KR102710438B1 - Heating assembly for a massage chair with airbag - Google Patents

Abstract

The heating assembly according to the present invention relates to a heating assembly used in a massage chair, comprising: a bracket (630); a plurality of massage balls (610) rotatably mounted on the bracket (630); a massage ball (650) to which the bracket (630) is fixed and which is capable of at least one of an up-down movement and a left-right movement; a heating element (620) mounted on the massage ball (650) or the bracket (630) and positioned adjacent to the plurality of massage balls (610); and an airbag (619) of which one end is fixed to the bracket (630), wherein the airbag (619) is positioned adjacent to the plurality of massage balls (610), and the heating assembly is a heating assembly mounted on the inside of a backrest part (100) of a massage chair.

Description

{Heating assembly for a massage chair with airbag}

The present invention relates to a heating assembly used in a massage chair. Specifically, it relates to a heating assembly that separately adopts a massage ball that performs a massage function and a heating element that performs a heating function, and is also equipped with an airbag to provide a sense of pressure.

Many people receive massages to relieve stiffness caused by stress, muscle knots caused by lack of exercise, etc. However, for various reasons, they cannot receive massages from professional massage therapists, so massage chairs that can be conveniently placed at home have been developed and used.

There are many different types of massage chairs, but one massage chair has been developed that has a heated ball assembly installed on the inside of the backrest, so that the heated balls move to massage the muscles in the back while also delivering a sense of warmth.

As patent documents related to the thermal ball assembly, there can be cited Korean Patent No. 10-1479521, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2013-066509, and Korean Patent Publication No. 2002-0078516.

The above-described conventional heating ball assembly commonly includes a bracket that supports the heating ball and transmits power for heat generation (via a separate wire, etc.) and is capable of moving up and down, and a plurality of heating balls that are provided on the bracket and generate heat. The heating balls have built-in heating wires or sheath heaters, etc., so that they receive power from a power supply unit and generate heat. In addition, since the heating balls are fixed to the bracket, they move together when the bracket moves up and down or left and right, and at the same time, they rotate on their own while fixed to the bracket to provide a massage sensation. That is, the heating balls (1) generate heat, (2) move up and down together with the up and down movement of the bracket, and (3) rotate on their own when they touch the user's back or shoulder during this process, thereby providing a massage sensation and a heating sensation at the same time.

These conventional heating ball assemblies have the following problems:

First, there is the issue of heating the bracket. Since the bracket is directly connected to the shaft of the heating ball to fix the heating ball, when the heating ball is heated, the bracket also receives heat and is heated. However, since the bracket is usually made of a hard metal material to withstand the load, and is usually made of a soft material such as rubber to provide a massage sensation to the heating ball, when power is supplied to heat the heating ball, the bracket is heated to a higher temperature than the heating ball. In fact, in many massage chairs, the heating sensation felt by the user's back is due to the heating of the bracket, not the heating of the heating ball that is in direct contact. This phenomenon of heating the bracket causes not only heat loss or power loss through the bracket, but also a decrease in the heating sensation during massage, and a decrease in the durability of the bracket due to repeated heating and cooling of the metal bracket.

Second, to solve the first problem, you can apply other materials such as ceramics that have higher heat transfer rates than metal brackets to the heating ball, but the heating ball made of such materials generates noise when it rotates. Considering that most heating ball assemblies are installed close to the user's back or neck, the noise problem is a disadvantage that cannot be overlooked.

Third, in order for the heating ball to generate heat, electricity must be applied to the rotating heating ball, which makes the structure of the heating ball complex, difficult to manufacture, and prone to frequent breakdowns. When a heating ball with a complex structure breaks down, it must be replaced with a new heating ball, which is not only a financial burden for the manufacturer, but also causes inconvenience to the user.

KR 10-1479521B1 JP 2013-066509A KR 2002-0078516A JP 2003-038593A2 KR 2015-0067020A KR 2014-0137099A KR 2014-0088748A KR 2014-0070975A KR 2013-0139585A

The present invention has been devised to solve the above problems.

Specifically, in order to provide a massage sensation, a heating ball must be installed on a bracket and rotate, and at the same time, a feeling of warmth must be provided to the user. Therefore, a heating assembly for a massage chair is provided that satisfies the condition of providing both a massage sensation and a feeling of warmth while also solving the various problems described above.

That is, the goal is to solve the problem of the bracket overheating, prevent noise problems from occurring, and provide a heating assembly with a simple heating ball structure.

In addition, when a user uses a massage chair including a conventional heating assembly, the user's satisfaction is low because the user cannot feel the desired pressure. Therefore, we aim to provide a heating assembly that solves this problem.

In order to solve the above-described problem, one embodiment of the present invention provides a heating assembly including a bracket (630); a plurality of massage balls (610) rotatably mounted on the bracket (630); a massage ball (650) to which the bracket (630) is fixed and which is capable of at least one of an up-down movement and a left-right movement; a heating element (620) mounted on the massage ball (650) or the bracket (630) and positioned adjacent to the plurality of massage balls (610); and an airbag (619) having one end fixed to the bracket (630), wherein the airbag (619) is positioned adjacent to the plurality of massage balls (610), and the heating assembly is mounted on the inside of a backrest portion (100) of a massage chair.

In addition, it is preferable that the heating assembly reciprocates in the direction toward the backrest part (100) of the massage chair by controlling the air volume of the air bag (619).

In addition, it is preferable that the heating assembly performs at least one of up-down movement and left-right movement while air is injected into the air bag (619).

In addition, it is preferable that the air volume of the airbag (619) be adjusted in multiple stages.

Additionally, when the stretching mode is activated in the massage chair, it is desirable for air to be injected into the air bag (619).

Additionally, when the heating element (620) is heated, it is preferable that air is injected into the air bag (619).

In order to solve the above-described problem, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a massage chair including a heating assembly is provided, comprising: a seat portion (200); a backrest portion (100) rotatably fixed to one side of the seat portion (200); a leg fixing portion (300) rotatably fixed to the other side of the seat portion (200); a support frame (400) that fixes the seat portion (200); the heating assembly (600) mounted on the backrest portion (100) and capable of performing at least one of an up-and-down movement or a left-and-right movement by the massage ball (650); and an operating portion (500) that can control the rotation of the backrest portion (100), the rotation of the leg fixing portion (300), and the up-and-down movement or the left-and-right movement of the heating assembly (600), and can control the heating of the heating element (620).

In addition, it is preferable that the operating unit (500) adjusts the air volume of the airbag (619) to reciprocate the massage ball (610) and the heating element (620) of the heating assembly (600) in the direction toward the backrest.

The present invention breaks away from the paradigm that the massage ball must generate heat on its own to simultaneously provide a massage sensation and a warm sensation to the user, and adopts a massage ball that performs a massage function and a heating element that performs a heating function separately. This is because the discovery that since a somewhat thick outer part (such as a leather seat) is located between the heating assembly mounted on the backrest of a massage chair and the user's back or shoulder, even if the massage ball itself does not generate heat, if heat is generated in an adjacent area and moves up and down/left and right together with the massage ball, the user can feel both a massage sensation and a warm sensation at the same time.

In particular, since the heating element is composed of a material having a higher heat transfer rate than that of the bracket, it is possible to prevent the phenomenon of the bracket being excessively heated and the durability of the bracket being weakened as a result.

In addition, since the heating element is positioned adjacent to the massage ball, the user can feel a warm sensation and massage sensation similar to the massage ball being heated at the same time.

Additionally, since the airbag is positioned adjacent to the massage ball, it can also provide effects similar to acupressure.

Due to this structure, the material of the massage ball can be freely selected to provide an optimal massage sensation while not causing noise, thereby providing a superior massage sensation than conventional massage chairs.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a massage chair in which a method according to the present invention is performed.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an airbag in a massage chair equipped with a heating assembly according to the present invention.
Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of a heating assembly according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a side view of a massage chair including a heating assembly according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the drawings, assuming that the user is sitting on the massage chair, the upper part of the user is described as the upper part, the lower part as the lower part, the front facing the user, and the rear facing the user, the direction in which the user's back is facing is described as the rear.

The backrest part (100), leg fixing part (300), and foot fixing part (310) described below are each capable of rotational movement or up-and-down movement, and a separate actuator (not shown) is provided for this purpose. Since this is a already known technology, a detailed description of its operating principle is omitted.

In addition, the selection of the mode, change and operation of the massage chair according to the operation unit (500) described below are performed by transmitting the corresponding signal to the control unit (not shown) when a signal is applied to the operation unit (500). Since this is also a technology already known, a detailed description of the operating principle is omitted.

Description of massage chair

A massage chair equipped with a heating assembly (600) according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

The massage chair includes a backrest portion (100), a seat portion (200), a leg fixing portion (300), a support frame (400), and an operating portion (500), and further includes a heating assembly (600) according to the present invention.

The backrest part (100) is a part that supports the user's back and can be adjusted to a predetermined angle relative to the fixed support frame (400) and seat part (200).

A movable heating assembly (600) is mounted in the center of the backrest (100). The heating assembly (600) is equipped with a plurality of massage balls (610), is capable of generating heat, and can move up, down, left, and right. During the massage operation, the heating assembly (600) moves along a preset orbit, and the plurality of massage balls (610) apply pressure to the user's back or shoulders to provide a massage sensation. This will be described in detail below.

A headrest (110) that the user's head touches is located at the upper part of the backrest (100).

A pair of shoulder fixing parts (120) are attached to the left and right sides of the headrest (110) of the backrest (100), and a shoulder airbag (129) is mounted on each of the shoulder fixing parts (120).

Including the shoulder airbag (129), various airbags (129, 209, 309, 319, 419) described below can have the pressure or amount of air applied to them adjusted. In order for the airbags (129, 209, 3090, 319) to hold the position of the user's body, only a pressure or amount of air that does not strongly compress the human body is required, and the air injected for this purpose is referred to as "fixing air" hereinafter. In addition, in order for the airbags (129, 209, 309, 319) to perform a massage action, a pressure or amount of air greater than that of the fixing air is required, and the air injected for this purpose is referred to as "massage air" hereinafter.

The seat part (200) is the part that the user's buttocks and upper thighs come into contact with, and is generally fixed to a support frame (400). It is preferable to be made of a material that can provide a cushioning feel.

Pelvic airbags (209) are positioned on both sides inwardly facing the user at the part where the seat part (200) and the support frame (400) meet.

Each pelvic airbag (209) may be composed of a pair of upper and lower airbags. In this case, the upper pelvic airbag (209) may also compress the waist, and may thus be referred to as a waist airbag.

The leg fixing part (300) is a part that holds the user's leg, and as shown in Fig. 2, is provided with a pair of grooves into which the user's calf can be inserted. The leg fixing part (300) can be adjusted to a predetermined angle relative to the fixed support frame (400) and seat part (200).

A leg airbag (309) is located in the groove of the leg fixing part (300).

Each leg airbag (309) may be composed of a left and right pair of airbags, or, as shown in FIG. 3, each of the left and right pairs of airbags may be provided as an upper and lower pair, so that one leg airbag (309) may be composed of a total of four airbags.

A foot fixing part (310) is located at the lower end of the leg fixing part (300).

The foot fixing part (310) is a part where the user can place his/her foot and fixes the placed foot during the massage motion, and as shown in FIG. 2, a groove is provided so that the user's foot can be inserted.

The foot fixation part (310) may be formed as an integral part with the leg fixation part (300), or the foot fixation part (310) may be moved up and down relative to the leg fixation part (300) so as to be appropriately adjusted according to the user's body size (i.e., the length of the leg or calf).

A foot airbag (319) is located in the groove of the foot fixing part (310).

Each foot airbag (310) may be composed of a left and right pair of airbags, or, as shown in FIG. 3, each of the left and right pairs of airbags may be composed of an upper and lower pair, so that one foot airbag (310) may be composed of a total of four airbags.

The support frame (400) is positioned on the left and right of the seat portion (200) and firmly fixes the entire massage chair even during the movement of the backrest portion (100) and the leg fixing portion (300) or the foot fixing portion (310). For this purpose, a bracket capable of fixing the massage chair to the floor may be positioned at the bottom of the support frame (400).

An arm fixing part (410) is located at the top of the support frame (400).

The arm fixing part (410) is a part that allows the user to place the arm on it and fixes the placed arm during the massage motion, and as shown in FIG. 1, a groove is provided so that the user's arm can be inserted.

An arm airbag (419) is located in the groove of the arm fixing part (410).

Each arm airbag (419) may be composed of a pair of upper and lower airbags, or as shown in FIG. 3, each of the upper and lower pairs of airbags may be composed of a pair of left and right airbags, so that one arm airbag (419) may be composed of a total of four airbags.

The operating unit (500) is a user-operable part and may be composed of a button or a touch panel.

In general, the control unit (500) is provided on the right side of the massage chair to enable convenient operation with the right hand, but in some cases, it may be provided on the left side.

It is preferable that the operating unit (500) and the massage chair are connected using a material that is hard but whose shape can be changed to some extent, and a cable connecting the operating unit (500) and a control unit (not shown) inside the massage chair can be mounted inside.

The user can select various modes through the operating unit (500) and apply the signal to the control unit (not shown), and accordingly, the operating unit (500) transmits a signal corresponding to the mode to the control unit (not shown) to operate an actuator (not shown) and the like to operate the backrest unit (100), leg fixing unit (300), and foot fixing unit (310) to change the angle of each, or control the operation of the heating assembly (600) and various airbags (129, 209, 309, 319, 419).

Description of the heating assembly

One of the features that distinguishes the heating assembly (600) according to the present invention from the prior art is that the massage ball (610) provides a feeling of warmth to the user without generating heat.

In conventional massage chairs, in order to provide the user with a massage sensation and a warm sensation at the same time, the massage ball touching the user's back or shoulder had to generate heat while rotating, and the inventors of the present invention confirmed that a problem occurred in this area.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a massage ball (610) that provides a massage sensation by touching the user's back or shoulder without generating heat and only performs rotational movements and up-down/left-right movements, but a separate heating element (620) is mounted adjacent to the massage ball (610) on a massage ball (650) or bracket (630), so that the user can feel a massage sensation and a warm sensation like in the prior art, while solving the problems of the previously described prior art.

The heating assembly (600) according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 3.

The heating assembly (600) is mounted on the backrest (100) of the massage chair and includes a plurality of rotatable massage balls (610), airbags (619) and heating elements (620) positioned adjacent to the massage balls (610), a bracket (630) that fixes the massage balls (610), airbags (619) and heating elements (620), and a massage ball (650) that is fixed to support the bracket (630) and supplies power so that the entire heating assembly (600) can perform at least one of up-down movement and left-right movement.

The massage ball (610) is not heated separately, and moves up and down or left and right together with the up and down or left and right movement of the massage ball (650). At this time, it can rotate naturally as it touches the user's back or shoulder area and moves up and down or left and right, and the massage sensation is transmitted to the user through the rotation of the massage ball (610).

The material of the massage ball (610) may be any material that provides the user with the best massage sensation and minimizes noise when rotating. In the conventional technology, since the massage ball itself generates heat, a material that is resistant to heat or has excellent heat transfer coefficient had to be used, and as a result, a material that is somewhat inferior in terms of massage sensation or noise was generated when rotating was adopted. However, according to the present invention, since heat transfer coefficient does not have to be considered, any material suitable for the purpose of the massage chair can be selected from elastic rubber or synthetic resin series.

The airbag (619) is fixed at one end to the bracket (630) and is positioned adjacent to a plurality of massage balls (610). The airbag (619) controls the amount of air located inside it to move the massage balls (610) back and forth in the direction toward the backrest (100) of the massage chair.

In addition, the air volume of the airbag (619) can be adjusted in multiple stages, and the heating assembly according to the present invention performs at least one of the up-down movement and the left-right movement while air is injected into the airbag (619). In this case, the massage ball (610) can separately provide a massage sensation by pressure to the user, and the massage ball (610) and other heating assemblies can also provide a sensation of heat and pressure at the same time to the user, such as acupressure. To this end, in one embodiment, when the heating element (620) described below is heated, air can be injected into the airbag (619).

In another embodiment, the airbag (619) can inject air inside when the stretching mode is activated in the massage chair, thereby providing pressure for stretching to the user.

The heating element (620) is mounted at a predetermined distance from the bracket (630) or the massage ball (650). In one embodiment, the heating element (620) is mounted on the bracket (630).

The heating element (620) mounted on the bracket (630) receives power from a separate power supply unit (not shown) through the massage ball (650) and wires (not shown) provided on the bracket (630) to generate heat. The specific structure for generating heat may be anything, but for example, it may be a structure that adopts a heating wire or a sheath heater.

The heating element (620) does not rotate. Therefore, unlike the heating structure according to the conventional technology in which a rotating massage ball generates heat, power can be transmitted with a simple structure.

There is no limitation on the number of heating elements (620), and the number of heating elements (620) is the same as the number of massage balls (610). When the number is the same, as will be described later, regardless of the massage sensation felt from any massage ball (610), a warm sensation can be felt from an adjacent heating element (620). In the drawing, six massage balls (610) and heating elements (620) are depicted, three on each side, but of course, the number can be less or more.

The heating element (620) should be positioned adjacent to the massage ball (610). From the user's perspective, the massage effect is enhanced when the user feels a warm sensation around the rotating massage ball (610) while providing a massage sensation, thereby simultaneously feeling the massage sensation and the warm sensation. In fact, even if the heating element (620) positioned adjacent to the massage ball (610) is heated, the user feels the same warm sensation as if the massage ball (610) is heated, since there is an exterior part (not shown) such as a leather seat or cushion between the heating assembly (600) and the user's back or shoulder.

To this end, the heating element (620) is positioned facing the massage ball (610) with respect to the bracket (630). That is, the massage ball (610) is positioned on the inside and the heating element (620) is positioned on the outside with respect to the bracket (630).

Moreover, since the number of heating elements (620) is the same as the number of massage balls (610), the user can feel a particularly excellent massage sensation from any massage ball (610) and simultaneously feel a warm sensation from the heating element (620) positioned opposite that massage ball (610).

The bracket (630) supports the massage ball (610) and the airbag (619) and heating element (620) positioned adjacent thereto, and is simultaneously connected to the massage ball (650) so that the massage ball (610) and heating element (620) move together when the massage ball (650) moves up and down or left and right.

The thermal conductivity of the bracket (630) is preferably lower than that of the heating element (620). According to the present invention, unlike the conventional technology, since the heating element (620) does not perform a massage function, a free structure and material can be selected. If the heating element (620) is made of a material having a higher thermal conductivity than that of the bracket (630), which is a metal material, the phenomenon of heat being transferred to the bracket (630) when the heating element (620) is heated can be prevented.

In addition, in order to further prevent the phenomenon of heat generated from the heating element (620) being transferred to the bracket (630), it is preferable that the heating element (620) and the bracket (630) be spaced apart by a predetermined distance.

The bracket (630) is equipped with a separate wire (not shown) so that power supplied from a power supply unit (not shown) can be transmitted to the heating element (620). According to the conventional technology, power had to be supplied to the rotating massage ball, so the structure became complicated. However, in the present invention, power is supplied to the non-rotating heating element (620), so the structure becomes simple.

The massage unit (650) is equipped with an actuator (not shown) that receives power from the power supply unit (not shown) of the massage chair and causes the heating assembly (600) to perform at least one of up-and-down movement or left-right movement.

In addition, the massage ball (650) provides power supplied from a power supply unit (not shown) to the airbag (619) and heating element (620) through a separate wire (not shown) provided in the bracket (630), etc.

Above, although this specification has been described with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily understand and reproduce the present invention, this is merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible from the embodiments of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be determined by the patent claims.

100: Backrest
110: Headrest
120: Shoulder fixation
129: Shoulder Airbag
200: Sheet
209: Pelvic airbag
300: Leg fixing part
309: Leg Airbag
310: Foot fixation
319: Foot Airbag
400: Support Frame
410: Arm fixation
419: Arm Airbag
500: Control Panel
600: Heating assembly
610: Massage Ball
619: Airbag
620: Heating element
621: Heating bracket
622: Elastic member
623: Heating element guide
630: Bracket
650: Massage Bundle

Claims (8)

Bracket (630);
A plurality of massage balls (610) rotatably mounted on the above bracket (630);
A massage ball (650) to which the above bracket (630) is fixed and capable of at least one of up-down movement and left-right movement;
A heating element (620) mounted on the above massage ball (650) or the above bracket (630) and positioned adjacent to the plurality of massage balls (610); and
A heating assembly including an airbag (619) having one end fixed to the above bracket (630),
The above heating assembly is mounted on the inside of the backrest (100) of the massage chair,
The above airbag (619) is positioned adjacent to the plurality of massage balls (610), and causes the massage balls (610) and the heating element mounted on the bracket (630) to reciprocate toward the backrest (100).
The above heating element (620) is composed of a material having a higher thermal conductivity than the above bracket (630).
Heating assembly.
In paragraph 1,
The above heating assembly is,
By controlling the air volume of the above airbag (619), it moves back and forth in the direction toward the backrest part (100) of the massage chair.
Heating assembly.
In the second paragraph,
The heating assembly performs at least one of up-down movement and left-right movement while air is injected into the air bag (619).
Heating assembly.
In the second paragraph,
The air volume of the above airbag (619) is adjusted in multiple stages.
Heating assembly.
In the second paragraph,
When the stretching mode is activated on the massage chair, air is injected into the air bag (619).
Heating assembly.
In the second paragraph,
When the above heating element (620) is heated, air is injected into the air bag (619).
Heating assembly.
A massage chair comprising a heating assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
Sheet part (200);
The backrest part (100) is rotatably fixed to one side of the seat part (200);
A leg fixing part (300) rotatably fixed to the other side of the above sheet part (200);
A support frame (400) that fixes the above sheet portion (200);
The heating assembly is mounted on the backrest part (100) and is capable of at least one of up-down movement or left-right movement by the massage ball (650); and
It includes an operating unit (500) that can control the rotation of the backrest part (100), the rotation of the leg fixing part (300), and the up-and-down movement or left-right movement of the heating assembly, and can control the heating of the heating element (620).
Massage chair.
In paragraph 7,
The above operating unit (500) is
By controlling the air volume of the air bag (619), the massage ball (610) and the heating element (620) of the heating assembly are reciprocated in the direction toward the backrest part (100).
Massage chair.

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