Patents Examined by Zachary E Love
  • Patent number: 10350128
    Abstract: An assist wear item is worn on a portion of a living body and has an inner surface brought into contact with the portion. The assist wear item includes assisting actuators, contact sensors, and a controller. Each assisting actuator is driven to expand and contract. The assisting actuators are linearly arranged along an expansion/contraction direction of a muscle at the portion. Each contact sensor detects a contact with an outer surface of the assist wear item. If the controller receives a detection result indicating a first contact from a first contact sensor among the contact sensors and receives a detection result indicating a second contact from a second contact sensor within a first time period after reception of the detection result indicating the first contact, the controller increases or decreases a driving power of expansion/contraction driving of an assisting actuator corresponding to the second contact sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2019
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takayuki Nagata, Stephen William John, Katsuhiko Asai
  • Patent number: 10327979
    Abstract: A chair-type massage machine 100 has: a backrest portion 300 being capable of standing on a seat portion 200 and reclining against the seat portion 200; and at least one heater 850 disposed independently from a base portion 400 which is a lower part of the seat portion 200 through a cable 851.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2019
    Assignee: FUJI MEDICAL INSTRUMENTS MFG. CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Toshihisa Yoshida, Hironori Yasuda, Kentaro Ode
  • Patent number: 10278882
    Abstract: An assist wear item is worn on a portion of a living body and has an inner surface brought into contact with the portion. The assist wear item includes assisting actuators, contact sensors, and a controller. Each assisting actuator is driven to expand and contract. The assisting actuators are linearly arranged along an expansion/contraction direction of a muscle at the portion. Each contact sensor detects a contact with an outer surface of the assist wear item. The contact sensors include a first contact sensor and a second contact sensor. The controller increases or decreases a driving power of expansion/contraction driving of an assisting actuator corresponding to a region ranging from the first contact sensor to the second contact sensor if the controller continuously receives a detection result indicating a contact from at least one contact sensor between the first and second contact sensors during a certain time period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2019
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takayuki Nagata, Stephen William John, Katsuhiko Asai