JP4332385B2 - Pressure control device for air massager - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a pressure control device for an air massager used in the medical and esthetic industries.

  For example, venous thrombosis that occurs in the deep veins of the lower limbs during and after surgery may develop into life-related symptoms such as pulmonary embolism. This type of air massager may be used to help promote. Alternatively, the cells may be sequentially driven to relieve fatigue and used to massage muscles.

  However, it is difficult for a conventional pressure control device for an air massager using a solenoid valve to individually adjust the pressure by simple means for each cell composed of an air bag that repeatedly expands and contracts.

Normally, when adjusting the pressure of each cell individually, as shown in FIG. 5 , for example, three cells 1 to 3 that are wound around the lower limb, and three solenoid three-way valves 4 to 6 are used. A pneumatic circuit in which three solenoid two-way valves 7 to 9 and one compressor 10 are combined is used. However, this method requires one solenoid valve each for a three-way valve and a two-way valve for one cell, and the cost increases in proportion to the number of cells 1 to 3.

Patent Document 1 discloses a pneumatic circuit in which four cells 11 to 14 are provided as shown in FIG. 6 and four three-way valves 15 to 18 are connected to the compressor 10. However, in this pneumatic circuit, there is a problem that the air in the previously expanded cell wraps around when the next cell expands during actual use, and sufficient pressure cannot be maintained.

To solve this problem, a check valve 19 to 22 is provided as shown in Patent Document 2 in FIG. 7 to the compressor 10 side of the three-way valves 15 to 18, in a method of preventing the wraparound of air is employed Yes.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-19145

JP 2000-189477 A

However, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 2, when adjusting the pressure of each cell 11-14, the pressure of the cell that swells later must be the same as or lower than the pressure of the cell swelled earlier, In order to independently adjust the pressures of the cells 11 to 14, in addition to the three-way valves 15 to 18, other three-way valves 31 to 34 are provided as shown in FIG. 8 , two for one cell. It is necessary to use the three-way valve, which increases the cost.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a pressure control device for an air massager that solves the above-described problems and can achieve independent pressure adjustment and cost reduction for a plurality of cells without increasing the number of solenoid valves. It is in.

In order to achieve the above object, a pressure control device for an air massager according to the present invention comprises one compressor, a plurality of three-way valves, and a plurality of two-way valves larger than the number of these three-way valves. In the pressure control device for an air massager that individually adjusts pressure for a plurality of cells that are expanded and contracted in parallel and arranged in parallel, and connected in parallel to the one three-way valve and its vent A plurality of sets of pneumatic circuits comprising a plurality of two-way valves individually connected to the cells, wherein the plurality of three-way valves are supplied with compressed air from the one compressor, and the cells adjacent in parallel; each other and connected to a different said pneumatic circuit, the control means, wherein with switches for each three-way valve and the vent outlet and independently, the two-way valve in the pneumatic circuit independently one by one operation Allowed, characterized in that it comprises the operation of performing exhaust simultaneously for supply air and another for one of the neighboring cells.

  The pressure control device for an air massager of the present invention can independently adjust the pressure of each cell without being affected by other cells.

  Further, since it is not necessary to use two solenoid valves for one cell as in the prior art, the cost can be reduced.

  The objective of adjusting the pressure independently for each cell was realized with the minimum number of solenoid valves.

Reference example

FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration diagram of a pneumatic circuit in a reference example . A solenoid three-way valve 43 is connected to an air supply pipe 42 for supplying air compressed by a compressor 41, and pressure detection is performed on the supply pipe 42. A sensor 44 is attached. Further, the solenoid three-way valve 43 has a ventilation port and an exhaust port that are alternatively selected. Solenoid two-way valves 46 to 48 are connected in parallel to a supply pipe 45 connected to the ventilation port. Cells 49 to 51 that are expanded and contracted by air pressure are connected to the solenoid two-way valves 46 to 48, respectively. The compressor 41, the three-way valve 43, and the two-way valves 46 to 48 are individually operated according to commands from a control means (not shown).

  For example, when the cell 49 is expanded, the compressor 41 is operated to supply air to the supply pipe 45 via the solenoid three-way valve 43, and the solenoid two-way valve 46 is opened by the control means, and the solenoid two-way valve 47 is also supplied. , 48 are closed, and when the output from the sensor 44 reaches a preset pressure value, the solenoid two-way valve 46 is closed, the compressor 41 is further stopped, and the pressure in the cell 49 is maintained. Then, after a certain time has elapsed, the solenoid three-way valve 43 is switched to the exhaust side, and the solenoid two-way valve 46 is opened, whereby the air in the cell 49 is exhausted through the supply pipe 45 and the cell 49 is contracted.

  Similarly, when the cell 50 is expanded, air is supplied to the supply pipe 42 by the solenoid three-way valve 45, the solenoid two-way valve 47 is opened, the solenoid two-way valves 46, 48 are closed, and the sensor 44 has a predetermined pressure. Is confirmed, the solenoid two-way valve 47 is closed, the compressor 41 is stopped, and the pressure in the cell 50 is maintained.

  In this way, by shutting off the air between the cells 49 to 51 by the solenoid two-way valves 46 to 48, air wraparound to other cells does not occur, so that independent pressure adjustment is possible regardless of other cells. It becomes possible.

  However, in this pneumatic circuit, one solenoid three-way valve 43 is shared for three solenoid two-way valves 46 to 48, so that air supply to one cell and exhaust to the other cell are performed simultaneously. I can't.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, it is not possible to realize a massage pattern in which adjacent cells simultaneously supply and exhaust air.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration diagram of the pneumatic circuit of the first embodiment . In order to solve the above-mentioned problem of the reference example , one solenoid three-way valve 43 and three solenoid two-way valves using the pneumatic circuit of FIG. Two sets of pneumatic circuits 61 and 61 'each including valves 46 to 48 are used in parallel, and the air supply to the six cells 63 to 68 is connected to the pneumatic circuits 61 and 61' alternately. ing.

FIG. 4 shows the second embodiment, and three sets of pneumatic circuits 61, 61 ′, each of which includes one solenoid three-way valve 43 and two solenoid two-way valves 46, 47 using the pneumatic circuit of FIG. , 61 ″ are used in parallel, and the air supply to the six cells 63 to 68 is connected to the pneumatic circuits 61, 61 ′, 61 ″ every two cells.

  Accordingly, the number of the two-way valves for the cells is the same, and by adjusting the number of the three-way valves to the number of the pneumatic circuits, it becomes possible to adjust the pressure independent of the front-rear relation of the cells 63 to 68. Between the circuits, air supply and exhaust can be performed at the same time, and the degree of freedom of the massage pattern can be greatly improved.

  Furthermore, in order to realize a more complicated massage pattern, it can be dealt with by increasing the number of pneumatic circuits.

It is a basic block diagram of the pneumatic circuit of a reference example . It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of a cell. 1 is a configuration diagram of a pneumatic circuit of Example 1. FIG. It is a block diagram of a pneumatic circuit of the second embodiment. It is a block diagram of the conventional pneumatic circuit. It is a block diagram of the conventional pneumatic circuit. It is a block diagram of the conventional pneumatic circuit. It is a block diagram of the conventional pneumatic circuit.

41 Compressor 42, 45 Supply pipe 43 Solenoid three-way valve 44 Sensor
46-48 solenoid two-way valve 49-51, 63-68 cell 61, 61 ', 61 "pneumatic circuit

Claims (2)

One compressor, a plurality of three-way valves, a plurality of two-way valves more than the number of these three-way valves,
In a pressure control device for an air massager that individually adjusts pressure for a plurality of cells that are expanded and contracted by air pressure and arranged in parallel in a row,
A plurality of pneumatic circuits comprising a single three-way valve and a plurality of two-way valves connected in parallel to the vent and individually connected to the cell;
The plurality of three-way valves are supplied with compressed air from the one compressor,
The cells adjacent in parallel are connected to the different pneumatic circuits,
The control means switches the ventilation port and the exhaust port independently for each of the three- way valves, and individually operates the two-way valves in the pneumatic circuit one by one to supply one of the adjacent cells. A pressure control device for an air massager , comprising an operation of simultaneously performing air and exhausting to the other . The pressure control device for an air massager according to claim 1 , wherein the three-way valve and the two-way valve are solenoid valves.

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