Untitled record

Application filed September 14, 1887. Renewed January 8, 1889. Serial No, 295,803, (No model,)

To all wliom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lucius T. Stanley, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in tlie county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Therapeutical Electrodes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of the same.

This invention is an improvement in electrodes for applying electric currents to the human body.

The object of the invention may he briefly stated to be the production of an electrode easily manipulated and used, which shall .have a soothing and agreeable effect on the senses of the person upon whom it is used; and which may be capable of a diversity of uses or applications according to the location and nature of the complaint which one wishes to treat.

One object which I have had largely in view is to make an electrode which may be easily and readily applied to the head in such manner as to direct an electric current through the scalp simultaneously at a number of points. This has heretofore been ........

plished usually by brushes with metallic bristles connected to the poles of a battery or induction-coil or by combs with metal lie teeth. In such cases, however, it is to be remarked that these appliances are made as nearly like the ordinary brushes and combs a.s possible, in order that their proper functions, to which their efficacy is generally due, may not be in any way impaired. My invention, on the other hand, while in no sense a toilet article, forms a useful and efficient therapeutical appliance, as will be seen from the following general description of its construction. It may consist of a row of flexible metallic teeth with rounded ends inserted in a base or back carried by a handle and electrically connected to a terminal, to which one of the wires from a battery or coil is connected. The teeth should be slightly curved and sufficiently flexible to adapt themselves to the varying contour of the body. Τ' ’ ‘ the invention in its simplest form. I generand electrical connections, by which all the teeth may be connected to one terminal or polo of the battery, or insulated in groups and connected to both poles. I have shown the preferred construction in the accompanying drawings, in which—

IGgure.l is a side elevation of the instrument. . Fig. 2 is a vertical section of a portion ot the same. Fig. ;j is a section at. right angles to the line of Fig. 2. ^Λ

Λ is a small plate of hard rubber or other good insulator, usually between one and a half and two inches long and half an inch .wide.

B is a metal plate which is securely fastened to the under side of the plate A, and serves as a clamp to hold in place a given number of long resilient metal teeth, C C, which are inserted in suitable grooves in the plate. I) is a similar metal plate, though preferably shorter, clamping a given number of similar teeth, E E, in grooves in tlie upper surface of the plate A. These teeth are sufficiently long and slender to be flexible, and are slightly curved, the outside teeth more than those nearer the center. They are formed with bent, or rounded ends, preferably made with small smooth knobs F, which slide over tlie scalp or other part of the body, producing a pleasantandagreeablesensationandaffording. 80 a better surface-contact for the electric current than a pointed tooth. The number of the teeth is arbitrary. I may use either more or less than I have shown; but., in any event, they are secured in a single row or line, or approximately so. A screw, G, in contact with the plate D passes down through the plate B, from which it is insulated, and serves to hold firmly against, the plate B a cylindrical block, H, of insulating material, surrounded by a ferrule or ring, K, of metal.

L is a handle, to which the electrode is secured by the projecting screw G, wliich enters a threaded metal cylinder or socket, M, set in the end of Hie said handle. The end of the handle containing tlie socket M is surrounded by a ferrule, N, and two terminals or means for making electrical connection «vith battery This is or other electrical conductors. One of these tern+ ·+ι c 1 - o—cr- niinals, a, is set in the ferrule N, and the other, ally add to it,however,a formol commutator b, in the side of the handle and in electrical ...... . U ’ ’ ’ 3 connection with the metal part M. When accom55 ⁶5

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these parts are associated and the wires from an induction-coil are connected to the terminals a b, respectively, the current passes through the teeth C C to the teeth E E, or, 5 conversely, through whatever portion of the body the instrument is applied, thus producing an action purely local.

To produce a more general effect the handle is unscrewed and a small disk or button io is placed between the ferrules K N. This button consists, essentially, of a metal washer coated or protected on one side by an insulating material and threaded to fit the screw G. It is applied with the metal surface 15 against the edge of ferrule K, whereby all the teeth are electrically connected to one terminal or pole, while the terminal a and ferrule N are insulated. The current is then established by taking hold of one battery-terminal 20 and applying the teeth to any desired part of the body.

By this device the current is more effectively and agreeably applied to any portion of the human body than by any other device of 25 which I am aware.