1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to flexible magnetic sheets, which are applied to the skin of persons or animals for therapeutic or analgesic purposes.
2. Background Of The Invention
Magnetic therapeutic plasters are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,711 to Latzke ("Latzke"), which is incorporated by reference herein. The magnetic poles in FIG. 1 of Latzke are disposed in alternating rows of "+" and "-" (i.e., North and South) poles. Latzke implemented the invention on magnetic rubber sheets having a thickness of 0.5 to 1.5 mm thick, with the magnetic poles 5-10 mm apart, and a magnetic field strength of 50 to 10,000 gauss, preferably, 400 to 2,000 gauss. The examples in Latzke describe the beneficial effects of treatment with the magnetic plasters.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,532 to Baermann ("Baermann") discloses several different geometries for a flexible magnetic sheet, including circular strips of alternating polarities (FIG. 1), triangular strips (FIG. 2), rectangular or square strips (FIG. 3) and octagonal strips (FIG. 4). U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,277,692, 5,538,495 and 5,514,072 to Ardizzone disclose a flexible magnetic pad in which alternating N/S magnets spiral out from a central core such that triangular wedges of N/S alternating magnets radiate from the central core. U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,111 to Mitsuno et al. disclose a flexible magnetic sheet in which the N/S magnetic poles are disposed in a checkerboard pattern. Other U.S. patents of interest include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,162,672 to Yazaki, U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,498 to Snider, U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,185 to Baermann and U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,892 to Kubota. Foreign patents of interest include French Patent No. 1,215,110 to Tanaka, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 56-7405 to Miyake, and French Patent 2,371,916 to Van Den Bulke.