JP2000033106A - Pneumatic massaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pneumatic massaging device capable of holding a pressurized condition after suction or exhaust of air, properly controlling the suction/ exhaust velocity, miniaturizing the device and reducing cost. SOLUTION: In this massaging device, air bags 11 are periodically expanded or contracted by performing the supply or exhaust of air to a plurality of juxtaposed air bags 11 to obtain a massaging effect. In this case, the massaging device is provided with a supply air changeover valve 20 for supplying air to the air bags 11, and an exhaust air changeover valve 19 which is operated independently of the supply air changeover valve 20 for exhausting air from the air bags 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pneumatic massage device, and more particularly, to a pneumatic massage device which obtains a massage effect by adjusting the air pressure of an air bag by inflating and deflating the air bag.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, by supplying air to a plurality of air bags (air bags) arranged in parallel or discharging the air in the air bags, the air bags are caused to perform a periodic inflation / deflation operation. A pneumatic massage device for obtaining a massage effect is known.

[0003] This pneumatic massage device is, for example,
It is built into the mattress used in the bed mat, and the cyclic inflation and deflation of the air bag repeatedly applies and releases the pressing force to the body lying on the arranged air bag. , Has a massage effect on the body. The air supply / exhaust to the air bag is performed through a supply / exhaust unit that communicates with each of the plurality of air bags and supplies air to each air bag or exhausts air from each air bag. As the air supply / exhaust means, for example, a plurality of air supply / exhaust ports communicating with each air bag are provided, and a rotary valve for selectively supplying air from the air supply source to each air bag, or provided for each air bag. On-off valves individually driven by valve driving devices such as solenoids are used.

[0004] With respect to such a rotary valve,
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-346178 discloses a rotary valve position detecting device. As for the on-off valve, for example, a pressurized massager is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-59823.

In the rotary valve position detecting device disclosed in the above publication, air supplied from an air supply source is selectively supplied to a supply / discharge hole of a fixed body via a rotating body, and is supplied to an encoder plate fixed to the rotating body. On a virtual meridian set to extend in the radial direction so as to correspond to each supply / discharge hole, a hole for position determination information formed on a concentric circle of the encoder plate, and a position extending along the rotation locus of the encoder plate There is provided a position information hole which is formed of a slit for detection information and has a smaller angle between the holes when viewed from the rotation center side of the encoder plate than the angle between the slits. Thereby, the relative positional relationship between the rotating body and the plurality of supply / discharge holes can be detected.

[0006] The rotary valve described in this publication is
An air supply / exhaust passage, which comprises a fixed body and a rotating body, has an annular air supply / exhaust passage communicating with each air bag at an end face of the fixed body, and an air supply port connected to one air supply / exhaust passage at an end face of the rotating body opposed thereto. An exhaust passage connecting the remaining supply / exhaust passages is formed in an annular shape. Thereby, by the rotation of the rotating body, the air supply / exhaust passage of one air bag is selected, the air supply port is connected to the air supply / exhaust passage to supply the air bag, and the remaining air bags are exhausted through the exhaust passage. The air bag to be supplied can be sequentially moved.

Further, the pressurized massager disclosed in the above publication is capable of alternately repeating a state in which a fluid is delivered from a delivery pump to a bag body and a state in which the fluid delivered to the bag body is discharged in a long cycle. In the pressurized massager having the valve mechanism of the above, the valve mechanism alternately repeats the state of sending the fluid to the bag and the state of discharging the fluid sent to the bag in a short cycle in each long cycle. It is possible, and in each short cycle, the amount of fluid sent out from the valve mechanism and the amount of fluid discharged therefrom are made different. Thereby, it is possible to perform sending and discharging to the bag body not only in a long cycle but also in a short cycle by a single valve mechanism, and it is also possible to perform a kneading operation and a rubbing operation. Supply and exhaust of air to and from the bag of the massager described in this publication are performed by a valve driving device including a solenoid or the like provided for each bag.

[0008]

However, in the rotary valve disclosed in the publication, air supply and exhaust are simultaneously performed by one rotary valve, so that air bags other than the air bag supplying air must be exhausted. become. That is, since the air bag is only supplied or exhausted, it cannot maintain the pressure state after the air is supplied to a constant pressure, and the air supply and exhaust speeds are appropriately controlled, for example, , Cannot increase or decrease the pressure slowly.

The pressurized massager disclosed in the publication is
Each bag has a solenoid that is a valve drive device,
Although the speeds of air supply and exhaust can be appropriately controlled, it is unavoidable that the size of the apparatus increases, and the cost also increases.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned conventional technology, and can maintain a pressurized state after air supply and exhaust, and can appropriately control the air supply and exhaust speed. Another object of the present invention is to provide a pneumatic massage device capable of reducing the size and cost of the device.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, air is supplied to or discharged from a plurality of air bags arranged in parallel to periodically inflate and contract the air bags. In the pneumatic massage device to be operated, air supply means for supplying air to the air bag,
An exhaust unit that is driven independently of the air supply unit and discharges air from the air bag, wherein the air supply unit is a group of one or more air bags among a plurality of air bags. And air supply to the remaining air bags is stopped, and the exhaust unit is configured to supply air from the remaining air bags except for a group of air bags supplied by the air supply unit. Provided is a pneumatic massage device configured to exhaust air.

According to this structure, the supply or discharge of air to the plurality of air bags arranged in parallel is performed independently by the exhaust means which operates independently of the air supply means.
The air bag is inflated and deflated periodically. This allows
The air supply and exhaust can be opened and closed finely and intermittently,
The timing of air supply and exhaust can be overlapped in successive air bladders, and the expansion / contraction operation due to air supply and exhaust is moderated, and the switching movement of the expanding air bladders is smoothed to improve the pressing feeling of massage. be able to. In addition, the pressurized state after air supply can be maintained, and the air supply / exhaust speed can be appropriately controlled, and further, the size and cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

In a preferred embodiment, the exhaust means is provided with a fixed exhaust portion having a plurality of exhaust ports at a constant angular interval in a circumferential direction, and rotatably mounted along the circumferential direction of the fixed exhaust portion. And a rotary exhaust valve having a rotary exhaust portion that can communicate with at least one of the plurality of exhaust ports.

According to this configuration, normally, all the exhaust ports other than the exhaust port communicating with the supplied air bag can be communicated and exhausted.
The exhaust ports communicating with all the air bags can be closed, and the variation of the kneading operation is expanded. Further, the air bag can be held in a pressurized state, and can be used as an air bed. Further, the switching between the exhaust state and the exhaust stop state can be instantaneously performed by the rotation of the rotary exhaust unit.

In another preferred configuration, the air supply means includes a fixed air supply section having a plurality of air inlets at a constant angular interval in a circumferential direction, and a circumferentially extending air supply section of the fixed air supply section. And a rotary air supply valve having a rotary air supply portion rotatably mounted along the air supply line and having a rotary air supply portion that can communicate with at least one of the plurality of air supply ports.

According to this configuration, the air bags can be sequentially inflated by sequentially selecting the air supply ports at regular intervals, and the air supply to all the air bags can be performed by the rotation of the rotary air supply unit. Can be stopped, and the variation of the kneading operation is expanded.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a pneumatic massage device according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein (a) is a plan view, (b) is a cross-sectional view, and (c) is a plan view of another arrangement example of an airbag. It is. As shown in FIG. 1, a pneumatic massage device 10 supplies air to a plurality of air bags (massage air bags) 11 arranged in
By discharging the air inside, the air bladder 11 performs a periodic inflation / deflation operation to obtain a massage effect.

The air bag 11 is formed, for example, in a bag-like shape in which holes for air supply and exhaust are provided and the periphery thereof is closed with vinyl backed by nylon cloth or the like. It is used by being attached to the state. The air bladder 11 is incorporated in a mattress 12 used for a bed mat on which a person receiving a massage lays down the body X. Along (see (a)) so as to hit the entire body X, for example, 14 (A to G and A ′ to
G ′) are arranged (see (b)).

Below the two central air bladders 11 (indicated by G and A '), a waist air bladder (lift-up air bag) 11a is provided corresponding to the waist portion (see FIG. 1). (See (a) and (b)). The waist air bag 11a has a size corresponding to about two air bags 11. Each of these air bags 11 is two (A and A ′, B and B ′).
.., G and G ′) are individually connected to the air power source 14 via the air piping 13 together with the waist air bag 11a (see (b)). The air power source 14 supplies or exhausts air to each of the air bags 11, 11a.

The arrangement of the air bladders 11 is such that the two head-side airbags (A and B) are divided into two, and as shown in (c), A is positioned along the shoulder line. And B may be provided at a vertical position in the center of the upper body.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view schematically showing the structure of the mattress of FIG. As shown in FIG.
2 has a six-layer structure composed of a structure 15, a cushioning material 16, a waist air bag 11a, a separator 17, an air bag 11, and a skin 18 in order from the lowest layer. Separator 17
Is provided to prevent slippage, but need not be provided.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a pneumatic circuit provided in the air power source of FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the pneumatic circuit includes an exhaust switching valve (rotary exhaust valve) 19.
And a rotary air supply switching valve (rotary air supply valve) 20, and these exhaust gas switching valves 19.
And two stepping motors 21 and 22 for independently driving the air supply switching valve 20, respectively. The exhaust switching valve 19, the air supply switching valve 20, and each air bag 11, 11a connect a plurality of air pipes 13 to each other. Communicated through. Although not shown, the exhaust switching valve 19 and the air supply switching valve 20 are provided with encoders for detecting the angular positions of the valves.

The exhaust switching valve 19 has an annular fixed exhaust portion 24 provided with a plurality of outer exhaust passages 23 and a plurality of inner exhaust passages 25, and rotates along the inner peripheral surface of the fixed exhaust portion 24. It is constituted by a rotary exhaust unit 26 which is integrally mounted in the fixed exhaust unit 24 as much as possible. The outer exhaust path 23 has an exhaust port 23 a at one end thereof, each air pipe 13 is connected to the exhaust port 23 a, and the other end opens to the inner peripheral surface of the fixed exhaust section 24. One end of the inner exhaust passage 25 of the rotary exhaust unit 26 communicates with the exhaust hole 27 at the center, and the other end opens to face the inner peripheral surface of the fixed exhaust unit 24. The external exhaust path 23 is provided for the fixed exhaust section 2.
Radially at approximately 45 degree angular intervals along the inner peripheral surface of 4
Are placed. Therefore, eight exhaust ports 23a are provided at equal intervals along the outer peripheral surface of the fixed exhaust section 24 that forms the rotary valve. The seven inner exhaust passages 25 are positioned so as to be able to communicate with the seven outer exhaust passages 23, respectively.

Therefore, the rotary exhaust unit 26 is connected to the fixed exhaust unit 24.
By rotating along the outer exhaust passages 2
3 and the inner exhaust passage 25 can be brought into a communicating state, and each time the inner rotating path is rotated at an angle of about 45 degrees from this communicating state,
Seven of the eight are always in communication. Further, between the communicating state and the communicating state, all the outer exhaust passages 23 are in a state where they cannot communicate with the inner exhaust passage 25.

The air supply switching valve 20 has a fixed air supply portion 29 provided with eight external air supply passages 28 at equal intervals in the same manner as the external exhaust passage 23 of the exhaust gas changeover valve 19, and one end having a central portion. Air supply hole 3
1 and a rotary air supply section 32 in which only one internal air supply path 30 is provided, the other end of which can communicate with one external air supply path 28. Is configured. That is, the eight external air supply passages 28 provided on the outer periphery of the fixed air supply unit 29 each have an air supply port 28a at one end, and each air pipe 13 is connected to the air supply port 28a. The end opens to the inner peripheral surface of the fixed air supply unit 29.

The center air supply hole 31 of the rotary air supply section 32 is connected to an air supply pump (not shown) via an air supply passage 40. A check valve 41 is provided on the air supply passage 40, and a relief passage 42 is provided in a branched manner. A relief valve 43 is provided on the relief passage 42.

As shown in the drawing, air is supplied to one air bag 11 through the internal air supply passage 30 of the air supply switching valve 20, and the exhaust switching valve 1 communicates with the supplied air bag 11.
The outer exhaust passage 23 of No. 9 is closed without communicating with the inner exhaust passage 25. Therefore, the air bag 11 connected to the outer exhaust path 23 of the exhaust switching valve 19 and the outer supply path 28 of the supply switching valve 20 via the air pipe 13 is connected to the outer supply path 28 and the inner supply path 30. The outer exhaust passage 23 and the inner exhaust passage 25 do not communicate with each other during the supply of air. At this time, the other air bladder 11 in which the outer air supply path 28 and the inner air supply path 30 do not communicate with each other is the outer exhaust path 23 and the inner exhaust path 2.
5 communicates and is in an exhaust state. That is, when air is supplied to the air bag 11, on the exhaust side, the communication path to the supplied air bag 11 is closed and exhaustion is not possible, and all other communication paths are open and exhaustable. State.

Seven out of the eight outer exhaust passages 23 and the outer supply passages 28 have a total of 14 air bladders 1 in pairs.
1 is connected (only a part is shown), and the waist air bag 11a is connected to one (not shown).

The supply switching valve 20 and the exhaust switching valve 19
Are independently driven by each of the stepping motors 21 and 22, and the rotary exhaust unit 26 is connected to the fixed exhaust unit 24, and the rotary air supply unit 32 is connected to the fixed air supply unit 29.
7 or the air supply hole 31 is rotated about a rotation axis. Therefore,
The rotation operation of the rotary exhaust unit 26 and the rotary air supply unit 32 can be arbitrarily controlled.
By rotating the rotary air supply unit 32 and shifting it to the non-communicable position, air supply to the air bag 11 can be stopped halfway and maintained in a pressurized state at that time, and It is also possible to stop the exhaust from 11 on the way. Each of the stepping motors 21 and 22 performs such a valve switching operation.
2 can be program controlled.

Next, the operation of the pneumatic massage device having the above configuration will be described. 4A and 4B show an operation associated with air supply and exhaust of the air bag. FIG. 4A is an operation chart, and FIG. 4B is an explanatory diagram of an open / close state of an air supply switching valve and an exhaust switching valve. As shown in FIG. 4A, the air bag (first open air bag) 11 that was opened immediately before the air bag (current open air bag) 11 that is currently open is replaced with the air supply switching valve 20. From the air supply state by the opening of the air supply switching valve 20, the expansion step by the air supply state is completed through a pre-contraction process in which the air supply switching valve 20 is finely closed and opened and then closed again. In the pre-shrinkage step, the front-open airbag 11 performs a slow discharge in which air is gradually discharged and gradually contracted. The reverse operation of the exhaust switching valve 19 corresponding to the operation of the air supply switching valve 20 causes the front-open air bag 11 to be exhausted thereafter.

At the time of the pre-shrinkage step of the front-open air bag 11, the air-supply switching valve 20 which has been in the closed state until now is opened.
Enters a pre-expansion step in which opening, closing, and opening and closing are repeated for a long time, and then enters an expansion step in which the opening is long after the opening and closing are slightly longer. In the pre-expansion step, the currently open air bag 11 performs slow air supply in which air is gradually supplied and gradually expanded. The currently open air bag 11 is in an exhaust state in which the expansion process is completed through a pre-shrink process of closing, opening, and closing after a long open air supply state, and the closing process is continued. At the time of the pre-deflation process of the currently open air bag 11, the air supply switching valve 20 has been in the closed state until then.
Air bag (open air bag) that opens one more time
1 is a pre-expansion step, which is then a long open expansion step.

That is, the pre-shrinking step and the pre-expanding step are overlapped between the end of the expanding step of the air bag 11 and the start of the expanding step of the next air bag 11, so that the air bags 11 arranged side by side are separated. , The expansion by air supply and the contraction by exhaust over time are repeated sequentially with slow exhaust and slow air supply,
As if the waves were going smoothly.

Here, the air supply switching valve 20 and the exhaust switching valve 1
9 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4B, when the specific air supply path of the air supply switching valve 20 and the specific exhaust path of the exhaust gas switching valve 19 are both open, the rotary exhaust unit 26 and the rotary air supply unit 32 Rotates by the angle θ1
Similarly, when a specific air supply path and exhaust path are opened (specific air supply / exhaust valve open) and rotated by an angle θ2, all air supply paths and exhaust paths are closed (full air supply / exhaust valve closed). )become. On the other hand, when both are in the closed state, when the rotary exhaust unit 26 and the rotary air supply unit 32 are rotated by the angle θ1, the specific air supply path and the specific air supply path are similarly closed (specific air supply / exhaust valve closed). And the angle θ2
After the minute rotation, all the air supply and exhaust paths are opened (full air supply / exhaust valve open). Note that θ1 = 360 / n ゜ (n is the number of switching) and θ2 = θ1 / 2 ゜.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing switching positions and switching states of the air supply switching valve and the exhaust switching valve. As shown in FIG. 5, the specific air supply valve is open (θ1 position), the specific exhaust valve is open (θ1 position), and the total air supply valve is provided for each of the front-open airbag, the currently-open airbag, and the rear-open airbag. Are closed (θ2 position) and all exhaust valves are closed (θ2 position), the air supply switching valve 20 and the exhaust switching valve 1
Each of the rotating exhaust portions 26 and 32 of No. 9 rotates to a predetermined position.

That is, as shown in (a), the rotary air supply section 32 of the air supply switching valve 20 rotates clockwise, and the inner air supply path 30 is sequentially opened from the front open air bag to the present open air bag to the rear. When communicating with the outer air supply passage 28 of the open airbag, the rotary exhaust portion 26 of the exhaust switching valve 19 rotates clockwise, as shown in FIG. The air is exhausted by communicating with the external exhaust path 23 of the airbag other than the airbag being aired. (C) shows the inner air supply passage 3 of the rotary air supply unit 32.
0 indicates a state in which the air supply to all the airbags is stopped at a position between the outer air supply passages 28, and the rotary air supply unit 32 rotates so that the inner air supply passage 30 is It sequentially moves to the intermediate position of the external air supply passage 28. (D) shows the rotary exhaust unit 26
Shows a state in which all the inner exhaust paths 25 are located between the outer exhaust paths 23 and the exhaust of all the airbags is stopped. The rotating exhaust path 26 rotates to maintain this state, and the inner exhaust path 25
Move sequentially to an intermediate position of the outer exhaust passage 23.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing various operating sequences of the airbag in the pneumatic massage device.
7 is an operation chart corresponding to various operation orders of the airbag in FIG. 6. In FIG. 6, the eighth position of the air bladders 11 from No. 1 to 14 indicates the waist air bladder 11a.

In the case of one-wave rolling, air supply and exhaust of air bags 11 are repeated in order from the first air bag 11 to the fourteenth air bag 11, and the inflation of each air bag 11 moves sequentially. . This series of movements is performed, for example, after reaching No. 14 from No. 1 to No. 14 and then in reverse from No. 14 to No. 1, or after reaching No. 14 and then again to No. 1 (Figure 6)
(See (a)). At this time, the airbag is generated in accordance with the operation of the front-open airbag (for example, the first airbag in the figure), the currently open airbag (for example, the second airbag in the figure), and the rear-open airbag (for example, the third airbag in the figure). In normal traveling air supply / exhaust, a pressing force is generated due to sudden expansion / contraction of the currently opened airbag, but in the case of slow air supply / slow exhaust, each of the front opening, current opening and rear opening is generated. Exhaust and air supply of the airbag overlap, and a pressing force due to continuous gentle inflation and contraction can be generated.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7A, in the case of normal air supply / exhaust, the currently opened airbag 11A is opened at the same timing as the opening-closing operation of the first-open airbag 11A in accordance with the traveling wave. 11B is closed → opened, and the currently opened airbag 1 is opened.
The rear opening airbag 11C performs the closing → opening operation at the same timing as the timing of the opening → closing operation of 1B. On the other hand, in the case of the slow supply / slow exhaust of the present invention, the front-open airbag 1
The opening → closing operation of 1A is finely and intermittently performed, and the closing → opening operation of the currently open airbag 11B is finely and intermittently overlapped with this operation. Similarly, the currently open airbag 11B
The opening-to-closing operation of the airbag 11C is finely and intermittently performed, and the closing-to-opening operation of the rear-open airbag 11C is finely and intermittently overlapped with the operation. As a result, the switching operation becomes gentle, and slow supply / slow exhaust is performed.

In the case of two-wave rolling, air supply and exhaust of the air bladder 11 are repeated simultaneously from the first and eighth rolling.
That is, it is divided into two groups and the two groups are synchronized, and the two peaks composed of the inflated air bladders 11 are simultaneously moved. This is performed by connecting the air supply pipes communicating with the two air bladders for one air supply path of the switching valve and supplying air to the two air bladders 11 at the same time. This series of movements is, for example,
After reaching No. 14 toward No. 4 again from No. 1 to No. 14
The process is repeated toward the number 14, or after reaching the number 1 from the number 14 to the number 1, the process is repeated from the number 14 again (see FIG. 6B). At this time, the front-open airbag,
Each of the two traveling waves generated by the operation of the currently opened airbag and the rear opened airbag is the same as in the case of one-wave rolling (see FIG. 7B).

In the case of partial rolling, 14 air bladders 1
The air supply and exhaust of the air bag 11 in an arbitrary range of 1, for example, the first to fifth air bags 11 are repeated, and the mountain is gradually moved by inflating not the whole but only a part. This series of movements is performed by repeating, for example, going from No. 1 to No. 5 or No. 5 to No. 1 (see FIG. 6C). At this time, the state of the traveling wave generated by the operation of the front-open airbag, the present-open airbag, and the rear-open airbag is the same as in the case of one-wave rolling (see FIG. 7C).

In the case of acupressure at a specific location, 14 air bladders 1
Any particular part of the first, for example, the first bladder 11
(See FIG. 6D). At this time, in the case of normal air supply / exhaust, the air bag 11 to be actuated generates a pressing force due to rapid switching between inflation and deflation.
In the case of slow supply / slow exhaust, fine and intermittent supply and exhaust at the start and end of supply can generate a pressing force due to gentle continuous expansion and contraction (FIG. 7 (d)). )reference).

In the case of acupressure at an arbitrary position, 14 air bladders 1
The air supply and exhaust of the different air bladders 11 are repeated sequentially in an arbitrary part of the air bag 11, for example, first, fifth, ninth, third, and thirteenth (FIG. 6 ( e)
reference). At this time, the state of generation of the pressing force of the air bladder 11 to be actuated is the same as in the case of the acupressure at a specific location (FIG. 7).
(E)).

In the case of stretching of the waist, the air supply and exhaust of the waist air bag 11a located at the eighth position are repeated to obtain a stretching effect on the waist (FIG. 6).
(F)). The air bag 1 for the waist to be actuated at this time
The pressing force generation state of 1a is the same as that in the case of the acupressure at a specific location (see FIG. 7F).

The various operations of the air bag 11 described above can be performed, for example, by operating an operation control controller (not shown) provided in the pneumatic massage device, so that the operator who receives the massage can set the various operation conditions according to the setting conditions. Can be programmed arbitrarily.

Accordingly, by the periodic inflation / deflation operation of the air bladders 11, the pressing force can be applied to or released from the body X lying on the air bladders 11 arranged.
Can bring a massage effect. And
At the time of the periodic inflation operation of the air bag 11, the air supply switching valve 20 does not reach θ1 during air supply (eg, the angle θ2).
If it is rotated only, the air supply is stopped, the state of expansion at that point is maintained, and the way of expansion is reduced. This is the same for the contraction operation.

Thus, by combining such operations, slow air supply / slow exhaust that gradually and gently expands or contracts becomes possible, and the exhaust of one air bag 11 and the air supply of the next air bag 11 can be performed. Since the rolling can be performed simultaneously, a smoother rolling motion can be realized, and the mountain of the air bag 11 moves smoothly. The operation of the air supply switching valve 20 and the exhaust switching valve 19 for the inflation / deflation operation of the air bag 11 can be selected from normal supply / normal exhaust or slow supply / slow exhaust.

As described above, the pneumatic massage device 10 (FIG. 1) of the present invention can appropriately control the air supply and exhaust speeds. Since the driving devices are driven by the individual stepping motors 20 and 21, the driving device does not become large and the cost can be reduced.

Further, since the exhaust passage and the air supply passage are arranged at a constant angular interval in the circumferential direction, it is possible to set a state in which no air bag is exhausted or supplied. And the variation of the kneading action is expanded.
This allows the bladder to be kept pressurized and can be used as an air bed in addition to the massage function. Further, the exhaust can be instantaneously performed or the exhaust can be stopped only by driving one motor.

Further, since the exhaust port of the exhaust switching valve 19 and the intake port of the air supply switching valve 20 are radially arranged on the outer peripheral surfaces of the fixed exhaust portion and the fixed air supply portion with respect to the rotating shaft, the rotary Even if the exhaust part 26 and the rotary air supply part 32 have small diameters, a large number of exhaust paths and air supply paths can be provided, and the interval can be widened as compared with the case where the exhaust part 26 and the rotary air supply part 32 are arranged parallel to the rotation axis.

[0050]

As described above, according to the pneumatic massage device of the present invention, the supply of air to a plurality of air bags arranged side by side is performed by the exhaust means operating independently of the air supply means. The discharge is performed independently, and the air bag is inflated and deflated periodically. This makes it possible to open and close the air supply and the exhaust finely and intermittently, and to overlap the air supply and the exhaust timing in continuous air bladders, so that the expansion and contraction operation by the air supply and the exhaust is moderated or expanded. The switching movement of the air bladder can be smoothed, and the pressing feeling of the massage can be improved. In addition, the pressurized state after air supply can be maintained, and the air supply / exhaust speed can be appropriately controlled, and further, the size and cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

Further, it is possible to set a state in which no air is supplied or exhausted to any of the air bags. In this case, the variation of the kneading operation is widened, and the holding of the air bags in a pressurized state enables the air bed to be used. Can also be used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of a pneumatic massage device according to an embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is a plan view, (b) is a cross-sectional view, and (c) is a plan view of another arrangement example of an airbag. .

FIG. 2 is a sectional view schematically showing the structure of the mattress of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a pneumatic circuit provided in the air power source of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows an operation associated with air supply and exhaust of an air bag,
(A) is an operation chart, (b) is an opening / closing state explanatory diagram of an air supply switching valve and an exhaust switching valve.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing switching positions and switching states of an air supply switching valve and an exhaust switching valve.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing various operation orders of an airbag in the pneumatic massage device.

7 is an operation chart corresponding to various operation orders of the airbag of FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

10: pneumatic massage device, 11: air bag, 11
a: air bag for waist, 12: mattress, 13: air piping,
14: air power source, 15: structure, 16: cushioning material, 1
7: separator, 18: skin, 19: exhaust switching valve, 2
0: air supply switching valve, 21, 22: stepping motor, 2
3: external exhaust path, 23a: exhaust port, 24: fixed exhaust section, 2
5: internal exhaust path, 26: rotary exhaust section, 27: exhaust hole, 2
8: outside air supply path, 28a: air supply port, 29: fixed air supply section, 3
0: internal air supply passage, 31: air supply hole, 32: rotary air supply unit, X:
body.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A pneumatic massage apparatus for periodically inflating and deflating the air bag by supplying or discharging air to a plurality of air bags arranged in parallel, wherein air is supplied to the air bag. An air supply unit, and an exhaust unit that is driven independently of the air supply unit and exhausts air from the air bag, wherein the air supply unit includes one or more air bags out of a plurality of air bags. The air bag is configured to supply air to a group of air bladders and stop the intake of air to the remaining air bladders. A pneumatic massage device configured to exhaust air from each air bag. 2. The exhaust means includes: a fixed exhaust portion having a plurality of exhaust ports at a constant angular interval in a circumferential direction; and a rotatable mounting member mounted around the fixed exhaust portion in a circumferential direction. The pneumatic massage device according to claim 1, further comprising a rotary exhaust valve having a rotary exhaust portion that can communicate with at least one of the plurality of exhaust ports. 3. The air supply means comprises: a fixed air supply section having a plurality of air inlets at a constant angular interval in a circumferential direction; and a rotatable along the circumferential direction of the fixed air supply section. The pneumatic massage apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a rotary air supply valve that is mounted and has a rotary air supply unit that can communicate with at least one of the plurality of air supply ports. .