JP4524614B2 - Air massage machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an air-type massage machine in which arms and legs are massaged by expansion and contraction of an airbag.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a massage machine that performs massage using an airbag as described above. In order to massage, it is necessary to expand and contract the airbag. Expansion is realized by supplying air from a pump, and reduction is performed by opening a release valve. In order to obtain a desired massage strength, it is necessary to adjust the pump discharge pressure. When the pump is driven by an AC power source, the AC power source is controlled to ignite. This is realized.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a schematic electrical configuration of a typical prior art in such a pneumatic massage machine. A driving element 3 is interposed in series between the pump 1 and the AC power source 2. The drive element 3 is composed of a triac (bidirectional control element) or the like, and is an element capable of energizing the pump 1 during both the positive polarity period and the negative polarity period of the power source. ON / OFF control is performed by the circuit 4.

  The control circuit 4 is driven by a DC power source obtained by stepping down, rectifying and stabilizing the AC power source 2 in the power source circuit 5. In controlling the firing angle of the drive element 3, the zero cross timing of the AC power supply 2 is fed back to the control circuit 4 by the photocoupler 6. The photocoupler 6 includes photodiodes 7 and 8 and a phototransistor 9. The photodiodes 7 and 8 are connected in reverse parallel to each other, and a resistor 10 is connected in series to the AC power supply 2. Therefore, in both the positive polarity and negative polarity periods of the AC power supply 2, the higher the power supply voltage, the higher the luminance. The phototransistor 9 supplies the control circuit 4 with a current corresponding to the light emission luminance of the photodiodes 7 and 8.

  FIG. 6 shows operation waveforms of the circuit shown in FIG. The photodiodes 7 and 8 repeat blinking alternately every half cycle T1 of the AC power source 2 shown in FIG. As a result, the current flowing through the phototransistor 9 is input to the input port of the control circuit 4 as a pulse as shown in FIG.

From the pulse, the control circuit 4 detects the zero-cross timing, and as shown in FIG. 6D, the control circuit 4 moves the driving element 3 over the time T3 from the time delayed by the predetermined time T2 from the zero-cross timing. A trigger pulse that turns ON is output. When the drive element 3 is the TRIAC, the voltage between the terminals remains 0 even after the gate is turned off, that is, remains ON until the next zero cross, and the drive element 3 switches from the drive element 3 to the pump 1 in response to the trigger pulse. The applied voltage is as shown in FIG. In this way, the control circuit 4 performs the firing angle control of the drive element 3 with the zero cross timing detected by the photocoupler 6 as a reference, and performs duty control of the pump 1.
JP 2000-334014 A

  In the massage machine configured as described above, the photodiodes 7 and 8 constituting the photocoupler 6 are lit in a positive half cycle and a negative half cycle, respectively. These elements vary, and for example, when the light emission sensitivity of the negative photodiode 8 is reduced, as shown by the phantom line in FIG. As shown by the phantom line (two-dot chain line) in FIG. 6D, the trigger pulse applied from the control circuit 4 to the drive element 3 is also delayed, as shown by the phantom line in FIG. In addition, the ON period (duty) of the drive element 3 is shorter in the negative polarity cycle than in the positive polarity cycle. As a result, the control of the pump 1 is biased, the discharge pressure cannot be controlled with high accuracy, and the massage effect desired by the user cannot be obtained.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a pneumatic massage machine that can provide a targeted air massage to a user.

The pneumatic massage machine of the present invention has a pump driven by an AC power source, and includes a mechanism for massaging by expansion and contraction of an airbag by the pump, detects an AC zero cross by a detection circuit, and a control circuit In the pneumatic massage machine that controls the ignition angle of the AC power supply to the pump based on the detection timing, the pump is a diaphragm type, and the detection circuit detects the zero cross only once per AC cycle. The control circuit generates another zero-cross timing in the one cycle from the zero-cross timing detected by the detection circuit by using a built-in timer and cancels the influence of gravity on the diaphragm. in the half period and the half-period of the second half of the first half of the period, and performs control of the firing angle is different

  According to the above configuration, in the pneumatic massage machine in which arms and legs are massaged by the expansion and contraction of the airbag, when the control circuit drives the pump that inflates the airbag, the pump is AC When driven by a power supply, the expansion pressure changes corresponding to the duty of the pump, and the zero-cross timing detected by the detection circuit is a reference for the duty control. The detection circuit of the present invention detects the zero cross only once per cycle of the alternating current, for example, at a timing when the negative polarity changes to the positive polarity, and another zero cross in the one cycle, and thus changes from the positive polarity to the negative polarity. Timing is created by the built-in timer of the control circuit.

  Therefore, the zero-crossing detection circuit can be simplified, and the influence of variations in the detection circuit appears equally in the positive half-cycle and the negative half-cycle, so that the expansion pressure can be controlled with high accuracy. It is possible to provide a highly satisfactory air massage to the user.

Also, performed after having reduced the influence of sensing variations in the zero-cross timing serving as a reference duty control as above mentioned, in a half period and the half-period of the second half of the first half, the firing angle, i.e. the control duty is different Thus, the difference in the influence of gravity due to the difference in the installation direction of the diaphragm pump can be canceled. For example, when the diaphragm is horizontally placed, that is, when the diaphragm is reciprocated in the horizontal direction, the influence of gravity on the diaphragm is almost the same in the forward path and the return path of the diaphragm, but is placed vertically, that is, when the diaphragm is reciprocated in the vertical direction. The influence of the gravity is different between when the diaphragm is raised and when it is lowered. Therefore, when the pump is placed vertically, the desired discharge pressure, that is, the massage effect, can be obtained by controlling the diaphragm with a different duty when the diaphragm is raised and when the diaphragm is lowered.

  Furthermore, in the pneumatic massage machine of the present invention, the detection circuit is composed of a photocoupler.

  According to the above configuration, the photocoupler can electrically insulate the AC power supply side and the control circuit side, and the photodiodes in the photocoupler have a large element variation, resulting in a pump control duty. The present invention is particularly effective because of the large fluctuations.

  As described above, the air massage machine of the present invention is an air massage machine that massages the arms and legs by the expansion and contraction of the airbag, and is driven by an AC power source to inflate the airbag. In the duty control of the pump by the control circuit, the detection circuit detects the zero cross only once per AC cycle, and the other zero cross in the one cycle is created by the built-in timer of the control circuit.

  Therefore, it is possible to simplify the detection circuit of the zero cross, and the influence due to the variation of the detection circuit appears equally in the positive half-cycle and the negative half-cycle, so that the expansion pressure is accurately controlled. Can provide a highly satisfactory air massage to the user.

[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external shape of a massage machine 11 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The massage machine 11 is generally configured by including a massage mechanism for performing various massage operations and an operating device 13 for sending control commands to these massage mechanisms on a reclining chair 12. One of the massage mechanisms is built in the backrest part 14 of the chair 12 and includes a kneading ball that performs a kneading operation (not shown). Another massaging mechanism is an air massaging mechanism that massages by inflating and contracting an air bag. In FIG. 1, the backrest portion 14, both side portions of the seat 15, and the front lower portion of the seat 15 are continuously provided. Are accommodated in an armrest 17 and an armrest 17, which are indicated by reference numerals 21, 22, 23 and 24, respectively.

  These air massage mechanisms 21 to 24 are air supplied from a pump, and repeatedly expand and contract in several cycles per minute to massage each part. The strength (the discharge pressure of a pump described later) can be switched between strong and weak from the operation device 13. The massage machine of this invention should just be equipped with at least 1 among such each air massage mechanism 21-24. In this embodiment, the massage machine is described as a chair type. However, if the treatment is performed by an airbag, such as a bed type or an airbag individually controlled, the shape is Any type may be used.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the massage machine 11. A drive element 34 of the drive circuit 33 is interposed in series between the pump 31 serving as a drive source of each of the air massage mechanisms 21 to 24 and the AC power supply 32. The drive element 34 is composed of a triac (bidirectional control element) or the like, and is an element capable of energizing the pump 31 during both the positive polarity period and the negative polarity period of the power source. ON / OFF control is performed by the circuit 35. The release valve driven by the control circuit 35 when the airbag is contracted is not shown.

  The control circuit 35 is driven by a DC power source obtained by stepping down, rectifying and stabilizing the AC power source 32 in the power source circuit 36. In controlling the firing angle of the drive element 34, the zero cross timing of the AC power supply 32 is fed back to the control circuit 35 by the photocoupler 37. It should be noted that the photocoupler 37 of the present invention includes a single photodiode 38 and a phototransistor 39. The photodiode 38 is connected to the AC power supply 32 with a resistor 40 connected in series. Therefore, in one period of the positive polarity and the negative polarity of the AC power supply 32, the higher the power supply voltage, the higher the luminance.

  The phototransistor 39 is connected to a DC power source by the power supply circuit 36 through a resistor 41. A capacitor 42 is connected in parallel to the phototransistor 39, and the terminal voltage of the capacitor 42 is the above-described terminal voltage. It is given to the input port of the control circuit 35. Accordingly, during the extinction of the photodiode 38, the terminal voltage of the capacitor 42, that is, the voltage of the input port of the control circuit 35 is at a high level due to charging by the resistor 41. On the other hand, when the photodiode 38 is lit, the terminals of the capacitor 42 are short-circuited, and the voltage at the input port of the control circuit 35 becomes low level. Thus, the blinking logic of the photodiode 38 is inverted and applied to the input port of the control circuit 35. The control circuit 35 discriminates the input voltage at a predetermined discrimination level and detects it as a pulse.

  The drive circuit 33 is configured to include another drive element 43 for driving, an inductor 44, a capacitor 45, and resistors 46 to 49 using the drive element 34 for control. The inductor 44 connected in series with the pump 31 is for noise prevention, and the series circuit of the capacitor 45 and the resistor 47 constitutes a snubber circuit.

  FIG. 3 is an operation waveform diagram of the massage machine 11 configured as described above. The photodiode 38 repeats blinking substantially every half cycle within one cycle T11 of the AC power source 2 shown in FIG. As a result, the current flowing through the phototransistor 39, as described above, is inverted in logic and discriminated at a predetermined level at the input port of the control circuit 35, and the current is 1 within one cycle T11 as shown in FIG. A pulse is input only once.

  From the pulse, the control circuit 35 detects the zero-cross timing, and as shown in FIG. 3D, a predetermined time T12 from the zero-cross timing, for example, 2 msec (in order to prevent blurring in FIG. A trigger pulse for turning on the drive element 34 is output for a time T13 from a point of time that is exaggerated as compared to 16.7 msec at 60 Hz). In the present invention, the photodiode 38 is lit on one polarity (positive polarity in the circuit of FIG. 2) side of the power supply. Therefore, the time T12 is defined from the zero cross timing. Only the period of the polarity. It should be noted that in the present invention, the timing of the other polarity (negative polarity in the circuit of FIG. 2) is defined by the timer 35a built in the control circuit 35.

  For this reason, the timer 35a monitors one cycle T11, that is, the power supply frequency, when necessary (when the power is turned on, when the massage operation starts, or during the operation, every cycle), that is, the power cycle is monitored. Are divided into a positive half-cycle and a negative half-cycle. The reference timing (another zero cross timing in one cycle T11) of the other polarity side firing angle control is a half cycle counted by the timer 35a from the zero cross timing (start timing of one cycle T11). The time T14 has elapsed, and from this time, the time T12 and the time T13 are counted.

  On the other hand, when the drive element 34 is the triac, the voltage between the terminals remains 0 even after the gate is turned off, that is, it remains ON until the next zero cross, and the drive element 34 pumps the trigger pulse. The voltage applied to 31 is as shown in FIG. In this way, the control circuit 35 uses the zero cross timing detected by the photocoupler 37 as one reference timing for the firing angle control, and creates the other reference timing from the one reference timing by the timer 35a. In addition to simplifying the zero-crossing detection circuit, the influence of variations in the detection circuit appears equally in the positive half-cycle and the negative half-cycle, and the expansion pressure can be controlled with high accuracy. It is possible to provide a highly satisfactory air massage to the user.

  For example, when the light emission sensitivity is lower than the reference due to variations in the drive element 34, as shown by the phantom line in FIG. 3B, a delay occurs in the zero-cross detection timing, and the phantom line in FIG. As shown, the first half cycle trigger pulse applied from the control circuit 35 to the drive element 34 is also delayed. However, in the remaining half cycle, the zero-cross detection timing is similarly delayed, and as shown by the phantom line in FIG. The applied voltage (duty) of the pump 31 shown in FIG. 3C is also equal between the positive half-cycle and the negative half-cycle.

  Thus, the control of the pump 31 can be eliminated, and the inflation pressure of the airbag can be controlled with high accuracy. When the massage pressure is excessive or insufficient by the control, the user performs strength adjustment by operating the operation device 3. The strength adjustment may be made so that two or more stages can be selected, and variation in air pressure can be reduced at any stage, so that the expected massage effect can be obtained.

  Further, by using the photocoupler 37 in the zero-cross detection circuit as described above, the AC power supply 32 side and the control circuit 35 side can be electrically insulated. As a result, even if a voltage fluctuation of the AC power supply 2 or an overcurrent such as a short circuit occurs, the control circuit 35 is not damaged, the control can be stopped, and a malfunction can be prevented. Further, the photodiode 38 in the photocoupler 37 has a large element variation, and the fluctuation of the duty of the pump control due to this is large, so the present invention is particularly effective.

[Embodiment 2]
FIG. 4 is an operation waveform diagram in the massage machine according to another embodiment of the present invention. The massage machine of the present embodiment can use the same configuration as the massage machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 described above, and only the control pattern in the control circuit 35 is different. The waveforms in FIGS. 4A to 4D correspond to the waveforms in FIGS. 3A to 3D, respectively.

  It should be noted that in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4C, the control circuit 35 performs control in which the firing angle is different between the first half cycle and the second half cycle in the one cycle T11. Is to do. That is, in FIG. 4D, the positive half cycle of the first half outputs a trigger pulse for a time T13 from the time when the time T12 has elapsed from the zero cross timing, as in FIG. On the other hand, in the negative half cycle in the latter half, a trigger pulse is output over the time T13 from the time when the time T12 'has elapsed from the zero cross timing counted by the timer 35a. In FIG. 4, T12 '= T12 + α. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4C, the duty is smaller in the second half cycle than in the first half cycle.

  In this way, by reducing the influence due to the detection variation of the zero cross timing that becomes the reference of the duty control, and performing the control in which the firing angle, that is, the duty is different in the first half cycle and the second half cycle, the pump The difference in the influence of gravity due to the difference in the installation direction of 31 can be canceled. For example, in the case of a diaphragm pump, the control shown in FIG. 3 is applied horizontally, that is, when the diaphragm reciprocates in the horizontal direction, and the control shown in FIG. 4 is installed vertically, that is, the diaphragm reciprocates in the vertical direction. It is preferable to apply when moving. In the case of the horizontal installation, the influence of gravity on the diaphragm is almost the same in the forward and return directions of the diaphragm, but in the case of the vertical installation, the influence of the gravity is applied when the diaphragm is raised and lowered. Because it is different. In this way, by controlling with different duties, a desired discharge pressure, that is, a massage effect can be obtained regardless of the installation direction of the pump.

It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance shape of the massage machine which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the electrical structure of the massage machine shown in FIG. It is an operation | movement waveform diagram of the massage machine of one Embodiment of this invention. It is an operation | movement waveform diagram of the massage machine of the other form of implementation of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the schematic electrical constitution of the typical prior art in an air type massage machine. FIG. 6 is an operation waveform diagram of the circuit shown in FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Massage machine 12 Chair 13 Operation part 14 Back part 15 Seat 16 Leg stand 17 Armrests 21-24 Air massage mechanism 31 Pump 32 AC power supply 33 Drive circuit 34, 43 Drive element 35 Control circuit 35a Timer 36 Power supply circuit 37 Photocoupler 38 Photodiode 39 Phototransistors 40, 41, 46 to 49 Resistor 42 Capacitor 44 Inductor 45 Capacitor

Claims (3)

It has a pump driven by an AC power source, and has a mechanism for massaging by expansion and contraction of an air bag by the pump, and an AC zero cross is detected by a detection circuit, and a control circuit supplies the pump to the pump based on the detection timing. In the pneumatic massage machine that controls the firing angle of the AC power supply,
The pump is a diaphragm type,
The detection circuit detects the zero cross only once per period of alternating current,
The control circuit creates another zero-cross timing in the one cycle from the zero-cross timing detected by the detection circuit by using a built-in timer and cancels the influence of gravity on the diaphragm. The pneumatic massage machine is characterized in that the firing angle is controlled differently in the first half cycle and second half cycle . The pneumatic massage machine according to claim 1 , wherein the pump is installed such that its diaphragm reciprocates in the vertical direction .   3. The pneumatic massage machine according to claim 1, wherein the detection circuit is made of a photocoupler.

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