JP3389581B2 - Massage machine - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a massage machine that allows you to set the shoulder position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various techniques have been proposed for measuring different shoulder positions for each user in advance in order to perform an appropriate massage according to the height of the user. For example, in a chair-type massage machine, the massager inside the backrest is automatically moved from top to bottom, the load on the massager when the massager hits the shoulder is detected, and the position where the load is detected is determined. There is a shoulder position that is automatically detected (prior art 1).

Further, in a simple one, the shoulder position is not automatically detected, but the user manually selects a candidate that matches the position of his / her shoulder from among several prepared shoulder position candidates. There is also one that selects (Prior art 2).

[0004]

The prior art 1 seems to be convenient at first glance because the shoulder position can be easily obtained, but in reality, the shoulder position cannot be accurately detected. That is, when the user curls his back and leans forward, the shoulder is away from the backrest, and even if the treatment element descends to the shoulder position, the treatment element does not contact the shoulder. In this case, the treatment element comes into contact with the body at a position considerably below the shoulder, and such a position may be erroneously detected as the shoulder position.

The possibility that the user is leaning forward is particularly high when detecting the shoulder position. This is because the detection of the shoulder position needs to be performed prior to the massage, so that it is performed immediately after the user sits on the massage machine. Immediately after sitting, it is rare that the user's shoulder sits deep enough to touch the backrest, and it is common to sit shallow to lean forward. Immediately after sitting, the user holds the remote control device in his hand or operates the operation plate provided on the armrest to operate the massager. It is easy to lean forward.

As described above, in Prior Art 1, since the shoulder position is automatically detected, the user's consciousness that the shoulder position is being detected is weakened, and the shoulder position is accurately detected. It is almost impossible for the user to correct his posture so that the shoulder position cannot be accurately detected. on the other hand,
In Conventional Technique 2, since the user manually selects a shoulder position candidate that matches his / her shoulder position, the user is actively involved in shoulder position setting, and the problem of Conventional Technique 1 is Few.

[0007] However, if one of the preset shoulder position candidates is selected, it is not always the case that there is a perfect shoulder position candidate for the user's shoulder position. In that case, the closest shoulder position candidate is selected. It will be a choice, and the shoulder position will not be accurate.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and employs the following technical means in order to more accurately set the shoulder position. That is, the present invention provides a massager body, a massager that is provided in the massager body so as to massage the user and is movable in the height direction of the user , and automatically moves the massager. To detect the shoulder position
Shoulder position detecting means, and automatically by the shoulder position detecting means.
A position operation section capable of manually positioning the treatment element from a position that has been manually moved to an arbitrary position ,
The massage machine is provided with a storage unit that stores a position of the treatment element determined by manual operation of the position operation unit as a shoulder position .

According to such a configuration, the user positions the operation section is manually operated, it is possible to position the treatment elements at any position, if positioning the treatment element to the position of the self-minute shoulder, the position is the shoulder The position is stored in the storage unit. At this time, an accurate shoulder position can be set by manually and accurately positioning. Moreover, it seems that the shoulder position is detected by the shoulder position detection means.
Since the treatment element is automatically moved to the position where it is moved , it is not necessary to perform all the movements manually, which facilitates the operation.

The present invention also performs an operation for determining the shoulder position.
When a determination operation unit is operated and the determination operation unit is operated
The position of the treatment element is detected as a shoulder position.
It shall be the. In this case, if the determination operating unit is operated when the treatment element is at the shoulder position, that position is detected as the shoulder position.
It Incidentally, decision operation unit, the reference position may be a dedicated switch just for determining, for example, it may also be used as a switch for other functions such as a massage start switch. When it is also used as a massage start switch, by operating the start switch, the reference position is stored in the storage unit and the massage is started.

Further, the position operation unit and the determination operation unit do not have to be physically present switches, and may be, for example, those that touch the panel based on an instruction on the screen of the touch panel system.

Further, according to the present invention, the treatment element is manually moved.
There is a certain period of time for moving and setting the shoulder position.
The position of the treatment element at the time when that time has elapsed
Is automatically stored in the storage unit as the shoulder position.
Characterize. In this case, the operation of the determination operation unit becomes unnecessary.

Further, according to the present invention, the shoulder position is an automatic treatment command.
It is used for execution of the source.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the external appearance of a massage machine 1 according to the present invention, and this massage machine has a massage machine main body 2 configured in a chair shape. The massage machine main body 2 has a backrest portion 3, a seat portion 4, and a leg rest portion (footrest) 5. The backrest 3 can be reclined manually or automatically by a reclining mechanism (not shown). Further, the footrest 5 is connected to the seat portion 4 so as to be rotatable about a lateral axis,
The footrest can be moved upward by a footrest lifting mechanism (not shown).

Inside the backrest portion 3, there is provided a massage operation unit 7 which is movable in the vertical direction of the backrest portion 3 (in the height direction of the user). The massage operation unit 7 can be moved up and down in the backrest 3 by the movement drive unit 8 and can be stopped at any position in the range from the neck to the waist. The movement driving unit 8 is mainly composed of a screw moving mechanism and a lifting motor 9. The screw moving mechanism has a backrest 3
The nut portion 11 provided on the back side of the operation unit 7 is screwed onto the screw shaft 10 extending in the vertical direction. The lifting motor 9 is arranged at the lower end of the screw shaft, and the screw shaft 10 rotates by the rotation of the lifting motor 9,
The operating unit 7 moves up and down. The left and right sides of the operation unit 7 are guided by lift rails (not shown).

The operation unit 7 includes a massage driving motor 13, a treatment element 14, and rotation of the motor 13 for the treatment element 14.
Massage mechanism 15 for converting into the massage motion of
It has and. Massage mechanism 15 in the present embodiment
Is to generate a hitting motion and a rubbing motion. Two pairs of upper and lower treatment elements 14 are arranged on the left and right,
There are four in total. Upper and lower massagers 14,
The reference numeral 14 is held at both ends of a boomerang-shaped support arm 16, and an intermediate portion (bent portion) in the vertical direction of the support arm 16 is swingably held around a horizontal shaft 16a. The shaft 16a forms a part of the massage mechanism 15, and the support arm 16 is provided with an eccentricity / declination with respect to the shaft 16a. Therefore, when the shaft 16a rotates, the treatment element 14 is rotated.
A rubbing action occurs.

The striking operation occurs when the support arm 1 is moved back and forth around 16a by a mechanism (not shown). The seat 4 and the footrest 5 are provided with air cells 17, 18, 2 as a treatment body for giving a massage.
0 to 31 are provided. These air cells are expanded and contracted by supplying and exhausting air, and the expansion gives a pressure massage to the body. Air to the air cell is supplied by an air pump located below the seat 4,
Air supply / exhaust is controlled by switching an electromagnetic valve provided between each air cell and the air pump.

The air cell provided in the seat portion 4 is for massaging the range from the hip to the thigh,
In the present embodiment, two first air cells 17 provided on the rear side of the seat 4 and a second air cell 18 provided on the front side are arranged. The air cell provided in the footrest 5 is for massaging the range from the calf to the ankle, and in the present embodiment, the air cell is provided on the bottom surface and both side walls of the two grooves 33 into which the left and right legs can be respectively inserted. Twelve 20 to 31 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the lifting motor 9, the massage driving motor 13, and the air circuit C are controlled by a command from a control unit 38 including a microcomputer. The position control of the operation unit 7 (treatment element 14) is
The rotation detector such as a pulse encoder provided in the lifting motor 9 detects the number of rotations of the motor 9 and recognizes the movement position of the operation unit 7 from the movement amount per one rotation. Further, the control unit 38 is provided with a storage unit 39,
It also performs the necessary processing for setting the shoulder position described later. further,
A necessary instruction is given to the control unit 38 from the operation device 40 also shown in FIG.

The operating device 40 includes a lid 4 that can be opened and closed on the operating surface.
1 is provided, and as shown in FIG.
With the open state, various manual operations according to the user's preference are possible, and with the lid 41 closed as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the automatic treatment course can be selected from among a plurality of courses. You can do it. In the following, the lid 41
The state in which is closed will be mainly described. On the front surface side of the lid 41, a course selection portion 42 is provided in the lower half portion thereof, and the display surface portion 44 can be seen through the transparent cover portion 43 in the upper half portion. As the execution pattern of the automatic treatment course, the course selection unit 42 can select a total of 6 patterns of standard courses by independently using the number keys 1 to 6 arranged in an outer ring shape, and at the center of these number keys. A total of 6 patterns of shortened courses can be selected by a combination operation of the shortened mode key and the number keys arranged at.

To give an overview of each course, for example, Course 1 is a fatigue recovery course, in which shoulder metaphor, metaphor, and lung metaphor are massaged in the order of normal pressure, and then renal metaphor is massaged by slow compression. It is a thing. Course 2 is a gastrointestinal improvement course, Course 3 is a bowel movement improvement course, Course 4 is a liver injury improvement course, Course 5 is a back pain improvement course, and Course 6 is a neuralgia improvement course. Is massaged by a predetermined massage method. On the other hand, on the display surface portion 44, a course display portion 45 for displaying that the automatic treatment course is being selected, the number of the selected course, and the like, and the current position of the treatment element 14 are displayed as light emitting points. A position display unit 46, a time-lapse display unit 47 that displays the remaining operation time, a strength display unit 48 that displays the strength of the massage force, and the like are provided.

When the lid 41 of the operating device 40 is opened, the course display section 45 is turned off, and in lieu of this, the "favorite manual course" display is turned on. Also,
An ascending switch 49 and a descending switch 50 are provided at the part hidden by the lid 41 (the part corresponding to the course selecting part 42). The raising switch 49 and the lowering switch 50 are position operation portions of the treatment element 14, and the movement drive portion 8 can be operated only while the pushing operation is performed. It is possible to move 14 by an arbitrary amount.

A power-on portion 52 and a shoulder position determination switch 53 as a reference position determination operation portion are provided on the upper side of the lid 41 of the operating device 40. In the massage machine 1 as described above, the shoulder position is set and massage is performed as follows. When the massager 1 is turned off, the massager 14 is turned off after the massaging element 14 is returned to the uppermost end (origin) of the movable range. Sometimes the treatment child 14
Is at the top of the range of movement. With this massage machine 1
Is equipped with automatic shoulder position detection means
A configuration is adopted in which the treatment element 14 is moved. Shoulder position
Automatically detects the position of the shoulder by the position detection means
Move the treatment element 14 to the
The treatment element 14 is moved to a correct shoulder position by a dynamic operation. You
That is, the lowering switch raising switch 49 and the lowering switch 50 are appropriately operated so that the upper treatment element 14 contacts the shoulder (step S1). In the present invention, all movements
It is easy to operate because it does not need to be done manually.

When the shoulder position determination switch 43 is pressed after the positioning of the treatment element 14 (step S2), the position of the treatment element 14 (the position of the operation unit 7) is detected as the distance A from the seat portion 4. , Shoulder position information is written in the storage unit (step S3). Also, the shoulder position to the memory
In order to remember, set a certain time for shoulder position setting.
Set the time, move the treatment child within that time, and
The position of the treatment element at the time when
It can also be stored in the storage unit. in this case,
The operation of the shoulder position determination switch 43 becomes unnecessary. This completes the shoulder position setting operation. After the shoulder position setting is completed, if the course selection unit 42 is operated to execute the automatic treatment course, an accurate position of the acupoint to be massaged in the treatment course is obtained based on the set shoulder position, and an appropriate position is obtained. Treatment is given.

The acupoint position as the position to be massaged is obtained as follows. First, the acupoint position distribution varies depending on the body type, but even if the size of the body is different, the acupoint position can be determined for the upper half of the body based on the positions of the thoracic vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae, and sacrum vertebrae. . Therefore, if the positions of the user's thoracic vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae, and sacrum vertebrae are obtained, the acupoint positions can be accurately obtained. The positions of the user's thoracic vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae, and sacrum vertebrae are obtained by determining the shoulder position. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, 12 thoracic vertebrae, 5 lumbar vertebrae, and 4 sacral vertebrae are arranged at substantially equal intervals in the spinal column of the human body, and the set shoulder position is It is located at the upper end of the first thoracic vertebra T1. This shoulder position is obtained as a distance A from the seat 4 to the position of the user's shoulder.

Further, the distance D from the seat 4 to the lower end of the fifth lumbar vertebra L5 with the user sitting on the body 2 of the massage machine.
Is constant regardless of the body shape of the user, such as a difference in height, and is considered to be about 15 cm. Therefore, 5th from the shoulder position
In the distance B (= distance [A-D]) to the lumbar vertebra L5, 12 thoracic vertebrae and 5 lumbar vertebrae are arranged at equal intervals.
Therefore, if the distance A is obtained as the shoulder position, the distance D (15 cm) is subtracted from the distance A to obtain the distance B, and [B (1
2 + 5) = B] makes it possible to calculate the vertical width B of one of the thoracic spine, the lumbar spine or the sacrum of the user.

The positions of the acupuncture points (shoulder metaphor to the next level) of the upper half of the body, for example, the position of the lung metaphor, are near the fourth thoracic vertebra T4, and the position of the metaphor can be calculated from the shoulder position and B. The control unit 40 determines the massage operation unit 7 based on this calculated value.
Is moved up and down, the treatment element 14 is positioned at the acupoint position, and massage is performed. It should be noted that another example of the method of obtaining the position of the acupuncture point when the shoulder position is obtained is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
It is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 243982. Also, the shoulder position is not only used to determine the acupoint position, but for example, since it is not necessary to massage above the shoulder position,
It can also be used for control such that the treatment element 14 does not move upward from the set shoulder position. Further, the shoulder position information can be used for various controls as needed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the body of the massage machine is not limited to the chair type, but may be a mat type or a bed type.

[0029]

According to the present invention, the shoulder position can be accurately set, and massage can be performed more appropriately.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a massage machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the massage machine.

3A and 3B show an operating device, in which FIG. 3A is a state in which a lid is opened and FIG. 3B is a state in which the lid is closed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing positioning of a treatment element on a shoulder.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure for shoulder position setting.

FIG. 6 is a posterior trunk view showing the thoracic spine, lumbar spine, sacral spine, and acupoint positions of the spinal column of the human body.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 massage machine 2 Massage machine body 7 Massage operation unit 8 Moving drive 9 Lifting motor 14 treatment child 38 Control unit 39 Storage 40 Operating device 49 Lift switch (position operation part) 50 Down switch (position operation part) 52 Shoulder position determination switch

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61H 7/00 A61H 15/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A massager body, a massager provided on the massager body for giving a massage to a user and movable in the height direction of the user, and the massager is automatically moved. Shoulder position to detect the shoulder position
From the position detection means and the position automatically moved by the shoulder position detection means
A storage unit for storing a position operating unit which can be positioned in any position by manual operation of the massaging head, provided with the position of the treatment element that is determined by the manual operation of the position operating unit as shoulder position A massager characterized by being 2. A determination operation section for performing an operation for determining the shoulder position
Provided, the position of the treatment element when the determination operation unit is operated
The shoulder position is detected.
Massage machine. 3. A shoulder position by manually moving the treatment element.
There is a fixed time for setting, and at that time
The position of the treatment element at the time when the interval has passed is the shoulder position
Claims for automatically storing in the storage unit
Item 1. A massager according to item 1. 4. The shoulder position is used for execution of an automatic treatment course.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that
Massage machine listed.