JP2001017501A - Vibration stimulator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vibration stimulator with an increased massage effect due to favorable stimulus by allowing a vibrator to generate wavy vibration. SOLUTION: A plurality of vibrators (a vibrator 21 for a bottom part through a vibrator 24 for leg parts) driven by drive means (drive circuits 41-44) corresponding to parts of a human body are disposed in a support section of a device body (chair body) having this support section (a seat section 12 and a back rest section 13) for supporting the body. The vibrators adjacent to each other out of these vibrators are driven in two different frequencies, a first frequency and a second frequency. Also, the positional relationship between the adjacent vibrators driven in the different frequencies is changed sequentially with time by control means 45.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vibration for obtaining a massage effect by stimulating the body by driving, that is, vibrating means provided on a support portion of an apparatus body corresponding to each part of the body by a driving means. Related to stimulators.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vibration stimulating apparatus in which a vibrating body is vibrated by driving means to stimulate a body to obtain a massage effect is widely known. Since these vibration stimulating devices are normally driven or vibrated at a single frequency such as a commercial power frequency, only a monotonous stimulus can be obtained and a good massage effect cannot be obtained. An improvement in this respect is described as a beat massager in JP-A-55-32526.

That is, in the beat massager described in this publication, two electric motors as a vibration source are connected to a housing by a connecting member of an elastic member.
The cores of these motors are mounted via elastic bodies fixed to a mounting base, and unbalanced weights are fixed to the rotating shafts of these motors, and pads protruding from the cutouts of the housing are provided on the cores, and the two By rotating the motors at an approaching rotational speed, the two motors have different frequencies.

When the two electric motors are rotated, the two electric motors connected by the connecting body generate a beat frequency having a difference between the frequencies, and the respective pads vibrate at the beat frequency. The massage is performed by a pad vibrating at the beat frequency.

In the beat massager described in the above publication, two different frequencies are generated by two motors, and the different frequencies of these motors are combined to generate the beat frequency. Since the massage is performed by vibrating the pad with the beat, the problem that only the monotonous stimulation can be obtained is solved, but this pad always corresponds to one part of the body Therefore, the part to be massaged by the beat frequency is limited to the one part.

[0006]

As described above, in the conventional vibration stimulating device, a device that vibrates at a single frequency can obtain only a monotonous stimulus and cannot obtain a good massage effect. To improve this point, in the beat massager described in the above-mentioned publication, in which the pad is beat-vibrated at the beat frequency generated by the two electric motors that generate different frequencies by changing the number of rotations, the massage part is There is a problem that a good massage effect cannot be obtained because the pad is limited to one part of the corresponding body.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the invention according to claim 1 is a device for supporting each part of the body on the support part of the apparatus main body having the support part for supporting the body. A plurality of vibrating bodies driven by the driving means are arranged in correspondence with the above, and one of these vibrating bodies is driven at a first frequency and the other is driven at a second frequency different from the first frequency. In addition, the vibration stimulating device is such that the positional relationship between adjacent vibrating bodies driven at the different frequencies is sequentially changed by the control means over time. The invention according to claim 1 configured as described above is characterized in that a plurality of vibrators provided on the support portion of the apparatus main body are formed by adjoining two vibrators of a first frequency and a second frequency having different frequencies. In addition, since the positional relationship between adjacent vibrating bodies driven at the different frequencies is sequentially changed with time by the control means, the vibrating bodies vibrating at the swell frequency generated by the different frequencies are sequentially changed over time. Due to the change, the undulating vibration moves along each part of the body, and the user is massaged by the stimulus of the undulating vibration applied as a wavy state along the body, so that a good massage effect is obtained. is there.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of vibrators driven by driving means corresponding to each part of the body are disposed on the support of the apparatus main body having the support for supporting the body. In addition, the vibration stimulating device is configured to drive the vibrators adjacent to each other at the first frequency and the second frequency having different frequencies.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of vibrating members provided on the supporting portion of the apparatus main body are connected to the vibrating members adjacent to each other by a first frequency and a second frequency having different frequencies. Since the oscillating vibration is generated between adjacent vibrating bodies, the massage is stimulated by the undulating vibration applied to each part of the body at the same time, so that a good massage effect can be obtained. It is.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the first frequency is set to approximately 6
This is a vibration stimulator in which the frequency is 0 Hertz (Hz) and the second frequency is a frequency at which the swell frequency is 1 to 10 Hertz (Hz).

As described above, the invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the first frequency is set to approximately 60 Hertz (Hz) and the second frequency is set to a swell frequency of 1 to 10 Hz. Since the frequency is set to Hertz (Hz), a comfortable swelling feeling can be obtained and the massage effect can be enhanced.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of the present invention in which the main body of the vibration stimulator is a chair will be described with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a vibration stimulating device, and reference numeral 10 denotes a chair main body as the main body of the device. As shown in FIG. 1, the chair body 10 includes a seat portion 12 formed on an upper portion of a body frame 11, and a backrest portion 13 located at a rear portion of the seat portion 12 and attached to the body frame 11. . The body frame 11 is provided with armrests 14 located on both sides of the seat 12.

Further, the chair body 10 is provided with a leg mounting table 15 located in front of the seat 12.

The seat portion 12, the backrest portion 13, and the leg mounting table 15 constitute a support portion for supporting the body.

The seat portion 12 is provided with a butt vibration member 21 at a position corresponding to the butt portion, and the backrest portion 13 is provided with a lumbar vibration member 22 and a back portion at a portion corresponding to the waist portion. The back vibrating body 23 is disposed at a position corresponding to the above. Similarly, the leg mounting table 15 has a leg vibrating body 24.
Are arranged. The butt vibrating body 21 or the leg vibrating body 24 is covered with the cover 16.

The butt vibrating body 21 and the leg vibrating body 24 have the same configuration.
As shown in FIG. 2, the first to leg vibrators 24 are
1. A vibrating plate 32 formed in a U-shape by an elastic metal plate and having a lower side fixed to the substrate 31; an electromagnet 33 attached to a lower end of the vibrating plate 32; And a permanent magnet 34 attached to the upper side. The mounting plate 31 is mounted on the seat 12, the backrest 13, and the footrest 15 with screws (not shown).

The coil 33a of the electromagnet 33 is
The permanent magnet 34 is driven or actuated by an exciting current of a predetermined frequency supplied from a driving circuit 41 to 44, which is driving means to be described later, via a lead wire 35, and the permanent magnet 34 is attracted or attracted to the electromagnet 33 by this operation. When released, the diaphragm 32 vibrates at a predetermined frequency.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A power switch 17 is provided on the side wall of the power switch 17. A power cord 18 is connected to one end of the power switch 17. The code 19a of the input means 19, which is a remote control device provided with a start switch, a stop switch, and the like for inputting various control signals such as a setting signal and a start signal and a stop signal, is drawn out.

The swell mode includes a "moving swell mode" (hereinafter referred to as a "moving mode") and a "simultaneous swell mode" (hereinafter referred to as a "simultaneous mode").

In the moving mode, as shown in FIG. 3, vibrating bodies 21 to 24 disposed on the seat 12, the backrest 13, and the leg mounting table 15 are adjacent to each other and have different frequencies. The first frequency (hereinafter frequency f1)
) And a second frequency lower than the frequency f1 (hereinafter referred to as frequency f2).
This is a mode in which the positional relationship between adjacent vibrators that are driven at the different frequencies by sequentially controlling the generation pulse period of a through 44a is sequentially changed with time.

That is, first, the back vibrator 23 is set to the frequency f
1 (or the frequency f2) and the remaining waist vibrating body 22 or the leg vibrating body 24 is driven for a predetermined time at the frequency f2 (or the frequency f1). The vibrating body 22 is driven at a frequency f1 (or frequency f2), and the remaining butt vibrating body 21 and the leg vibrating body 24 are driven at a frequency f2 (or frequency f1) for a predetermined time. Then, the back vibrating body 23 and the waist vibrating body 22
And the buttocks vibrator 21 at frequency f1 (or frequency f1).
2), the remaining leg vibrators 24 are driven for a predetermined time at the frequency f2 (or frequency f1), and after the predetermined time elapses, the above-mentioned order, that is, the back vibrators 23 are again driven by the frequency f1 for the remaining waist vibrations. The body 22 or the leg vibrator 24 is driven for a predetermined time at the frequency f2, and then the back vibrator 23 and the waist vibrator 22 are driven at the frequency f1, and the remaining buttocks vibrator 21 and the leg vibrator 24 are driven at the frequency f2. Drive for a predetermined time, then back vibrator 23,
The waist vibration body 22 and the butt vibration body 21 are repeatedly driven for a predetermined time at a frequency f1 and the remaining leg vibration bodies 24 are driven for a predetermined time at a frequency f2.

In this movement mode, first, the back vibrator 23 driven at the frequency f1 and the frequency f2
Between the waist vibrating body 22 and the frequency f1
Frequency F (F
= | F1−f2 |), undulating vibration is generated by the back vibrating body 23 and the waist vibrating body 22, and a stimulus due to undulating vibration is applied to a portion from the back to the waist, and massage is performed by the stimulating undulating vibration. Is made.

Next, after a lapse of a predetermined time, the difference between the frequency f1 and the frequency f2 is similarly set between the vibrator 22 driven at the frequency f1 and the butt vibrator 21 vibrating at the frequency f2. A swell frequency F due to the frequency of
An undulating vibration is generated by the waist vibration body 22 and the butt vibration body 21, and a stimulus due to the undulating vibration is applied to a portion from the waist to the buttocks, and massage is performed by the stimulus due to the undulating vibration.

After a further elapse of a predetermined time, the frequency between the butt moving body 21 driven at the frequency f1 and the leg vibrating body 24 vibrating at the frequency f2 is similarly changed by the difference between the frequencies f1 and f2. Undulation frequency F is generated, undulation vibration is generated by the buttocks vibrator 21 and leg vibrators 24, and undulation vibration is applied to a portion extending from the buttocks to the legs. Similarly, stimulation by the undulation vibration causes massage. What is done.

The generation of the undulating vibration is caused by the passage of time from the back vibrating body 23 and the waist vibrating body 22 to the waist vibrating body 22 and the buttocks vibrating body 21 and then to the buttocks vibrating body 2.
1 and to the leg vibrating body 24. In other words, since the undulating vibration moves along each part of the body, the user is massaged by the stimulus of the undulating vibration applied as a wavy state along the body, so that a good massage effect can be obtained.

Next, in the simultaneous mode, the vibrating body 2 provided with the seat 12, the backrest 13, and the leg mounting table 15 is used.
1 to 24 are modes in which the vibrators adjacent to each other are driven by the control means 45 at a frequency f1 having a different frequency and a frequency f2 smaller than the frequency f1 to generate undulating vibration between the adjacent vibrators. .

That is, the control means 45 controls the back vibrator 23 at the frequency f1 (or frequency f2), the waist vibrator 22 at the frequency f2 (or frequency f1), and the buttocks vibrator 21 at the frequency f1 (or frequency f2). Then, the leg vibration body 24 is driven at the frequency f2 (or the frequency f1).

By this, between the back vibrating body 23 and the waist vibrating body 22, between the waist vibrating body 22 and the buttocks vibrating body 21, and between the buttocks vibrating body 21 and the leg vibrating body 24 at the same time. A swelling frequency F is generated by the frequency of the difference between the frequency f1 and the frequency f2, and a stimulus due to swelling vibration is simultaneously applied to a portion from the back to the waist, a portion from the waist to the buttocks, and a portion from the buttocks to the legs, Massage is performed by stimulation by the undulating vibration.

It has been found that if the frequency of the undulating vibration, that is, the undulating frequency F, is too high, a pleasant stimulus cannot be obtained. Therefore, the inventor has proposed a number of undulating frequencies that the user actually feels as a pleasant stimulus. As a result of having the subject actually confirm by an experiment, when the vibration frequency of one adjacent vibrating body is approximately 60 Hertz (Hz),
It was confirmed that the upper limit of the swell frequency (swell vibration) at which a comfortable stimulus was felt was 10 Hertz (Hz). That is, when the frequency at which one of the vibrating bodies adjacent to each other vibrates is approximately 60 Hertz (Hz), the frequency at which the other vibrating body vibrates is the swell frequency F of 1 to 10 Hertz (Hz). It was confirmed that it is preferable to set as follows.

Next, a control configuration of the vibration stimulating apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

Driving circuits 41 to 44 are connected to the butt vibrating body 21, the waist vibrating body 22, the back vibrating body 23, and the leg vibrating body 24, respectively. Generators 41a to 44a are connected. The number of generated pulses, that is, the pulse generation cycle of the pulse generators 41a to 44a is controlled by control means 45 composed of a microcomputer or the like. The frequency of the exciting current to be supplied is controlled.

The control means 45 is connected to the input means 1
9, the swell mode setting and various control signals are input as described above.

The control means 45 and the drive circuit 41
To 44 and a pulse generator (41a to 44a)
Although not shown in FIG. 1, it is arranged below the seat 12.

Next, the operation of the above-described control structure will be described together with the operation used by the user. First, when the user desires the movement mode, the user sits on the seat 12, rests the back on the backrest 13, and places the legs on the leg rest 15. Then, a movement mode is set from the input means 19,
Operate the start switch. When a start signal is input from a start switch, the control means 45 executes the movement mode.

That is, the control means 45 controls the pulse generator 43a so that the drive circuit 43 generates a pulse having a pulse cycle for supplying the exciting current of the frequency f1 to the back vibrator 23, and generates the remaining pulses. So that the drive circuits 42, 41 and 44 generate pulses of a pulse cycle for supplying an exciting current of frequency f2 to the waist vibration body 22, the hip vibration body 21 and the leg vibration body 24. Control.

As a result, the back vibrator 23 is driven at the frequency f1, the waist vibrator 22, the hip vibrator 21 and the leg vibrator 24 are driven at the frequency f2, and the back vibrator 23 and the waist vibrator 23 are driven. As described above, the undulating vibration of the frequency F occurs between the bodies 22, and the undulating vibration is applied from the back to the waist.

After a predetermined time has elapsed,
The control means 45 controls the pulse generators 43a and 42a so that the drive circuits 43 and 42 generate a pulse for supplying the exciting current of the frequency f1, and the drive circuits 41 and 44 control the pulse generators 41a and 44a. Control is performed so as to generate a pulse having a pulse period for supplying the exciting current having the frequency f2.

As a result, the back vibrator 23 and the waist vibrator 42 are driven at the frequency f1, the butt vibrator 21 and the leg vibrator 24 are driven at the frequency f2, and the waist 22 and the butt vibrator are driven. A swelling vibration having a frequency F occurs between 21 and the swelling vibration is applied from the waist to the hips.

When a predetermined time elapses from this state,
Next, the control means 45 includes the driving circuits 43, 42 and 4
1 controls the pulse generators 43a, 42a and 41a so as to generate a pulse for supplying the exciting current of the frequency f1, and the driving circuit 44 controls the pulse period of the pulse period for supplying the exciting current of the frequency f2. Control to generate a pulse.

As a result, the back vibrating body 23, the waist vibrating body 42, and the buttocks vibrating body 41 are driven at the frequency f1, the leg vibrating bodies 24 are driven at the frequency f2, and the buttocks vibrating body 21 and the legs are vibrated. An undulating vibration having a frequency F is generated between the oscillating part 24 and the partial vibrating body 24, and the undulating vibration is applied from the hip to the leg.

When a predetermined time has elapsed, the control means 4
5 again controls the pulse generator 43a so that the drive circuit 43 generates a pulse for supplying an exciting current of frequency f1, and the remaining pulse generators 42a, 41a and 4
4a is controlled so that the drive circuits 42, 41 and 44 generate a pulse for supplying an exciting current of frequency f2, and the above control is repeatedly executed until a stop signal is input by operating a stop switch.

In the moving mode, the undulating vibration moves with time in the order of the part from the back to the waist, the part from the waist to the buttocks, and the part from the buttocks to the legs. Is applied with a wavy vibration in a wavy state along the body, and massage is performed by stimulation by the undulating vibration, so that a good massage effect can be obtained.

Next, when the user desires the simultaneous mode, the user similarly sits down on the seat 12, puts his / her back on the backrest 13, and puts his / her legs on the leg rest 15 and then inputs the data. The movement mode is set from the means 19, and the start switch is operated. Thereby, the control means 45 executes the movement mode.

That is, the control means 45 controls the pulse generator 43a so that the drive circuits 43 and 41 generate a pulse for supplying an exciting current of the frequency f1 (or the frequency f2).
And 41a, and controls the pulse generators 42a and 44a such that the drive circuits 42 and 44 generate pulses for supplying an exciting current of frequency f2 (or frequency f1).

Thus, the back vibrating body 23 and the butt vibrating body 21 are driven at the frequency f1 (or frequency f2), and the waist vibrating body 22 and the leg vibrating body 24 are driven at the frequency f2 (or frequency f1). As described above, between the back vibrator 23 and the waist vibrator 22, between the waist vibrator 22 and the hip vibrator 21, and between the hip vibrator 21 and the leg vibrator 24, the frequency F The undulating vibration is simultaneously generated, and the undulating vibration is simultaneously applied to the part from the back to the waist, the part from the waist to the buttocks, and the part from the buttocks to the legs. At the same time, the massage is performed by the stimulus of the undulating vibration, so that the massage effect is enhanced.

As described above, in the vibration stimulating apparatus 1, when the movement mode is executed, the vibration vibrating at the swell frequency generated by driving the adjacent vibrators at different frequencies, that is, the frequencies f1 and f2. Since the body is sequentially changed with time, the undulating vibration can be generated in a wavy state along each part of the body, so that a good massage effect can be obtained.

When the simultaneous mode is executed, the vibrating body driven at the frequency f1 and the vibrating body driven at the frequency f2 are alternately arranged, whereby the vibrating bodies are adjacent to each other. Since undulating vibrations are generated between the vibrating bodies, undulating vibrations can be applied to various parts of the body at the same time, that is, the whole body can be stimulated, so that a good massage effect can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, the stimulator main body is a chair, but it may be a mat or the like. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the four vibrators are the butt vibrator 21 or the leg vibrator 24. However, the number of vibrators may be further increased. In the embodiment, pulse generators 41a to 41a to 4
4a, the pulse generation period of each of the pulse generators 41a to 4a is controlled to control the frequency of each vibrating body. This is performed in another method, for example, in each of the drive circuits 41 to 44. A pulse generator for generating the first frequency and a pulse generator for generating the second frequency are provided in correspondence with each other, and the control unit supplies a pulse from one of these two pulse generators to the drive circuit. The switching may be performed in such a manner that the frequency of the exciting current of the driving means may be switched, or another configuration may be adopted.

A pulse generator for generating the first frequency and a pulse generator for generating the second frequency are provided in each of the drive circuits 41 to 44 in correspondence with each other. The execution of the simultaneous mode when configured to switch so as to supply a pulse from any one to the drive circuit is performed by the second mode so that the plurality of vibrators are alternately driven at the first frequency and the second frequency. What is necessary is just to switch by the control means so as to supply the pulses from the two pulse generators to the drive circuit.

In the above-described embodiment, one of the adjacent vibrators is driven at the frequency f1 and the other is driven at the frequency f2 in order to generate the swell frequency. Although the case where the vibrating body 21 and the waist vibrating body 22 are physically adjacent to each other has been described, the concept of “adjacent vibrating body” in the present invention means that the vibrating body is driven by different frequencies to generate a swell frequency. It refers to the relationship between the pair of vibrating bodies, and is not necessarily limited to the case where the vibrating bodies are driven by different frequencies. However, the driven vibrators have a relationship of adjacent vibrators.

[0052]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of vibrators provided on the support portion of the apparatus main body are divided into a first vibrator and a second vibrator having different frequencies. In addition, the vibrating body vibrates at the swell frequency generated by the different frequencies, since the positional relationship between the adjacent vibrating bodies driven at the different frequencies is sequentially changed with time while being driven by the two frequencies. Changes sequentially with time, the undulating vibration moves along each part of the body, and the user is massaged by the stimulus of the undulating vibration applied as a wavy state along the body, so that a good massage effect is obtained. It has the effect of being obtained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the plurality of vibrating members disposed on the support portion of the apparatus main body are driven at a first frequency and a second frequency having different frequencies. As a result, swelling vibration is generated between the adjacent vibrating bodies, so that the massage is performed by stimulation by the swelling vibration applied to each part of the body at the same time, so that there is an effect that a good massage effect can be obtained. Things.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the first frequency is set to approximately 6
Since the frequency is set to 0 hertz (Hz) and the second frequency is set to a frequency at which the swell frequency is 1 to 10 hertz (Hz), a comfortable swell feeling can be obtained and the massage effect can be enhanced. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vibration stimulating device according to an embodiment when a device main body of the present invention is a chair.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a vibrating body of the vibration stimulating device.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the vibration stimulating device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vibration stimulator 10 Chair body (apparatus main body) 12 Seat part (support part) 13 Backrest part (support part) 15 Leg mounting table (support part) 21 Butt vibrator (vibrator) 22 Waist vibrator (vibrator) 23 back vibrating body (vibrating body) 41 to 44 drive circuit (driving means) 45 control means

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yasuhisa Yamazaki 43rd Horiyamashita, Hadano-shi, Kanagawa F-term in Hadano Plant, Toshiba Tec Corporation (reference) 4C074 AA03 AA04 AA05 BB05 CC01 CC02 DD04 EE01 GG03 HH08

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of vibrators driven by drive means corresponding to each part of the body are disposed on the support section of the apparatus main body having a support section for supporting the body. One of the pair is driven at the first frequency and the other is driven at the second frequency different from the first frequency, and the positional relationship between adjacent vibrators driven at the different frequency is sequentially changed by the control means with time. A vibration stimulating device, characterized in that: 2. A plurality of vibrators driven by driving means corresponding to each part of the body are disposed on the support of the apparatus main body having a support for supporting the body, and the vibrators adjacent to each other are arranged. A vibration stimulating device driven at a first frequency and a second frequency having different frequencies. 3. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the first frequency is approximately 60 Hertz (Hz), and the second frequency is 1 to 10 Hertz (Hz).
A vibration stimulator characterized by having a frequency of: