for varying the height of the cross member above the base; (g) means for rotating the shaft about a horizontal axis extending through the cross member; (h) means for rotating the shaft and the cross member about the vertical longitudinal axis of the frame structure; and (g) means for laterally moving the shaft and the cross member relative to the vertical longitudinal axis.

Claim 10

An apparatus useable for physical therapy comprising: (a) a frame structure having a vertical longitudinal axis and including a base resting on the ground; (b) a shaft carried by the frame structure and engageable by a patient, the shaft being angularly movable about an elongated cross member in both the forward and reverse directions; (c) means for varying the resistance of the shaft to said angular motion; (d) means for varying the length of the shaft; (e) means for rotating the shaft about its own longitudinal axis; (f) means for varying the height of the cross member above the base; (g) means for rotating the shaft about a horizontal axis extending through the cross member; (h) means for rotating the shaft and the cross member about the vertical longitudinal axis of the frame structure; and (g) means for laterally moving the shaft and the cross member relative to the vertical longitudinal axis.

Claim 12

An apparatus suitable for physical therapy comprising: (a) a roller supported fixed base frame; (b) a second base frame carried by the fixed base frame and vertically movable relative to the fixed base frame; (c) a vertically disposed, longitudinally adjustable post carried by the fixed base frame; (d) a bracket mounted on the post for engaging the underside of a fixed horizontal surface; and (e) manually operated means for raising the second base frame for roller movement of the fixed base frame and the second base frame over an underlying surface, the manually operated means also being capable of lowering the second base frame to the underlying surface to restrain the frames from roller movement while simultaneously raising the fixed base frame to bring the bracked into engagement with the fixed horizontal surface.

Claim 13

An apparatus suitable for physical therapy comprising: (a) a roller supported fixed base frame; (b) a second base frame carried by the fixed base frame and vertically movable relative to the fixed base frame; (c) a vertically disposed, longitudinally adjustable post carried by the fixed base frame; (d) a bracket mounted on the post for engaging the underside of a fixed horizontal surface; and (e) manually operated means for raising the second base frame for roller movement of the fixed base frame and the second base frame over an underlying surface, the manually operated means also being capable of lowering the second base frame to the underlying surface to restrain the frames from roller movement while simultaneously raising the fixed base frame to bring the bracked into engagement with the fixed horizontal surface.