KR101716761B1 - Wearable MDOF joint for assisting muscular strength that coincides with the center of rotation - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wearable multi-freedom degree rotation center-matched muscular strength assistance joint mechanism. More specifically, a rotation center of the joint mechanism is able to be positioned in the rotation center of a joint of a user when the user wears a lower body exoskeleton robot where the wearable multi-freedom degree rotation center-matched muscular strength assistance joint mechanism is applied. As such, the present invention secures safety for the wearer.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a wearable MDOF joint for assisting muscular strength and coinciding with the center of rotation,

The present invention relates to a wearable multi-freedom rotational center-matching muscle aiding mechanism, and more particularly, to a wearable multi-freedom rotational centered muscle force augmented joint mechanism, The present invention relates to a wearable multi-degree-of-freedom center-of-fit muscle-auxiliary joint mechanism capable of positioning the center of the wearer's body at the center of rotation of the corresponding joint.

A wearable exoskeleton robot is a robot system to be worn by a person to assist the wearer with the force or motion. Exoskeleton robots for supporting or strengthening leg muscles have been developed mainly for the rehabilitation of elderly / disabled persons in the civilian field, for supporting the strength of daily life, and for improving the work efficiency by supporting the worker 's strength in the factory.

While civil exotic skeletal robots are mainly used in a well-constructed indoor environment, there is a difference that an exoskeleton robot for a soldier has to assist a soldier's fast movement in an uneven outdoor environment such as a horn. The joint mechanism of the exoskeleton robot should be able to mechanically follow the movement of the wearer's joints as quickly as possible for rapid movement assistance. In other words, if the center of rotation of the joint of the lower limb joint robot does not coincide with the center of rotation of the wearer's joint, there will be a difference between the movements of the two joints. Such a mismatch of movements is a potential risk to the wearer during uneven walking Lt; / RTI >

In addition, the torque for the flexion-extension rotation of the wearer's exoskeletal robot is considerably larger than that of the other directions. In the case of the passive joint instead of the active joint using the actuator, A passive force assist mechanism is needed for proper force assistance.

Korean Registered Patent KR1295004

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a knee joint capable of positioning a rotation center of a wearable osseo-skeletal robot joint mechanism at a rotation center of a wearer's ankle joint, The present invention aims to provide a safety device for a wearer who wears an exoskeleton robot when walking on an irregular ground such as a hare.

The wearer's soles are fastened to a calf link of an exoskeleton robot, the calf link is fastened to a support link, and the soles of the wearer are fastened to a rotary link, which is a sole frame of an exoskeleton robot, And a force assisting link is provided between the link and the force assisting link portion between the links and during the stance during which the bending rotation occurs during the gait cycle.

According to the present invention, by placing the center of rotation of the wearable exoskeleton robot joint mechanism at the center of rotation of the wearer's ankle joint, it is possible to secure the wearer wearing the exoskeleton robot when walking on an irregular ground, There is an effect that an auxiliary force can be provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a wearable rotatable center-of-gravity ankle joint mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a view of a wear-type rotational center-matching muscle force augmentation mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a kinematic structural view of a wearable rotatable center-of-gravity muscle augmentation mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a force auxiliary link portion of a wearable rotatable center-of-gravity muscle aiding mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a torsion spring included in a force auxiliary link portion of a wear type rotational center-matching type muscle force auxiliary joint mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.
6 is a graph showing an average amount of change in the bending-extension (vertical direction) rotation angle of a human ankle when walking at a speed of 6 km / hr.
FIG. 7 is a simulation result showing a muscle auxiliary performance of a wear type rotational center-matching muscle aiding mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.
8 is a view showing a rotation of the wear type rotational center-matching type muscle force auxiliary joint mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention in a bending-extension direction (up-down direction).
9 is a view showing a left-to-right rotation view of a wearable rotatable center-of-gravity muscle auxiliary joint mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a view showing the rotation of the wear type rotational center-matching type muscle force auxiliary joint mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention in the in-rotation direction. FIG.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, It will be possible. The present invention is capable of various modifications and various forms, and specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the text. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows a schematic view of the wearable rotatable center of gravity of the present invention when mounted on a muscle auxiliary joint mechanism.

As shown in the drawing, the joint mechanism of the present invention is roughly composed of a rotary link 11, which is a sole frame 11 of an exoskeletal robot, which is located in correspondence with a lower skeleton of a wearer, A power assist link portion 40 that provides a force assist to a specific rotation direction and includes a spring to enable six degrees of freedom, And a support link (10) positioned in correspondence with the skeleton.

The wearer's calf 1 is fastened to the calf link 3 of the exoskeleton robot and the calf link 3 is fastened to the support link 10 of the joint mechanism and the soles 2 of the wearer are fastened to the soles of the foot frame Is fastened to the rotating link (11). The rotation center matching link portion 20 and the force auxiliary link portion 40 are located between the support link 10 and the rotation link 11.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual view of the joint mechanism of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a kinematic structural view of the joint mechanism of the present invention.

The rotation center matching link unit 20 includes a first spherical link 21, a second spherical link 22, a third spherical link 23 and a fourth spherical link 24, Two rotary joints are connected to the links 21, 22, 23 and 24.

A rotary joint 28 connected to the support link 10 and a rotary joint 29 connected to the third spherical link 23 are connected to the first spherical link 21 located on the inner side of the foot, The rotary joint 29 connected to the first spherical link 21 and the rotary joint 30 connected to the rotary link 11 are connected to the three-sided link 23 to form a single serial chain.

A rotary joint 25 connected to the support link 10 and a rotary joint 26 connected to the fourth rectangular link 24 are connected to the second spherical link 22 located outside the foot, The rotary joint 26 connected to the second spherical link 22 and the rotary joint 27 connected to the rotary link 11 are connected to the four sphere link 24 to form a single serial chain.

The rotary axes of the rotary joints 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 constituting the rotary center matching link unit 20 are arranged so as to be inclined so that the rotary shaft intersections all meet at one point, The angle of inclination between the two rotary shafts of each of the spherical links 21, 22, 23 and 24 and the position of the supporting link 10 and the rotary link 11 are determined so as to be as close as possible to the rotation center point of the wearer's ankle do.

In this configuration, the rotation center matching link unit 20 realizes the three-degree-of-freedom rotation movement of the rotation link 11 with respect to the support link 10, The translational motion with respect to the rotation center matching link portion 20 is limited by the mechanical constraint of the rotational center matching link portion 20. [

A rotary displacement measuring device such as an encoder is attached to the rotary joints 25 and 28 connected to the support link 10 in the rotary center matching link unit 20 so that the rotation link It is also possible to implement a manual type joint mechanism device capable of detecting the relative degree of freedom degree of rotation of the shaft 11.

And a rotary actuator is attached to the rotary joints 25 and 28 connected to the support link 10 in the rotation center matching link unit 20 to rotate the rotary link multi- May also be implemented. ≪ RTI ID = 0.0 >

FIG. 4 shows the force auxiliary link portion of the joint mechanism of the present invention.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that two force auxiliary link portions 40 are used. The force-assisting link portion 40 is positioned behind the rotational centering link portion 20 when worn on the wearer's foot, and is located outside and inside the wearer's foot, respectively.

The force auxiliary link unit 40 constructed inside the first link 41 is composed of the first link 41 and the third link 43 and the force auxiliary link unit 40 implemented on the outside is composed of the second link 42 and the third link 43. [ 4 link 44. [0034]

One end of the second link 42 is connected to the support link 10 by a rotary joint 48. The other end of the second link 42 is connected to the fourth link 44 by a universal joint 49 and connected to the fourth link 44 And the other end is constituted by a ball joint 50 and forms a single serial chain and is connected to the rotary link 11 through a fixing block 12. [

The ball joint 50 is implemented using a universal joint structure and one rotating joint without using a physical ball / socket joint to increase the range of rotation.

The first link 41 and the third link 43, which are the force auxiliary link portions 40 implemented inside, have the same configuration.

With such a configuration, the force auxiliary link unit 40 can implement a six-degree-of-freedom motion that does not physically restrain the rotational motion for up and down, right and left,

Therefore, when the rotational center matching link unit 20 implements the three-degree-of-freedom rotational motion of the rotating link 11 with respect to the supporting link 10, it does not provide any kinematic restraint.

Fig. 5 is an explanatory view of a torsion spring included in the force auxiliary link portion of the joint mechanism of the present invention.

A torsion spring 45 is included in the rotary joint 48 of the force auxiliary link unit 40 mounted on the outside and one side of the torsion spring 45 is attached to the support link 10, On the other side of the spring 45, a torsion spring arm 46 is formed.

The movement of the torsion spring arm 46 is restricted by the mechanical stopper 47 of the second link 42 in the initial state before the wearer wears the torsion spring arm 46 and the rotation link 11 is supported by the support link 10 The mechanical stopper 47 presses the torsion spring arm 46 to rotate the second link 42 so as to apply a compressive force to the torsion spring 45.

With this structure, the auxiliary torque is transmitted to the wearer when the wearer's foot is flexed and rotated.

The mechanical stopper 47 of the second link 42 presses the torsion spring arm 46 when the rotation link 11 is extended (downward) with respect to the support link 10 Do not pull.

Due to such a configuration, the joint mechanism of the present invention generates auxiliary torque only at the bending rotation where a lot of torque is applied to the ankle of the wearer, and does not transmit the auxiliary torque at the time of extension rotation in which torque is not applied.

The rotational joint of the force auxiliary link portion 40 implemented inside is also configured in the same manner.

The rotary joint of the force auxiliary link unit 40 may be provided with a rotary actuator instead of the torsion spring 45 to provide an active auxiliary force to the corresponding joint of the wearer. 44 may be replaced by a tension spring.

This unidirectional force transmission characteristic of the force auxiliary link portion 40 is a diagram showing an average amount of change in the bending-extension (vertical direction) rotation angle of the human ankle when walking at a speed of 6 km / hr shown in FIG. 6, Can be explained by the simulation results showing the muscle auxiliary performance of the joint mechanism of the present invention shown in Fig.

6, the negative angle means a bend (upward direction) rotation, and the positive angle means a extension (downward) rotation. The X-axis of the figure represents the walking cycle. In general, one step is a gait cycle, and one complete walking cycle starts from the moment when the heel is grounded to the moment when the ground is grounded on the other heel and then grounded to the heel of the foot. In this case, the stance phase, which is the state in which the first foot is in contact with the ground, occupies 60% of the whole in the walking cycle, and the swing phase in which the first foot does not touch the ground moves in the walking cycle The remaining 40%.

It can be seen that flexion (upwards) rotation occurs mainly during the stance phase and extension (downward) rotation occurs mainly during the swing phase.

That is, the auxiliary force can be provided only during the stance phase through the implementation of the unidirectional force auxiliary link portion 40 that implements the force aiding only during bending and does not implement force aiding during bending.

In the simulation result showing the muscle auxiliary performance of the joint mechanism of the present invention shown in FIG. 7, the change in the torque applied to the wearer's ankle against the flexion-extension rotation can be confirmed. It can be confirmed that force assist is intensively performed during the stance period in which much force is applied to the wearer's ankle due to the unidirectional force transmission characteristic of the force auxiliary link portion 40. [

FIG. 8 shows a state in which the joint mechanism of the present invention is rotated in a bending-extension (up and down) direction, FIG. 9 shows a state in which the joint mechanism of the present invention is rotated in the leftward and rightward direction, Direction rotation.

As shown in the figure, the rotary link 11, which is a sole frame, is used as a scaffold for supporting the heel of a wearer's foot. A scaffold 13 for supporting a front portion of the wearer's foot is separately formed, The footrest 13 supporting the front portion is connected by the connecting plate 14. [

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical and exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

1: calf of wearer
2: Foot of wearer
3: Calf Link of Exoskeleton Robot
10: Support link
11: Rotating link (soles frame of exoskeleton robot)
12: fixed block
13: Footrest supporting the front part of the foot
14: connecting plate
20: rotation center matching type link portion
21: first spherical link
22: second spherical link
23: Third spherical link
24: the fourth spherical link
25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30: rotational joints of the rotation center matching type link portion
40: force auxiliary link portion
41: first link
42: Second link
43: Third link
44: fourth link
45: Torsion spring
46: Torsion spring arm
47: Mechanical stopper
48: rotational joint connected to the second link of the force auxiliary link portion
49: Universal joint
50: Ball joint

Claims (13)

The calf of the wearer is fastened to the calf link of the exoskeleton robot, the calf link is fastened to the support link,
The soles of the wearer's feet are fastened to the rotating link, which is the sole frame of the exoskeleton robot,
A rotation center matching link portion and a force auxiliary link portion are located between the support link and the rotation link,
Force aids are provided during the stance phase where flexion rotation occurs during the gait cycle,
The rotation center matching link unit is implemented by forming two serial chains formed by using two spherical links and three rotational joints (in order of a rotational joint, a spherical link, a rotational joint, a spherical link, and a rotational joint) A serial chain is one located inside and outside the wearer's foot
And a wearable multi-degree of freedom rotatable centering-type muscle augmented joint. delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the rotatable centering link is connected to the supporting link and the rotating link by the rotating joint connected to both ends of the series chain. The method of claim 3,
Wherein the rotation center matching link portion is configured to arrange the spherical links so that the rotational axes of the rotational joints included in the rotational center matching link portion are inclined and the rotational centers of the wearer's ankle joints coincide with the rotational axis intersections, So as to enable three degrees of freedom rotational movement of the rotary link relative to the link. 5. The method of claim 4,
The rotation joint connected to the support link in the serial chain of the rotation center matching link is attached with a displacement measuring device to manually detect the relative degree of freedom rotation of the rotation link with respect to the support link And a wearable multi-degree of freedom rotatable centering type muscle auxiliary joint. 5. The method of claim 4,
And a rotary actuator is attached to the rotary joint connected to the support link in the serial chain of the rotation center matching link portion so that the rotary motion of the rotary link with respect to the support link is implemented in an active manner. Wearable multi-degree of freedom Rotating center coincidental muscular auxiliary joint. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the force auxiliary link portion is located behind the rotational center matching link portion when worn on the wearer's foot and is formed of two links, a rotating joint, a ball joint, and a universal joint connecting the two links, Wherein the chain is implemented by forming two serial chains in the order of a universal joint, a link, and a ball joint, wherein the chain is located one inside and one outside of the wearer's foot. . 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the force auxiliary link portion is connected to the support link by a rotation joint and is connected to the rotation link by a ball joint. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein a torsion spring is included in the rotary joint of the force auxiliary link portion so that one side of the torsion spring is attached to the supporting link and a torsion spring arm is formed on the other side of the torsion spring. Centralized muscle strength auxiliary joint. 10. The method of claim 9,
The movement of the torsion spring arm is restricted by the mechanical stopper located on the link connected to the rotation joint in the initial state before the wearer wears it. When the rotation link is bent (upward) with respect to the support link Wherein the mechanical stopper presses the torsion spring arm to cause the link connected to the rotational joint to rotate and apply a compressive force to the torsion spring. 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the mechanical stopper does not press or pull on the torsion spring arm when the rotational link is extensively rotated about the support link. 12. The method of claim 11,
When the rotational center matching link unit implements the three degree of freedom rotational motion of the rotating link with respect to the supporting link, the rotational centering link unit physically constrains the rotational motion with respect to the up, down, left, Characterized in that it is rotatable about six degrees of freedom without rotation. 13. The method of claim 12,
The torsion spring may be mounted on the rotary joint of the force assist link portion to provide an active assist force to the wearer's ankle joint. The link of the series link of the force assist link portion, which is connected to the ball joint, Gt; a < / RTI > wearable multi-degree of freedom rotatable center-of-fit muscle augmentation joint.

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