Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd.

Hitoshi Hata

Yukihiko Kitano

Shigeru Dono

Masamichi Miyaguchi

Yuichi Nishibori

Shinji Tsutsui

Toshiaki Nanno

A massage device capable of applying favorable pressure stimulation owing to expansion and shrinking of air bags irrespective of thickness of portions to be massaged such as legs or arms. The massage device has supporting bodies, strap bodies made of pliable material that are attached to the supporting bodies at their ends to form U-shaped sections, air bags provided at inner surfaces of strap bodies for receiving portions of a human body such as legs or arms to be massaged, and an air supply means for expanding and shrinking of the air bags. Upon locating portions to be massaged on the strap bodies, the strap bodies assume shapes that fit along the shapes of the portions of the body to be massaged to thus support the portions to be massaged on the strap bodies. Pressuring stimulation can then be applied to the portions to be massaged by making the air bags perform expansion and shrinking.

Massage device with flexible support straps

A massaging system includes a base sheet carrying a plurality of expandable bags arranged in a plane of the base sheet, and a charging and discharging unit connected to the bags for selectively supplying and discharging a pressurized fluid into and from the bags so as to inflate and deflate the bags, selectively. At least one applicator projects from each of the bags in contact with a portion of a human body for applying a massaging action. Each bag has a flexible top end capable of deforming into a curved contour when being inflated. The applicator is made of a hard material and projects directly from the top end wall of the bag as an integral part of the bag such that the applicator is caused to displace in a direction different from a direction along which the bag inflates and deflates principally, as a consequence of that the flexible top end wall deforms into the curved contour. Thus, the applicator can concentrate a massaging force resulting from the inflation of the bag to a particular portion of the user's body, giving a relatively strong local massage action sufficient for optimum treatment. Further, since the applicator takes a lateral movement in the direction generally perpendicular to the inflating direction during the inflation of the bag, the applicator can give a rubbing action, in addition to the pressing action, to the user's body for realizing effective and comfortable massage treatment analogous to that made by a human therapeutic massager.

Massaging system

Growing community of inventors

Katano, Japan

Hitoshi Hata