JP2007014458A - Massage machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a massage machine capable of improving the massage effect by improving the detecting accuracy of the positions of acupressure points. <P>SOLUTION: This massage machine is provided with massaging balls 7 for massaging a user. An information processing means finds skeletal information as body information by a sensor means for detecting the body information of the user. A massage position deriving means 13 derives the massage positions based on the skeletal information. An operation control means allows the massaging balls 7 to massage the massage positions. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a massage machine.

One known as a massage machine is a chair type that includes a seat portion and a backrest portion, and is provided with a vibrator mechanism and a treatment device such as a kneading ball on the backrest portion. Such a massage machine can massage a user by, for example, performing a kneading operation or a hitting operation while moving a kneading ball provided on the backrest portion up and down.
In order to perform an appropriate massage according to the height of the user using this massage machine, the massage machine detects a different shoulder position for each user, and based on that, estimates the acupoint position (affected area), The thing which massages with respect to the point position is proposed (for example, patent document 1).

The shoulder position detection in this massage machine is performed by the following means. With the user sitting on the seat and leaning against the backrest, move the kneading balls from top to bottom in the backrest, and detect the load acting on the kneading balls when the kneading balls hit the shoulder, The position where the load is detected is automatically detected as the shoulder position.
Further, when this shoulder position is detected, the position of the acupoint to be massaged can be estimated based on the shoulder position. Briefly describing this, the position distribution of the acupoints on the back varies depending on the body type (height), but the acupoint position can be obtained based on the positions of the thoracic vertebrae, the lumbar vertebrae, and the sacral vertebra even if the body types are different. Therefore, if the positions of the user's thoracic vertebra, lumbar vertebra, and sacral vertebra are obtained, the acupoint position can be obtained accurately. The positions of the user's thoracic vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae, and sacral vertebrae are obtained by obtaining the shoulder positions, whereby the acupoint positions can be estimated.

JP 2003-52780 A

  However, although the massage machine described in Patent Document 1 estimates the acupoint position by detecting the shoulder position of the user, the shoulder position detection may not be performed accurately. For example, when the user is seated in a leaning posture with his back curled up, in this case, the shoulder is separated from the backrest, and even if the kneading ball descends to the shoulder position, the kneading ball does not contact the shoulder . The kneading balls contact the user at a position below the shoulder, and this position may be detected as the shoulder position. Furthermore, the detection of the acupoint position by the conventional massage machine is estimated by calculating based on only one position of the shoulder position, and an error may occur.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a massage machine capable of realizing a highly accurate massage by detecting skeleton information and acupoint position.

In order to achieve the above object, a massage machine of the present invention is based on a treatment tool for massaging a user, sensor means for detecting the user's physical information, and a detection result by the sensor means. Information processing means for obtaining skeletal information as the body information of the user, massage position deriving means for deriving a massage position based on the skeleton information, and operation control means for causing the treatment device to perform a massage operation for the derived massage position It is characterized by having.
According to this, the massage position can be derived by the massage position deriving means from the skeleton information of each user obtained by the sensor means and the information processing means. And about this massage position, an operation control means can make a treatment instrument perform massage operation. In other words, since there is a correlation between the skeleton (bone position) and the acupoint position, this massage machine can accurately detect the acupoint position from the skeletal information, and an effective massage can be performed by using this acupoint position as the massage position. It becomes possible.

Moreover, it is preferable that the sensor means has a sensor unit that functions along the height direction of the user, and the information processing means obtains skeleton information along the height direction of the user.
Thereby, the skeleton information along the height direction of the user can be detected. Therefore, the position of each bone can be known along the height direction, and a plurality of acupoint positions existing in the height direction can be known.

The sensor unit included in the sensor means preferably includes an input unit that acts on the user's body and a receiving unit that receives information propagated through the body by the action from the input unit. .
Thereby, the skeletal information inside the body can be accurately obtained from the outside.

  In the massage machine, the sensor means includes an input unit that applies vibration to a user's body, and a reception unit that receives vibration from the input unit that has propagated through the body. It is preferable to have an arithmetic processing unit for obtaining skeletal information as body information by detecting a change in vibration propagating inside the body according to the uneven shape of the skeleton of the body. Thereby, the skeleton information inside the body can be obtained.

  According to the massage machine of the present invention, it is possible to accurately detect skeleton information, and the detection of the acupoint position is accurately performed based on the skeleton information. By setting the acupoint position as the massage position, the treatment can be performed with high accuracy. A highly effective massage can be performed.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a massage machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and this massage machine is configured as a chair type. This chair type massage machine includes a seat portion 1, a leg rest portion (footrest) 2, a backrest portion 3, and armrest portions 4 on both the left and right sides of the seat portion 1. The leg mounting part 2 is attached to the front part of the seat part 1 so as to be rotatable around the center of the axis in the horizontal direction, and is lifted forward by the lifting mechanism (not shown) from the lowered state of FIG. Can move to. The backrest part 3 is attached to the rear part of the seat part 1 so as to be rotatable around the center of the horizontal axis, and is moved from the standing state of FIG. 1 to the reclining state that has fallen backward by a reclining mechanism (not shown). Can do.

  Inside the backrest part 3 is provided a massage unit 5 provided with kneading balls 7 for applying massage. The massage unit 5 is movable along a pair of left and right guide rails (not shown) straight in the vertical direction (the height direction of the user) provided in the backrest 3. The massage unit 5 can move up and down in the backrest 3 by not shown). Furthermore, this moving mechanism can move the massage unit 5 (the kneading balls 7) in the front-rear direction, and can change the strength of the force in that direction in the movement in the front-rear direction.

  The massage unit 5 includes a massaging ball 7 as a treatment tool for massaging, and a massaging mechanism (not shown) that allows the massaging ball 7 to perform massaging operations of massaging and hitting. Although not shown, this massage mechanism includes a motor for the kneading operation and a kneading operation mechanism for causing the kneading balls 7 to knead with the motor. For the tapping operation, the motor and the motor A tapping operation mechanism for causing the kneading balls 7 to perform a tapping operation. The kneading operation mechanism unit makes a kneading operation by periodically rotating the kneading balls 7, and the tapping operation mechanism unit makes a tapping operation by periodically moving the kneading balls 7 in the front-rear direction.

  Furthermore, this massage machine is provided with air cells 6a, 6b, 6c that expand and contract by air intake and exhaust as treatment devices. These air cells 6a, 6b, and 6c are connected to an air unit (not shown) having an air pump provided below the seat portion 1, and are instructed to the user by the expansion operation of the air cells 6a, 6b, and 6c by the air pump. Can be massaged. Further, although not shown, a vibrator mechanism is provided as a treatment device, and this can be provided on the seat 1, the leg rest 2, the backrest 3 and the like for massage.

This massage machine automatically adjusts the acupoint position so that the treatment device can be operated with respect to the acupoint position of the user when performing massage on the back side of the upper body of the user leaning on the backrest 3. Can be requested.
An outline of this will be described first.
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a control block for the massage machine to detect the acupoint position and cause the treatment device to perform a massage operation. This massage machine includes sensor means 11 for detecting skeleton information as user's body information, information processing means 12 for calculating skeleton information by calculating the detection result of the sensor means 11, and information processing means 12. The massage position deriving means 13 for deriving the massage position based on the information of the above, and the massage unit 5 is moved in the vertical direction and the front-rear direction based on the massage position (moving mechanism). 7) and the like, and an operation control means 14 for performing a massage operation. That is, this massage machine obtains the skeleton information (the position of the bone in the spinal column) of the user by the sensor means 11 and the information processing means 12, and derives the acupoint position as the massage position by the massage position derivation means 13 from this skeleton information. To do. It is known that there is a correlation between the skeleton (the position of the bone) and the acupoint position, and the acupoint position is selected by storing (storing) this relationship in the massage position deriving means 13. And about this acupoint position, the operation control means 14 will make a treatment tool perform a massage operation | movement.

Next, these configurations will be specifically described.
FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining the sensor means 11. This sensor means 11 is for detecting the skeleton information of the user, and is provided on the backrest 3. The sensor means 11 has a sensor unit 15 that functions along the height direction of the user. That is, in the case of FIG. 3, the sensor unit 15 is provided along the height direction so as to correspond to the upper body of the user.
FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining the sensor unit 15. The sensor unit 15 includes an input unit 16 that exerts (acts on) an action such as vibration on the user's body, and a receiving unit 17 that receives information (vibration) transmitted through the body by the operation from the input unit 16. have. The sensor unit 15 will be described more specifically. The input unit 16 includes a piezo element that functions as a vibration source by applying a voltage, and the reception unit 17 uses the information propagated through the body as vibration. It has a piezo element to be detected (separate from the input unit side). In this case, as shown in FIG. 3, the piezoelectric element is linear (piezo wire), and the height direction is provided as the linear direction of the piezoelectric wire from at least the thoracic vertebra to the sacral spine of the user. Alternatively, the piezo element may be formed in a film form (piezo film) in addition to the linear form, and the longitudinal direction of the piezo film may be provided in the backrest portion 3 in the same manner as in FIG. Note that the vibration as an action exerted on the body by the input unit 16 includes ultrasonic waves. That is, the sensor unit 15 can be an ultrasonic sensor.

Thereby, the input unit 16 and the receiving unit 17 are made to correspond to the upper body of the user, and the information processing means 12 performs processing on the detection result from the sensor unit 15 (receiving unit 17), thereby along the height direction. The skeleton information inside the body can be obtained. That is, the form of the skeleton inside the body can be known by detecting the vibration propagation of the body. As the signal detected by the sensor unit 15 and processed by the information processing means 12, data having a concavo-convex waveform distribution along the height direction can be obtained as shown in the right part of FIG. As shown in the left part of FIG. 5, the shape of the skeleton in the vertebral column (a series of bones in the vertebral column) has an uneven shape along the height direction. This is because a change occurs in the vibration propagating through. Then, the concavo-convex shape of the skeleton can be obtained as skeleton information along the height direction of the user by the sensor unit 15 and the information processing means 12. More specifically, the information processing means 12 can detect the positions of 12 thoracic vertebrae, 5 lumbar vertebrae, and 4 sacral vertebrae in the vertebral column and their mutual intervals. That is, the number of bones and the bone position can be detected as the skeleton information.
Then, the information processing means 12 can store this skeleton information as coordinates. For example, the highest point of the thoracic vertebra can be used as a reference point, and the height direction can be used as a coordinate axis, and the position of each bone in the spine can be numerically managed as the coordinate (distance) from the reference point.

  The detection of the skeletal information performed by the information processing means 12 will be further described. The information processing means 12 can obtain data having the uneven waveform distribution shown on the right side of FIG. . Then, the information processing means 12 obtains a base point for determining the position of each bone from this data. For example, if there is a difference in bone shape between the thoracic vertebra and the lumbar vertebra in the obtained data, that point (arrow a in FIG. 5) can be extracted and used as a base point. Alternatively, the lowest point of the rib (not shown) is obtained by the sensor unit 11 and the information processing unit 12 in the same manner as in the case of the spinal column, and the lowest point of the thoracic vertebra is determined based on the positional relationship between the rib and the thoracic vertebra. Can be obtained as

And it turns out that the 7th convex part is the 5th thoracic vertebra T5 among the data of the uneven | corrugated waveform obtained from the base point between the thoracic vertebra and the lumbar vertebra, for example from the base point. It is known that a heartbeat exists in the vicinity of the fifth thoracic vertebra T5, and this relationship is stored in the massage position deriving means 13 described later.
According to the above configuration, the input unit 16 vibrates the user's body, and the receiving unit 17 receives the vibration from the input unit 16 that has propagated through the body. By detecting a change in vibration propagating through the body according to the concavo-convex shape of the skeleton, skeleton information can be obtained as body information.

  The processing in the information processing means 12 will be further described. The information processing means 12 functions to obtain skeletal information as the user's physical information based on the detection result by the sensor means 11, and the microcomputer It can be configured by functioning as an arithmetic processing unit of the processing means 12. The information processing means 12 obtains the data of the skeleton shape along the height direction of the user shown on the right side of FIG. 5 by the detection signal from the sensor means 11. Although the detection signal from the sensor means 11 includes noise, the information processing means 12 has a filter calculation unit, and the filter calculation unit works to remove noise and extract only necessary skeleton information. can do.

The massage position deriving unit 13 is configured to derive a massage position based on the skeleton information obtained by the information processing unit 12, and can be configured by causing a microcomputer to function as the massage deriving unit 13. The massage position deriving unit 13 has a storage unit that stores in advance the correlation between the acupoint position in the upper body and the bone position in the spine in the upper body. Therefore, each acupoint position can be known as a coordinate based on the bone position as the skeleton information obtained by the information processing means 12.
Specifically, the storage portion of the massage position deriving means 13 is made to correspond to the reference pattern of uneven waveforms corresponding to the skeleton of the human spinal column (data equivalent to the right portion of FIG. 5) and this reference pattern. Each acupoint position is stored in advance. Then, the corrugated waveform data obtained by the information processing means 12 and the corrugated waveform data as the reference pattern are compared, and the acupoint position of the measurement subject is specified in correspondence with the actually obtained data. it can.

  And the massage position derivation | leading-out means 13 has a function which determines the massage position which needs a massage operation | movement based on the massage course selected in the operation part 8 (refer FIG. 1) when a user uses a massage machine. ing. In other words, the acupoint positions necessary for treatment according to each massage course are preset and stored in the massage position deriving means 13, and when the user selects a massage course that emphasizes, for example, fatigue recovery, the massage position deriving means 13 automatically determines the acupoint position necessary for this, and can obtain the coordinates of the acupoint position based on the skeleton information obtained by the information processing means 12. And the coordinate of this acupoint position is derived | led-out as a massage position, and this is memorize | stored in a memory | storage part. For example, when the fatigue recovery course is selected, the massage position deriving means 13 stores the positions (coordinates) of the mid-shoulder, heartbeat, liver fistula and renal pelvis as the massage positions shown in FIG.

  The operation control means 14 can cause the treatment device to perform a massage operation for the derived massage position. The operation control means 14 controls the operation of the operation mechanism unit that causes the kneading balls 7 to knead and strike. The operation control unit 14 operates the operation mechanism unit based on the massage position information stored in the storage unit of the massage position deriving unit 13, and causes the kneading balls 7 to perform a predetermined massage operation for the massage position. The operation control means 14 operates the kneading balls 7 for each massage position and necessary massage times and necessary massage times. For example, when the fatigue recovery course is selected, the massage balls 7 are operated so as to massage the renal pelvis after massaging in the order of the shoulder midpoint, heartbeat, and liver cirrhosis, which are the points. In addition, in FIG. 1, the operation control means 14 can operate not only the kneading balls 7 but also the air cells 6a, 6b and 6c, and can operate a vibrator mechanism (not shown).

According to the massage machine having the above configuration, when the user selects a massage course in the operation unit 8 (see FIG. 1), the sensor unit 11 and the information processing unit 12 use the massage unit before the operation for treatment starts. Skeleton information (position of each bone in the spine) is obtained. And the massage position required for the selected massage course can be derived by the massage position deriving means 13 based on this skeleton information. That is, the skeleton information can be accurately detected, and the acupoint position is accurately detected based on the skeleton information. And about this massage position, the operation control means 14 can make a treatment tool perform massage operation. Based on the correlation between the skeleton (bone position) and the acupoint position stored in advance in the massage position deriving means 13, the acupoint position can be accurately detected from the skeleton information. No. 14 operates the treatment device, and massage with high accuracy of the massage position and high treatment effect is possible.
In addition, since the sensor unit 15 includes a piezo element, even if the human body has skin, muscles, fat, or the like, minute vibrations and changes in the vibrations that have propagated through the body can be detected with high accuracy. It is possible to know the skeleton information with high accuracy.

Further, the arithmetic processing unit included in the information processing means 12 can detect the state of the acupoint part as the body information by detecting the vibration propagating through the acupuncture part in the body.
This will be described. The sensor means 11 detects the state such as the hardness of the acupoint part as the body information by making the sensor means 11 correspond to the acupoint position obtained by the massage position deriving means 13. That is, the input unit 16 applies vibration to the acupuncture portion, and the reception unit 17 detects the vibration propagated through the acupuncture portion. The storage unit of the information processing means 12 stores reference data when the input unit 16 vibrates a standard (healthy) acupoint part and the receiving part 17 receives the vibration propagated through the acupoint part. Has been.
And since the state of propagation of the vibration by the input unit 16 (the magnitude of the received signal by the receiving unit 17) varies depending on the hardness of the acupuncture portion inside the body, the information detection means 12 in the acupuncture portion of the actual user. By acquiring the measurement data and comparing this measurement data with the standard data, it is possible to compare the hardness of the acupoint part and detect the state of the acupuncture part. Thereby, it is possible to know the degree of stiffness of the acuity part by detecting the hardness of the acuity part.

  In this case, the operation of the entire massage machine will be described. First, skeletal information is obtained as body information by the information processing means 12, the acupoint position is obtained by the massage position deriving means 13 from this skeletal information, and then the information about the acupoint position is processed The means 12 can be configured to detect the state of the acupoint part at the acupoint position as the body information, and operate the treatment device with respect to the acupoint position by the operation control means 14. Thereby, a treatment tool can be operated according to the degree of stiffness in the acupuncture part to perform massage, and effective massage is possible.

  A modified example of the sensor means 11 will be described. Although not shown, in order to cause the sensor unit 15 to function along the height direction of the user, a driving unit that moves the sensor unit 15 along the height direction of the user is provided. May be. In this case, if the sensor part 15 can be provided in the said massage unit 5 (refer FIG. 1), and if the sensor part 15 is further attached to the arm member (not shown) which has attached the kneading ball 7, the sensor part 15 is attached. Good. For example, referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, a piezo element for the input unit 16 is provided on one side of the kneading balls 7 provided on both the left and right sides, and a piezo for the receiving unit 17 is provided on the other side. An element can be provided. Furthermore, the driving means for moving the sensor unit 15 along the height direction can be a moving mechanism for moving the massage unit 5 up and down, and the configuration can be omitted.

  Furthermore, as another modification of the sensor means 11, in FIG. 4, the input unit 16 is separately provided in the massage machine in the sensor unit 15, but this input unit 16 is used as a massage ball as a treatment tool provided in the massage machine. 7 (see FIG. 1). That is, the kneading balls 7 are configured to be beaten by a hitting operation mechanism provided in the massage unit 5, and the hitting mechanism 7 causes the kneading balls 7 to hit the back of the user. The vibration may be applied to the user and the propagation of the vibration may be received by the receiving unit 17 of the sensor unit 15. According to this, the kneading balls 7 that are originally provided in the massage machine can be made to function as a device for obtaining skeletal information, and the device can be simplified.

Further, in each embodiment of the sensor means 11, the sensor unit 15 preferably has a pressure sensor for detecting the hardness on the surface side of the body, although not shown. In this case, the pressure sensor is configured to move along the user, and the hardness (hardness) of the surface portion of the user's body can be known. In addition, the pressure sensor can be provided in the kneading balls 7 or the arm member (not shown) to which the kneading balls 7 are attached, and the load obtained via these may be detected. Thereby, the degree of stiffness on the body surface side can be known.
The pressure sensor is connected to the information processing means 12, and the information processing means 12 evaluates the detection result of the pressure sensor, and the massage position deriving means 13 stores the part determined to require massage. Then, the treatment device is operated by the action of the operation control means 14, and massage can be performed even on a portion where massage is required due to the stiffness.

  Further, the massage machine of the present invention is not limited to the illustrated form, and may be of other forms within the scope of the present invention, and the skeletal information to be detected may be the ribs or shoulder ribs without being limited to the spinal column. , Or the spinal column portion and these. Further, the massage machine is not limited to a chair type, and may be another type such as a bed type.

It is a perspective view which shows the massage machine which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the control block in a massage machine. It is a schematic block diagram for demonstrating a sensor means. It is the schematic for demonstrating the sensor part which a sensor means has. It is explanatory drawing explaining the skeleton information obtained by an information processing means.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Sensor means 12 Information processing means 13 Massage position derivation means 14 Operation control means 15 Sensor part 16 Input part 17 Reception part

Claims (4)

  A treatment device for massaging the user, sensor means for detecting the user's physical information, and information processing means for obtaining skeleton information as the user's physical information based on the detection result by the sensor means And a massage position deriving unit for deriving a massage position based on the skeleton information, and an operation control unit for causing the treatment device to perform a massage operation for the derived massage position.   The massage machine according to claim 1, wherein the sensor means has a sensor unit that functions along the height direction of the user, and the information processing means obtains skeleton information along the height direction of the user.   The sensor unit of the sensor means includes an input unit that acts on a user's body, and a receiving unit that receives information transmitted through the body by the action from the input unit. 2. The massage machine according to 2.   The sensor means includes an input unit that applies vibration to a user's body, and a receiving unit that receives vibration from the input unit that has propagated through the body, and the information processing unit includes an uneven shape of the skeleton of the body. The massage machine according to claim 1, further comprising an arithmetic processing unit that obtains skeletal information as body information by detecting a change in vibration propagating through the body according to the condition.

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