AT508627B1 - WELLNESS FACILITY - Google Patents

Abstract

In a bed-like construction (1), in particular for the wellness area, consisting of a lying unit (2) and above the lying unit (2) provided ceiling unit (3), wherein the lying unit (2) with filling material (12) is filled and wherein in the ceiling unit (3) a lighting device (4) for generating optical impressions (white light and colored light) is provided and wherein a scenting device (8, 22, 23) is provided for generating olfactory impressions and wherein an acoustic device (9, 10 , 11) is provided for generating acoustic impressions and wherein a heating device (13) for heating the filling material (12) in the lying unit (2) is provided, and is thus provided for generating deep heat that the heating device (13) as Faraday cage (14, 20) is formed, in which both a heating mat (16) and at least one sensor (17, 18, 19) of a safety shutdown device are provided.

Description

Austrian Patent Office AT508 627 B1 2011-05-15

description

WELLNESS FACILITY

The invention relates to a bed-like construction, especially for the wellness area, consisting of a lying unit and a ceiling unit provided above the lying unit, wherein the lying unit is filled with filling material and wherein in the ceiling unit, a lighting device for generating optical impressions is provided and wherein a scenting device is provided for generating olfactory impressions and wherein an acoustic device is provided for generating acoustic impressions and wherein a heating device for heating the filling material is provided in the lying unit.

Such a spa facility is known from the document AT 006 313 U1. In the well-known spa facility, users can relax lying on a lounger by light, acoustic and olfactory impressions. The lying unit is formed by an aluminum / steel construction and has a heating device. The heating device is formed by a heatable trough, is provided in the quartz sand in a heating mat was inserted. The heating mat is heated by electricity and heats the quartz sand to, for example, 38 degrees Celsius, whereby the well-being effect can be improved.

In the known wellness device has proved to be a disadvantage that the heating device is prone to error and sometimes even accident dangerous. It has been shown that after a large number of treatments in the quartz sand, the heating mat slowly migrates upwards and, finally, was even visible on the surface of the quartz sand. This can cause overheating of the skin of the user and increased wear of the electrical insulation of the heating mat.

Furthermore, has proved to be a disadvantage that the quartz sand the electrical insulation of the heating mat durchscheuert until the bare heating wire comes to light. It has even come several times that the heating wire has been worn through and the heating device has failed due to a short circuit. However, it would be even more dangerous if the bare heating wire caused a fire or a user were electrified.

Furthermore, it has proved to be a disadvantage of the known wellness device that the current-carrying heating mat emits an electromagnetic field in which the user of the spa facility is located. Purposefully applied and deliberately provided electromagnetic fields can contribute to the relaxation, but the electromagnetic field arbitrarily emitted by the heating mat is to be classified as disadvantageous. This particular because the heating mat depending on whether it must be further heated or the desired temperature has already been reached, the heating mat is switched on and off, regardless of whether possibly just an electromagnetic field of certain strength and frequency the well-being effect of the user could increase.

Such an apparatus for warming up patients is also known from the document EP 0 018 502 B1. The heating takes place by means of Flächenheizleitern, wherein a grounded metal foil for shielding and a residual current circuit breaker are provided. This known device also has security risks for the user.

The invention is therefore an object of the invention to provide a bed-like construction for the spa area with a heating device, in which the above-mentioned disadvantages are avoided.

The invention solves the problem in that the heating device is designed as a Faraday shear cage in which both a heating mat and at least one sensor of a safety shutdown device are provided. This gives the advantage that electromagnetic fields are shielded by the Faraday cage by the user. Furthermore, it is ensured by the heating mat provided in the Faraday cage that even in the case of a defect, the heating mat can never deliver electrical power to the user, since the electric current would be dissipated in the worst case on the Faraday cage.

Furthermore, the provision of the three sensors (temperature sensors) having safety shutdown device has the advantage that continuously relevant values of the heating device can be monitored and in the case of an atypical value, which could indicate a defect of the heating mat, the heating device of the Sicherheitsabschalteinrichtung is switched off. It is particularly advantageous if in addition a fault current sensor is provided, which monitors whether the heating mat supplied current values is higher than the rated current of the heating blanket and are and thus indicate a defect of the heating mat. Also in this case, the heating mat is switched off for safety reasons.

By embedding the heating mat in the product has the advantage that changes in temperature slowly go on and the introduced via the heating mat heat energy is stored long in the medium.

By embedding a sensor in the upper Füllgutschicht the advantage is obtained that the sensor is not separated by the Füllgutschicht of the heating mat directly applied to the heating mat and so can measure the stored temperature in the Füllgutschicht particularly good.

By providing an insulating layer between the Faraday cage and the Füllgutschichten it is ensured that in the case of a short circuit in the heating mat no electric current to the Faraday cage, whereby the user is particularly safe shielded.

By providing a temperature sensor, the safety shutdown device can switch off the heating mat when a certain maximum temperature is exceeded.

By providing a fault current sensor for the current through the heating mat, the safety shutdown device can switch off the heating mat when a certain maximum value of the determined Storm value is exceeded.

It is particularly advantageous to provide a foam insert over the heating device, which covers the area of the head to below the buttocks of the user. The foam insert is over-filled and filled in the further layer structure of the reclining unit with filling material, whereby the user, where the main part of his weight comes to rest, can be sprung from the foam insert.

The illumination device is formed particularly advantageous by providing light-emitting diodes. The LEDs are energy efficient, durable and can play a variety of lighting effects particularly appealing or have a high color saturation.

It is also advantageous to form the scenting device with, for example, ten different scented cartridges. A control device controls depending on the desired olfactory impression or fragrance, the fragrance from each of the fragrance cartridges. The fragrance cartridges can be replaced individually.

A control device allows different therapy programs with different scents, light impressions or light colors and music styles to select. It is particularly advantageous if new therapy programs or other software updates for the control device are stored in a removable memory card (for example a CF card) and can be easily exchanged by the service technician of the wellness device.

It is furthermore advantageous to provide a standby operating mode of the wellness device in which the scenting device of the wellness device is deactivated, but the illumination device and possibly also the acoustics device are activated and the whirlpool is AT508 627B1 2011-05-15 ness facility, for example, at a trade fair or in a room.

FIG. 1 shows a wellness device in an oblique view.

FIG. 2 shows the wellness device according to FIG. 1 in a further oblique view.

FIG. 3 shows a sheet metal tray of the wellness device according to FIG. 1, in which the

Heating device is provided.

FIG. 4 shows the sheet-metal tub according to FIG. 3, in which a first quartz sand support has been introduced.

FIG. 5 shows the sheet-metal tub according to FIG. 3, in which a heating mat has been inserted.

FIG. 6 shows the sheet-metal tub according to FIG. 3, in which a second quartz sand support has been introduced, in which three sensors are embedded.

FIG. 7 shows the sheet-metal tub according to FIG. 3, in which a partition plate has been inserted.

FIG. 8 shows the sheet-metal tub according to FIG. 3, in which a foam insert has been inserted.

Figure 9 shows the spa device according to Figure 1 in a further oblique view, in which the cover of the scenting device was removed.

Figure 10 shows a plug-in unit of a perfume cartridge including associated Steuereinrich device.

Figure 1 shows a spa facility 1, which forms a bed-like construction for the spa area. With the wellness device 1, a deep heat therapy to a user is feasible, with the positive effects can be achieved in particular for all dispositions of the musculoskeletal system and in muscle tension and blockages. The wellness device 1 has a lying unit 2 and a ceiling unit 3.

In the ceiling unit 3, a lighting device 4 is provided, wherein in Figure 1, only a homogenizing of the lighting device 4 is shown. The homogenizer unifies the light of many provided under the homogenizer LEDs to a uniform light surface. One provided in the ceiling unit 3 control device of the wellness device, of which only the keypad 5 is shown in Figure 1 together with display 6, among other things controls the color and light intensity of the light emitted by the LEDs. As a result, a variety of lighting effects can be achieved, which support the therapy effect and pleasantly calming effect on the user.

The wellness device 1 further comprises a scenting device for generating olfactory impressions or for generating scents. The scenting device is provided in a footwell 7 of the wellness device 1 behind a grille 8, which will be discussed in more detail with reference to FIGS 9 and 10.

The wellness device 1 further comprises an acoustic device, which is formed by a CD player, a radio, an MP3 player and a tape recorder and associated speakers 9 and 10 and provided in the footwell subwoofer. FIG. 2 shows an input device for the acoustic device formed by a jogging control 11. In an automatic mode, the control device specifies a specific music depending on the selected therapy program. The user can regulate the volume according to his needs with this jogg control 11 and, if necessary, also switch the music to silent.

The lying unit 2 of the wellness device 1 is constructed in several layers, wherein some of these layers are formed by filling material, in particular quartz sand 12. The lying unit 2 further has a heating device 13 for heating the quartz sand 12, whereby the lying surface of the lying unit 2 can be heated depending on the therapy program for the user. The heating device 13 is now advantageously designed as a Faraday cage, in which both a heating mat and at least one sensor of a safety shut-off device are provided. The structure of the lying unit 2 is shown in more detail in Figures 3 to 8. FIG. 3 shows a sheet metal trough 14 of the lying unit 2, in which an insulating plate 15 has been inserted into the sheet metal trough 14 as an insulating layer. The insulating plate 15 ensures that the heating mat provided in the further construction of the lying unit 2 can in no case reach the metal of the sheet-metal tub 14, whereby the risk of accidents is drastically reduced by electric shocks.

According to Figure 4 quartz sand 12 was poured onto the insulating plate 15, which forms a lower Füllgutschicht. As shown in Figure 5, the heating mat 16 is placed on the quartz sand 12, whereupon a further layer of quartz sand 12 is emptied onto the heating mat 16, which forms an upper Füllgutschicht. By embedding the heating mat 16 between the lower and upper Füllgutschicht the advantage is obtained that temperature changes through the heating mat 16 slowly go on and the heat energy is stored long in the quartz sand 12.

In Figure 6, a first sensor 17, a second sensor 18 and a third sensor 19 are shown, which were inserted into the quartz sand 12 and which are connected to the control device of the wellness device 1. The first sensor 17 is a temperature sensor that continuously measures the temperature in the quartz sand 12. If the measured temperature value communicated to the control device is less than a predetermined minimum temperature value for the therapy program, then the control device activates the heating mat 16. If, on the other hand, the measured temperature value transmitted to the control device is higher than a temperature preset for the therapy program. If the measured temperature value still rises, then it can only be a malfunction or a defect of the heating mat 16, which is why in this case also the control device immediately deactivates the heating mat. By reading out a memory of the control device, a service technician can read the reason for the shutdown and carry out suitable exchanges of the devices of the wellness device 1.

The second sensor 18 is a further temperature sensor which measures the temperature (minimum value monitoring) by the heating mat 16 and, if the measured values are too low, the control device likewise immediately deactivates the heating mat. The third sensor 19 forms an additional temperature sensor which checks whether the temperature values measured by the first sensor 17 and the temperature values measured by the second sensor 18 match and are therefore correct. If different values are measured, or one of the temperature sensors is not working properly, the heating mat is also immediately deactivated by the control unit.

By providing the three sensors 17, 18 and 19 it is ensured that a malfunction of the heating mat 16 is reliably detected and provided in the control device Sicherheitsabschalteinrichtung reliably switches off the heating mat. It is particularly advantageous that even if one of the three sensors 17, 18 or 19 has a malfunction or is even completely broken, reliable safety monitoring is still ensured.

In Figure 7, the deck unit 2 is shown, in which a partition plate 20 on the quartz sand 12 of the top Füllgutschicht and the three sensors 17, 18 and 19 was placed. The three sensors 17, 18 and 19 are shown in Figure 7, although they are below the bulkhead plate 20 to indicate their position under the bulkhead plate 20. The partition plate 20 forms with the side walls and the bottom plate of the sheet metal tray 14 the Faraday cage, in which the heating device of the wellness device 1 is provided. Thereby, the above-mentioned advantages are obtained.

FIG. 8 shows the lying unit 2, wherein in this illustration a foam insert 21 covering only part of the lying surface has been inserted into the lying unit 2. In addition to and on the foam insert 21 further quartz sand 12 is introduced, which is ultimately covered as the uppermost layer by a sheet as a lying surface for the user. By providing the foam insert 21 at the position of the lying unit 2, at which the head, the shoulders come to lie to the buttocks of the user, the advantage is obtained that the user can be sprung by the foam insert 21. The fact that the foam insert 21 does not cover the entire lying surface has the advantage that the temperature predetermined by the heating device can spread over the quartz sand 12 to the user.

FIG. 9 shows the wellness device 1 according to FIG. 1 in a further oblique view, with the cover grille 8 of the scenting device being removed. Behind the grille 8, two rows of five insertion openings 22 are shown in Figure 9, in each of which a fragrance cartridge 23 shown in the figure 10 together with associated control can be introduced. The fragrance cartridge 23 has a fragrance container 24 and a cylinder 25, with which the predetermined by the control amount of fragrance from the fragrance container 24 is dispensed. Depending on the desired or selected therapy program, the control dispenses the appropriate and defined fragrance in the appropriate amount of fragrance.

By this scenting the advantage is obtained that controlled by the control device a variety of fragrance types can be delivered in a timely manner. The service of the scenting device of the wellness device 1 according to the invention is particularly simple to carry out, since the scent cartridge 23 can be easily removed without tools when the scent container 24 is empty, which is indicated by corresponding LED level indicators in the scent cartridge itself and in the control panel so you know exactly which fragrance container 24 to refill or replace.

In addition to the keypad 5 and the display 6 is now a card slot 25 for so-called CF cards (memory cards) is provided. The CF card, which has a storage capacity of, for example, 16 GB, stores control data for therapy programs as well as software updates of the computer software processed by the controller. The easy interchangeability of this control data has the advantage that new therapy programs and new software updates are particularly easy to collect.

The control device of the wellness device 1 is now further designed to deactivate the scenting device in a standby mode while the acoustic device and the illumination device are activated in order to draw attention to the wellness device 1. This is particularly attractive for the exhibition of the wellness facility 1 at a trade fair, but also in the wellness area of a hotel complex, when the wellness facility 1 is not being used.

It may be mentioned that a plurality of other operating modes of the wellness device 1 can be fixed, in which only one or more of the devices can provide visual, acoustic, olfactory or thermal impressions.

The person skilled in the art is aware of other fillable materials which can be used in this context. For example, pebbles or energetically effective other substances could be used as filling material.

Furthermore, it can be stated that the modular design of the spa facility allows a technically particularly simple installation of the spa facility.

For the white light therapy different light sources for the lighting device can be used, which can simulate daylight in different illuminance levels. 5/11

Claims (12)

Austrian Patent Office AT508 627 B1 2011-05-15 Claims 1. Bed-like construction (1), in particular for the wellness area, comprising a lying unit (2) and a ceiling unit (3) provided above the lying unit (2), wherein the lying unit (2) is filled with filling material (12) and wherein in the ceiling unit (3) a lighting device (4) is provided for generating optical impressions and wherein a scenting device (8, 22, 23) is provided for generating olfactory impressions and wherein an acoustic device (9, 10, 11) is provided for generating acoustic impressions and wherein a heating device (13) for heating the filling material (12) in the lying unit (2) is provided, characterized in that the heating device (13) as Faraday cage (14, 20), in which both a heating mat (16) and at least one sensor (17, 18, 19) of a safety shut-off device are provided , 2. Bed-like construction (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the heating device (13) has a layer structure, wherein the heating mat (16) in a lower and an upper Füllgutschicht (12) is embedded and wherein the Faraday-type cage ( 14, 20) encloses the two Füllgutschichten (12). 3. Bed-like construction (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that in the upper Füllgutschicht the at least one sensor (17, 18, 19) is embedded. 4. Bed-like construction (1) according to any one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that an insulating layer (15) the filling material (12) of the heating device (13) relative to the Faraday cage (14, 20) electrically isolated. 5. Bed-like construction (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one sensor (17, 18, 19) by a temperature sensor (17) is formed. 6. Bed-like construction (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a fault current sensor for the current through the heating mat (16) is provided. 7. A bed-like structure (1) according to any one of claims 5 or 6, characterized in that at least one further temperature sensor (19) for verifying the temperature value determined by the first temperature sensor (17) and in particular an additional temperature sensor for verification of the first Temperature sensor (18) and determined by the further temperature sensor temperature values are provided. 8. A bed-like construction (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lying unit (2) above the heating device (13) as a further layer structure a only a part of the lying surface covering foam insert (21) which of Füllgut (12) surrounded and covered. Bed-like structure (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the illumination device (4) comprises light-emitting diodes. 10. Bed-like construction (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the scenting device (8, 22, 23) has at least one interchangeable scent cartridge (23). 6/11 Austrian Patent Office AT508 627 B1 2011-05-15 Bed-like structure (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a control device is provided for controlling the different devices (4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 22, 23) of the bed-like construction and that on a from the control device removable memory card, the control device influencing control data are stored. 12. A bed-like structure (1) according to claim 11, characterized in that the control device is controllable in a standby mode in which the heating device (13), the lighting device (4) and the acoustic device (9, 10, 11) are turned on , 4 sheets of drawings 7/11