Patent Application
20180078449
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
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The invention broadly relates to personal massagers, more specifically to personal massagers with extended and flexible driveshafts and related methods of massage.
Generally, a personal massager is a device used for self-stimulation or the stimulation of others. It is used in therapeutic, and erotic massages.
There is art that is helpful for background information. One of the most legendary personal massagers of all time is the Hitachi Magic Wand (HMW). Since the introduction of the HMW, the HMW quickly became known by some as one of the most powerful and stimulating personal massagers on the market. However, while obtaining much public praise, the HMW has many known defects, for example, amongst other things it is: of limited portability; of limited water-safety; bulky; noisy; expensive to replace, etc. Consequently, various inventors and innovators have sought to improve the art by proposing solutions to various problems inherent in the HMW design and the designs of other personal massagers.
For example, Murison Bruce, Methods and Devices Relating to Vibratory Impact Adult Devices, U.S. Pub. No. US20160015596 (published Jan. 21, 2016) (incorporated herein by reference) shows the desire for the use of small high efficiency motors in order to produce large amounts of power must be operated such that the motors are running at high speed outside the desired vibration range for sexual stimulation. According to Murison designs allowing for the appropriate gearing to allow heavy weights to be spun with small diameter and high efficiency whilst not increasing the outer diameter of an adult device are disclosed. Murison references devices that provide high impact (amplitude) vibration in a range of physical geometries compatible with providing internal and/or external stimulation which (according to Murison) can also be offered at low cost and/or low manufacturing cost with extended operating life.
Spietz Lafe, High Torque Personal Massager, U.S. Pub. No. US20140357944 (published Dec. 4, 2014) (incorporated herein by reference) generally describes personal massagers including a rotational drive, a mechanical transformer coupled to the rotational drive and which transforms a rotational output of the rotational drive to provide an output driveshaft having increased torque relative to the rotational output of the rotational drive, a mass coupled off-center to the output driveshaft, and a housing within which the rotational drive, mechanical transformer, and mass are disposed and which includes space for rotational movement of the mass by the output driveshaft, wherein the rotational movement of the mass imparts an oscillating motion to at least a portion of the housing.
Topolovac Michael; Wood Edwin; Murphy Andrew; Chang Tian Yi; Hjartar Kristrun, Vibratory actuator and device for sexual, U.S. Pat. No. 9,144,531 (issued Sep. 29, 2015) (incorporated herein by reference) teach a variation of a device for sexual stimulation that includes: an interaction module, a power module, and a control module. The interaction module includes a housing, a female power port supported by the housing, and a first and a second vibratory actuator coupled to the female power port, isolated from the housing, and supported by the housing. The power module includes a battery coupled to a male power port. The male power port is configurable between: a first configuration in which the male power port transiently couples to an external power source to charge the battery; and a second configuration in which the male power port transiently retains the interaction module and powers the vibratory actuators to generate haptic vibratory stimulation. The control module configured to control vibratory magnitude settings and vibratory pattern settings of the vibratory actuators based upon inputs at input regions.
Smith Walton, F.; Yakos David; Larimer Randy Device and method for stimulating the Meibomian glands of the eyelid (Jul. 23, 2013) (incorporated herein by reference) describes a machine for stimulating the meibomian glands of the eyelid comprising: a handle; a head that is non-removable and integral to the handle, the head comprising an eyepiece that oscillates to provide a massaging action to an eyelid and that comprises a front end that is concave in shape to fit over an eyelid; a heater located inside of the eyepiece; a temperature sensor located inside of the eyepiece, wherein the temperature sensor causes the eyepiece to heat to a predetermined temperature and then stop heating; and a charging base that supplies power to a motor that causes the eyepiece to oscillate, wherein the motor comprises a motor shaft. A method of applying heat and massaging action to the eyelid at the same time.
Matoba Denki Seisakusho; Toshio Hirosawa, Flexible Massage Apparatus (CN Pub. No. CN102949283) (published Mar. 6, 2013) (incorporated herein by reference) identifies the need for a flexible massaging apparatus which enables massaging a desired site such as a shoulder, a neck, a back, a hip, a lower site under an arm, by holding it with easy operation and adjusts the pressure strength during the application of the pressure strength by easy operation to a body site to be massaged. It purposes a solution where a plurality of vibrators are mounted while a pair of bearing support parts is formed at the inside between openings formed at both sides of each vibrator, and an unbalancer is mounted across a pair of bearing support parts provided at each of the bearing support parts, and a bearing part is coaxially arranged at the unbalancer and both sides of them and coupled between each vibrator with a flexible driveshaft while the end part of the protective tube of the flexible driveshaft is bound to the opening of each vibrator, and the one end of whole length of the flexible driveshaft is rotatably connected to a handle member while the other end of whole length of the flexible driveshaft is connected to a motor contained in a combined case for the handle.
Levy David, Sexual stimulation devices and methods U.S. Pat. No. 8,647,255 (issued Feb. 11, 2014) and related/similar disclosures U.S. Pat. No. 9,107,797; US 2013/0,281,776; US 2015/0,351,998 (collectively incorporated herein by reference) each teach machines and methods that provide varied and dynamically controllable sensations, both directly under manual control of the user and indirect electronic control, and in such a way as to provide sensations to specific regions of the sexual organs.
As can be derived from the variety of devices for personal massagers, many means have been contemplated to accomplish the desired ends, lower cost, more powerful, versatile massaging systems.
The present invention overcomes many of the problems with the prior art by utilizing extended and flexible driveshafts and interchangeable applicator modules. The inventor has found that extended and flexible driveshafts have very significant advantages over the prior art. In particular advantages are significant, when a personal massager utilizes a power source containing base unit and extended and flexible driveshafts with vibration dampening grips, user controls and alternative massaging parts. The invention provides for parts reuse, lower cost manufacturing and improved: amplitude, frequency, power, control, comfort, and fit. It reduces vibration in the grip and interference in the applicator module while providing improved safety, ergonomics and function by distancing the motor and power source from the application site. The enables the applicator module and any associated grip to be lighter weight and have greater control without interference from the motor or the power source in the provided stimulating effects. E.g. vibration, temperature and sound.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied as a driveshaft personal massager, the invention is not limited to the details shown because various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing from the invention and the equivalents of the claims. However, the construction and method of operation of the invention together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description with reference to the drawings.
At the outset, it should be appreciated that like drawing numbers on different drawing views identify identical, or functionally similar, structural elements of the invention. While the present invention is described with respect to what is presently considered to be the preferred aspects, it is to be understood that the invention as claimed is not limited to the disclosed aspects.
Furthermore, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the particular methodology, materials and modifications described and as such may, of course, vary. It is also understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, which is limited only by the appended claims.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although any methods, devices or materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the invention, the preferred methods, devices, and materials are now described.
Adverting now to the figures,
Generally, the flexible driveshaft includes a rotating shaft (also known as a core) with metal end fittings for attachment to mating parts. A protective outer casing or liner is used when necessary. The protective outer casing or liner has its own fittings, such as ferrules, that keep the protective outer casing stationary during use. The flexible driveshaft is usually at least six inches long, but additional benefits are obtained from longer shafts greater than two and from three to sixteen feet. Longer driveshafts may be used depending on the application, but in many situations the ideal length is long enough to keep the base unit put away and/or out of sight such as under a bed or outside of a shower/bathtub while allowing for compact easy storage when not in use. As depicted, the base unit includes multiple base controls 1100, 1200 and 1300. An additional coupling anti-vibration grip 8000 covers the driveshaft between the applicator module.
In addition to phallic, rabbit ear, and “ben wa” ball attachments other instruments of varying shape, function and form are connected and driven by the driveshaft in the base. These other instruments and attachment are combinations of the above and/or also include other variations such as penile sleeves, vaginal simulators, anal simulators, vaginal stimulators, anal stimulators, vacuums, suction devices, rotating rings and others. These various instruments and attachments are operated by the driveshaft and/or gears and other mechanical devices. In some embodiments, electrical current is further provided by a circuit within and/or parallel to the driveshaft or through other power sources contained within the applicator module, head or grip. The alternative power sources drive other electromechanical processes, including electro thermal processes and audio and visual effects (e.g. heating, cooling, LEDs, lasers, music and sound).
The vibrating mechanisms in the applicator modules typically use brushed or brushless eccentric rotating mass (ERM) mechanisms and linear resonant actuators (LRA). However, an advantage of the invention is separating the motor and applicator module through the use of an extended driveshaft. Consequently, although an ERM mechanism and electrical circuit could be placed in an applicator module, the invention still functions without a corresponding motor in the applicator module. However, some applicator modules use generators and/or transformers to change the mechanical energy provided from the driveshaft to power other thermal, mechanical and electrical processes. In some instances ERM and LRA mechanisms may be interchangeable and/or operated in tandem. In some applications capacitors are charged through the drive shaft. This can be done through induction and other known and soon to be discovered processes.
When using ERM mechanisms frequency is typically measured in revolutions per minute or hertz. The total vibration amplitude can be calculated from F=mass times acceleration, where F (i.e. centripetal force in Newtons) is generally equal to mass of the eccentric mass times eccentricity of the eccentric mass times the angular velocity (omega) squared.
The invention enables the electrical energy system to be isolated in the base unit 1000 further from the applicator head so that the machine may operate on more powerful current and longer lasting batteries without weighing down the applicator heads and reducing interfering vibrations at the site of personal application.
Having thus described preferred embodiments, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that certain advantages of the described system have been achieved. It should also be appreciated that various modifications, adaptions, and alternative embodiments thereof may be made within the scope and spirit of the present invention. The invention is further defined by the following claims.
