1 . Field of the Invention

This invention relates to massaging apparatus and more particularly a practical automatic massage apparatus which can free the massage therapists from repeated and tiring physical works. Due to the widely usage of computer and smart phones, nowadays many people experience neck pain, stiff shoulder or lower back pain. Some people may even have cervical spondylitis or sciatica at a very young age. As many people prefer more natural and conservative treatments to control the pain, massage is usually used as a safe alternative. However, due to the shortage of manpower in Singapore and worldwide, the lack of massage therapists become a real problem, especially with the increasing demand from the rapid aging population. And unfortunately, in this tight labour market, a lot of massage therapists lack even the most basic training in orthopedics and rehabilitation. Therefore, the development of a practical, reliable and low-cost robotic professional massaging apparatus is critical and necessary in providing a better healthcare for the public in future. Moreover, this invention can be used as a valuable research tool in evaluation of the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medical massage and other types of massage by providing pre-programed massage with controlled force and techniques.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The past massaging apparatus are mostly designed based on the concepts of mechanical movement of certain embodiments of the chairs and beds. They are either massage chair or massage beds. The massage chairs are mostly sold as home applicant and not designed or used for clinical purpose. They cannot provide the massage up to the standard of human therapists.

The massaging beds are mostly invented in China. These past inventions are huge or unable to move freely. However, in real clinics, the equipment is better to be smaller and able to move freely with the physicians or be able to adjust itself to fit to the posture of the patients. The past inventions do not have 3D scanning system so that their massage devices are unable to achieve similar precise movements or adjust the device according to the postures or positions of the patients compared to the current invention.

l This invention combines the mobility of automatic guided vehicle and the freely moved reliable robotic arms to provide systematic and accurate massage treatments with more flexibility. It can provide continuous services to patients with the pre-programmed massage techniques under the supervision of the physicians. Moreover, the treatment data recorded by the apparatus also have tremendous research value because it can provide information for researchers in the evaluation of the effectiveness of different massage treatments under the standards of evidence - based medicine.

3. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of massaging devices now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new and improved way of developing massage apparatus.

This automatic massage apparatus consists of a freely moved automatic guided vehicle as a base which carries one or more robotic arms above it. The touch screen monitor on the top of the vehicle provides information to the user and receives commands from the user as well. The apparatus has a 3D scanner on the top of a supporting pole which can rotate freely depending on the needs. The 3D scanner takes images of the human body and surrounding environment, and transfers the data of the 3-dimentional coordinates of the body and corresponding surrounding objects to the central processing computer which connects the vehicle through Wi-Fi connection. Then the computer directs the vehicle to approach the body and move the artificial hands with the robotic arms to the surface of the body to apply the massage.

The tips of the fingers of the artificial hands have sensors below the soft pads which measure the pressure which are exerted on the body and send the data back to the central computer simultaneously to ensure the effectiveness as well as the safety of the automatic massage process. The hands are covered by soft materials and warmed by thermal heaters to human temperature to ensure the touching sensation to be soft and comfortable.

The robotic arm moves in certain pattern to enable the fingers and hands to perform the pressing, rubbing, other man-like massage manipulating techniques. Between the hand and the arm, there is a safety unit which contains a pressure sensor. It will stop the supply of power immediately if the force provided by the arm exceeds this safety level.

Moreover, there is a small remote control unit given to the patient to perform simple adjustments, such as stopping the massage or reducing the strength of massage for safety purpose. If the patient feels that the massage is too painful, they can press the remote control to reduce the strength or even stop the massage.

The power is provided by the batteries placed at the bottom of the apparatus or from a direct power point. There is a separated charging bay connected to the power point. The automatic massage apparatus will automatically return to the charging bay to charge itself to the full amount when it is not working. In summary, when a patient need to have a massage for certain problem or certain part of the body, the central computer will bring in the medical record of the person and choose a suitable pre-designed massage program under the supervision of the physician. The 3D scanner will take images of the body and the surrounding environment to guide the vehicle to approach the body and apply the suitable massage by the hands attached to the robotic arms. The strength is carefully controlled with the feedback from the pressure sensors. When the massage is completed, the apparatus will return to the charging bay and charge itself.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be more readily understood with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the whole automatic massage system which the invention disclosed in this specification may be applied.

FIG. 2a is the back view of the automatic massage apparatus;

FIG. 2b is the front view of the automatic massage apparatus; FIG. 3a is an enlarged view of the front part of the robotic arm of the automatic massage apparatus;

FIG. 3b is an enlarged view of the hand attached to the robotic arm;

FIG. 4 is cross-sectional view showing the three layer structure of the soft pads attached to the robotic arms and hands;

90 FIG.1 , FIG.2a, FIG.2b, FIG.3a, FIG.3b and FIG.4 are not drawn to scale and it shall be noted that the entire assembly may be of different shapes and sizes suitable for the various target areas of application on the body.

Alternative embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is 95 intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The detailed description describes the invention as it may be used to provide therapeutic or relaxation massage to patients. It is to be understood that these are merely examples of

100 the types of massages in which the invention may be used. Traditional massage requires a high level of physical work and years of medical training which is necessary to enable the therapists to grasp related anatomy knowledge and practical massage techniques. With the robotically assisted system, the massage can be conducted according to the will of the physician or therapist at ease. The automatic massage apparatus allow the physician to

105 choose the most suitable massage procedures for the patients with precisely controlled strength.

The embodiments of the present invention are now discussed, referring to the drawings.

FIG.1 shows a perspective view of the automatic massage system constructed in accordance with the present disclosure. An automatic guided vehicle 100 is shown to be 110 the mobile base of the massage apparatus which can move freely and tracklessly within a work space guided by the central computer 103 according to the requirement of the physician and the location of the patient. It has battery inside which can provide the power to the vehicle and the other electronic devices of the apparatus, such as robotic arm 402, touch screen monitor 201 and 3D scanner 302. There is a charging bay 102 connected to 115 the normal power point on the wall. The apparatus can return to the charging bay to charge itself by moving itself to the charging bay and attaching the charging unit 101 to the charging bay when the apparatus does not have subsequent work plan.

One or more robotic arms 402 can be attached to the vehicle to facilitate the massage. In FIG.1 , two robotic arms are attached to the vehicle to form the massage apparatus for

120 demonstration purpose. More robotic arms could be attached to conduct more complicated procedures. The robotic arm demonstrated here is a commonly used industrial 6-axis robotic arm. It is important to be noted that it is not confined to certain kinds of robotic arms to develop the automatic massage apparatus for this invention. Different kinds of robotic arms with different number of axis could be used to fulfill the spirit of this invention. Each

125 robotic arm 402 may be supported by the vehicle and move according to the massage

program selected by the physician from the remote central computer 103.

The touch screen monitor 201 could show the life status of the patient such as temperature, blood pressure and heart rate during massage. It could be used as an input/output device to control the program as well.

130 A remote control 104 given to the patient allows the patients to do simple adjustments

including change of the level of massage strength and shut down the power of the whole apparatus.

When certain massage program started, the 3D scanner 302 on the pole 301 behind the touch screen monitor 201 will take the images of the human body and the surrounding 135 objects to locate the human body and record the coordinates of all related objects. These data are sent to the central computer and processed to direct the apparatus to approach the human body and lower the robotic arm 402 to the human body to apply the massage.

The central computer 103 connects to the apparatus through Wi-Fi connection unit 202 shown in Fig. 2a. There is a robotic hand 401 with flexible fingers attached to each robotic 140 arm.

FIG.3a shows an enlarged view of a portion of FIG.1 to give a better view of the robotic arm. The robotic arm 402 may include one or more servo motors to move the arm to a desired position. There is a long soft pad 509 attached below the forearm of the robotic arm. The massage could be applied by the portion 509 below the forearm of the robotic 145 arm or the hands 401 attached to the arm. The soft pad could be made of soft materials such as rubber or other soft material with the pressure sensors and thermal heater beneath it.

As Fig. 3a has demonstrated, there is a safety unit 501 between the hand and the arm. This safety unit can rotate freely while measuring the force passed to the hand by the 150 robotic arm. It will cut the power supply of the massage apparatus when the force exceeds certain safety level and other precaution measures fail to work. This is to ensure the ultimate safety for patients.

FIG.3b shows an enlarged view of a portion of FIG.1 to give a better view of the hand 401 attached to the robotic arm. The fingers and the palm have soft pads as well. These soft 155 pads have similar structure as the soft pad attached to the forearm. The fingers of the

hands have soft pads 502 503 504 505 506 attached to them. The palm has softs pads 507 508 attached. The thermal heaters inside the soft pads increase the temperature of the robotic hands to approximately 38 degree Celsius and sustain the temperature at the suitable level.

160 FIG.4 shows a cross section view of the soft pad which represents three layers of the soft pad. The outer layer 601 is made of soft materials. The central layer 602 contains pressure sensors which monitor the pressure constantly. The inner layer 603 contains thermal heater which can increase the temperature of the pad and the robotic arm from room temperature to approximately 38 degree Celsius.