JPH0838562A - Air massager - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] It is possible to effectively apply pressure to a portion such as a local recess where it is difficult to apply pressure. [Configuration] The airbag 11 of the air massager 10 is
It has a sheath body 14 formed so that the foot 12 can be inserted therein. A bag body is formed on the inner surface of the sheath body 14 by using a material having flexibility, and the bag body includes the first air chamber 16 and the second air chamber 2
2 and. The introduction port 18 is provided in the sheath body 14,
Air can be introduced into the bag from the outside. Further, the plurality of first air chambers 16 are provided so as to extend along the insertion direction of the foot 12. Further, the second air chamber 22 is provided so as to communicate with at least one of the first air chambers 16 and to cross the first air chamber 16.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air massager, and more particularly to an air massager for massaging a part of a human body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a conventional air massager will be described with reference to FIG. The air massager 50 includes an airbag 52, an air supply unit 54 that introduces and discharges air into the airbag 52, and an air pipe 56 that connects the airbag 52 and the air supply unit 54 to each other.

Explaining the air bag 52 further, the air bag 52 has a sheath 14 formed as an example of a part of the human body, into which the tip portion of the foot 12 can be inserted, and a flexible synthetic material formed on the inner surface of the sheath 14. A plurality of first members formed of a resin material and extending along the insertion direction (arrow B direction)
The air bag 16 is provided with a bag body, and an inlet 18 through which air can be introduced into the first air chamber 16 from the outside. The structure in which the plurality of first air chambers 16 forming the bag body are formed on the inner surface of the sheath body 14 will be described in more detail. The sheath body 14 is formed by using, for example, a flexible synthetic resin material. On the inner surface of the sheath body 14, a sheet material (not shown) formed by using a synthetic resin material having a flexibility similar to that of the sheath body 14 is arranged, and the sheath body 14 and the sheet material are A plurality of first air chambers 16 are formed by welding the plurality of substantially linear portions along the direction of the arrow B to form the partition portion 20 and by welding the peripheral portion of the sheath body 14 and the sheet material. Since the tip of each partition 20 has not reached the welded sheath 14 and the peripheral edge of the sheet material, the first air chambers 16 are in communication with each other.

Further, the air supply means 54 has a pipe (not shown) provided with a solenoid valve (not shown) at an intermediate portion which serves as an air outlet 58 and an air attached to the other end of the pipe. The air pump (not shown) for supplying into the first air chamber 16, the pressure sensor (not shown) for measuring the pressure of the air in the pipe, the opening / closing control of the solenoid valve and the on / off control of the air pump. And a control unit (not shown). Further, one end of the air pipe 56 is the airbag 5
The air bag 52 and the air supply means 54 are connected to each other by being connected to the second inlet 18 and the other end to the outlet 58 of the air supply means 54. In the foot air massager 50 according to the present embodiment, the air pipe 56 is formed in a Y-shape with one end being bifurcated so that the air bags 52 are attached to both feet.

Next, the operation will be explained. The user operates the air supply means 54 after mounting the airbag 50 on the foot 12. After closing the electromagnetic valve, the control unit operates the air pump to introduce air into the first air chamber 16 from the introduction port 18 via the air pipe 56. Air is supplied to the plurality of first air chambers 16 as a whole, and the respective first air chambers 16 expand, whereby pressure is applied to the foot 12 from the expanded first air chambers 16. The control unit operates the air pump to increase the pressure in the first air chamber 16 until the pressure data output from the pressure sensor matches a preset pressure value, and when they match, stop the air pump and open the solenoid valve. Air is discharged from the inside of the first air chamber 16. As a result, each first air chamber 16 contracts and the pressure applied to the foot 12 decreases. As described above, the air supply means 54 is continuously connected to the first
By repeatedly introducing the air into the air chamber 16 and discharging the air from the first air chamber 16, the foot 12 of the user is massaged.

[0006]

However, the above-described conventional air massager has the following problems. Each of the first air chambers 16 is formed in an elongated shape on the inner surface of the sheath body 14 so as to extend along the direction in which a part of the human body is inserted, and for example, a local portion such as an arch portion C when massaging a foot. The pressure from the first air chamber 16 to the specific recess is
For example, there is a problem that it becomes smaller than a convex portion such as the instep portion of the foot, and the massage effect is reduced. For this reason,
A configuration may also be adopted in which the width of the first air chamber 16 that contacts the recess is formed wider than the width of the other first air chamber 16 and the thickness when expanded is increased to increase the pressure applied to the recess. However, when the concave portion is locally present in a part of the human body that abuts on the first air chamber 16, (for example, the arch part C of the foot is the same as the base portion of the thumb that abuts on the same first air chamber 16). There is a problem in that it is difficult to effectively apply pressure to the concave portion, because the concave portion locally exists on the line connecting the heel portions).

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an air massager capable of effectively applying pressure to a portion such as a local recess where it is difficult to apply pressure. To provide.

[0008]

The present invention has the following constitution in order to achieve the above object. That is, a sheath body formed so that a part of the human body can be inserted, a bag body formed of a material having flexibility on the inner surface of the sheath body, and provided in the sheath body, In an air massager including an air bag having an introduction port capable of introducing air from the outside, the bag body includes a plurality of first air chambers extending along the insertion direction, and the first air chambers. A second air passage that communicates with at least one air passage and crosses the first air chamber.
And an air chamber of.

Further, when the second air chamber is formed in a polygonal shape or a circular shape, the thickness of the air chamber when expanded can be increased, and the second air chamber can be brought into contact with a local recess to provide an effective pressure. Can be added. Further, particularly by making the shape of the circular shape, it is possible to prevent the concentration of the stress applied to the inner surface of the second air chamber during the expansion, and the durability of the air chamber is improved.

Further, if the second air chamber is provided at a position where at least a part of the second air chamber is applied to the arch part when the sheath body is attached to the foot of the human body, the second air chamber is effectively applied to the arch part which is a recess. It becomes possible to apply pressure.

Further, when the second air chamber is provided at a position that extends from the arch portion to the inner surface of the foot when the sheath body is attached to the foot of the human body, the second root of the thumb is similar to the arch portion. It is possible to apply effective pressure to the inner surface of the foot, which has a constricted shape from the part to the heel part.

[0012]

The bag body formed on the inner surface of the sheath body into which a part of the human body can be inserted communicates with the plurality of first air chambers extending in the inserting direction and at least one of the first air chambers. Since the second air chamber that crosses the first air chamber is provided, even if there is a local recess in a part of the human body that contacts the first air chamber, the second air chamber is present in the recess. It is possible to effectively pressurize the concave portion by mounting so as to abut.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same components as those in the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. In addition, although an air massager for massaging a foot as a part of the human body is described as an example in the present embodiment, an arm, a leg or the like may be used as long as it is a part of the human body. (First Embodiment) First, the structure of an airbag 11, which is a characteristic part of the air massager 10 of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a surface development view of the sheath body 14 for explaining the configuration of the airbag 11. Similar to the conventional example, the inner surface of the sheath body 14 has a first air chamber 16 that constitutes a bag body.
However, the sheath body 14 and the sheet material are welded at a plurality of substantially linear positions along the direction of the arrow B, which is the insertion direction of the foot 12, to form the partition portion 20, and the peripheral edge portions of the sheath body 14 and the sheet material are welded. A plurality of second air chambers 22 are formed on the inner surface of the sheath body 14 by communicating with at least one of the first air chambers 16 and form a bag together with the first air chambers 16. Is provided so as to cross the air chamber 16. The sheet material is formed using a flexible material such as a synthetic resin material or rubber. In particular, the sheath 14 of the airbag 11 is made of a material that is less elastic than a sheet material (such as a synthetic resin sheet in which a fiber material is folded) and is used when the air chambers 16 and 22 expand. 14 is extended so that the pressure of the air chambers 16 and 22 on the foot 12 is not reduced.

The second air chamber 22 will be described in more detail. Although the second air chamber 22 has an elliptical shape in this embodiment, it may have a perfect circle, a polygon, a gourd shape, or an S shape. Even if it has various shapes such as, for example, it may be arranged so as to cross the first air chamber 16. If the second air chamber 22 is formed into a curved shape such as a circle, an ellipse, or a gourd shape, and the corners are eliminated, the partition portion 20 is expanded when the second air chamber 22 is expanded. It is possible to prevent the concentration of the stress applied to and to prevent the peeling of the welding. In addition, the width F of the second air chamber 22 (the interval between the partition portions 20 forming the second air chamber 22) F is because the second air chamber 22 is intended to locally pressurize the concave portion. It is desirable that the first air chamber 16 is formed wider than the width G of the first air chamber 16 in order to increase the thickness when expanded.

In the second air chamber 22, the sheath body 14 is attached to the foot 1.
When attached to 2, the arch portion C, which is the recess of the foot 12,
To the inner surface D of the foot 12 from the sheath body 1
4 is provided on the inner surface. Therefore, the position of the second air chamber 22 provided in the sheath body 14 is different for each of the left and right feet, and therefore, the airbag 11 is a left and right exclusive use in which the arrangement position of the second air chamber 22 in the sheath body 14 is symmetrical. One pair consists of one pair. In addition, you may arrange | position so that it may be located only on the arch part C and the inner surface D.

Reference numeral 24 is a connection margin. The connection margins 24 are wound in the direction of arrow E in FIG.
The sheath body 14 is formed by connecting by means such as adhesion or sewing. Further, when a hook-and-loop fastener is attached to the connection margin 24 and the sheath body 14 is configured to be expandable and attached to a part of the human body such as the foot 12, the sheath body 14 may be attached by being wound around a part of the corresponding human body. . With this configuration, it is possible to more easily mount the portion, which is difficult to insert, such as the upper bowl and the thigh. Further, reference numeral 26 is a mounting band which, after the sheath body 14 is attached to the foot 12, is wrapped around the ankle so that the sheath body 14 is not pulled out from the foot 12 and is fixed by the hook and loop fastener 28.

Next, the method of use and operation will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 1, the user attaches the airbag 11 to the foot 12 (the left foot in this embodiment) and then operates the air supply means 54. After closing the electromagnetic valve, the control unit operates the air pump to introduce air into the first air chamber 16 from the introduction port 18 via the air pipe 56. The air is the entire plurality of first air chambers 16 and the second air chambers 22.
Are supplied to the first air chamber 16 and the second air chamber 22 to be expanded, whereby pressure is applied to the foot 12 from the expanded first air chamber 16 and second air chamber 22.

The contact state of the first air chamber 16 and the second air chamber 22 with respect to the foot 12 at this time will be described with reference to FIG. 3. In the second air chamber 22, the arch portion C of the foot 12 is described. Since it is formed in a large area so as to cover the inner surface D and the inner surface D, the thickness when expanded is increased, and the foot 12 can be brought into close contact with the arch portion C or the inner surface D corresponding to the local recess of the foot 12. It is possible to apply sufficient pressure to the entire foot 12.

The control unit operates the air pump to increase the pressure in each of the air chambers 16 and 22 until the pressure data output from the pressure sensor coincides with a preset pressure value, and when they coincide, the air pump is stopped and the solenoid valve is operated. Open each air chamber 16,
Air is discharged from inside 22. As a result, each air chamber 1
6, 22 contract and the pressure exerted on the foot 12 decreases. Therefore, the user's foot 12 is massaged by the air supply means 54 continuously repeating the introduction of air into the first air chamber 16 and the discharge of air from the first air chamber 16. Become.

(Second Embodiment) Further, as shown in FIG. 4, in the airbag 11, the sheath body 14 has a boots shape so that not only the tip portion of the foot 12 (from the heel portion to the base of the finger) but also
It may be configured such that massage can be performed from the heel portion to the calf portion of the foot 12. In this case, the bag body formed on the inner surface of the sheath body 14 that extends from the heel portion to the calf portion may be configured by the third air chamber 30 formed in a simple tubular shape. A plurality of first air chambers 16 formed along the insertion direction as in the first embodiment,
A more effective massage can be performed by contacting the Achilles tendon portion corresponding to the concave portion with two second air chambers 22 arranged on both sides of the Achilles tendon. Alternatively, the plurality of first air chambers 16 may be configured alone. In addition, the bag body disposed on the inner surface of the sheath body 14 so as to massage the calf portion from the heel portion is the same as the first embodiment described above. Although it may be communicated with the bag body (the first air chamber 16 and / or the second air chamber 22), it is formed as an independent air chamber and provided with a dedicated air inlet, and through the air pipe 56. It may be configured to communicate with the air supply means.

Various preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the first air chamber and the second air chamber have a sheath body and a sheet. Instead of welding and forming the material, multiple independent air bags can be attached to the inner surface of the sheath by attaching them, or the sheath can be formed as a double structure by sandwiching an independent air bag between them. Needless to say, many modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0022]

When the air massager according to the present invention is used, the bag body formed on the inner surface of the sheath body into which a part of the human body can be inserted has a plurality of first air chambers extending in the insertion direction. ,
Since a second air chamber that communicates with at least one of the first air chambers and crosses the first air chamber is provided,
Even if there is a local recess in the part of the human body that contacts the first air chamber, the recess is effectively pressed by mounting the airbag so that the second air chamber contacts the recess. It has the remarkable effect that it becomes possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a state in which a first embodiment of an air massager according to the present invention is attached to a foot.

FIG. 2 is a surface development view of a sheath body 14 for explaining the configuration of the airbag shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state in which the second embodiment of the air massager according to the present invention is attached to the foot.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a state in which an example of a conventional air massager is attached to a foot.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Air Massager 11 Airbag 12 Feet 14 Sheath 16 First Air Chamber 18 Inlet 22 Second Air Chamber

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sheath body formed so that a part of a human body can be inserted therein, a bag body formed of a material having flexibility on an inner surface of the sheath body, and provided on the sheath body, In an air massager including an air bag having an inlet for introducing air from the outside into the bag body, the bag body includes a plurality of first air chambers extending in the insertion direction, and the first air chamber. A first communicating with at least one of the air chambers
And a second air chamber provided so as to cross the air chamber of the air massager. 2. The air massager according to claim 1, wherein the second air chamber is formed in a polygonal shape or a circular shape. 3. The second air chamber is provided at a position where at least a part of the second air chamber is in contact with an arch part when the sheath is attached to a foot of a human body. Air massager described. 4. The second air chamber is provided at a position that extends from the arch part to the inner surface of the foot when the sheath is attached to the foot of the human body. Two
Or the air massager described in 3.