JP4242736B2 - Air massager - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an air massager used for recovery from fatigue in medical treatment, aesthetic work, and home.

  In hand massage by a masseur in the treatment of normal lymphedema, for example, in the case of the arm, first massage is performed from the armpit that is the armpit, and in the case of the leg from the buttocks that is the base of the leg. After improving sufficiently, the massage is gradually performed to the peripheral part, and finally the edema of the entire arm or leg is removed.

  As described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the massage pattern of this conventional air massager is sequentially from the air bag S in the cuff (compression bag) and the air bag S at the terminal as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 12, the number of air bags S to be supplied is sequentially increased, and when all the air bags S are supplied, all the air bags S are exhausted all at once. It has been.

However, all of these massagers are provided with massage means that rubs monotonously from one end to the other, and are less effective than hand massage.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 53-17673 Japanese Utility Model Publication No.59-6832

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and gradually expand the range of the expansion and contraction of the air bag on the side with the larger peripheral length to the smaller side, thereby gradually squeezing the central portion and then gradually The object is to provide an air massager capable of performing massage.

In order to achieve the above object, an air massager according to the present invention has a plurality of independent air bags arranged along the longitudinal direction of an actuated body, and the air bag is wound around the actuated body. A cuff having a peripheral length gradually reduced along the longitudinal direction, a switching valve device for individually supplying and exhausting air to the air bag, a pneumatic pressure source device connected to the switching valve device, and a first operation pattern And a control means for driving the switching valve device to alternately operate the second operation pattern, and the first operation pattern includes a plurality of air bags on the larger peripheral length side. The operation of intermittently expanding and contracting sequentially from the small side to the large side is repeated a predetermined number of times or for a predetermined time, and the second operation pattern is the next after the end of the previous first operation pattern. The empty pattern to perform the operation of The scope of the bag, characterized in that to execute again the first operation pattern by expanding the air bag of the side perimeter is small.

The air massager of the present invention is effective in eliminating edema by starting repeated repetition of expansion / contraction from an air bag having a large perimeter, and gradually expanding the range of expansion / contraction to a smaller side. A hand massage similar to that used in edema treatment can be performed.

  In addition, the combination of multiple air bags and pneumatic circuits allows a number of operation patterns to be combined. Each air bag can be maintained at a predetermined pressure, achieving a reliable massage effect and greatly increasing the burden on the user. Can be reduced.

  The range of expansion / contraction of the air bag by the switching valve device is repeated starting from the air bag having the larger perimeter and gradually expanding to the air bag on the smaller side.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a basic pneumatic circuit. A solenoid three-way valve 3 is connected to an air supply pipe 2 for supplying air compressed by a compressor 1, and air pressure is detected in the supply pipe 2. A pressure sensor 4 is attached. In addition to the supply port, the solenoid three-way valve 3 has a ventilation port and an exhaust port that are alternatively selected. Solenoid two-way valves 6 to 8 are connected in parallel to the supply pipe 5 connected to the ventilation port. These solenoid two-way valves 6 to 8 are connected to air bags 9 to 11 that are expanded and contracted by air pressure. The compressor 1, the three-way valve 3, and the two-way valves 6 to 8 are individually operated according to commands from the control means.

For example, to inflate the air bag 9, the compressor 1 is operated, the three-way valve 3 is switched to the vent, the two-way valve 6 is opened, the two-way valves 7 and 8 are closed, the three-way valve 3, and the supply pipe 5 The compressed air from the compressor 1 is fed into the air bag 9 through the two-way valve 6 to inflate the air bag 9. When the detection signal of the pressure sensor 4 reaches a predetermined magnitude, the two-way valve 6 is closed and the air bag 9 holds its expansion. When the air bag 9 is contracted, when the two-way valve 6 is opened and the three-way valve 3 is switched to the exhaust port, the air in the air bag 9 passes through the two-way valve 6, the supply pipe 5 , and the three-way valve 3. Exhausted.

  FIG. 2 shows an example in which two sets of pneumatic circuits 21 and 22 are used in parallel, and every six adjacent air bags 23 to 28 are connected to other pneumatic circuits 21 and 22. When the six air bags 23 to 28 are wound along the longitudinal direction of the actuating body in consideration of being worn on the actuating body of the arm or the lower limb, the peripheral length is the air bag at the end. 28 is the maximum, and gradually decreases toward the air bag 23.

  The two pneumatic circuits 21 and 22 share the compressor 1 and the sensor 4, and the configuration of other members is the same as that of the pneumatic circuit of FIG. 1, and the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 indicate the same members. Further, the compressor 1, the sensor 4, the three-way valve 3, 3 ', the two-way valve 6-8, 6'-8', a command signal for individually controlling the operation, a detection signal for detecting the operation, The control means 29 can transmit and receive.

  A case where air bags 27 and air bags 28 are alternately supplied and exhausted will be described with reference to a time chart shown in FIG. First, in order to supply air to the air bladder 27, the three-way valves 3, 3 'of the pneumatic circuits 21, 22 are switched to the ventilation side in the state where the compressor 1 is operated, the two-way valve 8 is opened, the two-way valve 6, 7, 6 ′ to 8 ′ are closed, and when the pressure preset by the control means 29 and the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 4 become equal, the two-way valve 8 is closed, the compressor 1 is further stopped, and the air The expansion of the bag 27 is maintained.

  Next, in order to supply air to the air bag 28 while maintaining the pressure of the air bag 27, the compressor 1 is operated again, the two-way valve 8 'is opened, and the pressure by the pressure sensor 4 becomes a predetermined pressure. Occasionally, the two-way valve 8 ′ is closed to stop the compressor 1, and the inflation of the air bladder 28 is maintained.

  At this time, the two-way valve 8 is opened and the three-way valve 3 is switched to the exhaust port, so that the air in the air bag 27 is supplied to the air bag 27 by the air pressure circuit 21 during the air supply to the air bag 28 by the air pressure circuit 22. It becomes possible to evacuate from. Furthermore, the two-way valve 8 'is opened after a lapse of a certain time, the three-way valve 3' is switched to the exhaust port, and the air in the air bag 28 is exhausted from the three-way valve 3 '. That is, the adjacent air bags 27 and 28 can be inflated and contracted independently.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram when the air bags 23 to 28 are sequentially supplied and exhausted. As shown in the time chart of FIG. 3, the operation / stop of the compressor 1, the three-way valves 3, 3 ′, By opening and closing the direction valves 6 to 8 and 6 'to 8', two adjacent air bags of the air bags 23 to 28 can be operated as a pair.

  5 to 10 show specific operation examples for the air bag. First, as in phase 1 shown in FIG. 5, the expansion / contraction of only the air bag 28 is repeated a predetermined number of times or for a predetermined time. This phase 1 is performed prior to the following phase 2 to phase 6, but this phase 1 may be omitted and the next phase 2 may be started.

  Next, the process proceeds to phase 2 shown in FIG. 6. In this phase 2, the air bags 28 and 27 are operated independently. However, there are time zones in which both are inflated and time zones in which both are deflated. Then, over time, the air bag 27 having a small peripheral length starts to inflate and shifts to the air bag 28, so that the object is swung up from the small diameter side to the large diameter side. When the repetition of the predetermined number of times or the predetermined time is completed in the state of phase 2, the process proceeds to phase 3.

  In the phase 3 shown in FIG. 7, there is a time zone in which the range of the inflating / deflating air bag is expanded to the air bag 26 and the adjacent air bags 26 and 27 and the air bags 27 and 28 are inflated simultaneously. There is a time zone in which all of .about.28 are contracted, and the operation is performed so that the expansion / contraction is transferred from the air bag 26 side to the air bag 28 side. Also in this phase 3, when the repetition of the predetermined number of times or the predetermined time ends, the process proceeds to the next phase 4.

  In the phase 4 shown in FIG. 8, the range of the working air bag is expanded to the air bag 25, the operation is expanded to the air bag 24 in the phase 5 shown in FIG. 9, and the air bag 23 is expanded in the phase 6 shown in FIG. 3 is performed. When these series of operations are completed, the operation may be started again by returning to phase 1 or phase 2.

In this way, the two pneumatic circuits 21 and 22 separated by the three-way valves 3 and 3 ′ are separately used, and the air supply and exhaust of the air bags 23 to 28 can be executed while sequentially expanding the range. In the human body, it is possible to perform a massage performed by a masseur while gradually expanding the range from a portion close to the center position of the body, that is, a central portion to a peripheral portion.

  In the first embodiment, the number of air bags is six. However, there is no problem even if other than six air bags are used. Further, the number of pneumatic circuits is not limited to the first embodiment.

It is a block diagram of a basic pneumatic circuit. It is a block diagram using two pneumatic circuits. It is a time chart figure. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of an air bag. FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram of phase 1; FIG. 11 is an operation explanatory diagram of phase 2. FIG. 11 is an operation explanatory diagram of phase 3; FIG. 10 is an operation explanatory diagram of phase 4; FIG. 11 is an operation explanatory diagram of phase 5. FIG. 10 is an operation explanatory diagram of phase 6; It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of a prior art example. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of another prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Compressor 2, 5 Air supply pipe 3 Three-way valve 4 Pressure sensor 6-8 Two-way valve 9-11, 23-28 Air bag 21, 22 Pneumatic circuit 29 Control means

Claims (4)

A plurality of independent air bags are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the actuated body, and a cuff in which the peripheral length when the air bag is wound around the actuated body is gradually reduced along the longitudinal direction; A switching valve device for individually supplying and exhausting air to the air bag; a pneumatic pressure source device connected to the switching valve device; and a first operation pattern and a second operation pattern for driving the switching valve device. and a control means for operating alternately the first operation pattern is intermittently sequentially expand and contract toward the larger side a plurality of air bag larger side of the perimeter of the smaller side of the perimeter The second operation pattern is the range of the air bag in which the first operation pattern is to be performed next after the end of the previous first operation pattern. Expand the air bag on the small side and again Air massager, characterized in that to execute the serial first operation pattern.   The control means executes a third operation pattern that repeats a predetermined number of times or a predetermined time of an operation of inflating and deflating the air bag having the larger peripheral length before executing the first and second operation patterns. Item 1. An air massager according to item 1.   The air massager according to claim 1, wherein the adjacent air bags are operated by the different switching valve devices.   4. The air massager according to claim 3, wherein the switching valve device includes one three-way valve that supplies and exhausts air and a two-way valve that is connected to each air bag.

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