JP2006192208A - Massage apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a satisfactory massage effect in a handheld massage apparatus which is easily handled in massaging, so as not to tire the arm of a user, etc., is stable in massaging, and is not deviated in massage position. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus includes a handle part 2 and a head part 3. A pair of massage balls 5, 6 are arranged and projected in the downward part of the head part 3 at prescribed interval, while being aligned in a separating direction from the handle part 2. At least one massage ball 6 is arranged to perform a massage motion by a driving part 20. The driving part 20 is arranged inside the head part 3 by positioning to allow the gravity center position of the part 20 itself to coincide with the upper part of a middle position between the massage balls 5, 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a massage apparatus that has a handle and can be used by hand.

Various massage devices that have a long handle in a rod shape and can be used by hand are known (see Patent Documents 1 to 3, etc.). These massage devices have been developed mainly for massaging the shoulder, and a pair of fir balls is provided at the tip of the handle, and the two fir balls are fitted to the user's shoulders so that both fir balls are fitted. The balls are distributed to the front and rear sides of the shoulder, and a massage operation is performed such that both fir balls are relatively close to each other or slightly vibrated.
In these conventional massage devices, the operation axis of the proximity and separation when both fir balls repeatedly approach and separate by the massage operation and the longitudinal axis of the handle (the handle is formed with a gently curved shape). In many cases, the crossing angle formed by the neutral line penetrating the curve is an obtuse angle (for example, 120 ° to 180 °) far exceeding 90 °.
JP-A-10-57439 Japanese Patent No. 3575176 JP-A-6-237967

As described above, various conventionally known massage devices have a wide-angled obtuse angle between the operating axis of both fir balls and the machine axis of the handle. When the two fir balls are distributed and arranged on both the front and rear sides of the shoulder, the handle portion protrudes obliquely downward from the shoulder position toward the front of the user.
That is, the user has to hold the handle in a posture in which the upper arms of both arms are projected forward and the two arms are bent upwards as if carrying a heel. Such a posture makes the arm slack and makes it easy to get tired.

Not only that, when a shoulder massage is performed with a conventional massage device in such a state, the fir balls gradually come into contact with the front and rear surfaces of the shoulder, and gradually fuzzy as they repeat each other. There was a case where the ball escaped upward and shifted its position.
For this reason, fir balls often deviate from the acupoints on the shoulder, and the massage effect may not be sufficiently enhanced.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is easy to handle the apparatus during massage, the arm and the like do not get tired, the apparatus is stable during the massage, and the position of the massage position is shifted. An object of the present invention is to provide a massage apparatus that can receive a satisfying massage effect without causing any problems.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has taken the following measures.
That is, the massage device according to the present invention has a handle portion formed in a rod shape and a head portion provided in a state of protruding to the side at the tip portion of the handle portion, and below the head portion. A pair of fir balls protrudes at a predetermined interval in a direction away from the handle, and at least one fir ball is provided close to and away from the other kneading balls by the drive unit so that a massage operation is possible.
And the drive part is provided in the said head part by positioning so that the gravity center position of itself may correspond to the intermediate position upper part of a fir ball and a fir ball.

With such a configuration, when the two fir balls are fitted to the user's shoulder and the fir balls are distributed to both the front and rear sides of the shoulder, the center of gravity of the drive unit is positioned directly above the shoulder. . Therefore, it will be in the state where the load of the drive part applied a load downward to both fir balls. For this reason, when the fir ball is subjected to a massage operation, it is difficult to cause a positional shift such that each fir ball escapes upward.
Therefore, the user can continue to receive the massage while keeping the fir ball stable (fixed) at the position where the stiffness is felt (the place where the massage is desired) or the acupoint position.

By using the load of the drive unit itself, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to provide a separate weight, the apparatus weight can be prevented from becoming too heavy, the number of parts can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.
When the user's shoulder is inserted between the two fir balls and the fir balls are distributed to both the front and rear sides of the shoulder, the longitudinal direction of the handle is directed downwards along the front of the user. In addition, it is preferable that the protrusion angle of the head portion with respect to the handle portion is substantially a right angle.
In other words, it is preferable that the angle formed by the operation axis of the approach and separation when the fir ball relatively repeats the approach and separation and the longitudinal axis of the handle portion are substantially perpendicular. is there. Note that the term “substantially right angle” as used herein does not strictly limit 90 ° numerically, but the point is that the handle can be easily held by preventing the handle from protruding forward. For example, it may be 70 ° to 120 °.

By doing in this way, during a massage, a user is prevented from feeling tiredness and dullness accompanying having this massage device, and can continue a massage for a long time.
The drive unit includes a fir ball support unit that supports the fir ball in a state of protruding from the head unit, an operation conversion unit that causes a swell rotation operation to the fir ball supported by the fir ball support unit, and this operation What is necessary is just to have a motor which transmits a drive to a conversion part via a transmission shaft.

In addition, you may make it provide a vibrator further to the fir ball which massage-acts by a drive part.
It is preferable that a distance adjusting means capable of adjusting the distance between the two fir balls is provided in the head portion. This makes it possible to set an appropriate fir ball interval according to the user's physique, and to enhance versatility among users of various physiques.
Moreover, it is convenient to use this massage device not only at the shoulder but also at other parts of the body such as the neck, arms and legs.

It is also possible to provide only a fir ball farther away from the handle so that it can be massaged.
By doing in this way, the effect of preventing misalignment of fir balls can be further enhanced. As far as the shoulder is concerned, in many cases, the massage on the shoulder is sufficient only on the back side, so that only the fir ball farthest from the handle (ie, the fir ball on the back side) can be massaged. In particular, no further problems (such as dissatisfaction with the massage effect) occur.

  In the massage device according to the present invention, the device is easy to handle when massaged, the arms are not tired, the device is stable during the massage, and the massage position is not misaligned. Can receive.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 to 10 show an embodiment of a massage apparatus according to the present invention. This massage device 1 has a handle portion 2 formed in a rod shape, and a head portion 3 provided in a state of protruding to the side at the tip portion of the handle portion 2. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, it can be used in such a manner that the handle portion 2 is held by one hand or both hands and the head portion 3 is held on the shoulder.
However, the usage shown in FIG. 1 is not limited, and it can be used in other parts of the body such as the neck, arms, legs, etc. What is necessary is just to hold it optimally, or by changing the posture of the device and leaving a part of the device (such as the head 3) on the floor or chair, or by having someone else take it.

In the following description, it is assumed that the head unit 3 is in the upper position and the handle unit 2 is in the vertical orientation as shown in FIG. The front and rear direction and the left and right direction of the person will be described as the front and rear and left and right directions of the massage device 1 as they are.
Further, a clear partition based on the shape and structure is not provided between the handle portion 2 and the head portion 3, but it is a rod shape that can be actually gripped by the hand when in use as shown in FIG. This region is set as the handle portion 2 (approximately the range indicated by H in FIG. 2), and the portion above it is set as the head portion 3.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the head portion 3 is provided with two pairs of fir balls 5 and 6 at the lower portion thereof. These fir balls 5 and 6 are provided so as to protrude downward, and are provided at a predetermined interval in the direction away from the handle portion 2, that is, the front-rear direction.
By inserting between these front and rear fir balls 5 and 6 into a part of the user's body (shoulders, etc.), and performing massage operation on at least one of the front and rear fir balls 5 and 6, massage to the user can be performed. It is what you do. As shown in FIG. 3, a drive unit 20 (details will be described later) for performing this massage operation is housed in the head unit 3. In principle, the massage operation is such that the front and rear fir balls 5 and 6 repeat relative proximity and separation.

Hereinafter, the fir ball 5 farther from the handle 2 is referred to as “rear fir ball”, and the fir ball 6 closer to the handle 2 is referred to as “front fir ball”. Therefore, when using the method shown in FIG. 1, the rear fir ball 5 is arranged on the back side of the shoulder, and the front fir ball 6 is arranged on the front side of the shoulder.
The rear fir ball 5 is provided with an acupressure surface 5a that has an oval or oval shape of an appropriate size and swells in a partial spherical shape on the surface facing the front fir ball 6. Further, the front fir ball 6 is provided with an acupressure surface 6a which has an oval or oval shape of an appropriate size and swells in a partial spherical shape on the surface facing the rear fir ball 5. These acupressure surfaces 5a and 6a are portions that actually come into contact with the user's body (for example, the front and back surfaces of the shoulder) to massage. Therefore, it is preferable to cover these acupressure surfaces 5a and 6a with rubber, resin, cloth or the like having appropriate softness.

The position of the front fir ball 6 can be adjusted in the front-rear direction by rotating the operation knob 10 provided on the front surface of the head portion 3 (the location immediately above the handle portion 2). Such a configuration constitutes the interval adjusting means 11 for adjusting the expansion and contraction of the mutual interval between the front fir ball 6 and the rear fir ball 5 (details will be described later).
The handle 2 may be formed as a straight straight bar, but in the present embodiment, the handle 2 is provided with a loose curve so as to improve ease of holding. The direction of the curve is the direction in which the lower end portion of the handle portion 2 approaches the user side in the use state of FIG. In addition, the thickness and the cross-sectional shape of the handle 2 are determined with emphasis on ease of gripping.

The handle portion 2 is provided with an operation portion 12. The operation unit 12 is provided with switches for switching between starting and stopping of the massage operation. In addition, switches that can perform massage operation type selection and strength switching can be arranged.
In the present embodiment, the massage device 1 is used as a main body for shoulder massage, and the thumb of the user's hand holding the handle 2 can be moved freely on the rear side of the handle 2 at that time. In connection with this, the operation unit 12 is arranged at a substantially intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of the handle 2 and on the rear surface side.

However, the place where the operation unit 12 is provided is not particularly limited, and may be the front surface or the left and right side surfaces of the handle unit 2, or the lower end portion, the upper end portion, or the periphery thereof. In some cases, the head portion 3 may be provided instead of the handle portion 2.
In the present embodiment, the operation unit 12 is provided in the middle of the handle portion 2 in the longitudinal direction (that is, the gripping portion). It is preferable to refrain from using those that require a stroke. Also, in order to prevent erroneous operation, it is preferable to avoid push buttons. Therefore, a flat type switch that is slid along the longitudinal direction of the handle 2 is employed.

A cord guide 13 is provided at the lower end of the handle portion 2 to lead out a power cord (not shown) and prevent the power cord from being bent. The cord guide 13 is provided with a ring portion 14 for hanging. The ring portion 14 can be used to suspend the cord guide 13 from a wall or the like when the massage apparatus 1 is not used.
In the massage device 1 of the present invention having such a handle portion 2 and a head portion 3, the relative angle between the handle portion 2 and the head portion 3 is as follows. That is, in the state of use shown in FIG. 1 (when the front and rear fir balls 5 and 6 are distributed and arranged on both front and rear sides of the user), the handle portion 2 has its longitudinal direction directly downward along the front surface of the user. An angle (θ shown in FIG. 2) is set so that the head portion 3 protrudes laterally with respect to the handle portion 2.

When the front and rear fir balls 5 and 6 are relatively close to and away from each other in the massage operation, the angle θ is a movement axis X (virtual line connecting the front and rear fir balls 5 and 6) and the longitudinal length of the handle 2. Direction axis Y (you can think of it as the center line of the handle 2, but if the handle 2 has a curve, you can assume a neutral (average) line that penetrates the curve) This is the angle that is formed. Speaking numerically, it is substantially perpendicular (around 90 °).
With the handle portion 2 and the head portion 3 being provided in such a relationship of the angle θ, the user pulls the handle portion 2 straight downward in the use state shown in FIG. It is better to paraphrase the situation where the natural force to drop the hand acts on the handle part 2 when the handle part 2 is applied instead of the positive action of pulling) And misalignment of the front and rear fir balls 5 and 6 can be prevented.

In addition, the user can take a posture in which the upper arm is lowered straight and the second arm is attracted to the front of the body (a state where the arm is held along the body and the force is released). As a result, the arm does not become sluggish or tired easily.
Not only that, but in this posture with the upper arm lowered straight, the front and rear sides of the shoulder are almost vertical (see posture line P), and the front and rear fir balls 5 and 6 are against the body (where you want to massage). Since the operation axis X of the massage operation is perpendicular to both the front and rear surfaces of the shoulder (posture line P), a more effective massage effect can be obtained.

In FIG. 1, the case where a conventional massage device (the handle portion is denoted by reference numeral 100) is used is indicated by a two-dot chain line. Since the user protrudes diagonally downward, the user protrudes the upper arm of both arms (see the center line 101) forward and the upper arm (see the center line 102) is bent upward. Compared with having to hold the part 100, the ease of use by the massage device 1 according to the present invention and the height of the massage effect will be clearer than by looking at the fire.
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a drive unit 20 for causing at least one of the front and rear fir balls 5 and 6 to perform a massage operation is housed inside the head unit 3.

In the present embodiment, only the rear fir ball 5 is provided so as to be able to perform a massage operation by being driven by the drive unit 20, and the front fir ball 6 is provided in a state where the massage operation is not performed.
The drive unit 20 has a motor 21 and has a structure in which the rotation drive by the motor 21 is converted into a predetermined massage operation by the operation conversion unit 22 and transmitted to the rear fir ball 5 through the fir ball support unit 23. Yes. The portion occupying the most weight in the drive unit 20 is the motor 21. Accordingly, the center of gravity of the drive unit 20 itself exists in a direction from the motor 21 toward the rear fir ball 5 and close to the motor 21.

Therefore, the drive unit 20 is positioned so that its center of gravity position coincides with the upper part of the intermediate position between the front fir ball 6 and the rear fir ball 5 that are provided at predetermined intervals. 3 is provided. Therefore, the entire load of the drive unit 20 acts downward at an intermediate position between the front fir ball 6 and the rear fir ball 5.
The fir-ball support portion 23 has a bracket 27 in which a vertical piece portion 27a and a horizontal piece portion 27b are formed by bending a plate material into an L shape. An elastic joint portion 28 is provided below the horizontal piece portion 27b of the bracket 27 so as to protrude below the head portion 3, and the rear fir ball 5 is connected via the elastic joint portion 28. .

The elastic joint portion 28 is formed by a coil spring, but can be formed by rubber or resin having appropriate softness and elasticity. The outer peripheral portion of the elastic joint portion 28 is covered with a boot 29 having flexibility and softness. The boot 29 employed in the present embodiment is a bellows tube whose outer peripheral wall has a bellows structure and can be freely expanded and contracted and bent.
The motion converting unit 22 uses a cam mechanism as its operating principle. This cam mechanism (see also FIG. 10) is a cam that rotates integrally with a transmission shaft 30 that is rotationally driven by a motor 21 via a speed reduction unit 37 such as a worm gear while maintaining a posture inclined in the axial direction. A wheel 31 is provided, and a bearing device 32 such as a bearing is also provided around the cam wheel 31 in an inclined posture. A bracket 27 in the fir ball support portion 23 described above is attached to a bearing case 33 that holds the bearing device 32. The vertical piece 27a is connected.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the bearing case 33 is provided with a rotation prevention pin 35 protruding in the radial direction of the transmission shaft 30, and the rotation prevention pin 35 is a steady prevention guide whose longitudinal direction is directed back and forth. The rail 36 is slidably engaged.
In such a motion conversion unit 22, when the transmission shaft 30 is rotationally driven by the motor 21, the bearing case 33 is connected to the transmission shaft 30 while the rotation prevention pin 35 moves back and forth in the steadying rail 36. An operation that swells around the transmission shaft 30 is performed while performing relative rotation (idling). Since this undulating motion is transmitted to the rear fir ball 5 via the bracket 27, the rear fir ball 5 performs a swirl rotation operation in which the protruding end (lower end) performs a circular motion with a larger rotation radius. It is what happens.

In addition, the wave | undulation rotation operation | movement of this rear part fir ball 5 is also made to swing the acupressure surface 5a right and left within the predetermined angle range.
Further, the drive unit 20 can select normal rotation and reverse rotation by switching the operation unit 12 provided in the handle unit 2. For this reason, the above-described swell rotation operation and left / right swing operation of the rear fir ball 5 can freely switch the operation direction according to the user's preference.
The rear fir ball 5 is provided with a vibrator 40 therein. This vibrator 40 rotates an eccentric weight 42 (shown only in FIG. 10A) at high speed by a motor 41.

The vibrator 40 can select either high-speed vibration or low-speed vibration by switching the operation unit 12 provided on the handle 2. Therefore, when the rear fir ball 5 performs a swell rotation operation and a left / right swing operation, the vibrator 40 is also operated together to give a personality different from a single massage (with other massage devices) Differentiation). Of course, the vibrator 40 may be performed independently in a state in which the swell rotation operation and the left / right swing operation of the rear fir ball 5 are stopped.
In the present embodiment, an auxiliary weight 42 is provided at the inner bottom of the rear fir ball 5 so that the mounting position of the eccentric weight 42 and the center of gravity of the rear fir ball 5 are close to or coincide with each other, The excessive resonance phenomenon is prevented from occurring.

That is, it is known that when a situation in which vibration is applied to a certain rigid body is considered dynamically, a “translational vibration” that vibrates in the direction in which the center of gravity of the rigid body translates occurs. In addition, a moment is generated according to the distance between the position of the center of gravity and the point where the vibration is applied, and a "moment vibration (torsional vibration)" that rotates (twists) the rigid body around the center of gravity occurs. It is predicted to be a two-degree-of-freedom vibration system.
Such a situation is the same for the rear fir ball 5 described above, and the generated “moment vibration” is generated from the center of gravity position of the rear fir ball 5 to the drive unit 20 (motion converting unit 22). It acts as a larger "moment vibration" that takes into account the distance up to. This “moment vibration” exerts a bad influence on the fir ball support portion 23 and its surroundings by applying a large bending load.

However, as described above, the auxiliary weight 42 is provided in the rear fir ball 5, and the mounting position of the eccentric weight 42 and the center of gravity position of the rear fir ball 5 are close to or coincide with each other. “Moment vibration” that twists around the center of gravity is suppressed or prevented (it is considered to be a one-degree-of-freedom vibration). From these facts, it is considered that an excessive resonance phenomenon can be prevented from occurring around the rear fir ball 5 and its supporting portion as described above.
In fact, according to the experiment of the present applicant, the fir ball support portion is more particularly in the case where the vibrator 40 is operated with the auxiliary weight 42 provided, compared with the case where the vibrator 40 is operated without the auxiliary weight 42 provided. It has been confirmed that useless vibrations (resonance-like ones) generated at 23 are suppressed, and the vibrations of the rear fir ball 5 are stably concentrated on the acupressure surface 5a.

In addition to the above, the head part 3 has an interval for adjusting the position of the front fir ball 6 in the front-rear direction as described above (adjusting the mutual distance between the front fir ball 6 and the rear fir ball 5). The adjusting means 11 is also accommodated. The specific structure of the distance adjusting means 11 is provided with a base shaft 50 toward the front of the front fir ball 6, and a propelling plate 51 is provided in a state of standing on the top of the base shaft 50. .
As shown in FIG. 9, the propulsion plate 51 is formed with slide pins 52 projecting toward the left and right sides, and wing-like slide shoes 53 toward the left and right sides at positions higher than the slide pins 52. Is formed overhang.

On the other hand, a guide rail 54 for fitting the slide pin 52 slidably back and forth and a guide rail 55 for slidably fitting the slide shoe 53 slidably back and forth are provided on the left and right side walls in the head portion 3 in the longitudinal direction. It is provided towards the front and back.
A nut member 57 is fixed to the front end portion of the propulsion plate 51 with the axial direction facing forward and backward, and a screw shaft 58 is screwed to the nut member 57. The screw shaft 58 is coupled to the operation knob 10 so as to be rotatable together.
Accordingly, when the operation knob 10 is rotated, the propulsion plate 51 moves forward or backward according to the change of the degree of screwing of the nut member 57 with respect to the screw shaft 58, and the front / rear position adjustment of the front fir ball 6 is performed. It is possible.

As is clear from the above detailed description, in the massage device 1 according to the present invention, when performing shoulder massage, the center of gravity of the drive unit 20 is positioned right above the shoulder. The load of the drive part 20 will be in the state applied to the front and back fir balls 5 and 6 downward. Therefore, the positional deviation that the front and rear fir balls 5 and 6 escape upward when the rear fir ball 5 is massaged is prevented.
In addition, the user can take an easy posture by lowering the upper arm straight down and attracting the upper arm to the front of the body, and with a natural action of lowering the hand hung on the handle 2 straight down, Therefore, it is possible to prevent misalignment of the front and rear fir balls 5 and 6, so that the massage can be continued for a long time without the arms becoming dull or tiring.

In addition, since the operation axis X of the massage operation is orthogonal to the front and rear surfaces of the shoulder (posture line P), a more effective massage effect can be obtained. A fir ball can be continuously massaged in a stable (fixed) position with respect to the position where the stiffness is felt (the place where massage is desired) or the acupoint position.
By the way, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can change suitably according to embodiment.

  For example, both fir balls 5 and 6 can be massaged, provided with a vibrator 40, or can be adjusted in position.

It is the side view which showed the typical usage example about one Embodiment of the massage apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is the side view which showed the massage apparatus of FIG. It is the rear view seen from the left side of FIG. It is the front view seen from the right side of FIG. It is the bottom view seen from the lower side of FIG. FIG. 3 is an internal structure diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 (some parts omitted). FIG. 7 is a perspective view corresponding to FIG. 6. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. It is the BB sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which showed the massage operation | movement of a fir ball.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Massage apparatus 2 Handle part 3 Head part 5 Fir ball (rear fir ball)
6 fir ball (front fir ball)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Space | interval adjustment means 20 Drive part 21 Motor 22 Operation | movement conversion part 23 Fir ball support part 30 Transmission shaft 40 Vibrator θ The angle which a head part protrudes to a side with respect to a handle part X Both fir balls repeat proximity and separation relatively Axis of movement Y Machine axis of handle

Claims (7)

It has a handle portion (2) formed in a rod shape, and a head portion (3) provided in a state of projecting laterally at the tip of the handle portion (2), and below the head portion (3) On the side, a pair of fir balls (5, 6) project from the handle (2) at a predetermined distance from each other, and at least one fir ball (5) (6) is driven by the drive unit (20). In the massage device that is capable of massaging by moving away from the other kneading balls (6) and (5),
The drive part (20) is provided in the head part (3) in such a position that the position of the center of gravity of the drive part (20) coincides with the upper middle position between the fir ball (5) and the fir ball (6). A massage device characterized by.   When the user's shoulder is fitted between the two fir balls (5, 6) and the fir balls (5, 6) are distributed to the front and rear sides of the shoulder, the longitudinal direction of the handle (2) is The massaging device according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion angle (θ) of the head portion (3) with respect to the handle portion (2) is substantially a right angle so that the head portion (2) is directed downward along the front portion of the user.   An angle (θ) formed between the operation axis (X) of approaching / separating when the fir ball (5, 6) repeats approaching / separating relatively and the longitudinal axis (Y) of the handle (2) is The massage device according to claim 1, wherein the massage device is substantially perpendicular.   The drive unit (20) includes a fir ball support portion (23) that supports the fir ball (5) protruding from the head portion (3), and a fir ball supported by the fir ball support portion (23). (5) having a motion conversion unit (22) for causing a swell rotation operation, and a motor (21) for transmitting drive to the motion conversion unit (22) via a transmission shaft (30). The massage device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the massage device is characterized in that   The massage device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a vibrator (40) is provided on the fir ball (5) that performs a massage operation by the drive unit (20).   The head part (3) is provided with a distance adjusting means (11) capable of adjusting a mutual distance between both fir balls (5, 6). The massage device described in 1.   The massage apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein only a fir ball (5) far from the handle (2) is provided so as to be able to perform a massage operation.

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