JP4285083B2 - Massage machine - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a massage machine, and more particularly to a massage machine provided with stiffness detection means for detecting stiffness of a human body.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-88145 discloses a massage machine that determines whether or not a treatment target region is stiff when performing a treatment operation on a human body, and performs the treatment operation based on the determination result.
[0003]
In this massage machine, it is possible to control the amount of treatment according to the degree of stiffness, such as performing many treatment operations for the stiff areas and performing only a light treatment operation for the stiff areas.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-88145
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The stiffness detection means in the above massage machine determines stiffness based on the repulsive force (pressing force) when the treatment element is pushed into the human body for a certain distance, but this value is only for the degree of stiffness. In many cases, an erroneous determination is made due to bones located relatively shallow or deep from the skin surface.
[0006]
For this purpose, the present applicant, in Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-246747, is a treatment element that performs a treatment operation by pressing the human body, and a stiffness detection means that detects the stiffness state of the human body by pressing the contact element against the human body. The stiffness detecting means includes a driving means for pushing the contact toward the human body, a pushing distance detecting means for detecting a pushing distance of the contact, and a pressing force applied to the contact. We proposed a massage machine equipped with a pressing force detection means, and a calculation means for obtaining a stiff state from changes in the pushing distance and changes in the pressing force. More specifically, the stiff state is obtained from the amount of change in the pressing force with respect to the amount of change in the pressing distance and the area of the hysteresis curve of the change in pressing force with respect to the change in the pressing distance when the contact is reciprocated.
[0007]
In this case, it is possible to carry out accurate stiffness determination without being affected by the subcutaneous bone, compared to the case where stiffness is judged from the value of the pressing force at a certain indentation distance. It is also possible to determine the depth and degree of the.
[0008]
However, when searching for a stiff place on the entire back of the human body, it will repeat the operation of pushing the contactor toward the human body for each part and measuring the pushing distance and the change in pressing force between them. It takes a considerable amount of time.
[0009]
The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a massage machine that can quickly and accurately determine the stiff position of a human body and perform a treatment operation.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Therefore, the present invention is a massage machine comprising a treatment element that performs a treatment operation by pressing a human body, and a stiffness detection means that detects the stiffness state of the human body by pressing the contact element against the human body, Stiffness detecting means includes a driving means for pushing the contact toward the human body, a pushing distance detecting means for detecting the pushing distance of the contact, a pressing force detecting means for measuring the pushing force applied to the contact, and a change in the pushing distance. And calculating means for obtaining a stiff state from the change in pressing force, and driving means for changing the position where the contact is in contact with the human body while maintaining contact between the contact and the human body, performs provisional judgment stiffness position from a continuous measurement by pressing force detecting means of the pressing force changes between the contactors to change the position in contact with the human body by the driving by the driving means, above provisionally determined the stiffness position For the output of the distance detecting means and the pressing force detecting means pushing drives the contact and performs the determination of the stiffness by a driving means for lump and, provisional capable of rapidly scanning the body of each portion By determining the stiff state from the change in the push-in distance and the change in the pressing force at the location where it is determined that there is stiffness in the determination operation, accurate stiffness determination can be performed.
[0011]
At this time, if the contact is capable of rolling in the direction of changing the contact position with the human body by the driving means, the temporary determination of the stiff position by continuous measurement can be performed smoothly.
[0012]
In addition, continuous measurement of the change in pressing force while changing the position where the contact is in contact with the human body is performed with a constant preload applied to the contact. Provisional determination can be performed smoothly, and driving means for driving the contact element in the vertical direction along the human body and drive means for driving the contact element in the width direction of the human body are provided. If the operation of continuously measuring the change in pressing force while changing the position of the contactor is performed by changing the position of the contactor in the width direction with the human body, Judgment can be made.
[0013]
And a plurality of contacts arranged at different positions in the width direction of the human body, and a drive means for driving the contacts in the vertical direction along the human body, and the pressing force detection means is configured to If the change in the pressing force during the change of the position of the contactor is continuously measured, provisional determination of stiffness of a wide area on the back of the human body can be performed in a shorter time.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an example of the embodiment. The massage machine shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 has two kinds of treatment elements 1 and 4 arranged in a pair on the left and right in the back portion of the chair. Both treatment elements 1, 1 located on the inner side can be moved back and forth by a linear actuator 3, and both treatment elements 4, 4 located on the outer side can be moved back and forth by a solenoid 5 and a return spring 6. Yes. In addition, the frame 62 supporting the actuator 3 of the treatment element 1 and the frame 61 supporting the solenoid 5 of the treatment element 4 are integrally coupled so as to be rotatable around the axis of the shaft 39 and in the axial direction. A pair of frames 62 and 62 are slidably arranged, and are connected to a pair of nuts 41 and 41 respectively screwed into a right screw portion and a left screw portion of the screw shaft 36.
[0015]
The frames 61 and 62 receive the rotational output of the motor 7 via the speed reduction wheel trains 30, 31, 32 and 34 and rotate around the shaft 39 to change the protruding direction of the treatment elements 1 and 4 up and down. To do. Further, the rotation of the motor 9 as the driving means is transmitted to the screw shaft 36 via the speed reduction means 35, so that the treatment elements 1, 4 provided in a pair on the left and right slide to the left and right, respectively. The interval between the treatment elements 4 and 4 changes. Further, when the rotation of the motor 11 serving as the driving means is transmitted to the pinion 40 meshing with the rack 42 disposed vertically in the backrest portion through the speed reduction portions 37 and 38, the treatment elements 1 and 4 follow the backrest portion. Move up and down. Therefore, the treatment elements 1 and 4 can be treated at any position on the back of the human body by changing their positions vertically and horizontally, and by rotating the frames 61 and 62, the treatment elements 1 and 4 can be treated with respect to the treatment surface. The treatment elements 1 and 4 can always be brought into contact with each other vertically. Furthermore, the encoders 8, 10, 12 attached to the motors 7, 9, 11 can detect the vertical and horizontal positions and the vertical direction of the treatment elements 1, 4.
[0016]
Here, the treatment element 1 for acupressure massage is driven back and forth by the linear actuator 3 as described above, and the treatment element 1 is moved linearly by the rotation of a stepping motor, for example. The actuator 3 can be used to control and measure the movement distance of the treatment element 1 so that the actuator 3 can also serve as a push-in distance detection means, and as shown in FIG. A force sensor 2 composed of a load cell is arranged so that the force with which the treatment element 1 pushes the human body can be measured. The reason why the load cell is used for the force sensor 2 as the pressing force detection means is that the load can be directly measured with a small size and light weight. Of course, the detection means may be provided separately from the treatment element 1.
[0017]
FIG. 5 shows a block circuit diagram of a stiffness detection system in this massage machine. The hardness calculation processor C1 in the figure shows the human body from the outputs of the pushing distance detecting means and the pressing force detecting means (force sensor 2). We are looking for hardness. That is, when detecting stiffness, the treatment element 1 that is a contactor is caused to protrude and the output of the force sensor 2 is monitored at this time, and a certain pushing distance is reached after the treatment element 1 contacts the skin surface. The ratio (inclination) between the increase amount L of the pushing distance from the time point and the change amount Fx during the increase in the distance detected by the force sensor 2 is obtained, and is this ratio equal to or greater than a predetermined value K? Determine if there is stiffness in that part of the human body. When the hardness is stiff and hard, the value of Fx / L is increased, and when it is soft and not stiff, the value of Fx / L is decreased. . It has been experimentally determined that the value of K can be a value of K = 100 (x10 ⁶ ) dyne / cm ^{3 in} the case of the shoulder of a human body and the stiffness of the muscular hard joint.
[0018]
The above determination based on the value of Fx / L is performed in the process of projecting the treatment element 1, but may be performed in the process of pulling back the treatment element 1 that is largely projected. When the human body is stiff and stiff, the return of the human body is slow because the elasticity is lost, and the value of Fb / L increases, and if there is no stiffness, the human body is pushed in as the treatment element 1 returns. This is because the value of Fa / L becomes small because the portion that has been recovered immediately returns.
[0019]
In addition, the change in pressing force detected at a certain pressing distance draws a hysteresis curve that becomes smaller when retracted than when pressed because of the viscosity and elasticity of human skin and muscles. It is also possible to obtain the area to be determined and determine whether the area is larger than a predetermined value.
[0020]
The above stiffness determination is the same as that of the above-mentioned application by the present applicant, but such stiffness determination is performed by projecting and pushing the treatment element 1 at a certain position, so that the entire back surface of the human body is determined. In order to detect where the stiffness is, the operation of changing the position of the treatment element 1 and pushing it in is repeated, and a considerable time is required as a whole.
[0021]
For this reason, prior to the stiffness determination by the above operation, a stiff position temporary determination operation described below is performed. That is moved up and down while applying a constant preload in conjunction contacting the treatment element 1 on the back of the human body, is to continuously measure the change in the reaction force during this period by the force sensor 2. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the hardness calculation processor C <b> 1 makes a temporary determination of stiffness based on the magnitude of the reaction force, and stores the position where it is temporarily determined that there is stiffness. Then, at the position where it is tentatively determined that there is stiffness in the above operation, the final judgment of stiffness due to the pushing operation of the treatment element 1 is performed.
[0022]
In the provisional determination, the treatment element 1 is moved up and down in a state where the pretreatment is applied to the treatment element 1, so that the time required for the temporary determination of stiffness is short, and this determination is stiff. Therefore, the time required for detecting the stiff portion can be reduced as a whole, although the temporary determination operation is performed redundantly. Furthermore, although the accuracy of the stiffness determination is low in the provisional determination, it is possible to accurately know whether or not the accuracy is actually determined by the subsequent main determination.
[0023]
In the provisional determination, it may be determined that the place where the reaction force is extremely large is not a stiffness but is a bone, and may be excluded from a place where the operation for the main determination of stiffness is performed.
[0024]
Here, the treatment element 1 has a roller shape, and the treatment element 1 rolls when the treatment element 1 is moved up and down so that the provisional determination operation can be performed smoothly. Because.
[0025]
In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the vertical movement during the temporary determination operation can be performed quickly by changing the left and right positions of the treatment element 1 and repeatedly detecting stiffness in a wide area on the back of the body. Further, in treatment element 4 which is a treatment element 1 are located at different places in the right and left in the width direction, if provided with a similar force sensor 2 and the treatment element 1, as shown in FIG. 8, once In addition, since data for stiffness determination can be obtained at a number of locations, the stiffness determination operation can be performed in a shorter time.
[0026]
In the flowchart shown in FIG. 1, a place where the stiffness is detected after the provisional judgment of stiffness and the judgment operation of the stiffness are performed and the judgment result of the stiffness state is displayed on the display D made of a liquid crystal display or the like. By performing the treatment for, and then again displaying the stiffness detection and the judgment result of the stiffness state for the stiff part, it is possible to make the user recognize how the stiffness state has changed before and after treatment. It shows what I did. “Teaching” in the figure means collecting data for the provisional determination.
[0027]
Further, here, the data of the pushing distance and pressing force of each part of the human body in the massage machine can be accumulated as personal data and used as a medical database. The user can know the long-term transition of the stiff state. At this time, treatment is performed in consideration of the tendency of each user's stiffness and the degree of stiffness by performing a treatment operation that accumulates data for each user and changes the treatment position based on the accumulated data. An action can be performed, which means that a massage program specific to each user has been created. It can also be used as a diagnostic machine for confirming the effects of treatments other than massage.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the present invention, the stiffening state is obtained from the change in the push-in distance and the change in the pressing force with respect to the portion that is determined to be stiff by the provisional determination operation that can quickly scan each part of the human body. By performing accurate stiffness determination, it is possible to quickly and accurately know the stiffness status of each part of the human body.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the operation of an example of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the massage mechanism of the above.
FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the same massage mechanism unit.
FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the treatment element of the same.
FIG. 5 is a block circuit diagram of the above.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram related to the provisional determination described above.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a movement locus of the treatment element at the time of the temporary determination.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a movement locus of a treatment element in another example same as above.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 treatment element (contact)
2 Force sensor 3 Actuator

Claims (5)

A massage machine comprising a treatment element that performs a treatment operation by pressing a human body, and a stiffness detection means that detects a stiffness state of the human body by pressing and contacting a contact with the human body, wherein the stiffness detection means is a contact Driving means for pushing the child toward the human body, pushing distance detecting means for detecting the pushing distance of the contact, pressing force detecting means for measuring the pushing force applied to the contact, changes in the pushing distance and changes in the pushing force, Calculating means for obtaining a stiff state from the driving means, and driving means for changing the position where the contact is in contact with the human body while maintaining contact between the contact and the human body, and the calculating means is driven by the driving means. contact makes a provisional decision stiffness position from a continuous measurement by pressing force detecting means of the pressing force changes between changing the position in contact with the human body, driving the hands for pushing above provisionally determined the stiffness position Massage machine which is characterized in that performs this determination of stiffness from the output of the distance detecting means and the pressing force detecting means pushing drives the contact with.     2. The massage machine according to claim 1, wherein the contact is capable of rolling in the direction of changing the contact position with the human body by the driving means.     The continuous measurement of the pressing force change while changing the position where the contact is in contact with the human body is performed with a constant preload applied to the contact. Massage machine.     A driving means for driving the contact element in the vertical direction along the human body; and a driving means for driving the contact element in the width direction of the human body. The massage machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the operation of continuously measuring the pressure change is performed by changing the position of the contact in the width direction with the human body.     A plurality of contacts arranged at different positions in the width direction of the human body, and a drive means for driving these contacts in the vertical direction along the human body, and the pressing force detection means is a plurality of the contacts in the vertical direction. The massage machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a change in pressing force during the change of the position is continuously measured.

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