Patent Abstract:
A portable massage device having kneading, finger rolling and tapping rolling features, so as to provide three kinds of massage effects. In order to provide these massage effects, a driving mechanism is disposed on a fixed plate and includes a driven rotary shaft. The speed of the driving mechanism can be changed, and two drum shaped tube members are provided which include a plurality of kneading members. The drum shaped tube members are oriented adjacent opposite ends of the driven shaft, and a pair of round plates are provided at the inner ends of the respective drum shaped members so that kneading massage can be provided. Finger rolling and tapping rolling massage can be provided by the kneading members.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a portable massage device, more specifically to a portable massage device which can select kneading massage, tapping rolling massage or finger pressure rolling massage, and can do said massages in the same time. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Since olden times, many kinds of massage devices have been provided to massage the human body, specifically, a portable massage device has been widely employed for easy portable use, low cost and good massage effect. 
     For example, a portable massage apparatus which has a rotatable rolling massage member to touch and rub a human body to provide a rolling massage, and which has a pair of opposed eccentric members disposed on the center part of a drive shaft to provide a kneading massage to the human body, can provide good massage effects to stimulate blood circulation properly for relieving fatigue of a patient. 
     However, the above-identified portable massage apparatus can provide rolling massage, or kneading massage, but it cannot provide a tapping massage. 
     The problem of insufficient space exists for disposing a complex mechanism on a portable massage device which already has a rolling massage mechanism and a kneading massage mechanism. Further, increased costs are a problem since it is too difficult to dispose a tapping mechanism or a finger pressure mechanism on existing devices. 
     Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable massage device designed so as to have a finger pressure rolling feature, kneading feature and a tapping rolling feature that can provide three kinds of massage effects. 
     And it is a further object of the present invention to provide a portable massage device designed so as to have these features but a low manufacturing cost, and these massage features can be wilfully selected for use. 
     And it is a further object of the present invention to provide a portable massage device which can provide the capability of selectively using the kneading feature or finger pressure feature or tapping feature on a human body. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The portable massage device of the present invention includes a driving mechanism disposed on a pair of fixed plates of an outside frame, a driven rotary shaft which is held on said fixed plates of the outside frame, and can be rotatably driven by said driving mechanism, drum shaped tube members disposed on said driven rotary shaft, and in which a plurality of kneading members are erected in eccentric status with respect to the axis. 
     Further, a portable massage device of the present invention includes a reducer disposed on said driving mechanism, which can change the speed of said driving mechanism. 
     Further, a portable massage device of the present invention has said drum shaped tube members disposed on two sides of the driven rotary shaft, and in which a plurality of kneading members are erected in eccentric status with respect to the axis. 
     Furthermore, a portable massage device of the present invention includes a pair of round plate members inlaid in opposite sides of the two drum shaped tube members in the center part of said driven rotary shaft. 
     Further, a portable massage device of the present invention includes said round plate members inlaid in opposite sides of the two drum shaped tube members in different eccentric positions, in which a plurality of kneading members are erected in eccentric status with respect to the axis. 
     Further, the tube members include two side edges which are formed as egg shaped or elliptic shaped, and a plurality of kneading members are disposed on outside circles between them. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an oblique drawing showing an inner mechanism of the portable massage device which is an embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a front view showing an inner mechanism of the portable massage device which is an embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a bottom view showing an inner mechanism of the portable massage device which is an embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 4 is a central vertical sectional view showing the status in which a plurality of kneading members of the respective tube members are disposed so that the eccentric positions thereof are 180 degrees out of phase with respect to one another. 
     FIG. 5 is a central vertical sectional view showing the status in which a plurality of kneading members of the respective tube members are disposed so that the eccentric positions thereof are the same. 
     FIG. 6 is a front view of the FIG. 5 arrangement of the kneading members. 
     FIG. 7 is a front view of the FIG. 4 arrangement of the kneading members. 
     FIG. 8 is a view showing a drum shaped tube member formed with two side edges which are round. 
     FIG. 9 is a view showing a drum shaped tube member formed with two side edges which are egg shaped. 
     FIG. 10 is a view showing a drum shaped tube member formed with two side edges which are elliptic shaped. 
     FIG. 11 is an oblique drawing showing the portable massage device which represents one embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 12 is an oblique drawing showing a portable massage device which represents another embodiment of this invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the portable massage device of the present invention includes a driving mechanism  2  disposed on a pair of fixed plates  11 · 11  of an outside frame  1 , a driven rotary shaft  3  which is held on said fixed plates  11  of the outside frame  1 , and can be driven to rotate by said driving mechanism  2  simultaneously, and a drum shaped tube member  5  disposed on said driven rotary shaft  3  (i.e. the hollow center of member  5  receives the shaft  3  therethrough and is fixed to the shaft  3  by conventional means, e.g. set screw, welding, etc.), and in which a plurality of kneading members  51  are erected in eccentric status with the rotational axis defined by the shaft  3 . 
     Said outside frame  1 , as shown in FIG. 1, FIG.  11  and FIG. 12, comprises a pair of fixed plates  11 · 11  and members  12 · 12  fixed on the two fixed plates  11 · 11 , the members  12  can be used for a handle. 
     Said driving mechanism  2 , as shown in FIG. 1, comprises a driving motor  211  disposed on one of the pair of fixed plates  11 · 11  of said outside frame  1 , a reducer  212  which can change the output rotary speed of said driving motor  211 , a gear wheel  22  of a driving shaft  213  disposed on the end of said reducer  212 , a driving shaft  25  engaged with said gear wheel  22  of driving shaft  213  for transfering a rotary force to a gear wheel  31  of driven shaft  3 , so that the rotary output of driving motor  211  can be transferred to said driven rotary shaft  3  by driving shaft  25 , and also the rotary speed can be changed. 
     Driving gear wheel  23 , which is engaged with said gear wheel  22  of driving shaft  213  and said gear wheel  31  of driven shaft  3 , is connected with said driving shaft  25 , and the rotary output of said driving motor  211  can be transferred to the gear wheel  22  of driving shaft  213  by said reducer  212 , so that the driving gear wheel  23  of the driving shaft  25  can transfer the rotary force of the driving motor  211  to said gear wheel  31  of driven shaft  3 , and the driven rotary shaft  3  engaged with the said gear wheel  31  can be rotated. 
     Said driven shaft  3  is rod-shaped and is held between the pair of fixed plates  11 · 11  by gear wheel  31 · 31  of the driven shaft on two sides of it, and can be rotated by the rotary of the driving mechanism  2 . 
     A pair of drum shaped tube members  5  receive said shaft  3  therethrough and extend around said driven rotary shaft  3 , and a plurality of kneading members  51  are erected at a regular interval from a holding rod  52  in an eccentric position with respect to the axis of driven shaft  3  above said drum shaped tube members  5 . 
     Said drum shaped tube members  5 , as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 7, are inlaid on two sides of said driven rotary shaft  3  so as to provide massage on two sides. The plurality of kneading members  51  are erected at a regular interval in an eccentric position with respect to the axis above each drum shaped tube member  5 · 5  so as to contact the part of the human body and provide rolling massage, tapping massage or finger pressure massage with rotation of said driven rotary shaft  3 . 
     As said above, two pairs of said drum shaped tube members  5 · 5  are respectively inlaid on two sides of said driven rotary shaft  3 , and one drum shaped tube member of each pair of members is inclined, and the other is positioned generally vertically. The inclined drum shaped tube members  5  are opposite each other, and a space is formed therebetween. 
     Said drum shaped tube members  5 · 5  are inlaid on two sides of driven rotary shaft  3 , and can execute many kinds of motion by directionally changing the eccentric position of each kneading member  51 . For example, when the eccentric position is different as shown in FIG.  4  and FIG. 7, and to be 180 degrees, each kneading member  51  will provide finger pressure rolling massage and tapping rolling massage at two sides. Alternatively, as shown in FIG.  5  and FIG. 6, when the eccentric position is the same, each kneading member  51  will provide finger pressure massage and tapping rolling massage at the two sides in the same time. 
     Said drum shaped tube members  5 · 5 , as shown in many drawings, for example, in FIGS. 8-10 are formed to have two round edges  53 · 53 , two egg shaped edges  54 · 54 , and also can be formed with two elliptic shaped edges  55 · 55 . When the two edges  54 · 54  of drum shaped tube members  5 · 5  are formed to be egg shaped, a plurality of kneading members  51  may be erected between the egg shaped edges  54 · 54  at a regular interval. When the two edges  55 · 55  of drum shaped tube members  5 · 5  are elliptical, a plurality of kneading members  51  may be erected between each of the edges  55 · 55 . 
     Further, a pair of round plates  4 · 4 , as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 7, are inlaid in eccentric status in the opposite faces of eccentric sides of two drum shaped tube members  5 · 5  in the center part of said driven rotary shaft  3 . When the driven rotary shaft  3  rotates, the two round plates  4 · 4  will be rotated to grasp the part of the human body to provide a kneading massage. 
     The two fixed plates  11 · 11  of said outside frame  1  are erected to Λ-shaped (inverted “V” shaped or egg-shaped) when viewed from side to prevent said kneading members  51  from connecting or interfering with the setting surface when said driven rotary shaft  3  is rotated by said driving mechanism  2  to drive said drum shaped tube members  5 . 
     A cover  9  made of a soft material covers the outsides of said drum shaped tube members  5  and driving mechanism  2  between two fixed plates  11 · 11  of said outside frame  1  as shown in FIG.  11  and FIG.  12 . This cover  9  can soften the force imparted on the user, and can make the portable massage device more beautiful. 
       91  is a holding foot part for holding a foot, and it can provide heating effect by installing a heater in it. 
     A technical ability of changing speed or a remote control for controlling the speed is wilfully disposed into the portable massage device of the present invention although same is not shown in any drawings. 
     As said above, the portable massage device of the present invention comprises a reducer which is installed in the driving mechanism and can change the output speed of the driving mechanism. When the driving mechanism rotates at a high speed, the kneading members can rotate to provide tapping rolling massage and finger pressure rolling massage, and the round plates can provide kneading massage at the same time. When the driving mechanism rotates at a slow speed, the kneading members can rotate to provide finger pressure rolling and tapping rolling massage, and the round plates can provide kneading massage at the same time. The portable massage device of the present invention thus has a simple construction and is inexpensive to manufacture. 
     Further, the portable massage device of the present invention comprises drum shaped tube members disposed on two sides of the driven rotary shaft, and a plurality of kneading members are erected above each drum shaped tube member in eccentric status with the axis, so that the tapping rolling massage or finger rolling massage can be provided at two sides independently. 
     Further, the portable massage device of the present invention comprises drum shaped tube members, and in these drum shaped tube members, a plurality of kneading members are erected above in eccentric status with the axis. When the drum shaped tube members are inlaid at two sides of the driven rotary shaft in different eccentric positions, the kneading members erected above on two sides of each drum shaped tube member can provide tapping rolling massage or finger pressure massage in a time difference, and other kneading massage can be provided in the center part. When the drum shaped tube members are inlaid in 180 degrees of eccentric position (out-of-phase), said massages can be provided in two sides alternately. 
     Further, the portable massage device of the present invention comprises a mechanism part which is opened between a pair of fixed plates of outside frame so as to give about 180 degrees of usable range for providing kneading rolling massage or finger pressure massage, and kneading massage. 
     Although a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed in detail for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized that variations or modifications of the disclosed apparatus, including the rearrangement of parts, lie within the scope of the present invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 0