Massage mat and method for producing same

Abstract

The invention relates to a massage mat (1) comprising a film (2) and at least one expandable and / or contractible cushioning chamber (4). The film (2) is folded over onto itself along a fold (8) and forms an upper film (12) and a lower film (14) delimiting the cushioning chamber (4).

Description

[0001] Description

[0002] Massage mat and methods for its manufacture

[0003] The invention relates to a massage mat comprising a film and at least one expandable and / or contractible cushioning chamber. The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing such a massage mat. Furthermore, the invention relates to a seat or chair and a vehicle.

[0004] Lumbar support or massage mats with inflatable cushions have long been known and used in a variety of applications. In automotive manufacturing, they are used in seats to improve seating comfort. The cushions, which are usually expandable via an air supply, allow the contour of the backrest of a seat, such as a car seat, to be adapted to the individual anatomy of the person sitting in it. The cushion's at least one internal chamber is inflated or deflated to varying degrees via an associated fluid line.

[0005] Typically, lumbar support or massage mats are manufactured by welding together two layers of thermoplastic film. The films to be welded must first be pre-cut or die-cut before being hermetically sealed with an inserted fluid line along numerous seams. This conventional manufacturing process not only requires a large number of steps but also carries the risk of leaks due to the sheer number of seams, inevitably leading to the rejection of the produced lumbar support or massage mats. Furthermore, manufacturing lumbar support or massage mats from film sections imposes undesirably significant limitations on the ergonomic design of the cushioning chambers.

[0006] Known methods for manufacturing lordosis or massage mats require many individual process steps; moreover, the lordosis or massage mats are initially purely flat and only acquire a three-dimensional shape through inflation at their intended installation location.

[0007] German patent DE 10 2006 059 540 A1 discloses a vehicle seat with an inflatable cushion in which the cushion has a constriction. This constriction causes the area of ​​the constriction to expand less during inflation than the area of ​​the cushion outside the constriction. With this design, the cushion only achieves its desired three-dimensional shape during inflation, as it also has a flat basic structure.

[0008] German patent DE 10 2016 220 104 A1 discloses a lumbar support cushion with several superimposed cushion chambers. The arrangement of several individual cushion chambers adversely increases the assembly effort and consequently the manufacturing costs.

[0009] The invention is based on the objective of providing a massage mat that is more cost-effective and / or faster to manufacture compared to the state of the art. Additionally or alternatively, the susceptibility of the massage mat to leaks or defects should be reduced.

[0010] The solution to this problem is achieved by a massage mat having the features of independent claim 1.

[0011] Another solution to the problem is achieved by a method for manufacturing such a massage mat with the features of claim 8. Further advantageous embodiments are disclosed in the dependent claims and can be found in the general description and the exemplary embodiments.

[0012] The present application relates to a massage mat comprising a film and at least one expandable and / or contractible cushioning chamber. The film is folded over itself along a crease, forming an upper film and a lower film, and defines the cushioning chamber. The crease can also be referred to as a hinge and, in other words, forms a change in stiffness in the film, allowing the film to be folded, turned over, or creased along the crease. The film can thus be divided into a first section forming the upper film and a second section forming the lower film. While the cushioning chamber has previously been formed by welding together a separately manufactured cushioning film and a separately manufactured carrier film, the cushioning chamber of the massage mat according to the invention can advantageously be manufactured from a single film.Depending on the requirements, a multitude of cushioning chambers can be formed between the upper and lower films. These one or more cushioning chambers can be at least partially molded into the upper and / or lower film. The fold can be formed, for example, as a perforation or as a material accumulation. Perforation weakens or reduces the stiffness of the film. The material accumulation can be, for example, a rib injection-molded and running transversely across the film. The rib increases the film's stiffness and can act as a kind of hinge.

[0013] According to a further aspect of the present invention, the cushion chamber has a fluid line opening into it. The fluid line can be configured to introduce or discharge air into or out of the cushion chamber. The other end of the fluid line can be connected via one or more valves to an air supply, which regulates the air supply to the cushion chamber via a control unit.

[0014] According to a further aspect of the present invention, the film has a recess in the fold area, which is designed to receive the fluid line. Advantageously, the fluid line can be held in a predefined position by the recess without slipping. The massage mat can thus be manufactured in large quantities with consistent and reproducible quality. According to a further aspect of the present invention, the upper film and the lower film are bonded together by forming a first bonding zone. Preferably, the upper film and the lower film are welded together. The bond seals the cushion chamber to the outside. Particularly preferably, the bond can be achieved by ultrasonic welding, which allows for particularly short process times.

[0015] According to a further aspect of the present invention, the fluid line is materially bonded to the upper and / or lower film by forming a second bonding zone, preferably by welding. This bonding zone can be formed in the area of ​​the upper and / or lower film as a material accumulation of the same thermoplastic material as the film and is designed to form a material bond with the fluid line. The material accumulation of the bonding zone can be heated, for example, by ultrasonic welding to create a material bond with the fluid line. Advantageously, by providing this material accumulation, the separate supply of additional material for the material bonding of the film to the fluid line can be dispensed with. The process can thus be simplified and the reproducibility of the massage mat's quality increased.

[0016] According to a further aspect of the present invention, the film is formed from a plastic film three-dimensionally shaped by an injection molding process. Preferably, the plastic film is made of a polyurethane composition. A particularly advantageous feature is that the massage mat thus formed is not merely flat in its basic or resting state, but is already three-dimensionally pre-shaped in an advantageous form, without requiring expansion of the cushion chamber.

[0017] According to a further aspect of the present invention, the film has a three-dimensionally structured surface. The surface can, for example, have bump-like or ribbed elevations to increase comfort and also to support any massage function integrated into the seat.

[0018] The present invention further relates to a method for manufacturing a massage mat according to the invention, wherein the method comprises the following process steps: a) providing the film, b) inserting the fluid line into the recess, c) folding the film over itself along the fold to form the cushion chamber, d) bonding the upper film and the lower film together to form a first bonding zone, e) bonding the fluid line to the upper film and / or the lower film together to form a second bonding zone, f) tempering the massage mat.

[0019] In particular, the film can be shaped using the injection molding technique employed in its production so that the geometry of the cushioning chamber is at least partially or even completely molded into the film. It is especially advantageous to produce two or more cushioning chambers in a single operation during film manufacturing. The film can be made of a weldable thermoplastic material, allowing the upper and lower films to be welded together after being folded inwards. Additionally, the upper and / or lower film is welded to the fluid line, creating a pressure-tight seal for the cushioning chamber against the atmosphere. The fluid line can also be made of a thermoplastic material to facilitate welding to the film.The material-bonded connection can be preferably achieved by ultrasonic welding, allowing for particularly short process times. Alternatively, the material-bonded connection between the fluid line and the film can be achieved using an adhesion promoter, such as an adhesive, which allows for great flexibility when combining different materials for the film and the fluid line. After the material-bonded connection of the upper film to the lower film and the fluid line leading into the cushion chamber, the massage mat is tempered for a defined period at a temperature higher than room temperature, but below the melting point of the plastics used for the film, to ensure the desired installation height in the seat. Furthermore, it is possible to test for any leaks in the created joint zones.Welding is performed by pressurizing the cushion chambers of the massage mat via the fluid line assigned to each chamber. If any leaks are identified, the affected massage mats can be immediately removed from the process.

[0020] The present invention also relates to a seat or chair with a massage mat according to the invention. The massage mat according to the invention can be used in a variety of seating options or seating furniture, for example in cars, trucks, forklifts, agricultural vehicles, pilot seats, office chairs, massage chairs or home furniture.

[0021] The present invention also relates to a vehicle with a seat according to the invention. The aforementioned features and advantages of the invention can be particularly advantageously applied in vehicles of various types.

[0022] An exemplary embodiment and further advantages of the invention are schematically illustrated and explained in more detail below in connection with the following figures. These show:

[0023] Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of a film of a massage mat according to the invention in a top view.

[0024] Fig. 2 is a schematic representation of the foil from Fig. 1 in a side view. Fig. 3 is a schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of the massage mat according to the invention in a side view. The description of the above figures is given in Cartesian coordinates with a longitudinal direction X, a transverse direction Y perpendicular to the longitudinal direction X, and a vertical direction Z perpendicular to both the longitudinal direction X and the transverse direction Y. The longitudinal direction X can also be referred to as depth X, the transverse direction Y as width Y, and the vertical direction Z as height Z. The longitudinal direction X and the transverse direction Y together form the horizontal, X, Y, which can also be referred to as the horizontal plane X, Y. The longitudinal direction X, the transverse direction Y, and the vertical direction Z can also be referred to together as spatial directions X, Y, Z or as Cartesian spatial directions X, Y, Z.

[0025] A massage mat 1 is formed from a film 2, which is divided by a fold 8 into an upper film 12 and a lower film 14. The upper film 12 has a three-dimensionally structured surface 100. The fold 8 has a recess 10 designed to receive a fluid line 6. Figure 1 shows the film 2 of the massage mat 1 according to the invention in a spread-out state in a top view.

[0026] The schematic representation in Figure 2 shows the foil 2 from Figure 1 in a side view. A second connection zone 15 is shown, which is formed by an accumulation of material from the foil 2. This accumulation of material is made of the same thermoplastic material as the foil 2 and serves for subsequent connection with the fluid line 6. The accumulation of material in connection zone 15 can be heated by ultrasonic welding, thus forming a metallurgical bond with the fluid line 6.

[0027] In Figure 3, the film 2 is folded over itself along the fold 8. The fold 8, which runs in the transverse direction Y, reduces the stiffness of the film 2 and forms a predetermined folding point around which the film 2 can be folded, turned over, or creased. The upper film 12 and the lower film 14 form an inflatable cushioning chamber 4 and are welded together via a first connection zone 13. The fluid line 6 opens into the cushioning chamber 4. The fluid line 6 is bonded to the upper film 12 via the second connection zone 15. The cushioning chamber 4 is pressure-tightly sealed by the first connection zone 13 and the second connection zone 15. Air can only be supplied to and removed from the cushioning chamber 4 via the fluid line 6.

[0028] The film 2 is formed from a thermoplastic film three-dimensionally shaped by injection molding, wherein the three-dimensional shape specified in the injection mold used is selected such that the three-dimensionally structured surface 100, which forms the cushion chamber 4, is molded into the upper film 2 in the illustrated embodiment of Figures 1 to 3. The three-dimensionally pre-formed upper film 12 is sealed along its circumferential edges by welding a first connection zone 13 to the lower film 14 arranged behind it.

[0029] Reference symbol list (part of the description)

[0030] 1 massage mat

[0031] Slide 2

[0032] 4 upholstered compartments

[0033] 6 Fluid line

[0034] 8 fold

[0035] 10 Exclusion

[0036] 12 top slide

[0037] 13 first connection zone

[0038] 14 bottom slide

[0039] 15 second connection zone

[0040] 100 surface

[0041] X Longitudinal direction

[0042] Y transverse direction

[0043] Z vertical direction

[0044] X, Y Horizontal; horizontal plane

Claims

Patent claims 1. Massage mat (1) comprising a film (2) and at least one expandable and / or contractible cushion chamber (4), characterized in that the film (2) is folded over itself along a fold (8) and forms an upper film (12) and a lower film (14) to define the cushion chamber (4).

2. Massage mat (1 ) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the padding chamber (4) has a fluid line (6) opening into it.

3. Massage mat (1 ) according to claim 2, characterized in that the film (2) has a recess (10) in the area of ​​the fold (8) which is designed to receive the fluid line (6).

4. Massage mat (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the upper film (12) and the lower film (14) are materially bonded together, preferably welded together, forming a first bonding zone (13).

5. Massage mat (1 ) according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the fluid line (6) is materially bonded, preferably welded, to the upper film (12) and / or the lower film (14) to form a second connection zone (15).

6. Massage mat (1) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the film (2) is formed from a plastic film three-dimensionally shaped in an injection molding process.

7. Massage mat (1) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the film (2) has a three-dimensionally structured surface (100).

8. Method for manufacturing a massage mat (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized by the following process steps: a) providing the film (2), b) inserting the fluid line (6) into the recess (10), c) folding the film (2) over itself along the fold (8) to form the cushion chamber (4), d) bonding the upper film (12) and the lower film (14) together to form a first bonding zone (13), e) bonding the fluid line (6) to the upper film (12) and / or the lower film (14) to form a second bonding zone (15), f) tempering the massage mat (1).

9. Seat or chair with a massage mat (1) according to one of claims 1 to 7.

10. Vehicle with one seat according to claim 9.

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