Sole massage device

A foot sole massaging device including:

• a housing having an upper section, said housing upper section defining an inclined surface that extends along a selected plane, said inclined surface defining at least one footrest surface;
• a mass block disposed in said housing, said mass block being suspended in said housing by a flexible member that allows said mass block to move relative to said housing;
• a plurality of impact rods disposed in said mass block and slidably mounted in said mass block to selectively extend above said housing upper section incline surface adjacent said at least one footrest surface;
• a plurality of impact heads, each said impact head being attached to a top end of a separate one of said impact rods so as to be located above and adjacent said at least one footrest surface;
• a reciprocating assembly disposed in said mass block and connected to said impact rods for selectively moving said impact rods in a reciprocating motion;
• a drive unit disposed in said mass block and connected to said reciprocating assembly for selectively actuating said reciprocating assembly so as to cause said reciprocating motion of said impact rods, said drive unit being configured to actuate said reciprocating assembly at a variable speed in response to the application of a speed control signal thereto;
• and
• a speed controller for applying said speed control signal to said drive unit, said speed controller being disposed in said housing and having a manually adjustable dial for establishing said speed control signal, said dial being mounted to said housing so as to extend outwardly from said housing inclined surface.

A foot sole massaging device including:

• a housing having an upper section, said housing upper section defining an inclined surface that extends along a selected plane, said inclined surface defining at least one foot rest surface;
• a mass block disposed in said housing by an elastic means for flexibly suspending said mass block from said housing upper section;
• a gear box disposed in said mass block by at least one resilient vibration damping member;
• a plurality of impact rods slidably mounted in said gear box and extending axially upward toward said at least one footrest surface;
• a plurality of impact heads, each said impact head being attached to a top end of a separate one of said impact rods so as to be located above and adjacent said at least one footrest surface;
• a cam assembly disposed in said gear box, said cam assembly including:
• a rotating cam formed with a camming surface;
• a cam follower slidably mounted to each of said impact rods, said cam followers being positioned to abut said camming surface;
• a stop ring secured to each said impact rod restricting movement of said cam follower along one axial direction of said impact rod;
• a plurality of biasing springs, each said biasing spring connected to a separate one of said impact rods for urging said associated cam follower against said camming surface;
• and a plurality of buffer springs, each said buffer spring being positioned to urge a separate one of said cam followers against said associated stop ring, wherein said camming surface is shaped so that when said cam is actuated, said impact rods are reciprocally displaced in a predetermined pattern;
• an electric motor disposed in said mass block and a gear reduction unit connected to said motor and disposed in said gear box and connected to said cam assembly for actuating said cam;
• a speed adjuster for providing a speed control signal to said electric motor, said speed adjuster having a dial for manually establishing said speed control signal, said dial projecting from said housing inclined surface;
• and
• a control circuit for regulating the application of drive current to said motor, said control circuit including:
• a power switch for controlling the application of power to said motor;
• a timer connected to said power switch for generating a signal for a predetermined time period upon the closing of said power switch;
• an optical sensor mounted to said mass block for sensing the placement of a foot on said foot rest surface and for producing a foot placed signal when a foot is so positioned;
• a logic gate connected to receive said timer signal and said foot placed signal that in response to receipt of said signals, asserts a driver.sub.-- on signal, wherein said electric motor is connected to receive said driver.sub.-- on signal and is activated in response to receiving said driver.sub.-- on signal.