JP2009201648A - Joint bending/stretching movement assist device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce a burden applied to a wearer when wearing a joint bending/stretching movement assist device and trying to start the bending/stretching movement from a non-drive state of an actuator. <P>SOLUTION: This joint bending/stretching movement assist device is provided with a wearing device 1 to be worn in the periphery of a proximal interphalangeal joint 11 of a finger 20, an angle sensor 22 detecting a bending angle of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11, and the actuator 2 installed on the wearing device 1 via an adhesion site 3 and applying a bending/stretching force to the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 according to an output of the angle sensor. A play is formed between the actuator 2 and a wearing part 3 so as to bend the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 to a predetermined angle detectable by the angle sensor 22 in a state where the actuator 2 executes no bending/stretching movement. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a device that is attached to a body such as a finger and assists a bending and extending motion of a joint, and a method using the same.

  Power assist devices that are attached to the human body to assist the movement are required to have a natural feeling of wear that does not burden the wearer. To achieve this, an actuator must be installed so as not to interfere with the wearer's movement. is important. An example of a conventional assist device is a power assist grab that assists a hand gripping operation. Patent Document 1 discloses an assist grab in which an actuator that bends in the direction of bending a finger is arranged on the back side of a finger in order to assist bending of a finger joint. With such a configuration, an assist grab that can naturally hold an object without arranging a device in the palm of the hand is realized.

The actuator is fixed so as not to be detached from the joint portion in order to reliably support the movement of the finger. In the configuration of Patent Document 1, it is fixed to a mounting member attached to the hand over the entire length of the actuator or near both ends of the actuator. With such a configuration, bending force is applied to the assisting joint from both sides to support finger movement.
JP 2006-294 A

  In the configuration of Patent Document 1, it is necessary to bend or extend the actuator by the wearer's own force when attempting to start bending or stretching the finger from the non-driven state of the actuator after wearing the power assist device. Thus, there remains a problem that a greater burden is generated than when not mounted.

  The present invention is for solving such a problem, and is intended to reduce a burden on a wearer when a joint bending / extension motion assisting device is mounted to start a joint bending / extending motion from a non-driven state of an actuator. Objective.

  In order to achieve the above object, a joint flexion / extension motion assisting device according to the present invention includes a mounting portion to be mounted around at least one joint of a body, an angle sensor for detecting a bending angle of the at least one joint, An articulation / extension motion assisting device having an actuator that is installed in the attachment portion via an adhesive portion and applies a flexion / extension force to the at least one joint according to an output of the angle sensor, There is play between the actuator and the mounting portion so that the joint can be bent at least to a predetermined angle that can be detected by the angle sensor in a state in which the actuator is not operated.

  Alternatively, in the joint bending / extension motion assisting method according to the present invention, an angle sensor for detecting a bending angle of the joint is attached to the peripheral part of at least one joint of the body, and the joint peripheral part is configured to give the bending / extension force to the joint. In the joint bending / extension operation assisting method for controlling the bending angle of the actuator according to the bending angle detected by the angle sensor, an angle necessary for bending / extending the actuator without operating the actuator. The actuator is attached to the periphery of the joint so as to allow play so that the joint can bend and stretch to the extent that the detection output of the sensor can be obtained.

  Alternatively, the joint flexion / extension motion assisting device according to the present invention includes a mounting portion that is mounted around at least one joint A of the body, and an angle sensor that detects a bending angle of at least one joint B that operates in cooperation with the joint A. A joint bending / stretching operation assisting device, comprising: an actuator that is installed in the mounting portion via an adhesive portion and applies a bending / stretching force to the at least one joint A in accordance with an output of the angle sensor. There is play between the actuator and the mounting portion so that the joint B can be bent at least to a predetermined angle that can be detected by the angle sensor in a state where the bending operation is not performed.

  According to the present invention, the burden on the wearer is reduced when the joint flexion / extension motion assisting device is attached to start the joint flexion / extension motion from the non-driven state of the actuator.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Here, the same or similar parts are denoted by common reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a state in which the index finger of the right hand is extended and stopped in the first embodiment of the joint flexion / extension motion assisting device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a state when the proximal interphalangeal joint (PIP joint, second joint) of the index finger of the right hand is bent and bent 20 degrees from the stationary state in the joint flexion / extension motion assisting device of FIG. FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing a state in which the actuator is operated from the state of the joint bending / extension motion assisting device of FIG. 2.

  In this embodiment, a joint flexion / extension motion assisting device that assists the bending motion of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 of the finger 20 of a human hand is shown. In the illustrated example, the finger 20 is the index finger of a person's right hand.

  Here, the wearing tool 1 is an assist grab to be put on a person's right hand, and is fixed to the finger 20. The wearing tool (mounting part) 1 can use, for example, sports gloves that easily fit in the hand. There is a bonding portion 3 on the back side (back side) of the wearing tool 1, and the actuator 2 is bonded by the bonding portion 3. The actuator 2 has a function of bending in the left direction in which the finger 20 is bent, and has a function of assisting a force for bending the distal interphalangeal joint 10 and the proximal interphalangeal joint 11. As the actuator 2, for example, a rubber actuator that bends when air pressure is applied to the inside can be used.

  In the illustrated example, the bonding portion 3 passes through the back side of the distal interphalangeal joint (DIP joint, first joint) 10 from the fingertip portion 21 of the finger 20 of the wearing tool 1, and the instep of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11. It extends to the adhesion lower end position 50 on the side. The actuator 2 passes from the fingertip portion 21 through the back side of the distal interphalangeal joint 10 and the back side of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 to the back side of the metacarpophalangeal joint (MP joint, third joint) 12. It extends to the finger base side end portion 25 located in the middle thereof. Thereby, the actuator 2 is substantially fixed at a position corresponding to the distal interphalangeal joint 10 and the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 of the wearing tool 1. As the bonding part 3, for example, sewing with a thread or a general-purpose adhesive can be used. From the position on the back side of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 toward the base of the finger 20, the actuator 2 and the mounting tool 1 are not bonded.

  An angle sensor 22 is attached in the vicinity of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 of the wearing tool 1, and the bending angle of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 part of the wearing tool 1 can be detected. As the angle sensor, a general angle sensor such as a method for detecting the extension of the wire, a method for detecting the bending of the optical fiber, and a method for detecting the rotation of the joint accompanying the bending can be used.

  When the wearer bends the finger 20 by himself until the bending angle of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 part of the finger 20 reaches 20 degrees, the state shown in FIG. 2 is obtained. At this time, since the position from the back side of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 of the actuator 2 to the fingertip end 25 is not bonded by the bonding portion 3, the vicinity of the fingertip end 25 of the actuator 2 is the mounting tool. Apart from 1, the actuator 2 remains unbent. For this reason, the burden on the wearer due to the mounting of the actuator 2 is not increased.

  When the bending angle of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 detected by the angle sensor 22 exceeds a predetermined angle (for example, 20 degrees), a driving device (not shown) is activated according to the output of the angle sensor 22, The actuator 2 starts a bending operation. As a result, the actuator 2 bends as shown in FIG. At this time, the lower end of the actuator 2 in the drawing is in contact with the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 and the metacarpophalangeal joint 12 by bending, so that bending of the proximal interphalangeal joint is supported. The inventors have confirmed through experiments that the actuator 2 can reliably assist the bending of the proximal interphalangeal joint with this configuration. Therefore, as in the first embodiment, it is possible to assist the joint operation even when the entire actuator 2 is not fixed to the joint.

  In the first embodiment, the initial bending motion of the distal interphalangeal joint 10 is not considered. In the experiments conducted by the inventors, there was no particular discomfort even when the distal interphalangeal joint 10 was fixed so as not to bend in the initial stage of the grasping operation. This is because the operation of bending only the joint 10 is not usually performed, and the distal interphalangeal joint 10 is hardly bent in the initial stage of the grasping operation. Thereafter, after the grasping operation proceeds and the actuator 2 is driven with the initial joint operation as a trigger, the actuator is bent as shown in FIG. 3, and the distal interphalangeal joint is also supported by the force. Therefore, with the configuration shown in FIG. 1, a system that assists bending of the distal interphalangeal joint 10 and the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 of the finger 20 can be created.

  In the first embodiment described above, when the wearing tool 1 is made of a stretchable material such as sports gloves, the position of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 depends on the positional relationship between the adhesive portion 3 and the proximal interphalangeal joint 11. The play angle of bending changes. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the adhesion portion lower end position 50 is upward (close to the fingertip), the play angle of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 becomes large. On the contrary, when the adhesion part lower end position 50 is lower as shown in FIG. 5 (when far from the fingertip), the play angle of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 becomes smaller. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the configuration of the bonding portion 3 so that an appropriate play angle can be obtained according to the wearer. In the experiments of the inventors, when the adhesive portion 3 was adjusted so that the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 can be bent by about 40 degrees when the actuator is not driven, the uncomfortable feeling at the time of wearing was remarkably reduced.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing a state in which the index finger of the right hand is extended and stationary in the second embodiment of the joint flexion / extension motion assisting device according to the present invention. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment (FIG. 1) in that the bonding portion 3 is provided only at the base side of the finger 20 from the proximal interphalangeal joint 11.

  Also in this configuration, the joint operation is not hindered when the actuator is not driven by the same mechanism as in the first embodiment. This was confirmed by experiments by the inventors.

[Third Embodiment]
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the proximal interphalangeal joint of the index finger of the right hand is extended and bent 20 degrees from the stationary state in the third embodiment of the joint flexion / extension motion assisting device according to the present invention. It is a side view.

  In the present embodiment, in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment (FIGS. 1 to 3), a regulating member 4 that regulates the play angle of the finger 20 in a portion where there is no adhesive portion 3 between the wearing tool 1 and the actuator 2. It is the structure which added. For example, the regulating member 4 is disposed so as to wrap an annular band made of an elastic material such as rubber around the outer side of the mounting tool 1 and the actuator 2 near the fingertip side end 25. As another example, a cloth cover may be installed so as to wrap the actuator 2 (not shown). As yet another example, the finger base end 25 of the actuator 2 may be biased in the finger base direction of the mounting tool 1 by a pulling member (not shown) made of an elastic material such as rubber.

  According to the present embodiment, the displacement of the actuator 2 can be reliably suppressed.

[Fourth Embodiment]
FIG. 8 is a schematic side view showing a state in which the index finger 20 of the right hand is extended and stationary in the fourth embodiment of the joint bending / extension assisting device according to the present invention.

  In this embodiment, the wearing tool 1 includes two rings 41 and 42 through which the finger 20 passes. The two rings are spaced apart from each other, and in the illustrated example, the first ring 41 is between the tip fingertip portion 21 of the index finger 20 and the distal interphalangeal joint 10, and the second ring 42 is The index finger 20 is located between the distal interphalangeal joint 10 and the proximal interphalangeal joint 11. The bonding portion 3 is disposed on the back side (back side) of the rings 41 and 42, and the bonding portion 3 is bonded to the actuator 2. Similarly to the first embodiment, the actuator 2 passes from the distal fingertip portion 21 of the finger 20 to a position on the way to the metacarpal joint 12 through the distal interphalangeal joint 10 and the proximal interphalangeal joint 11. It extends.

  In this embodiment, the angle sensor 22 that detects the bending angle of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 is attached to the vicinity of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 of the finger 20 separately from the mounting portion.

  In this embodiment, the actuator 2 can be easily attached to the finger 20.

[Fifth Embodiment]
FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a state in which the metacarpophalangeal joint 12 of the index finger 20 of the right hand is bent and bent 20 degrees from the stationary state in the fifth embodiment of the joint flexion / extension motion assisting device according to the present invention. It is a side view. In the first to fourth embodiments, the example in which the bending operation of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 of the index finger 20 of the right hand is assisted by the actuator 2 has been described. On the other hand, the fifth embodiment is an example in the case where the actuator 2a assists the operation of extending the middle phalangeal joint 12 of the index finger 20 of the right hand and bending it from a stationary state.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the actuator 2a extends from the back side in the vicinity of the middle phalangeal joint 12 of the right index finger 20 to the back side in both the fingertip direction and the wrist direction. The adhesive portion 3a is arranged on the mounting portion 1 on the back side (back side) of the index finger of the right hand from the vicinity of the metacarpophalangeal joint 12 of the actuator 2a to the wrist side end portion 30, and conversely, the metacarpal segment. There is no bonding portion 3 a from the vicinity of the joint 12 to the fingertip side end portion 31.

  An angle sensor 22 a that detects the bending angle of the metacarpophalangeal joint 12 is attached in the vicinity of the metacarpophalangeal joint 12 of the wearing tool 1.

  In this embodiment, when the wearer bends until the bending angle of the metacarpophalangeal joint 12 of the finger 20 reaches 20 degrees from the state where the finger 20 is extended and stationary, the state shown in FIG. 9 is obtained. At this time, since the position from the back side of the middle phalangeal joint 12 of the actuator 2a to the fingertip side end 31 is not bonded by the bonding portion 3a, the vicinity of the fingertip side end 31 of the actuator 2a is separated from the wearing tool 1, The actuator 2a remains unbent. For this reason, there is no burden on the wearer due to the mounting of the actuator 2a.

  When the bending angle of the metacarpophalangeal joint 12 detected by the angle sensor 22a exceeds a predetermined angle (for example, 20 degrees), a driving device (not shown) is activated according to the output of the angle sensor 22a, and the actuator 2a Start bending motion. Thereby, the actuator 2a starts a bending operation, and the bending of the metacarpophalangeal joint 12 is supported.

[Sixth Embodiment]
FIG. 10 shows a sixth embodiment of the joint flexion / extension motion assisting device according to the present invention, in which the proximal interphalangeal joint and the metacarpophalangeal joint of the index finger of the right hand are each bent 20 degrees from a stretched and stationary state. It is a typical side view which shows the state when it did.

  The sixth embodiment is a combination of the joint flexion / extension motion assisting device (FIGS. 1 to 3) of the first embodiment and the joint flexion / extension motion assisting device (FIG. 9) of the fifth embodiment. That is, the first actuator 2 and the second actuator 2a are bonded to the back side of the glove-like wearing tool 1 by the first bonding portion 3 and the second bonding portion 3a, respectively. Furthermore, the first angle sensor 22 and the second angle sensor 22 a are attached to one mounting tool 1.

  The first actuator 2, the first adhesive portion 3, and the first angle sensor 22 correspond to the actuator 2, the adhesive portion 3, and the angle sensor 22 in the first embodiment, respectively. The second actuator 2a, the second adhesive portion 3a, and the second angle sensor 22a correspond to the actuator 2a, the adhesive portion 3a, and the angle sensor 22a in the fifth embodiment, respectively.

  According to this embodiment, the effects of both the first embodiment and the fifth embodiment can be obtained. In particular, since the bending angles of both the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 and the metacarpophalangeal joint 12 are detected and the bending of both joints is supported, a smoother gripping operation can be supported.

[Other Embodiments]
Each embodiment described above is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

  For example, as the sixth embodiment, the joint bending / extension motion assisting device of the first embodiment and the joint bending / extension motion assisting device of the fifth embodiment have been described. However, the combination of other embodiments Is also possible.

  In the description of the above embodiment, an example of the operation of bending the joint that was initially stretched using the actuator has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to the operation of stretching the joint that has been bent.

  In the embodiments other than the fourth embodiment (FIG. 8), the angle sensor is attached to the wearing tool. However, in any embodiment, the angle sensor may be attached to the finger separately from the wearing tool. As a result, when the actuator is in a non-driven state, the angle sensor can be bent if the joint of the finger can bend by play between the finger and the mounting tool even if the actuator and the mounting tool are not easily deformed. Motion can be detected.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the bending operation of the index finger joint of the hand is assisted by the actuator has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to the bending operation of other finger joints or various joints other than the finger of the hand.

  Further, for example, in the case of a joint that performs a cooperative operation at the start of a normal gripping operation, such as a combination of a ring finger and a little finger, the actuator and the angle sensor can be arranged in different joints. FIG. 11 is a view of the right hand as seen from the back side. The actuator 2 is provided near the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 of the ring finger (joint A) 60, and the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 near the little finger (joint B) 61. It is the structure which has arrange | positioned the angle sensor 22 to. As for the actuator 2, as shown in the first to fourth embodiments, play is provided with respect to the bending of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 of the ring finger (joint A) 60, and the angle sensor 22 is provided. Is installed so that the angle of the proximal interphalangeal joint 11 of the little finger (joint B) 61 can be acquired. By giving play to the actuator 2 installed on the ring finger (joint A) 60, the little finger (joint B) 61 can be bent without a sense of incongruity. In this configuration, the bending operation of the little finger (joint B) 61 is not assisted, but the installation area and the maintenance of the sensor are facilitated by increasing the installation area of the angle sensor 22.

  With regard to application to joints that operate in a coordinated manner, it is possible to support the movement of a joint (joint A) that is provided with play only by an actuator by the action of the joint (joint B) that is provided with only an angle sensor. .

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing a state where the index finger of the right hand is extended and stationary in the first embodiment of the joint flexion / extension motion assisting device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing a state when the proximal interphalangeal joint (PIP joint) of the index finger of the right hand is bent and bent 20 degrees from the stationary state in the joint flexion / extension motion assisting device of FIG. 1. The typical side view which shows the state which the actuator act | operated from the state of the joint bending extension operation assistance apparatus of FIG. The typical side view which shows the state which extended | stretched and stopped the index finger of the right hand in the 1st modification of 1st Embodiment of the joint bending extension operation | movement assistance apparatus which concerns on this invention. The typical side view which shows the state which extended | stretched and stopped the index finger of the right hand in the 2nd modification of 1st Embodiment of the joint bending extension operation | movement assistance apparatus which concerns on this invention. FIG. 9 is a schematic side view showing a state in which the index finger of the right hand is extended and stationary in the second embodiment of the joint flexion / extension motion assisting device according to the present invention. In 3rd Embodiment of the joint bending extension operation assistance apparatus which concerns on this invention, the typical side view which shows a state when extending | stretching the proximal interphalangeal joint of the index finger of the right hand and bending 20 degrees from the stationary state. FIG. 10 is a schematic side view showing a state in which the index finger of the right hand is extended and stationary in the fourth embodiment of the joint bending / extension assisting device according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing a state in which the metacarpophalangeal joint (MP joint) of the index finger of the right hand is bent and bent 20 degrees from the stationary state in the fifth embodiment of the joint bending / extension assisting device according to the present invention. . In the sixth embodiment of the joint flexion and extension motion assisting device according to the present invention, the proximal interphalangeal joint and the metacarpophalangeal joint of the index finger of the right hand are each bent 20 degrees from the stretched and stationary state. FIG. The typical top view which looked at the state equipped with one embodiment of the joint flexion-extension movement auxiliary device concerning the present invention to the right hand from the back side.

Explanation of symbols

1 Wearing device (wearing part)
2, 2a Actuators 3, 3a Adhesion 4 Restricting member 10 Interphalangeal joint (DIP joint)
11 Proximal interphalangeal joint (PIP joint)
12 Metacarpophalangeal joint (MP joint)
20 Finger 21 Fingertip portion 22, 22a Angle sensor 25 Finger attachment side end portion 30 Wrist side end portion 31 Fingertip side end portions 41, 42 Ring 50 Adhesive lower end position

Claims (7)

A mounting portion mounted around at least one joint of the body;
An angle sensor for detecting a bending angle of the at least one joint;
An actuator that is installed in the mounting part via an adhesive part, and gives a bending / extension force to the at least one joint according to the output of the angle sensor;
A joint flexion and extension motion assisting device comprising:
There is play between the actuator and the mounting portion so that the joint can be bent at least to a predetermined angle detectable by the angle sensor in a state where the actuator does not bend and extend. Joint bending / extension motion assisting device. At least one joint of the body is a proximal phalangeal joint of a finger;
The adhesive portion is applied to at least a part of the position from the proximal phalangeal joint on the back side of the finger to the fingertip of the finger, or from the proximal phalangeal joint on the back side of the finger toward the base of the finger. The joint flexion / extension motion assisting device according to claim 1, wherein the joint flexion / extension motion assisting device is arranged at only one of the positions. At least one joint of the body is a metacarpophalangeal joint of a finger,
The bonding portion is at least a part of a position from the metacarpophalangeal joint on the back side of the finger to the fingertip of the finger, or a position applied from the metacarpophalangeal joint on the back side of the finger toward the wrist The joint bending / extension motion assisting device according to claim 1, wherein the device is disposed only on one side.   The joint bending / extension motion assisting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the angle sensor is attached to the mounting portion.   The joint according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the angle sensor is attached to the body around the joint to be detected separately from the mounting portion. Bending and stretching motion assist device. Attach an angle sensor to detect the bending angle of at least one joint of the body,
An actuator is attached to the periphery of the joint so as to give bending and stretching force to the joint,
In the joint bending / extension motion assisting method for controlling the bending angle of the actuator according to the bending angle detected by the angle sensor,
The actuator is moved around the joint so that the joint can bend and stretch to such an extent that a detection output of the angle sensor necessary to cause the actuator to bend and extend without operating the actuator. A method for assisting joint flexion and extension, characterized by being attached. A mounting portion to be mounted around at least one joint A of the body;
An angle sensor for detecting a bending angle of at least one joint B that cooperates with the joint A;
An actuator that is installed in the mounting portion via an adhesive portion and applies a bending / extension force to the at least one joint A according to an output of the angle sensor;
A joint flexion and extension motion assisting device comprising:
There is play between the actuator and the mounting portion so that the joint B can be bent at least to a predetermined angle that can be detected by the angle sensor in a state where the actuator does not bend and extend. A joint flexion and extension motion assisting device.

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