JP2000300630A - Massaging machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inform a user of the contents of a massaging course without increasing a space for a display by mounting the display for character-displaying content explaining information of the massaging course on a massaging machine capable of executing the massaging course. SOLUTION: At the time of on-operating the power switch 24 of an operation display 20, a starting picture of a content showing 'in preparation' is first displayed on a display 22 and then, an initial picture is displayed to urge an operator to select a curing course or a manual mode. An operation device 21 uses a system to select each selection switch 25A or 25B in accordance with a guide while looking at the picture of the display 22 and to decide with a deciding switch 26 and a canceling switch 27. Then, at the time of selecting the curing course, e.g. a control part judges which course of plural curing course is selected, displays the display picture of the selected treatment course, and executes the selected curing course.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a massage machine, and more particularly, to a massage machine capable of displaying a description of the contents of a massage course on a display device during execution.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a massage machine equipped with a display device, for example, a massage machine described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-149144 is known. A conventional display device is configured by drawing figures and characters of a human body on a display panel, and arranging LEDs at appropriate places on the display panel with the human body drawings and characters. The type of massage being performed and the site where the massage is being performed can be conveyed to the user by turning on the LED.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Such a conventional LE
With the display device D, only a simple display such as which part is being massaged could be performed. by the way,
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a massage machine having a function of storing a series of massage procedures and executing the procedure as a massage course. Some massage courses are relatively simple, such as simply rubbing in order from the neck to the waist, but recently a massage course with a more therapeutic effect has been realized.

[0004] That is, a massage course is provided with a definite fixed treatment purpose (for example, recovery from physical fatigue), and an optimal massage technique according to the treatment purpose is obtained by a clinical test or the like, and the massage method is used as a massage course. By executing the course, a massage having a therapeutic effect is performed instead of a mere massage. Here, when a course has a treatment purpose, it is necessary for the user to understand and understand what kind of treatment purpose a certain course has.

[0005] However, it is difficult to accurately convey such a purpose of treatment to a user with a conventional LED lighting type display device. For example, a name indicating the treatment purpose is simply given as a course name and printed on a display panel, and the user can only know the treatment purpose of the course by looking at the characters on the panel. In order to actually inform the user of the purpose of treatment, a larger amount of information (number of characters) is required, but printing such a large number of characters is not practical due to space limitations and is not practical. When multiple courses are provided, it is very difficult to adopt them.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a massage machine which can inform a user of the contents of a massage course without increasing the space of a display device. I do.

[0007]

The present invention employs the following technical means in order to achieve the above object. That is,
A feature of the present invention resides in that a massage machine capable of executing a massage course is provided with a display device for displaying textual description information of the massage course. According to this configuration, the user can know the contents of the massage by seeing the description of the contents of the massage course displayed on the display device. Since characters are displayed by the display device, the space does not increase as in the case of printing.

The content explanation information of the massage course refers to information for explaining the course such as the purpose and contents of the massage course, and the contents and expressions are not particularly limited. Further, a graphic display may be included in addition to the character display. From the viewpoint of selecting an appropriate course, it is important to display the contents of the massage course before or after the course is selected, and it is important for the user to understand the course contents beforehand. However, it is preferable to display the contents of the course during execution of the course from the viewpoint of easy understanding of the course contents, especially the significance of the treatment.

[0009] That is, another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the character display is provided for explaining the contents of the massage course during execution of the massage course. In this way, if the contents of the course are displayed during the execution of the massage, the user will see the explanation when the user is actually experiencing the treatment, so that the contents of the explanation can be easily and intuitively understood. . Also, for example, in a course for improving shoulder muscle pain, in order to improve shoulder muscle pain, in addition to directly stimulating the shoulder, indirectly stimulating acupoints (acupoints) in other parts. Symptoms other than the shoulder may be improved in the course of shoulder muscle pain improvement without notifying the user, but the massage machine stimulates the other parts of the shoulder for nothing. In some cases, the user may feel uneasy about the contents of the course without knowing that the user is in the course.

In the present invention, by displaying the explanation during the massage, it is possible to prevent the user from feeling such anxiety. This is particularly advantageous when the massage course content becomes more complex for therapeutic purposes. It is preferable to display the outline of the course before executing the course or before selecting the course (there is no need to scroll), and to display a more detailed explanation during execution. Further, it is conceivable to display the contents of the course in a lump on the display device, but from the viewpoint of attracting the user's attention, it is preferable to perform the character display by scroll display or wipe-in display.

[0011] For example, it is possible to display the course description on the screen in a lump and display it for a sufficient time for the user to read it. In this case, the displayed screen is in a stationary state. And cannot draw the user's attention very much. On the other hand, the screen is dynamic if the scroll display is displayed as flowing characters or the wipe-in display displays characters in order, and the user's gaze ergonomically changes the displayed characters displayed in order. You can follow the nature and read the contents displayed without difficulty.

Further, scroll display is preferable since characters can be displayed even if the amount of information is large, without increasing the space of the display device. On the other hand, in the case of the wipe-in display, the displayed characters do not move on the screen, so that it is more preferable than the scroll display in terms of readability. As still another aspect of the present invention, the display device is configured to display a display surface of a massage course execution state and a display surface of content explanation information of the course separately. And

The information required to inform the user during the course execution includes the remaining time of the course, the treatment site, the treatment state of the massage course, and the like. It is preferable to divide and display the display surface of the content description information of the course.
In particular, when the content description information of a course with a large amount of information is scroll-displayed, the scroll display does not require much space, so that both displays can be efficiently displayed with little erosion of the space on the display surface of the execution state of the course. I can do it.

[0014] Further, as a display method of the display surface of the execution state and the display surface of the course content explanation information, each display surface may be switchable. The switching can be performed by automatically switching each display surface at fixed time intervals, or by providing a display surface switching operation means, and switching each screen by the switching operation. Further, as another aspect of the present invention, a display device is provided as a display device. This is one of the features of the present invention that is established regardless of the display method of the display device.

In view of the fact that the amount of information that can be displayed in a conventional LED-lighted display device is limited, a display device such as a liquid crystal display or a cathode ray tube is used as a display device for a massage machine instead of an LED. Is preferred. In this case, the degree of freedom of the display content is higher than that of the LED, and scroll display and wipe-in display can be easily performed. In addition, a flat display such as a liquid crystal display is preferable because it is desirable to save space in order to mount the display device on the massage machine.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a massage machine 1 according to the present invention. The massage machine 1 includes a chair-type device main body, and the device main body includes massage units 15, 3A, 3B, 3D, 3E, 1 for giving a massage to a user.
1 is provided. Each massage unit is configured to stimulate each part of the body by an air cell 3 that expands and contracts by supplying and discharging air. In addition,
The structure of the massage part is not limited to this,
For example, a mechanical mechanism driven by a motor may be used.

The main body of the massage machine 1 has a seat 5
And a footrest 6 provided at the front of the seat 5, a backrest 7 provided at the rear of the seat 5, and armrests 8 provided at both left and right sides of the seat 5. The air cell 3 expands and contracts due to air supply and exhaust from an air supply source (not shown), and switching between air supply and exhaust is performed by a switching valve (not shown). The seat surface 5 includes:
Two air cells 3A are provided at the rear and two air cells 3B are provided at the front. The rear air cell 3A presses the buttocks, and the front air cell 3B presses the thigh.

The footrest 6 is provided with groove-shaped footrests 10A, 10B on which the left and right feet can be placed separately, and the seat surface 5 of each footrest 10A, 10B.
Air cells 3C are respectively provided on the bottom surfaces closer to each other, and two air cells 3C are provided between the two opposing surfaces of the footrests 10A and 10B closer to the front.
A total of four air cells 3D and 3E are provided, one for each, and each air cell 3D and 3E constitutes a massage unit. The air cells 3C, 3D and 3E of the footrest 6 are used to press the legs by inflation and expansion and contraction. , 3E press the ankle in a pinching manner.

That is, the air cell 3C from the seat surface and the treatment element 11 constitute a massage part, and the air cells 3D and 3E from the other side also constitute a massage part. The backrest part 7 is provided with a movable base 14 which can be moved up and down inside the backrest part 7. The movable base 14 has two air cells 3F on the upper side and two air cells 3G on the lower side.
Is provided. These air cells 3F and 3G operate the treatment element 15 by expansion and contraction to massage the neck and back. The moving table 14 is moved up and down by a screw feed mechanism. The screw feed mechanism is configured such that a screw shaft 17 extending in the vertical direction and a nut portion (not shown) screwed to the screw shaft are provided on the back of the movable base 14.

The screw shaft 17 is rotated by a lifting drive unit (motor) 18 provided below the backrest 7, and the rotation causes the movable table 14 to move up and down. The moving table 14, the elevation drive unit 18, the air cells 3F and 3G, the treatment element 15, and the like constitute a massage unit of the backrest unit 7. An operation display device 20 is attached to one of the left and right armrests 8. As shown in FIG. 2, the operation display device 20 includes an operation device 21 having switches and a display device 22 for performing various displays related to massage.

The operating device 21 includes a power switch 24, selection switches 25A and 25B, a decision switch 26, and a cancel switch 27. The display device 22 includes 2
Liquid crystal display capable of two-dimensional display (flat display)
Consisting of FIG. 3 shows a control system configuration of the massage machine 1. The operation device 21 and the display device 22
It is connected to a control unit 31 including a PU and a memory. The control unit 31 performs processes necessary for the operation of the massage machine 1, such as receiving an input from the operation device 21, outputting a necessary display to the display device 22, and outputting an operation control signal to each massage unit. That is, the control unit 31 implements an initial setting function F1, a manual mode execution function F2, a treatment course execution function F3, and a scroll display function (scroll display means) F realized by a program recorded in the memory.
4. It has functions such as a massage execution state display function F5 (each function will be described later).

Hereinafter, the functions of the massage machine 1 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First,
When the power switch 24 is turned on by pressing the power switch 24 (step S1), a start-up screen such as "Now preparing for a while, please wait for a while" is displayed on the display device 22 (step S2). The initial operation of moving to the initial position is performed. The startup screen is displayed until this initial operation is completed (step S
3).

After the completion of the initial operation, an initial screen is displayed on the display device 22 (step S4). In this initial screen,
A display prompting selection of either the treatment course or the manual mode is made, and the switch is pressed to make a selection (step S
5). Although illustration is omitted, the massage machine 1 is provided with a remote control device separately in addition to the operation device 21 of the operation display device 20, and selects a treatment course and each function of a manual mode using the remote control device. You can also. The operation device 21 is a system in which selection is made with the selection switches 25A and 25B according to the guidance while viewing the screen of the display device 22, and the determination is made with the determination switch 26 and the cancel switch 27. course·
A number of switches corresponding to each function in the manual mode are provided, and the function can be directly selected without guiding the screen.

If the selected mode is not the treatment course but the manual mode (step S6), the display 22 indicates that the mode is the manual mode, and the massage is executed in the manual mode. In the manual mode, the massage according to the user's preference is performed by manually selecting and operating the massage part to be operated, the type of the massage operation, the elevation of the movable table 14, and the like. On the manual mode display screen, the massage site, the type of massage operation (massaging, tapping, acupressure, roller hanging, etc.), the remaining time of the massage, and the like are displayed in characters and figures.

When the treatment course is selected, the control unit 31
It is determined which of the plurality of treatment courses has been selected (step S7), a display screen of the selected treatment course is displayed (steps S8, S9), and the selected treatment course is executed. The treatment course is a massage course that stimulates the user under certain treatment purposes such as recovery from physical fatigue, mental relaxation, improvement of shoulder muscle pain, improvement of lower back muscle pain, improvement of leg muscle pain / sciatica, and improvement of lumbar neuralgia. In order to stimulate the acupuncture points so that the treatment purpose can be achieved, the massage part, the massage method, the massage intensity, the massage time, etc. are automatically executed as appropriate according to the treatment purpose. .

FIG. 7 shows a display screen of the treatment course, and exemplifies the case of the “physical fatigue recovery course”. On the display screen of the treatment course, the display area is displayed divided into three vertically. The uppermost level of the screen is a course name display surface 40, the lower level is a course description display surface 41, and the lowermost level is a course execution state display surface 43.
It has been. On the course name display surface 40, the name of the course being executed is displayed. On the description screen 41,
A commentary on the treatment course is displayed as the content description information.
If the commentary is "Physical Fatigue Recovery Course", "I am currently operating on the Physical Fatigue Recovery Course. For those who are not well-behaved, easily tired, have physical symptoms, etc. "I recommend this course.""This course is to work on the condition of the body where the muscles continue to be tensed or the internal organs are weakened for some reason, and relax the muscles and stimulate the acupoints (pots) which affect the internal organs. This will improve the feeling of fatigue occurring in the body. "These texts are displayed in a flowing character display (horizontal scroll) from right to left.

By performing the horizontal scroll display in this way, the long sentence as described above can be displayed in the space of one line sentence. On the execution state display surface 43, a side view B of the body is displayed, and a massaged part is indicated by a hand-shaped instruction figure P. When the part to be massaged changes, the display position of the instruction figure also changes accordingly. On the execution state display surface 43,
It also indicates the strength of the massage and the remaining execution time of the course, and also indicates whether the heater is operating when the heater is attached to the massage machine 1.

Since the course name display surface 40 and the content explanation display surface 41 each require only one line of text space, the execution state display surface 43 can be widened, and a figure such as a side view B of the body can be displayed. It can be displayed to make the running state of the course visually understandable to the user.
When the course ends, the display of the display screen of the treatment course ends, and an initial screen prompting again to select the treatment course or the manual mode is displayed. That is, the scroll display of the course content explanation display is also terminated. In addition, when the user interrupts during the execution of the course and selects the function of the manual mode or selects another treatment course (step S10), the execution of the treatment course ends halfway and the display screen of the treatment course is displayed. Is also terminated. Then, the selected massage is executed, and a screen corresponding to the selected massage is displayed on the display device 22.

During the course, the power switch 24
Is pressed (steps S10 and S11), the termination screen is also displayed (step S12), and the display of the display screen of the treatment course ends. Power switch 2
When 4 is pressed, the moving table 14 performs a movement operation (reset operation) to the initial position (step S13). When the operation is completed, the massage machine 1 stops functioning and the display on the display device 22 is displayed. Also disappears. The scroll display is
It is not necessary that the message is always displayed during the execution of the massage course, and may be interrupted as needed.

8 to 10 show another embodiment of the present invention. The display device 22 of the massage machine 1 according to the present embodiment displays the explanation of the contents of the treatment course by wipe-in display instead of scroll display. As shown in the control system configuration diagram of FIG.
Wipe-in display function F instead of scroll display function F4
6 and a display surface switching function F7. The other functions are the same as those shown in FIG. 3, and the operations are the same as those shown in FIGS.

In the wipe-in display, the text is displayed so as to appear on the screen in order from the first character of the text.
In the description of the content of the “shoulder muscle pain improvement course” as shown in FIG. 9, “light” is displayed first, followed by “i”, followed by “head”, and so on. Are displayed one after another in order. FIG. 9A shows a state in the middle of the wipe-in display, in which “one” is displayed after “na”. The display speed per character is preferably set to a level suitable for following the characters displayed by the human eyes. Specifically, the display speed per character is 0.1 to 0.2 seconds. Is preferred.

FIG. 9B shows a state where the wipe-in display has been completed on the screen of FIG. 9A. The explanation of the content of the "Shoulder Muscle Pain Improvement Course" will be further described in FIG.
9B. When the display of FIG. 9B is completed, the screen is maintained for a certain period of time, then the screen is cleared, and the contents of FIG. 10A are displayed again by wipe-in.
The time for which the screen is maintained after the completion of the display in FIG. 9B is preferably about 2 seconds, but can be arbitrarily set in the range of about 1.5 to 2.5 seconds. When the display of FIG. 10A is completed, the screen is maintained for a certain period of time, then the screen is cleared, and the contents of FIG. 10B are wipe-in displayed. When the display of FIG. 10B is completed, the explanation of the content of the “shoulder muscle pain improvement course” is completed.

In the case of the "shoulder muscle pain improvement course", the explanation of the content is composed of three screens, but the number of screens may be one or an arbitrary plurality of screens depending on the course. When the content explanation display is completed, the screen is switched to the display screen of the course execution state. The display screen of the execution state is obtained by excluding the content explanation display surface 41 of the scroll display from the screen of FIG.
During execution of the course, the content explanation display and the execution state display screen as described above are alternately performed. However, the display of the execution state display screen can be omitted.

By alternately displaying in this manner, the user can surely know both the course contents and the execution state. Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. In particular, the content and purpose of the massage course are not limited.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the display device for displaying the description information of the massage course in characters is provided, the contents of the massage course can be notified to the user without increasing the space of the display device. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a massage machine.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the operation display device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control system.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of operation processing of the massage machine.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart following FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart following FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a display screen of a treatment course.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a control system according to another embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a screen showing a wipe-in display.

FIG. 10 is another screen showing a wipe-in display.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 massage machine 22 display device 40 course name display surface 41 course description display surface 42 course execution status display surface

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Koji Goto 1-17-17 Higashinakajima, Higashiyodogawa-ku, Osaka, Osaka F-term (reference) 4C100 AA00 AD11 AE11 AF03 BA03 BA09 BA10 BB02 CA03 DA04 DA05 DA08 DA10

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A massage machine capable of executing a massage course, comprising: a display device for displaying textual description information of the massage course. 2. The massage machine according to claim 1, wherein the character display is provided for explaining the contents of the massage course during execution of the massage course. 3. The massage machine according to claim 1, wherein the character display is performed by scroll display. 4. The massage machine according to claim 1, wherein the character display is performed by wipe-in display. 5. The display device according to claim 1, wherein a display surface of a massage course execution state and a display surface of content explanation information of the course are displayed separately. The massage machine according to any one of to 4. 6. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the display device is configured to be able to switch and display a display surface of an execution state of the massage course and a display surface of content explanation information of the course. The massage machine according to any of the above. 7. The massage machine according to claim 1, wherein the display device is a display device.