JP2003517855A - Massage equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: The present invention provides a fluid switch for alternately connecting at least a pair of fluid inflatable chambers (21, 22) and at least a pair of fluid inflatable chambers (21, 22) to a pressurized fluid source (17). And The fluid switch (10) is a crossover type fluid switch having a switching chamber (11) with two side walls (13, 14), in which the fluid from the fluid source (17) is supplied to the switching chamber. One side wall is switched to the other side wall of the switching chamber, and the ventilation passages (19, 20) connect the fluid expandable chambers (21, 22) to the switch in response to the load of the fluid expandable chambers (21, 22). are doing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to fluid pulse devices and methods suitable for use in physiotherapy devices such as fluid massage devices such as seats and mattresses.

[0002]

[Prior art]

This device can be integrated into the seats of cars and aircraft, for example at home,
It can be used for stand-alone massage units used in automobiles.

The fluid oscillator used to generate the pulses can either be pulsed with prior art massage shower heads or provide pulses for inflatable mattresses (Patent 3,390,674 to Jones). ).

A crossover fluid switch with a positive interaction region has been proposed. Crossover devices in the positive interaction region respond to loads by increasing the oscillation frequency. This is unloaded (eg 1.4 to 1.5 Hz) and loaded (eg 2
． It can be changed by measuring the frequency of expansion and contraction in the (2 Hz) state.

In contrast, the present invention incorporates a negative interaction area fluid switch device. For example, when the load drops to 1.6 Hz, the pulse frequency in the unloaded state is 2.2 Hz. These numbers are not measured with high precision,
Make an error.

The operating characteristic of the device is that it does not generate pulses without backloading. Inflatable chamber or bladder (elastic thin film), squeeze bottle (
Semi-rigid), when connected to a laboratory flask (perfectly rigid), the operating frequency is
Increasing with each change (from elasticity to stiffness), this change establishes that backloading causes oscillations.

When using a positive interaction region (self-holding) oscillator, it is difficult to produce low frequency oscillations (less than 10 Hz) in the range needed for massage. Intrinsic oscillation mechanisms are suppressed and external signals are duplicated to create low frequencies. This is conveniently done by the current negative region fluid switch of the present invention.

While keeping the devices simple and economical is of utmost concern, these devices can be controlled to control frequency and amplitude if desired. This is done by venting, changing the supply pressure, control port or combination.

In a preferred embodiment, the regularity or expected order of the pulses is undesirable in massage. Further, the fluidic device is connected to the fluidic device such that the air bag is not inflated in a particular order. However, the unit can be configured to produce an ordered or unrecognizable pattern of pulses. The backloading dependency causes the massage interval to be different when the user moves or shifts weight. Although not directly related, US Pat. No. 5,170,364 shows that some effort has been made to shift the load.

The most common commercial seat massage device used is the pneumatic device with electromagnetic control. The controls used in conjunction with the mechanical components to create the pulse make up a complex device.

According to the invention, the frequency should be in the order of 0.5-2 Hz. 10H
At large frequencies such as z, there is usually a range of vibrators that are not approved for low frequency massage. Furthermore, it should be on the order of about 1.27 cm to 2.54 cm (0.5 inch to 1 inch) for a vibrator having an amplitude of about 1/10. Furthermore, according to a preferred embodiment, the elevation of the bladder or inflatable chamber should not be in a discernible pattern.

The present invention provides, among other things, in a preferred embodiment, a fluid massager and massage method that maintains all of the above in a non-repeatable, unrecognizable pattern. This is accomplished in three ways.

In many embodiments, the outlets of the bladders or inflatable chambers are arranged in pairs, in which the air flow is alternated from one output passage to another. The two bladders, when loaded equally, are in opposite phase and are recognizable patterns. However, when shifting to one loaded bladder, the switching will be long. This is a pattern change such as a change in duty ratio. Devices and shapes for obtaining continuous, non-recognizable patterns are possible with the present invention. Even if there is no shift in the load, the fluid member runs freely. That is, they have no topological interconnections and the pattern of pairs is constantly changing.

Finally, the inflatable chambers or bladders can be arranged so that the pairs are not arranged in positions which are regularly associated with each other. Accordingly, the present invention is a massage device having at least a pair of air inflatable chambers and a fluid switch that alternately connects a bladder to a fluid source under pressure, the fluid switch having a negative pressure interaction region. And a fluid switch that is sensitive to backloading from the bladder, wherein the fluid switch is connected to the bladder by a pair of outlet passages that are continuous with at least one vent connected to the outlet passage. To provide a massage device that does.

[0015]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

The object of the invention is to use a fluid circuit which can be divided into this part and which can be manufactured economically to provide a massage function without having moving parts.

[0016]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In a preferred embodiment, a negative interaction area fluid switch is used, which depends on the resistance encountered by the running output jets to fill the fluid (air or liquid) cells used for massage and atmospheric ventilation. Create the resulting pulse. In short, backloading causes a switch. Moreover, when the user loads the air cell, the frequency of the pulse used by the user is reduced, which changes the intensity of the feel of the massage.

Therefore, another object of the present invention is to reduce the overall cost of the device, improve the quality, reduce the maintenance work of the device and make the device very simple compared to existing mechanical air massage devices. Is to provide.

When compared to conventional air or mechanical massage devices, the present invention provides low cost, significantly reduced device complexity, reduced power consumption, no moving parts, light weight, less connecting parts. Durable, easy to pack or set up, no wear points due to mechanical roller massage contact, cost-effective car differentiation, availability of luxury options for mid-range cars, Adding massage to the existing lumbar support device with minimal extra cost, high shareability across different vehicle types.

The above-mentioned other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent with reference to the following specification and attached drawings.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 1, the fluid circuit 10 includes a negative interaction area switching chamber 11 having an upstream end power nozzle 12, which has an expanding and converging side wall 13 and 14. In addition, these side walls are continuous with the outlet throat 15, which is widened or released so that the interaction area is underpressure and is switched in response to backloading. Power nozzle 12
Are connected to a source of pressurized fluid such as an air pump 17 via a coupling passage 18. Although the fluid described is preferably air, other embodiments of the invention may use liquids such as water or oil.

The outlet 15 is coupled to a pair of outlet passages 19 and 20, which are continuous with the inflatable chambers or bladders 21 and 22. This passage 1
9 and 20 have vent holes 23 and 24. The inflatable chambers or bladders 21 and 22 have different shapes or configurations, but they may have the same shape or type. Further, if desired, they have different volumes with different backloading effects in switch operation. In some cases, a single bladder can be used. In operation, the air from the air source 17 is introduced into the interaction chamber or region 11 by the power nozzle 12 and, by some anomalies, is attached to one side wall 13 or the other side wall 13, through the outlet 15 and through the passage 20. Flow through and pressurize passageway 20 and inflation bladder 22. at the same time,
A vortex is formed in the interaction chamber 11 on the left side opposite to the side where the pressure flow flows. At this time, the passage 19 and the bladder 21 are not pressurized. As soon as the bladder 22 is fully expanded, it backloads the switch through the passage 20 and actuates the switch, causing fluid flow to shift from flowing along side wall 13 to flowing along side wall 14, A vortex is created on side 13 to pressurize passageway 19 and bladder 21. Meanwhile, passage 20 is no longer pressurized and air in bladder 22 is exhausted through vent 24. When air is exhausted from the bladder 22, the bladder 21 will pass through the passage 1
The bladder 21 is inflated and pressurized by the air from the pressurizing leg portion of 9.
Therefore, the bladder 21 is expanded by the pressurization of the leg portion 19, and the bladder 22 is expanded.
Is depressurized by flowing air through vent 24. It is possible to define the passages so that the jet carries the air from the "constriction" passages. Blooda 21
After it has fully expanded, it sends it to the crossover switch via the backloading signal, causing the switching action of the switch, causing the pressure to flow along the sidewall 13 and out into the passage 20, thereby causing the passage 20 and the bladder 22. And pressurize and repeat this procedure. The interaction area and the crossover type switch responds to a load and is a negative interaction area, and when the bladder 21 and / or 22 has gravity, the dependence of the load causes the occupant to move and move the gravity. A different feeling massage is given each time.

Furthermore, the frequency of the pulse or switching is reduced when the user applies a load to the air bladder, which changes the intensity of the massaging sensation. Referring to FIG. 2, a pair of backloading crossover fluid switches having negative interaction regions 30 and 31 with respective venting split passages 32 and 33 coupled to four bladders B1, B2, B3 and B4 is shown. Shown, they are connected to a common air source by a tube or manifold 34 from a common air source 35. In this embodiment, the bladder outputs are arranged in pairs and one airflow is switched from one output passage to the other. When loaded, the bladder will be in antiphase and in a recognizable pattern. However, when the load shifts further to one bladder that is different from the other bladders, the switching time increases. This inflatable chamber or bladder B1
B2, B3, B4 may be arranged such that the pairs are not arranged in positions that are regularly associated with each other (see Figure 4). Accordingly, the present invention comprises one or more air inflatable chambers and a fluid switch that alternately connects a bladder to a source of pressurized fluid by a negative interaction backloading fluid switch, the switch comprising: A massage device is provided which is sensitive to the load on the bladder and is connected to the bladder by a pair of vent outlet passages.

Referring to FIG. 3, the fluid switch 36 has a pair of vent outlet passages 37, 38 that are inflatable chambers or shown to have different shapes or configurations. It is continuous with bladders 39 and 40. In short, this is
This is to explain that the shape of the bladder is not so important. In this case, the fluid switch 36 has a pair of control ports 41, 42.
42 is connected by a pair of stable feedbacks 43 and 44, and is connected to the stable feedbacks 43 and 44 and the outlet passages 37 and 38 in front of the vents V1 and V2. These feedback paths stabilize the shifting and slow down the switching action. When the legs 38 are pressurized, the control fluid passes through the passage 44 and through the control port 42, retaining the fluid flow on the opposite side wall. When the inflatable chamber 40 is fully inflated, it returns a signal through the passage 38, causing the flow or jet 36 to switch, the passage 38 begins to contract, and the switch causes the passage 37 and the bladder 39 to be pressurized. Occurs. During that time, the pressure in the passage 38 is reduced via the vent 42 and the bladder 40
Contract and the bladder 39 expands. This is because the bladder 39 has fully expanded,
Switch 34 remains in this state until it detects the backloading signal via path 37 and causes switch operation and cycling.

Referring to FIG. 4, the switching of the inflatable chambers by different fluidic switches is shown, thus adjusting different patterns of inflation and deflation. In FIG. 4, bladders B5 and B7 are connected to fluid switch 4-1 and bladder B5-
B8 is connected to the switch 4-2. The operation of each switch is similar to that described above.

To achieve a continuous massaging action of a set of four bladders using only one fluidic element, refer to FIG. In FIG. 5, a typical fluidic device 50 that alternates by backloading from one output to another is B9.
, B10 and B11, B12 are respectively connected. Therefore, a pair of bladders are connected to each output passage by one bladder. 2 for each pair
The two bladders are connected to each other by a fixed resistance or disk flow passage 51,52. If the connection resistance is low, the bladders B9, B10 will expand together and then the switching will occur. As the bladders B9 and B10 contract together, the alternating sets B11, B12 expand together. However, if the resistor 51 or 52 increases its resistance, the bladder 9 expands first and then the bladder 10 expands, the expansion being delayed by the impedance of the resistance. When the bladder 9 reaches its maximum, the fluid element switch vents the bladders B9 and B10 and begins to inflate the bladder B11 while the bladder B9 first contracts. The contraction of the bladder B10 lags behind the bladder B9 due to the coupling resistance. The bladders are arranged to the seat shape by a sequence of their numbers so that the expansion occurs in the order B9, B10, B11, B12. The method of expansion and contraction is not perfect. Because bladders B9 and B11 meet the maximum expansion value, bladders B10 and B12 are less than the maximum value due to the resistance-induced delay required to produce a continuous effect between each pair of bladders. This is because it reaches a small value. This imperfection is not a disadvantage. This is because the perception of the moving expansion velocity is dominant over the perception of the magnitude of the relative expansion.

The intensity of wave motion depends on the relative magnitude of the expansion versus contraction pressure velocities. Therefore, the relative change in expansion is improved by substituting a resistive fluid diode other than the fixed path resistance as described above. The fluidic diode has a high resistance when in the expansion direction and a low resistance when in the contraction direction. A vortex chamber diode can be used.

As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, a single vent 60 is located between the two output passages 61, 62 of the fluid switch 63. This single vent 60 has the same area as the two vents used in combination in advance and is therefore larger in diameter and less prone to jamming. Furthermore, the single vent eliminates the potential for conflicting performance of the seat massager because the vents of the single circuit differ slightly in size due to manufacturing methods, ie, etc.

FIG. 7 is a drawing of a vehicle seat incorporating the present invention. In this embodiment, some of the bladders B7 in the case of fluidic switches, each switch being four sets or more in number to drive or inflate two bladders, having different shapes and being placed in different seat positions. Are located on the back part of the seat, some are located on the seat, some are located on the wing panels and some are located on the wings of the seat panel. If desired, some of the fluidic switches and various switches can be incorporated to deactivate the selected bladder.

Although described in detail in connection with the preferred embodiment, adaptations of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a pair of inflatable chambers connected to a source of pressurized fluid via a pair of vent passages and a fluid switch in the negative interaction region responsive to backload.

FIG. 2 is a drawing of a set of inflatable chambers connected by a vent passage to a pair of crossover fluid switches to a source of pressurized air.

[Figure 3]   FIG. 2 shows the fluid switch of FIG. 1 with a stable feed back passage.

FIG. 4 is a drawing of a plurality of fluidic switches having a negative pressure interaction region responsive to backloading.

[Figure 5]   FIG. 6 shows a fluid circuit for producing bladder expansion and contraction with sequence.

[Figure 6]   FIG. 6A is a plan view of another embodiment, and FIG. 6B is an enlarged view of a part thereof.

[Figure 7]   1 is a drawing of a vehicle seat incorporating the present invention.

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] June 18, 2001 (2001.6.18)

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be amended] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Contents of correction]

[Claims]

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (31) Priority claim number 60 / 163,154 (32) Priority date November 2, 1999 (November 2, 1999) (33) Priority claiming countries United States (US) (31) Priority claim number 09 / 567,890 (32) Priority date May 10, 2000 (May 10, 2000) (33) Priority claiming countries United States (US) (81) Designated countries EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, I T, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE), AU, BR, C A, CN, JP, KR, MX (72) Inventor Barnes, Sheen Tee             21044, Maryland, United States             Rhombia, Hickory Ridge Road             10232, apartment 103 (72) Inventor Sulinas, Dala Plum N             21043, Maryland, United States             Ricot City, Simpkins Court               5424 (72) Inventor Stowfer, Ronald Dee             20905, Maryland, United States             Luber Spring, Unsteady Law             Do 14120 (72) Inventor Rug, Saya             21042, Maryland, United States             Ricot City, Red Bandana Wu             Yeah 4217 F term (reference) 4C074 AA03 AA04 CC01 EE05 GG02                       GG03 GG04 HH08 HH10                 4C100 AD01 BB05 BC14 CA03 CA12                       CA15 DA05 DA06 EA13

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A massage device having at least a pair of fluid inflatable bladders, a crossover type fluid switch, and a pair of passages that alternately connect the bladder to a pressurized fluid source, wherein the crossover type fluid switch comprises: A massaging device, characterized in that it is a negative pressure interaction region switch that is dependent on backloading from the bladder. 2. The massage device according to claim 1, wherein the fluid is air and the fluid source is an air pump. 3. The massage device according to claim 2, wherein each bladder is connected to the switch by a ventilation passage. 4. The massage device according to claim 3, wherein in each of the passages, a single vent is common to the passages. 5. The massage device according to claim 1, wherein each fluid switch has a pair of control ports and a stable fluid feedback passageway from each passageway to the control port. 6. The massage device of claim 1, wherein each inflatable bladder is defined by at least two chambers connected by fluid passages to inflate and deflate at different times. 7. The massage device of claim 6, wherein the fluid passage includes one selected from a fluid resistance and a fluid diode. 8. A massage device having at least one pair of fluid inflatable chambers and a fluid switch for alternately connecting the at least one pair of fluid inflatable chambers to a pressurized fluid source, wherein the fluid switch is a crossover type. A fluid switch, the crossover switch having a switching chamber having two sidewalls, wherein fluid from the fluid source is switched from one sidewall of the switching chamber to another sidewall of the chamber, A massage device that responds to backloading from a fluid inflatable chamber. 9. A massage device having at least a pair of fluid inflatable chambers and a fluid switch alternately connecting at least a pair of fluid inflatable chambers to a source of pressurized fluid, wherein the fluid switch is a switching chamber. , The pressurized fluid from the power nozzle is introduced into the chamber where the side wall is dispersed from the power nozzle and aggregates to a common outlet, and the fluid flows from one wall to the other wall, and the at least one pair of fluids is expandable A massage device having a switching chamber that can be switched back and forth between a pair of outlet passages that are continuous with the chamber, and at least one ventilation port that is connected to the outlet passage. 10. A massage device having at least a pair of fluid inflatable chambers and a fluid switch for alternately connecting one of the at least one pair of fluid inflatable chambers to a source of pressurized fluid. In the above, the fluid switch is a crossover type fluid switch having a switching chamber having two side walls, and in the switching chamber, fluid from the fluid source is transferred from one side wall of the switching chamber to the other chamber. A massage device that is switched to a side wall and is sensitive to backloading from the fluid inflatable chamber. 11. A pressurizable chamber, at least one of which is a fluid inflatable bladder, a crossover fluid switch, and a vent passageway that alternately connects the pressurizable chamber to a source of pressurized fluid. And the crossover type fluid switch is a negative pressure interaction type switch that depends on backloading from the pressurizable chamber.