JP2009195611A - Massage chair - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a massage chair capable of reducing the discomfort of a user due to operation sound. <P>SOLUTION: A joint member 25 provided at a middle of a connecting hose 19, which connects an air bag 17 in the side of an armrest part 15 to a drive unit 21, is provided with a resistance portion that becomes a resistance of an air circulation on an air passage, and the joint member 25 having the resistance part is disposed in the lower side of a seat face 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a massage chair with an air massage function that inflates and contracts an air bag with a driving device including an air pump, a solenoid valve, and the like, and performs a stagnation operation and a compression operation on a user.

  This type of massage chair has air bags installed at various locations such as the seat, backrest, and ottoman, and air is supplied to and discharged from each air bag by a driving device such as an air pump or solenoid valve. The air bag is inflated and contracted, and air massage is applied to the treatment site such as the buttocks, waist, and calf of the seated user. Moreover, there exists a thing of the structure by which an air bag is installed also in an armrest part and an air massage is given also to the user's arm | wearing seated like the massage chair shown by patent document 1, for example. .

The massage chair having such an air massage function supplies and discharges air in the air bag of each treatment site from a single air pump concealed and installed under the seating surface. For this reason, since the pump capacity is too large depending on the air bag, a resistance portion for restricting the flow path is provided in the middle of the hose connecting the air bag and the air pump. In addition, as in Patent Document 1, even in the case where a plurality of air bags are provided in the treatment site and a time difference is provided in the expansion and contraction of each air bag to improve a more advanced massage feeling, the hose of the air bag that is inflated slowly A resistor is also used on the way.
JP-A-2005-349130

  By the way, since the resistance portion has a structure (orifice structure) for narrowing the flow path, the flow velocity of the air passing therethrough is high. Therefore, when the air bag expands and contracts, a sound (operating sound) accompanying the passage of air is generated from the resistance portion, and there is a possibility that the closer the resistance portion is to the user, the more uncomfortable. Incidentally, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, there is no disclosure and suggestion about measures against sound from the resistance portion, and there is room for reducing the discomfort of the user coming from the operating sound.

  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 reduce the user's discomfort due to the operating sound.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that an air bag is installed at a position corresponding to a treatment site of a user on a chair body having a seating surface on which the user can sit, A massage chair for inflating and contracting the air bag by an air supply / exhaust operation of a drive device provided on the lower side to massage the user's treatment site, between the air bag and the drive device The gist of the present invention is that the air flow path is provided with a resistance portion that provides resistance to air flow, and the resistance portion is disposed below the seating surface.

  In the present invention, the resistance portion provided on the air flow path between the air bag and the drive device is disposed below the seating surface. That is, a sound (operating sound) accompanying the passage of air is generated from the resistance portion, and the operating sound at the resistance portion is shielded by a seating surface interposed between the user and difficult to be heard by the user. The operating sound from the resistance portion alone is difficult to be heard by the user alone due to the operating sound of the driving device disposed below the seating surface. Thereby, the discomfort of the user due to the operating sound is reduced.

  The gist of the invention according to claim 2 is that, in the massage chair according to claim 1, the resistance portion is provided in a joint member that connects the connection pipes forming the air flow path. .

  In this invention, since the resistance part is provided in the joint member that connects the connection pipes, the resistance part can be easily installed on the air flow path simply by connecting the connection pipes with the joint member.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the massage chair according to the first aspect, the driving device switches between an air pump that generates compressed air, and supply and exhaust of air to the air bag based on the compressed air. It is provided with a solenoid valve, and the gist of the resistance portion is provided at a discharge side connection portion of the solenoid valve.

  In this invention, since the resistance portion is provided in the discharge side connection portion of the solenoid valve that constitutes the drive device together with the air pump, the resistance portion can be easily provided on the air flow path without separately requiring a member having the resistance portion. Can be installed.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the massage chair which can reduce the user's discomfort by an operating sound can be provided.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a massage chair 10 of the present embodiment. The chair body 10a of the massage chair 10 is assembled with a backrest 13 that can be tilted by a rotation shaft in the width direction at the rear end of a seat 12 supported by a pair of left and right support legs 11. An ottoman 14 is assembled to the front end of the slidable member so as to be tiltable about a rotation shaft in the same direction. In addition, armrest portions 15 extending in the front-rear direction are assembled on both sides of the seat surface 12.

  A cover piece 16 is assembled to the front end of the armrest portion 15 so as to be tiltable by a rotation shaft in the width direction. That is, the cover piece 16 is provided so that the rear end free end side thereof is expanded at a predetermined angle from the upper surface of the armrest portion 15, and the user's forearm portion (the arm elbow to the hand side portion) is connected to the armrest portion 15. It can be inserted between. An air bag 17 is installed on the upper surface of the armrest portion 15 facing the cover piece 16, and two air bags 18 a and 18 b are installed on the lower surface of the cover piece 16 facing the upper surface of the armrest portion 15. The air bag 17 and the air bags 18a and 18b are connected to the distal ends of flexible connecting hoses 19 and 20, respectively, and the base ends of the connecting hoses 19 and 20 are support leg portions below the seating surface 12. 11 is routed toward the drive device 21 installed between the two.

  The drive device 21 includes an air pump 22 that is electrically driven based on supply of household commercial power, and a plurality of electromagnetic valves 23 and 24 (only two are shown in FIG. 1) connected to the air pump 22. Become. A base end of a connection hose 19 extending from the air bag 17 on the armrest portion 15 side is connected to the discharge side connection portion 23a of the electromagnetic valve 23, and air on the cover piece 16 side is connected to the discharge side connection portion 24a of the electromagnetic valve 24. A proximal end of a connection hose 20 extending from the bags 18a and 18b is connected.

  A connection hose 19 extending from the air bag 17 on the armrest 15 side is composed of two hose members 19 a and 19 b, and the joint members 25 are connected to each other. As shown in FIG. 2, the joint member 25 has a resistance portion 25a and a pair of cylindrical connection portions 25b and 25c extending from both sides thereof, from the inner diameter of the flow path of the cylindrical connection portions 25b and 25c. Is also provided with an orifice structure in which the inner diameter of the flow path of the resistance portion 25a is narrowed. The cylindrical connecting portion 25b of the joint member 25 is connected to the hose member 19a on the air bag 17 side, and the cylindrical connecting portion 25c is connected to the hose member 19b on the drive device 21 side. The hose member 19a on the air bag 17 side is sufficiently long, and the hose member 19b on the drive device 21 side is configured to be shorter than that, so that the joint member 25 is located near the drive device 21 below the seat surface 12. Be placed.

  When compressed air is generated by driving the air pump 22 and the solenoid valves 23 and 24 are switched from the atmosphere open side to the supply side, the compressed air from the air pump 22 passes through the connection hoses 19 and 20 to the air bag 17 and the air bag 18a. 18b, the air bag 17 and the air bags 18a, 18b are inflated. At this time, due to the action of the resistance portion 25a of the joint member 25 provided in the middle of the connection hose 19, the inflation of the air bag 17 is slower than that of the air bags 18a and 18b, and the air bags 18a and 18b are inflated first. ing. On the other hand, when the predetermined inflating operation of the air bag 17 and the air bags 18a and 18b is finished, the solenoid valves 23 and 24 are switched from the supply side to the atmosphere opening side, and the air in the air bag 17 and the air bags 18a and 18b is returned to the atmosphere. The air bag 17 and the air bags 18a and 18b are contracted by being opened and exhausted. During the air massage, the expansion / contraction operation is repeated.

  Thus, in a state where the user's forearm portion is inserted between the armrest portion 15 and the cover piece 16 (in this case, the palm is placed toward the upper surface of the armrest portion 15), While the air bags 18a and 18b press the points on the upper surface of the forearm, such as Tesari and Kajiike, the air bag 17 on the armrest 15 side that inflates with a delay presses the entire forearm to the upper cover piece 16 side. After the predetermined pressing, the air in the air bag 17 and the air bags 18a and 18b is extracted and contracted, and released from the pressed state. In this way, air massage such as itchiness or compression based on pressing from above and below is performed on the forearm.

  Incidentally, in this massage chair 10, a pair of bladders 26 for the hips are installed on both sides of the seat surface 12, and a pair of bladders 27 for the waist are installed on both sides of the lower part of the backrest 13. 14 is provided with a plurality of air bags 28 for calves. Each air bag 26 to 28 is inflated and contracted by the operation of the air pump 22 and a solenoid valve (not shown) corresponding to each air bag 26 to 28, and air treatment is also performed on each treatment site such as the buttocks, waist, and calf. To be done.

Next, characteristic effects of the present embodiment will be described.
(1) In the present embodiment, the joint member 25 in the middle of the connection hose 19 that connects the air bag 17 on the armrest portion 15 side and the drive device 21 has a resistance portion 25a that serves as resistance to air flow on the air flow path. The joint member 25 that is provided and has the resistance portion 25 a is disposed below the seat surface 12. That is, a sound (operating sound) accompanying the passage of air is generated from the resistance portion 25a of the joint member 25, but the operating sound in the resistance portion 25a is shielded by the seat surface 12 interposed between the user and the user. It becomes difficult for the user to hear, and it becomes difficult to hear the operating sound from the resistance portion 25a alone due to the operating sound of the drive device 21 arranged below the seating surface 12. Thereby, the user's discomfort due to the operating sound can be reduced.

  (2) In this embodiment, since the joint member 25 that connects the hose members 19a and 19b of the connection hose 19 includes the resistance portion 25a, the hose members 19a and 19b are connected by the joint member 25. The resistance portion can be easily installed on the air flow path.

In addition, you may change embodiment of this invention as follows.
-In above-mentioned embodiment, although it was set as the structure provided with the resistance part 25a in the joint member 25 which connects the hose members 19a and 19b, not only this but a resistance part may be integrally formed in a connection hose, for example.

  Also, for example, the inner diameter of the discharge-side connecting portion 23a of the solenoid valve 23 shown in FIG. 3A is smaller than that of the discharge-side connecting portion 23b of the solenoid valve 23 shown in FIG. 3B. It is good also as an aperture and this as a resistance part. In this way, it is possible to easily install the resistance portion on the air flow path, and particularly to install it integrally with the drive device 21 that generates the operation sound, without requiring a member having the resistance portion separately. In this case, one connection hose can be used.

  In the above embodiment, the resistance portion is installed on the air flow path of the air bag 17 on the armrest 15 side. However, for example, the air bags 18a and 18b on the cover piece 16 side and the other air bags 26 to 28 are used. However, the present invention may be applied to a configuration in which a resistance portion is installed.

  In the above embodiment, although not specifically mentioned, the backrest portion 13 may be provided with a mechanical massage mechanism using a kneading ball for treating the back of the user.

It is a schematic block diagram of the massage chair in this embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the joint member which has a resistance part. In another example, (a) is a normal type solenoid valve, and (b) is a partial cross-sectional view of a solenoid valve having a resistance portion.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Massage chair, 10a ... Chair main body, 12 ... Seat surface, 17 ... Air bag, 19 ... Connection hose which comprises an air flow path, 19a, 19b ... Hose member as a connection pipe, 21 ... Drive apparatus, 22 ... Air pump , 23 ... Solenoid valve, 23b ... Discharge side connection part having resistance part, 25 ... Joint member, 25a ... Resistance part.

Claims (3)

An air bag is installed at a position corresponding to the user's treatment site on a chair body having a seating surface on which the user can sit, and the air supply / discharge operation of the driving device provided on the lower side of the seating surface A massage chair for inflating and deflating an air bag to massage the user's treatment site,
The air flow path between the air bag and the driving device is provided with a resistance portion that provides resistance to air flow, and the resistance portion is disposed below the seating surface. Massage chair. The massage chair according to claim 1,
The said resistance part is provided in the joint member which connects the connection pipes which form the said air flow path, The massage chair characterized by the above-mentioned. The massage chair according to claim 1,
The driving device includes an air pump that generates compressed air, and an electromagnetic valve that switches between supply and exhaust of air to the air bag based on the compressed air,
The massage chair according to claim 1, wherein the resistance portion is provided at a discharge side connection portion of the electromagnetic valve.

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