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US 12,575,995 B2Granted
Wearable motion assistance device
AssigneeCyberdyne Inc.
InventorsHiromasa Hara, Masahiro Takama, Hiroki Watari
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In a state where a drive unit is located on a lateral side of a joint(s) of a wearer wearing clothes and a communication unit and a frame unit are fixed and retained corresponding to the wearer's first and second body sites, respectively, a driving torque of an actuator according to movements of the wearer's joint is transmitted as an assist force to the first and second body sites without giving any physical burdens or hindrances in daily life to the wearer.
Claims14
A wearable motion assistance device comprising:
- a drive unit having first and second housings in which a stator side and a rotor side of a flat-shaped actuator are respectively housed and which engage with each other so that the first and second housings rotate separately according to a driving of the actuator, wherein coupling parts of a same structure are formed to protrude from the first and second housings respectively in mutually opposite directions,
- wherein a main body of a speed reducer which converts a rotational speed of a rotor for the actuator into a specified speed reduction ratio and outputs the converted rotational speed, and an actuator driver which performs drive control of the actuator are housed in either one of the first or second housings to be substantially flush with each other, and a flat-shaped operating unit including a touch sensor is fixed to the main body of the speed reducer so that the actuator is located between the main body of the speed reducer and the operating unit, and an output axis of the speed reducer is fixed to the other one of the first or second housings;
- first and second frame units that are respectively coupled to the respective coupling parts of the drive unit in a separable manner;
- a power source unit that engages with the first or second frame unit in a freely attachable/detachable manner and is equipped with a battery for supplying electric power to the actuator;
- a control unit provided in the drive unit and designed to perform drive control of the actuator;
- a physical quantity detector that detects a physical quantity regarding a rotary motion between the first and second housings from a driving current supplied to the actuator;
- a biosignal detection unit that detects a biosignal according to movements of a joint connecting first and second body sites of a wearer;
- and
- a data storage unit that stores a reference parameter of each phase, which is a sequence of minimum motion units that constitute a motion pattern of the wearer classified as a task,
- wherein in a state where the drive unit is located on a lateral side of the wearer's joint and the first and second frame units are fixed and retained corresponding to the wearer's first and second body sites, respectively,
- the control unit:
- estimates the wearer's task and phase on a basis of the reference parameter stored in the data storage unit while performing drive control to cause the actuator to generate motive power in accordance with the wearer's intention on the basis of the biosignal detected by the biosignal detection unit, and adjusts the drive control to cause the actuator to generate motive power according to the phase;
- and
- compensates for mechanical impedance of a control object of an entire system composed of the entire device and the wearer on the basis of the physical quantity detected by the physical quantity detector and in accordance with viscoelasticity of the wearer and gravity of the control object of the entire system.
11 more elements
A wearable motion assistance device comprising:
- a drive unit having first and second housings in which a stator side and a rotor side of a flat-shaped actuator are respectively housed and which engage with each other so that the first and second housings rotate separately according to a driving of the actuator, wherein first and second coupling parts are formed to protrude from the first and second housings respectively in mutually opposite directions,
- wherein a main body of a speed reducer which converts a rotational speed of a rotor for the actuator into a specified speed reduction ratio and outputs the converted rotational speed, and an actuator driver which performs drive control of the actuator are housed in either one of the first or second housings to be substantially flush with each other, and a flat-shaped operating unit including a touch sensor is fixed to the main body of the speed reducer so that the actuator is located between the main body of the speed reducer and the operating unit, and an output axis of the speed reducer is fixed to the other one of the first or second housings;
- a frame unit that is coupled to the first coupling part of the drive unit in a separable manner;
- a power source unit that is coupled to the second coupling part of the drive unit and is equipped with a battery for supplying electric power to the actuator;
- a control unit provided in the drive unit and designed to perform drive control of the actuator;
- a physical quantity detector that detects a physical quantity regarding a rotary motion between the first and second housings from a driving current supplied to the actuator;
- a biosignal detection unit that detects a biosignal according to movements of a joint connecting first and second body sites of a wearer;
- and
- a data storage unit that stores a reference parameter of each phase, which is a sequence of minimum motion units that constitute a motion pattern of the wearer classified as a task,
- wherein, in a state where the drive unit is located on a lateral side of the wearer's joint and the power source and the frame unit are fixed and retained corresponding to the wearer's first and second body sites, respectively, the control unit:
- estimates the wearer's task and phase on a basis of the reference parameter stored in the data storage unit while performing drive control to cause the actuator to generate motive power in accordance with the wearer's intention on the basis of the biosignal detected by the biosignal detection unit, and adjusts the drive control to cause the actuator to generate motive power according to the phase;
- and
- compensates for mechanical impedance of a control object of an entire system composed of the entire device and the wearer on the basis of the physical quantity detected by the physical quantity detector and in accordance with viscoelasticity of the wearer and gravity of the control object of the entire system.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.