Magnetic supporter and method for manufacturing the same

Abstract

To provide an improved supporter with a magnet, and a method of effectively arranging and arraying the magnet with respect to the supporter.SOLUTION: A body belt (2) of a supporter (1) includes at least one tabular stay (41) that contacts a wearing portion of a wearer. The stay (41) has a plurality of through holes and a magnet (5) is embedded in each of the through holes. The stay (41) and the magnet (5) have substantially the same thickness. There is almost no surface corrugation in the embedded portion of the magnet (5).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a supporter (including supporters for the neck, shoulders, knees, elbows, waist, wrists, and ankles) and a method for manufacturing the same. This supporter is mainly used for keeping the body parts warm, preventing and treating injuries, and relieving pain, but it can also be used for correcting body shape and posture. Hereinafter, the lumbar supporter will be taken as an example for explanation.

Background Art

[0002] Due to various reasons, there are surprisingly many modern people who are troubled by low back pain and back pain. According to a survey by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, about one in three people (about 30%) who have some kind of subjective symptom such as body pain (claimants) are aware of low back pain.

[0003] To easily address this problem, wearing a lumbar supporter around the waist is commonly used, and a variety of inventions and devices are known. Among them, a proposal to incorporate magnets (so-called magnetic therapy devices) into the lumbar supporter is known (see Patent Documents 1 and 2 below).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] Although I have never seen the actual products of these Patent Documents 1 and 2, looking at the drawings of the embodiments, the magnets protrude inward from the lumbar supporter, which may give the user an uncomfortable tactile sensation.

[0006] This invention provides a magnetic supporter that solves this problem, and also provides a manufacturing method for effectively positioning and arranging magnets on this supporter. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The supporter of the present invention, which achieves the above objective, has a main belt consisting of at least one ended belt or an endless belt, the main belt being attachable to the wearer's wearing area, the main belt having at least one plate-shaped stay that contacts the wearer's wearing area, the stay having a plurality of through holes, a magnet embedded in each of the through holes, and the stay and the magnet having approximately equal thickness. In the above, the "ended belt" is one in which the wearer's wearing area can be surrounded or left open by connecting or separating the left and right ends of the belt. The waist belt in the embodiment described later is an example of the "ended belt". The "endless belt" is tubular and tightens the wearer's wearing area due to the elasticity of the belt fabric.

[0008] Moreover The magnets embedded in the stay are set up so that the north poles and south poles of adjacent magnets are arranged alternately. Preferably, the first fabric and the upper side of the magnet are covered with a hot melt sheet, and this hot melt sheet is attached to the second fabric.

[0009] The present invention is a method for manufacturing a supporter in which the magnet is embedded in a stay, and this method is characterized by comprising the following steps.

[0010] (a) Prepare a template 6 with holes 61 made at regular intervals. (b) Place the highly elastic first fabric 63 on the template 6 and place the free-moving magnet 5 on the hole 61. (c) The magnet 5 on the first fabric 63 is firmly pushed into the hole 61, and the sides and bottom of the magnet 5 are surrounded by the first fabric 63. (d) The second fabric 65 is placed on top of the magnet 5 to firmly bond the first fabric 63 and the second fabric 65 directly or indirectly. (e) Finally, insert the magnet 5, which has been enclosed by the first fabric and the second fabrics 63 and 65, into the stay 41.

[0011] Preferably, the mold plate 6 used in step (a) has holes 61 made at regular intervals, with fixed magnets 62 set at the bottom of the holes, and the fixed magnets 62 are arranged with alternating north and south poles for adjacent holes 61. In this way, the magnets 5 that are bonded in step (b) will also have alternating north and south poles for adjacent magnets. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present invention, the magnet embedded in the stay has a thickness almost equal to that of the stay, and the surface of the embedded magnet is almost smooth, so it hardly causes any discomfort to the wearer.

[0013] Furthermore, according to the method of the present invention, the magnets embedded in the stay are set so that the north and south poles of adjacent magnets are arranged alternately, so that the magnetic force of the magnets extends over a wide area.

[0014] In the method of the present invention, when placing the magnet 5 on the template plate 6, the fixed magnets 62 on the template plate 6 are arranged with alternating south and north poles. Therefore, if the orientation of the south and north poles of the magnet 5 is incorrect, it is reversed and corrected to the correct orientation, thereby preventing incorrect arrangement. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] The following are (a) a top view, (b) a left side view, (c) a front view, (d) a right side view, (e) a bottom view, and (f) a rear view of the waist belt of this embodiment. [Figure 2] This is an enlarged view of the area enclosed by lines AA and BB in Figure 1. [Figure 3] Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the DD. [Figure 4] These are (a) front view, (b) rear view, (c) right side view, and (d) left side view of the stay. [Figure 5](a) to (g) are cross-sectional views explaining each step of a method of enclosing a magnet inside a stay.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment

[0017] FIG. 1 is a waist belt which is an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1(a) to (f), the waist belt 1 of this embodiment is composed of a main body belt 2 and an auxiliary belt 3. In this embodiment, the main body belt 2 has a length of about 75 to 110 cm and a height of about 10 to 20 cm at the highest part.

[0018] The main body belt 2 has a central first part 20, second parts 21 and 22 located on both sides adjacent to the first part and having greater elasticity than the first part, surface fastener female members 23 and 24 provided outside each of the second parts, and a surface fastener male member 25 provided at the end of the main body belt. The length of each part is such that the first part 20 is 20 to 30 cm, the second parts 21 and 22 are each 5 to 10 cm, the surface fastener female members 23 and 24 are each 20 to 30 cm, and the surface fastener male member 25 is 4 to 6 cm. The surface fastener female member 24 and the surface fastener male member 25 are in a front-back positional relationship.

[0019] The first part 20 and the second parts 21 and 22 of the main body belt 2 are formed of a fabric such as free-cut polyester or nylon throughout the circumference. However, the elasticity of the first part 20 is eliminated by joining a non-elastic fabric (third part 26). The joining is performed not by sewing but by hot melt pasting. Due to the full-surface pasting by hot melt, even if the non-elastic fabric used for the second parts 21 and 22 is not free-cut, the unraveling of the end faces is unlikely to occur. Also, by not sewing, the feeling of stiffness when worn can be eliminated.

[0020] The hook-and-loop fastener female members 23 and 24 are formed by bonding a non-stretchable fabric on the back side with a hook-and-loop fastener-adhering pile fabric on the front side.

[0021] The hook-and-loop fastener male member 25 can be, for example, one of the following:

[0022] (1) A woven or knitted hook-and-loop fastener having hook-shaped, mushroom-shaped, or loop-shaped engaging elements on one surface of a woven base material obtained by knitting synthetic fibers selected from polyester fibers, nylon fibers, polyamide fibers, polyolefin fibers, vinyl chloride fibers, etc. (2) A molded surface fastener having a group of hook-shaped, mushroom-shaped, bulging, horn-shaped, or rod-shaped engaging elements on one surface of a sheet-like substrate obtained by molding a thermoplastic resin such as polyester, nylon, polyamide, polyolefin, vinyl chloride polymer, or polyurethane, or a thermosetting resin.

[0023] Near the center of the first section of the main belt 2, a pair of plate-like stays 41, 42 (sometimes called "bones") of roughly equal length, extending vertically, are attached. The stays are, for example, approximately 14-16 cm long, 4-6 cm wide, and 1-3 mm thick.

[0024] Each stay 41, 42 may be made of either metal (aluminum, steel, etc.) or non-metal (PET, PP, PE, etc.). Normally, metal stays are bent by hand to conform to the curves of the body, but non-metal stays can be bent by their elongation when worn, and in this embodiment, the use of non-metal bones is preferable.

[0025] An auxiliary belt 3 is provided on the upper surface of the main belt 2. The auxiliary belt 3 must have enough force to press the rigid stays 41 and 42 against the torso when pulled during attachment.

[0026] A characteristic feature of the embodiment of the present invention is that multiple magnets 5 are embedded in each stay 41, 42. The magnets 5 used are well-known disc-shaped magnets commercially available as so-called "magnetic therapy devices." For example, permanent magnets made of steel, tungsten steel, MK steel, KS steel, etc., or permanent magnets obtained by mixing these with far-infrared ceramics can be used. In terms of shape, commercially available ones are often thin disc-shaped, which is convenient to use, but other shapes may also be used. The number of magnets 5 to be embedded depends on the size of the stays 41, 42, but it is preferable to have about 3 to 10 magnets per stay.

[0027] To attach this magnet to stays 41 and 42, through holes 43 are pre-drilled in stays 41 and 42, the magnet 5 is placed inside, and the top and bottom of the magnet 5 are sealed with fabric. At this time, the thickness of stays 41 and 42 and the thickness of the magnet 5 are made to be almost equal, resulting in a so-called flush surface with almost no bumps or irregularities. By doing so, when worn on the human body, there are no bumps or irregularities, eliminating any unpleasant feeling.

[0028] When arranging the magnets 5 within stays 41 and 42, it is preferable to alternate the north and south poles of adjacent magnets. It is known that by arranging the magnets 5 in this way, the magnetic force acts not as a point but as a surface, and the influence of the magnetic force extends over a wide area.

[0029] The method for arranging the north and south poles of magnet 5 alternately will be explained based on Figure 5. There are two stays 41 and 42, but they are the same, so we will use stay 41 as a representative example for the explanation.

[0030] First, a template 6 as shown in (a) is prepared. Cylindrical holes 61 are made in this template 6 at regular intervals, and fixed magnets 62 are set at the bottom of these holes. At this time, the fixed magnets 62 are arranged so that the north pole and south pole alternate for each adjacent hole 61. Next, a first fabric 63, such as knit fabric, which is highly elastic, is placed on the template 6, and the free-moving magnets 5 are placed on each of the holes 61. Even if the north and south poles of the magnets 5 are not considered when placing them, they will be positioned on the first fabric 63 so that they adhere to the fixed magnets 62 at the bottom of the template. If like poles are facing each other, the magnets 5 will flip over on the first fabric 63.

[0031] At this time, the fixing magnets 62 of the template 6 were set up so that the north poles and south poles were arranged alternately within the holes 61, so the magnets 5 on the first fabric 63 also inevitably have alternating north and south poles.

[0032] Next, as shown in (b), when the magnet 5 on the first fabric 63 is firmly pushed into the hole 61, the first fabric 63 stretches and surrounds the sides and bottom of the magnet 5. At that point, the magnet 5 is also covered from above with the hot melt sheet 64. The first fabric 63 and the hot melt sheet 64 are firmly bonded together. Simultaneously, as shown in Figure 5(c), the hot melt sheet 64 is attached to the second fabric 65. The second fabric 65 is the rectangular fabric depicted in Figures 4(a) and (b).

[0033] Finally, the magnets 5 enclosed in the first and second fabrics 63 and 65 are inserted into the stay 41. As shown in Figures 5(e) and 5(f), the spacing between the holes 61 in the template 6 is the same as the spacing between the holes 61 in the stay 41, the diameter of the holes 61 in the template 6 is approximately the same as the diameter of the magnets 5, and the thickness of the template 6 is approximately the same as the thickness of the magnets 5.

[0034] Figure 5(g) shows the completed stay 41 with magnet 5. By sandwiching a hot melt sheet between the completed stay 41 with magnet 5 and gluing it between the first part 20 and the second parts 21 and 22, the stay is securely fixed to the main belt 2 within the supporter.

[0035] Returning to Figure 1, the auxiliary belt 3 has a non-stretchable diamond-shaped portion 32 fixed to the first portion 20 by a backing cloth 31, and stretchable cord portions 33 and 34 located outside the diamond-shaped portion 32, respectively.

[0036] The cord portions 33 and 34 are fixed at one end by the left and right female hook-and-loop fastener members 23 and 24, with the other end being a free end. Male hook-and-loop fastener members 37 and 38 are attached to the ends of the free ends. The male hook-and-loop fastener members 37 and 38 at the free ends of the cord portions 33 and 34 can be attached to the female hook-and-loop fastener members 23 and 24.

[0037] The method of attaching this waist belt 1 is the same as conventional belts of this type. The main belt 2 is attached and secured to the waist using the male and female hook-and-loop fasteners 23-25, and the tension of the main belt 2 is adjusted by pulling the auxiliary belt 3 to attach the male hook-and-loop fastener members 37 and 38 to the female hook-and-loop fastener members 23 and 24 of the main belt 2. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0038] 1. Waist belt 2 Main belt 23, 24 Female fastener component 25-sided fastener male member 3. Support belt 31. Pressing cloth 32 Diamond part 33,34 String part 37, 38 Male component of face fastener 41, 42 Stay 43 Through hole 6 template 61 holes 61 Through hole 62 Fixed Magnets 63 First fabric 64 Hot Melt Sheet (Adhesive) 65 Second fabric

Claims

1. The supporter (1) has at least one main belt (2) consisting of an ended belt or an endless belt, and the main belt (2) is attachable to the user. The main belt (2) has at least one plate-shaped stay (41), The stay (41) has a plurality of through holes (43), and a magnet (5) is embedded in each of the through holes (43), and the stay (41) and the magnet (5) have the same thickness, The magnets (5) embedded in the through holes (43) of the stay (41) are arranged such that the north and south poles of adjacent magnets are arranged alternately, and their sides and bottom are surrounded by the first fabric (63), and their top is covered by the second fabric (65). A supporter (1) characterized by the following.

2. The first fabric (63) and the upper side of the magnet (5) are covered with a hot melt sheet (64), and the hot melt sheet (64) is attached to the second fabric (65). The supporter according to claim 1.

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