Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd.

Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd.

Yukihiko Kitano

Tatsuo Sakai

Shigeru Dono

Hitoshi Hata

Masamichi Miyaguchi

Yuichi Nishibori

Tomoharu Nakahara

Tsuyoshi Yamane

Shinji Tsutsui

Hitoshi Kitano

Hiroyuki Fujii

Toshiaki Nanno

An autonomously moving robot that drives while evading an obstacle by an environment information acquisitioner. The information acquisitioner includes an imager that takes an image of a circumference on a driving route, an image recognition processor that extracts an area having a property relating to a region of a human body, a ranger that measures a range and an orientation to an object existing in the circumference on the driving route, a range information analyzer that obtains a shape of the object, and an environment recognizer that recognizes the environment information on the driving route. The environment recognizer compares the area extracted in the image recognition processor with the object recognized in the range information analyzer, and recognizes the object as a person when both of them agree with each other.

Autonomously moving robot

An autonomous moving apparatus moving to a destination while detecting and avoiding an obstacle includes a radar device for scanning a horizontal plane in its travelling direction to thereby detect a position of an obstacle and an obstacle sensor for detecting an obstacle in a space different from the scanning plane of the radar device. The apparatus moves to the destination under such control as to avoid the obstacle based on detection information from the radar device and the obstacle sensor from a detection output provided by a specific-configuration detecting element for detecting a present specific configuration from scanning information by the radar device. By providing such a specific-configuration detecting element that detects a specific configuration based on the scan information by the radar device that can accurately know about position information, it is possible to guess an obstacle having an upper structure, thus providing efficient avoidance.

Autonomous moving apparatus having obstacle avoidance function

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

Nishinomiya, Japan

Yukihiko Kitano