CN111249115A

CN111249115A - Exoskeleton assembly and lower limb rehabilitation device

Info

Publication number: CN111249115A
Application number: CN202010068319.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 谭高辉; 杨静静; 梁余意; 韩小刚; 徐志军
Original assignee: Shenzhen Chwishay Smart Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Chwishay Smart Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-01-20
Filing date: 2020-01-20
Publication date: 2020-06-09

Abstract

The invention discloses an exoskeleton assembly and a lower limb rehabilitation device, wherein the exoskeleton assembly comprises: an exoskeleton body; the first binding sleeve is connected to the exoskeleton body and is worn on the shank, so that the exoskeleton body corresponds to the shank; a first strap is rotatably coupled to the exoskeleton body, and an axis of rotation of the first strap is perpendicular to a coronal plane of the human body. The exoskeleton assembly can provide correct auxiliary action for patients with individual difference, meets the requirements of different patients, and improves the adaptability and the practicability of the exoskeleton assembly.

Description

Exoskeleton assembly and lower limb rehabilitation device

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of rehabilitation robots, in particular to an exoskeleton assembly and a lower limb rehabilitation device.

Background

Rehabilitation robots are one of the research hotspots in the international robot field. At present, a rehabilitation robot becomes an important auxiliary medical device and is widely applied to the aspects of rehabilitation nursing, artificial limbs, rehabilitation treatment and the like.

The lower limb exoskeleton robot is a rehabilitation robot which is composed of a mechanism body, a hardware system, an algorithm and software system and a wearable part, and can help patients with stroke, spinal cord injury and lower limb motor function disorder to perform rehabilitation training. Specifically, the patient can perform functional training such as sitting, standing, walking, balancing and the like by using the lower limb exoskeleton robot, so that the patient is helped to gradually recover muscle strength, master body balance and correct abnormal walking gait, and then return to normal life.

The shank exoskeleton is worn on the shank through the binding sleeve, but in the prior art, the shank exoskeleton is fixedly connected with the binding sleeve, so that the shank exoskeleton can also incline after the binding sleeve is worn on a patient with slightly bent shank, the exoskeleton cannot play a correct supporting role in the rehabilitation process of the patient, namely the exoskeleton cannot meet the requirement of the patient with individual difference, and the practicability of the exoskeleton assembly is reduced.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention mainly aims to provide an exoskeleton assembly and aims to solve the technical problem of improving the practicability of the exoskeleton assembly.

To achieve the above object, the present invention proposes an exoskeleton assembly comprising:

an exoskeleton body;

a first strap coupled to the exoskeleton body, the first strap configured to be worn on a calf such that the exoskeleton body corresponds to a calf bone; the first strap is rotatably coupled to the exoskeleton body, and an axis of rotation of the first strap is perpendicular to a coronal plane of the human body.

Preferably, the exoskeleton body is convexly provided with a rotating shaft, and the first binding sleeve is in rotatable fit with the rotating shaft.

Preferably, the exoskeleton assembly further comprises an adapter rotatably engaged with the rotating shaft, and the first strap is connected to the adapter.

Preferably, the peripheral wall of pivot is seted up along the mounting groove of circumference extension, the protruding collar that is equipped with of internal perisporium of adapter, the collar with mounting groove rotatable fit.

Preferably, the exoskeleton body is further convexly provided with a limiting protrusion on one side of the rotating shaft, the adapter is provided with a position avoiding groove corresponding to the limiting protrusion, and the adapter can rotate to enable two opposite side walls of the position avoiding groove to be in limit abutting joint with the limiting protrusion.

Preferably, a central angle formed by the two opposite side walls of the avoiding groove and the axis of the adapter is not less than 30 ° and does not exceed 50 °.

Preferably, the first strap is connected to a lower end of the exoskeleton body, and the exoskeleton assembly further comprises a second strap connected to an upper end of the exoskeleton body.

Preferably, the exoskeleton body is adjustably positionable in length.

Preferably, the exoskeleton assembly further comprises a flap and a connector connected to the flap, wherein the flap comprises a first fold part and a second fold part, the first fold part is connected to the upper end of the exoskeleton body and extends along the left-right direction, the second fold part is connected to the tail end of the first fold part and extends backwards, and the connector is connected to the rear end of the second fold part and is used for being in rotating fit with the power joint part;

the first fold part is matched with the exoskeleton body in a sliding way, so that the distance between the second fold part and the exoskeleton body is adjustable;

and/or the second folding part is in sliding fit with the connecting piece, so that the distance between the first folding part and the connecting piece is adjustable.

The present invention also provides a lower limb rehabilitation device comprising an exoskeleton assembly comprising: an exoskeleton body; a first strap coupled to the exoskeleton body, the first strap configured to be worn on a calf such that the exoskeleton body corresponds to a calf bone; the first strap is rotatably coupled to the exoskeleton body, and an axis of rotation of the first strap is perpendicular to a coronal plane of the human body.

The exoskeleton assembly can enable the first binding sleeve to rotate around the front and back directions of a human body relative to the exoskeleton body by enabling the exoskeleton body and the first binding sleeve to be rotatably connected, so that the first binding sleeve can adapt to crus with different bending degrees through rotation, and the worn exoskeleton body can be kept vertical; the exoskeleton body can provide accurate supporting force for the rehabilitation exercise of the patient, and avoids damage to the crus due to the staggered stress direction in the rehabilitation exercise process, so that the exoskeleton assembly can provide correct auxiliary action for the patient with individual difference, the requirements of different patients are met, and the adaptability and the practicability of the exoskeleton assembly are improved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the structures shown in the drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the exoskeleton assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of one embodiment of the exoskeleton assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of another embodiment of the exoskeleton assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded schematic view of yet another embodiment of the exoskeleton assembly of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural view of an embodiment of the lower limb rehabilitation device of the invention.

The reference numbers illustrate:

reference numerals	Name (R)	Reference numerals	Name (R)	Reference numerals	Name (R)
						10	Exoskeleton body	20	First binding sleeve	30	Rotating shaft
40	Adapter	31	Mounting groove	41	Mounting ring
						11	Spacing protrusion	42	Avoiding groove	50	Folded plate
60	Connecting piece	51	First fold part	52	Second fold part
						70	Dynamic joint component	80	Second binding sleeve

The implementation, functional features and advantages of the objects of the present invention will be further explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that, if directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, front, and back … …) are involved in the embodiment of the present invention, the directional indications are only used to explain the relative positional relationship between the components, the movement situation, and the like in a specific posture (as shown in the drawing), and if the specific posture is changed, the directional indications are changed accordingly.

In addition, if there is a description of "first", "second", etc. in an embodiment of the present invention, the description of "first", "second", etc. is for descriptive purposes only and is not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In addition, the meaning of "and/or" appearing throughout is to include three juxtapositions, exemplified by "A and/or B," including either the A or B arrangement, or both A and B satisfied arrangement. In addition, technical solutions between various embodiments may be combined with each other, but must be realized by a person skilled in the art, and when the technical solutions are contradictory or cannot be realized, such a combination should not be considered to exist, and is not within the protection scope of the present invention.

The invention provides an exoskeleton assembly applied to a lower limb rehabilitation device.

In an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1-4, the exoskeleton assembly comprises: an exoskeleton body 10; a first strap 20 connected to the exoskeleton body 10, the first strap 20 being adapted to be worn on the lower leg such that the exoskeleton body 10 corresponds to the lower leg bone; the first strap 20 is pivotally connected to the exoskeleton body 10, and the axis of rotation 30 of the first strap 20 is perpendicular to the coronal plane of the human body.

In this embodiment, the exoskeleton body 10 is connected to the front side surface of the first binding sleeve 20, after the first binding sleeve 20 is worn on the affected leg, the exoskeleton body 10 is relatively fixed on the front side of the affected leg and corresponds to the leg bone, so as to assist the affected leg bone to play a supporting role in the rehabilitation exercise process of the patient. The lateral dimension of the first strap 20 is adjustable to accommodate different lower leg sizes. The lower limb rehabilitation device further comprises a power joint part 70, the power joint part 70 is bound on the affected thigh and is positioned on the outer side of the affected thigh, and the power joint part 70 is rotatably matched with the upper end of the exoskeleton body 10 so as to rotate back and forth relative to the exoskeleton body 10. The power joint part 70 is bound on the affected thigh, and the joint of the power joint part 70 and the lower leg exoskeleton is close to the knee joint, i.e. the forward and backward rotation of the power joint part 70 can assist the lower limb to bend or extend the knee. At this time, the acting force applied to the exoskeleton body 10 acts on the lower leg through the first binding sleeve 20, and the direction of the acting force needs to conform to the motion mechanics of the human body, so as to accurately simulate the stress condition of the lower leg during the motion process. That is, during the exercise, the exoskeleton body 10 should be kept in a vertical state to avoid tilting to the left and right, so that the force applied to the lower leg can be kept vertically downward; if the direction of the acting force applied to the lower leg is excessively inclined, abnormal load is applied to the lower leg, and recovery is not facilitated.

In practical application, the shanks of different patients have different degrees of bending difference, and if the first binding sleeve 20 is fixedly connected with the exoskeleton body 10, the first binding sleeve 20 may be inclined to the vertical direction after being worn on the shank, so that the shank is forced in an abnormal direction in the process of assisting the movement of the power joint component 70. Therefore, the first cuff 20 of the present embodiment is rotatably connected to the exoskeleton body 10, and the rotation axis 30 is perpendicular to the coronal plane of the human body, which is a cross section that longitudinally cuts the human body into front and rear parts along the left and right directions, i.e. the rotation axis 30 of the first cuff 20 extends along the front and rear directions of the human body, so that the first cuff 20 can rotate relative to the exoskeleton body 10 along the left and right directions. Therefore, after the first binding sleeve 20 is worn on the lower leg, even if the lower leg is slightly bent, the first binding sleeve can be rotated to the vertical state by rotating the exoskeleton body 10, so that the normal stress of the lower leg in the process of assisted exercise can be ensured. The specific connection structure of the first binding 20 to the exoskeleton body 10 is not limited herein, and only a rotatable connection is required.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 2, the exoskeleton body 10 is convexly provided with a rotating shaft 30, and the first binding sleeve 20 is rotatably matched with the rotating shaft 30. In this embodiment, the first cuff 20 is made of a flexible material to improve wearing comfort. The shaft 30 is made of a hard material to ensure rotational stability. Therefore, the shaft 30 protrudes from the exoskeleton body 10, which can enhance the structural strength and structural integrity. The first binding sleeve 20 can be provided with a shaft hole matched with the rotating shaft 30 so as to be directly matched with the rotating shaft 30, and can also be matched with the rotating shaft 30 through an adapter so as to improve the matching strength.

In practice, as shown in fig. 2, the exoskeleton assembly further comprises an adapter 40 rotatably coupled to the shaft 30, and the first strap 20 is coupled to the adapter 40. In the embodiment, the adapter 40 is disposed in a ring shape or a cylinder shape, the adapter 40 is sleeved on the rotating shaft 30 and rotatably engaged with the rotating shaft 30, and one end of the adapter 40 protrudes out of the end of the rotating shaft 30 to be fixedly connected with the first binding sleeve 20. For example, a via hole is formed in the first binding sleeve 20, a fixing hole is formed in the end face, facing the first binding sleeve 20, of the adapter 40, and the via hole and the fixing hole can be connected in series through a fastener, so that the first binding sleeve 20 and the adapter 40 are relatively fixed, and therefore, the matching area of the adapter 40 and the rotating shaft 30 is increased, the connection strength of the adapter 40 and the first binding sleeve 20 is improved, and the matching strength of the first binding sleeve 20 and the exoskeleton body 10 is indirectly improved.

In an embodiment, as shown in fig. 2, a circumferential wall of the rotating shaft 30 is provided with a mounting groove 31 extending along a circumferential direction, an inner circumferential wall of the adaptor 40 is convexly provided with a mounting ring 41, and the mounting ring 41 is rotatably engaged with the mounting groove 31. In this embodiment, the mounting groove 31 extends along the circumferential direction of the rotating shaft 30, the mounting ring 41 extends along the circumferential direction of the adapter 40, and the mounting ring 41 is matched with the mounting groove 31, so that the adapter 40 can be rotationally matched with the rotating shaft 30, the adapter 40 can be axially limited, the adapter 40 is prevented from being separated from the rotating shaft 30, and the matching stability of the adapter 40 and the rotating shaft 30 is improved.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 3, the exoskeleton body 10 further has a limiting protrusion 11 protruding from one side of the rotating shaft 30, the adaptor 40 is provided with an avoiding groove 42 corresponding to the limiting protrusion 11, and the adaptor 40 can rotate to make two opposite sidewalls of the avoiding groove 42 abut against the limiting protrusion 11 in a limiting manner. In this embodiment, the limiting protrusion 11 is convexly disposed on the upper side of the rotating shaft 30, after the rotating shaft 30 is sleeved with the adaptor 40, the limiting protrusion 11 is located in the avoiding groove 42, that is, the limiting protrusion 11 is located on the rotating track of the adaptor 40, and the rotation angle of the adaptor 40 can be limited by the abutting of the two side walls of the avoiding groove 42 and the limiting protrusion 11, so as to limit the rotation angle of the first binding sleeve 20 relative to the exoskeleton body 10. That is to say, the rotation angle of first bandage relative to the ectoskeleton body also can be restricted by spacing arch to can prevent that first bandage from rotating to the position that upside down or dress mouthful and beat violently relative to the ectoskeleton body, in order to make things convenient for the user to dress first bandage more conveniently, accurately.

In practical applications, the central angle formed by the two opposite side walls of the avoiding groove 42 and the axis of the adapter 40 is not less than 30 ° and does not exceed 50 °. In this embodiment, the central angle formed by the two opposite side walls of the avoiding groove 42 and the axis of the adaptor 40, i.e. the angle at which the exoskeleton body 10 can rotate relative to the first binding sleeve 20, is set to be 30 ° to 50 °, which can ensure that the rotation range of the exoskeleton body 10 can adapt to the bending degree of the lower leg of most patients, so as to effectively keep the vertical; but also can avoid the force acting on the exoskeleton body 10 from generating transverse component force so as to effectively protect the crus. The central angle formed by the two opposite side walls of the avoiding groove 42 and the axis of the adaptor 40 can be set to 40 °, that is, the exoskeleton body 10 can rotate 20 ° left and right respectively relative to the first binding sleeve 20.

In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 1-5, the first strap 20 is connected to the lower end of the exoskeleton body 10, and the exoskeleton assembly further comprises a second strap 80 connected to the upper end of the exoskeleton body 10. In this embodiment, the second strap 80 is also adapted to be worn on the lower leg, the second strap 80 is worn on the lower leg adjacent to the knee joint, and the second strap 80 is fixedly connected to the exoskeleton body 10, i.e., the upper end of the exoskeleton body 10 is fixed relative to the lower leg, so that the portion of the exoskeleton body 10 connected to the powered joint component 70 is not displaced. The lower end of the exoskeleton body 10 can rotate relative to the upper end, namely, the relative position of the exoskeleton body and the shank can be dynamically adjusted after being worn so as to adapt to the change of the curvature of the shank caused by leg muscles or other factors, and therefore, the adaptability and the practicability of the exoskeleton assembly are further improved.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the exoskeleton body 10 is adjustably set in length. In this embodiment, the exoskeleton body 10 includes a lower bone portion and an upper bone portion, the upper bone portion is provided with a sliding groove, and the lower bone portion is in sliding fit with the sliding groove to control the exposed length of the lower bone portion, so as to adjust the overall length of the exoskeleton body 10. The upper bone part is provided with an elastic knob for carrying out fastening and positioning on the adjusted lower bone part. In addition, the lower bone portion is provided with scales so that the user can read the adjusted length of the exoskeleton body 10 more intuitively. By providing the exoskeleton body 10 with an adjustable length, the exoskeleton body 10 can be adapted to patients with different leg lengths, thereby further improving the adaptability and practicability of the exoskeleton assembly.

In practical application, as shown in fig. 1 to 4, the exoskeleton assembly further comprises a flap 50 and a connecting member 60 connected to the flap 50, wherein the flap 50 comprises a first fold portion 51 and a second fold portion 52, the first fold portion 51 is connected to the upper end of the exoskeleton body 10 and extends in the left-right direction, the second fold portion 52 is connected to the end of the first fold portion 51 and extends in the rear direction, and the connecting member 60 is connected to the rear end of the second fold portion 52 for being rotatably engaged with the power joint part 70;

the first fold 51 is slidably engaged with the exoskeleton body 10 such that the second fold 52 is adjustably spaced from the exoskeleton body 10; and/or the second folding part 52 is slidably matched with the connecting part 60, so that the distance between the first folding part 51 and the connecting part 60 is adjustable.

In this embodiment, the first fold 51 is connected to the side of the exoskeleton body 10 adjacent to the outer side of the affected leg, the second fold 52 extends rearward from the end of the first fold 51 away from the exoskeleton body 10, and the link 60 is connected to the second fold 52 and is in rotational engagement with the powered joint part 70, thereby achieving rotational engagement of the powered joint part 70 with the exoskeleton body 10 to enable the powered joint part 70 to rotate back and forth relative to the exoskeleton body 10. The upper end of the exoskeleton body 10 is provided with a sliding groove, and the first folding portion 51 is in sliding fit with the sliding groove to control the exposed length of the first folding portion 51, so that the distance between the second folding portion 52 and the exoskeleton body 10 can be adjusted. The exoskeleton body 10 is provided with a tightening/loosening knob for tightening and positioning the first folding portion 51 after the length of the first folding portion is adjusted. In addition, the first fold 51 is also graduated to facilitate the user to more intuitively read the distance between the second fold 52 and the exoskeleton body 10.

The connecting member 60 is provided with a sliding hole, and the second folding portion 52 is slidably engaged with the sliding hole to control the distance between the second folding portion 52 and the power joint component 70, so as to adjust the distance between the first folding portion 51 and the connecting member 60. The connecting member 60 is provided with a tightening knob for tightening and positioning the second folding portion 52 after adjusting the distance. In addition, the second fold portion 52 is provided with a scale to facilitate the user to more intuitively read the distance between the first fold portion 51 and the connecting member 60. By arranging the distance between the first folding part 51 and the connecting part 60 to be adjustable, and the distance between the second folding part 52 and the exoskeleton body 10 to be adjustable, the exoskeleton assembly can adapt to patients with different leg widths and thicknesses, and the adaptability and the practicability of the exoskeleton assembly are further improved.

As shown in fig. 5, the present invention further provides a lower limb rehabilitation device, which includes an exoskeleton assembly, and the specific structure of the exoskeleton assembly refers to the above embodiments, and since the lower limb rehabilitation device adopts all technical solutions of all the above embodiments, at least all the beneficial effects brought by the technical solutions of the above embodiments are achieved, and are not described herein again.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and all modifications and equivalents of the present invention, which are made by the contents of the present specification and the accompanying drawings, or directly/indirectly applied to other related technical fields, are included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An exoskeleton assembly, comprising:

an exoskeleton body;

2. An exoskeleton assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the exoskeleton body is provided with a shaft on which the first cuff is rotatably engaged.

3. An exoskeleton assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein the exoskeleton assembly further comprises an adapter rotatably coupled to the shaft, the first strap being coupled to the adapter.

4. An exoskeleton assembly as claimed in claim 3 wherein the peripheral wall of the shaft defines a mounting slot extending circumferentially and the inner peripheral wall of the adaptor has a mounting ring projecting therefrom, the mounting ring being rotatably engaged with the mounting slot.

5. An exoskeleton assembly as claimed in claim 4 wherein the exoskeleton body further comprises a limiting protrusion protruding from one side of the rotation shaft, the adaptor defines a space-avoiding slot corresponding to the limiting protrusion, and the adaptor is rotatable to limit the two opposite side walls of the space-avoiding slot to abut against the limiting protrusion.

6. An exoskeleton assembly as claimed in claim 5 wherein the two opposing side walls of the space avoidance slot form a central angle with the axis of the adaptor base of not less than 30 ° and not more than 50 °.

7. An exoskeleton assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the first strap is connected to a lower end of the exoskeleton body and the exoskeleton assembly further comprises a second strap connected to an upper end of the exoskeleton body.

8. An exoskeleton assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the length of the exoskeleton body is adjustably settable.

9. An exoskeleton assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the exoskeleton assembly further comprises a flap and a link connected to the flap, the flap comprising a first fold connected to the upper end of the exoskeleton body and extending in a side-to-side direction and a second fold connected to the end of the first fold and extending rearwardly, the link being connected to the rear end of the second fold for pivotal engagement with the powered joint part;

10. A lower extremity rehabilitation device comprising an exoskeleton assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9.