Torque-compensating assistive wrist braces
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorsMark Plecnik, Derek Bissell, David Reinkensmeyer, J. Michael McCarthy
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In one embodiment, a torque-compensating assistive wrist brace includes a hand member adapted to be provided on a user's hand, a forearm member adapted to be provided on the user's forearm, and an assistive linkage that connects the hand and forearm members together, the assistive linkage being configured to apply a balancing torque to a wrist of the user that counteracts intrinsic stiffness within the wrist and assists the user in rotating the wrist in both the flexion and extension directions.
Claims20
A torque-compensating assistive wrist brace comprising:
- a hand member adapted to be provided on a user's hand;
- a forearm member adapted to be provided on the user's forearm;
- and
- an assistive linkage that connects the hand and forearm members together, the assistive linkage being configured to apply a balancing torque to a wrist of the user that counteracts intrinsic stiffness within the wrist and assists the user in rotating the wrist in both the flexion and extension directions.
A torque-compensating assistive wrist brace comprising:
- a hand member adapted to attach to a user's hand;
- a forearm member adapted to attach to the user's forearm, the forearm member including a body and mounting elements provided on the body that form pivot points of the wrist brace;
- and
- a spring-assisted six-bar linkage mounted to the forearm member with the mounting elements that connects the hand and forearm members together, the spring-assisted six-bar linkage including four binary links, two ternary links, and a biasing element, wherein the spring-assisted six-bar linkage is configured to apply a balancing torque to a wrist of the user that counteracts intrinsic stiffness within the wrist and assists the user in rotating the wrist in both the flexion and extension directions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.