The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 09, 2012
Filed:
May. 30, 2005
Daisuke Tsukada, Hikone, JP;
Masamichi Miyaguchi, Hikone, JP;
Fumihiro Nishio, Hikone, JP;
Yuichi Nishibori, Hikone, JP;
Takayoshi Tanizawa, Shiga, JP;
Takeo Iijima, Hikone, JP;
Daisuke Tsukada, Hikone, JP;
Masamichi Miyaguchi, Hikone, JP;
Fumihiro Nishio, Hikone, JP;
Yuichi Nishibori, Hikone, JP;
Takayoshi Tanizawa, Shiga, JP;
Takeo Iijima, Hikone, JP;
Panasonic Corporation, Osaka, JP;
Abstract
A massage chair is adapted to give a massage to a user using a massaging element attached to a massaging unit. The massage chair comprises a body-shape-information acquisition section for acquiring body-shape information of the user based on loads imposed on the massaging element from respective regions of the user, a shoulder-position detection section for detecting a shoulder position of the user based on the body-shape information, and a shoulder-position identification section. The shoulder-position identification section is operable to thrust the massaging element in a direction for a target protrusion distance at the detected shoulder position while measuring a load imposed on the massaging element. Then, the shoulder-position identification section is operable, based on the measured load, to determine whether the detected shoulder position is a true shoulder position. Further, when the detected shoulder position is determined to be mismatched with the true shoulder position, the shoulder-position identification section is operable to vertically move the massaging unit while re-measuring a load imposed on the massaging element, so as to identify the true shoulder position based on the re-measured load.