CN112932906A - Corrugated pipe shaped soft actuator and hand rehabilitation training device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a corrugated tube-shaped soft actuator and a hand rehabilitation trainer, wherein the corrugated tube-shaped soft actuator comprises a hollow corrugated tube section; the first connector pipe section is connected with one end of the hollow corrugated pipe section; the projections of the outer contour of the wave crest structure and the outer contour of the wave trough structure of the hollow corrugated pipe section in the axial direction are two closed curves which are eccentrically arranged. The corrugated tube-shaped soft actuator can realize the combination of the stretching deformation and the bending deformation of the actuator under the unconstrained condition, and can combine the extension between fingers with the bending and straightening of the fingers when being used as a hand rehabilitation trainer.

Description

Corrugated pipe shaped soft actuator and hand rehabilitation training device

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of soft robots and hand health-care rehabilitation, in particular to a corrugated tube-shaped soft actuator and a hand rehabilitation trainer.

Background

Nowadays, the population of society is getting more and more old, the number of hemiplegia people caused by diseases such as cerebral apoplexy is getting bigger and bigger, and meanwhile, the number of people with hand motion function damage caused by accidents such as production accidents and traffic accidents is also increasing year by year. The patients can not take care of themselves due to the limb movement dysfunction, and the pressure is brought to families and society. The supplementary health care rehabilitation training of robot can practice thrift a large amount of manpower and materials to can carry out the aassessment of quantization to patient's recovered progress, train according to patient's recovered situation progressive.

In the hand health-care rehabilitation training, rigid structure exoskeleton robots and flexible structure exoskeleton robots are available in the market, the rigid structure exoskeleton robots are composed of traditional connecting rods, hinges, sliders and other structures, and the flexible structure exoskeleton robots are composed of flexible fluid actuators, such as pneumatic actuators made of silica gel. Compared with a rigid structure exoskeleton robot, the flexible structure exoskeleton robot has higher safety and comfort, and due to the flexible characteristic of the structure of the flexible structure exoskeleton robot, when collision or system interference occurs to generate sudden accidental loads, the flexible structure can buffer the accidental loads, and the injury to a patient can not be caused.

At present, the mainstream hand health care and rehabilitation training equipment in the market mainly adopts bellows soft actuators with equal wave height, such as circular bellows soft actuators or elliptical bellows soft actuators, the soft actuators have large strength and are suitable for hand disease patients with different degrees, but the problems of easy lateral bending, distortion and overlarge overall size exist, the bending direction has uncertainty and influences the using effect, the excessive bending of the bellows can cause secondary injury to users when the pressure is overlarge, the hand health care and rehabilitation training equipment adopting the bellows soft actuators with equal wave height in a sectional type installation has a complex process structure, more parts and inconvenient production and manufacture, and the existing part of the bellows soft actuators also has the problem of unreasonable installation mode.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide a bellows-shaped soft actuator and a hand rehabilitation training device, which are used to solve the technical problems of the prior art that the constant-wave-height bellows-shaped soft actuator is easy to bend and twist laterally and has a large overall size.

To achieve the above and other related objects, the present invention provides a bellows-shaped soft actuator, comprising:

a hollow bellows section;

the first connector pipe section is connected with one end of the hollow corrugated pipe section;

the projections of the outer contour of the wave crest structure and the outer contour of the wave trough structure of the hollow corrugated pipe section in the axial direction are two closed curves which are eccentrically arranged.

In an optional embodiment, the bellows-like soft actuator further comprises a second connector pipe section, the second connector pipe section is connected with the other end of the hollow bellows section, and one end of the second connector pipe section, which is far away from the hollow bellows section, is sealed or opened.

In an optional embodiment, the bellows-shaped soft actuator further comprises a hollow driving cavity, and the hollow driving cavity sequentially penetrates through the first connector pipe section, the hollow bellows pipe section and the second connector pipe section.

In an alternative embodiment, the wave height of the hollow bellows segment has a maximum value and a minimum value in the circumferential direction, the maximum value being greater than the minimum value.

In an alternative embodiment, the wave height of the hollow bellows in the circumferential direction varies continuously between the maximum value and the minimum value.

In an optional embodiment, the bellows-shaped soft actuator is made of an elastic material.

In an optional embodiment, the hollow bellows section, the first interface section and the second interface section of the bellows-like soft actuator are of an integrally formed structure.

In an alternative embodiment, when the projection pattern of the outer contour of the wave crest structure and the outer contour of the wave trough structure of the hollow bellows segment in the axial direction is a left-right symmetrical pattern, the hollow bellows segment is bent around an axis parallel to a perpendicular line of a symmetry plane of the left-right symmetrical plane when inflated.

In an alternative embodiment, when the projected pattern of the peak structure outer contour and the valley structure outer contour of the hollow bellows section in the axial direction is an asymmetric pattern, the hollow bellows section is bent around an axis which is substantially parallel to a perpendicular line of an axial section where a line connecting centers of the projected pattern of the peak structure outer contour and the valley structure outer contour of the hollow bellows section in the axial direction is located when the hollow bellows section is inflated.

To achieve the above and other related objects, the present invention also provides a hand rehabilitation training device, comprising:

a rehabilitation glove; and

bellows-like soft actuator comprising:

a hollow bellows section;

the first connector pipe section is connected with one end of the hollow corrugated pipe section;

the projections of the outer contour of the wave crest structure and the outer contour of the wave trough structure of the hollow corrugated pipe section in the axial direction are two closed curves which are eccentrically arranged.

The bellows-shaped soft actuator of the present invention has different wave heights in the circumferential direction, has different bending sectional coefficients in the circumferential direction, and is more flexible at a position with a large wave height than at a position with a large wave height, and is less likely to bend sideways at a position with a small wave height, and has a relatively definite bending direction.

When the corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator is filled with fluid or discharged with fluid, the corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator can obtain larger bending force compared with a corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator with equal wave height under the condition of the same sectional area.

The bellows-shaped soft actuator has a left-right symmetrical and up-down asymmetrical structure and an integral asymmetrical structure, can realize the combination of the stretching deformation and the bending deformation of the actuator under the unconstrained condition, and can combine the extension of fingers with the bending and straightening of the fingers when being used as a hand rehabilitation trainer.

The corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator is made of elastic materials and has good flexibility.

The bellows-shaped soft actuator has a simple structure and is easy to manufacture.

The corrugated tube-shaped soft actuator is integrally formed during manufacturing, so that the process flow and the number of connecting parts are reduced.

The corrugated tube-shaped soft actuator can be used as an integral soft actuator alone or a plurality of soft actuators are assembled into a segmented soft actuator in sequence.

The bellows-shaped soft actuator has smaller size and is convenient for children and other patients with small hand size to use.

The corrugated tube-shaped soft actuator with the bilaterally symmetrical and vertically asymmetrical structure is not easy to bend laterally when being used as a driving unit, and can effectively improve the use effect and the wearing comfort.

The corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator has multiple potential application fields, is used for developing flexible clamps and the like in the industrial field, and has very wide market prospect.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a bellows-shaped soft actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a radial cross-sectional view of a bellows-like soft actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along a-a direction in fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the direction B-B in fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a schematic perspective view of an integrated soft actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a hand rehabilitation training device using an integrated soft actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a segmented soft actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a hand rehabilitation training device using a segmented soft actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of another bellows-shaped soft actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a radial plane projection of the outer contour of the wave crest structure and the outer contour of the wave trough structure of another bellows-shaped soft actuator provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view taken along the direction C-C in fig. 10.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a third bellows-shaped soft actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of a radial plane projection of the outer profile of the wave crest structure and the outer profile of the wave trough structure of the third bellows-shaped soft actuator according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 14 is a sectional view taken along the direction D-D in fig. 13.

Fig. 15 is a sectional view taken along the direction E-E in fig. 13.

FIG. 16 is a schematic view of a fourth bellows-shaped soft actuator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a schematic view of a radial plane projection of the outer contour of the wave crest structure and the outer contour of the wave trough structure of a fourth bellows-shaped soft actuator according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 18 is a sectional view taken along the direction F-F in fig. 17.

Fig. 19 is a sectional view taken along the direction G-G in fig. 17.

Description of the element reference numerals

1 wave peak structure

2 trough structure

3 hollow corrugated pipe section

4 first connector pipe section

5 second connector pipe section

6 hollow driving cavity

7a first mounting base

7b second mounting base

10 integral soft actuator

10' sectional soft actuator

10a, 10b, 10c bellows-like soft actuator

20 recovered gloves

21 finger part

22 palm part

23 wrist part

30 fluid pipe

31 main pipeline

32 branch pipelines

Detailed Description

The embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to specific embodiments, and other advantages and effects of the present invention will be easily understood by those skilled in the art from the disclosure of the present specification. The invention is capable of other and different embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways, and its several details are capable of modification in various respects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It is to be noted that the features in the following embodiments and examples may be combined with each other without conflict.

It should be noted that the drawings provided in the following embodiments are only for illustrating the basic idea of the present invention, and the drawings only show the components related to the present invention rather than the number, shape and size of the components in actual implementation, and the type, quantity and proportion of the components in actual implementation may be changed freely, and the layout of the components may be more complicated.

Example one

Referring to fig. 1-4, in order to solve the problem that the conventional iso-bellows soft actuator is easy to bend laterally, twist and has a large overall size, the present embodiment provides a bellows soft actuator, wherein fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the bellows soft actuator of the present embodiment, fig. 2 is a radial cross-sectional view of the bellows soft actuator of the present embodiment at a position of a valley structure 2, and fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view along a direction a-a in fig. 2; fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the direction B-B in fig. 2.

Referring to fig. 1-4, in the present embodiment, the bellows-shaped soft actuator is mainly composed of a first connector pipe section 4, a hollow bellows section 3 and a second connector pipe section 5, which are sequentially disposed, and the bellows-shaped soft actuator is of a left-right and up-down symmetrical structure. The hollow corrugated pipe section 3 is a hollow elliptic corrugated pipe and comprises wave crest structures 1 and wave trough structures 2 which are alternately arranged along the axial direction, the projections of the outer contour of the wave crest structure 1 and the outer contour of the wave trough structure 2 of the hollow corrugated pipe section 3 in the axial direction are two ellipses which are concentrically arranged, the wave height of the hollow bellows section 3 (defined as the height from the top of the crest structure 1 to the bottom of the trough structure 2 at the respective locations) has a maximum value h1 and a minimum value h2 in the circumferential direction, the height of the hollow bellows segment 3 in the direction of the long axis of the wave crest structure 1 has a maximum value h1, and the wave height of the hollow corrugated pipe in the minor axis direction of the wave crest structure 1 has a minimum value h2, and the wave height of the hollow corrugated pipe section 3 in the circumferential direction is continuously changed between the maximum value h1 and the minimum value h2, wherein the maximum value h1 is greater than the minimum value h 2. It should be noted that, since the hollow bellows portion 3 has different wave heights in the circumferential direction, has different bending sectional coefficients in the circumferential direction, and has a larger bending sectional coefficient at a position where the wave height is small than at a position where the wave height is large, when the hollow bellows portion is constrained by a mounting base to be described later, the hollow bellows portion is easily bent at a position where the wave height is large, and is less likely to be bent sideways at a position where the wave height is small, and has a relatively definite bending direction.

Referring to fig. 1-4, in the present embodiment, the axial cross section of the hollow bellows segment 3 is a corrugated cross section, and the radial cross sections of the wave crest structure 1 and the wave trough structure 2 may be, for example, elliptical cross sections. The first connector pipe section 4 may be, for example, a hollow cylindrical pipe (although other shapes of tubular structures are also possible), the second connector pipe section 5 may be, for example, a hollow cylindrical pipe (although other shapes of tubular structures are also possible), the first connector pipe section 4 and the second connector pipe section 5 are respectively connected to two ends of the hollow bellows section 3, one end of the second connector pipe section 5 away from the hollow bellows section 3 is sealed or opened, and one end of the first connector pipe section 4 away from the hollow bellows section 3 is opened. The hollow cavity of the first connector pipe section 4, the hollow cavity of the hollow corrugated pipe section 3 and the hollow cavity of the second connector pipe section 5 are communicated with each other to form a hollow driving cavity 6, namely the hollow driving cavity 6 sequentially penetrates through the first connector pipe section 4, the hollow corrugated pipe section 3 and the second connector pipe section 5.

Referring to fig. 1-4, in the present embodiment, the bellows-shaped soft actuator is made of an elastic soft material, such as rubber, and has good flexibility. The bellows-like soft actuator can be formed integrally, for example, so that the process flow and the number of connecting parts can be reduced.

Referring to fig. 5, the present embodiment also describes a schematic perspective view of an integrated soft actuator 10, wherein the integrated soft actuator 10 is formed by assembling a bellows-shaped soft actuator of fig. 1-4 and a mounting base. In the integrated soft actuator 10, the end of the second connector pipe section 5 of the bellows-shaped soft actuator far away from the hollow bellows section 3 is sealed, the end of the first connector pipe section 4 of the bellows-shaped soft actuator far away from the hollow bellows section 3 is opened, the end of the first connector pipe section 4 far away from the hollow bellows section 3 is opened, the first connector pipe section 4 is used as a fluid inlet of the integrated soft actuator 10 and is connected with a fluid pump through a fluid pipe 30, and the fluid pump can pump fluid into or out of the hollow drive cavity 6, so that the integrated soft actuator 10 is driven to bend and deform. The mounting bases comprise first mounting bases 7a sleeved on the outer wall of the first connector pipe section 4 and the outer wall of the second connector pipe section 5 and second mounting bases 7b sleeved at a designated position (the position needs to be adjusted according to actual needs and avoids the position of a knuckle) on the outer wall of the hollow corrugated pipe section 3, the number of the second mounting bases 7b can be 0, 1, 2 or more, and the top of the first mounting base 7a is provided with a first assembling hole for the first connector pipe section 4 or the second connector pipe section 5 to pass through; the top of the second mounting base 7b is provided with a second assembly hole matched with the outer wall of the hollow corrugated pipe section 3, and the side wall of the second assembly hole is provided with a fracture along the axial direction of the integrated soft actuator 10, so that the second mounting base 7b is conveniently sleeved and assembled on the outer wall of the hollow corrugated pipe section 3; the first and second mounting bases 7a and 7b and the bellows-shaped soft actuator can be fixed by gluing, for example, and the bottom of the first and second mounting bases 7a and 7b and a rehabilitation glove 20 (which may be other rehabilitation device body) to be described later can be glued, for example, by glue, so that the integrated soft actuator 10 is mounted and constrained on the rehabilitation glove 20, and the hollow bellows section 3 can be bent around an axis substantially parallel to the perpendicular of the axial section of the maximum wave height of the hollow bellows section 3 when inflated, that is, around an axis substantially parallel to the minor axis of the elliptical radial section of the wave crest structure 1 of the hollow bellows section 3.

Referring to fig. 6, the present embodiment further describes a hand rehabilitation training device made by using the integrated soft actuator 10 of fig. 5, wherein the hand rehabilitation training device comprises a rehabilitation glove 20, the integrated soft actuator 10 and a fluid pipe 30. The rehabilitation glove 20 comprises a wrist part 23 sleeved on the wrist, a palm part 22 corresponding to the palm back and five finger parts 21 for inserting different fingers, which are sequentially connected, and at least one integrated soft actuator 10 is fixed on the back of the finger part 21 of the rehabilitation glove 20 through a mounting support; the fluid pipe 30 may include, for example, a main pipe 31 and a branch pipe 32 which are communicated with each other, one end of the branch pipe 32 of the fluid pipe 30, which is not connected to the main pipe 31, is connected to the fluid inlet of the integrated soft actuator 10, one end of the main pipe 31 of the fluid pipe 30, which is not connected to the branch pipe 32, is connected to a fluid pump, and the fluid pump may pump fluid into or out of the hollow driving cavity 6 of the integrated soft actuator 10, so as to drive the integrated soft actuator 10 to bend and deform, and drive the corresponding finger to perform corresponding rehabilitation training. In the hand rehabilitation training device, the number and the mounting position (different finger parts 21) of the integrated soft actuators 10 can be adjusted according to actual needs. In particular, fig. 6 shows that five integrated soft actuators 10 are respectively fixed on the back of the finger part 21 of the corresponding thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger and little finger of the rehabilitation glove 20 through respective mounting seats, wherein in each integrated soft actuator 10, a bellows-shaped soft actuator is mounted on the back of the finger part 21 of the rehabilitation glove 20 through a first mounting base 7a or a combination of the first mounting base 7a and a second mounting base 7b, and the axial section of the wave height maximum value of the hollow bellows section 3 is perpendicular to the back of the finger part 21 of the rehabilitation glove 20, so that the bending training of each finger can be carried out.

Referring to fig. 7, this embodiment also describes a schematic perspective view of a segmented soft actuator 10 ', wherein the segmented soft actuator 10' is formed by assembling a plurality of bellows-shaped soft actuators shown in fig. 1-4 with a first mounting base 7 a. The segmented soft actuator 10' comprises a plurality of corrugated tubular soft actuators which are connected from left to right in sequence, and two adjacent corrugated tubular soft actuators are connected and fixed through a first mounting base 7 a. Fig. 7 shows a case comprising 3 bellows-like soft actuators 10a, 10b and 10c, wherein the end of the second mouthpiece section 5 of the left-most bellows-like soft actuator 10a, which end is remote from the hollow bellows section 3, is designed sealingly as a first soft actuator, while the ends of the middle and right-most bellows-like soft actuators 10b and 10c, which end is remote from the hollow bellows section 3, are designed openly as a second soft actuator; a first mounting base 7a is respectively sleeved and fixed on the second connector pipe section 5 of the corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator 10a and the first connector pipe section 4 of the corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator 10c, the first connector pipe section 4 of the corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator 10a and the second connector pipe section 5 of the corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator 10b share the first mounting base 7a for butt-joint sealing assembly, the first connector pipe section 4 of the corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator 10b and the second connector pipe section 5 of the corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator 10c share the first mounting base 7a for butt-joint sealing assembly, and the butt-joint positions of two adjacent corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuators need to avoid the knuckle position, namely the first mounting base 7a shared by the two corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuators needs to avoid the knuckle position. It should be noted that, in other embodiments, the number of the second soft actuators in the bellows-shaped soft actuator in the segmented soft actuator 10' can be adjusted according to actual needs, and for example, may be one, two, three or more.

Referring to fig. 8, the present embodiment further describes a hand rehabilitation training device using the segmented soft actuator 10 ', the hand rehabilitation training device includes a rehabilitation glove 20, a segmented soft actuator 10 ' and a fluid tube 30, the rehabilitation glove 20 includes a wrist portion 23 for fitting around a wrist, a palm portion 22 corresponding to the back of the palm and five finger portions 21 for inserting different fingers, which are connected in sequence, at least one segmented soft actuator 10 ' is fixed on the back of one finger portion 21 of the rehabilitation glove 20 through its own mounting support; the fluid pipe 30 can comprise a main pipe 31 and a branch pipe 32 which are communicated with each other, for example, one end of the branch pipe 32 of the fluid pipe 30, which is not connected with the main pipe 31, is connected with the fluid inlet of the segmented soft actuator 10 ', one end of the main pipe 31 of the fluid pipe 30, which is not connected with the branch pipe 32, is connected with a fluid pump, and the fluid pump can pump fluid into or out of the hollow driving cavity 6 of the segmented soft actuator 10 ', so as to drive the segmented soft actuator 10 ' to bend and deform, and drive the corresponding finger to perform corresponding rehabilitation training. In the hand rehabilitation training device, the number and the installation position of the segmented soft actuators 10' can be adjusted according to actual needs. By way of example, in fig. 8 four segmented soft actuators 10' are shown, each fixed by means of a respective mounting seat to the back of the finger 21 of the corresponding index, middle, ring and little finger of the rehabilitation glove 20, while one of the above-mentioned monolithic soft actuators 10 is fixed by means of its own mounting seat to the finger 21 of the corresponding thumb of the rehabilitation glove 20.

The bellows-shaped soft actuator of the present embodiment has different wave heights in the circumferential direction, has different bending sectional coefficients in the circumferential direction, and is more flexible at a position with a large wave height than at a position with a large wave height, and is less likely to bend sideways at a position with a small wave height, and has a relatively definite bending direction; when the corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator is filled with fluid or discharged with fluid, the corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator can obtain larger force compared with a corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator with equal wave height under the condition of the same sectional area; the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the embodiment has simple structure and easy manufacture; the bellows-shaped soft actuator has smaller size, and is convenient for children and other patients with small hand size to use; the bellows-shaped soft actuator can be used as an integral soft actuator 10 alone, or a plurality of soft actuators can be assembled into a sectional soft actuator in sequence; the corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator is not easy to bend laterally when being used as a driving unit, so that the use effect and the wearing comfort can be effectively improved; the corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator has multiple potential application fields, is used for developing flexible clamps and the like in the industrial field, and has very wide market prospect.

Example two

Referring to fig. 9-11, another bellows-shaped soft actuator is described in the present embodiment, in which fig. 9 is an overall schematic view of the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the present embodiment, fig. 10 is a schematic view of a radial plane projection of an outer contour of a peak structure 1 and an outer contour of a valley structure 2 of the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the present embodiment, and fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along a direction C-C in fig. 10.

Referring to fig. 9-11, in the present embodiment, the bellows-shaped soft actuator is mainly composed of a first connector pipe section 4, a hollow bellows pipe section 3 and a second connector pipe section 5 which are sequentially arranged. The bellows-like soft actuator is of an overall asymmetric structure, which means that there is no plane of symmetry parallel to the axial direction of the hollow bellows section 3, the hollow corrugated pipe section 3 is a hollow elliptic corrugated pipe and comprises wave crest structures 1 and wave trough structures 2 which are alternately arranged along the axial direction, the projection pattern of the outer contour of the wave crest structure 1 and the outer contour of the wave trough structure 2 of the hollow corrugated pipe section 3 in the axial direction is two unsymmetrical ellipses which are eccentrically arranged (in other embodiments, two unsymmetrical closed curves which are eccentrically arranged, such as a circle, are also possible), the hollow corrugated pipe section 3 can be bent around an axis which is not parallel to a perpendicular line of an axial section of a connecting line of the centers of projected graphs of the outer contours of the peak structures 1 and the outer contours of the valley structures 2 of the hollow corrugated pipe section 3 in the axial direction when the hollow corrugated pipe section 3 is inflated. The wave height h of the hollow bellows section 3 (defined as the height from the top of the crest structure 1 to the bottom of the trough structure 2 at the corresponding position) has a maximum value and a minimum value in the circumferential direction, and the wave height h of the hollow bellows section 3 in the circumferential direction continuously changes between the maximum value and the minimum value, wherein the maximum value is greater than the minimum value.

Referring to fig. 9-11, in the present embodiment, the axial cross section of the hollow bellows segment 3 is a corrugated cross section, and the radial cross sections of the wave crest structure 1 and the wave trough structure 2 may be, for example, elliptical cross sections. The first connector pipe section 4 may be, for example, a hollow cylindrical pipe (although other shapes of tubular structures are also possible), the second connector pipe section 5 may be, for example, a hollow cylindrical pipe (although other shapes of tubular structures are also possible), the first connector pipe section 4 and the second connector pipe section 5 are respectively connected to two ends of the hollow bellows section 3, one end of the second connector pipe section 5 away from the hollow bellows section 3 is sealed or opened, and one end of the first connector pipe section 4 away from the hollow bellows section 3 is opened. The hollow cavity of the first connector pipe section 4, the hollow cavity of the hollow corrugated pipe section 3 and the hollow cavity of the second connector pipe section 5 are communicated with each other to form a hollow driving cavity 6, namely the hollow driving cavity 6 sequentially penetrates through the first connector pipe section 4, the hollow corrugated pipe section 3 and the second connector pipe section 5.

Referring to fig. 9-11, in the present embodiment, the bellows-shaped soft actuator is made of an elastic soft material, such as rubber, and has good flexibility. The bellows-like soft actuator can be formed integrally, for example, so that the process flow and the number of connecting parts can be reduced.

It should be noted that, like the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the first embodiment, the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the present embodiment may be mounted on the rehabilitation glove 20 through a mounting base to form a hand rehabilitation training device. It should be noted that, since the bending direction of the hollow bellows section 3 of the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the present embodiment is different from the bending direction of the hollow bellows section 3 of the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the first embodiment, the orientations of the bellows-shaped soft actuator after the two are mounted are different.

The bellows-like soft actuator of the present embodiment has different wave heights in the circumferential direction, has different bending sectional coefficients in the circumferential direction, and has a bending sectional coefficient larger at a position with a small wave height than at a position with a large wave height, and therefore is easily bent at a position with a large wave height, and is less likely to bend sideways at a position with a small wave height, and has a relatively definite bending direction; when the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the embodiment is filled with fluid or discharged with fluid, a larger bending force can be obtained compared with a bellows-shaped soft actuator with equal wave height under the condition of the same sectional area; the eccentric design of the wave crest structure and the wave trough structure of the corrugated tube-shaped soft actuator can realize the combination of the telescopic deformation and the bending deformation of the actuator under the unconstrained condition, and can combine the extension of fingers with the bending and straightening of the fingers when being used as a hand rehabilitation trainer; the corrugated tube-shaped soft actuator of the embodiment is not easy to bend laterally when being used as a driving unit, and can effectively improve the use effect and the wearing comfort; the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the embodiment has simple structure and easy manufacture; the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the embodiment has smaller size, and is convenient for children and other patients with small hand size to use; the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the embodiment has multiple potential application fields, is used for developing flexible clamps and the like in the industrial field, and has a very wide market prospect.

EXAMPLE III

Referring to fig. 12-15, a third bellows-shaped soft actuator is described in the present embodiment, in which fig. 12 is an overall schematic view of the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the present embodiment, fig. 13 is a schematic view of a radial plane projection of an outer contour of a peak structure 1 and an outer contour of a valley structure 2 of the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the present embodiment, and fig. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along a direction D-D in fig. 13; fig. 15 is a sectional view taken along the direction E-E in fig. 13.

Referring to fig. 12-15, in the present embodiment, the bellows-shaped soft actuator is mainly composed of a first connector pipe section 4 and a hollow bellows pipe section 3, which are sequentially disposed. The bellows-shaped soft actuator is of a bilaterally symmetrical and vertically asymmetrical structure, the hollow bellows section 3 is a hollow elliptic bellows and comprises a wave crest structure 1 and a wave trough structure 2 which are alternately arranged along the axial direction, and the projection pattern of the outer contour of the wave crest structure 1 and the outer contour of the wave trough structure 2 of the hollow bellows section 3 in the axial direction is two eccentrically arranged ellipses which are bilaterally symmetrical and vertically asymmetrical (in other embodiments, two asymmetrically and eccentrically arranged closed curves, such as circles, are also available), so that the hollow bellows section 3 is bent around an axis parallel to a perpendicular line of a bilaterally symmetrical plane when inflated in an unconstrained state. The wave height of the hollow bellows section 3 (defined as the height from the top of the crest structure 1 to the bottom of the trough structure 2 at the corresponding position) has a maximum value and a minimum value in the circumferential direction, and the wave height of the hollow bellows section 3 in the circumferential direction continuously changes between the maximum value and the minimum value, wherein the maximum value is greater than the minimum value.

Referring to fig. 12-15, in the present embodiment, the axial cross section of the hollow bellows segment 3 is a corrugated cross section, and the radial cross sections of the wave crest structure 1 and the wave trough structure 2 may be, for example, elliptical cross sections. The first connector pipe section 4 may be, for example, a hollow cylindrical pipe (although other shapes of tubular structures are also possible), the first connector pipe section 4 is connected to one end of the hollow bellows section 3, one end of the first connector pipe section 4 away from the hollow bellows section 3 is open, and the other end of the hollow bellows section 3 is closed or may be connected with a second connector pipe section 5 as shown in fig. 9. The hollow cavity of the first connector pipe section 4 and the hollow cavity of the hollow corrugated pipe section 3 are communicated with each other to form a hollow driving cavity 6, that is, the hollow driving cavity 6 sequentially penetrates through the first connector pipe section 4 and the hollow corrugated pipe section 3.

Referring to fig. 12-15, in the present embodiment, the bellows-shaped soft actuator is made of an elastic soft material, such as rubber, and has good flexibility. The bellows-like soft actuator can be formed integrally, for example, so that the process flow and the number of connecting parts can be reduced.

It should be noted that, like the bellows-like soft actuator of the first embodiment, the bellows-like soft actuator of the present embodiment can be mounted on the rehabilitation glove 20 through the mounting base to form a hand rehabilitation training device, and the axial cross section of the hollow bellows section 3 of the bellows-like soft actuator where the maximum value of the wave height is also perpendicular to the back surface of the finger 21.

The bellows-like soft actuator of the present embodiment has different wave heights in the circumferential direction, has different bending sectional coefficients in the circumferential direction, and has a bending sectional coefficient larger at a position with a small wave height than at a position with a large wave height, and therefore is easily bent at a position with a large wave height, and is less likely to bend sideways at a position with a small wave height, and has a relatively definite bending direction; the eccentric design of the wave crest structure and the wave trough structure of the corrugated tube-shaped soft actuator can realize the combination of the telescopic deformation and the bending deformation of the actuator under the unconstrained condition, and can combine the extension of fingers with the bending and straightening of the fingers when being used as a hand rehabilitation trainer; when the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the embodiment is filled with fluid or discharged with fluid, a larger bending force can be obtained compared with a bellows-shaped soft actuator with equal wave height under the condition of the same sectional area; the corrugated tube-shaped soft actuator of the embodiment is not easy to bend laterally when being used as a driving unit, and can effectively improve the use effect and the wearing comfort; the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the embodiment has simple structure and easy manufacture; the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the embodiment has smaller size, and is convenient for children and other patients with small hand size to use; the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the embodiment has multiple potential application fields, is used for developing flexible clamps and the like in the industrial field, and has a very wide market prospect.

Example four

Referring to fig. 16-19, a fourth bellows-shaped soft actuator is described in the present embodiment, in which fig. 16 is an overall schematic view of the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the present embodiment, fig. 17 is a schematic view of a radial plane projection of an outer contour of a peak structure 1 and an outer contour of a valley structure 2 of the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the present embodiment, and fig. 18 is a cross-sectional view taken along a direction F-F in fig. 17; fig. 19 is a sectional view taken along the direction G-G in fig. 17.

Referring to fig. 16-19, the difference between the bellows-shaped soft actuator of the present embodiment and the variant of the bellows-shaped soft actuator structure of the third embodiment is that in the third embodiment, the axial symmetric cross section (D-D cross section) of the hollow bellows section 3 and the axial cross section of the maximum value of the wave height of the hollow bellows section 3 are the same plane, while in the present embodiment, the axial symmetric cross section (G-G cross section) of the hollow bellows section 3 and the axial cross section of the minimum value of the wave height of the hollow bellows section 3 are the same plane, and other structures are substantially the same, so the description is not repeated.

As described above, the bellows-shaped soft actuator according to the present invention has different wave heights in the circumferential direction, has different bending sectional coefficients in the circumferential direction, and has a bending sectional coefficient larger at a position where the wave height is small than at a position where the wave height is large, and therefore is easily bent at a position where the wave height is large, and is less likely to cause lateral bending at a position where the wave height is small, and has a relatively definite bending direction. When the corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator is filled with fluid or discharged with fluid, the corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator can obtain larger bending force compared with a corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator with equal wave height under the condition of the same sectional area. The bellows-shaped soft actuator has a left-right symmetrical and up-down asymmetrical structure and an integral asymmetrical structure, can realize the combination of the stretching deformation and the bending deformation of the actuator under the unconstrained condition, and can combine the extension of fingers with the bending and straightening of the fingers when being used as a hand rehabilitation trainer. The corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator is made of elastic materials and has good flexibility. The bellows-shaped soft actuator has a simple structure and is easy to manufacture. The corrugated tube-shaped soft actuator is integrally formed during manufacturing, so that the process flow and the number of connecting parts are reduced. The corrugated tube-shaped soft actuator can be used as an integral soft actuator alone or a plurality of soft actuators are assembled into a segmented soft actuator in sequence. The bellows-shaped soft actuator has smaller size and is convenient for children and other patients with small hand size to use. The corrugated tube-shaped soft actuator with the bilaterally symmetrical and vertically asymmetrical structure is not easy to bend laterally when being used as a driving unit, and can effectively improve the use effect and the wearing comfort. The corrugated pipe-shaped soft actuator has multiple potential application fields, is used for developing flexible clamps and the like in the industrial field, and has very wide market prospect.

The foregoing embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and utilities of the present invention and are not intended to limit the invention. Any person skilled in the art can modify or change the above-mentioned embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, it is intended that all equivalent modifications or changes which can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and technical spirit of the present invention be covered by the claims of the present invention.

In the description herein, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of components and/or methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that an embodiment of the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other apparatus, systems, assemblies, methods, components, materials, parts, and/or the like. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of embodiments of the invention.

Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," or "a specific embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment, and not necessarily in all embodiments, of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment," "in an embodiment," or "in a specific embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics of any specific embodiment of the present invention may be combined in any suitable manner with one or more other embodiments. It is to be understood that other variations and modifications of the embodiments of the invention described and illustrated herein are possible in light of the teachings herein and are to be considered as part of the spirit and scope of the present invention.

It will also be appreciated that one or more of the elements shown in the figures can also be implemented in a more separated or integrated manner, or even removed for inoperability in some circumstances or provided for usefulness in accordance with a particular application.

Additionally, any reference arrows in the drawings/figures should be considered only as exemplary, and not limiting, unless otherwise expressly specified. Further, as used herein, the term "or" is generally intended to mean "and/or" unless otherwise indicated. Combinations of components or steps will also be considered as being noted where terminology is foreseen as rendering the ability to separate or combine is unclear.

As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, "a," "an," and "the" include plural references unless otherwise indicated. Also, as used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of "in …" includes "in …" and "on …" unless otherwise indicated.

The above description of illustrated embodiments of the invention, including what is described in the abstract of the specification, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed herein. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described herein for illustrative purposes only, various equivalent modifications are possible within the spirit and scope of the present invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize and appreciate. As indicated, these modifications may be made to the present invention in light of the foregoing description of illustrated embodiments of the present invention and are to be included within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The systems and methods have been described herein in general terms as the details aid in understanding the invention. Furthermore, various specific details have been given to provide a general understanding of the embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that an embodiment of the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other apparatus, systems, assemblies, methods, components, materials, parts, and/or the like. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, and/or operations are not specifically shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of embodiments of the invention.

Thus, although the present invention has been described herein with reference to particular embodiments thereof, a latitude of modification, various changes and substitutions are intended in the foregoing disclosures, and it will be appreciated that in some instances some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth. Thus, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the essential scope and spirit of the present invention. It is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular terms used in following claims and/or to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include any and all embodiments and equivalents falling within the scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be determined solely by the appended claims.

Claims (10)

1. A bellows-like soft actuator, comprising:

a hollow bellows section;

the first connector pipe section is connected with one end of the hollow corrugated pipe section;

the projections of the outer contour of the wave crest structure and the outer contour of the wave trough structure of the hollow corrugated pipe section in the axial direction are two closed curves which are eccentrically arranged.

2. The bellows-like soft actuator according to claim 1, further comprising a second connector tube section connected to the other end of the hollow bellows section, wherein the end of the second connector tube section remote from the hollow bellows section is sealed or opened.

3. The bellows-like soft actuator according to claim 1, further comprising a hollow drive cavity sequentially penetrating the first connector tube section and the hollow bellows section.

4. The bellows-like soft actuator according to claim 1, wherein the wave height of the hollow bellows segment has a maximum value and a minimum value in the circumferential direction, the maximum value being greater than the minimum value.

5. The bellows-like soft actuator according to claim 4, wherein the wave height of the hollow bellows in the circumferential direction varies continuously between the maximum value and the minimum value.

6. The bellow-shaped soft actuator according to claim 1, wherein said bellow-shaped soft actuator is made of an elastic material.

7. The bellows-like soft actuator according to claim 1, wherein the hollow bellows section and the first interface section of the bellows-like soft actuator are of an integrally formed structure.

8. The bellows-like soft actuator according to claim 1, wherein when the projected pattern of the outer contour of the peak structure and the outer contour of the valley structure of the hollow bellows segment in the axial direction is a left-right symmetrical pattern, the hollow bellows segment is curved when inflated about an axis parallel to a perpendicular line of the left-right symmetrical plane.

9. The bellows-like soft actuator according to claim 1, wherein when the projected pattern of the peak structure outer contour and the valley structure outer contour of the hollow bellows segment in the axial direction is an asymmetric pattern, the hollow bellows segment is curved when inflated about an axis substantially parallel to a perpendicular to the axial cross-section of the line connecting the centers of the projected pattern of the peak structure outer contour and the valley structure outer contour of the hollow bellows segment in the axial direction.

10. A hand rehabilitation training device, comprising:

a rehabilitation glove; and

bellows-like soft actuator comprising:

a hollow bellows section;

the first connector pipe section is connected with one end of the hollow corrugated pipe section;

the projections of the outer contour of the wave crest structure and the outer contour of the wave trough structure of the hollow corrugated pipe section in the axial direction are two closed curves which are eccentrically arranged.

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