JP2009050483A - Massage chair - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a massage chair capable of announcing the accurate timing for maintenance. <P>SOLUTION: The massage chair includes a timer 31a for clocking the driving time of a massage mechanism; a storage part 35 for storing the driving time clocked by the timer 31a as the accumulated driving time; a control part 31 for determining whether the maintenance is necessary or not based on comparison of the accumulated driving time stored in the storage part 35 with a preset time; a display part 39 for announcing the message that the maintenance is necessary to a user based on determination by the control part 31 that the maintenance is necessary; and means for stopping the operation of the massage mechanism. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a massage chair in which a massage mechanism for driving a treatment element is incorporated in a backrest portion.

  A massage chair that incorporates a massage mechanism in the backrest part is intended to eliminate stiffness in the shoulders and back by applying the massager's treatment element to the acupuncture points and meridians on the back and causing them to perform prescribed actions to promote blood circulation. Have been proposed in the past.

  By the way, such a massage chair is covered with a cover such as a cloth so that a mechanism part such as a treatment element does not directly touch the user's body in the backrest part. Since the massager is slidably brought into contact with the cover each time it is used, the cover may be broken and the treatment element may be exposed when used for a long period of time. In addition, such a massage chair is generally similar to the feeling that a person is massaging by covering a cover etc., so when used in a state where the cover is broken and the treatment element is exposed, An appropriate massage effect cannot be obtained. Therefore, it is necessary to replace the cover periodically.

Then, what improved the maintainability of the massage chair is proposed (for example, patent documents 1). The massage chair disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a recess in the backrest, and a vibrator is detachably accommodated in the recess. This facilitates maintenance such as inspection.
JP 2001-495 A

  However, in the massage chair disclosed in Patent Document 1, although the maintainability is improved, the user cannot accurately know the maintenance time such as the cover replacement time. For this reason, a delay in the maintenance time has occurred, and this has led to a failure of the massage chair.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a massage chair that can notify an accurate maintenance time.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is a drive mechanism for driving a treatment element in at least one of the vertical direction, the width direction, and the front-rear direction of the backrest part to massage a seated user. In the backrest part, and a massage chair constructed by protecting a drive mechanism including a treatment element with a cover, the time measuring means for measuring the direct or indirect drive time of the drive mechanism, and the time measuring means And a determination unit for determining whether or not maintenance is required based on a comparison between the storage unit that stores the drive time measured in step S3 as the cumulative drive time and the cumulative drive time stored in the storage unit and a predetermined determination time And a notification means for notifying the user of the fact based on the determination that the determination means needs maintenance, and a control means for restricting the operation of the drive mechanism. Without even to that a one unit and its gist.

  In the present invention, the time measuring means for measuring the direct or indirect drive time of the drive mechanism, the storage unit for storing the drive time measured by the time measuring means as the cumulative drive time, and the cumulative drive stored in the storage unit Based on a comparison between the time and a predetermined determination time, a determination unit that determines whether or not maintenance is necessary, and a notification that notifies the user of the fact based on the determination that the determination unit determines that maintenance is necessary By providing the means, for example, by setting the predetermined determination time as the maintenance time of each part such as the drive mechanism replacement time or the cover replacement time, it is possible to notify the user of the maintenance time.

  By providing control means for restricting the operation of the drive mechanism instead of the notification means, the user can know the maintenance time from the restriction of the operation of the drive mechanism. Further, for example, by restricting the operation of the drive mechanism so as to weaken the strength, the friction generated between the cover and the drive mechanism is reduced, so that the cover replacement time can be extended.

By providing both the notification means and the control means, it is possible to achieve the effect of combining the two points described above.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the massage chair according to the first aspect, the determination unit determines the necessity of maintenance based on a stepwise comparison between the cumulative drive time and a plurality of predetermined determination times. The gist of the notification means or the control means is to perform an operation according to the degree of maintenance required.

  In the present invention, the necessity of maintenance is determined based on a stepwise comparison between the accumulated drive time and a plurality of predetermined determination times, and the notification means or the control means performs an operation according to the degree of maintenance required. By doing in this way, a maintenance time etc. can be alert | reported to a user in steps.

  Invention of Claim 3 is the massage chair of Claim 1 or 2, The said drive part drives the said treatment element to an up-down direction, a width direction, and the front-back direction, The said time measuring means is The gist is to measure the cumulative driving time for each part to be driven individually.

  In the present invention, the drive unit drives the treatment element in the vertical direction, the width direction, and the front-rear direction, and the time measuring means measures the cumulative drive time for each of the individually driven parts, for example, the drive mechanism The maintenance time can be notified for each part to be driven individually.

  The gist of the invention described in claim 4 is that the massage chair according to any one of claims 1 to 3 further includes reset means for resetting the cumulative drive time when the maintenance is completed.

  In the present invention, when the maintenance is completed, reset means for resetting the cumulative drive time is provided, so that the cumulative drive time is reset by performing maintenance such as replacement of the drive mechanism or replacement of the cover, and the next maintenance time Can be reported accurately.

  Therefore, according to the above-described invention, it is possible to provide a massage chair that can notify an accurate maintenance time.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), a leg 11 of the massage chair 10 is placed on a floor surface (not shown), and a seat 12 on which a user can be seated is located above the leg 11. It is fixed. At the rear part of the seat part 12, a backrest part 13 for allowing the user to hold and hang the back is provided so as to tilt. An armrest 14 for placing the user's arm and the like is provided from the backrest 13 to the front of both sides of the seat 12. That is, the massage chair 10 in the present embodiment is configured so that the user can use it as if sitting on the chair. Note that an ottoman 15 is provided at the lower front portion of the seat 12 to massage the user's feet.

  Each part of the massage chair 10 is covered with a cover 16 made of cloth or the like, so that each driving part provided in the massage chair 10 and the body of the user are not in direct contact with each other.

  The backrest portion 13 is entirely covered with a cover 16, and a space S opened forward from the lower portion to the upper portion of the backrest portion 13 is provided in the cover 16. A massage mechanism 21 for massaging the user's back is provided. The massage mechanism 21 is moved up and down by a vertical drive unit 36 (vertical drive motor 36a: see FIG. 2) assembled to the massage mechanism 21 along the guide rail 22 shown in FIG. Further, the massage mechanism 21 is provided with a strength (front / rear) drive unit 37 (strength drive motor 37a) and a width drive unit 38 (width drive motor 38a), and a pair of treatment elements is driven by the drive units 37 and 38. 21a operates. These treatment elements 21a project forward from the opening of the space S and come into sliding contact with the inner surface of the cover 16, and the treatment elements 21a stimulate the user via the cover 16 so that itching, rubbing, striking, etc. Various massages are given.

  Each of the above operations is performed based on the control of the control unit 31 shown in FIG. The vertical sensor 32, the strength sensor 33, and the width sensor 34 in the figure drive the massage mechanism 21 and its treatment element 21a (see FIG. 1A) in the vertical direction, the front-rear (strength) direction, and the width (left-right) direction. It is used for drive control of each drive motor 36a-38a.

  When the control unit 31 causes the treatment element 21a to perform a predetermined movement, the control unit 31 drives the three drive motors 36a to 38a based on the control data stored in the storage unit 35, and the vertical drive unit 36, the strength drive unit 37, While making the width drive part 38 perform predetermined operation | movement, the position control of the treatment element 21a is performed by the feedback of each said sensors 32-34. In addition to the control data, the storage unit 35 also stores the driving time (cumulative driving time) of the massage mechanism 21 measured by the timer 31a in the control unit 31.

  The display unit 39 displays the massage status during use based on the control of the control unit 31, and also notifies the maintenance time described later. The reset input unit 40 inputs a signal for clearing the driving time of the massage mechanism 21 and the treatment element 21 a stored in the storage unit 35 via the control unit 31. In addition, since each drive part 36-38 is comprised so that it can move simultaneously, the treatment element 21a can be moved to two dimensions or three dimensions, and massage can be performed by this.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation from the notification of the maintenance time to the stop of the notification in the present embodiment.
In step S10 and step S20, the control unit 31 sets the drive time of the massage mechanism 21 and the treatment element 21a stored in the storage unit 35, the set time A (for example, 4000 hours), and the set time B (for example, 2000 hours). Make a comparison. If the drive time is less than the set time B (step S20: NO), the control unit 31 repeats the process from step S10. If the drive time is greater than or equal to the set time B and less than the set time A (step S10: NO and step S20: YES), the control unit 31 displays “inspection” on the display unit 39 (see FIG. 2) (step S30). . The control unit 31 repeats the processing from step S10 until maintenance is completed (step S40: NO), such as replacement of the massage mechanism 21 or the treatment element 21a or replacement of the cover 16.

  If drive time is more than set time A (Step S10: YES), control part 31 will stop operation of massage mechanism 21 (Step S11). Thereafter, the control unit 31 repeats the process from step S10 until maintenance is completed (step S40: NO), such as replacement of the massage mechanism 21 or the treatment element 21a or replacement of the cover 16.

  When the maintenance is completed (step S40: YES), the control unit 31 clears the drive time stored in the storage unit 35 based on the input signal of the reset input unit 40 (see FIG. 2) (step S50), and displays it. The “inspection” display on the unit 39 is erased (step S60). The driving time stored in the storage unit 35 is constantly updated, and the driving time is compared with each set time.

  With the operation shown in FIG. 3, the maintenance time is notified to the user via the display unit 39. Further, when the set time A is reached, the operation of the massage mechanism 21 is stopped and the maintenance is forcibly performed.

Next, characteristic actions and effects of the present embodiment will be described.
(1) A timer 31a for measuring the driving time of the massage mechanism 21, a storage unit 35 for storing the driving time measured by the timer 31a as the cumulative driving time, and the cumulative driving time and the set time stored in the storage unit 35 Based on the comparison between A and B, the control unit 31 that determines whether or not maintenance is necessary, and a display that notifies the user of the fact based on the determination that the control unit 31 needs maintenance. By providing the unit 39, the maintenance time can be notified to the user. Furthermore, by stopping the operation of the massage mechanism 21, the user can know the maintenance time from the stop of the operation of the massage mechanism 21.

  (2) By maintaining the massage mechanism 21 and the treatment element 21a, the drive time stored in the storage unit 35 is cleared. This makes it possible to accurately notify the next maintenance time.

The embodiment of the present invention may be modified as follows.
In the above embodiment, the maintenance time is notified by the driving time of the massage mechanism 21 and the treatment element 21a, but the configuration is not limited to this. For example, with respect to the vertical drive unit 36, the strength drive unit 37, and the width drive unit 38 that drive the massage mechanism 21 and the treatment element 21 a by the motors 36 a to 38 a in the vertical direction, the strength (front-rear) direction, and the width (left-right) direction. Each set time may be provided, and the maintenance time may be notified by comparing each set time with the drive time of each drive unit 36-38. Further, when the driving time of each of the drive units 36 to 38 exceeds each set time, when the vertical drive unit 36 exceeds the set time, “inspection 1” is displayed on the display unit 39, and the strength drive unit 37. May be discriminated on the display unit 39 as “inspection 2” when the set time is exceeded. The driving time at this time may be cleared for each of the driving units 36 to 38.

  In the above embodiment, when the driving time of the massage mechanism 21 and the treatment element 21a exceeds the set time A or B, “inspection” is displayed on the display unit 39, but the configuration is not limited thereto. For example, “replace cover” is displayed when the cover 16 is to be replaced, and “maintenance in the massage machine” is displayed when the massage mechanism 21 is inspected. You may let them.

  In the above embodiment, two set times, set time A and set time B, are provided. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, a plurality of set times are provided between set times A and B. Depending on the set time, the driving time per time may be changed stepwise (from the initial 15 minutes to 12 minutes, 9 minutes,...) Or the display method on the display unit 39 may be changed. By changing the drive time per time stepwise, the sliding contact time between the cover 16 and the massage mechanism 21 (the treatment element 21a) is shortened, so that the replacement time of the cover 16 can be extended.

  In the above embodiment, the maintenance time is notified by the restriction of the operation of the display unit 39 and the massage mechanism 21, but only one of them may be used. For example, the user may be notified by voice.

  -In the said embodiment, although the drive time of the massage mechanism 21 and the treatment element 21a is made into cumulative drive time, for example from the power-on in the massage chair 10 which is an indirect drive time with the massage mechanism 21 and the treatment element 21a. The time until turning off may be used as the cumulative driving time.

(A) (b) It is a side view which shows the massage chair in this Embodiment. It is a control block diagram of the massage chair in this Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the maintenance alerting | reporting of the massage chair in this Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Massage chair, 13 ... Backrest part (contact part), 16 ... Cover, 21 ... Massage mechanism (drive mechanism), 21a ... Treatment element, 31 ... Control part (determination means), 31a ... Timer (time measuring means), 35 ... storage unit, 39 ... display unit (notification unit), 40 ... reset input unit (reset unit).

Claims (4)

In order to massage the seated user, the backrest is provided with a drive mechanism that drives the treatment element in at least one of the vertical direction, width direction, and front-rear direction of the backrest part, and the drive mechanism including the treatment element is covered by the cover. A massage chair constructed to protect,
Clocking means for clocking the driving time of the driving mechanism directly or indirectly;
A storage unit for storing the driving time measured by the time measuring means as a cumulative driving time;
Determination means for determining whether or not maintenance is required based on a comparison between the cumulative drive time stored in the storage unit and a predetermined determination time;
Based on the determination that the determination means requires maintenance, the notification means for notifying the user of the fact and the control means for limiting the operation of the drive mechanism are provided. Massage chair characterized by. The massage chair according to claim 1,
The determination unit determines the necessity of maintenance based on a stepwise comparison between the cumulative drive time and a plurality of predetermined determination times, and the notification unit or the control unit operates according to the maintenance necessity. Massage chair characterized by performing. In the massage chair according to claim 1 or 2,
The drive mechanism drives the treatment element in the up-down direction, the width direction, and the front-rear direction,
The said time measuring means time-measures the accumulation drive time for every site | part driven individually, The massage chair characterized by the above-mentioned. In the massage chair as described in any one of Claim 1 to 3,
A massage chair comprising reset means for resetting the cumulative drive time when maintenance is completed.

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