MUSCLE TRAINING SYSTEM

Abstract

A muscle training system according to the present invention includes a belt that is provided with a gas bag and configured to apply a pressurizing force based on an amount of a gas in the gas bag to a specific portion of four limbs of a user in a state of being wound around the specific portion, a control device that receives a control command transmitted from the outside and is configured to control the pressurizing force to be applied by the belt to the specific portion by controlling a supply amount and a discharge amount of the gas to the gas bag of the belt based on the control command, and a portable information terminal device that is configured to transmit the control command to the control device by wireless communication in a case of operating in a predetermined aspect.

Claims

1. A muscle training system comprising: a belt that is provided with a gas bag and configured to apply a pressurizing force based on an amount of a gas in the gas bag to a specific portion of four limbs of a user in a state of being wound around the specific portion; a control device that receives a control command transmitted from the outside and is configured to control the pressurizing force to be applied by the belt to the specific portion by controlling a supply amount and a discharge amount of the gas to the gas bag of the belt based on the control command; and a portable information terminal device that is configured to transmit the control command to the control device by wireless communication in a case of operating in a predetermined aspect.

2. The muscle training system according to claim 1, wherein the portable information terminal device includes a display unit that displays information corresponding to the control command.

3. The muscle training system according to claim 2, wherein the portable information terminal device includes a recording unit that records the information corresponding to the control command.

4. The muscle training system according to claim 3, wherein the portable information terminal device is configured to transmit the information recorded in the recording unit to an external database by wireless communication.

5. The muscle training system according to claim 1, wherein the portable information terminal device includes a recording unit that records the information corresponding to the control command.

6. The muscle training system according to claim 5, wherein the portable information terminal device is configured to transmit the information recorded in the recording unit to an external database by wireless communication.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0015] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram (including a plan view of a belt (a diagram illustrating an outer surface)) for describing a configuration of a muscle training system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a bottom view (a diagram illustrating an inner surface) of the belt of the muscle training system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] FIG. 3 is a side view of the belt of the muscle training system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a usage state of the belt of the muscle training system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] FIG. 5 illustrates an appearance of a body-worn control device of the muscle training system according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5(A) is a perspective view in a case of viewing the body-worn control device from a front side, and FIG. 5(B) is a perspective view in a case of viewing the body-worn control device from a back side.

[0020] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the body-worn control device of the muscle training system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the portable information terminal device of the muscle training system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0022] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to drawings.

[0023] Firstly, a configuration of a muscle training system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. The muscle training system 1 according to the present embodiment includes a belt 10, a body-worn control device 20, and a portable information terminal device 30 as illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0024] The belt 10 is a belt-like member that is wound around at least one of the four limbs of a user P (FIG. 4) and applies a pressurizing force to muscles and is configured of a material having stretch properties (preferably neoprene rubber), for example. As a portion around which the belt 10 is wound, for example, a portion suitable for limiting the portion, around which the belt is wound, without stopping the blood flow by tightening from the outside near the base of an arm (FIG. 4) or the base of a leg can be adopted.

[0025] As illustrated in FIG. 1, a hook and loop fastener 12 is provided on an outer surface (a surface exposed to the outside) 11 of the belt 10. The hook and loop fastener 12 maintains a loop shape of the belt 10 in a state where a pressurizing force is applied to the muscles. A position where the hook and loop fastener 12 is provided can be appropriately set according to a length or the like of the belt 10. The hook and loop fastener 12 may be provided on an inner surface 13 of the belt 10.

[0026] A buckle 15 is attached to one end portion 10a of the belt 10 via a connection member 14. The buckle 15 is a member through which the other end portion 10b of the belt 10 passes and which folds back the belt 10 when winding the belt 10. The connection member 14 is a member for connecting one end portion 10a of the belt 10 and the buckle 15 and is configured of, for example, a flexible material such as artificial leather.

[0027] A gas bag (not illustrated) is provided inside the belt 10. The gas bag is configured of an airtight material. For example, the gas bag can be configured of rubber having stretch properties similar to that of a rubber bag used for a manchette. The material of the gas bag is not limited thereto. The material suffices to appropriately select a material capable of maintaining airtightness. The length of the gas bag is not necessarily required. In the present embodiment, the length of the gas bag is set to be substantially equal to the length of the outer circumference of the portion around which the belt 10 is wound. A width dimension of the gas bag may be appropriately determined according to the portion around which the belt 10 is wound.

[0028] In the present embodiment, a plurality of the belts 10 (more specifically, four belts) is adopted. The number of the belts 10 is set to four so that pressurizing is performed to both hands and feet of a person who performs muscle training. The number of the belts 10 is not necessarily four and may be any number as long as the number of the belts is one or more. It is not always necessary that the number of the belt 10 for arms and the belt 10 for legs are the same. In a case where pressurizing training is performed for a plurality of people at once, the number of belts 10 may exceed four.

[0029] The length of the belt 10 in the present embodiment may be determined according to the length of the outer circumference of a portion around which the belt 10 of a person who performs the pressurizing training is wound. The length of the belt 10 may be longer than the length of the outer circumference of the portion to be wound. The length of the belt 10 for the arm according to the present embodiment is determined in consideration of a fact that the length of the outer circumference of the portion of the arm of the person who performs the pressurizing training, around which the belt is wound, is 26 cm, and specifically, 40 cm. In addition, the length of the belt 10 for the leg is determined in consideration of a fact that the length of the outer circumference of a portion of a leg of a person who performs the pressurizing training, around which the belt is wound, is 45 cm, and specifically, 70 cm.

[0030] The width dimension of the belt 10 in the present embodiment may be appropriately determined according to the portion around which the belt 10 is wound. For example, if the belt 10 is for the arm, the width dimension can be set to be within the range of 2.5 to 3 cm, and if the belt 10 is for the leg, the width dimension can be set to be within the range of 5 to 6 cm.

[0031] As illustrated in FIG. 1, a mounting portion 14a for mounting the body-worn control device 20 is provided in the connection member 14 of the belt 10, and a belt side connecting opening 14b for connecting a connecting opening 21 (FIG. 5(B)) of the body-worn control device 20 is provided in the mounting portion 14a. The belt side connecting opening 14b communicates with the inside of the gas bag via the belt side connecting opening 14b, and as described below, gas (air in the present embodiment) is fed into the gas bag, or the gas of the gas bag is extracted to the outside.

[0032] As illustrated in FIG. 4, for example, when attaching the belt 10 for the arm on a base of the arm of the user, first, the belt 10 is wound on the base of the arm (a specific portion) to make the belt into a loop shape, the other end portion 10b of the belt 10 is passed through the buckle 15 attached to the one end portion 10a of the belt 10, and the belt 10 is folded back and tightened while grasping the other end portion 10b of the belt 10 through the buckle 15. The loop shape of the belt 10 is maintained using the hook and loop fastener 12 in a state where the predetermined pressurizing force is applied by tightening the belt 10. Accordingly, the belt 10 is mounted on the base of the arm of the user in a state where the predetermined pressurizing force is applied to the desired muscles. When the air is fed into the gas bag in a state where the belt 10 is mounted on the base (the specific portion) of the arm of the user, the belt 10 tightens the muscles and applies the pressurizing force. Conversely, if the air in the gas bag is extracted in that state, the pressurizing force applied to the muscles by the belt 10 becomes small.

[0033] By controlling the supply amount and the discharge amount of the gas to the gas bag provided in the belt 10, the body-worn control device 20 is configured to control the pressurizing force applied to the specific portion of the user by the belt 10. FIG. 5(A) is a perspective view in a case of viewing the body-worn control device 20 in the present embodiment from a front side, and FIG. 5(B) is a perspective view in a case of viewing the body-worn control device 20 from a back side (connecting opening 21 side). FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the body-worn control device 20 in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the body-worn control device 20 includes a supply and discharge control unit (a compressor 22 and a control unit 23) that controls the supply amount and the discharge amount of the gas to the gas bag of the belt 10 so as to apply a specific pressurizing force to the specific portion by the belt 10. The compressor 22 and the control unit 23 are accommodated in a housing 20a having a substantially rectangular parallelopiped shape as illustrated in FIG. 5. The housing 20a has a size (for example, 7 to 8 cm in length, about 4 to 5 cm in width, and about 2 to 3 cm in thickness) to allow the housing 20a to be mounted on the mounting portion 14a of the belt 10. The shape of the housing 20a is not limited to the rectangular parallelepiped shape, and other shapes to allow the housing 20a to be mounted on the belt 10 can be adopted.

[0035] The compressor 22 of the body-worn control device 20 has a function of introducing the gas (the air in the present embodiment) around the compressor 22 and sending the gas to the outside via the connecting opening 21. The compressor 22 further includes a valve 22a, and by opening the valve 22a, the gas inside the compressor 22 is discharged to the outside. The compressor 22 is provided with the connecting opening 21 (FIG. 5(B)) and is connected to the gas bag provided in the belt 10 via the belt side connecting opening 14b (FIG. 1) to be connected to the connecting opening 21. If the compressor 22 sends the gas, the gas is supplied to the gas bag, and if the compressor 22 opens the valve 22a, the gas can be removed from the gas bag.

[0036] The valve 22a is not necessarily provided in the compressor 22 and it is sufficient if the valve 22a is provided in any one of the paths from the compressor 22 to the gas bag. In addition, a pressure gauge (not illustrated) is incorporated in the compressor 22 so that the air pressure inside the compressor 22 can be measured. The air pressure of the compressor 22 is naturally equal to the air pressure in the gas bag. The air pressure in the gas bag corresponds to the pressurizing force to be applied to the muscles by the belt 10.

[0037] The control unit 23 of the body-worn control device 20 is configured to control the compressor 22. The control unit 23 performs controlling of sending the air to the gas bag of the belt 10 by driving the compressor 22 in a state where the valve 22a is closed, or opening the valve 22a of the compressor 22 to extract the air in the gas bag such that the air pressure in the compressor 22 measured with the pressure gauge becomes a predetermined setting value. That is, the control unit 23 is configured to control the compressor 22 including opening and closing the valve 22a.

[0038] In addition, the body-worn control device 20 includes an information receiving unit 24 for receiving of various types of information items by wireless communication. The information receiving unit 24 is configured to receive a control command to be transmitted from the portable information terminal device 30 by wireless communication. The control unit 23 controls the supply amount and the discharge amount of the gas to the gas bag of the belt 10 based on the control command received via the information receiving unit 24 to control the pressurizing force to be applied to the specific portion (for example, the base of the arm of the user) by the belt 10.

[0039] The portable information terminal device 30 is a generic term for portable information terminal devices (for example, smartphones, tablet PCs, compact PCs, or the like). In a case where the portable information terminal device 30 is operated in a predetermined aspect, it is configured to transmit the control command to the body-worn control device 20 by wireless communication. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the portable information terminal device 30 includes a control unit 31 that integrally controls each unit, an information transmitting and receiving unit 32 for performing transmitting and receiving of various types of information items, an information recording unit 33 for recording the various types of information items, an operation unit 34 for performing input and output of the various types of information items, and a display unit 35 for displaying the various types of information items in a visual manner.

[0040] The information transmitting and receiving unit 32 is configured to receive various types of information items transmitted from an external device by wireless communication (for example, an external base station, a PC, or the like), transmit the control command to the body-worn control device 20 by wireless communication, or transmit the information recorded in the information recording unit 33 to an external database (for example, a cloud system or the like) by wireless communication under the control of the control unit 31.

[0041] The information recording unit 33 can record the information (for example, the time history of the pressurizing force to be applied to the specific portion of the four limbs of the user) corresponding to the control command. In addition, the information recording unit 33 is configured to delete the recorded information. The information recording unit 33 can record various types of information items received in the information transmitting and receiving unit 32 or various types of information items input by the operation unit 34. A memory card that is detachably attached to a main body of the portable information terminal device 30 or the like can be adopted as the information recording unit 33.

[0042] The operation unit 34 is configured to input various types of operation commands or input various types of information items such as the specific pressurizing force. The display unit 35 is configured to display the information (for example, the time history of the pressurizing force to be applied to the specific portion of the four limbs of the user) corresponding to the control command, or display various types of information items input by the operation unit 34. A touch panel that also serves as the operation unit 34 can be adopted as the display unit 35. A voice output unit for outputting various types of information items by voice may be provided instead of the display unit 35 (or with the display unit 35) for displaying various types of information items in a visual manner. In addition, the operation unit 34 capable of inputting the various types of operation commands by the voice can be adopted.

[0043] Next, a method for using the muscle training system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.

[0044] First, the user attaches the body-worn control device 20 to the belt 10. In this case, by connecting the connecting opening 21 of the body-worn control device 20 to the belt side connecting opening 14b of the belt 10, the compressor 22 of the body-worn control device 20 communicates with the gas bag of the belt 10. Next, the user operates the operation unit 34 of the portable information terminal device 30 in a predetermined aspect, the control command is transmitted to the body-worn control device 20 by the wireless communication. The control command includes information such as pressurizing force which is appropriately set according to an age, an exercise history, or the like of the user. The control unit 23 of the body-worn control device 20 controls the supply amount and the discharge amount of the gas to the gas bag of the belt 10 by controlling the compressor 22 or the valve 22a based on the control command received via the information receiving unit 24 to control the pressurizing force to be applied to the user by the belt 10.

[0045] In the muscle training system 1 according to the present embodiment described above, by operating the portable information terminal device 30 in a predetermined aspect, a control command is transmitted to the body-worn control device 20 by wireless communication. By controlling the supply amount and the discharge amount of the gas to the gas bag of the belt 10 by the body-worn control device 20 based on the control command, the pressurizing force to be applied to the specific portion of the four limbs of the user can be controlled by the belt 10. That is, by only operating the portable information terminal device 30, the pressurizing force applied to the specific portion of the four limbs of the user can be remotely controlled.

[0046] In addition, in the muscle training system 1 according to the present embodiment described above, the information (for example, a time history of the pressurizing force applied to the specific portion of the four limbs of the user) corresponding to the control command can be displayed on the display unit 35 of the portable information terminal device 30. Accordingly, the user can know, for example, to what extent the pressurizing force is actually being applied at the current time by referring to the display unit 35 of the portable information terminal device 30.

[0047] In addition, in the muscle training system 1 according to the present embodiment described above, the information (for example, the time history of the pressurizing force applied to the specific portion of the four limbs of the user) corresponding to the control command can be recorded in the information recording unit 33 of the portable information terminal device 30. Accordingly, the user can know, for example, to what extent the pressurizing force has actually been applied in the past by referring to the information recording unit 33 of the portable information terminal device 30.

[0048] In addition, in the muscle training system 1 according to the present embodiment described above, the information (for example, a time history of the pressurizing force applied to the specific portion of the four limbs of the user) recorded in the information recording unit 33 can be transmitted to the external database by wireless communication. Accordingly, information items on pressurizing muscle training can be accumulated in the external database, and the accumulated information items can be analyzed and utilized as necessary.

[0049] The present invention is not limited to the foregoing embodiment, and design changes made by those skilled in the art on the embodiment are included in the scope of the present invention as long as the changes include features of the present invention. That is, elements, positions, materials, conditions, shapes, sizes, etc. of the elements in the embodiment described above are not limited to the above examples and may be appropriately modified. In addition, the elements of the embodiment may be combined within the range technology allows, and such combinations are included in the scope of the present invention as long as the combinations include features of the present invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

[0050] 10: belt

[0051] 20: body-worn control device

[0052] 30: portable information terminal device

[0053] 33: information recording unit

[0054] 35: display unit

[0055] P: user