EP4061301A1

EP4061301A1 - Stimulation device

Info

Publication number: EP4061301A1
Application number: EP20823732.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Martin CIRILLO-SCHMIDT
Original assignee: Ioba LLC
Current assignee: UWE, KNORR
Priority date: 2019-11-18
Filing date: 2020-11-17
Publication date: 2022-09-28
Also published as: DE102019131062A1; US20230355463A1; WO2021099327A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a stimulation device comprising a main part and a rubber-elastic sleeve which is intended for contact with a body part of a user and which encloses the main part and has a reversibly deformable contact surface region, wherein a shaping element, which is designed to produce a locally limited deformation of the sleeve without deformation of the main part, is arranged on the main part so as to be movable relative to the main part, and an actuating device, which is operatively connected to the shaping element in order to generate a movement of the shaping element, is arranged on the main part and comprises an electric motor having a rotor shaft to which an eccentric is fastened, and the shaping element comprises a pivotally mounted lever having two free ends, wherein a first end of the lever is operatively connected to the eccentric of the actuating device in order to convert a rotation of the rotor shaft into a pivoting movement of the lever, and a second end of the lever acts in a deforming manner on the contact surface region.

Description

Stimulation device The invention relates to a stimulation device with a locally limited change in shape, which can be used, for example, as a sexual or therapeutic aid, such as a massage device or an exercise device.

Massage devices are usually used to mechanically influence the skin, connective tissue and muscles

Stretching, pulling and pushing stimuli. The massage effect extends from the treated area of the body over the entire organism and also includes the psyche.

Massage devices that change their external shape are known from practice. There are massage devices that can be pneumatically inflated and thus change their volume and thus their shape. Massage devices are also known which can increase their body volume with the help of mechanical rotating and sliding technology. A vibrator with a housing and a silicone cover connected to the housing and a vibration-generating electric motor is known from DE 102012 109 409 A1.

Furthermore, according to DE 102006 005 358 A1, a dildo is known whose dildo body consists of a cylindrical part and a front end and has electrical heating means and connection elements for connection to a power source, the heating means being a heating foil arranged in a tubular shape in the cylindrical part. According to US Pat. No. 6,599,236 B1, a dildo has a heating coil as a heating element which can be regulated via a thermostat in order to adjust the dildo to a desired temperature. Such massage devices or dildos often consist of a rubber-elastic material or have a cover made of a rubber-elastic material.

According to DE 102012 019 842 A1 a massage device is known with at least one elastically deformable wall, with at least one actuator which is arranged to act on a portion of the elastic deformable wall, deforming it, the actuator being formed with an electroactive polymer and the actuator is electrically connected to a control unit arranged in or directly on the massage device and can be actuated by means of this control unit.

The massage function is performed by a deformation element in the interior of a rubber-elastic outer wall, which deforms the outer wall outward in partial areas. A continuous force is required for this, which, in addition to the friction effects that also occur inside the device, leads to a very high energy consumption.

A stimulation device is known from WO 2016/038028 A1, which has a base body and one attached to or in the base body for contact with a body part of a

User specific rubber-elastic cover comprises, which is at least one reversibly deformable

Has contact surface area, at least one for generating a local deformation of the shell without deformation of the base body is arranged movably relative to the base body on or in the base body, and on or in the base body at least one actuating device that is operatively connected to the shaping element for generating a movement of the at least one shaping element is arranged, which actuation device is at least one by applying an electric current or / and a magnetic field and / or deformable shape memory element by temperature change, which is connected on the one hand to the base body and on the other hand to the shaping element and causes a movement of the at least one shaping element by deformation.

It has been found that the use of a shape memory element as a drive for such a stimulation device is subject to very high technological requirements.

The object of the present invention is to provide a stimulation device which overcomes the disadvantages of known stimulation devices. This object is achieved by the invention specified in the claims. Advantageous refinements are the subject of the subclaims.

To solve the problem, a stimulation device is proposed which comprises a base body and a rubber-elastic sleeve intended for contact with a body part of a user, which envelops the base body and has at least one reversibly deformable contact surface area, at least one for generating a locally limited deformation of the sleeve without Deformation of the base body formed shaping element movable relative to the base body on or in the base body is arranged, and at least one actuating device operatively connected to the at least one shaping element for generating a movement of the at least one shaping element is arranged on or in the base body, the actuating device comprising an electric motor with a rotor shaft on which an eccentric is attached, the shaping element a pivotable one comprises mounted lever with two free ends, wherein a first end of the lever is operatively connected to the eccentric of the actuating device for converting a rotary movement of the rotor shaft into a pivoting movement of the lever and a second end of the lever has a deforming effect on the contact surface area.

In a specific case, the proposed stimulation device can be designed, for example, as a vibrator, dildo, penis ring, masturbator, artificial vagina, anal plug, penis sleeve, love balls, expansion tube and the like. The stimulation device is advantageously suitable for use as a sexual or therapeutic aid for stimulating erogenous zones and / or the muscles, such as the vaginal and anal muscles.

An outer, ie accessible to a user surface of the stimulation device is formed by a rubber-elastic cover intended for contact with a part of the body of a user, which either covers the entire surface of the stimulation device or most of the surface of the stimulation device or only a relatively small part of the surface of the Forms stimulation device. This shell has at least a partial area which is reversibly deformable and which follows Is called contact surface area. The sheath can be made, for example, of a rubber-elastic material such as silicone, latex, thermoplastic elastomers or the like. The cover can be attached to the base body in such a way that the surface of the stimulation device accessible to the user is formed partly by the base body and partly by the cover. However, the shell can also completely or largely cover the base body.

A stimulation effect is achieved in that a shaping element is movably arranged on the inner side of the cover facing away from the user in such a way that a movement of the shaping element causes a local deformation of the cover, more precisely of the reversibly deformable contact surface area. The shaping element comprises a pivotably mounted lever with two free ends, that is, the lever is articulated in its central area, i.e. between the two free ends, whereby a pivoting movement transmitted to one free end necessarily results in a pivoting movement in the same direction of the other free end of the lever caused. The pivoting movement is generated in that a first free end of the lever is operatively connected to the eccentric of the actuating device for converting a rotary movement of the rotor shaft into a pivoting movement of the lever. The second free end of the lever opposite the first free end then has a deforming effect on the contact surface area of the rubber-elastic cover, so that the outer contour of the stimulation device is deformed in a locally limited manner, ie the remaining surface of the stimulation device remains undeformed. In order to enable the second free end of the lever to act on the casing, the base body an opening in the area of the deformable contact surface area.

The actuating device, which generates a pivoting movement of the lever and thereby the local deformation of the stimulation device, comprises an electric motor with a rotor shaft on which an eccentric is attached, which acts on the first free end of the lever. The eccentric converts the rotary movement of the rotor shaft of the electric motor into a pivoting movement of the lever.

The proposed stimulation device enables very locally limited, punctiform stimulation. Appropriate control of the electric motor enables very low-frequency stimulation, as will be explained in more detail below with reference to advantageous configurations of the proposed stimulation device.

According to a first embodiment of the stimulation device, the deformable contact surface area is formed by a protuberance of the rubber-elastic sleeve which is connected to the second end of the lever. Due to the connection between the second free end of the lever and the sheath, the local deformation of the sheath in the reversibly deformable contact surface area is very precisely defined. In a specific embodiment, it can also be provided that the second end of the lever has a thickening, the protuberance of the rubber-elastic sleeve has an indentation with an undercut, and the thickening is inserted into the indentation so that it grips into the undercut. With this configuration, on the one hand, the protuberance creates a three-dimensional stimulation element formed, which can be moved from a retracted position to an extended position and back by the pivoting movement of the lever in order to achieve the greatest possible intensity of stimulation, and on the other hand a power transmission from the lever to the deformable contact surface area not only when it moves outwards, but also when moving inwards, i.e. bidirectionally, is possible.

In order to make the conversion of the rotary movement of the rotor shaft of the electric motor into a pivoting movement of the lever at the same time structurally simple and low-maintenance, i.e. reliable, it is provided in another embodiment that, in the proposed stimulation device, the first end of the lever is at least one transverse to a pivoting direction Lever-aligned sliding surface with which the eccentric of the actuating device cooperates to convert a rotary movement of the rotor shaft into a pivoting movement. Specifically, it can be provided in an advantageous embodiment that the first end of the lever has a groove oriented transversely to a pivoting direction of the lever, the two groove flanks of which each form a sliding surface, and the eccentric of the actuating device has a pin which is inserted into the groove between the Groove flanks, protrudes.

The pin of the eccentric is arranged eccentrically relative to the axis of rotation of the electric motor, so that it describes a circular path. In this way, the movement component of this circular movement running in the pivoting direction of the lever is converted into a pivoting movement of the lever, while the pin moves transversely to the Pivoting direction of the lever moved back and forth in the groove. For the best possible minimization of friction between the pin and the lever, it can be provided that the pin has a convex thickening that is in contact with the groove flanks. A convex, for example spherical, thickening ensures that the contact surface between pin and lever is only punctiform, so that friction losses and wear are extremely low.

In contrast to conventional vibrators, the proposed stimulation device should be capable of very low-frequency stimulation, which is much closer to manual stimulation than the otherwise usual high-frequency stimulation, which is based on an imbalance in a fast-running electric motor. In order to achieve this, it is provided in a further embodiment that a control device with an operating element for influencing the speed of the electric motor is arranged on or in the base body. The control device can be, for example, an electronic circuit that controls the electric motor, which can be operated by an operating element such as a micro button or the like, so that the device can be switched on and off, and one of several available speeds of the electric motor can be selected, which can be found in a corresponding frequency of the stimulation is reflected. For example, the controller may ^_1 s or less, preferably 3 s or less ^_1 for driving the electric motor at a speed of 5 s may be formed ^_1 or less in particular. 1

Known stimulation devices vibrate at frequencies that are many times higher than these values. The The stimulation effect of such stimulation devices is based on an irritation of parts of the body that come into contact with it, caused by a high-frequency solid body movement of the device. It has been shown that a stimulation based on a periodic, low-frequency, punctiform application of force on treated areas of the body is significantly more pleasant and intense

Stimulation effect is achieved. This type of stimulation is felt to be particularly pleasant at the specified frequencies, as is the selective action on treated areas of the body of a user.

For example, the user can directly influence the frequency. For this purpose, for example, a button for switching the stimulation device on and off and for setting the frequency can be provided, the frequency either being continuously increased or decreased as long as the respective button is pressed, or the frequency is increased gradually each time the corresponding button is pressed or be reduced. Likewise, a pair of buttons can be provided for setting the frequency, one of which increases the frequency and the other decreases the frequency.

In other embodiments, the user can indirectly influence the frequency. For this purpose, the stimulation device can have stimulation programs stored in the control device, for example, which generate different frequencies, wherein the frequency can be varied in the course of a program over time. Alternatively, the programs can also be saved in an app running on a mobile device be. Such an app can also be designed as a remote control for the stimulation device.

In an advantageous embodiment, for example, the control device for controlling the electric motor can be designed to generate an oscillating rotary movement (pendulum movement), in which the electric motor alternately moves in one and then in the other direction of rotation, with each partial movement comprising less than one full rotation. This makes it possible to make the intensity of the massage adjustable, which removes the previous limitation in setting the stroke with purely rotary drives. In order to prevent premature wear of the bearings, such stimulation programs can additionally contain programmed patterns that combine the pendulum movement with occasional 360 ° rotations, which at the same time allows an even better stimulation with stroke-varied patterns.

As above, the stored stimulation programs can be called up for the user selection of frequency and / or amplitude, for example via an operating element. For this purpose, according to one embodiment, a single button can be provided, for example, which switches on the stimulation device when it is first pressed and calls up a first stored stimulation program. If the button is pressed again, the next stored stimulation program is called up, and so on, until all stored stimulation programs have been selected once. If the button is then pressed again, the stimulation device is switched off. According to another embodiment, a button is used to switch on and off another button for program selection. Alternatively, a pair of buttons can be provided for program selection, one of which calls up the stored programs in ascending order and the other calls up the stored programs in descending order.

It goes without saying that other operating elements can also be used instead of buttons, for example toggle switches, rotary switches and the like. A particular advantage of pushbuttons is that they can easily be arranged in a water-protected manner under or behind a rubber-elastic cover, because they can still be operated without any problems due to the elastic properties of the cover.

However, solutions are also included in which the control element (s) are part of a remote control, so that no control elements have to be attached to the stimulation device itself. If the remote control is an app running on a mobile device, the operating elements can be implemented in the form typical for apps, for example as buttons, slider controls or the like displayed on the screen of the mobile device, the functions of which are similar to those of the buttons described above can correspond.

It can particularly advantageously be provided that the electric motor is a stepper motor and the control device comprises a driver circuit for the quasi-continuous drive of the stepper motor. Only with stepper motors is the desired low-frequency stimulation without the interposition of a further cost-causing and error-prone gear, so possible by direct drive. However, without further measures, stepper motors cause a characteristic noise that is very annoying within the scope of the invention. For this reason, a control device should comprise a driver circuit for the quasi-continuous drive of the stepping motor, as a result of which the stepping motor can be operated silently.

In order to increase the value of the stimulation device, but also to facilitate its insertion and removal, the control device for activating the electric motor is designed in a particularly advantageous development in such a way that the shaping element is always in the same position when the actuation device is switched off. The electric motor is preferably stopped in such a way that the lever and thus the deformable contact surface area remain in the retracted position. Specifically, it can be provided for this purpose that the eccentric carries a permanent magnet and a Hall sensor, which is connected to the control device, is arranged in the base body in the immediate vicinity of the eccentric. As a result, the control device can switch off the motor precisely when the permanent magnet is opposite the Hall sensor. Alternatively, this switching function can also be integrated into the Hall sensor.

According to a further embodiment, it can be provided that at least one energy store for storing electrical energy is arranged on or in the base body. Although it is also possible to supply the electrical energy required to operate the stimulation device from outside, for example in the stimulation device is connected to a power cable, it is advantageous for good manageability of the stimulation device if it is cordless. This can be achieved by arranging an energy store directly on or in the stimulation device.

In one embodiment it is provided that the energy store comprises at least one rechargeable battery. This avoids the user having to open the stimulation device to change non-rechargeable batteries as soon as they are exhausted.

It can also advantageously be provided that at least one receiver coil for contactless supply of electrical energy is arranged on or in the base body. In this way, for example, an accumulator arranged in the stimulation device can be charged without contact. Metallic contacts on the outside of the stimulation device are therefore not required, as a result of which the stimulation device is even safer to handle and can be designed to be watertight in a simple manner.

The control device can further advantageously include a light source, for example one or more LEDs, which indicate to the user of the stimulation device whether the device is switched on and / or which program has been selected and / and which state of charge the energy store has and / and whether a charging process is currently taking place and / or which enable specific areas of the stimulation device to be illuminated in a targeted manner. For this purpose, it can also be advantageously provided that the base body or a housing part of the stimulation device has at least one light guide element. Such a light guide element can for example be a transparent glass or plastic fiber that guides the light from the light source to a part of the stimulation device to be illuminated and emits it there. Such a light guide element can also, for example, be inserted transparently into a

Housing part of the base body that guides the light generated by an LED through the housing to the outside, for example a point of light near the control element, a luminous ring that surrounds the control element, etc., the light being strong enough to pass through the rubber-elastic shell to penetrate to the outside and to be perceptible.

In the following, exemplary embodiments of proposed stimulation devices are explained in more detail with the aid of drawings. Show it

1 shows a longitudinal section through a stimulation device according to the exemplary embodiment,

FIG. 2 shows a functional diagram of the stimulation device according to the exemplary embodiment, FIG. 3 shows a view of the stimulation device with the contact surface element in the retracted position, and FIG

4 shows a view of the stimulation device with the contact surface element in the retracted position.

1 shows a schematic view of a longitudinal section through an exemplary stimulation device. A rubber elastic sleeve 2 made of silicone envelops one of two Housing parts 11 formed base body 1. On the base body 1, a shaping element 3 is movably arranged, which has a first free end 31 and a second free end 32 and between the first free end 31 and the second free end 32 on the base body 1 by a hinge 33 is movably arranged. The housing parts 11 together define the basic shape of the stimulation device, which is delimited on the outside by the rubber-elastic cover 2.

Inside the stimulation device is the

Arranged actuating device which comprises an electric motor 4 with a rotor shaft on which an eccentric 41 is attached. The electric motor 4 is designed as a stepping motor in the exemplary embodiment.

As already described, the shaping element is a pivotably mounted lever 3 with two free ends 31 and 32. The first end 31 of the lever 3 is operatively connected to the eccentric 41 and the second end 32 of the lever 3 has a deforming effect on the contact surface area 21. The deformable contact surface area 21 is formed by a protuberance of the rubber-elastic sleeve 2, which has an indentation with an undercut. The second end 32 of the lever 3 has a thickening 34 which is inserted into the indentation so that it engages the undercut. This design is particularly advantageous for easy cleaning of the stimulation device. The thickening 34 of the lever 3 can simply be pulled out of the undercut of the indentation of the rubber-elastic cover 2 in order to easily clean the rubber-elastic cover 2 under running water. Then the Thickening 34 can simply be snapped back into the indentation.

The first end 31 of the lever 3 has a groove 35 oriented transversely to the pivoting direction of the lever 3, the two groove flanks of which each form a sliding surface, and the eccentric 41 of the actuating device has a pin 43 which protrudes into the groove 35.

In Fig. 2, two variants of the interacting elements of the first free end 31 of the lever 3 and the pin 43 of the eccentric 41 are shown: In the left

In a detailed illustration, the pin 43 has a convex thickening 44 which is in contact with the groove flanks. In the illustration on the right, the pin 43 has no such thickening; however, the two groove flanks of the groove 35 in the first free end 31 of the lever 3 are convex, so that in both variants the contact surface between pin 43 and groove 35 is designed to be as small as possible.

A control device 5 with an operating element 52 for influencing the speed of the electric motor 4 is arranged in the base body 1. The control device 5 comprises an electronic circuit which has a driver circuit 51 for the quasi-continuous drive of the stepping motor 4, a micro-button 52 for operating the stimulation device, which can be operated through the rubber-elastic cover 2, and a light source in the form of an LED that shows the state of the stimulation device indicates. In order to make the light generated by the LED visible from the outside, the housing part 11 has a light guide element 13 above the light source 54, which is otherwise not made of transparent plastic transparent housing part 11 of the base body 1 is executed. The light is strong enough to penetrate the rubber-elastic sheath 2.

The control device 5 is connected to an energy store 6, which in the exemplary embodiment is designed as a rechargeable battery. The control device 5 is also connected to the stepping motor 4 in order to supply it with energy.

In addition, the control device 5 for controlling the electric motor 4 is designed in such a way that the lever 3 is always in the same position when the actuating device is switched off. The eccentric 41 carries a permanent magnet 42 and a Hall sensor 53 with a switching function is arranged in the base body 1 in the immediate vicinity of the eccentric 41 and is connected to the control device 5.

Stimulation device list of reference symbols 1 base body

11 housing part

12 opening

13 light guide element

2 rubber-elastic sheath 21 deformable contact surface area

3 levers

31 first free end

32 second free end

33 joint 34 thickening

35 groove

4 electric motor

41 eccentric

42 permanent magnet 43 pin

44 thickening

5 control device

51 Driver circuit

52 Control element 53 Hall sensor

54 light source

6 energy storage

Claims

Stimulation device claims

1. Stimulation device, comprising

• a base body (1) and

• a rubber-elastic sleeve (2) intended for contact with a part of the body of a user, which envelops the base body (1) and has at least one reversibly deformable contact surface area (21), wherein

• at least one shaping element designed to produce a locally limited deformation of the shell (2) without deforming the base body (1) is arranged on or in the base body (1) so as to be movable relative to the base body (1), and

• on or in the base body (1) at least one with the at least one shaping element for generating a movement of the at least one

Shaping elements operatively connected actuating device is arranged, characterized in that

• the actuation device comprises an electric motor (4) with a rotor shaft on which an eccentric (41) is attached,

• the shaping element comprises a pivotably mounted lever (3) with two free ends (31,32), in which

• a first end (31) of the lever (3) is operatively connected to the eccentric (41) of the actuating device for converting a rotary movement of the rotor shaft into a pivoting movement of the lever (3) and

• a second end (32) of the lever (3) has a deforming effect on the contact surface area (21).

2. Stimulation device according to claim 1, in which the deformable contact surface area (21) is formed by a protuberance of the rubber-elastic sleeve (2) which is connected to the second end (32) of the lever (3).

3. Stimulation device according to claim 2, in which the second end (32) of the lever (3) has a thickening (34), the protuberance of the rubber-elastic sleeve (2) has an indentation with an undercut, and the thickening (34) in the undercut reaching into the

Indentation is introduced.

4. Stimulation device according to one of the preceding claims, in which the first end (31) of the lever (3) has at least one sliding surface oriented transversely to a pivoting direction of the lever (3), with which the eccentric (41) of the actuating device for converting a rotary movement the rotor shaft cooperates in a pivoting movement of the lever (3).

5. Stimulation device according to claim 4, wherein the first end (31) of the lever (3) has a groove (35) oriented transversely to a pivoting direction of the lever (3), the two groove flanks of which each have a sliding surface form, and the eccentric (41) of the

Actuating device has a pin (43) which protrudes into the groove (35), between the groove flanks.

6. Stimulation device according to claim 5, wherein the pin (43) has a spherical thickening (44) with the

Groove flanks is in contact.

7. Stimulation device according to one of the preceding

Claims, in which a control device (5) with an operating element (52) for influencing the speed of the electric motor (4) is arranged on or in the base body (1).

8. Stimulation device according to claim 7, wherein the

Control device (5) for controlling the electric motor (4) with a speed of 5 s ^_1 or less, preferably 3 s ^_1 or less, in particular 1 s ^_1 or less.

9. Stimulation device according to claim 7 or 8, in which the electric motor (4) is a stepping motor and the control device (5) comprises a driver circuit (51) for the quasi-continuous drive of the stepping motor.

10. Stimulation device according to one of claims 7 to 9, in which the control device (5) for controlling the electric motor (4) is designed to generate an oscillating rotational movement (pendulum movement), in which the electric motor (4) alternately in the one and then moved in the other direction of rotation.

11. Stimulation device according to one of claims 7 to 10, in which the control device (5) for controlling the electric motor (4) is designed in such a way that the shaping element (3) is always in the same position when the actuating device is switched off.

12. Stimulation device according to claim 11, wherein the

The eccentric (41) carries a permanent magnet (42) and a Hall sensor (53) which is connected to the control device (5) is arranged in the base body (1) in the immediate vicinity of the eccentric (41).

13. Stimulation device according to one of claims 1 to 12, in which the control device (5) has at least one light source 54 and the base body (1) or a housing part (11) of the base body (1) has at least one light guide element (13).

14. Stimulation device according to one of claims 1 to 13, in which at least one energy store (6) for storing electrical energy is arranged on or in the base body (1).

15. Stimulation device according to claim 14, wherein the energy store (6) comprises at least one rechargeable battery.

16. Stimulation device according to one of claims 1 to 15, in which at least one receiver coil for contactless supply of electrical energy is arranged on or in the base body (1).