Background Art In general, most people suffer from serious or small diseases while living their lives and are concerned about medical cure and prevention of the diseases. Particularly, differently from men, women and girls are exposed to women's diseases of various kinds due to their physical structure and physiological functions. The most general women's disease is period pains. Presently, the period pains are cured or prevented through various therapies, for example, dietary treatment, medicinal therapy for the mouth, medicinal therapy for injection, and so on.

Meanwhile, recently, the oriental medical science has rapidly spread to general public owing to scientific researches and experiential effectiveness, and thereby, its reliability has increased greatly. To carry out acupuncture or finger-pressure therapy of the oriental medical science, a doctor must exactly find corresponding meridian lines and meridian points, which influence on the happened disease or are on target for curing the disease. For example, human body has 14 meridian lines and 365 meridian points, and their diagram is called"meridian diagram". Here, the meridian

lines mean a uniform systematic pathway along which reactions of five viscera and six bowels are indicated on the epidermis of the human body, and the meridian points mean acupuncture points located on the meridian lines. The meridian points are central points that energetic blood are received to the human body surface or pass the human body surface on round paths of a meridian line. In herb therapy, the meridian points mean portions for acupuncture, moxibustion or hand pressure. For example, the 14 meridian lines indicate stream passageways for connecting meridian points, and include Lung Meridian of Hand Taeeum, Large Intestine Meridian of Hand Yangmyeong, Stomach Meridian of Foot Yangmyeong, Spleen Meridian of Foot Taeeum, Heart Meridian of Hand Soeum, Small Intestine Meridian of Hand Taeyang, Bladder Meridian of Foot Taeyang, Kidney Meridian of Foot Soeum, Pericardium Meridian of Hand Gworeum, Triple Energizer Meridian of Hand Soyang, Gallbladder Meridian of Foot Soyang, Liver Meridian of Foot Gworeum, Conception Channel, and Governor Channel. According to the development and spread of the oriental medical science, there have been proposed various methods for medically treating or removing the women and girls'period pains through acupuncture, moxibustion and hand pressure.

However, there are some problems in that general persons try to carry out the acupuncture therapy or the meridian therapy for curing or removing the period pains.

First, for the acupuncture therapy or the meridian therapy, herb doctors and skilled acupuncturists can easily and exactly find the corresponding meridian points, but general women and girls or persons can not exactly find the meridian points.

To address the above problem, there have been proposed various methods, such as methods for allowing the general public's use by indicating the meridian points on a human body diagram or a mannequin. However, since the indication of the meridian points using the conventional methods is set based on a person who has

an average-sized body, it is difficult for the general persons to exactly find the corresponding meridian points of their real body and carry out acupuncture or finger- pressure.

Furthermore, because conventional devices for finding the meridian points are not portable, expensive and difficult to use, the general persons, especially, the women and girls, cannot easily cure or relieve diseases (for example, period pains) using one of the conventional devices.

Disclosure of Invention Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an elastic ruler for herb therapy and a therapy method for disease using the same, which allow both experts and general people to cure or relieve diseases, such as period pains, by exactly and rapidly finding meridian points of meridian lines related to the diseases.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an elastic ruler for herb therapy, which is portable and easy to use, and is inexpensive to manufacture, and a therapy method for curing or relieving diseases by finding meridian points of a meridian line related to the disease and attaching pressure bars, magnetic segments or T-shaped needles to points corresponding to the found meridian points on the elastic ruler.

To achieve these objects, in an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elastic ruler for herb therapy for exactly finding meridian points of the meridian line associated with a user's disease, the elastic ruler including: an elastic ruler body constructed to be smaller than the size of the corresponding meridian line of a person who has a standard physique, the elastic ruler body being expandable or contractible at a uniform rate; graduations formed on the surface of the elastic ruler body at regular intervals along the longitudinal direction of the body; and a plurality of indication portions indicated on the graduations in such a manner as to be located at positions corresponding to respective meridian points distributed on a specific meridian line.

It is preferable that each of the indication portions has a pressure bar, a magnetic body or a T-shaped needle coupled integrally therewith, the pressure bar, magnetic body or T-shaped needle being detachably attached to the respective meridian points.

In another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a therapy method for diseases using an elastic ruler, which includes a body constructed to be shorter than the length of the corresponding meridian line of a person who has a standard physique and capable of expanding or contracting at a uniform rate, a plurality of indication portions located on positions corresponding to a user's meridian points distributed on the meridian line related to the disease, and adhesion segments mounted at both ends of the body for serving as a standard point by contacting the first meridian point and the final meridian point of the meridian line, the therapy method includes the steps of : fixedly attaching one of adhesion segments to a predetermined position of the uppermost end of the meridian line related to a user's disease, the adhesion segments being mounted on both ends of the elastic ruler; fixedly attaching the other of the adhesion segments to a predetermined position of the lowermost end of the meridian line after controlling the length of an elastic ruler body while grasping the other of the adhesion segments; and attaching a pressure bar, a magnetic body or a T-shaped needle mounted on the indication portions of the elastic ruler body to the corresponding meridian point.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

Brief Description of the Drawings Further objects and advantages of the invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of an elastic ruler for herb therapy according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a plan view of the elastic ruler of FIG. 1 ; FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of an elastic ruler for herb therapy according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which the elastic ruler of FIG. 1 is used; FIG. 5 is a view showing a state in which the elastic ruler of FIG. 3 is used; FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a therapy method for curing period pains using the elastic ruler of the present invention; and FIGS. 7a and 7b are perspective views of an elastic ruler for herb therapy according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention The present invention will now be described in detail in connection with preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. For reference, like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout several views.

First, referring to the drawings, both an elastic ruler and a therapy method using the elastic ruler will be described in detail hereinafter. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the elastic ruler includes a body 10 of a predetermined length. It is preferable that the elastic ruler body 10 is made of elastic material, such as rubber. Particularly, it is preferable that the whole body 10 is expanded uniformly when a user pulls both ends of the elastic ruler body 10 and contracted as it was without deformation.

The elastic ruler body 10 may have various sizes. For example, in this embodiment, the therapy method for curing women and girls'period pains will be described, and so, the elastic ruler body 10 has the length corresponding to fourteen meridian lines.

Here, it is preferable that the length of each meridian line is set on the basis of general persons, who have average height, weight, and size. That is, in this embodiment of the present invention, the length of the elastic ruler body 10 corresponding to Spleen Meridian of Foot Taeeum, which is the meridian line for curing women and girls'period pains, is 13chi (Korean inch: it corresponds to about 3,03030cm), the length being a distance between SP 9 acupuncture point (Eumneongcheon) and EX- LE 8 extra point (Naegwacheom) of the person who has average height and size.

Therefore, it is preferable to make the elastic ruler with elastic rubber shorter than the length (13 chi), which is a distance between SP 9 acupoint and EX-LE 8 extra point of the person who has average height and size. For example, if the elastic ruler body 10 has the length of 9 to 11 chi, the user can find the meridian points of Spleen Meridian of Foot Taeeum by expanding the elastic ruler body 10 to 13chi, which is the standard size. If the user has the body smaller than that of the average-sized person, the user can find the meridian points by using the elastic ruler as it is or expanding somewhat the elastic ruler. If the user has the body larger than that of the average-sized person, the user can find the meridian points by expanding the elastic ruler still longer.

It is preferable that adhesion segments 12 and 14 are mounted on both ends of the elastic ruler body 10 to allow the user to grasp them and to fix the elastic ruler body 10 onto the corresponding meridian line. The adhesion segments 12 and 14 may be adhesive tapes or release tapes.

The elastic ruler body 10 has a number of graduations 20 formed or indexed thereon, <BR> <BR> the graduations dividing the length of the meridian line at unit intervals, i. e. , chi

unit. For example, the graduations of the elastic ruler body for curing the period pains divide the length of 13 chi by 1 chi unit. Of course, it would be appreciated that the elastic ruler body can have the length of 16 chi, 18 chi or others according to the length of the meridian lines related to the diseases besides the period pains.

Particularly, indication portions 22,24 and 26 are indicated on positions of the graduations of the elastic ruler body 10, which correspond to meridian points distributed to the meridian line. For example, in case of the period pains, the indication portion 22 corresponds to SP 8 acupoint (Jigi) of the meridian points, the indication portion 24 corresponds to SP 7 acupoint (Nugok), and the indication portion 26 corresponds to SP 6 acupoint (Sameumgyo). As the graduations 20 and the indication portions 22,24 and 26 have different positions according to contraction and expansion of the elastic ruler body 10, the elastic ruler can be applied to all persons of different height and size from one another. That is, if the meridian points of the corresponding meridian line of the average-sized person are distributed at standard or average intervals, the meridian points of the corresponding meridian line of a person who has the body shorter than that of the average-sized person are distributed at relatively narrow intervals, but the meridian points of a person who has the body larger than that of the average-sized person are distributed at relatively wide intervals. Therefore, if the elastic ruler body 10, which has the graduations 20 and the indication portions 22,24 and 26 indicated on the basis of the average-sized person, is expanded or contracted, the graduations 20 and the indication portions 22, 24 and 26 exactly coincide with the corresponding meridian points.

As shown in FIG. 3, the elastic ruler can provide finger-pressure therapy effect or massage effect as the indication portions 22,24 and 26 are formed in the shape of a cone or a protrusion, to press the corresponding meridian points where the indication portions are placed.

According to another preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 7a, magnetic segments M can be integrally mounted on each of the indication portions 22,24 and 26 of the elastic ruler body 10. In more detail, gluing agent is coated on the indication portions 22,24 and 26, and the magnetic segments M are detachably mounted on the coated surface. Of course, adhesives are adhered on the outer surface of the magnetic segments M, that is, the surface located on the user's meridian points, and a cover C for temporarily protecting the adhesives is attached on the adhesives.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 7b, T-shaped needles N can be mounted on the indication portions 22,24 and 26 of the elastic ruler body 10. In more detail, the gluing agent is coated on the indication portions 22,24 and 26, and the needles N are detachably mounted on the coated surface. Of course, adhesives are adhered on the outer surface of the T-shaped needles N, that is, the surface located on the user's meridian points, and the cover C for temporarily protecting the adhesives is attached on the adhesives.

It would be appreciated that pressure bars can be used in place of the magnetic segments of FIG. 7a or the T-shaped needles of FIG. 7b.

Hereinafter, the therapy method for curing diseases using the elastic ruler according to the present invention will be described in detail. In this embodiment of the present invention, to easily describe this invention, a therapy method for curing the period pains is described in detail, but it would be appreciated to those skilled in the art that the present invention could be applied in the same way to cure or relieve other diseases besides the period pains.

For example, the elastic rulers for acupuncture used for curing the period pains are portable as they are tied up by small unit or foldable, and can be used for sales promotion or sold by inclosing the elastic rulers in products such as hygienic bands for women, as they can be packed by small unit.

As shown in FIG. 4, for example, to cure or prevent the period pains or similar diseases, the user of the elastic ruler fixedly attaches one adhesion segment 12 of the elastic ruler body 10 to a predetermined position PI of the uppermost end of the meridian line, which is located in the calf of the leg of the user (S 100).

After the one adhesion segment 12 is fixedly attached to the user's uppermost meridian point PI, the other adhesion segment 14 is fixedly attached to a predetermined position P2 of the lowermost end of the meridian line (S 110).

At this time, the expanded length of the elastic ruler body 10 is changed according to the user's body conditions, i. e. , the size and shape of the corresponding meridian line, and thereby, the graduations 20 and the indication portions 22,24 and 26 indexed on the elastic ruler body coincide with the positions of the meridian points P of the user's meridian line.

In the above condition, after the user exactly checks positions of the corresponding meridian points, the user adheres the pressure bars, the magnetic segments M or the T-shaped needles N to the corresponding meridian points (in this embodiment, SP 8 acupoint indicated by the indication portion 22 and SP 6 acupoint indicated by the indication portion 26) (S120). Through the above steps, the elastic ruler continuously applies a stimulus to the corresponding meridian points so as to cure or prevent the diseases, for example, period pains.

As shown in FIGs. 7a and 7b, in the case where the pressure bars, the magnetic segments M or the T-shaped needles (N) are integrally or temporarily attached to the elastic ruler body 10, as described above, in a state in which the elastic ruler body 10 is attached to the user's body, after the cover C adhered on the surface of the pressure bars, the magnetic segments M or the T-shaped needles N is removed, the pressure bars, the magnetic segments M or the T-shaped needles N are attached to the corresponding meridian points and the elastic ruler body 10 is removed from the

user's body, so that the pressure bars, the magnetic segments M or the T-shaped needles N can be conveniently and exactly attached to the user's body.

Of course, it would be appreciated that acupuncture can be carried out to the meridian <BR> points to increase the therapy effect or the relief effect of the diseases, i. e. , the period pains. Also in this case, the acupuncture can be exactly carried out using hand acupuncture or needle bars as the user can exactly find the meridian points indicated by the indication portions of the elastic ruler.

As described above, the user can exactly and rapidly find the meridian points of the corresponding meridian line and stimulate the meridian points using the elastic ruler body, so that the diseases, for example, period pains, can be effectively cured or relieved.

Industrial Applicability As described above, according to the elastic ruler body and a therapy method for diseases using the elastic ruler body of the present invention, the user can easily and exactly find his or her meridian points or other people's ones and attach the pressure bars, the magnetic segments or the T-shaped needles to his/her or other people's meridian points to continuously stimulate the corresponding meridian points, so that the diseases can be effectively cured or relieved.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.