Massage machine

A massage machine including, in a backrest portion, a massage mechanism with a massaging member, for administering with the massaging member a massage to a user while supporting a body of the user at least on the backrest portion, the massage machine comprising:

• a drive mechanism portion having a portion stationary to a drive mechanism, said stationary portion movably supporting the massaging member, the drive mechanism portion making the massaging member perform a relative motion relative to the stationary portion repeatedly such that the massaging member describes in space a reference locus which is a predetermined closed curve for a kneading massage;
• an ascent-descent mechanism adjustably moving up and down a position of the massaging member along the backrest portion together with the entire drive mechanism portion;
• and
• a controller configured to control operation of the drive mechanism portion and the ascent-descent mechanism,
• wherein the controller is configured to
• control the drive mechanism portion to make the massaging member perform a relative reciprocating movement relative to the stationary portion within a partial movement range corresponding to a partial segment of the reference locus and
• control the ascent-descent mechanism to make the massaging member and the drive mechanism portion perform an up-down movement in coordination with the relative reciprocating movement of the massaging member such that
• the movement produced by the drive mechanism portion and the movement produced by the ascent-descent mechanism are combined together to produce an actual motion of the massaging member so as to describe a composite locus which is a curve different from the reference locus,
• the drive mechanism portion includes, as a mechanism that moves the massaging member:
• a kneading shaft supported rotatably and driven to rotate by a predetermined drive source;
• an eccentric rotor portion formed integrally on the kneading shaft so as to be oblique relative thereto;
• a massaging member support arm fitted to the eccentric rotor portion so as to be rotatable relative thereto, the massaging member support arm having the massaging member fixed to an end portion thereof so as to support the massaging member in a protruding state,
• wherein
• as the kneading shaft rotates, the eccentric rotor portion rotates eccentrically about the kneading shaft, and as the eccentric rotor portion rotates, the massaging member support arm fitted around the eccentric rotor portion swings continuously, thereby making the massaging member on an end portion of the massaging member support arm perform repeatedly a relative motion so as to describe the reference locus, and
• the composite locus is an ellipse when viewed from the front.