Massager to be inserted in the back of a massage chair or the like, provided with improved vertical massage

Abstract

 A massager to be inserted in the back of a massage chair or the like, comprising a threaded shaft (2) along which a carriage (3) can slide, the carriage (3) being suitable to support a plurality of massage wheels (4) and being actuated along the threaded shaft (2) by a gearmotor (6), a control device (7, 8) being further provided for controlling actuation of the gearmotor (6) in order to switch the direction of rotation of the gearmotor (6) and accordingly switch the direction of motion of the carriage (3) along the threaded shaft (2).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a massager to be inserted in the back of a massage chair or the like, provided with improved vertical massage.

[0002] It is known that massagers to be inserted in the back of massage chairs or the like allow to perform massage in various directions, i.e., horizontally, along the longitudinal direction of the chair back, known as stretching massage, along the transverse direction of the chair back, known as tapping massage, and so-called kneading massage.

[0003] These kinds of massage are produced thanks to means for the rotary actuation of suitable shafts about their respective axes, so as to generate the alternating motion of massage wheels in a substantially horizontal and vertical direction.

[0004] Conventional massage devices therefore have a plurality of gearmotors, one for each different actuation of the massage wheels; said gearmotors are connected to the massage wheels by their driving shafts and by appropriate lever systems and accordingly transmit the chosen motion to said wheels.

[0005] Although conventional devices are highly efficient from the point of view of the type of massage offered, they are very expensive because they are complicated to manufacture and require a plurality of gearmotors in order to be able to perform the various massage movements of the massage wheels.

[0006] On the other hand, the stretching massage, i.e., the massage in which the massage wheels supported by an adapted carriage move along the user's back, is unsophisticated and inadequate for the massage requirements of users.

[0007] The solution of a single massage of the stretching type, however, offers a significant cost reduction, but as explained it does not offer a satisfactory massage quality.

[0008] The aim of the present invention is to provide a massager to be inserted in the back of a massage chair or the like which allows to provide improved vertical massage.

[0009] Within the scope of this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide a massager to be inserted in the back of a massage chair or the like, in which the stretching massage is significantly improved at low costs.

[0010] Another object of the present invention is to provide a massager to be inserted in the back of a massage chair or the like, in which the stretching massage can be controlled as for its duration and body area to be massaged.

[0011] Another object of the present invention is to provide a massager to be inserted in the back of a massage chair or the like which is highly reliable, relatively easy to manufacture and at competitive costs.

[0012] This aim, these objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are achieved by a massager to be inserted in the back of a massage chair or the like, comprising a threaded shaft along which a carriage can slide, said carriage being adapted to support a plurality of massage wheels and being actuated along said threaded shaft by a gearmotor, characterized in that it is provided with control means for controlling actuation of said gearmotor in order to switch the direction of rotation of said gearmotor and accordingly switch the direction of motion of said carriage along said threaded shaft.

[0013] Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the device according to the invention, illustrated only by way of non-limitative example in the accompanying drawings, wherein the only figure is a simplified diagram of the device according to the invention.

[0014] With reference therefore to the only figure, the massager according to the invention, generally designated by the reference numeral 1, comprises in a conventional manner a substantially vertical threaded shaft 2 which supports a movable frame or carriage 3 so that it can slide along said shaft; in turn, the frame supports massage wheels 4 so that they can rotate about their respective axes.

[0015] More particularly, the threaded shaft 2, which according to the requirements can be fixed to an adapted chassis, designated by the reference numeral 5, or can be inserted directly in the back of a massage chair or the like, fixed to the supporting structure of the chair, is turned by a gearmotor 6 which is meant to make the frame or carriage 3 travel vertically along the threaded shaft 2 in order to provide a massage of the stretching type.

[0016] The particularity of the invention consists in that the above-mentioned type of massage is performed statically, i.e., it is applied repeatedly to a same point of the user's back chosen at will, or gradually, i.e., the massage carriage 3 gradually moves upward or downward during the massage, with the option of choosing the entire back or only the lower region or only the middle or upper regions.

[0017] Massage control is provided in two different manners:

-- by means of a movement of the carriage 3 which has a preset duration;

-- by means of a movement of the carriage 3 which has a preset stroke length.

[0018] The above-described massage, which is accordingly in practice an alternating "rubbing" in a longitudinal direction with respect to the direction of motion of the carriage 3 along the threaded shaft 2, is provided by means of the circuit shown in the Figure.

[0019] The illustrated circuit comprises motor driving means which are connected to the motor 6 and are conveniently provided for example by a first relay 7 and by a second relay 8 which are supplied by a supply voltage Vdd.

[0020] The motor 6 is instead supplied by the supply voltage Vcc.

[0021] The relays 7 and 8 are adapted to control the direction of rotation of the motor 6 in order to move the carriage 3 along the threaded shaft 2 with a reciprocating motion.

Table

	A	B
Stop	φ	φ
Up	φ	Vdd
Down	Vdd	φ
Stop	Vdd	Vdd

In particular, as shown in the above table, where A and B respectively designate the terminals of the relays 7 and 8, the carriage 3 does not move when both terminal A and terminal B are not powered. In this case, the supply voltage Vcc of the motor supplies both poles of the motor and blocks its rotation.

[0022] This situation also occurs when both terminals A and B are fed by the supply voltage Vdd.

[0023] When instead only one of the terminals A and B is fed with the voltage Vdd, then the carriage 3 moves up or down along the threaded shaft 2.

[0024] In Figure 1, x indicates a direction of motion of the carriage 3, x_max designates the maximum stroke of the carriage 3, and φ designates the minimum stroke of said carriage.

[0025] The first type of massage, i.e., the massage in which the movement of the carriage 3 has a preset duration, occurs as follows. Considering T1 as the actuation time of the relay 7 and T2 as the actuation time of the relay 8:

if T1 = T2, static massage occurs;

if T1 > T2, gradual massage in one direction along the threaded shaft 2 occurs;

if T2 > T1, gradual massage in the opposite direction occurs.

[0026] The type of massage provided through a motion of preset length of the carriage 3 instead, is obtained by using a position sensor, such as for example an encoder 9 which is associated with the motor 6. This allows to always place the carriage 3 in the chosen position and also allows, when massage begins, to energize the relays 7 and 8 for a period of time which is equal to the pulses supplied by the encoder 9, preset according to the length and type of massage to be provided.

[0027] The above-described massager therefore allows to perform a massage of the "rubbing" type by moving the carriage with a reciprocating motion along the threaded shaft 2.

[0028] The means for driving the motor 6 therefore allow to alternate the direction of rotation of said motor 6 and therefore the direction of motion of the carriage 3 along the threaded shaft 2 according to the intended type of massage, thus allowing to set both the duration and the length of the stroke of the carriage 3 along the threaded shaft 2.

[0029] In practice it has been observed that the massager according to the invention fully achieves the intended aim, since it allows to perfect the conventional stretching massage with a reduced cost increase in comparison with massager provided with more complex massaging functions which accordingly require a larger number of gearmotors.

[0030] The device thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims; all the details may furthermore be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.

[0031] In practice, the materials employed, so long as they are compatible with the specific use, as well as the dimensions, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.

[0032] The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. MI98A002644 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.

[0033] Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims

1. A massager to be inserted in the back of a massage chair or the like, comprising a threaded shaft (2) along which a carriage (3) can slide, said carriage (3) being adapted to support a plurality of massage wheels (4) and being actuated along said threaded shaft by a gearmotor (6), characterized in that it is provided with control means (7, 8) for controlling actuation of said gearmotor (6) in order to switch the direction of rotation of said gearmotor (6) and accordingly switch the direction of motion of said carriage (3) along said threaded shaft (2).

2. The massager according to claim 1, characterized in that said threaded shaft (2) is supported by a frame (5) which is suitable to be inserted in the back of a massage chair or the like.

3. The massager according to claim 1, characterized in that said control means comprise a first relay (7) and a second relay (8) which are fed by a supply voltage (Vdd) being different from the supply voltage (Vcc) of said gearmotor.

4. The massager according to claim 3, characterized in that said gearmotor (6) is provided with a position sensor (9) which is suitable to control the movement of said gearmotor (6).

5. The device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said first (7) and second (8) relays are respectively connected to the two poles of said gearmotor.

Drawing