Patent Publication Number: US-8974404-B2

Title: Message device having rotary motion and two directional linear motion

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a massage device and, more particularly, to a physical therapy type massage device. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Today, people are living under great pressure and therefore need to release stress by using some massage devices, such as massage chairs, massage waist belts or back belts. A conventional massage device  10  is shown in  FIG. 1  and essentially comprises a base  11  on which is disposed a motor  12  with a drive shaft  121  engaging with two rotary gear wheels  13  at both sides thereof. The rotary gear wheels  13  are abutted against the base  11  to rotate massage heads (not shown) engaged on the rotary gear wheels  13 , so that the massage heads can be rotated by the rotary gear wheels  13  to provide a massage effect. 
     One of the two rotary gear wheels  13  is engaged with a bevel wheel  14  which is sleeved on a shaft  15 , and the bevel wheel  14  can be rotated by the rotary gear wheel  13  to move along the shaft  15 , so that the massage heads (not shown) on the massage device  10  can be moved in a rotation or linear motion manner. The disadvantage of this massage device  10  is that the two rotary gear wheels  13  are vertical to the bevel wheel  14 , which causes the size of the whole structure of the massage device  10  to be very big, and the applicability of the massage device  10  is limited. 
     On top of that, this conventional massage device is too simple in structure to provide various massage functions to meet various demands of different users. 
     The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary object of the present invention is to provide a compact massage device capable of performing a massage through rotary and linear motions. 
     To achieve the above object, a massage device in accordance with the present invention comprises: an outer housing, an inner housing, a drive motor, a gear assembly, an one-way bearing, a drive gear wheel, at least one massage member, and a linear motion device. 
     The outer housing includes an assembling space and an arc-shaped groove formed at one side thereof. 
     The inner housing is formed with a receiving space and received in the assembling space of the outer housing. 
     The drive motor includes a drive shaft with a toothed portion and is obliquely arranged with respect to the inner housing, and the toothed portion of the drive shaft is inserted in the receiving space of the inner housing. 
     The gear assembly includes a first gear wheel, a second gear wheel, and a third gear wheel which are disposed in the receiving space of the inner housing. The first gear wheel is engaged with the toothed portion of the drive shaft of the drive motor and drivingly connected to the second gear wheel, the third gear wheel is engaged with the second gear wheel, and a third rotary shaft is inserted in the third gear wheel. 
     The one-way bearing is mounted at one end of the third rotary shaft. 
     The drive gear wheel is sleeved on the one-way bearing and drivingly connected to the third rotary shaft. 
     The at least one massage member has one end inserted in the inner housing and engaged with another end of the third rotary shaft, and has another end formed with a massage portion which extends out of the outer housing. 
     The linear motion device comprises a screw and a linkage device rotatably mounted on the screw and engaged with the drive gear wheel. The screw is disposed in the receiving space of the inner housing, and both ends of the screw extend out of the inner housing. The linkage device is provided with a drive portion to be inserted in a threaded portion formed on an outer surface of the screw. 
     The massage members is capable of performing a massage through rotary motion and linear motion, and can massage by repeatedly moving forwards and backwards with respect to the user or at fixed positions. Furthermore, the gear wheels of the gear assembly are vertically disposed in the inner housing, while the drive motor is arranged in an oblique manner. Therefore, the inner housing doesn&#39;t need a large space to accommodate the gear assembly, and, consequently, the outer housing is also reduced in width. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a conventional massage device; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of a massage device in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is an assembly view of a part of the massage device in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is an assembly view of the massage device in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 5A  is a cross sectional view of assembly view of a part of the massage device in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 5B  is an enlarged cross sectional view of a part of  FIG. 5A ; 
         FIG. 6  is an operational view of the massage device in accordance with the present invention; and 
         FIG. 7  is another cross sectional view of the massage device in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The present invention will be clearer from the following description when viewed together with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustration only, the preferred embodiments in accordance with the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2-7 , a massage device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises: an outer housing  20 , an inner housing  30 , a drive motor  40 , a gear assembly  50 , an one-way bearing  60 , a drive gear wheel  70 , a plurality of massage members  80 , and a linear motion device  90 . 
     The outer housing  20  includes a lower outer part  21  and an upper outer part  22  which are jointed together to form an assembling space  23 . At one side of each of the upper and lower outer parts  22 ,  21  is formed an arc-shaped groove  221 ,  211 , and both ends of the arc-shaped grooves  211 ,  221  are located farther from the assembling space  23  than the middle portions of the arc-shaped grooves  211  and  221 . 
     The inner housing  30  includes a lower inner part  31  and an upper inner part  32  which are jointed to each other to form a receiving space  33 . The lower inner part  31  is formed with an oblique mounting portion  311  in communication with the receiving space  33 , and the inner housing  30  is received in the assembling space  23  of the outer housing  20 . 
     The drive motor  40  is received in the oblique mounting portion  311  of the inner housing  30  and has a drive shaft  41  with a toothed portion  411 . The drive motor  40  is oblique with respect to the inner housing  30 , and the toothed portion  411  of the drive shaft  41  is inserted in the receiving space  33  of the inner housing  30 . 
     The gear assembly  50  is disposed in the receiving space  33  of the inner housing  30  and comprises a first gear wheel  51 , a second gear wheel  52 , a third gear wheel  53  and a fourth gear wheel  54 . The first gear wheel  51  is engaged with the toothed portion  411  of the drive shaft  41  of the drive motor  40  and is coaxially connected to the second gear wheel  52  by a connecting shaft  511 . The third gear wheel  53  is engaged with the second gear wheel  52 , and the fourth gear wheel  54  is engaged with the third gear wheel  53 . A third rotary shaft  531  is inserted in the third gear wheel  53 , and a fourth rotary shaft  541  is inserted in the fourth gear wheel  54 . 
     The one-way bearing  60  is mounted at one end of the third rotary shaft  531 . 
     The drive gear wheel  70  includes a bevel toothed drive portion  71  and is sleeved on the one-way bearing  60 . The one-way bearing  60  is located between the drive gear wheel  70  and the third rotary shaft  531 . A fastener  72  is inserted through the drive gear wheel  70  and the third rotary shaft  531 . The drive gear wheel  70  and the third rotary shaft  531  are drivingly connected and are able to rotate in a one-way manner with respect to the one-way bearing  60 . 
     Each massage member  80  is formed with a connecting hole  81  and a connecting end  82  at one end thereof and a massage portion  83  at another end thereof. Between the connecting end  82  and the massage portion  83  is a guiding portion  84  which is a round structure in this embodiment. The respective massage members  80  have the connecting ends  82  inserted in the inner housing  30 . Another end of the third rotary shaft  531  and the fourth rotary shaft  541  are engaged in the connecting holes  81 , making the massage members  80  drivingly connected to the third rotary shaft  531  and the fourth rotary shaft  541 . The guiding portions  84  of the massage members  80  are, received in the arc-shaped grooves  211  of the outer housing  20 , and the massage portions  83  are extended out of the outer housing  20 . 
     The linear motion device  90  comprises a screw  91  and a linkage device rotatably mounted on the screw  91 . 
     The screw  91  is formed in its outer surface with a threaded portion  911  which takes the form of a double lead thread in this embodiment. The screw  91  is disposed in the receiving space  33  of the inner housing  30 . Both ends of the screw  91  extend out of the inner housing  30  and are fixed in the assembling space  23  of the outer housing  20 . An extending direction of the screw  91  is defined as an axial direction, and the connecting shaft  511 , the third rotary shaft  531  and the fourth rotary shaft  541  of the gear assembly  50  extend in a radial direction which is vertical to the axial direction. 
     The linkage device comprises a linkage gear wheel  92 , a drive member  93 , a stopping member  94  and a sleeve  95 . The linkage gear wheel  92  is formed with a through hole  921  for insertion of the screw  91 . At one end of the linkage gear wheel  92  is formed a bevel toothed portion  922  for engaging with the bevel toothed drive portion  71  of the drive gear wheel  70 , and in the outer surface of the linkage gear wheel  92  is defined a penetrating hole  923 . The drive member  93  is provided with a protruding drive portion  931  to be inserted in the threaded portion  911  of the screw  91  when the drive member  93  is received in the penetrating hole  923  of the linkage gear wheel  92 . The stopping member  94  is then received in the penetrating hole  923  and pressed against the drive member  93 . The sleeve  95  is sleeved on the linkage gear wheel  92  to prevent the drive member  93  and the stopping member  94  from disengaging from the penetrating hole  923 . 
     When the drive motor  40  rotates, the drive shaft  41  rotates the first and second gear wheels  51 ,  52 , then the third and fourth gear wheels  53 ,  54  are rotated, and finally, the massage members  80  engaged on the third and fourth gear wheels  53 ,  54  are rotated to provide a massage function. 
     When the third rotary shaft  531  is driven to rotate by the third gear wheel  53 , the drive gear wheel  70  will rotate together with the third rotary shaft  531  in one way due to the fact that the third rotary shaft  531  and the drive gear wheel  70  are connected by the fastener  72 , and the one-way bearing  60  is disposed between the third rotary shaft  531  and the drive gear wheel  70 . Then, the linkage gear wheel  92  is rotated by the rotation of the drive gear wheel  70 , and the drive member  93  disposed in the linkage gear wheel  92  is caused to rotate with the linkage gear wheel  92 . Since the drive portion  931  of the drive member  93  is received in the threaded portion  911  of the screw  91 , when the drive member  93  rotates, the drive portion  931  of the drive member  93  will move along the threaded portion  911  of the screw  91 . Furthermore, since the linkage gear wheel  92  is received in the inner housing  30 , the inner housing  30  will also be moved by the drive member  93 . Namely, the inner housing  30  is linearly movable with respect to the screw  91 . Meanwhile, the massage members  80  engaged with the third rotary shaft  531  and the fourth rotary shaft  541  can move along with the inner housing  30  to provide a massage function by linear motion and rotary motion. 
     When the inner housing  30  moves linearly along the screw  91 , the guiding portions  84  of the respective massage members  80  are moving in the arc-shaped grooves  211 ,  221  of the outer housing  20 . As shown in  FIG. 5A , the massage members  80  are located at a position nearest to the assembling space  23  of the outer housing  20 . When the inner housing  30  goes on moving toward both ends of the arc-shaped grooves  211 ,  221 , the massage members  80  will move away from the assembling space  23 , because both ends of the arc-shaped grooves  211 ,  221  are located farther from the assembling space  23  than the middle portions of the arc-shaped grooves  211  and  221 , and the guiding portions  84  of the massage members  80  are received in the arc-shaped grooves  211 ,  221 . As shown in  FIG. 9 , the continuous moving of the inner housing  30  makes the massage members  80  move away from or towards the assembling space  23  repeatedly. Therefore, when the massage members  80  are used, the user can feel that the massage members  80  perform a massage by repeatedly moving forwards and backwards with respect to the user. 
     On the other hand, the screw  91  takes the form of a double lead thread in this embodiment, and the inner housing  30  can be driven by the drive member  93  to move back and forth along the screw  91  when the drive motor  40  only rotates in one direction. When the drive motor  40  rotates in a reversed direction, the third gear wheel  53  is unable to drive the drive gear wheel  70  to rotate, since the thread rotary shaft  531  of the third gear wheel  53  is inserted in the one-way bearing  60 . Therefore, when the drive gear wheel  70  stops rotating, the inner housing  30  consequently stops moving with respect to the screw  91 , and the third gear wheel  53  and the one-way bearing  60  rotate idly with respect to the drive gear wheel  70 . At this moment, the massage members  80  perform a massage at fixed positions. 
     It is clear from the above description that the massage members  80  can perform a massage through rotary motion and linear motion, and can massage by repeatedly moving forwards and backwards with respect to the user or at fixed positions. Furthermore, the gear wheels of the gear assembly  50  are vertically disposed in the inner housing  30 , while the drive motor  40  is arranged in an oblique manner Therefore, the inner housing  30  doesn&#39;t need a large space to accommodate the gear assembly  50 , and, consequently, the outer housing  20  is also reduced in width. 
     While various embodiments in accordance with the present invention have been shown and described, it is clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.