JP2010124871A - Motion assisting device, walking assisting device, and actuator unit used for them - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a large impact load from acting on the actuator of an actuator unit, built-in articles, or a wearer of a walking assisting device when an obstruction hits the actuator unit of the walking assisting device. <P>SOLUTION: An outer cover 110L(110R) for covering the outside of the actuator 100L(100R) has shock absorption by elastic deformation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a motion assist device, a walk assist device, and an actuator unit used therefor, and more particularly, to an actuator unit used in a walk assist device that applies a walk assist force to a lower limb portion of a user.

A walking assist device that applies walking assist force to the lower limbs of the user, particularly the thighs, has been proposed for walking assistance and walking rehabilitation for those with lower muscle strength in the lower limbs (for example, Patent Document 1, 2, 3). This type of walking assist device includes a substantially C-shaped waist frame that is attached to the user's waist and extends from the back of the user's waist to the left and right waist sides of the user, and the waist frame includes the left and right waist frames. Transmits to the thigh the assist force of the thigh movement generated by the left and right actuator units attached to the part corresponding to the waist side and the actuator such as the electric motor provided in the actuator unit, that is, the walking assist force A thigh orthosis.
JP 2006-320349 A JP 2006-320350 A JP 2007-152035 A

  In the above-described walking assist device, the actuator unit is disposed in a portion corresponding to the left and right waist side portions, that is, outside the hip joint portion in a form protruding outside the body, so that the width of the human body equipped with the walking assist device Is larger than the width of the body by the amount of protrusion outside the actuator unit. For this reason, if the user is not used to wearing the walking assist device, the actuator unit may hit an obstacle during walking.

  When an obstacle hits the actuator unit during walking, an impact load is applied to the actuator unit, resulting in a decrease in durability of the actuator of the actuator unit or a built-in product. Moreover, the wearer is given a discomfort due to impact. For this reason, even when an obstacle hits the actuator unit, it is desired that a large impact load does not act on the actuator, built-in product, or wearer of the actuator unit.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to prevent a large impact load from acting on an actuator, a built-in product of the actuator unit, or a wearer of the walking assist device even if an obstacle hits the actuator unit of the walking assist device. .

  An actuator unit according to the present invention is an actuator unit that is used in an assist device that is mounted on a human body and assists human movement, and includes an actuator that generates assist force and an outer cover that covers the outside of the actuator. And the outer cover has a shock absorption property due to elastic deformation.

  In the actuator unit according to the present invention, preferably, the outer cover has a dome shape, and an outer peripheral edge portion of the dome shape is locked to an outer peripheral portion of the actuator.

  In the actuator unit according to the present invention, preferably, the outer cover is formed of an elastically deformable member, or the outer peripheral edge portion that is locked to the outer peripheral portion of the actuator is formed of a high-rigidity member. Is made of an elastically deformable member.

  In the actuator unit according to the present invention, preferably, the outer cover is formed of a rubber-like elastic member between the outer peripheral edge portion and the other portion that are locked to the outer peripheral portion of the actuator, and goes around the dome shape. An intermediate belt portion is provided.

  The actuator unit according to the present invention is preferably further provided with a protective pad having shock absorption on the back side of the actuator.

  The motion assist device according to the present invention includes the actuator unit according to the above-described invention.

  The walking assist device according to the present invention includes left and right actuator units arranged at portions corresponding to the left and right hip side portions of the human, and the power generated by the actuators provided in the left and right actuator units is transmitted to the lower limb portion of the human This is a walking assist device that gives a walking assist force to the actuator, wherein the actuator unit is constituted by the actuator unit according to the invention described above.

  According to the actuator unit for a motion (walking) assist device according to the present invention, the outer cover that covers the outside of the actuator has a shock absorbing property due to elastic deformation, so that when an obstacle hits the actuator unit, The impact energy is absorbed by the elastic deformation of the outer cover. Thereby, even if an obstacle hits the actuator unit, a large impact load does not act on the actuator, the built-in product, or the wearer of the actuator unit.

  Embodiments of a walking assist device and an actuator unit according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  The walking assist device of the present embodiment includes a waist frame 10 that is detachably attached to a user (human) waist by an abdominal belt 20, left and right actuator units 14L and 14R, and left and right thigh frames 30L and 30R. And left and right soft belts 50L and 50R.

  The waist frame 10 is a molded product made of a hard resin such as carbon fiber reinforced resin, and extends from the central portion 11 located at the back of the user's waist to the left and right waist sides (outside the hip joint) of the user. The extended portion 12 is substantially C-shaped in plan view.

  Left and right actuator units 14 </ b> L and 14 </ b> R are attached to the distal ends of the left and right extensions 12 of the waist frame 10 by hinges 13, respectively. An electrical device storage 60 is provided on the central back 11 of the waist frame 10. The electric equipment storage section 60 stores a power supply unit and a control device (not shown) incorporating a power supply circuit including a secondary battery. The electric device storage 60 is covered with a removable cover 15.

  The hinge portion 13 is substantially horizontal and has a hinge axis extending in the front-rear horizontal direction of the user's body, that is, in the sagittal axis direction. As a result, the left and right actuator units 14L and 14R are each mounted in a suspended manner on the waist side (outside the hip joint) and can swing about the hinge axis described above.

  The actuator units 14L and 14R have thin cylindrical left and right electric motors 100L and 100R (see FIG. 3) as actuators. The left and right electric motors 100L and 100R are supplied with electric power from the power supply unit of the electric device storage unit 60, and are output-controlled separately by the control device on the left and right sides, and generate assist force for thigh movement, in other words, walking assist force.

  The abdomen belt 20 includes a left belt member 20L and a right belt member 20R individually. Each of the left belt member 20L and the right belt member 20R is passed through a belt fastener 21 that is pinned to the left and right sides of the central portion 11 of the frame 13 and can be adjusted in length by a length adjustment belt buckle 22. It is locked. The other end of each of the left belt member 20L and the right belt member 20R is passed through a fastened and separable buckle 23 located at the center of the abdomen, and is then pinned to the left and right extensions 12 of the frame body 13. It is passed through the belt fastener 24 and locked by a length adjustment belt buckle 25 so that the length can be adjusted. As a result, the abdominal belt 20 supports the waist frame 10 at four points of X-hanging.

  The left and right thigh frames 30L and 30R are molded products of high-rigidity strips made of a hard resin such as carbon fiber reinforced resin, and the base ends thereof are respectively connected to the electric motors 100L and 100 of the left and right actuator units 14L and 14R. It is connected in a torque transmission relationship, and has a free end portion 32 that extends from the proximal end to the user's thigh, in this embodiment, the front portion of the lower thigh. The left and right thigh frames 30L and 30R are twisted so as to extend along the thigh outer side on the base end side and to extend along the thigh front side on the free end 32 side. Have In the present embodiment, the thigh frames 30L and 30R are twisted with a twist angle close to 90 degrees or 90 degrees when viewed on the horizontal projection plane.

  A front pad member 34 is attached to the free ends 32 of the left and right thigh frames 30L, 30R by a pivot 33 so as to be rotatable around the sagittal axis of the user. The pivot 33 is at a position approximately half the width in the forehead axial direction in the horizontal section of the lower part of the user's thigh at the height position corresponding to the free ends 32 of the left and right thigh frames 30L and 30R. It is a shaft having a central axis and extending in the sagittal axis direction, and supports the front pad member 34 so as to be rotatable around its own central axis.

  Left and right soft belts 50L and 50R are attached to the free ends 32 of the left and right thigh frames 30L and 30R by a pivot 33 so as to be rotatable around the sagittal axis of the user. The soft belts 50L and 50R are mostly made of a flexible material such as woven fabric, synthetic leather, and real leather, and are used at the height positions of the free ends 32 of the thigh frames 30L and 30R, respectively. The lower part of the thigh of the person is detachably wound around the lower part of the thigh, and is fastened and separated by a buckle 51 that is separable and adjustable in belt length to form a closed loop. Yes. A rear pad member 53 is attached to a portion where the soft belts 50L and 50R correspond to the rear side of the user's lower thigh.

  The skin of the front pad member 34 and the rear pad member 52 is made of a highly slippery material such as woven fabric such as nylon, polyester, or polypropylene, synthetic leather, or leather.

  The free end portions 32 of the left and right thigh frames 30L and 30R are in front of the user's lower thigh, and the free end portions 32 of the thigh frames 30L and 30R are the height of the free end portions. The left and right electric motors 100L are fixed to the lower thigh with the front pad member 34 sandwiched by the soft belts 50L and 50R wound around the thigh so as to go around the lower thigh of the user at the position. The walking assist force generated by 100R is applied to the lower part of the thigh in the direction of the sagittal axis, which is the front-rear direction of the body.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a protective pad 16 having shock absorption is attached to the side where the actuator units 14L, 14R are in contact with the waist side, that is, the back side of the electric motors 100L, 100R. The protective pad 16 has a donut shape, and a cushion member 16A such as a foamed resin, a gel-like material, or a three-dimensional solid knitted fabric is made of a woven fabric such as nylon, polyester, or polypropylene, a high-smoothness such as a synthetic leather or a genuine leather. It is covered with the skin 16B and has a shock absorption property exclusively in the forehead axis direction (left and right direction as viewed in FIG. 3).

  Thereby, the electric motors 100L and 100R do not directly hit the hip joint part, and it is reduced that the wearer feels uncomfortable wearing the apparatus.

  Outside covers 110L and 110R that cover the outside of the electric motors 100L and 100R are attached to the outside of the electric motors 100L and 100R.

  The outer covers 110 </ b> L and 110 </ b> R have shock absorption properties due to elastic deformation, and are entirely configured by an elastic deformation member such as polypropylene. The outer covers 110 </ b> L and 110 </ b> R further have a dome shape as an elastic deformable body, and have a hook-shaped locking claw 114 on the outer peripheral edge 112 of the dome shape. The engagement groove 118 is defined by the electric motors 100L and 100R and the annular member 116 fixedly attached to the outer periphery of the electric motors 100L and 100R, and the engagement claw 114 is engaged with the engagement groove 118. The outer covers 110L and 110R are fixed to the electric motors 100L and 100R.

  Since the dome-shaped outer covers 110L and 110R have a spherical surface and a ceiling portion 120 of a rotational quadratic curve surface, they are in the forehead axis direction (left and right as viewed in FIG. 3) as compared with a bottomed cylindrical body with a flat bottom surface. Direction).

  As described above, when the outer covers 110L and 110R are made of elastic deformation members and have a dome shape, when the actuator unit 14L or 14R hits an obstacle from the outside, The covers 110R and 110L are elastically deformed.

  Impact energy is absorbed by this elastic deformation, and even if an obstacle hits the actuator unit, it is avoided that a large impact load acts on the electric motors 100L, 100R, built-in products, and the wearer.

  Further, since the protective pad 16 having shock absorption is provided on the back side (inside) of the actuator units 14L and 14R, the impact when the obstacle hits the actuator units 14L and 14R from the outside is the protective pad. It is also absorbed by 16 shock absorption.

  Further, the protective pad 16 can eliminate a gap between the actuator units 14L and 14R and the hip joint. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a hand or the like from being caught in the gap.

  When it is desired to increase the mounting strength of the outer covers 110L and 110R with respect to the electric motors 100L and 100R, as shown in FIG. 4, the outer peripheral edge 112 having the locking claws 114 is made of a highly rigid synthetic resin. The other portions (ceiling portion 120) of the outer covers 110L and 110R may be made of an elastically deformable member such as polypropylene. The outer covers 110L and 110R can be manufactured by a two-type resin molding method.

  Further, when it is desired to increase the shock absorption due to the elastic deformation of the outer covers 110L and 110R, as shown in FIG. 5, a rubber is provided between the outer peripheral edge portion 112 and the other portion (ceiling portion 120). What is necessary is just to provide the intermediate | middle belt | band | zone part 122 comprised by a cylindrical elastic member and making one round of a dome shape. In this case, the outer peripheral edge portion 112 may be made of the same elastic deformation member such as polypropylene as the ceiling portion 120 or may be made of a synthetic resin having high rigidity different from that of the ceiling portion 120.

The front perspective view which shows the use condition of one Embodiment of the walk assistance apparatus by this invention. The rear side perspective view which shows the use condition of one embodiment of the walk assistance apparatus by this invention. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of one embodiment along line III-III in FIG. 1. The expanded sectional view of other embodiment along line III-III of FIG. The expanded sectional view of other embodiment along line III-III of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Waist frame 14L, 14R Power unit case 16 Protection pad 20 Abdominal belt 30L, 30R Thigh frame 34 Front pad member 50L, 50R Soft belt 100L, 100R Electric motor 110L, 110R Outer cover 112 Outer peripheral part 120 Ceiling part 122 Intermediate Obi

Claims (8)

An actuator unit used in an assist device that is equipped on a human body and assists human movement,
An actuator that generates assist force;
An outer cover that covers the outside of the actuator;
An actuator unit in which the outer cover has a shock absorption property due to elastic deformation.   The actuator unit according to claim 1, wherein the outer cover has a dome shape, and an outer peripheral edge portion of the dome shape is locked to an outer peripheral portion of the actuator.   The actuator unit according to claim 1, wherein the outer cover is made of an elastically deformable member.   3. The actuator unit according to claim 2, wherein the outer cover is configured by a highly rigid member at the outer peripheral edge that is engaged with an outer peripheral portion of the actuator, and is configured by an elastic deformation member at the other portion.   The outer cover includes an intermediate band portion that is formed of a rubber-like elastic member and goes around the dome shape between the outer peripheral edge portion that is locked to the outer peripheral portion of the actuator and other portions. 5. The actuator unit according to 4.   The actuator unit according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a protective pad having shock absorption is provided on a back side of the actuator.   A motion assist device comprising the actuator unit according to claim 1. Walking assist that has left and right actuator units arranged at the portions corresponding to the left and right hip side portions of the human, and gives the power generated by the actuators provided in the left and right actuator units to the human lower limbs as walking assist force A device,
A walking assist device, wherein the actuator unit includes the actuator unit according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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