This application claims priority of CN Patent Application No. 200520114378.0, filed on Jul. 28, 2005, which is incorporated in its entirety by reference herein.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to portable massage cushions, capable of providing a massage of adjustable speed and orientation.
2. Background Art
In the prior art, a massage chair comprises a chair backrest, left and right armrests, a seat cushion and a foot cushion. Such a massage chair can be used to release fatigue, lumbago and backache from a user, but the massage chair is rather bulky and heavy, which may be difficult to move randomly at will. Therefore, users have to enjoy the massage chair at a fixed place, which is not convenient for use.
a is a front elevation schematic view of the body massage apparatus of
b is another front elevation schematic view of the body massage apparatus of
c is another front elevation schematic view of the body massage apparatus of
d is yet another front elevation schematic view of the body massage apparatus of
The references in the Figures are listed as follows:
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The Figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for the claims and/or as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
As shown in
The seat cushion 1 may include an L-shaped fabric cover 11 and a seat cushion back 12. A fabric flap 111 (
The seat cushion back 12, in one embodiment, includes a concave body 121 with a supporting frame 122 provided within the concave region of the concave body 121, which provides a housing for the massage device 2.
An upper cross support 123 may be provided within the body 121 at an upper position of the supporting frame 122. An upper rail 1231 may be disposed along a front surface of the upper cross support 123. The upper rail 1231 may be provided with a plurality of upper apertures 1232. An upper padding block 1233 may be provided and fastened to each of the upper apertures 1232. Likewise, a lower cross support 124 may be disposed within the body 121 at a lower position of the supporting frame 122. A lower rail 1241 may be disposed on a front surface of the lower cross support 124. The lower rail 1241 may be provided with a plurality of lower apertures 1242. A lower padding block 1243 may be provided for each of the lower apertures 1242. Furthermore, a longitudinal support 125 may be disposed within the body 121 between the upper rail 1231 and the lower rail 1241 for fixing a front gear cover 21 of the massage mechanism 2 in position within the frame 122.
To enhance comfort to the user, an upper cushion 1211 may be provided within the frame 122 above the upper cross support 123. Additionally, a lower cushion 1212 may be provided beneath the lower cross support 124 between the frame 122. The upper and lower cushions 1211, 1212 may be biased forward by a plurality of springs 1213 disposed beneath the cushions 1211, 1212 and engaging the frame 122 within the body 121.
The body 121 may also be provided with a power cord 126 for providing power to the massage mechanism 2. Additionally, a controller 127 may be attached to the body 121 in cooperation with the massage mechanism 2 for permitting the user to control the operation of the massage mechanism 2.
In one embodiment, the massage mechanism 2 includes a gear cover constructed by the front gear cover 21 and a back gear cover 22. The back gear cover 22 may be formed integrally with the frame 122. A pair of worm gears 23 are installed within the gear cover at lateral orientations, such as a right and a left side of the gear cover. A worm drive, such as a screw 24 may be provided between the worm gears 23. The screw 24 may be mounted to a rotary output shaft 251 of a driving motor 25 that is mounted within the body 121. The motor 25 drives the rotary output shaft 251 with the screw 24 mounted to the shaft 251 for imparting rotation to the worm gears 23.
A pair of transmission shafts 26 are provided, each disposed along a first axis 261 of one of the worm gears 23. Each transmission shaft 26 is coupled for rotation with one of the worm gears 23, for being driven by the respective worm gear 23. Each transmission shaft 26 passes through the front gear cover 21. A pair of eccentric rotating blocks 27 are provided, each with a bore 271 mounted upon the end of one of the transmission shafts 26 extending through the front gear cover 21. Each eccentric rotating block 27 is provided with a bolt 272 extending from the block 27. Each bolt 272 is radially offset from the respective bore 271 and generally parallel with the respective bore 271.
A pair of massage columns or elongate massage members 28 are each equipped with a plurality of hemispherical or ball-shaped massage nodes or heads 282 for imparting a massage effect upon the user. Each massage member 28 is provided with a bore 281, which receives one of the bolts 272 of one of the eccentric rotating blocks 27, so that both of the elongate massage member 28 can be driven by the worm gears 23 through the transmission shafts 26 and the eccentric rotating blocks 27.
During assembly, the supporting frame 122 may be installed inside the concave cushion body 121 of the seat cushion back 12. The back gear cover 22 may be placed in the supporting frame 122. The worm gears 23 may be disposed respectively at the right and left lateral sides within the back gear cover 22. Then, the front gear cover 21 may be coupled to the back gear cover 22. The screw 24 may be disposed between the worm gears 23; and the driving motor 25 may be attached with the screw 24 and placed below the worm gears 23. Then, the transmission shafts 26 may be disposed along the axis of each of the worm gears 23, thereby passing through the front gear cover 21. The eccentric rotating blocks 27 may each be attached at an end of one of the transmission shafts 26. Then, the bolts 272 may each be fixed on one of the eccentric rotating blocks 27. The bore 281 of the elongate massage member 28 may each be placed over one of the bolts 272. Each elongate massage member 28 may be fixed to the corresponding bolt 272 by a gasket 273 and a retaining ring 274.
The cross supports 123, 124 may be installed into the frame 122. The upper rail 1231 is disposed on the front of the upper cross support 123. The lower rail 1241 is disposed on the front of the lower cross support 124. One of the upper padding blocks 1233 is mounted to each of the apertures 1232 of the upper rail 1231. Likewise, one of the lower padding blocks 1243 is mounted to each of the apertures 1242 of the lower rail 1241. The longitudinal support 125 is installed between the upper rail 1231 and the lower rail 1241 for fixing the front gear cover 21 in position. The cushions 1211, 1212 and spring 1213 are installed into the frame 122. Subsequently, the L-shaped fabric cover 11 is displaced upon the seat cushion back 12. The fabric flap 111 is displaced on the front of the fabric cover 11. The sponge body 112 is attached at the bottom of the lower region of the fabric cover 11, thereby collectively providing the massage seat cushion 1.
In operation, the fabric flap 111 may be displaced on the front of the fabric cover 11 for obtaining a desired dampened massage effect for the user. The power cord 126 may be connected to a power supply and the user may operate the controller 127 to control a first rotary direction of the motor 25, a reverse rotary rotation of the motor 25, and the rotating speed of the motor 25.
As illustrated in
With reference to
For example, if the user sits upon the seat cushion 1, with the user's back against the seat cushion back 12, the user experiences an asymmetrical kneading massage effect upon the length of the user's back. During operation, a resultant force applied by the user's back upon the elongate massage members 28 may limit the range of translation of the elongate massage members 28 in the x direction, or a range of rotation of the elongate massage members 28 about the bolts 272. Of course, the padding blocks 1233, 1243 provide an appropriate range when the elongate massage members 28 are unaffected by external forces.
Each elongate massage member 28 may include a linear array of massage nodes 282, which may be bisected by the corresponding bolt 272 for providing a uniform massage effect upon the upper and lower regions of the elongate massage member 28.
In order to dampen impacts between the massage members 28 and the padding blocks 1233, 1243, the padding blocks 1233, 1243 may be formed of an elastomeric material. Accordingly, the massage members 28 may each be formed of a material having a sufficient durometer to withstand impacts with the padding blocks 1233, 1243.
Due to the elongate lengths of the massage members 28, the upper rail 1231 and the lower rail 1241 may act as slide supports to the elongate massage members 28 for permitting the elongate massage members 28 to slide upon the upper and lower rails 1231, 1241 while providing a resultant force to the elongate massage members 28 for minimizing strain upon the elongate massage members 28 and for minimizing friction therebetween.
To further illustrate the path of travel of the massage members 28, the massage members 28 are illustrated in multiple positions in
Of course, the invention contemplates that the massage members 28 may be driven in reverse, for example, driven to translate in the opposite direction of the rotary arrows illustrated in
With reference now to
The invention contemplates that a massage mechanism, such as the massage mechanism 2 in the embodiment of
Referring now to
Each of the upper and lower massage mechanisms 43, 44 includes a motor 45 mounted in the frame 42, for driving a rotary output shaft 46. Each rotary output shaft 46 extends into a gear cover 47. Similar to the prior embodiment, the shaft 46 drives a screw 24 (
Each massage member 48 has a longitudinal length appropriate for providing a massage effect about the region of the massage mechanism 43, 44. The massage members 48 illustrated in
Each massage mechanism 43, 44 may be provided with an upper cross support 123 (
Alternatively, the upper and lower massage mechanisms 43, 44 may be driven by a common motor, such as the motor 45 of the upper massage mechanism 43. The motor 45 may drive the first rotary output shaft 46 and a second rotary output shaft 461 (illustrated in phantom in
While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2005 2 0114378 | Jul 2005 | CN | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3374784 | Brent et al. | Mar 1968 | A |
4718408 | Barreiro | Jan 1988 | A |
5356369 | Yamasaki et al. | Oct 1994 | A |
5685827 | Shimizu | Nov 1997 | A |
5785668 | Shimizu | Jul 1998 | A |
6629940 | Shimizu | Oct 2003 | B2 |
7128721 | Ferber et al. | Oct 2006 | B2 |
7179240 | Wu | Feb 2007 | B2 |
7294113 | Wu | Nov 2007 | B1 |
20030009117 | Zou | Jan 2003 | A1 |
20030060741 | Park | Mar 2003 | A1 |
20040049136 | Lin | Mar 2004 | A1 |
20040106882 | Tseng | Jun 2004 | A1 |
20050124921 | Tseng | Jun 2005 | A1 |
20050245851 | Ferber et al. | Nov 2005 | A1 |
20050256434 | Luo | Nov 2005 | A1 |
20060211962 | Ferber et al. | Sep 2006 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2587403 | Nov 2003 | CN |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20070027412 A1 | Feb 2007 | US |