Improvements in or relating to massage apparatus or rollers / [Achille Barthelemy Boyer].

  • Boyer, Achille Barthelemy.
Date:
1901
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Improvements in or relating to massage apparatus or rollers / [Achille Barthelemy Boyer]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    5 10 15 20 25 .30 35 40 45 50 A.D. 1901 Date of Application, 22nd Oct., 1901— Accepted, 23rd Nov., 1901 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION. u Improvements in or relating to Massage Apparatus or Rollers.’’ I, Aciiille Barthelemy Boyer, of 25 Rue do Madrid, Paris, Doctor, do hereby declare the nature: of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per¬ formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement: —- r This invention has reference to improvements in or relating to massage apparatus or rollers, which improvements consist in mounting a series of discs or rollers on a flexible or pliable axle instead of on an inflexible axle as has hitherto been done1-—so that in using my improved massage: apparatus the rollers will adapt themselves or conform to the shape or surface conformation of that part of the body which is being treated or massaged, the result being that the pressure or rubbing action is spread fairly evenly over the whole width covered by the rollers. A further improvement consists in connecting the rollers or other suitable part of the apparatus to an electric battery or other source of electricity, so that the part being massaged may at the same time receive the beneficial influence or action of an electric current, the object of my invention being to enable more beneficial results to be attained, in the same time and with an about equal expenditure of labour, as compared with massage apparatus or rollers hitherto in use. The necessary flexibility of the axle may be obtained in different ways, for example, by making it of a spiral spring, or of a series of lengths of spring wire arranged to act more or less as a laminated spring, or of india rubber or other sufficiently elastic and pliable material. The discs or rollers are mounted fairly loosely and independently of each other on said flexible axle, there being sufficient play to permit said rollers to turn thereon and to adjust themselves laterally according to the shape of the part of the body over which they are being used. These discs or rollers may be made of wood, hard india rubber, or any other suitable material, but preferably such as will not excessively heat when being used in the massage operations. If my improved apparatus is intended to be used not only for massage but also to subject the part operated on to the action of an electric current, I may make the discs or rollers: of metal which, if desired, may be plated, or the said rollers may be made of wood or other material provided writh a metal facing, or they may be made in any other practical manner and of any suitable material or materials. One wire from the battery or other electrical source is connected to the frame of my improved apparatus and the other wire is held bv the patient or it is applied to any desired part of his body, so that the massage operation will, as already stated, be rendered—for some purposes—more beneficial by reason of the simultaneous application of the electric current. In order to prevent the skin or hair of the patient being pinched or gripped between and pulled by the rollers, I may provide a sleeve or covering made of flexible and extensible material and enveloping* the discs or rollers in such a way that my improved apparatus would appear to consist of a single flexible roller, or I may chamfer the edges: of the rollers so that they do not meet at their extreme edges and are not therefore liable to grip either the skin or the hair of the patient. In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated two simple forms of my improved massage apparatus or rollers, like letters of reference indicating corre¬ sponding parts throughout the several figures, and in which;—- Fig. 1 is a front elevation showing my improved massage apparatus or rollers applied to a slightly convex surface, [Price 8A]