US3528655A - Facial muscle and skin conditioning device - Google Patents

Description

p 1970 M. J. RUDERIAN 3,528,655

FACIAL MUSCLE AND SKIN CONDITIONING DEVICE Filed May 29, 1968 lNVENTOR MAX J. RUDERIAN swam MZb%cv ATTORNEYS US. Cl. 27282 United States Patent 3,528,655 FACIAL MUSCLE AND SKIN CONDITIONING DEVICE Max J. Ruderian, Santa Monica, Calif., assignor to American Physical Fitness Research Institute, Inc., a corporation of California Filed May 29, 1968, Ser. No. 733,122 Int. Cl. A6311 23/00 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A resilient strip curved into an arched shaped configuration is received in a persons mouth with the forward portion of the strip engaging under the lips and the rearwardly diverging portions of the arch shape engaging opposite inner cheek surfaces. Contraction of the cheek muscles to bring the inner surfaces of the cheek closer together urges the diverging ends of the arch closer together and thus exerts a forward protruding pressure on the central portion of the member to stretch the lips thereby effecting exercising of the facial muscles and associated skin. The resiliency of the member tends to return it to its original shape. Suitable openings are provided for breathing purposes as Well as enabling the insertion of auxiliary members to vary the dimensions of the device to accommodate different mouth configurations.

This invention relates generally to exercising devices and more particularly to a novel facial muscle and skin conditioning member for insertion in a persons mouth to facilitate exercising of cheek, lip, and associated muscular areas of the face.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Isometric or equal opposing pressures types of exercises for conditioning various muscles of the body have been practiced to a considerable extent in recent years. The basic theory of such exercises is that pulling or pushing of portions of the body against each other or immovable objects exercises and tones the muscles and corresponding skin areas.

While several different types of isometric exercises have been outlined in the literature, most of these teachings relate to the conditioning of leg, arm, shoulder, and back muscles. More recently, several types of exercises have been proposed for conditioning the facial muscles and associated skin area, primarily with the end in view of reducing or even eliminating facial skin wrinkles. Some of these exercises have taken the form of a person inserting the thumbs in the mouth and applying outward pressures against the inner cheek surfaces thus stretching the muscles and skin in the associated mouth area. Opposing this pressure can be accomplished by drawing the cheeks taut or attempting to contract the same against the pressures of the thumbs. Similarly, thumb or finger pressures have been applied to the inside of the upper and lower lips to stretch and generally exercise the same.

From the above description, it can be appreciated that such facial type exercises can be somewhat unpleasant as well as unsanitary.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention contemplates an exercising device particularly designed for use in a persons mouth to provide pressures against which a person can exert opposing pressures by the inner surfaces of the lips and checks all to the end that the use of a persons fingers or thumbs or other portions of his hands for exerting opposing pressures is eliminated.

Essentially, the device is in the form of a resilient strip 3,528,655 Patented Sept. 15., 1970 ice member which may be made of a rubber-like material or flexible plastic curved into an arched configuration for insertion in a persons mouth. A central forward portion of the member engages under the lips and the rearwardly diverging portions defining the arch shape engage opposite inner cheek surfaces. With this arrangement, a person may exert inward pressure on the diverging portions by contracting his cheek muscles which action tends to cause the central forward portion of the strip to protrude and thus exert a stretching pressure on the lips. The resilient nature of the device will exert an opposing force and thus the desired facial exercises can be carried out.

In accord with certain features of the invention, the device includes a central elongated opening providing an air passage to facilitate breathing as well as auxiliary openings in the rearwardly diverging portions for receiving auxiliary attachments such as pads to increase the cheek engaging area of these rear portions. Also, wedge type inserts may be received in the openings to vary the overall dimensions of the device and thus accommodate different mouth configurations.

With a device as described above, a person can readily exercise his facial muscles with his hands completely free to carry on other types of exercises at the same time or other activities. In other words, the entire exercising operation for the facial muscles can be carried on by a working of these facial muscles themselves against the inserted device and thus it is not necessary for a person to insert his fingers or thumbs in his mouth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A better understanding of the invention will be had by referring to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the device with auxiliary components shown separated;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view partly broken away of a persons face useful in explaining the manner in which the device is used; and,

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the device of FIG. 1 with certain auxiliary components secured thereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a resilient strip member 10 curved into an arched configuration. As shown, the strip has a general average thickness designated by the letter T and a width in a vertical direction having an average value designated by the letter W. This strip may be made of a hard rubber-like resilient material or even a plastic. Preferably, W is at least equal to 3T.

The forward central portion of the strip is enlarged in a vertical direction as indicated at 11 such that the width at this portion is increased over the average width of the rearwardly diverging portions. These latter rearwardly diverging portions are indicated at 12 and 13.

The central portion 11 includes a central air passage 14 preferably elongated in an horizontal direction. The diverging end portions 12 and 13 may also be provided with generally horizontally extending elongated openings 15 and 16. These openings include upper ad lower central notches such as indicated at 15a, 15b for the opening 15 and 16a, 16b for the opening 16. These openings serve as a removable coupling means for auxiliary pad members 17 and 18 which may be affixed to the outer facing surface areas of the diverging end portions 12 and 13. Towards this end, each of the pads 17 and 18 include centrally disposed protruding stem structures of crossshaped configuration such as indicated at 19 for the pad 17. This cross-shaped configuration may wedgingly be received in the opening and notches 15, 15a, and 15b. The auxiliary member 18 may similarly he secured within the opening 16.

Referring once again to the forward central portion of the member in FIG. 1, the opening 14 may similarly be provided with upper and lower notches at the central portion thereof as indicated at 14a and 14b. These notches together with the opening are designed to receive a wedge member such as indicated at which, when inserted, will serve to expand in a vertical direction the central portion 11 of the device thus increasing the vertical width at this area.

Referring now to FIG. 2 there is shown a person 21 utilizing the device of this invention for exercising and toning the facial muscles and associated skin. As shown,

the device is inserted in the mouth such that the central forward portion engages under the persons lips 22 and 23 while the rearwardly diverging portions engage against the inner surfaces of the persons cheek.

In FIG. 2, the rearwardly diverging portion 12 is shown with the auxiliary pad member 17 afiixed to its outer facing surface thus increasing the surface engaging area of the device with the persons cheek. It will .be noted that the persons teeth engage on the inner upper edge surfaces of the arch shaped device so that the outer portions of the device bear directly under the lips 22 and 23.

In FIG. 2, the central opening 14 will be seen to provide a breathing passage so that the person may breathe through the mouth if desired. In FIG. 2, the auxiliary wedge element 20 described in FIG. 1 has not been inserted in the opening 14. However, if the person had a relatively large mouth or wished to exert greater pressure to the under surfaces of the lips 22 and 23, the wedge device 20 would be inserted within the opening 14 and corresponding notches to expand the vertical dimension.

The foregoing expansion of the central portion 11 will be evident from FIG. 3 which illustrates the device 20 inserted within the opening 14 and associated notches. As indicated by the arrows 28 and 29, the vertical width of the central portion 11 has been increased.

OPERATION In operation, the device 10 is inserted in a persons mouth such as illustrated in FIG. 2 so that the central forward portion 11 engages well under the upper and lower lips 22 and 23 and the diverging portions 12 and 13 engage the opposite inner surfaces of the persons cheeks. If desired, the pads 17 and 18 may first be afiixed to the diverging end portions to increase the engaging area with the persons checks should a person have a relatively large cheek area. Further, and as described heretofore, the wedge element 20 may be inserted to increase the vertical dimension of the central portion should a person have relatively large lips.

In carrying out a facial exercise, the person will first cause his cheeks to become taut or contracted in such a manner as to exert an inward pressure against the diverging portions 12 and 13. This action tends to decrease the divergence between the end portions thus causing a forward protruding force to be exerted at the forward portion 11 which will stretch the lips 22 and 23. The resiliency of the strip will tend to return it to its initial shape so that when a person relaxes the cheek pressure on the diverging ends, the ends will again diverge outwardly exerting a counterpressure on the cheeks.

The foregoing operation may be repeated without the person having to use his thumbs or fingers in effecting stretching of his various facial areas.

By properly exercising in the foregoing manner, the persons facial muscles will be exercised and the associated skin properly toned with the net result of diminution of face wrinkles and the like.

It will thus be seen that the present invention has provided an exercising device wherein various disadvantages encountered With prior art methods of facial isometrics have been avoided and the advantages of proper facial exercise fully realized.

What is claimed is:

l. A facial muscle and skin conditioning device comprising: a resilient strip member (a) curved into an arched configuration for insertion in a persons mouth with a central forward portion thereof engaging under at least one lip and rearwardly diverging portions thereof defining outer facing end surfaces opposite inner cheek surfaces;

(b) said central portion being of increased width in a generally vertical direction relative to the width of said diverging portions to engage well under said lip; and

(c) auxiliary pad members mounted to said outer facing end surfaces to define a cheek engaging area,

whereby inward muscular contraction of the cheek muscles of said person against said auxiliary pad members urges said central portion forwardly to exert stretching pressure on said lip thereby exercising the facial muscles and improving the associated skin tone.

2. A facial muscle and skin conditioning device according to claim 1, including an horizontally elongated central airpassage opening, the upper and lower center portions of said opening including notches; and a wedge member receivable in said opening and notches to expand the width of. said central portion to accommodate different lip configurations.

3. A facial muscle and skin conditioning device according to claim 1, in which said rearwardly diverging portions each include a generally horizontally elongated opening with upper and lower notches at the central portions thereof, each associated pad member having a centrally projecting stem of cross-shaped configuration receivable in said opening and notches to affix the pad to said outer facing end surface.

4. A facial muscle and skin conditioning device according to claim 1, in which the average width of said strip is at least three times as great as the average thickness of said strip.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,685,287 8/1954 Golfier l2860 2,702,032 2/1955 Freedland l28l36 2,708,931 5/1955 Freedland l28l36 3,091,237 5/1963 Skinner l2860 3,203,417 8/1965 Helmer l28l36 3,286,576 11/1966 West l28l36 3,386,732 6/1968 Robins 27257 RICHARD PINKHAM, Primary Examiner R. W. DIAZ, JR., Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 272-57

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