Abstract:
A massaging apparatus which utilizes an array of air inflatable bladders. The array is to be located in conjunction with a portion of the body of a human. The array can be mounted within a housing such as a flexible belt-type of device or can comprise a rigid stand-type of device within which is incorporated one or more pockets in order to accommodate a human appendage such as a foot. A separate inflation apparatus is associated with the array which is to supply and extract pressurized air to and from the inflatable bladders. The inflation apparatus utilizes at least one opposed piston assembly so that when one piston is supplying pressurized air to certain bladders the other piston is extracting pressurized air from certain other bladders thereby achieving a sequence of alternating pressurizing and depressurizing which produces a desirable massaging effect on the human body.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1) Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a massaging apparatus for a portion of the body of a human for alternatingly applying and removing pressure to the human body for the purpose of achieving a soothing comfortable massage and as an aid in increasing blood flow and stretching muscle and connective tissue. 
     2) Description of the Prior Art 
     Massaging devices for the human body have long been known. One form of a massaging device that has been utilized in the past uses inflatable bladders. Each inflatable bladder is inflated and deflated to replicate a massaging effect when the inflatable bladder is located against the body of a human. Such inflatable bladder massaging devices have been successful at changing the pressure points under a seated or prone patient and also for the purpose of increasing blood circulation by forcing out the blood from an area of the body and thus allowing the capillaries to refill. 
     In the past, such inflation and deflation of bladders in conjunction with massaging devices have been deemed to be relatively a slow procedure. It would be desirable to have this inflation and deflation to be more rapid which would increase the overall effect of the massaging apparatus and also increase blood circulation. In the past, these inflating massaging devices have been known to use different sets of inflatable cells. When one set of cells is being inflated, a second set of cells is being deflated. In order to achieve this inflation and deflation of different cells, there has been utilized a separate inflation device with control valves for each group of cells. This has greatly complicated the structure that is utilized and has inherently caused the inflation and deflation of the air cells to be at a slower than optimal rate. 
     Another disadvantage of such prior art inflation/massaging devices is that each of the inflating and deflating strokes do not necessarily pressurize to precisely the same pressure each and every time. This varying of pressure degrades the overall effect of the massaging device. 
     A still further disadvantage of prior art inflation/massaging devices is that deflation of a cell is accomplished solely by letting the cell leak into the ambient during non-pressurization of the cell. This deflation is slow usually requiring from several seconds to minutes in time. Inflation and deflation should be rapid (approximately one to two seconds) to achieve the most desirable affects. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The structure of the present invention relates to a massaging device which utilizes a bladder array which includes a series of inflatable bladders. The series of inflatable bladders are divided into a first series and a second series with the first series being inflated when the second series is being deflated, and vice versa. The inflation and deflation is achieved by air being pressurized into one or more bladders during inflation and sucked out of one or more other bladders during deflation. The array may be mounted within a housing which can take numerous forms such as a pad, a flexible wrap or a base member which includes pockets that are to be connectable with a human appendage such as a foot. The inflation device is in the form of an opposed piston assembly which is to be driven by an electric motor, and when the pistons move in one direction, a first series of bladders are inflated and a second series of bladders are deflated. When the piston assembly moves in the opposite direction, the reverse is true. The result is because deflation is occurring in the manner of sucking out the air from the bladders, make rapid inflation and deflation is obtained. The opposed piston design substantially reduces the complexity of the inflation and deflation apparatus. By using two separate opposed piston units there are four pistons with the pistons being located ninety degrees out of phase to even out loading on the motor. 
     One of the objectives of the present invention is to construct an extremely effective massaging apparatus which utilizes a series of inflatable bladders with the apparatus that is utilized to achieve this inflation and deflation being of simple construction and therefore can be manufactured at a reasonable cost and sold at a reasonable cost to the consumer. 
     Another objective of the present invention is to use a system for inflation and deflation which achieves rapid inflation and deflation. 
     Another objective of the present invention is to utilize a simple means to change the pattern of the inflation and deflation procedure within a series of bladders for the purpose of providing a different effect. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a partially cut-away view of an inflation mechanism housing showing the mechanical components that are utilized to achieve inflation and deflation of the massaging apparatus of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line  2 — 2  of FIG. 1 showing an opposed piston unit in a first position; 
     FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the same opposed piston unit in a second position; 
     FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the opposed piston unit in a third position; 
     FIG. 5 is a functional schematic view showing the pair of opposed piston units included within the massaging apparatus of the present invention in the position to inflate totally inflatable bladder A of four in number of separate inflatable bladders; 
     FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the opposed piston assembly in the position to totally inflate inflatable bladder B; 
     FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 but showing the opposed piston assembly in the position to totally inflate inflatable bladder C; 
     FIG. 8 is a functional schematic view similar to FIG. 7 but showing the opposed piston assembly in the position to totally inflate inflatable bladder D; 
     FIG. 9 is a view of a bladder housing which is included within the massaging apparatus of the present invention which is to be applicable to the back area of a human user; 
     FIG. 10 is a cut-away front view of the inflatable bladder housing showing the inflatable bladders contained within the housing of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9; 
     FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of a stand alone massaging apparatus which is to be usable for massaging the feet of a human user; 
     FIG. 12 is an isometric view of a configuration of wrap that is to be placed on the feet of the human user showing the wrap in a partially cut-away view with each wrap including a plurality of inflatable bladders which are to be sequentially inflated and deflated to produce a massaging affect on the foot; 
     FIG. 13 is an isometric view of one of the wraps shown in FIG. 12 showing it mounted on a human foot; 
     FIG. 14 is an isometric view of a chair within which is incorporated a massaging apparatus of the present invention; 
     FIG. 15 is an isometric view of a pad which is to be used in conjunction with a typical chair; and 
     FIG. 16 is an enlarged view of a portion of a piston and cylinder that is used in the opposed piston units included within the massaging apparatus of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring particularly to FIGS. 1-8 and  16  of the drawings, there is shown a housing  20  that contains the mechanism to achieve the inflation and deflation of the massaging apparatus of the present invention. Mounted on the exterior surface of the housing  20  is a carry handle  22 . Normally, this carry handle  22  will be designed to pivot from a stowed position from cavity  21  formed within the housing  20  to a position extended from the housing  20  which is shown in the drawings. The designing of handles  22  so as to be pivotable to out of way positions during non-usage has long been known and does not constitute patentable subject matter in this invention. The housing  20  includes an internal chamber  24 . Mounted within the internal chamber  24  is an electric motor  26  which is connected to a cooling fan blade  28 . The electric motor  26  is to be electrically connected to a pushbutton switch  29  which is mounted on the housing  20  and located primarily within the internal chamber  24 . Electrical power from an exterior source is to be supplied to the electric motor  26  through plug  30 . Activation of the switch  29  is to cause turning on and turning off of the motor  26 . 
     The motor  26  has an output shaft  32 . Mounted on the output shaft  32  is a pulley  34 . Connecting with the pulley  34  is a belt  36 . The belt  36  is also connected to a much larger in size pulley  38 . The pulley  38  is mounted on a shaft  40  which is rotationally mounted between a pair of mounting plates  42  and  44 . The mounting plates  42  and  44  are fixedly mounted to the housing  20  and are located within internal compartment  24 . 
     Mounted on the shaft  40  is a pulley  46  which is much smaller in size than the pulley  38 . A belt  48  engages with the pulley  46 . The belt  48  also connects to a pulley  50  which is much larger in size than the pulley  46 . The pulley  50  is fixedly mounted onto a shaft  52  which is rotationally mounted between the mounting plates  42  and  44 . Mounted on shaft  52 , between the pulley  50  and the plate  42 , is a small sized pulley  54 . An identical sized pulley  56  is also mounted on the shaft  52  and located between the pulley  50  and the mounting plate  44 . Belt  58  connects with pulley  54 . Belt  60  connects with pulley  56 . Belt  58  connects with large sized pulley  62 . Belt  60  connects with a similar large sized pulley  64 . The pulleys  62  and  64  are fixedly mounted onto output shaft  66 . One end of output shaft  66  is fixed to a wheel  158  with the opposite end of output shaft  66  being fixed to a wheel  154 . 
     Off center mounted on the wheel  154  is a jack shaft  70 . Off center mounted on wheel  158  is a jack shaft  68 . Jack shaft  70  is mounted within elongated slot  72  of a crank arm  74 . The jack shaft  68  is also mounted within a similar elongated slot, which is not shown, of a crank arm  76 . The crank arm  76  is part of an opposed piston unit  78 . The crank arm  74  is part of an opposed piston unit  80 . The opposed piston units  78  and  80  are basically identical. It is to be understood that once the electric motor  26  is activated that the opposed piston units  78  and  80  would continuously operate with the piston assemblies in each opposed piston unit  78  and  80  reciprocating continuously. 
     The opposed piston unit  80  includes a channel shaped bar  82 . Fixedly mounted between the legs of the channel shaped bar  82  are a pair of cylinders  84  and  86 . The cylinder  84  includes an internal chamber  88 . The cylinder  86  also includes an internal chamber  90  which is the same configuration as internal chamber  88  and is longitudinally in alignment therewith. In a similar manner, there is a channel shaped bar  82  fixedly mounted onto the mounting plate  42 . Fixedly mounted in conjunction between the legs of the channel shaped bar  90  are a pair of cylinders  92  and  94 . Cylinder  92  has an internal chamber  96 . Cylinder  94  has an internal chamber  98 . Again, the internal chambers  96  and  98  are longitudinally aligned. Cylinders  92  and  94  are part of the opposed piston unit  78  and cylinders  84  and  86  are part of the opposed piston unit  80 . 
     Mounted within the internal chamber  88  is a piston  100 . Mounted within the internal chamber  90  is a piston  102 . Piston  100  is mounted on piston rod  104 . Piston rod  104  is fixedly connected to the crank arm  74 . The piston  102  is fixedly mounted on piston rod  106 . The piston rod  106  is also fixedly mounted to the crank arm  74 . In a similar manner, mounted within the internal chamber  96  is a piston  108 . A similar piston  110  is mounted within the internal chamber  98 . Construction of the pistons  100 ,  102 ,  108  and  110  a re all identical. Piston  108  is connected by piston rod  168  to crank arm  76 . Piston rod  170  connects piston rod  110  to crank arm  76 . 
     Referring particularly to FIG. 16, detailed constructional features of the piston  102  is shown with it being understood that pistons  100 ,  102 ,  108  and  110  will also he constructed in an identical manner. Piston  102  includes an annular peripheral groove  112 . Mounted within the groove  112  is an O-ring  114 . It is to be noted that the groove  112  is longitudinally oversized. That is the O-ring  114  is capable of a limited amount of longitudinal movement between a back wall  116  and a front wall  118 . Back wall  116  is in the shape of a circular disk and forms a slight space defined as a annular gap  120  with the wall of the internal chamber  90 . In a similar manner, the front wall  118  also is basically in the shape of a disk and forms an annular gap  122  relative to the wall surface of the internal chamber  90 . The back wall  116  is completely solid and does not include any openings. However, the front wall  118  does include a pair of openings  124  and  126 . The function of the openings  124  and  126  will be explained further on in the specification. Generally, the openings  124  and  126  are no more than one-quarter inch wide. 
     Formed within the body of the piston  102  is a through hole  128 . Connecting with the inner surface of the through hole  128  is an annular chamfer  130 . The annular chamfer  130  forms a seat for ball  132 . The ball  132  connects with a coil spring  134 . The coil spring  134  is mounted within a spring housing  136 . The spring housing  136  includes a pair of holes  138  and  140 . 
     It is to be understood that the pistons  100 ,  102 ,  108  and  110  are movably mounted within their respective internal chambers  88 ,  90 ,  96  and  98 . During compressive movement of the piston  102  in the direction of arrow  142  within the internal chamber  90 , the inherent drag of the wall of the internal chamber  90  against the O-ring  114  will force the O-ring  114  directly against the back wall  116 . As pressure begins to build within the internal chamber  90 , this pressurized air will be conducted through the openings  124  and  126  to within the groove  112  and apply pressure against the O-ring  114 . This causes the O-ring  114  to be squished and form a tighter seal against the wall of the internal chamber  90  preventing escape of the pressurized air past the O-ring  114 . The coil spring  134  is preset to an established force so that only upon the pressure within the internal chamber  90  exceeding a predetermined value will the ball  132  be unseated which will permit release of the excess pressure through the through opening  128  to the opposite side of the piston  102  therefore comprising a pressure relief device. The pressurized air, after passing through the through opening  128 , is conducted through the holes  138  and  140 . 
     During movement of the piston  102  in the decompressing direction, represented by arrow  144 , the O-ring  114  will move away from the back wall  116  when the force of the drag against the wall of the internal chamber  90  exceeds the force of the air pressure being applied against the O-ring  114  from the pressurized air contained within the internal chamber  90 . At that point, there will be a created as annular gap  120  which includes the space between O-ring  114  and wall of the internal chamber  90 . The annular gap  120  allows air within the internal chamber  90  to return to ambient air pressure. In order to prevent over pressurization from even possibly occurring, and to assure that full pressurization occurs, it is desirable to begin at ambient air pressure that is neither elevated pressure nor vacuum, any time the piston  102  starts to move in the compressing direction which is in the direction of arrow  142 . 
     Referring particularly to FIGS. 2-4, the opposed piston unit  80  shows the piston  100  in the bottom dead center position and the piston  102  in the top dead center position in FIG.  2 . From the chamber  90 , pressurized air is supplied to connector  146  and a suction is applied from chamber  88  to connector  148 . At the same time, a lesser degree of pressurization of air is supplied from internal chamber  98  to connector  150  with an approximately similar degree of pressurization being supplied from internal chamber  96  to connector  152 . As the electric motor  26  is driven, the opposed piston units  78  and  80  are driven in a reciprocating manner with unit  80  being ninety degrees out of phase of unit  78 . This ninety degree phase relationship is generally preferred as opposed to one hundred eighty degrees out of phase relationship for the reason of evening out the load on the motor. It is to be understood that one hundred eighty degrees out of phase would also provide a good massaging effect and is to be considered within the scope of this invention. Jack shaft  70  is mounted on a wheel  154  which is rotated in the direction of arrow  156  which causes the opposed piston unit  80  to be moved from the position shown in FIG. 2, which is the limit of movement in the downward direction, to an intermediate position shown in FIG.  3  and then to the limit of movement in the upper position shown in FIG.  4 . The jack shaft  70  will move entirely throughout the length of the elongated slot  72  for each revolution of the wheel  154 . 
     The internal chamber  88  connects with conduit  160  which connects with the connector  146 . Conduit  162  connects with the internal chamber  90  and to connector  148 . Conduit  164  connects with the internal chamber  9   6  and to connector  150 . Conduit  166  connects with the internal chamber  94  and to connector  152 . 
     Referring particularly to FIGS. 9 and 10, there is shown a flexible wrap housing  172  which is capable of being placed about the body of a human  174 . The wrap housing  172  is particularly designed to accommodate to the lower back of the human  174 . The wrap housing  172  has ends  176  and  178  which are to be secured together as being connected by a fastener arrangement such as commonly sold under the trademark of Velcro. Included within the housing wrap  172  are bladders A, B, C and D. Each of the bladders are of the same size and are circular in shape although the size of the bladders could vary as well as their shape. Bladder A is connected to conduit  180 . Bladder B is connected to conduit  182 . Bladder C is connected to conduit  184 . Bladder D is connected to conduit  186 . Each of the conduits  180 ,  182 ,  184  and  186  pass through a shroud  187  and terminate at a connector  188 . The connector  188  is to be connectable to connectors  146 ,  148 ,  150  and  152 . Conduit  180  connects with connector  146 , conduit  182  connects with connector  148 , conduit  184  connects with connector  150  and conduit  186  connects with connector  152 . 
     Referring particularly to FIGS. 5-8, when the opposed piston units  78  and  80  are in the position shown in FIG. 5, bladder A is being pressurized. The air is being almost entirely removed from bladder C while bladders B and D are each partially pressurized. As the opposed piston units  78  and  80  continue to move, the next bladder that is pressurized is bladder B with bladder D being totally unpressurized and bladders A and C being partially pressurized. This is shown in FIG.  6 . Referring particularly to FIG. 7, as the opposed piston assemblies  78  and  80  continue to move, bladder C then becomes completely pressurized with bladder A then being totally unpressurized. Bladders B and D are then partially pressurized. Referring particularly to FIG. 8, bladder D is then totally pressurized with bladder B being completely unpressurized. Bladders A and C are partially pressurized. This sequence continues to repeat itself with pressurization of a particular bladder to occur only for a few seconds which means the same bladder is repressurized about every ten to fifteen seconds. 
     It is to be understood that valving could be incorporated to change the sequence of inflation. Instead of the inflation sequence of A, B, C and D, the bladders could be sequentially inflated A, D, B and C or A, C, B and D. 
     Referring particularly to FIG. 11, there is shown a foot massager  190 . The foot massager  190  is a stand type of unit which includes a compartment  192  into which a human is to insert his or her feet  194 . Located in conjunction with the compartment  192  are a plurality of bladders  196  with five in number of such bladders being shown. The bladders  196  are to be inflated and deflated by an opposed piston inflation and deflation apparatus  198  which is mounted within the foot massager  190 . Electricity is to be supplied to the apparatus  198  by supply cord  200 . Activation of the apparatus  198  is to occur by pressing of power switch  202 . There may also be included a source of heat in conjunction with each of the bladders  196 . Operation of that heat is by means of activation of switch  204 . 
     Referring particularly to FIG. 12, there is shown an embodiment  206  of foot massager which does not comprise the stand type of unit of FIG.  11 . The embodiment  206  is shown being mounted on a foot  226  in FIG.  13 . The embodiment  206  utilizes two separate wrap housings  208  and  210 . The wrap housings  208  and  210  each include a plurality of bladders  212 . The bladders  212  within the wrap housing  208  have been assigned numbers A and C with the bladders  212  in the wrap housing  210  being assigned numbers B and D. Each wrap housing  208  and  210  includes a heel opening  214 . A conduit  216  is to connect with all the bladders denoted as A. A conduit  218  connects with all the bladders denoted as C. A conduit  220  connects with all the bladders denoted as B. A conduit  222  connects with all the bladders denoted as D. Conduits  216  and  218 , after passing through shroud  221 , and conduits  220  and  222  after passing through shroud  223  are all to be connected to connectors  146 ,  148 ,  150  and  152  respectively. 
     The user is to place a heel of the foot within heel opening  214  and then the wrap housing  208  is wrapped about the user&#39;s foot and secured by fastener pads  224 . Wrap housing  208  is to be applied to one foot and wrap housing  210  is to be applied to the other foot with the feet not being shown. Moving of the opposed piston units  78  and  80  will result in connector  146  inflating and deflating all the bladders A while connector  148  inflates and deflates all the bladders B. Connector  150  will cause inflation and deflation of all bladders referenced C and connector  152  will cause inflation and deflation of all bladders referenced D. The displacement volume of the unit must be in proportion to the volume of the bladders to be inflated. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 12, the combined smaller bladders correlate to the output displacement volume of the piston unit. In reference to FIG. 10, the inflation sequence of bladders A, B, C and D is clockwise. The inflation sequence in FIG. 12 is just alternating in conjunction with each foot. 
     Referring particularly to FIG. 14, a series of bladders  228  could be constructionally formed at the time of manufacture of a chair  230 . The opposed piston inflation and deflation apparatus  232  is mounted within the confines of the chair  230 . Control of the operation of the apparatus  232  is achieved by means of hand held controller  234 . 
     Referring particularly to FIG. 15, there could be incorporated with the chair  236  a separate device, such as a housing  20 , which connects by tube  238  which carries conduits  160 ,  162 ,  164  and  166  to a pad  240 . The pad  240  is to include a plurality of bladders  242 . The pad  240  is to be flexible so as to set within the seated area of the chair  236 . The tube  238  connects the bladders  242  to the opposed piston units  78  and  80  which are mounted within the housing  20 .