JP2000166999A - Air flow regulator and massager with air flow regulator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify the structure of an air flow regulator by providing a spool valve within a cylindrical valve main body to open an exhaust port when air pressure on a secondary side is high and to close the port when the air pressure is low. SOLUTION: An air flow regulator 1 is formed of the cylindrical valve main body 14, a spool valve 15 freely slidable within the main body 14 and a spring 16 energizing the valve 15 to one side of its axial direction. A primary port 18 connected to the side of an air supplying source 2 and an exhaust port 20 connected to an air cell 10 on a secondary side. Thus, the valve 15 is always energized to the side of the port 20 by the spring 16 and when pressure on the secondary side is low, the valve 15 closes the port 20. When the pressure on the secondary side becomes high, the cell 10 is swollen to press-move the valve 15 against the spring 16 to open the port 20 to exhaust to drop secondary pressure. Thus, the constitution of the regulator 1 can be simplified.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air flow regulating valve and a massage machine having the air flow regulating valve.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, air supply and exhaust are alternately repeated with respect to an air cell, thereby inflating and expanding the air cell.
2. Description of the Related Art There is known an air-type massage machine that causes contraction, thereby causing a body to directly or indirectly perform a massage operation such as fir or beating.

[0003]

In such a massage machine, there is a case where it is desired to maintain the state for a certain time without exhausting the air while supplying air to the air cell. That is, there is a case where the user wants to keep the state of being pressed by the air cell.
In this case, the air supply / exhaust / supply / exhaust stop state is switched 3
Although it is conceivable to adjust the pressure of the air cell by employing a state switching valve, it is necessary to detect the pressure and control the switching valve to maintain the target pressure in order to maintain the pressure at a predetermined pressure. .

[0004] However, such a configuration is complicated, and if it is adopted for a massage machine, the cost will increase. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide an airflow pressure regulating valve having a simple configuration and a massage machine having the airflow pressure regulating valve.

[0005]

The present invention takes the following technical means to achieve the above object. That is, the airflow pressure regulating valve according to the present invention is connected between the air supply source side which is the primary side and the air actuator side which is the secondary side to maintain the air pressure on the secondary side at a predetermined value. A pressure regulating valve, a cylindrical valve body having an exhaust port for allowing air to escape when the pressure on the secondary side is higher than a predetermined value, and according to the pressure of air on the secondary side in the valve body. By sliding, when the pressure on the secondary side is higher than a predetermined value, the exhaust port is moved to a position where the exhaust port is opened to be in an exhaust state, and when the pressure on the secondary side is lower than a predetermined value, the exhaust port is opened. And a spool valve configured to move to a closed position to be in an air supply state.

According to this configuration, the secondary pressure can be automatically maintained by sliding the spool valve. Also,
The spool valve is formed in a hollow shape so that air can flow therethrough so that air can flow from the primary side to the secondary side, and the exhaust port is provided on a peripheral wall of the valve body. The portion that closes the exhaust port may be formed to be thinner than other portions so that the portion that closes the exhaust port is elastically deformed radially outward due to an increase in the pressure of air flowing inside the spool valve. .

In this case, when the pressure on the secondary side rises, the portion that closes the exhaust port of the spool valve is elastically deformed radially outward by the high-pressure air inside the spool valve, so that the valve body is closed. And adhere. Therefore, the exhaust port is securely closed, and leakage of air from the exhaust port can be prevented. On the other hand, when the pressure on the secondary side decreases, the portion of the spool valve that closes the exhaust port is restored and the state of close contact with the valve body is released. Therefore, in this state, the spool valve slides smoothly.

The airflow pressure regulating valve includes an urging means for urging the spool valve in one of the sliding directions, and an urging force of the urging means for adjusting the pressure on the secondary side. It is preferable to include a pressure adjusting unit and a control unit that enables the pressure adjusting unit to operate. In this case, the pressure on the secondary side can be freely controlled.

The massage machine according to the present invention is characterized in that an air cell that expands and contracts by supplying and discharging air is connected to a secondary side of the airflow pressure regulating valve, and performs massage by expansion and contraction of the air cell. Is what you do. In this case, the internal pressure of the air cell provided in the massage machine can be freely adjusted. That is, the pressing force on the body by the air cell can be freely adjusted.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 show an airflow pressure regulating valve 1 according to the present invention. The airflow pressure regulating valve 1 is connected between the air supply source 2 composed of a pump and an accumulator and the air actuator 3 to maintain the air pressure on the air actuator 3 at a predetermined value.

As the air actuator 3, for example, an air cell 10 as shown in FIG. 1 can be employed. The air cell 10 is a hollow body (air bag) such as a cylinder having a bellows 10a formed on an outer peripheral portion, and is formed of a resin material having a certain degree of flexibility. Expand and contract. That is, the bellows 10a expands in the axial direction when the pressure is increased by the air supply, and contracts to return to the original state by folding the bellows 10a when the pressure is reduced by the exhaust.

The air flow pressure regulating valve 1 has a cylindrical shape (cylindrical shape).
1, a spool valve 15 slidable in the valve body 14, and a spring 16 for urging the spool valve 15 leftward in FIG. 1 (one axial direction of the spool valve 15). It is configured. The valve body 14 has a primary port 18 connected to the air supply source 2 side as a primary side, a secondary port 19 connected to the air cell 10 as a secondary side, and a high-pressure secondary side. Exhaust port 20 for releasing air
It has. The primary port 18 and the exhaust port 20 are provided on the peripheral wall of the valve body 14, respectively, and the secondary port 19 is provided on the left end side (one longitudinal end side) of the valve body 14. In addition, the exhaust port 20 may open the discharged air to the atmosphere, or may return the discharged air to the air supply source 2 side.

When the pressure on the secondary side is low, air flows from the primary port 18 to the secondary port 19 when the pressure on the secondary side is low, and when the pressure on the secondary side is high, the spool valve 15 Operates to release air. Spool valve 15
Is made of synthetic resin or metal, as shown in FIG.
The inside is formed in a hollow shape so that air can flow therethrough. The left end (one end in the axial direction) is an exhaust port 22, and the air supply port 23 is formed in the peripheral wall on the right end (the other end in the axial direction). In addition,
A ring-shaped groove 23a is formed in a circumferential direction at a portion of the peripheral wall of the spool valve 15 where the air supply port 23 is formed. The right end of the spool valve 15 is closed by a right end wall 24, and the spring 16 pushes the right end wall 24 to the left.

The spool valve 15 is constantly urged leftward by the spring 16 so that when the pressure on the secondary side is low, the spool valve 15 is located on the left side in the valve body 14. In this state, the primary port 18 and the air supply port 23 of the spool valve 15 coincide, and air flows through the spool valve 15 to the air cell 10 side, which is the secondary side. Also,
In this state, since the exhaust port 20 is closed on the left end side of the peripheral wall of the spool valve 15, air does not escape from the exhaust port 20.

When air flows and the pressure on the secondary side increases,
The air cell 10 starts to expand, and the pressure causes the spool valve 15 to move rightward against the urging force of the spring 16. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the position of the primary port 18 and the air supply port 23 of the spool valve 15 are displaced, the primary port 18 is closed, the supply of air to the secondary side is stopped, and the air cell 10 is expanded. Stops. Even in this state, the exhaust port 20 is closed and no exhaust is performed.

In this state, the urging force of the spring 16 (acting to the left) and the pressure of the air on the secondary side (acting to the right) are balanced, and the pressure on the secondary side is maintained at a constant value. Dripping. That is, the air cell 10 is maintained in a state of maintaining a certain degree of expansion. Here, the secondary pressure maintained by the airflow pressure regulating valve 1 is determined by the urging force of the spring 16. The urging force of the spring 16 can be adjusted by a spring pressing screw shaft 26, and the screw shaft 26 is driven to rotate by a driving unit 27.

That is, a male screw 26 a is formed on the outer periphery of the screw shaft 26, and is screwed with a female screw 28 formed on the valve body 14. This screw shaft 26 is the rotary motor 2
When the spring 16 is rotated by the drive unit 27, the spring 16 moves in the direction of expansion and contraction of the spring 16, and changes the degree of expansion and contraction (biasing force) of the spring 16. When the spring 16 is compressed by the screw shaft 26 to increase the urging force, the pressure on the secondary side is maintained at a high state, and when the spring 16 expands and the urging force is reduced, the pressure on the secondary side is maintained at a low state. Dripping. That is, the drive unit 27 is also a secondary-side pressure adjusting unit.

The rotation of the rotary motor 29 is controlled by the screw shaft 2
6 is transmitted to the screw shaft 26 via a flat rotary drive shaft 30 inserted into the concave portion, and the screw shaft 26 is
Is movable relative to the shaft in the axial direction (see FIGS. 3B and 4). When the urging force of the spring 16 is reduced by the rotation motor 29 from the state of FIG. 1, the spool valve 15 moves to the right due to the pressure on the secondary side, the exhaust port 20 is opened, and the air on the secondary side is discharged. You. When the air is exhausted, the air cell 10 contracts, and the pressure on the secondary side is reduced again by the spring 1.
It drops until it balances with the biasing force of 6.

Thus, the expansion, contraction,
The switching of the expansion holding can be performed by adjusting the urging force of the spring 16 by the driving unit 27, and by further adjusting the urging force, the degree of expansion and expansion / contraction of the air cell 10 can be freely changed. The control of the drive unit 27 is performed by the control unit 3 having a built-in operation program of the air cell 10.
2 is performed. Further, the drive unit 27 includes the control unit 3
The user can operate freely by the manual operation unit 33 connected to the control unit 2.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the peripheral wall of the spool valve 15 is a left side (one end in the axial direction, ie, near the exhaust port 22) 15 which closes the exhaust port 20.
a is formed thinner than the right side, and when the pressure on the secondary side is increased, the portion 15a is elastically deformed so as to expand in the radially outward direction by the pressure and closely adheres to the inner wall of the valve body 14. The airtight state is ensured by the close contact of the portion 15a, and it is possible to prevent the air from leaking from the exhaust port 20.

On the other hand, the pressure on the secondary side is low and the spool valve 15
In the state where it is necessary to slide, the exhaust port 2
The portion 15 a that closes 0 does not adhere to the inner wall of the valve body 14. Therefore, the spool valve 15 can move smoothly without being disturbed by the portion 15a. That is, when the portion 15a is not formed in a thin shape, the airtightness is not sufficient if the smoothness of the movement of the spool valve 15 is to be ensured, and the smoothness is impaired if the airtightness is to be ensured. In contrast, according to the above configuration,
The airtightness of the exhaust port 20 can be ensured while the spool valve 15 can operate smoothly.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a massage machine 35 to which the air flow pressure regulating valve 1 can be applied. In this massage machine 35, the air cells 10 are arranged in various places of a chair-type apparatus main body having a backrest portion 36, a seat surface portion 37, and a footrest 38, and perform a massage operation suitable for each of a plurality of parts of the body. It has become. A movable table 41 that can move up and down is provided inside the backrest 36. The movable table 41 is provided with two air cells 10A on the upper side and two air cells 10B on the lower side. These air cells 10A and 10B operate the operator 42 by inflation and contraction to massage the neck and back.

The seat portion 37 is provided with two air cells 10C on the rear side and two air cells 10D on the front side. These air cells 10C and 10D massage (directly) the buttocks and back of the thighs by inflation and contraction.
The footrest 32 is provided with a groove-shaped footrest portion 44 on which the left and right feet can be placed separately. Two air cells 10 are provided on the bottom surface of the footrest portion 44 near the seat surface 37.
E is provided, and a total of four air cells 10F and 10G are provided between each two opposing surfaces on the front side.

The air cell 10E near the seat surface portion 37 operates the operator 45 by inflation and contraction to massage the calf back, and the air cells 10F and 10G from the other side inflate the ankle by the inflation and contraction operation. . The air flow pressure regulating valves 1 are connected to the air cells 10A to 10G, respectively, and the air flow pressure regulating valves 1 are connected to air passages branched from an air supply source 2 incorporated below the seating surface portion 37, respectively. By controlling each air flow pressure regulating valve 1 by the control unit 32, each air cell 10A
It can be operated separately with different degrees of expansion and expansion from 10 G to 10 G.

The backrest 36 of the massage machine 1
Reclining is possible, and the footrest 38 is also shown in FIG.
Can be raised upward, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the reclining of the backrest portion 36 is performed by the expansion and contraction operation of the first air cylinder 47, and the rising of the footrest 38 is performed by the expansion and contraction operation of the second air cylinder 48. The moving table 41 is moved up and down
This is performed by the air cylinder 49.

The air flow regulating valve 1 can be used to control these air cylinders 47, 48, 49. That is, the air flow pressure regulating valve 1 is connected between each of the air cylinders 47, 48, 49 and the air supply source 2, respectively.
By controlling each airflow pressure regulating valve 1, the air cylinders 47, 48, and 49, which are secondary-side air actuators, can be operated to recline the backrest portion 36 and the like.

FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the airflow pressure regulating valve 1 according to the present invention.
Is shown. In the second embodiment, the drive unit 27 is composed of a linear drive motor 51, and a linear drive shaft 52 of the motor 51 is provided with a spring pressing shaft 54 for adjusting the urging force of the spring 16 via a shaft coupling 53. When the linear drive motor 51 is driven, the spring pressing shaft 54 moves in the axial direction to adjust the biasing force of the spring. The linear drive motor 51 can also be controlled by a control unit (not shown) in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
Also, the points of the description omitted in the present embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the massage machine to which the airflow pressure regulating valve 1 is applied need not be a chair type, but may be a bed (mat) type or the like, or a shoulder, a back, a waist, a calf,
It is also possible to implement the present invention as a small-sized hand-held type or flat-type type which is partially used for a foot or the like.

The air cell may be of a balloon type having no bellows structure.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, the configuration of the airflow pressure regulating valve can be simplified. Also, when this air flow pressure regulating valve is used for controlling the operation of the air cell of the massage machine,
The internal pressure of the air cell can be adjusted freely, and effective massage can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an airflow pressure regulating valve according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially sectional perspective view showing a spool valve.

FIG. 3A is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.
FIG. 3B is a sectional view taken along line BB.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a driving unit (rotary motor) and a spring pressing screw shaft.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a massage machine.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing the internal structure of the massage machine.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an airflow pressure regulating valve according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air flow pressure regulating valve 2 Air supply source 3 Pneumatic actuator 10 Air cell 14 Valve body 15 Spool valve 16 Spring (biasing means) 18 Primary port 19 Secondary port 20 Exhaust port 26 Driving unit (Pressure adjusting means)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An airflow pressure regulating valve connected between an air supply source side as a primary side and an air actuator side as a secondary side for maintaining a pressure of air on a secondary side at a predetermined value, When the pressure on the secondary side is higher than a predetermined value, a cylindrical valve body having an exhaust port for releasing air, and by sliding in the valve body according to the pressure of the air on the secondary side, When the pressure on the secondary side is higher than a predetermined value, the exhaust port is moved to a position where the exhaust port is opened to be in an exhaust state, and when the pressure on the secondary side is lower than a predetermined value, the position is closed. And a spool valve configured to be in an air supply state. 2. The spool valve is formed in a hollow shape so that air can flow through the inside thereof and air can flow from a primary side to a secondary side, and the exhaust port is provided on a peripheral wall of the valve body. The portion of the spool valve that closes the exhaust port is formed to be thinner than other portions so as to be elastically deformed radially outward due to an increase in the pressure of air flowing inside the spool valve. Pressure regulating valve. 3. An urging means for urging the spool valve in one of sliding directions, a pressure adjusting means for changing an urging force of the urging means to adjust a pressure on the secondary side, and the pressure The airflow pressure regulating valve according to claim 1, further comprising a controller configured to operate the adjusting unit. 4. A massaging machine, wherein an air cell that expands and contracts by supplying and discharging air is connected to a secondary side of the airflow pressure regulating valve according to claim 2, and massage is performed by expansion and contraction of the air cell.