JP2014223195A - Walking support device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a walking support device which can satisfactorily assist and support walking of a humann in a simple structure.SOLUTION: The walking support device includes: an upper thigh link 12 extended along the upper thigh of a user during mounting; a lower thigh link 14 extended along the lower thigh of the human; a foot link 20 extended along the leg of the human; a direct acting actuator 40 extended to a space between the upper thigh link and the foot link; an upper revolute pair 30 connecting the upper thigh link and the direct acting actuator to each other; a lower revolute pair 30' connecting the direct acting actuator and the foot link to each other; a knee revolute pair 18 connecting the upper thigh link and the lower thigh link to each other; and an ankle revolute pair 18' connecting the lower thigh link and the foot link to each other. The knee revolute pair and the ankle revolute pair have brakes respectively.

Description

  The present invention relates to a human walking support device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Walking assist devices that assist and assist the walking of people who are unable to walk due to the after-effects of illness, injury, etc., but who are still capable of walking on their own, have been developed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a leg brace that is worn on the outer side from the user's thigh to the lower leg. This leg brace has an upper link attached to the user's thigh and a lower link attached to the user's lower leg, and a motor is provided at the joint between the upper and lower links located at the user's knee joint. Is attached.

  Patent Document 2 includes a trunk holding means for holding the trunk of the human body, a rod-like member attached to the trunk holding means and extending along the lower limb of the human body, and a second rod-like member, A walking assist device is disclosed in which actuators are provided in a first rotating portion between the trunk holding means and the first rod-shaped member and a second rotating portion between the first rod-shaped member and the second rod-shaped member.

  Further, Non-Patent Document 1 describes an apparatus using a serial mechanism that supports walking motion by restraining all joints of the lower body of the user. The device of Non-Patent Document 2 describes a walking support device that forms an exoskeleton using a parallel mechanism, and this alone requires many actuators to determine the movement of the user's lower body.

JP 2011-177329 A JP 2007-159971 A

Yoshiyuki Yamazaki, "Study on exoskeleton power assist system HAL-1 for walking support using myoelectric potential", Proceedings of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers Ibaraki Lecture, (2000), pp.269-270 Eiichiro Tanaka et al., “Development of a walking assist device that supports the entire leg from the sole”, Transactions of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (C), Vol.72, No.724, (2006), pp.3871-3877

  In the invention of Patent Document 1, the upper link is fixed to the side of the thigh near the upper end and lower end of the user's thigh, that is, the lower side of the hip joint and the upper side of the knee joint, and the lower link is the upper end of the user's lower leg and It is fixed to the side of the lower leg near the lower end, that is, below the knee joint and above the ankle joint. However, the joint of the human body is a complex organ composed of many elements, and its movement is different from that of a simple rotating pair. Therefore, as in the invention of Patent Document 1, if the leg is restrained by a leg brace, In particular, there is a problem of causing an unnecessary burden on the knee joint.

  Further, since the invention of Patent Document 2 uses a plurality of actuators, there is a problem that not only control becomes difficult, but also weight and cost increase. Furthermore, the invention of Patent Document 2 is an apparatus intended to support voluntary movement of the wearing leg, and does not assume a case where either the left or right leg is paralyzed and cannot voluntarily move.

  In the walking support device of Non-Patent Document 1, since all the joints of the lower body of the user are restrained, an unnecessary burden is generated on the joints of the user's lower limbs as in Patent Document 1, and further, Since a large number of actuators are used in this apparatus, control is difficult as well as the invention of Patent Document 2, and there is a problem that the weight and cost increase.

  An object of the present invention is to solve such problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a walking support device that can easily assist and support human walking with a simple configuration.

  The present invention described in claim 1 includes an upper leg link extending along the human upper leg when worn, a lower leg link extending next to the human lower leg when worn, and a human link when worn. A foot link extending along the foot, a linear motion actuator extending between the upper thigh link and the foot link, and an upper rotational pair for connecting the upper thigh link and the linear motion actuator; A lower rotation pair for connecting the linear actuator and the foot link; a knee rotation pair for connecting the upper leg link and the lower leg link; and an ankle rotation pair for connecting the lower leg link and the foot link. The knee rotation pair and the ankle rotation pair have a brake.

  The walking assist device according to the present invention can create a human walking motion by one linear motion actuator and two brakes, and is easier to control than the prior art, and the weight and manufacturing cost are reduced.

It is a perspective view of the walk assistance device by a 1st embodiment. It is a side view of the walking assistance apparatus of FIG. It is a perspective view of a leg link. It is a perspective view of a foot link. It is a perspective view of the 1st connection mechanism which forms an upper rotation pair. It is a perspective view of a linear motion actuator. It is a side view of the engine part of a linear actuator. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the walking support device of FIG. 1 attached to one lower limb of a human. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the walking assistance apparatus of FIG. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the walking assistance apparatus of FIG. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the walking assistance apparatus of FIG. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the walking assistance apparatus of FIG. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of a human walking movement model. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the walking assistance apparatus of FIG. 1 along the walking movement model shown in FIG. It is the chart which showed the displacement of the linear motion actuator of the walk assistance device of Drawing 1 with the timing of fixation and release of the 1st and 2nd brakes which form a knee rotation pair and an ankle rotation pair. It is a figure which shows an example of the instrumentation system of a walk assistance apparatus. It is a flowchart explaining the control method of a walk assistance device. It is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 of the walking assistance apparatus by 2nd Embodiment. It is a side view of the walking assistance apparatus of FIG. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the walking assistance apparatus of FIG. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the walking assistance apparatus of FIG. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the walking assistance apparatus of FIG. It is the schematic for demonstrating operation | movement of the walking assistance apparatus of FIG. It is the chart which showed the displacement of the linear motion actuator of the walk assistance device of Drawing 16 with the timing of fixation and release of the 1st and 2nd brakes which form a knee rotation pair and an ankle rotation pair.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, in FIGS. 1 and 2, the walking support device 100 according to the first embodiment includes an upper thigh link 12, a lower thigh link 14, a foot link 20, and a straight line extending between the upper thigh link 12 and the foot link 20. The first coupling mechanism 30 that forms the upper rotary pair that connects the moving actuator 40, the upper leg link 12 and the linear actuator 40, and the second that forms the lower rotational pair that connects the linear actuator 40 and the foot link 20. The first brake 18 that forms the knee rotation pair that connects the upper leg link 12 and the lower leg link 14, and the second brake that forms the ankle rotation pair that connects the lower leg link 14 and the foot link 20. A brake 18 'is provided as a main component.

  The first and second brakes 18 and 18 'have substantially the same structure, a rotating shaft rotatably supported in the housing, and a mechanical element that allows and prohibits the rotation of the rotating shaft. For example, a clutch, magnetic powder (powder brake), etc. are included. The first and second brakes 18 and 18 'may include a speed reduction mechanism such as a planetary gear for increasing the fixed torque. In order to make the walking assist device 100 operate smoothly, it is preferable that the first and second brakes 18, 18 ′ have a gentle torque fluctuation during the fixing and releasing operations.

  Referring to FIG. 3, the crus link 14 includes a plurality of, in the present embodiment, two rod-like members 14 a extending in parallel with each other, and an even-numbered block 16 attached to both ends of the rod-like member 14 a. ing. The even block 16 rotatably supports a rotating shaft 16a extending in a direction perpendicular to the rod-shaped member 14a, and the rotating shaft 16a is connected to the rotating shafts of the first and second brakes 18, 18 '. It is like that. The rod-shaped member 14a is a solid or hollow metal or plastic long member having a circular, rectangular or other polygonal cross section.

  Since the first and second coupling mechanisms 30 and 30 'forming the upper rotating pair and the lower rotating pair have substantially the same configuration, only the first coupling mechanism 30 will be described below. Referring to FIG. 5 in addition to FIGS. 1 and 2, the first connecting mechanism 30 includes bearing blocks 32 and 34 that are spaced apart from each other along the axis O, and a connecting plate 36 that connects the bearing blocks 32 and 34. And a block main body formed in a substantially U-shape. The bearing blocks 32, 34 have through holes 32 a, 34 a centering on the axis O. One bearing block 34 has a rotation angle sensor 38 such as a potentiometer or a rotary encoder mounted on the axis O on one side surface.

  The upper thigh link 12 is generally configured in the same manner as the lower thigh link 14, and includes a plurality of, in the present embodiment, four rod-like members 12a extending in parallel to each other. One end of the rod-shaped member 12a adjacent to the user's waist when mounted is connected to the mounting portion 10 via a third connecting mechanism 30 ″ formed in the same manner as the first connecting mechanism 30. The other end is fixed to the housing of the first brake 18 as a knee rotation pair.The rod-like member 12a is a solid or hollow metal or plastic long section having a circular, rectangular or other polygonal cross section. It is a member.

  Referring to FIG. 4, the foot link 20 includes a flat base portion 22 that supports a user's sole, and a pair of brackets 24 that protrude from the upper surface of the base portion 22 along one side edge of the base portion 22. 26 and a plurality of rod-shaped members 28 attached to the brackets 24 and 26 in this embodiment. The rod-shaped member 28 forms an extension of the foot link 20 that is located rearward from the brackets 24 and 26 horizontally, that is, opposite to the user's toes when worn, behind the heel. A linear motion actuator 40 is connected to a rod-like member 28 as an extension of the foot link 20 via a second connection mechanism 30 ′ that forms a lower rotation pair. The foot link 20 is configured such that the user places one foot on the base portion 22 and fixes the foot to the base portion 22 by a restraining means such as a belt (not shown). The rod-shaped member 28 is a solid or hollow metal or plastic long member having a circular, rectangular or other polygonal cross section.

  Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, in this embodiment, the direct acting actuator 40 includes an engine unit 50, a first stationary link 42 fixed to the engine unit 50, a crank 63, and a connecting rod 64. A movable link 66 linearly reciprocally connected to the stationary link 44 in the longitudinal direction is provided as a main component to form a slider crank mechanism. The first stationary link 42 is composed of a plurality of, in the present embodiment, two rod-like members extending in parallel, one end of which is fixed to the base portion 52 of the engine portion 50 and the other end described above at the other end. A kinematic block 46 similar to the block 16 is fixed. In the present embodiment, the second stationary link 44 is composed of a plurality of two rod-shaped members, one end of which is fixed to the base portion 52 and the other end is the same as the kinematic block 16 described above. The kinematic block 48 is fixed. The first stationary link 42 and the second stationary link 44 extend in parallel to each other in the longitudinal direction of the linear actuator 40. In the present embodiment, the rod-shaped members forming the first stationary link 42 and the second stationary link 44 are long members made of solid or hollow metal or plastic having a circular, rectangular or other polygonal cross section.

  The engine unit 50 includes a transmission 54 fixed to the base unit 52 described above and a motor 56 attached to the transmission 54. An output pulley 58 is attached to the output shaft 56 a of the motor 56. An input pulley 60 is attached to the input shaft 54 a of the transmission 54, and the output pulley 58 and the input pulley 60 are connected by a belt 62. The output shaft 54 b of the transmission 54 is connected to the movable block 66 via a crank 63 and a connecting rod 64. A guide rod 68 extending in parallel with the first stationary link 42 and the second stationary link 44 is attached to the base portion 52 of the engine unit 50, and the movable block 66 is moved along the guide rod 68. The part 52 can be moved toward and away from the extending direction.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 8 shows a schematic diagram of the walking support device 100 worn by a human. In FIG. 8, white circles indicate passive rotation pairs, and black circles indicate rotation pairs with brakes. More specifically, P is a rotational pair between the mounting portion 10 and the upper thigh link 12 formed by the third connecting mechanism 30 ″, and U is an upper part formed by the first connecting mechanism 30. A rotary pair, L is a lower rotary pair formed by the second coupling mechanism 30 ′, K is a knee rotary pair formed by the first brake 18, and A is the second brake 18 is the ankle rotation pair formed by 18 ', M is a linear actuator 40. When worn, the first brake 18 is positioned adjacent to the user's knee and the second brake 18' is the user's ankle. Alternatively, the upper thigh link 12 and the lower thigh link 14 have lengths that allow such arrangement of the first and second brakes 18, 18 ', depending on the user's physique. Set to

  In the present embodiment, the walking assist device 100 fixes the first brake 18 that forms the knee rotation pair K and releases the second brake 18 ′ that forms the ankle rotation pair A, thereby causing the linear motion actuator 40 to move. When extended, the ankle rotation pair A rotates in the counterclockwise direction as shown in FIG. 9A, and when the linear actuator 40 contracts, the ankle rotation pair A in the clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 9B. Rotate. On the other hand, when the second brake 18 'is fixed and the first brake 18 is released and the linear actuator 40 is extended, as shown in FIG. 10A, the knee rotation pair K is counterclockwise in FIG. When the linear actuator 40 contracts, the knee rotation pair K rotates in the clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 10B.

  FIG. 11 shows one walking motion model showing a human walking process. In FIG. 11, state I is a state in which a human is standing with the left foot forward and the right foot backward. From state I, the rear foot (right foot in FIG. 11) is kicked backward to move the center of gravity forward while shifting the weight to the front foot (left foot in FIG. 11) (state II). Next, from state II, bend the knee of the rear leg that kicked out and rotate the lower leg upwards, while the rear foot is separated from the floor or the ground, rotate the hip joint and swing the upper leg forward By taking out, the weight is completely transferred to the grounded foot (left foot in FIG. 11) (state III). Next, from state III, the hip joint is further rotated to move to the front of the kicked-out leg, particularly the knee on the side where the knee is in contact with the ground (state IV). At this time, in the kicked leg, the ankle rotates so that the toe moves upward toward the next grounding. As the hip joint further rotates from state IV, the foot on the swinging side moves forward by the step length from the foot on the grounding side (state V). At this time, the knee joint rotates to stretch the lower leg. Then, when the swung foot is grounded and the entire back surface of the foot comes into contact with the floor surface or the ground, the state I is obtained. However, at this time, it will be understood that the left and right feet are interchanged with the first state I.

  With reference to FIGS. 12 and 13, the operation of the walking support device 100 of the present embodiment adapted to the walking movement model will be described. Here, it is assumed that the walking support device 100 is worn on the right foot. FIG. 13 is a chart showing the displacement of the slider crank mechanism as the linear motion actuator 40 and the timing of fixing and releasing the first and second brakes 18 and 18 '.

In the transition from the state I to the state II, the first brake 18 is fixed and the second brake 18 'is released, and the linear motion actuator 40 is contracted. Thus, ankle rotation pair A is rotated in a clockwise direction as indicated by arrow R ₁ in FIG. 12, the operation is assisted kicking backwards.

The linear motion actuator 40 continues to contract even during the transition from state II to state III. During this time, the first brake 18 is released and the second brake 18 'is fixed. Thus, the knee rotation pair K is rotated in a clockwise direction as indicated by an arrow R ₂ in FIG. 12, separating operation upwardly from the floor or ground surface of the foot that kicking is assisted. At this time, for example, the contraction amount of the linear actuator 40 is adjusted so that the toe is separated from the floor or the ground by about 5 cm. In the middle of the transition from state III to state IV, the linear actuator 40 is in the most contracted state. Thereafter, the second brake 18 ′ is fixed while the first brake 18 is fixed in order to compensate for the reduction in the toe height due to the rotation of the leg centered on the hip joint of the user wearing the walking assist device 100. The extension movement of the linear actuator 40 is started. Thus, ankle rotation pair A is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by an arrow R _3, movement toe rises upward is assisted. In state IV, the sole passes through the lowest point in the vertical downward direction of the hip joint.

In the transition period from the state IV to the state V, the linear motion actuator 40 continues the extending operation. In the first half of this period, the first brake 18 is fixed and the second brake 18 'is released continuously from the above state. In the latter half of the transition period, the first brake 18 is released and the second brake 18 'is fixed. Anti Thus, as to rotate as the first half of該移line period continues ankle rotation pair A prior period up to toe upward in the counterclockwise direction, indicated by the knee rotation pair K arrow R ₄ in the second half Rotate clockwise.

  The walking support device 100 enables creation of walking motion and support of the trunk even when a leg (wearing leg) on which the device is worn is paralyzed. In order to prevent the user from falling while using the device and to achieve safe walking support, including when the wearing leg is paralyzed, the position of the center of gravity and the foot of the motor system consisting of the user's body and walking support machine It is desirable to create an appropriate motion trajectory of the walking support device 100 by measuring the reverse reaction force using a force sensor, a posture sensor, a contact sensor, or the like. Hereinafter, control of the walking support device 100 for performing appropriate walking support while preventing the user from falling will be described.

  An example of an instrumentation system used to control the walking support device 100 is shown in FIG. In FIG. 14, the instrumentation system includes a controller 70 attached to the attachment unit 10 for attaching the walking assist device 100 to the user's torso, a battery 72 for supplying power to the instrumentation system, and use A posture angle sensor 74 for measuring the posture of a person's torso in a three-dimensional space, and a first angle for measuring an angle α between the upper leg link 12 and the linear motion actuator 40 provided in the first coupling mechanism 30. The angle sensor 78 of the second connecting mechanism 30 'is provided on the second angle sensor 82 and the third connecting mechanism 30 "for measuring the angle β between the linear motion actuator 40 and the foot link 20. A third angle sensor 76 for measuring the angle γ of the upper leg link 12 with respect to the section 10; a displacement sensor or length measuring sensor 80 for measuring the amount of displacement or the length of the linear motion actuator 40; A force sensor 86 and a contact sensor 88 are provided on the bottom surface of the hand 20. The controller 70 has a grip as an operation unit for the user to operate the walking support device 100 with his / her hand. A switch 90 is connected.

  The controller 70 includes, for example, ROM, RAM, CPU, a series of sensors 74, 78, 82, 76, 80, 86, 88 and an A / D converter as an input interface for the grip switch 90, power from the battery 72. A microcomputer including a power receiving element that receives power, a motor 56 of the linear actuator 40, an output element that outputs power to the first and second brakes 18 and 18 ', and a bus that interconnects these elements. it can. Further, the controller 70 may include a switch for starting and stopping the walking support device 100 and a display unit such as an LED or a liquid crystal panel that indicates an operating state of the walking support device 100.

  Further, in FIG. 14, the force sensor 86 and the contact sensor 88 are illustrated as being disposed on the heel side and the toe side on the bottom surface of the foot link 20. It shows that the contact sensor 88 is attached to the bottom surface of the foot link 20, and the arrangement of the force sensor 86 and the contact sensor 88 is not limited to this in the present invention. The number and arrangement of the force sensor 86 and the contact sensor 88 can be appropriately determined as necessary.

Next, a control method of the walking support device 100 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
After the user attaches the walking support device 100 to the body by fixing the mounting portion 10 to the body using a belt or the like, a main switch (not shown) provided on the grip switch 90 or the controller 70 is installed. ) To start the walking support device 100 (step S10), in step S12, the user is in a stable upright posture when starting the walking motion, and the sole is stably in contact with the ground. It is confirmed. At that time, (1) the change of the signal from the posture sensor 74 is within a predetermined range and the user's body is not wobbling, and (2) the change of the signal from the force sensor 86 is within the predetermined range and the foot link It is confirmed that the reaction force is firmly acting on the back surface of the robot 20, and (3) the foot link 20 is in contact with the floor surface from the signal from the contact sensor 88. If the conditions (1) to (3) are not satisfied, that is, No in step S12, the determination in step S12 is repeated.

If Yes in step S12, it is determined in step S14 whether or not the grip switch 90 is turned on. At this time, in order to prevent the erroneous operation of the walking support device 100 except for the case where the grip switch 90 is turned on against the user's intention, the time τ during which the grip switch 90 is turned on is a predetermined time τ ₀ or more. It is determined whether or not it continues. When the time τ during which the grip switch 90 is turned on does not continue for the predetermined time τ ₀ (No in step S14), the control flow returns to step S12.

When the time τ during which the grip switch 90 is turned on exceeds the predetermined time τ ₀ (Yes in step S14), the command values for the linear actuator 40 and the first and second brakes 18 and 18 'are updated. The walking assist device 100 is driven by the feedback control based on the signals from the first to third angle sensors 78, 82, 76 and the displacement sensor 80 as described with reference to FIGS. An action is generated (step S16). This operation is continued until one cycle of the walking motion is completed (step S24). In the meantime, when the walking state becomes unstable or the grip switch is released (when either one of steps S18 and S20 is No), it is forcibly shifted to an upright stationary state. That is, in step S18, (4) the user's body is not extremely tilted from the signal from the posture sensor 74, (5) there is no sudden change in the signal from the posture sensor 74, (6) force sense It is confirmed that there is no sudden change in the signal from the sensor 86 (except for the moment when the foot link 20 leaves the floor surface), and it is confirmed that the grip switch 90 is turned on in step S20. At that time, in order to prevent runaway due to malfunction or instantaneous disturbance, it is confirmed that the abnormal state has continued for a certain period of time before the walking support is interrupted (step S22). That is, in the step S22, the time t of the abnormal condition whether a predetermined time t ₀ or more is determined.

  Thereafter, the user is in a stable upright posture, that is, (7) there is no sudden change in the signal from the posture sensor 74, and (8) the change in the signal from the force sensor 86 is within a predetermined range. (9) It is confirmed from the signals from the contact sensor 88 and the force sensor 86 that the foot link 20 is in contact with the floor (step S26), and if the condition is not satisfied (in step S26) In the case of No), the posture of the walking support apparatus 100 is adjusted so as to be in a stable upright state based on information from the series of sensors 74, 78, 82, 76, 80, 86, 88 (step S28).

  When the conditions (7) to (9) are satisfied (Yes in step S26) or after the posture adjustment of the walking support device 100 in step S28, the linear actuator 40 and the first and second brakes 18, 18 'is fixed and it transfers to a standby state (step S30), and a control flow is complete | finished (step S30). By repeating this control flow, the user's continuous walking motion is supported.

  Next, referring to FIGS. 16 and 17, a walking support device 200 according to a second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. In the walking support apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment, the upper rotation pair U forms a knee rotation pair K with the third connection mechanism 30 ″ that is an end portion to which the mounting portion 10 is connected in the upper thigh link 12. On the other hand, in the walking assist device 200, the first coupling mechanism 30 forming the upper rotation pair is outside the knee rotation pair K in the upper thigh link 12. That is, it is provided in the extended portion 15 projecting downward from the first brake 18 in the upper thigh link 12. The remaining configuration of the walking support device 200 according to the second embodiment is the same as in the first embodiment. 16 and 17, the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 are attached to the same components as those in the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof is omitted. To do.

  In the present embodiment, the walking assist device 200 fixes the first brake 18 that forms the knee rotation pair K and releases the second brake 18 ′ that forms the ankle rotation pair A, thereby causing the linear actuator 40 to move. When extended, the ankle rotation pair A rotates in the counterclockwise direction as shown in FIG. 18A, and when the linear actuator 40 contracts, the ankle rotation pair A in the clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 18B. Rotate. On the other hand, when the second brake 18 'is fixed and the first brake 18 is released and the linear actuator 40 is contracted, as shown in FIG. 19A, the knee rotation pair K is rotated in the counterclockwise direction. When it rotates and the linear motion actuator 40 extends, the knee rotation pair K rotates in the clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 19B.

  With reference to FIGS. 12 and 20, the operation of the walking support apparatus 200 of the present embodiment adapted to the walking motion model will be described. FIG. 20 is a chart similar to FIG. 13 showing the displacement of the slider crank mechanism as the linear motion actuator 40 and the timing of fixing and releasing the first and second brakes 18 and 18 '.

In the transition from the state I to the state II, the first brake 18 is fixed and the second brake 18 'is released, and the linear motion actuator 40 is contracted. Thus, ankle rotation pair A is rotated in a clockwise direction as indicated by arrow R ₁ in FIG. 12, the operation is assisted kicking backwards.

In the transition period from the state II to the state III, the first brake 18 is released and the second brake 18 'is fixed, and the linear motion actuator 40 is extended. Thus, the knee rotation pair K is rotated in a clockwise direction as indicated by an arrow R ₂ in FIG. 12, separating operation upwardly from the floor or ground surface of the foot that kicking is assisted. At this time, for example, the extension amount of the linear actuator 40 is adjusted so that the tip of the toe is separated from the floor surface or the ground by about 5 cm. Thereafter, in order to compensate for the reduction in the toe height due to the rotation of the leg centered on the hip joint of the user wearing the walking assist device 200, the first brake 18 is applied while the extension of the linear actuator 40 continues. The second brake 18 'is released while being fixed. Thus, ankle rotation pair A is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by an arrow R _3, movement toe rises upward is assisted. In state IV, the sole passes through the lowest point in the vertical downward direction of the hip joint.

Immediately before the transition period from the state IV to the state V, the linear actuator 40 starts a contracting operation, the first brake 18 is released, and the second brake 18 'is fixed. Thus, the knee rotation pair K is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by an arrow R _4.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, since the slider crank mechanism is used as the linear motion actuator 40, the rotation speed of the motor 56 can be controlled without changing the rotation direction of the motor 56, and the first and second embodiments. All processes from the state I to the state V can be executed only by the on / off (fixing, releasing) control of the brakes 18 and 18 '. Therefore, as in the prior art, an increase in power consumption accompanying a change in the rotation direction of the motor is prevented. When the rotation direction of the motor is reversed, the peak value of the power consumption of the motor reaches about twice the average value calculated for the entire walking motion, but the walking support devices 100 and 200 do not have such a large peak of power consumption. The motor itself is also downsized. Furthermore, since the motor 56 does not reverse, a sudden change in the drive torque associated with the inertial force is prevented, and the walking assist devices 100 and 200 operate smoothly.

  As can be understood from the above description, in this embodiment, the human walking movement has one degree of freedom, that is, it can be expressed as a temporal change in the distance between the waist and the foot. The walking support devices 100 and 200 are attached to the user's body at only two locations, the waist and the feet. In addition, the walking support devices 100 and 200 create a human walking motion with one linear motion actuator, focusing on the fact that the human walking motion has one degree of freedom. The postures of the lower leg and the foot at the time of kicking and landing of the actual walking motion are created by the two brakes 18 and 18 '.

  In the process from human walking motion state III to state V through state IV, the human swings the entire lower limbs forward by rotating the hip joint, but the walking support devices 100 and 200 perform this operation. No assistance or support is provided.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Mounting part 12 Upper leg link 12 'Extension part 12a Bar-shaped member 14 Lower leg link 16 Kinematic block 18 First brake 18' Second brake 20 Foot link 22 Base part 30 First connection mechanism 30 'Second connection mechanism 30 ″ third coupling mechanism 32 bearing block 34 bearing block 32a through hole 34a through hole 36 coupling plate 38 rotation angle sensor 40 linear motion actuator 42 first stationary link 44 second stationary link 46 paired block 50 engine unit 52 base unit 54 Transmission 54a Input shaft 54b Output shaft 56 Motor 56a Output shaft 58 Output pulley 60 Input pulley 62 Belt 63 Crank 64 Connecting rod 66 Movable block 68 Guide rod 70 Controller
72 battery
74 Attitude angle sensor 76 Third angle sensor 78 First angle sensor 80 Displacement sensor or ranging sensor 82 Second angle sensor
86 Force sensor 88 Contact sensor 90 Grip switch
100 Walking support device 200 Walking support device A Ankle rotation pair even K Knee rotation pair L Lower rotation pair U Upper rotation pair

Claims (4)

An upper leg link that extends alongside the upper leg of the human when worn;
A lower leg link that extends alongside the lower leg of the human when worn,
A foot link that extends alongside a human foot when worn;
A linear actuator extending between the upper thigh link and the foot link;
An upper rotational pair that couples the upper thigh link and the linear motion actuator;
A lower rotary pair that couples the linear motion actuator and the foot link;
A knee rotation pair connecting the upper thigh link and the lower thigh link;
An ankle rotation pair for connecting the lower leg link and the foot link;
The walking assist device, wherein the knee rotating pair and the ankle rotating pair are provided with a brake.   The foot link has a flat plate-like base portion that supports a user's sole, and an extension portion that is attached to the base portion and provided to be positioned behind the user's heel when worn, The walking support device according to claim 1, wherein the lower rotation pair is provided in the extension portion.   The walking support device according to claim 1, wherein the upper rotation pair is provided above the knee rotation pair in an upper thigh link.   The walking support device according to claim 1, wherein the upper thigh link has an extension portion extending downward from the knee rotation pair, and the upper rotation pair is provided in an extension portion of the upper thigh link. .

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