JP2000245795A - Massage machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a massage machine capable of giving a well-adjusted effective massage rich in further variation. SOLUTION: In a massage machine having a pair of therapeutic fingers 40, 40 and a massage unit 30 mounted with a rubbing means 50 for reciprocating an interval between the therapeutic fingers 40, 40 in the wide/narrow direction, and controlling the rubbing means 50 by a control means, the control means controls an actuating speed of the rubbing means 50 in a first rubbing speed when a width of the therapeutic fingers 40, 40 becomes wider than a prescribed interval, and in a second rubbing speed lower than the first rubbing speed when the width of the therapeutic fingers 40, 40 becomes narrower than the prescribed interval.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the operation of a massage finger of a massage machine, and more particularly, to a massage machine capable of enhancing the massage effect of the massage finger.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are known chair-type and bed-type massage machines which massage an affected part such as a shoulder and a waist of a user. This type of device includes a massage unit having a pair of treatment fingers inside a back contact portion against which the user's back touches, and reciprocates the treatment fingers vertically and horizontally to massage the affected part. Rolling massage is performed in the waist direction from the neck muscles by performing a lifting massage or a tapping massage or moving the massage unit up and down by a motor that reciprocates the massage unit in the longitudinal direction of the back contact portion.

In order to enhance the massage effect on the user, the applicant has disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-99394 that the moving speed of the massage finger when approaching and the moving speed when the finger is separated in massage massage. A massage machine with a different shape is disclosed.

[0004]

However, since the stiff part is often close to the neck, there is a demand for performing a massage in which the part close to the neck is emphasized.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide a massager capable of giving a more effective and varied massage.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, a massage machine (10) of the present invention comprises a pair of treatment fingers (40) (4).
0) and a massage unit (30) equipped with a rubbing means (50) for reciprocating the interval between the treatment fingers (40) and (40) in the wide and narrow directions, and the rubbing means (50) is controlled by the control means (70). In the massage machine controlled by the control means (70), the massaging means (5
When the width of the treatment fingers (40) and (40) becomes wider than a predetermined interval, the operation speed of the treatment fingers (40) and (4)
When the width of (0) becomes narrower than the predetermined interval, the second kneading speed is controlled to be lower than the first kneading speed.

The massage unit (30) has control means (7
0) is controlled by a tapping means (60) for reciprocating the treatment fingers (40) and (40) in the vertical direction, and massaging means (50)
At the same time, the hitting means (60) can be operated.

The control means (70) controls the operating speed of the hitting means (60) when the width of the treatment fingers (40) (40) becomes wider than a predetermined interval. When the width of the treatment fingers (40) (40) becomes narrower than a predetermined interval, the second hitting speed can be controlled to be higher than the first hitting speed.

[0009]

[Function and effect] The treatment finger (40) is operated by the operation of the kneading means (50).
When the (40) is approaching and when it is separated, the speed of the approach and separation of the treatment fingers (40) and (40) by the massaging means (50) and the speed of the beating operation by the beating means (60) are determined. By changing, it is possible to perform a rich and sharp massage, and to massage more effectively.

In addition, the massage machine (10) of the present invention can perform a massage that emphasizes a part of the user's neck from the neck and can perform a more effective massage.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a chair-type massage machine (1).
An example applied to (0) will be described. The present invention is not limited to the chair type, but can be applied to, for example, a bed-type massage machine, furthermore, a nursing bed.

<Structure description> Chair (11) of massage machine (10)
As shown in FIG. 1, the seat (12) on which the user sits
And a back contact portion formed upward from the rear end of the seat portion (12).
(13), and an armrest (14) formed upward on both left and right sides of the seat (12). The seat portion (12), the back contact portion (13), and the armrest portion (14) are each formed by connecting a metal pipe, a frame, a plate, or the like inside, and the outer periphery is surrounded by a patch cloth or cushion. You.

As shown in FIG. 1, an upper frame (16) and a lower frame (1) are provided at an upper portion and a lower portion, respectively, inside the back portion (13).
7), and the ends of the upper and lower frames (16) and (17) are connected by a pair of guide rails (18) and (18) extending in the vertical direction. The upper ends of the guide rails (18) and (18) extend upward beyond the upper frame (16).
8) At the tip of (18), the head rest (15) against which the head of the user
Is attached. The lower portions of the guide rails (18) (18) are pivotally supported by a frame forming the seat (12). Also,
The lower frame (17) is connected to a known reclining mechanism (19), and the backrest (13) is swingable with respect to the seat (12). The guide rails (18) and (18) have a U-shaped cross section and are arranged so that the grooves face each other, so that the massage unit (30) can move up and down along the guide rails (18) and (18). Installed.

A guide rail (1) is provided inside the backrest (13).
8) A screw shaft (22) pivotally supported in parallel with (18), and the screw shaft (22)
An elevating means (20) including an elevating motor (21) for rotating the motor is provided. A pulley (23) is provided at the lower end of the screw shaft (22), and is connected to the rotating shaft of the lifting / lowering motor (21) via a belt. When the lifting / lowering motor (21) is driven, the screw shaft (22) is correctly rotated. Perform rotation or reverse rotation. The screw shaft (22) is provided with an encoder (24) electrically connected to control means (70) described later, and rotation of the screw shaft (22) is transmitted to the control means (70) as a pulse signal. Sent.

Limit switches (33) and (34) are provided above and below one of the guide rails (18), respectively. When the massage unit (30) reaches the upper or lower movement limit, a signal is controlled. Transmit to means (70). The height position of the massage unit (30) is detected by counting the encoder pulse signal of the screw shaft (22) from the state where the upper or lower limit switch (33) (34) detects the massage unit (30). be able to.

The massage unit (30) is shown in FIGS.
As shown in the figure, the treatment fingers are attached to a chassis (32) in which rollers (31), (31), (31), and (31), which fit into the grooves of the guide rails (18) and (18), are vertically supported by a pair of right and left. (40) (40) and the treatment finger (40) (4
It has a kneading means (50) and a hitting means (60) for operating 0). The chassis (32) is a screw cylinder (35) that is screwed to the screw shaft (22).
As described above, when the screw shaft (22) is rotated, the massage unit (30) moves up and down by the screw thrust.

The treatment fingers (40) and (40) have a pair of kneading balls (4) at the upper and lower ends of a plate-like arm (42) bent in a substantially C-shape.
1) (41), the bent part of the arm (42) is a plate-shaped lever (4
3) pivoted. The lever (43) is rotatably supported by the massaging means (50), and the rear end of the lever (43) is a ball joint (44).
A connecting rod (45) is attached through the connecting rod (45),
It is linked to the hitting means (60).

The massaging means (50) includes a massaging shaft (52) pivotally supporting the levers (43) (43) of the treatment fingers (40) (40) in an inclined state, and rotating the massaging shaft (52). A kneading motor (51) is provided. The power from the kneading motor (51) is supplied to the kneading shaft via the reduction mechanism (53).
(52). The treatment finger (40) (40) is pivotally supported on the massage shaft (52) in an inclined state, and the levers (43) and (43) are connected to the connecting rods (45) and (45), respectively, and rotate. When the kneading shaft (52) is rotated, the left and right kneading balls (41) (41)
Reciprocates while repeating approaching and separating to perform a kneading operation.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a magnet (55) is attached to the kneading shaft (52). The magnet (55) faces the rotation transfer path of each magnet (55). The rotation of the massaging shaft (52) is detected by the reed switch (56) provided on the chassis. The reed switch (56) is electrically connected to control means (70) described later,
The detection of 5) is transmitted to the control means (70) as a pulse signal.
The reed switch (56) detects the magnet (55) when the distance between the treatment fingers (40) and (40) is the longest,
The installation position has been adjusted. The rotation of the massaging motor (51) is detected by the encoder (54) and transmitted to the control means (70) as a pulse signal.

Counting the number of encoder pulses of the massaging motor (51) from the state where the reed switch (56) detects the magnet (55), that is, the state where the distance between the treatment fingers (40) and (40) is the longest. Thereby, the interval between the treatment fingers (40) (40) can be known. For example, if the reduction ratio between the massaging motor (51) and the massaging shaft (52) is set to, for example, 40: 1, after the reed switch (56) of the massaging shaft (52) detects the magnet (55), Until (55) is detected, the kneading motor (5
1) The encoder (54) detects the rotation of the kneading motor (51) 40 times. Therefore, the interval between the two treatment fingers (40) (40) is
If the position where the reed switch (56) of (52) detects the magnet (55) is the origin (the state where the treatment finger interval is the farthest away),
When the kneading motor (51) has rotated 10 times, the treatment finger interval is in the middle and at 20 rotations, and becomes the closest state.

The hitting means (60) includes a hitting shaft (62) for supporting the connecting rods (45) and (45) of the treatment fingers (40) and (40) in a state of being shifted from the axis by 180 degrees from each other, and Tapping motor (6
1) is provided. The power from the hitting motor (61) is supplied to the speed reduction mechanism (6
It is transmitted to the hitting shaft (62) via 3). When the hitting motor (61) is rotated, the connecting rod (4) eccentrically connected to the hitting shaft (62) is connected.
The treatment fingers (40) and (40) reciprocate up and down via 5) and (45) to perform a beating operation. Similarly for the hitting motor (61),
An encoder (64) is provided, and the rotation of the tapping motor (61) is controlled by a pulse signal from the encoder (64).
Sent to (70).

The control means (70) for controlling the operation of the massage machine (10) will be described. FIG. 5 shows a control means (70) mainly composed of a microcomputer (71). The control means (70)
Deployed in place of the massage machine (10). The microcomputer (71) includes a kneading motor (51), a hitting motor (61), and a lifting motor (2).
Each motor drive circuit (72) (73) (74) controlling the drive of 1),
The user is provided with an operation unit I / F circuit (76) for receiving a signal from the operation unit (79) for selecting a massage operation, and a reclining control circuit (75) for controlling a reclining mechanism (19). Encoders (54) (64) (24) that detect the rotation of the kneading motor (51), the hitting motor (61) and the elevating motor (21),
The reed switch (56) of the massaging shaft (52) and the limit switches (33) and (34) provided above and below the guide rail (18) are connected. In the control means (70), the user is
By operating (79), for example, when massaging, tapping or rolling massage is selected, according to the operation command, from each motor drive circuit (72) (73) (74), the motor (51) (61) ( An operation command to 21) is transmitted, and massage is performed.

The massage operation of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The massage operation of the present invention, the operation speed of the kneading means (50), the first kneading speed when the width of the treatment finger (40) (40) is wider than a predetermined interval
(High-speed kneading), and when the width of the treatment finger (40) (40) becomes narrower than a predetermined interval, the second kneading speed lower than the first kneading speed is used.
This is a massage operation with a kneading speed (low-speed kneading).

First, the lifting motor (21) is driven to move the massage unit (30) to a predetermined height and stop (step 1). Next, the kneading motor (51) is operated at the first kneading speed (high-speed kneading) (step 2), and the treatment finger (40)
When the interval of (40) is the longest, that is, when the reed switch (56) detects the magnet (55) (step 3), the encoder pulse of the massaging motor (51) (hereinafter referred to as "pulse P") Is cleared (step 4). When the pulse P is detected (Step 5), the pulse P is counted up.
(Step 6) When the pulse P matches the predetermined pulse value Pa (see FIG. 4) (Step 7), the kneading speed of the kneading means (51) is lower than the first kneading speed (high-speed kneading). Second
Is changed to the kneading speed (low-speed kneading) (step 8). In addition,
As shown in FIG. 4, the pulse value Pa is set to the number of pulses when the interval between the treatment fingers (40) and (40) in the approaching state approaches the neck of the user. By lowering the kneading speed at the portion from the neck, an effective massage can be applied to the stiff part.

After the massage is started by the low-speed massage, the distance between the treatment fingers (40) and (40) is further reduced to reach the closest position, and thereafter the treatment fingers (40) and (40) are separated. The interval between the treatment fingers (40) and (40) in the separated state is increased to a predetermined interval, that is, when the pulse P matches the predetermined pulse value Pb (Step 9), the kneading speed of the kneading motor (51) is Change the second kneading speed (low speed kneading) to the first kneading speed (high speed kneading)
(Step 10). As shown in FIG. 4, the pulse value Pb is set to the number of pulses when the interval between the treatment fingers (40) and (40) becomes the same as the interval in the pulse Pa. By increasing the kneading speed when moving away from the part close to the neck of the user, it is possible to reduce the time required for massaging the less stiff part.

It should be noted that a more effective massage can be performed by adding a tapping operation to the massage operation. The tapping operation may operate the tapping motor (61) at a constant speed, but in accordance with the rotation speed of the kneading motor (51), for example, the kneading motor (51) operates at the first kneading speed (high-speed kneading). In the case, the first tapping speed (low-speed tapping), and if the kneading motor (51) is at the second tapping speed (low-speed tapping), the second tapping speed (high-speed tapping) When the distance between the treatment fingers (40) and (40) is closer to the neck, a more effective massage can be performed by performing strong tapping.

The above pulse values Pa and Pb (see FIG. 4)
Can be set to a desired value at a position between the state where the treatment fingers (40) and (40) are farthest apart and the state where the treatment fingers are closest to each other. Alternatively, a massage rich in variations combining a massage with a massage and a beating massage can be given.

The description of the above embodiments is for the purpose of illustrating the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the invention described in the claims or reducing the scope thereof. Further, the configuration of each part of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the technical scope described in the claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a massage machine of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the massage unit (however, a line seen on the other side of the chassis is also indicated by a solid line).

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part of the massage unit.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between rotation of a kneading shaft and a kneading motor rotation pulse.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control unit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the massage operation of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 (10) Massage machine (30) Massage unit (40) Treatment finger (50) Massage means (60) Tapping means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A pair of treatment fingers (40), (40), and the treatment fingers (40)
Equipped with a massage unit (30) equipped with kneading means (50) for reciprocating the interval of (40) in a wide and narrow direction, kneading means (50)
In the massage machine controlled by the control means (70), the control means (70) controls the operating speed of the kneading means (50) by the treatment finger (4).
0) When the width of (40) is larger than the predetermined interval, the first kneading speed is set, and when the width of the treatment fingers (40), (40) is smaller than the predetermined interval, the first kneading speed. A massage machine characterized by controlling the second kneading speed to be lower than the second kneading speed. 2. The massage unit (30) has control means.
The tapping means (60) controlled by (70) to reciprocate the treatment fingers (40) (40) in the vertical direction is mounted, and the kneading means (5
The massage machine according to claim 1, wherein the tapping means (60) is operated together with (0). 3. The control means (70) sets the operating speed of the hitting means (60) to a first hitting speed when the width of the treatment fingers (40) (40) becomes wider than a predetermined interval; The massage machine according to claim 2, wherein when the width of the treatment fingers (40) is narrower than a predetermined interval, the massage machine controls the second hitting speed higher than the first hitting speed. 4. The massage machine according to claim 2, wherein the massaging means (50) and the hitting means (60) are operated by different motors (51) and (61), respectively.