TWI726599B - Knee joint structure - Google Patents

Abstract

A knee joint structure includes a knee-joint head portion, a knee-joint body portion, and at least one curved plate. The knee-joint head portion includes a position-returning device made up of a piston, an elastic body, and an adjustment cap and a transmission axle. The transmission axle includes a push-bar axle, which is pivotally coupled to a push bar operable to drive and move the piston. The knee-joint body portion includes a connection rod pivotally connected to the knee-joint head portion. The curved plate connects the transmission axle and the knee-joint body portion.As such, when the knee joint bends, the push bar compresses the elastic body to accumulate a spring force, so that the knee joint, when rotating in an opposite direction, is returned to an original state by the spring force of the elastic body. By arranging a position-returning device and the push bar in the knee-joint head portion, a critical angle of bending of the knee joint of the present invention can be set to be greater than the maximum angle of bending of walking, and this could ensure each step accomplished in a normal walking gait. As such, the present invention helps improve the drawback of a prior art knee joint of easily exceeding the critical angle after bending, which makes the knee joint that is supposed to get to a straight state continuously bending and causing tipping and hurting, and therefore enhances safety of operation.Further, the location for adjusting the strength of the elastic body is improved in order to allow adjustment of the strength to be carried out according to a walking speed of a user, allowing walking to be conducted with less effort.

Description

Knee joint structure

The present invention relates to a knee joint structure, in particular to a knee joint structure for prosthetic users that can improve walking safety, facilitate adjustment of joint recovery strength, and make walking more labor-saving.

Prosthetic limbs mainly refer to artificial limbs, which are used to replace the functions of disabled limbs or modify the appearance of disabled limbs. Among them, the knee joint is the key to the design, because it is related to the gait and mechanical balance when walking and must be equipped Replace the support and walking function of the normal knee joint.

The conventional knee joint structure, please refer to Figure 15 and Figure 16. It mainly includes a knee joint head 91, a knee joint body 92, and a connecting rod 93 and arcs used to connect the knee joint head 91 and the knee joint body 92. 94. The knee joint body 92 is provided with a resetting device 921, and the connecting rod 93 is provided with a bump 931. With this structure, when the knee joint is bent, the bump 931 can push the resetting device 921 to store elastic force, and the knee joint is reversed. When pivoting, the elastic force released by the reset device 921 can be restored to its original state.

Please refer to Figures 16 to 18, because the reset device 921 is provided on the knee joint body 92, and the bump 931 is provided on the connecting rod 93. Due to the relationship of the pivot point change during the movement of the knee joint, the knee joint is bent. The critical angle is only about 60°~80° (as shown in Figure 16), but the actual use situation when walking is: when the knee joint is walking at a fast pace, the bending angle can easily exceed the critical angle, causing it to return to a straight shape. Unexpectedly continue to bend the knee joint (as shown in Figure 17, the direction of the knee joint bend, the arrow in the figure represents the knee joint head 91, the knee joint body 92 does not pivot towards the straight shape), unable to complete the normal walking gait and easy to fall Injured.

In addition, because the reset device 921 is provided in the knee joint body 92 and the push rod 931 is provided in the connecting rod 93, the knee joint body 92 is used to receive the lower leg prosthesis, so that the elastic body must be removed first when the strength of the elastic body is to be adjusted. The calf prosthesis causes inconvenient adjustment of the strength of the elastic body.

Therefore, how to improve the lack of conventional knee joint structure is a top priority in the industry.

The idea is that the inventor of the present invention is based on the concept of continuous product research and innovation, based on years of practical experience in product design and development, as well as active research and development thinking, through countless actual tests and experiments, leading to the invention of this invention.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a knee joint structure that can improve walking safety and save walking effort.

In order to achieve the above objective, the present invention includes a knee joint head, a knee joint body, and at least one arc, wherein the knee joint head has a reset hole, and the reset hole has a piston, an elastic body, and an adjustment cover. The two ends of the elastic body respectively press against the piston and the adjusting cover. The knee joint head has a shaft hole, the shaft hole is provided with a transmission shaft, the transmission shaft has a gap, and the gap is provided with a push rod shaft, and the push rod shaft A push rod that can push the piston is pivotally connected; the knee joint body has a connecting rod, one end of the connecting rod is pivotally connected to the knee joint head by a first axis, and the knee joint body has a second axis; the The two ends of the arc piece are respectively connected with the transmission shaft and the second axis.

When the knee joint is bent, the push rod can press the elastic body to reserve the elastic force, and the elastic body will return to the original shape when the knee joint pivots in the reverse direction; by placing the reset device and the push rod on the knee joint head, the present invention The critical angle of knee flexion can be greater than the angle of bending during walking, ensuring that a normal walking gait can be completed at each step, and improving the conventional technology. The knee joint is bent beyond the critical angle, causing the knee joint that should be straightened to continue to bend unexpectedly. The shortcomings of easy fall and injury can improve safety.

In addition, the position for adjusting the strength of the elastic body is improved to facilitate the adjustment of the strength according to the walking speed of the user, so that the walking is more labor-saving.

The following is only a detailed description with specific embodiments and accompanying drawings.

Please refer to FIGS. 1 to 6, the present invention includes a knee joint head 10, a knee joint body 20, and two arc pieces 30. It will be explained in detail below:

The knee joint head 10 has a reset hole 11, and the reset hole 11 has a piston 12, an elastic body 13, and an adjustment cover 14. The two ends of the elastic body 13 abut against the piston 12 and the adjustment cover 14, respectively. The knee joint head 10 has a shaft hole 15, the shaft hole 15 is provided with a transmission shaft 16, the transmission shaft 16 has a gap 161, the gap 161 is provided with a push rod shaft 17, the push rod shaft 17 is pivoted to push the piston 12 of the putter 18.

The knee joint body 20 has a connecting rod 21, one end of the connecting rod 21 is pivotally connected to the knee joint head 10 via a first axis 22, and the knee joint body 20 has a second axis 23.

The two ends of the arc piece 30 are respectively connected to the transmission shaft 16 and the second axis 23.

In one embodiment, the piston 12 is provided with a groove 121, and the end of the push rod 18 extends into and abuts against the groove 121 to form a positioning function, so that the push rod 18 can be stabilized and avoided within the range of the groove 121 Push the piston 12 offset.

In one embodiment, the transmission shaft 16 is provided with a screw 162 through which the end of the screw 162 presses the push rod shaft 17 to fix the push rod shaft 17 in the notch 161.

In one embodiment, one end surface of the transmission shaft 16 has a flat portion 164 to form an irregular end surface shape, and the arc piece 30 is provided with a locking groove 31 that matches the shape of the irregular end surface and makes the transmission shaft One end of 16 is clamped to the fixing groove 31, so that the arc piece 30 and the transmission shaft 16 can be interlocked with each other.

The foregoing is an introduction to the various components of the present invention and their composition methods, and then the use embodiments, features, and benefits of the present invention are introduced as follows:

Please refer to Figures 7 and 8, when the knee joint of the present invention is bent, the drive shaft 16 is driven to rotate an angle so that the push rod 18 can push the elastic body 13 through the piston 12 to reserve elastic force, which can be borrowed when the knee joint pivots in the reverse direction. The elastic body 13 returns to its original shape with elastic force, that is, the elastic body 13 reversely pushes the push rod 18 to rotate the transmission shaft 16 in reverse and drives the arc piece 30 and the knee joint body 20 to swing in the opposite direction toward the knee joint head 10.

By arranging the reset device and the push rod 18 on the knee joint head 10, the critical angle of knee bending of the present invention can be set according to the position of the push rod shaft 17 on the drive shaft 16, and is usually set to be greater than the maximum walking bending angle of 20° the above. It is greater than the maximum bending angle during walking (please refer to Figure 14), to ensure that normal walking gait can be completed at every step, and to improve the conventional technology. The knee joint is bent beyond the critical angle, causing unexpected knee joints that should be straightened. The shortcomings of continuous bending and easy fall and injury can improve safety.

In addition, the position of the strength adjustment of the elastic body 13 is improved to facilitate the adjustment of the strength according to the walking speed of the user, so that the walking is more labor-saving.

Please refer to Figures 1 and 9. In one embodiment, the adjustment cover 14 is screwed to the reset hole 11 and has an adjustment slot 141. The user can use a hand tool to insert the adjustment slot 141 and then rotate the adjustment cover 14 Move back and forth to compress or release the elastic body 13 to achieve the purpose of adjusting the elastic force.

Please refer to FIG. 10. In one embodiment, the push rod shaft 17 penetrates the transmission shaft 16 and the push rod 18 so that the transmission shaft 16 and the push rod 18 are combined.

Referring to FIGS. 11 to 13, in one embodiment, the piston 12 is pivotally connected to one end of the push rod 18 via a piston shaft 122, so that the push rod 18 can push the piston 12 stably and avoiding deviation.

The above examples of this case are provided for the convenience of explanation only, and should not be used to limit the meaning of this case, that is, all the various design changes made in accordance with the scope of the listed patent applications should be included in the scope of patents of this case.

10: Knee joint head 11: Reset hole 12: Piston 121: Groove 122: Piston shaft 13: Elastomer 14: Adjust cover 141: adjustment slot 15: Shaft hole 16: drive shaft 161: Gap 162: Screw 164: Plane Department 17: Push rod shaft 18: putter 20: Knee joint body 21: connecting rod 22: The first axis 23: second axis 30: arc 31: card slot Conventional technology: 91: Knee Joint Head 92: knee joint body 921: reset device 93: connecting rod 931: bump 94: arc

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the present invention. Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the present invention. Figure 3 is a right side view of the present invention. Figure 4 is a rear view of the present invention. Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the present invention at A-A. Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the present invention at B-B. Figures 7 to 8 are cross-sectional views of usage examples of the present invention. Figure 7 shows that the walking bending angle is about 60°~80°, which is less than the critical angle; Figure 8 shows that the joint bending angle is greater than 90° but still less than the critical angle. Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of an example of use of the present invention for adjusting the strength of an elastomer. Figure 10 is an exploded view of the second structural embodiment of the present invention. Figure 11 is an exploded view of the third structural embodiment of the present invention. Figure 12 is a cross-sectional view of the third structural embodiment of the present invention. Figure 13 is an exploded view of the fourth structural embodiment of the present invention. Figure 14 is an example of the use of the present invention in walking gait. The middle image shows that the bending angle of the fast walking gait is smaller than the critical angle, and the right image shows that the walking gait can be restored to a straight shape. Figures 15 to 17 are cross-sectional views of usage examples of the conventional technology. The 16th figure shows that the walking gait bending angle is less than 90°, but it has exceeded the critical angle; the 17th figure shows that the knee joint structure is abnormally bent backward. Figure 18 is a schematic diagram of abnormal gait caused by conventional techniques. The middle image shows that the bending angle of the fast walking gait is greater than the critical angle, and the right image shows that the knee joint structure is abnormally bent backward during the walking gait.

10: Knee joint head

11: Reset hole

12: Piston

121: Groove

13: Elastomer

14: Adjust cover

141: adjustment slot

16: drive shaft

17: Push rod shaft

18: putter

20: Knee joint body

21: connecting rod

22: The first axis

23: second axis

30: arc

Claims (6)

A knee joint structure includes: a knee joint head with a reset hole, a piston, an elastic body, and an adjustment cover are arranged in the reset hole, and the two ends of the elastic body abut against the piston, the adjustment cover, and the knee The joint head has a shaft hole, the shaft hole is provided with a transmission shaft, the transmission shaft has a gap, the gap is provided with a push rod shaft, the push rod shaft is pivotally connected to a push rod that can push the piston; a knee joint body with A connecting rod, one end of the connecting rod is pivotally connected to the knee joint head by a first axis, and the knee joint body has a second axis; at least one arc piece, the two ends of the arc piece are respectively connected to the transmission shaft and the The second axis; wherein the push rod shaft penetrates the transmission shaft and the push rod, so that the transmission shaft and the push rod are combined. The knee joint structure according to claim 1, wherein the piston is provided with a groove, and the end of the push rod extends into and abuts against the groove. The knee joint structure according to claim 1, wherein the transmission shaft is provided with a screw element, and the end of the screw element presses the push rod shaft to fix the push rod shaft in the notch. The knee joint structure of claim 1, wherein the one end surface of the transmission shaft has a flat surface to form an irregular end surface shape, the arc piece is provided with a fixing groove, and the shape of the fixing groove matches the shape of the irregular end surface and makes One end of the transmission shaft is clamped in the clamping groove. The knee joint structure according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment cover is screwed to the reset hole and has an adjustment groove. The knee joint structure of claim 1, wherein the piston is pivotally connected to one end of the push rod by a piston shaft.

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