Therapeutic traction appliance having self-calibrating mechanism

摘要

A device for applying a controlled amount of traction to a human body. The device includes an arm one end of which is connected by a harness to a patient for applying traction periodically as the patient pivots the arm and the other end of which is connected by a ratchet assembly to a drag wheel rotatably mounted in a frame. The magnitude of the traction applied is determined by the amount of friction applied to the wheel by a pair of opposed brake pads engaging opposite sides of the wheel. A manual adjusting mechanism is provided for one of the brake pads to set a desired level of traction to be applied by the arm, and a calibrating mechanism is connected to the other brake pad for automatically adjusting the same during operation of the manual adjusting mechanism.