Waterproof hydrotherapy bed

Abstract

A hydrotherapy bed includes a substantially water-tight enclosure having an open top. The top of the enclosure is covered by an upper and lower layer of thin rubber having an intermediate layer of thixotropic gel approximately one half inch thick. The rubber layers are mounted in a peripheral groove using a strip of T-shaped molding and a supporting net is mounted beneath the lower rubber layer in another peripheral groove by attaching edge loops of the net to a plastic coated half hinge which is inserted into the peripheral groove. A pair of parallel tracks is mounted inside the enclosure and an array of upwardly directed water jets is carried on a cross member which is movable along the tracks. The cross member is coupled to an endless cable wound around pulleys mounted at ends of the tracks. One of the pulleys is coupled to a motor which drives the cross member along the tracks. The cable is kept from crossing over itself on the drive pulley by threading it through a TEFLON.RTM. block having spaced apart orthogonal holes. The motor driving the cross member is provided with an encoder which encodes the position of the cross member and reed switches at opposite ends of the tracks provide additional position information for calibrating the encoder. The encoder, the reed switches, and the motor are coupled to a processor having a memory and a hand held control is used for setting the speed, direction and cycle of cross member movement.