WO2007082681A1

WO2007082681A1 - Massage element

Info

Publication number: WO2007082681A1
Application number: PCT/EP2007/000222
Authority: WO
Inventors: Klaus Döhring
Original assignee: Schukra Gerätebau AG
Priority date: 2006-01-17
Filing date: 2007-01-11
Publication date: 2007-07-26
Also published as: DE102006002228A1; DE102006002228B4

Abstract

The invention relates to a massage element for a seating device. Said massage element comprises a pressure element which produces a massaging effect on the person siting on the seating device when said pressure element is displaced. Several pneumatically actuated chamber segments are also provided. Said pressure element is coupled to the chamber segments in such a manner that the displacement of the pressure element is controlled by controlling the air pressure in individual chamber segments.

Description

massage element

The present invention relates to a massage element for seating devices. The present invention particularly relates to a massage element that can be installed in motor vehicle seats. However, the massage element according to the invention can also be used in other seats, armchairs or loungers.

In sitting devices find next lumbar supports, which are installed to support the lumbar and spine area in backrests, increasingly also devices application that should achieve a massage effect. In particular, in motor vehicle seats or office chairs on which the user sits a longer period of time, massage element are installed, wherein upon actuation of these massage elements, a time-varying pressure on a portion of the body of the person sitting on the seat device is exercised.

In this case, inter alia pneumatically actuated chambers are known in which by air supply to a chamber segment or by air removal from the chamber segment, a movement of the chamber segment can be generated, which is transmitted to the seat occupant. In order to achieve a good massage effect, however, one-dimensional movement of the chamber segment via the control of the air pressure in the segment is not sufficient. For a satisfactory massage effect, the pressure point on the body should also be able to be moved parallel to the seat surface.

Object of the present invention is to provide a massage element for a seat device, with a simple way, a movement of the pressure point is made possible parallel to the seat surface.

This object is achieved by the features of the independent claim. In the dependent claims preferred embodiments of the invention are described. According to a first aspect of the invention, the massage element has a pressure element, by the movement of which a massage effect is achieved for the person sitting on the seat device. Furthermore, the massage element has a plurality of pneumatically actuated chamber segment, wherein the pressure element is coupled to the chamber segments that the movement of the pressure element is controlled by the control of the air pressure in the individual chamber segments. By coupling the pressure element with the individual chamber segments and by controlling the air supply and removal of the individual chamber segments, the pressure element is moved in response to the air pressure in the individual chamber segments. By providing a plurality of chamber segments, the printing element can be moved in different ways.

In particular, it is possible by the provision of several individually pneumatically actuated chamber segments to achieve a movement of the pressure element along different spatial directions. In a single chamber segment is mainly a movement of the pressure element along an axis possible. By providing the various chamber segments for which the air supply can be individually controlled, movement of the pressure element along the other two axes perpendicular to the first axis is also possible. The one axis may be, for example, the vertical movement of the pressure element, while the other two axes describe the horizontal movement of the pressure element.

Preferably, the pressure element of the massage element is cap-shaped and is coupled to each individual chamber segment. Preferably, each pressure element is attached at least to a part of each chamber segment, so that the cap-shaped pressure element is tilted by the change in the air pressure in the respective chamber segment.

According to a preferred embodiment, the chamber segments are formed in a circular segment. For effective control of the cap-shaped

Pressure element have the chamber segments common connecting surfaces and together form a circle. The chamber segments can in this case be formed from an integrally formed pressure chamber, wherein partition walls are drawn into the pressure chamber to form the various segments. However, the individual chamber segments can also be formed individually, wherein they preferably touch each other on the inner surfaces of the circle segments. According to a further embodiment of the invention, the chamber segments may jointly have the shape of a bellows, wherein at one end of this bellows, the pressure element is attached or attached. Due to the shape of the bellows, the pressure element can also perform a vertical movement when the air pressure in the individual chamber segments is varied together.

Furthermore, the pressure element may have a tip, with which the pressure is transmitted to the person sitting on the seat device. The pressure element may for example be an injection molded part and be made of hard plastic. In this case, the tip can be designed such that it can exert selective pressure on the person sitting on the seat, without the pressure being perceived by a too sharp formation of the tip as unpleasant.

To control the movement of the pressure element, the air pressure in each individual chamber segment is preferably set individually. In particular, the

Movement of the pressure element by adjusting certain pressure conditions in the chambers are varied relative to each other. If, for example, the pressure in one of the chamber segments is reduced with respect to all other chamber segments, the pressure element tilts in the direction of this chamber segment due to the one-sided lack of counter-pressure. This allows the horizontal movement of the

Printing element.

Preferably, four chamber segments may be provided, each having the shape of a quarter circle. By dividing into four chamber segments, a movement of the pressure element can be achieved parallel to the seat plane, the provision of four chamber segments in particular a vertical and horizontal movement of the pressure element and a circular movement of the pressure element allows.

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereby show:

Figure 1 schematically shows a view of the massage element according to the invention, and

Figure 2 is a side view of the massage element according to the invention. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the massage element has four chamber segments 11-14. Each of these chamber segments 11-14 has air inlets or outlets 15. With these air inlets or outlets 15 of the air pressure can be controlled in each individual chamber segment. As can be seen in the side view of Figure 2, the massage element at its upper end to a pressure element 21 which has a tip 22. The tip 22 is the point of the massage element with which pressure is exerted on the person sitting on the seat device (not shown). In Figure 1, the tip 22 is shown schematically, with the remainder of the pressure element 21 has been omitted for clarity.

The pressure element 21 can now be set in motion in the following manner. As indicated by the arrow 23, the entire massage element can perform a movement perpendicular to the plane 24, which is parallel to the seat surface. The, as seen in Figure 2, as a bellows running massage element can be acted upon in all four chamber segments with compressed air, so that the massage element and the pressure element 21 moves in the selected in Fig. 2 representation upwards. If the compressed air is taken from all four chambers the same, the massage element collapses altogether, so that the pressure element is moved downward. In addition to a movement in the vertical direction, however, a movement of the pressure element in the horizontal direction is possible, as indicated by the two arrows 25. For this purpose, the pressure in the individual chamber segments 11-14 is individually varied. If, for example, the tip 22 in the illustration selected in FIG. 1 is to execute a left-right movement, the air pressure in the chamber segments 12 and 14 would have to be set to a first predetermined air pressure while the air pressure in the chambers 13 and 11 is varied. If the pressure in the chamber 13 is higher than in the chamber 11, so the tip 22 moves in the selected representation in Figure 1 to the right, but the pressure in the chamber segment 13 is lower than in the chamber segment 11, the tip 22 moves after Left.

In a corresponding manner, a movement of the tip 22 in Figure 1 can be achieved from top to bottom by the pressure in the chambers 13 and 11 is kept constant and alternately the pressure in the chambers 12 and 14 is varied.

Likewise, a circular movement of the pressure element can be achieved, for example, by bringing all the chamber segments to a predetermined pressure be successively and the pressure in adjacent chambers briefly lowered and increased again. The direction of the circular motion can be selected by the direction of the pressure drops in the individual chamber segments. For example, if the pressure element to perform a circular movement in a clockwise direction, so the pressure in the chamber segments in the order of 15, 14, 13, 12, 15, 14, etc., should be briefly lowered before it is raised again. Preferably, the pressure in one chamber is raised again as it is lowered in the next adjacent chamber.

The massage element shown in Figures 1 and 2 can be installed anywhere in a seat or a couch. For a seat, it can be installed either in the backrest or in the seat cushion. The control of the compressed air supply or discharge between the individual chambers is preferably controlled electronically with a control program in order to achieve complex movements of the pressure element 21. Of course, it is also possible that the air supply or discharge to the individual chambers can be adjusted individually by an operator via various controls. With such single control of the chamber segments, however, it is difficult to induce complex movements of the pressure element.

In summary, the present invention makes it possible to provide a massage element which effectively enables a massage effect through various movement mechanisms of the pressure element.

Claims

A massage element for a seating device, comprising:

a pressure element (21), by the movement of which a massage effect is achieved for the person seated on the seat device,

- Several pneumatically actuated chamber segments (11-14), wherein the pressure element is coupled to the chamber segments that through the

Control of the air pressure in the individual chamber segments, the movement of the pressure element is controlled.

2. Massage element according to claim 1, characterized in that the chamber segments are formed in a circle segment.

3. Massage element according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the chamber segments (11-14) have common connecting surfaces and together form a circle.

4. massage element according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pressure element is cap-shaped and is attached to each chamber segment.

5. Massage element according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the chamber segments (11-14) have the shape of a bellows, at one end of the pressure element (21) is mounted.

6. Massage element according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pressure element has a tip, with which the pressure is transmitted to the person sitting on the seat device.

7. Massage element according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pressure of each chamber segment can be adjusted individually.

8. Massage element according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that four chamber segments are provided, each having the shape of a quarter circle.