Back to results
US 11,109,986 B2Granted
Torque measuring spring for a prosthetic drive
AssigneeOtto Bock Healthcare GmbH
InventorsWeston Smith, Christopher Morse, Paul Balutis
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An improvement to a prosthetic device which provides a spring member between first and second structural members that are rotatably connected to one another, the spring member providing predictable resistance as it is compressed by the rotation of the first and second structural members with respect to each other. The known resistance of the spring is used as an input to a model controlling a motor control circuit to provide counter-torque as rotational torque is applied to compress the spring.
Claims22
A prosthetic, orthotic, or exoskeletal (POE) device comprising:
- a first member;
- a second member moveably connected to the first member through a rotatable joint configured to augment or replace a human joint, the joint applying a torque to the POE device during at least a part of its rotation;
- and
- a spring member fixed to the first member, the second member directly contacting the spring member during at least a portion of the movement of the second member with respect to the first member, the spring member configured to deflect from a neutral position when contacted by the second member and providing resistance to the rotation of the second member in relation to an amount of the torque.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.