The China National Standard for Massage Chair (revised) released Revision led by OGAWA Group
According to the announcement for Newly Approved National Standards of P. R. China (No. 8, 2022), the revised National Standard for Massage Chairs GB/T 26182-2022 "Household and Similar Healthful Massage Chair" has been officially released on July 11th, 2022, and will come into force starting February 1st, 2023.
The revision was approved by the China Academy of Home Appliances in 2019, OGAWA Group takes the leading role in collaboration with other ten key players from the massage & wellness industry, and finalized the revised version after thorough and comprehensive discussions in the past 3 years.
China is now the world's largest manufacturing hub of massage chairs with leading R&D and manufacturing technologies, in recent years, the massage chair features are significantly enhanced and enriched by applying IoT, big data, and intelligent control technologies. As the industry leader, OGAWA Group is committed to promote the healthy and sustainable development of the massage chair industry, thus the most advanced technologies of massage chairs are summarized and presented in the revision, providing theoretical support for the technology upgrade of massage & wellness, navigating the intelligentization of massage chair R&D.
Here the highlights of the revised standard:
1. New: Massage Movement Classification Standard
Based on the reviewing credits, the massage movements are rated either as 1D, 2D, 3D, or 4D.
The most advanced previous massage movement which is acknowledged as 3D movement could control 3-dimentional motion of the massage rollers accurately. the revised standard introduced the innovative definition 4D Movement, which achieves accurate control of massage rollers’ 3 spatial motion coordination in any designated position, promising the capability to plan and execute spatial trajectories. Since the 4D movement can perform specific massage techniques on different body shapes and for fatigue levels accurately, it enables the massage chair to replicate the professional TCM massage therapy and to deliver excellent human-like massage experience. This is a significant innovation in the massage chair history.
2. New: Massage Chair Grading Standard
Massage chairs are rated as either Grade A, Grade B or Grade C based on criteria including the equipped massage movement, the working noise, the durability, the frame, the massage features. The grading presents the overall performance of massage chairs and helps consumer as they make purchase decision making for massage chair.
3. New: Standard for Smart Massage Chair
A Smart Massage Chair leverages the latest technologies such as AI, big data, and IoT, and offers customized massage programs tailored for specific individual needs. Implementing health monitoring, program push and health management, a smart massage chair tailors massage programs and delivers the personalized massage experience for the user’s best massage benefits.
4. Modified: Enhanced Noise Requirement for Massage Chair
To provide more comfortable massage experience with massage chair, the revised standard requires “noise value should not exceed 60dB”, instead of the “62dB” in the previous version.
5. New: Energy-efficiency Requirement for Massage Chair
The revised standard has introduced QB/T 5359-2019 "Energy Efficiency Limits and Energy Efficiency Grading for Massage Chairs" for lower stand-by power consumption and the improved energy efficiency level of massage chair.
6. Expanded Scope: Commercial Chairs now Included
The revised standard sets clear requirements for the commercial massage chairs (vending chairs) in 8 aspects including general requirements, electrical safety, flame retardance.
The revision shall further promote the standardization of massage chair and its related technology, providing theoretical support for technology upgrade, and navigating the intelligentization of massage chair industry. On the other hand, the revised standard also contributes to protecting consumer rights and interests, and energies the structural optimization of massage chair industry for sustainable development.
OGAWA Group has been actively participating in standard development for massage & wellness. By now OGAWA Group has led the development and revision of 17 standards, including 4 national, 7 industrial, and 6 associational.
