JP3584505B2 - Walking training machine - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to a walking training machine used by trainees who need to recover or maintain a walking function to assist walking.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a conventional walking assistance device, as means for correcting the posture of the trainee and reducing the load, for example, a handle is attached to a frame having wheels arranged below the frame as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-5953. There is a walking aid provided so that the trainee can walk by holding on to the handle.
[0003]
In addition, in walking training, a technique called "underwater walking training" in which the whole body of the trainee is placed in a water tank to reduce the load by buoyancy, or as in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-42625, the upper body is restrained and Some are lifted.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The walking assist device provided with a handle so as to be grasped and walked, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-5953, requires only a certain amount of strength of the trainee because it supports only by hand. . For this reason, it is unsuitable for people who have deteriorated overall physical functions such as elderly people.
[0005]
In addition, the amount of load reduction cannot be easily changed in "water walking training" because of the buoyancy. Even if the adjustment is made according to the amount of water around the trainee, there arises a problem that, for example, the viscous load of water against the progress is concentrated on the lower body.
[0006]
In Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 2-42625, since a certain amount of load reduction is performed regardless of the posture of the trainee, the posture of the trainee may not be sufficiently corrected.
[0007]
The present invention has been made based on the above-described matter, and has as its object to provide a walking training machine capable of performing walking training while applying an appropriate load according to the state of a trainee .
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The above object of the present invention is achieved by applying a force applied to the trainee by the walking training machine as a function of a deviation from a reference posture.
[0009]
For this purpose, the walking training machine of the present invention includes a walking surface device having a walking surface forming a sidewalk of a trainee, an assistance device for supporting the trainee, and a control device for controlling the walking surface device assistance device. The assisting device has a base located on the upper surface of the walking surface device, a movable link mechanism having a link structure and a displacement sensor for measuring displacement and a torque sensor capable of detecting a force, and a force applied to the tip of the movable link mechanism. A gripper attached via a sensor for gripping the trainee, wherein the control device applies a force to the trainee in each of the vertical direction and the traveling direction based on a deviation from the reference posture of the trainee detected by the displacement sensor. The force exerted on the trainee is a combination of continuous linear functions, and is a straight line with a small slope in the range where the deviation from the reference posture is small, and the magnitude of the slope is large in the range where the deviation from the reference posture is large. The line, but that is offset vertically upward in the reference attitude for the vertical direction of the force on the trainee [0010]
In this feature, a means for inputting posture information serving as a reference of the trainee, a means for inputting a function representing a relationship between a deviation from the reference posture and a force exerted on the trainee, and a method for training based on the function. It is preferable to include a calculating means for calculating a force exerted on a person, and a driving means for driving the assistance device based on a calculation result of the calculating means. Further, the grip portion may be formed so as to grip the shoulder of the trainee.
[0013]
[Action]
Since the force applied to the trainee acts as a function of the deviation from the reference posture, appropriate settings can be made according to the ability of each trainee, and the force changes depending on the posture during walking. Correction of the posture according to the change is realized.
[0014]
In addition, by providing a means for inputting the function in the walking assistance device, it is possible to employ a function that generates an appropriate assistance force or load according to the ability of the trainee, and performs more appropriate training. be able to.
[0015]
【Example】
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of a walking assistance device employing the assistance method of the present invention.
[0016]
The present embodiment is a walking training machine 1 used for walking training of a trainee U having a gait function failure (hereinafter, trainee U). It comprises a walking surface device 2, a video display device 3, an assistance device 4, and an overall control device 5. In addition, it is assumed that there is an assistant S (not shown) to assist training.
[0017]
The walking surface device 2 is fixed to the floor surface or the ground, and has a walking surface 6 which is a training sidewalk formed of an annular belt at an upper portion. The walking surface 6 is a right-foot walking surface 6A and a left-foot walking that move independently of each other. It has a surface 6B. The assisting element 4 includes a base 4A having a bottom fixed to the walking surface device 2 and a movable link mechanism 4B. The trainee U and the assisting element 4 are connected to each other via a grip 4C at a movable end of the movable link mechanism 4B. are doing. The overall control device 5 includes a CRT 5A, a computer 5B, a keyboard (including a mouse) as input means 5C, and a database 5D.
[0018]
The trainee U stands on the walking surface 6 of the walking surface device 2 and starts walking. At this time, the trainee U is gripped by the assisting element 4 installed on the walking surface device 2, and undergoes posture correction and load reduction. Posture correction refers to applying a force in a direction in which the posture of the trainee U who is walking while walking is returned so that the upper body becomes vertical. The load reduction is to reduce the weight to be supported by the trainee U's foot by applying a vertically upward force to the trainee U to support the trainee U.
[0019]
An image display device 3 with a screen is provided in front of the trainee U in the walking direction, and reads and projects a landscape image stored in a memory of the database 5D on the screen as the user walks. The general control element 5 is connected to each of these devices.
[0020]
Next, as an example of the walking training procedure according to the present embodiment, a case where a trainee U who is usually in a wheelchair performs walking training using the walking training machine 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. explain.
[0021]
1) Setting (S2)
The type of landscape image projected on the image display device 3 during walking training and the load applied to the trainee by the walking surface device 2 are selected by the input unit 5C.
[0022]
Similarly, the force applied by the assisting element 4 to the trainee U via the gripper 4C is set by the function input unit 14 of the input unit 5C. The power is set at the time of walking training and at the time of raising / lowering (guidance of the trainee U before and after the training).
[0023]
2) Lift (S3)
After connecting the trainee U and the gripper 4C, the assistant S guides with the gripper 4C and guides to the training position. At this time, the assisting element 4 always exerts a constant force regardless of the position of the grip portion 4C. For example, assuming that the weight of the trainee U is equal in the vertical upward direction and 0 in the other directions, the assistant S leaves the weight of the trainee U to the assistance element 4 and guides the lifting freely. I can do it.
[0024]
3) Walking training (S4)
The trainee U stands at the training position, and starts training after performing a preliminary inspection such as the condition of the gripping portion 4C. During training, the video display device 3 and the walking surface device 2 provide a training environment for the trainee U, and the assistance device 4 reduces the load on the trainee U and corrects the posture.
[0025]
4) Pull down (S5)
Conversely to 2), the assistant S guides the trainee U to the original position by holding the grip 4C.
[0026]
5) Training end (S6)
This is the end.
[0027]
FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of the assistance device 4.
[0028]
The base 4A of the assistance device 4 is installed on the upper surface of the walking surface device 2, and a fixed portion 7A of two rotary drive elements 7 is mounted on the upper portion of the base 4A, and the rotary portion 7B of each rotary drive element 7 is driven. One end of the link 8 is attached, the other end of the drive link 8 is connected to the short driven link 9 and the long driven link 10 by a rotatable joint 11, and the other end of the short driven link 9 is also rotatable with the long driven link 10. They are connected at node 11.
[0029]
The long driven link 10 is provided with a force sensor 12, and the force sensor 12 is provided with a grip 4 </ b> C for gripping the trainee U's shoulder in this embodiment. The force sensor 12 measures a force acting between the trainee U and the assisting device 4 via the grip 4C. Since the operation area of the grip 4C is in the vertical plane, the assistance device 4 exerts a force in the vertical plane on the trainee U via the grip 4C.
[0030]
The rotation drive element 7 includes an angle sensor 13 for measuring a rotation angle, an angular velocity and a torque, an angular velocity sensor 14, a torque sensor 15, and a control for controlling the rotation drive element 7 based on operation commands and sensor information from the overall control device 5. Element 16 is provided.
[0031]
Here, a method of correcting the posture and reducing the load during walking training using the assistance element 4 will be described.
[0032]
Since the movable range of the assistance device 4 is in the vertical plane, the force exerted on the trainee U is a combined force of the vertical force and the forward (front-back) force. Therefore, the function 13 indicating the relationship between the deviation and the force is set for each of the two directions of the vertical direction and the traveling direction.
[0033]
In this example, as shown in FIG. 4, a combination of linear functions whose inclination is changed depending on the magnitude of the deviation under the condition that the continuity of the force value with respect to the deviation is maintained. Regarding the direction of the displacement and the force, the vertical direction is positive in the vertical direction, and the forward direction is positive in the traveling direction. The origin of the deviation is the reference posture. Elements that determine the function 13 are:
F0: Forces applied when displacement is 0 a1, a2, a3: Slope d1, d2 of linear function: Displacement position (threshold) at which the slope switches
It is.
[0034]
Note that the function 13 shown in FIG. 5 and subsequent figures shows only one direction.
[0035]
For example, in the vertical direction, only F0 (up to the weight of the trainee U) is set as shown in FIG. 5, that is, if the force is set to be constant regardless of the deviation, only the load on the trainee U is reduced. . At this time, the trainee U feels that his or her weight has been reduced because the weight supported by his or her feet is smaller than the weight. Conventionally, the same effect has been obtained by "underwater walking training" in which the body of the trainee U is submerged in a pool or the like. However, in this method, unlike “underwater walking training”, the amount of load to be reduced can be arbitrarily set according to the muscle strength of the trainee U by changing the setting of the force F0.
[0036]
If only a1 is set for the traveling direction as shown in FIG. 6 and the function of the force and the displacement is a straight line passing through the origin, a force in the direction opposite to the displacement acts on the trainee U in proportion to the magnitude of the displacement. , And the trainee U gets a feeling as if he / she is being pushed by the spring from the front and back. If the origin of the deviation is set to, for example, an upright state, the trainee U receives a force for standing upright to correct the posture. The inclination can be set according to the degree of recovery of the muscle strength of the trainee U.
[0037]
Further, when threshold values d1 and d2 are provided for the deviation as shown in FIG. 7 and the inclination is set to be larger when the difference is larger than the threshold value, the force acting on the trainee U changes abruptly. U feels as if the wall is full. The magnitude of the tilt corresponds to a sense of elasticity of the wall. Since the position of the virtual wall can be arbitrarily set by changing the threshold value, setting the allowable range of the posture of the trainee U can prevent the trainee U from falling in addition to correcting the posture. It is effective for safety measures.
[0038]
FIG. 4 is a composite of FIG. 5 to FIG. 7, and provides both effects of posture correction and load reduction. The function 13 only needs to maintain the continuity of the force value with respect to the shift. For example, if the function 13 is continuous (differentiable irrespective of the shift) unlike a linear function such as a cubic function, the function 13 acts on the trainee U. The trainee's power does not change suddenly, so that the trainee U is not shaken.
[0039]
When the force at the tip is set in this manner, the overall control device 5 calculates a torque target value for the assisting element 4 and performs torque control to realize the set force. This will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0040]
FIG. 8 shows the entire control system. The input means 5C includes a function input means 14 for inputting F0, a1, a2, a3, d1, and d2 to determine the function 13, and a reference attitude input means 15 for determining the origin of the deviation. The calculation means 5D is a component related to the control of the assistance element 4 in the computer 5B, and includes a memory 16, a CPU 17, and an input / output unit 18. The input / output unit 18 receives the setting of the input unit 5C by the input unit buses 19 and 20, takes in the information of the force sensor 12 and the angle sensor 13 of the assisting element by the AD converter 22 and the sensor bus 23, and uses the memory 16 and the CPU 17 The calculated command value to the link mechanism 4B is sent by the DA converter 21.
[0041]
FIG. 9 shows an example of the configuration of the input / output unit 18. The angle sensor information is converted into the posture of the trainee U by the angle-posture conversion unit 24, and the difference is calculated by calculating the difference from the reference posture. The deviation is input to the function 13 to obtain the target value of the force, and the torque target to the link mechanism 4B is determined by the force-torque converter 25. On the other hand, the force sensor information is also converted into the actual torque of the link mechanism 4B by the force-torque converter 25, and becomes a command value to the DA converter 21 by a control system of a combination of feedforward and feedback.
[0042]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, in order to make the force applied when assisting the trainee act as a function of the deviation from the reference posture, walking training is performed while applying an appropriate load according to the state of the trainee. be able to.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an embodiment of a walking assistance device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of walking training according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a configuration example of an assisting element 4 of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an example of a function 13 applied to the walking assistance device of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an embodiment of a load reduction function 13 applied to the walking assistance device of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is an embodiment of a posture correction function 13 applied to the walking assistance device of the present invention.
FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the posture correction function 13 applied to the walking assistance device of the present invention.
FIG. 8 shows the entire control system of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is an example of a configuration of an input / output unit 18 of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
U: trainee, S: helper, 1: walking training machine, 2: walking surface device, 3: video display device, 4: assistance device, 4A: base, 4B: movable link mechanism, 4C: gripping portion, 5 ... General control device, 5A ... CRT, 5B ... Computer, 5C ... Input means, 5D ... Calculation means section, 6 ... Walk surface, 6A ... Right foot walk surface, 6B ... Left foot walk surface, 7 ... Rotation drive element, 7A ... fixed part, 7B ... rotating part, 8 ... drive link, 9 ... short driven link, 10 ... long driven link, 11 ... node, 12 ... force sensor, 13 ... function, 14 ... function input means, 15 ... reference posture Input means part, 16 memory, 17 CPU, 18 input / output part, 19 input means bus, 20 input means bus, 21 DA converter, 22 AD converter, 23 sensor bus, 24 angle-position Conversion unit, 25: force-torque conversion unit, 26: feedback Kugein.

Claims (3)

  In a walking training machine having a walking surface device having a walking surface forming a sidewalk of a trainee, an assistance device for supporting the trainee, and a control device for controlling the walking surface device assistance device, the assistance device includes a walking device. A movable link mechanism having a base located on the upper surface of the surface device, a displacement sensor for measuring displacement with a link structure, and a torque sensor capable of detecting a force; A grip portion for gripping the trainee, wherein the control device controls the force applied to the trainee in each of the vertical direction and the traveling direction based on the deviation of the trainee from the reference posture detected by the displacement sensor, The force applied to the trainee is a combination of linear functions that are continuous with respect to the deviation from the reference posture. A range in a straight line size of the slope walking training device, characterized in that it is offset vertically upward with reference attitude for the vertical force on a trainee. 2. The walking training machine according to claim 1, wherein: means for inputting posture information serving as a reference of the trainee; means for inputting a function representing a relationship between a deviation from the reference posture and a force exerted on the trainee; A walking training machine, comprising: calculating means for calculating a force exerted on a trainee based on a function; and driving means for driving the assistance device based on a calculation result of the calculating means. The walking training machine according to claim 1, wherein the grip portion is formed so as to grip a shoulder of a trainee.

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