Patent Publication Number: US-2022233398-A1

Title: Massage device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is based upon and claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202120234243.7, filed with the Chinese Patent Office on Jan. 27, 2021, titled “MASSAGE DEVICE”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     Embodiments of the present application relate to the technical field of massage equipment, and in particular, to a massage device. 
     BACKGROUND 
     A massage device is a health product developed based on the principles of traditional meridian massage and modern medical massage. Currently, common massage devices on the market include massage pillows and massage cushions. Generally, a massage device includes a base, a massage head, and a driving module. The driving module is configured to drive the massage head to rotate so as to provide users with massage or percussion experience. 
     In addition, some massage devices further include a heating module, which is configured to heat the massage head, so as to increase user comfort and avoid poor user experience due to a low temperature of the massage head in a low temperature environment. 
     SUMMARY 
     An embodiment of the present application provides a massage device, including: 
     a base; 
     a driving module, which is mounted on the base; 
     a massage head, which is connected to the driving module so as to be driven by the driving module to rotate relative to the base, where a side of the massage head away from the base is provided with a massage protrusion, and a first cavity is formed on a side of the massage head facing the base; 
     an enclosure, which is arranged on the base and located between the base and the massage head, where an end of the enclosure away from the base is arranged close to an end of the massage head close to the base, a second cavity in communication with the first cavity is formed in the enclosure, and the second cavity and the first cavity jointly form a heating chamber; and 
     a heating module, which is accommodated in the heating chamber and fixed relative to the base, and is configured to provide thermotherapy from the massage device. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       One or more embodiments are illustrated using corresponding accompanying drawings, and the illustration does not constitute a limitation on the embodiments. Elements having a same reference numeral in the accompanying drawings indicate similar elements, and unless otherwise stated, a figure in the accompanying drawings does not constitute a scale limitation. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic three-dimensional diagram of a massage device according to an embodiment of the present application; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic cross-sectional view of the massage device in  FIG. 1  in one direction; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic exploded diagram of the massage device in  FIG. 1  in one direction; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic three-dimensional diagram of a massage head in  FIG. 1  in one direction; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic three-dimensional diagram of a massage head in  FIG. 1  in another direction; 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a massage device in one direction according to another embodiment of the present application; and 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic exploded diagram of the massage device in  FIG. 6  in one direction. 
     
    
    
     In the drawings:
           1  and  1 B: massage device;     100  and  100 B: base;  110 : upper housing;  120 : lower housing;  101 : accommodating cavity;     200  and  200 B: driving module;  210 : driving shaft;  220 : power assembly;     300  and  300 B: massage head;  310 : massage protrusion;  320 : connecting portion;  330 : mounting portion;  301  and  301 B: first cavity;  302 : heat-permeable hole;     400  and  400 B: enclosure;  410  and  410 B: bottom plate;  420  and  420 B: side wall;  430 : supporting rib;  401  and  401 B: second cavity;     500  and  500 B: heating module;  510 : circuit board;  520 : heating element.       

     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     For ease of understanding of the present application, the following describes the present application in more detail with reference to accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be noted that, when an element is expressed as being “fixed to”/“fixedly connected to”/“mounted to” another element, the element may be directly located on the another element, or there may be one or more intermediate elements in between; and when an element is expressed as being “connected to” another element, the element may be directly connected to the another element, or there may be one or more intermediate elements in between. The terms “vertical”, “horizontal”, “left”, “right”, “inner”, “outer”, and similar expressions used in this specification are merely intended for illustrative purposes. 
     Unless otherwise defined, all the technical and scientific terms used in this specification have the same meanings as those commonly understood by persons skilled in the art of the present application. The terms used in the specification of the present application are merely for the purpose of describing specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present application. The term “and/or” used in this specification includes any or all combinations of one or more associated listed items. 
     In addition, technical features included in different embodiments of the present application described below may be combined with each other provided that they do not conflict with each other. 
     In this specification, the “mounting” includes welding, screwing, clamping, bonding, etc. to fix or restrict a specific element or device to a specific position or place; the element or device may remain still in a specific position or place, or may move within a limited range; and the element or device can or cannot be detached after being fixed or restricted to the specific position or place, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. 
     In the related art, a heating module is mounted on an inner surface of the massage head and includes a brush with two contacts. Correspondingly, a ring-shaped conductive plate electrically connected to a control circuit board is mounted on the base, the ring-shaped conductive plate is provided with two coaxially arranged ring-shaped conductive copper rings, and the two contacts of the brush are respectively electrically connected to one of the conductive copper rings, so as to implement electrical connection between the heating module and the control circuit board mounted on the base. 
     In the process of implementing the present application, the inventor of the present application discovered that during the rotation of the brush with the massage head, the brush is likely to be in poor contact with the conductive copper rings. Consequently, the heating module cannot work continuously and stably. 
       FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3  respectively show a schematic three-dimensional diagram of a massage device  1 , a schematic cross-sectional view of the massage device  1  in one direction, and a schematic exploded diagram of the massage device  1  in one direction according to an embodiment of the present application. The massage device  1  includes a base  100 , a driving module  200 , a massage head  300 , an enclosure  400 , and a heating module  500 . The base  100  is a supporting and mounting structure for the foregoing structures. The driving module  200  is mounted on the base  100  and is a driving structure of the massage head  300  for driving the massage head  300  to rotate. The massage head  300  is connected to the driving module  200  so as to be driven by the driving module  200  to rotate relative to the base  100 . A side of the massage head  300  away from the base  100  is provided with a massage protrusion  310 , and a first cavity  301  is formed on a side of the massage head  300  facing the base. The enclosure  400  is arranged on the base  100  and is located between the base  100  and the massage head  300 . A free end of the enclosure  400  away from the base  100  extends into the first cavity  301 , and an outer wall of the free end is arranged close to an inner wall of the massage head  300 . A second cavity  401  in communication with the first cavity  301  is formed in the enclosure  400 , and the second cavity  401  and the first cavity  301  jointly form a heating chamber. The heating module  500  is accommodated in the heating chamber and fixed relative to the base  100 , and is configured to provide thermotherapy from the massage device  1  to a user&#39;s body parts such as neck and waist. To better understand a specific structure of the massage device  1 , the following describes specific structures of the base  100 , the massage head  300 , the enclosure  400 , the heating module  500 , and the driving module  200  in sequence. 
     For the base  100 , references are made to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3 . The base  100  has a box-like structure as a whole, and is provided with an accommodating cavity  101  for accommodating at least a part of the driving module  200 . Specifically, the base  100  includes an upper housing  110  and a lower housing  120 , and the upper housing  110  and the lower housing  120  jointly form the accommodating cavity  101 . 
     For the massage head  300 , references are made to  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , which respectively show schematic three-dimensional diagrams of the massage head  300  in two directions. The massage head  300  is a structure that applies force to a user through rotation, so that the user experiences a massage effect. An end of the massage head  300  away from the base  100  is provided with a massage protrusion  310  for applying force to the user during the rotation of the massage head  300 ; and an end of the massage head  300  facing the base  100  defines a first cavity  301 . In this embodiment, the massage head  300  includes a plurality of massage protrusions  310 , and the massage protrusions  310  are connected and fixed through a connecting portion  320 . Optionally, the massage head  300  includes four massage protrusions  310 , and the massage protrusions  310  are respectively arranged at four corners of the connecting portion  320 . Preferably, to ensure that the force applied by the massage head  300  to the user during the massage for the user can be changed intermittently, so that the user can feel a change in the pressing force, so as to better simulate the feeling of real massage and further improve the user&#39;s pressing experience, at least one of the massage protrusions  310  in the massage head  300  is different from the rest of the massage protrusions  310 ; and the “difference” may be a difference in shape or a difference in volume. Optionally, the massage device  1  includes two massage heads  300 , and the two massage heads  300  are arranged on the same side of the base  100  at intervals. 
     For the enclosure  400 , references are made to  FIG. 3 . The enclosure  400  is arranged between the base  100  and the massage head  300 , and includes a bottom plate  410  and a side wall  420 . The bottom plate  410  is fixed on an outer surface of the base  100 . The side wall  420  extends from an edge of the bottom plate  410  toward the massage head  300 , a free end of the side wall  420  extends into the first cavity  301 , and the side wall  420  and the bottom plate  410  jointly form a second cavity  401 . The second cavity  401  is in communication with the first cavity  301 , which forms a heating chamber together with the first cavity  301 . The heating module  500  is accommodated in the heating chamber to reduce a waste caused by direct escape of heat generated by the heating module  500  into the air from a gap between the massage head  300  and the base  100 . Preferably, an outer wall of the free end of the enclosure  400  extending into the first cavity  301  is arranged close to an inner wall of the massage head  300 , so as to reduce a rate of escape of heat generated by the heating module  500  from the heating chamber through a gap between the enclosure  400  and the massage head  300 , and at the same time, to prevent the massage head  300  from rubbing against the enclosure  400  during the rotation. A fitting gap between the outer wall of the free end of the enclosure  400  and the inner wall of the massage head  300  is relatively small, and is usually controlled within 3 millimeters (mm). For example, the fitting gap is less than 2 mm. For another example, the fitting gap is 1 mm. In this embodiment, the enclosure  400  and the base  100  are formed separately, and are fixedly connected through screwing, clamping, etc. It can be understood that in other embodiments of the present application, the enclosure  400  may alternatively be integrally formed with the base  100 . 
     For the heating module  500 , references are made to  FIG. 3  and other drawings. The heating module  500 , the massage head  300 , and the enclosure  400  are in one-to-one correspondence. The heating module  500  is specifically accommodated in the second cavity  401 , and includes a circuit board  510  and a heating element  520 . The heating element  520  is mounted on the circuit board  510 , and is electrically connected to the circuit board  510 . Specifically, the enclosure  400  further includes a plurality of supporting ribs  430 . The supporting ribs  430  are accommodated in the second cavity  401 . One end of the supporting rib is fixed to the bottom plate  410  and the other end of the supporting rib extends toward the massage head  300 . The supporting ribs  430  are distributed in a circular array around a rotation axis of the massage head  300 . The circuit board  510  is in a ring shape arranged around a driving shaft  210 , and is carried on the supporting ribs  430  and fixed to the supporting ribs  430 . The heating element  520  is fixed on a side of the circuit board  510  away from the bottom plate  410 , and is configured to generate heat when energized, so as to heat the massage head  300 . When the massage device  1  is working, because the heating element  520  is fixed relative to the base  100  and the massage head  300  rotates above the heating element  520 , the heating element  520  can heat various parts of the massage head  300  to ensure that temperatures of various areas of the massage head  300  are basically the same. Optionally, the heating element  520  includes a miniature tungsten lamp, which is an element that can emit light and generate heat when energized, and can be purchased directly on the market. It can be understood that in other embodiments of the present application, the heating element may alternatively be another element such as a heating wire, provided that it can generate heat when energized. Preferably, to further make a heating effect of the heating module  500  on the massage head  300  more uniform, the heating module  500  specifically includes a plurality of heating elements  520 , and the heating elements  520  are distributed in a circular array around the rotation axis of the massage head  300 . 
     Further, when a user is being massaged, to enable a part of the heat generated by the heating module  500  to rush to the user&#39;s body part through the massage head  300  to achieve a better thermotherapy effect, the massage head  300  is provided with a number of heat-permeable holes  302 . The heat-permeable hole  302  is arranged through the massage head  300  to communicate the first cavity  301  with an external environment of the massage head  300 . As such, when the heating module  500  generates heat, the heat escapes to the outside of the massage device  1  through the heat-permeable hole  302  and flows to the user, thereby enhancing the thermotherapy effect. 
     Finally, the driving module  200  is described. Referring to  FIG. 2  and other drawings, the driving module  200  includes a driving shaft  210  and a power assembly  220 . The driving shaft  210  is connected to the massage head  300  in one-to-one correspondence. The power assembly  220  is connected to each driving shaft  210 , and the power assembly  220  is configured to drive the driving shaft  210  to rotate, so that the massage head  300  is driven by the driving shaft  210  to rotate relative to the base  100 . 
     Specifically, the driving shaft  210  is rotatably mounted on the base  100 ; a part of the driving shaft  210  is accommodated in the accommodating cavity  101 ; and a part of the driving shaft  210  extends out of the base  100 , then passes through the bottom plate  410  of the enclosure  400 , and extends into the second cavity  401 . The massage head  300  is fixed to the part of the driving shaft  210  extending into the second cavity  401 , so as to be rotatably mounted on the base  100 . In this embodiment, a middle position of the massage head  300  extends toward the base  100  to form a mounting portion  330 ; and the mounting portion  330  has a cylindrical shape, at least partially extends into the second cavity  401 , and is connected to the driving shaft  210 . Optionally, the mounting portion  330  is detachably connected to the driving shaft  210  through threading, interference fitting, etc. 
     The power assembly  220  is separately connected to the two driving shafts  210  described above. In this embodiment, the power assembly  220  includes a driving motor (not shown in the figure) and two transmission modules (not shown in the figure). The driving motor is separately connected to the two transmission modules, and a transmission module is correspondingly connected to a driving shaft  210 , so that the massage device  1  can drive, through the driving motor, the driving shaft  210  to rotate, and then drive the corresponding massage head  300  to rotate. Optionally, rotation directions of the two driving shafts  210  are opposite, so that the two massage heads  300  can squeeze a user&#39;s muscles toward each other during operation, so as to achieve a better massage effect. Optionally, the transmission module includes a gear group. It can be understood that in other embodiments, the transmission module may alternatively be another mechanism capable of implementing rotational output. For example, in some other embodiments of the present application, the transmission module may further include a synchronous belt mechanism, or may include both a gear group and a synchronous belt mechanism. 
     It should be further understood that in other embodiments of the present application, the driving module  200  may alternatively have another structural form, provided that it is connected to the massage head  300  and can drive the massage head  300  to rotate. For example, in some embodiments, the driving module  200  includes only two driving motors, and one driving motor is correspondingly connected to one massage head  300 . For another example, in some other embodiments, the driving module  200  includes a driving motor and a transmission module, the driving motor is directly connected to one massage head  300  and the transmission module, and the other massage head  300  is connected to the transmission module. Specific structures of the driving module  200  are not listed one by one in the present application. 
     In addition to the foregoing structures, the massage device  1  further includes a control circuit board (not shown in the figure) for controlling the heating of the heating module  500  and controlling the operation of the driving module  200 . Specifically, the control circuit board is a main control module of the massage device  1 , and is accommodated in the accommodating cavity  101 ; and the heating module  500  and the driving module  200  are both connected to the control circuit board. 
     The massage device  1  provided in the embodiments of the present application includes a base  100 , a driving module  200 , a massage head  300 , an enclosure  400 , and a heating module  500 . A side of the massage head  300  away from the base  100  is provided with a massage protrusion  310 , and a first cavity  301  is formed on a side of the massage head  300  facing the base  100 . The driving module  200  is connected to the massage head  300  and configured to drive the massage head  300  to rotate. The enclosure  400  is arranged between the base  100  and the massage head  300 , a free end of the enclosure  400  away from the base  100  extends into the first cavity  301 , the enclosure  400  defines a second cavity  401  in communication with the first cavity  301 , and the second cavity  401  and the first cavity  301  form a heating chamber. The heating module  500  is accommodated in the heating chamber and fixed relative to the base  100 , and is configured to provide thermotherapy from the massage device  1  to a part of a human body. 
     In comparison with an existing massage device on the market, according to the massage device  1  provided in the embodiments of the present application, the heating module  500  is arranged to be fixed relative to the base  100 , so that the heating module  500  in the massage device  1  is connected to the control circuit board without using a brush and a ring-shaped conductive plate. Therefore, the massage device  1  provided in the embodiments of the present application can solve the problem that a heating module of the existing massage device on the market cannot work continuously and stably due to poor contact between a brush and a conductive copper ring. 
     Based on the same inventive concept, the present application further provides another massage device.  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7  show a schematic cross-sectional view and a schematic exploded diagram of a massage device  1 B in one direction according to another embodiment of the present application. Same as the massage device  1  in the first embodiment, the massage device  1 B includes a base  100 B, a driving module  200 B, a massage head  300 B, an enclosure  400 B, and a heating module  500 B. References are made to  FIG. 2 , and main differences between the massage device  1 B and the massage device  1  in the first embodiment are as follows: 
     The free end of the enclosure  400  of the massage device  1  away from the base  100  extends into the first cavity  301 , and the outer wall of the free end is arranged close to the inner wall of the massage head  300 . However, in the second embodiment, an open end of the massage head  300 B close to the base  100 B extends into the enclosure  400 B, an outer wall of the open end is arranged close to an inner wall of the enclosure  400 B, and an outer diameter of the open end of the massage head  300 B is slightly smaller than an inner diameter of the inner wall of the enclosure  400 B. A difference between the outer diameter of the open end of the massage head  300 B and the inner diameter of the inner wall of the enclosure  400 B can be controlled within 3 millimeters (mm). For example, the difference is less than 2 mm. For another example, the difference is 1 mm. 
     Specifically, the end of the massage head  300 B close to the base  100 B is an open end, and the open end is in communication with a first cavity  301 B; the enclosure  400 B includes a bottom plate  410 B and a side wall  420 B; the bottom plate  410 B is fixed on an outer surface of the base  100 B; the side wall  420 B extends from an edge of the bottom plate  410 B toward the massage head  300 B; and the side wall  420 B and the bottom plate  410 B jointly form a second cavity  401 B. The open end of the massage head  300 B extends into the end of the enclosure  400 B away from the base  100 B, and the outer wall of the open end is arranged close to the inner wall of the side wall  420 B. The second cavity  401 B is in communication with the first cavity  301 B through the open end of the massage head  300 B, and the second cavity  401 B and the first cavity  301 B jointly form a heating chamber. 
     The heating module  500 B is accommodated in the second cavity  401 B, and can heat the massage head  300 B when the massage device  1 B is working. Because the heating module  500 B is fixed relative to the base  100 B, and the massage head  300 B rotates above the heating element  520 , the continuous and stable operation of the heating module  500 B can be ensured. 
     In other embodiments, the open end of the massage head  300 B may not extend into the enclosure  400 B, but is arranged above the enclosure  400 B. In this case, there is an up-and-down gap between the open end of the massage head  300 B and the end of the enclosure  400 B away from the base  100 B. Likewise, the gap is controlled within 3 millimeters (mm) to reduce a rate of escape of heat generated by the heating module  500 B from the heating chamber through a gap between the enclosure  400 B and the massage head  300 B, and at the same time, to prevent the massage head  300 B from rubbing against the enclosure  400 B during the rotation. 
     Finally, it should be noted that the foregoing embodiments are merely intended for describing the technical solutions of the present application, but not for limiting the present application. Under the idea of the present application, the technical features in the foregoing embodiments or in different embodiments can be combined, the steps can be implemented in any order, and there are many other changes in different aspects of the present application described above. For brevity, they are not provided in detail. Although the present application is described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, persons of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they may still make modifications to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments or make equivalent replacements to some technical features thereof, without departing from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.