JP2015181661A - walking assist device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily perform position adjustment of an ankle joint.SOLUTION: A walking assist device 1 includes: a foot placing part 11 on which a foot is placed on an upper surface; a foot link part 12 connected with the foot placing part 11 and arranged on a lateral side of the foot; a leg link part 13 arranged along a leg. The foot link part 12 and the leg link part 13 are connected through engagement of irregularities extended in parallel and fastened so as to be adjusted by a screw. Thereby, position adjustment by engagement after relatively shifting one irregularities from the other irregularities vertically and position adjustment by relatively sliding the engagement of the irregularities in parallel enable position adjustment in vertical and front/rear directions.

Description

  The present invention particularly relates to a walking assist device used for position adjustment of an ankle portion.

  Conventionally, there is JP, 2012-165966, A as technology in such a field. A typical walking assistance device is configured to be attached to a leg. Such a walking support device includes a thigh link fixed to the user's thigh, a control unit attached to the thigh link, a thigh link attached along the user's lower thigh, and the user's foot. And a foot link to be attached to. The lower leg link is swingably connected to the thigh link via a knee joint. The lower leg link assists the walking motion by swinging with a motor provided in the control unit. The walking assist device described in this publication uses a connecting portion in which a foot link and a crus link can rotate around two axes of a pitch axis and a roll axis.

JP 2012-165966 A

If walking training is carried out with the walking assist device and the user's ankle joint axis not aligned, scissors rubbing or the like is likely to occur due to ankle sole dorsiflexion. However, in the walking assist device that is worn during walking training, there are cases where the position adjustment of the ankle joint cannot be easily adjusted to suit each user. In order to adjust the joint axis of the ankle for each user, it is necessary to match both the height position in the vertical direction and the position in the front-rear direction. It is necessary to provide a mechanism for adjustment. This is because the adjustment mechanism is increased in size and may not be mounted on the ankle portion.
The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an object thereof is to provide a walking assist device that can easily adjust the position of an ankle joint in accordance with the body of a user. To do.

A walking assist device according to the present invention is disposed along a foot placement portion that places a foot on an upper surface, a foot link portion that is connected to the foot placement portion and is disposed on a side of the foot, and a lower leg. A leg link part, and the foot link part and the leg link part are connected by fitting of an uneven part extending in parallel, and are fastened by screws.
As a result, adjustment of the position by fitting the one concavo-convex part and the other concavo-convex part relative to each other up and down, and the position by sliding the fitting of the concave part and the convex part relatively in parallel. By adjusting, the position in the vertical direction and the front-rear direction can be adjusted.

  Position adjustment of the ankle joint can be easily executed.

It is a perspective view which shows one Embodiment of the walk assistance apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is the perspective view which expanded the principal part of the walking assistance apparatus. It is a front view of one disk. It is a front view of the other disk. It is a figure which shows the walking state using a walking assistance apparatus. It is a side view which shows the fitting state of one disk and the other disk. It is the figure which showed the state which changed the connection position of the 1st disk and the 2nd disk up and down and up and down.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of a walking assistance device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the walking assist device 1 includes a knee main body 10, a foot placement unit 11 on which a user places his / her foot, and a lower end fixed to the foot placement unit 11, The foot link part 12 arranged on both sides, the upper end of the leg link part 13 fixed to the knee body part 10 and arranged along the user's lower leg, the upper end of the foot link part 12 and the lower leg link part 13 And a connecting portion P that connects the lower ends.

  The knee body portion 10 provides rotational force to the thigh link portion 10a having the fastening band 10d to be mounted on the user's knee, the lower meniscus portion 10b that is in contact with the user's knee, and the lower meniscus portion 10b. It has the drive part 10c. The drive unit 10c is a motor or an actuator, and operates the crus link unit 13 with the generated power to assist the user's walking motion.

  The foot placement unit 11 has a plate shape on which a user places his / her foot. Typically, the upper and lower surfaces of the foot placement portion 11 have a shape close to the shape of the sole of the user. The left and right side portions of the foot placement portion 11 are connected to the lower end of the foot link portion 12.

  The lower end of the foot link portion 12 is disposed on the rear side of the foot placement portion 11. Moreover, the connection part P is arrange | positioned at the upper end side of the foot link part 12, and the upper end vicinity of the foot link part 12 is arrange | positioned at the side of a user's ankle.

  The lower leg link part 13 is arrange | positioned along the both sides of a user's lower leg. The upper end of the lower leg link portion 13 is fixed to the lower half moon portion 10b. A connecting portion P is disposed on the lower end side of the lower leg link portion 13. Moreover, the lower leg link part 13 has the expansion | extension part 13a. The extending portion 13a is provided with a plurality of screw holes in the vertical direction. The extending portion 13a adjusts the length of the crus link portion 13 by changing the screw hole for screwing according to the length from the user's knee to the ankle. In FIG. 1, the extending portion 13a is illustrated only on the lower end side of the lower leg link portion 13 provided along the left leg of the user, but is provided along the right leg of the user. Similarly, the lower leg link part 13 is provided with an extension part.

  The connecting portion P has a pair of disks 14a and 15a having one surface formed with irregularities. The connecting portion P includes a first disk 14 a disposed on the upper end side of the foot link portion 12 and a second disk 15 a disposed on the lower end of the crus link portion 13.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the disk 14a has a concavo-convex part 14b extending in parallel and a long hole 14c penetrating the disk 14a. The first disk 14 a is arranged on the upper end side of the foot link portion 12 with an uneven portion 14 b extending parallel to the front-rear direction facing the left and right outer sides. The first disk 14a is a metal serration disk. Concave and convex portions 14 b are arranged at regular intervals in the vertical direction. For example, in the concavo-convex portion 14b, the pitch interval of the concavo-convex portions is 10 mm. Since the long hole 14c extends in the vertical direction, it is possible to slide the screw penetrating the long hole 14c in the vertical direction. The first disk 14a may be provided with a screw hole penetrating the first disk 14a in addition to the elongated hole 14c.

  The second disk 15a is a metal serration disk. As shown in FIG. 4, the second disk 15a has an uneven portion 15b and a female screw hole 15c on one surface. The second disk 15 a is arranged on the lower end side of the crus link portion 13 with the concavo-convex portion 15 b extending in the front-rear direction facing the left and right inner sides. In the connecting portion P, the uneven portion 15b is fitted to the uneven portion 14b of the first disk 14a. Here, the length from the floor to the ankle joint is adjusted by fitting the concavo-convex portion 15b by changing the vertical position of the concavo-convex portion 14b. The second disk 15a is provided with a plurality of female screw holes 15c at equal intervals in the front-rear direction. The female screw holes 15c are provided at a plurality of locations on the upper and lower sides of the second disk 15a. The pitch interval R of the plurality of female screw holes 15c is, for example, 5 mm. By aligning the long hole 14c of the foot link side connecting portion 14 with respect to the female screw hole 15c of the second disk 15a and screwing a screw penetrating the long hole 14c into the female screw hole 15c, The disk 14a and the second disk 15a are screwed. That is, the upper and lower relative positions of the second disk 15a and the first disk 14a are determined by fitting the concavo-convex part 14b and the concavo-convex part 15b extending in the front-rear direction, so that the female screw hole 15c and the long hole 14c By using and screwing, the front and back positions are determined. The second disk 15a is smaller in diameter than the first disk 14a and has a smaller number of irregularities, but the pitch interval between the irregularities 14b and the irregularities 15b is the same.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 5, when a person walks, the forefoot rocker is in contact with the heel when the heel is in contact with the ground and when the opposite foot reaches the floor after the heel lifts. Sometimes a forward load is applied to the lower meniscus 10b attached below the knee, and a moment load is applied to the ankle portion. Here, when the user wears the walking assistance device 1, the load applied to the walking assistance device 1 is dominated by the moment load at the ankle portion. Further, a load is applied to the walking assist device 1 in the downward direction by its own weight.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 6A, the tips of the convex portions S1 of the concave and convex portions 14b of the first disk 14a and the convex portions S2 of the concave and convex portions 15b of the second disc 15a are rounded. Thereby, stress concentration caused by moment load as shown by an arrow in FIG. 6A can be prevented. FIG. 6B is a comparative example when the convex portions S1 and S2 are not rounded. When the tip of the convex portions S1 and S2 is not rounded, a moment load as indicated by an arrow is applied. Stress tends to concentrate on the corners of the convex portions S1 and S2.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the ankle joint position can be adjusted by changing the connection state between the first disk 14a and the second disk 15a. The state shown in the center of FIG. 7 will be described below with the first disk 14a positioned at the approximate center of the second disk 15a.

  The second disk 15a is shifted upward by loosening the screw, and the uneven part 14b of the first disk 14a and the uneven part 15b of the second disk 15a are fitted together. Thereby, the joint position of the ankle can be shifted upward. Thereafter, the screw is screwed into a predetermined female screw hole 15c.

  Similarly, by loosening the screw, the second disk 15a is shifted downward, and the uneven part 14b of the first disk 14a and the uneven part 15b of the second disk 15a are fitted together. Thereby, the joint position of the ankle can be shifted downward. Thereafter, the screw is screwed into a predetermined female screw hole 15c.

  After the screws are loosened, among the plurality of female screw holes 15c provided in the second disk 15a, a screw penetrating the long hole 14c is screwed into the female screw hole 15c provided in the forward direction. Thereby, the joint position of the ankle can be shifted forward.

  Similarly, the screw is loosened, and then the screw having the elongated hole 14c penetrated into the female screw hole 15c provided in the rear direction among the plural female screw holes 15c provided in the second disk 15a. Screw it on. Thereby, the joint position of the ankle can be shifted backward.

  Here, in the first disk 14a, the elongated hole 14c extending in the vertical direction is provided, so that the female screw hole 15c to be used can be determined before the concave and convex portions 14b and 15b are fitted. it can. In addition, since the first disk 14a is provided with a long hole 14c extending vertically, the joint position of the ankle can be changed in the vertical direction.

  Thereby, according to a user, an ankle joint axis can be adjusted easily. Further, the load in the vertical direction can be supported by the fitting of the uneven portions 14b and 15c provided in the front-rear direction. Therefore, it is not necessary to concentrate the load in the vertical direction applied to the walking assist device 1 only on the fastening member of the connecting portion P, that is, the screw, and thus the failure of the walking assist device 1 can be prevented. Thereby, the walking assist device 1 can receive a moment load and a load in the vertical direction, and has a lightweight and compact structure.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the concavo-convex part 14b of the disk 14a and the concavo-convex part 15b of the second disk 15a are described as extending in parallel in the front-rear direction, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the concavo-convex part 14b and the second The uneven portions 15b of the second disk 15a may be in a state of extending in parallel in the vertical direction. In this case, the joint position of the ankle can be adjusted in the front-rear direction by changing the fitting position of the uneven portion 14b and the uneven portion 15b, and the ankle joint position is adjusted in the vertical direction by sliding relatively parallel to each other. be able to.
Furthermore, the concavo-convex portion 14b and the concavo-convex portion 15b are not limited to the front-rear direction and the vertical direction, and may be disposed at a predetermined acute angle with respect to the front-rear direction.

  Further, although the foot link side connecting portion 14 and the crus link side connecting portion 15 have been described as being provided with a disk, they need not be in the shape of a disk, and may have other shapes. Moreover, you may have a structure which changes the direction of the 2nd disk 15a to the front-back direction or the left-right direction.

  Moreover, about the connection part P, although described so that the 1st disk 14a might be arrange | positioned inside and the 2nd disk 15a was outside, the inner side and the outer side may be opposite.

  Moreover, although the long hole 14c extended up and down was provided in the 1st disk 14a, and it demonstrated as what the several female screw hole 15c was provided in the 2nd disk 15a, a long hole is provided in the 2nd disk 15a. It is good also as a structure which provides and provides several internal thread holes in the 1st disk 14a.

  Although the second disk 15a has been described as having a smaller diameter than the first disk 14a and a small number of uneven portions 15b, the diameter of the first disk 14a may be larger than that of the second disk 15a.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Walking assistance apparatus 10 Knee main-body part 10a Thigh link part 10b Lower meniscus part 10c Drive part 10d Fastening band 11 Foot mounting part 12 Foot link part 13 Lower leg link part 13a Elongation part 14a Disc 14b Uneven part 14c Slot 15a Disc 15b Uneven Part 15c female screw hole

Claims (1)

A foot placement section for placing a foot on the upper surface;
A foot link portion connected to the foot placement portion and disposed on a side of the foot;
A lower leg link portion arranged along the lower leg,
The walking assist device, wherein the foot link part and the crus link part are connected by fitting of an uneven part extending in parallel and are fastened in an adjustable manner by screws.

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