EP2151226A1 - Appareil de relaxation - Google Patents

Appareil de relaxation Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2151226A1
EP2151226A1 EP09009998A EP09009998A EP2151226A1 EP 2151226 A1 EP2151226 A1 EP 2151226A1 EP 09009998 A EP09009998 A EP 09009998A EP 09009998 A EP09009998 A EP 09009998A EP 2151226 A1 EP2151226 A1 EP 2151226A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
rocking
user
supporting member
relaxation
air pump
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP09009998A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Daisuke Morikawa
Tatsuya Takahashi
Yoshinari Nishimura
Akihiro Michimori
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Panasonic Corp
Original Assignee
Panasonic Electric Works Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Panasonic Electric Works Co Ltd filed Critical Panasonic Electric Works Co Ltd
Publication of EP2151226A1 publication Critical patent/EP2151226A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47C—CHAIRS; SOFAS; BEDS
    • A47C3/00—Chairs characterised by structural features; Chairs or stools with rotatable or vertically-adjustable seats
    • A47C3/02—Rocking chairs
    • A47C3/025—Rocking chairs with seat, or seat and back-rest unit elastically or pivotally mounted in a rigid base frame
    • A47C3/0255—Rocking chairs with seat, or seat and back-rest unit elastically or pivotally mounted in a rigid base frame pivotally mounted in the base frame, e.g. swings
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47C—CHAIRS; SOFAS; BEDS
    • A47C3/00—Chairs characterised by structural features; Chairs or stools with rotatable or vertically-adjustable seats
    • A47C3/02—Rocking chairs
    • A47C3/025—Rocking chairs with seat, or seat and back-rest unit elastically or pivotally mounted in a rigid base frame
    • A47C3/0251—Rocking chairs with seat, or seat and back-rest unit elastically or pivotally mounted in a rigid base frame driven by electric motors
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61H—PHYSICAL THERAPY APPARATUS, e.g. DEVICES FOR LOCATING OR STIMULATING REFLEX POINTS IN THE BODY; ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION; MASSAGE; BATHING DEVICES FOR SPECIAL THERAPEUTIC OR HYGIENIC PURPOSES OR SPECIFIC PARTS OF THE BODY
    • A61H2201/00—Characteristics of apparatus not provided for in the preceding codes
    • A61H2201/01—Constructive details
    • A61H2201/0103—Constructive details inflatable
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61H—PHYSICAL THERAPY APPARATUS, e.g. DEVICES FOR LOCATING OR STIMULATING REFLEX POINTS IN THE BODY; ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION; MASSAGE; BATHING DEVICES FOR SPECIAL THERAPEUTIC OR HYGIENIC PURPOSES OR SPECIFIC PARTS OF THE BODY
    • A61H2201/00—Characteristics of apparatus not provided for in the preceding codes
    • A61H2201/01—Constructive details
    • A61H2201/0119—Support for the device
    • A61H2201/0138—Support for the device incorporated in furniture
    • A61H2201/0149—Seat or chair

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an apparatus for providing a user with a relaxing effect.
  • a conventional relaxation apparatus which provides a user seating on a chair-shaped body-supporting member with relaxing effect by rocking the user's body, is described in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-250851 (hereinafter, referred to as the cited reference).
  • the relaxation apparatus in the cited reference has a rocking unit (i.e., the relaxation mechanism in the cited reference) which rocks a body-supporting member (i.e., the main body of the seating unit in the cited reference) back and forth and hence provides a user with a relaxing effect by the rocking motion.
  • This relaxation apparatus also has air bags in the left and right portions of the body-supporting member. The air bags, driven by an air pump, inflate and contract alternatively so that it is possible to roll a user to his/her left and right like a hammock or cradle, which can also provide its user with a relaxation effect.
  • the present invention provides a relaxation apparatus capable of giving an effective relaxation effect to a user by using the rocking motion of the user's body and the inflation and contraction of air bags.
  • a relaxation apparatus including a body-supporting unit for supporting a user's body, a rocking unit for rocking back and forth the body-supporting unit and a controller for controlling the rocking unit to rock the body-supporting unit, characterized in that : the body-supporting unit includes an air bag which is inflated to press the user's body or contracted in accordance with supply or exhaust of air by an air pump, and the controller controls output of the air pump to increase and decrease in accordance with forward and backward rocking motions of the body-supporting unit.
  • the body-supporting unit includes the air bag that is inflated to press the user or contracted in accordance with supply or exhaust of the air by the air pump, and the controller controls the output of the air pump to increase or decrease in accordance with the direction of the rocking motion of the body-supporting unit.
  • the air pump can be controlled to increase and decrease its output during the forward and backward motions, respectively, of the body-supporting unit. Accordingly, the rate of inflation of the air bag can be made higher during the forward motion than during the backward motion, and it becomes possible to give the user during the forward motion a feeling of floating, yielding an effective relaxation effect.
  • the controller may control the rocking unit and the air pump to perform, on a user in a relaxed state, a refresh rocking in which frequency and/or amplitude of the rocking motion is increased to refresh the user in the relaxed state, and the output of the pump is increased and decreased during the backward and forward motions of the body-supporting unit, respectively.
  • the relaxation apparatus is capable of giving an effective relaxation effect to a user by using the rocking motion of the user's body and the inflation and contraction of the air bag.
  • Fig. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a relaxation apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the relaxation apparatus 10 includes a base 11 having a bottom portion 11a placed on a floor (not shown), a rocking mechanism 12 as a rocking unit provided to the base 11 and a body-supporting member 13 as a body-supporting unit driven by the rocking mechanism 12.
  • the rocking mechanism 12 has a motor 20, a reduction gear 21, a crank mechanism 22 and a plurality of, e.g., two, link members 23.
  • the motor 20 is provided on the bottom portion 11a of the base 11.
  • the operation of the motor 20 is controlled by a controller 24 provided on the bottom portion 11a of the base 11.
  • the reduction gear 21 is provided on the bottom portion 11a of the base 11.
  • the reduction gear 21 is operationally coupled with the motor 20 and serves to reduce the power of the motor 20.
  • the crank mechanism 22 has two connecting rods 22a and 22b, and converts the rotating motion of the reduction gear 21 into a large circular motion.
  • the base end of the connecting rod 22a is connected to and rotates with an output shaft of the reduction gear 21, while its leading end is ratatably connected to the base end of the connecting rod 22b.
  • the leading end of the connecting rod 22b is connected to the lower portion of a rectangular frame 25 to which the body-supporting member 13 is fixed.
  • the base 11 also has a support frame 11b protruded upward from the bottom portion 11a.
  • the base ends of the linkages 23 are rotatably connected to the upper portion of the support frame 11b at an interval, while their leading ends 22b are rotatably connected to the lower portion of the rectangular frame 25.
  • the linkages 23 rotate around their base ends and, therefore, the body-supporting member 13, fixed to the rectangular frame 25, can be rocked back and forth by the power delivered from the crank mechanism 22, like a rocking chair.
  • the movement path of the body-supporting member 13 from the rear to the front is referred to as a forward path and that from the front to the rear is referred to as a backward path.
  • the body-supporting member 13 of a chair shape includes a seat portion 30 which is fixed to an upper portion of the rectangular frame 25 so that they can move together, a back portion attached to the rear side of the seat portion 30 so that it can recline about the rear of the seat portion 30, an ottoman fixed at the front side of the seat portion 30 and two arm rests 33 fixed at both sides of the seat portion 30.
  • the back portion 31 can be reclined suitably by a reclining mechanism 34, which is controlled by the controller 24 as shown in Fig. 2 .
  • a pair of air bags 40 and 41 is provided corresponding respectively to the left and right shoulders of a user.
  • three air bags 42, 43 and 44 are arranged vertically corresponding to the back of a user.
  • two air bags 45 and 46 corresponding respectively to the left and right sides of the waist of a user.
  • Two air bags 47 and 48 are provided at the left and right sides in the seat portion 30 corresponding to the hip and thigh of a user.
  • the air bags 40 to 48 provided corresponding to respective body parts of a user are installed to be activated by an air pump 49 provided under the seat portion 30 via connecting hoses (not shown). The operation of the air pump 49 is controlled by the controller 24 so that the air bags 40 to 48 can be inflated and contracted.
  • a relaxation rocking of the body-supporting member 13 is carried out by driving the rocking mechanism 12 and a combination mode in which the relaxation rocking is carried out in combination with operation of the respective air bags 40 to 48 and reclining of the back portion 31.
  • a relaxation-rocking mode having a refresh effect a "relaxation rocking" is initiated to give a relaxation effect to a user for a predetermined period of time, after which the operation mode is switched from the "relaxation rocking" to "refresh rocking” until the operation mode ends.
  • Fig. 3 shows the variations of amplitude and frequency with time of the motion of the body-supporting member 13 driven by the rocking mechanism 12 in the relaxation-rocking mode.
  • the controller 24 controls the motor 20 to decrease the frequency of rocking of the body-supporting member 13 gradually, for example, from its initial value 0.35 Hz to the final 0.2 Hz in a piecewise manner by a decrement of 0.05 Hz until a predetermined time denoted by A in Fig. 3 .
  • the motor is controlled to introduce fluctuations to the amplitude of the rocking motion.
  • the controller 24 drives the air pump 49 to operate at its duty ratio of 100% to inflate the air bags 45 and 46 at the waist position which move in the same direction as the user's body, among the air bags 40 to 48 provided in the back portion 31 and the seat portion 30 of the body-supporting member 13.
  • the controller 24 drives the air pump 49 to operate at its duty ratio of 70% so that the rate of inflation of the air bags 45 and 46 gets decreased.
  • the controller 24 stops the operation of the air pump 49 at the same time when the body-supporting member 13 moves forward along the forward path so that the air bags 45 and 56 get contracted while the body-supporting member 13 makes one round-trip.
  • the air pump 49 since the air pump 49 is operated at the high duty ratio in accordance with the forward motion of the body-supporting member 13, a user may have an improved feeling of the relaxation movement like an increase of floating of his/her body, yielding a more effective relaxation effect.
  • the controller 24 controls the motor 20 to generate fluctuations in the amplitude of the body-supporting member 13 at the minimum value of the frequency, 0.2 Hz in the present embodiment, and to continue the rocking motion in order to let the user rest in sleep in the relaxation state.
  • the controller 24 suspends the operation of the air pump 49 and the air bags 40 to 48 as well.
  • the controller 24 controls the motor 24 to increase the frequency of the rocking motion in a piecewise manner, for example, from 0.2 Hz to 0.3 Hz, 0.4 Hz and 0.6 Hz, in order to induce a user in the sleep (or relaxation) state to an awakened state.
  • the controller 24 controls the frequency change timings, for example, such that the frequency changes every ten round trips the rocking motion of the body-supporting member 13 makes. Further, the controller 24 controls the motor 20 such that the amplitude increases stepwise in synchronization with the frequency change timings.
  • the controller 24 drives the air pump 49 to operate at its duty ratio of 100% to inflate the air bags 45 and 46 at the waist position which move in the same direction as the user's body, among the air bags 40 to 48 provided in the back portion 31 and the seat portion 30 of the body-supporting member 13.
  • the controller 24 drives the air pump 49 to operate at its duty ratio of 70% so that the rate of inflation of the air bags 45 and 46 gets decreased.
  • the controller 24 stops the operation of the air pump 49 so that the air bags 45 and 46 get contracted while the body-supporting member 13 makes one round-trip.
  • the duty ratio of the air pump 49 is set to be higher during the backward motion than during the forward motion of the body-supporting member 13.
  • the air pump 49 since the air pump 49 is operated at the high duty ratio in accordance with the backward motion of the body-supporting member 13, a user may have an improved feeling of the refresh movement like an increase of raising of his/her body, yielding a more effective refresh effect.
  • the relaxation rocking is followed by a refresh rocking in the aforementioned embodiment, the relaxation rocking may be carried out alone without the refresh rocking.
  • the duty ratio (output) of the air pump 49 for the air bags 45 and 46 changes in accordance with the direction of the rocking motion of the body-supporting member 13.
  • the present invention is not limited to the above and it may be possible to change the duty ratio of the air pump 49 for other air bags 40 to 44 that have the same direction of application on the user's body.
  • the air bags 47 and 48 provided in the seat portion 30 have the same direction of application on the user's body, then it may be possible to change the duty ratio of the air pump 49 for them similarly to the air bags 45 and 46.
  • the air bags can take turns to inflate each time the body-supporting member 13 makes a round-trip, for example.
  • the three air bags 42, 43 and 44 can take turns to inflate; that is, the air bags 42, 43 and 44 inflate at the first, second and third round-trips, respectively, of the body-supporting member 13 and the remaining air bags get contracted at the respective round-trips.
  • the output of the air pump 49 during the respective inflation is configured as in the embodiment described above.
  • the air pump 49 operates at a duty ratio of 100% to inflate the air bag 42 and contract the air bags 43 and 44, while, during the backward motion of the body-supporting member 13, the air pump 49 operates at a duty ratio of 70% to inflate the air bag 43 and contract the air bags 42 and 44.
  • the air bags take turns to inflate and contract every time the body-supporting member 13 makes a one-way trip.
  • the air pump 49 when the air bags 45 and 46 inflate during the relaxation rocking, it is configured that the air pump 49 operates at a duty ratio of 100% and 70% during the forward and backward motions, respectively, of the body-supporting member 13.
  • the present invention is not limited to the above and other values of the duty ratio may be employed. The important point is to drive the air pump 49 at a duty ratio higher during the forward motion than during the backward motion of the body-supporting member 13.
  • the air pump 49 when the air bags 45 and 46 inflate during the refresh rocking, it is configured that the air pump 49 operates at a duty ratio of 100% and 70% during the backward and forward motions, respectively, of the body-supporting member 13.
  • the present invention is not limited to the above and other values of the duty ratio may be employed. The important point is to drive the air pump 49 at a duty ratio higher during the backward motion than during the forward motion of the body-supporting member 13.
  • the controller 24 controls such that the inception of the forward and backward motions of the body-supporting member 13 is synchronized with that of inflation and contraction of the air bags 45 and 46.
  • the present invention is not limited to the above.
  • the inception of the forward and backward motions of the body-supporting member 13 may be carried out in synchronization with inflation of at least one of the air bags 40 to 44, 47 and 48 other than the air bags 45 and 46.
  • fluctuations are imposed only on the amplitude of the relaxation rocking motion.
  • fluctuations may be imposed on the frequency instead or on both the amplitude and frequency.
  • the controller 24 controls the motor 20 to change the frequency of the rocking motion of the body-supporting member 13 (the rectangular frame 25) in a range from 0.35 Hz to 0.2 Hz.
  • controller 24 controls the motor 20 to change the frequency of the rocking motion of the body-supporting member 13 in other frequency bands for the relaxation rocking motion.
  • the controller 24 controls the motor 20 to change the frequency of the rocking motion of the body-supporting member 13 (the rectangular frame 25) from 0.2 Hz to 0.6 Hz stepwise.
  • the frequency of the rocking motion of the body-supporting member 13 may be changed from 0.2 Hz to 0.6 Hz stepwise.
  • other frequency bands for the refresh rocking motion may be used.
  • the controller 24 controls the motor 20 to increase the amplitude and frequency of the rocking motion in synchronization with each other. In a modified configuration, however, such synchronization is not necessary. In addition, either of the amplitude and frequency may be made to increase.
  • the controller 24 makes changes in control over the respective parts at times A and B.
  • a switch capable of changing the control of the respective parts by the controller 24 so that a user can selectively control the respective parts by using the switch as needed.
  • the body-supporting member 13 has the shape of a chair in the embodiment described above, it may have other shapes, for example, a bed.

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  • Massaging Devices (AREA)
EP09009998A 2008-08-05 2009-08-03 Appareil de relaxation Withdrawn EP2151226A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP2008202112A JP4697277B2 (ja) 2008-08-05 2008-08-05 リラックス装置

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP2151226A1 true EP2151226A1 (fr) 2010-02-10

Family

ID=41170927

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP09009998A Withdrawn EP2151226A1 (fr) 2008-08-05 2009-08-03 Appareil de relaxation

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP2151226A1 (fr)
JP (1) JP4697277B2 (fr)

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2017042282A (ja) 2015-08-25 2017-03-02 株式会社フジ医療器 エアマッサージ装置

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2003250851A (ja) 2002-03-04 2003-09-09 Kyushu Hitachi Maxell Ltd マッサージ機
JP2005288013A (ja) * 2004-04-05 2005-10-20 Toshiba Tec Corp 椅子式マッサージ機
WO2007116561A1 (fr) * 2006-03-31 2007-10-18 Family Co., Ltd. appareil de massage
WO2007119516A1 (fr) * 2006-03-28 2007-10-25 Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. Machine de massage
US20070273187A1 (en) * 2006-05-26 2007-11-29 Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. Massage chair
US20080048475A1 (en) * 2006-08-28 2008-02-28 Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. Chair type massager

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPH0910268A (ja) * 1995-06-28 1997-01-14 Tec Corp 椅子式エアーマッサージ機
JP3571227B2 (ja) * 1998-09-18 2004-09-29 東芝テック株式会社 椅子式エアーマッサージ機
JP2005152260A (ja) * 2003-11-25 2005-06-16 Matsushita Electric Works Ltd マッサージ機
JP2005334361A (ja) * 2004-05-27 2005-12-08 Matsushita Electric Works Ltd マッサージ機
JP4457766B2 (ja) * 2004-06-14 2010-04-28 パナソニック電工株式会社 エアマッサージ機

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2003250851A (ja) 2002-03-04 2003-09-09 Kyushu Hitachi Maxell Ltd マッサージ機
JP2005288013A (ja) * 2004-04-05 2005-10-20 Toshiba Tec Corp 椅子式マッサージ機
WO2007119516A1 (fr) * 2006-03-28 2007-10-25 Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. Machine de massage
US20090099489A1 (en) * 2006-03-28 2009-04-16 Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. Massager
WO2007116561A1 (fr) * 2006-03-31 2007-10-18 Family Co., Ltd. appareil de massage
EP2005932A2 (fr) * 2006-03-31 2008-12-24 Family Co., Ltd. Appareil de massage
US20070273187A1 (en) * 2006-05-26 2007-11-29 Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. Massage chair
US20080048475A1 (en) * 2006-08-28 2008-02-28 Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. Chair type massager

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JP2010035818A (ja) 2010-02-18
JP4697277B2 (ja) 2011-06-08

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