Panasonic Corporation

Activelink Co., Ltd.

Go Shirogauchi

Hiromichi Fujimoto

Keisuke Ueda

Yoshiaki Ueda

Makoto Konishi

Motoshi Hori

Tatsuro Mizutani

A support device includes: a force measurement sensor structure which includes a shaft having first and second end sections, an intermediate element movably provided between the first and second end sections, first and second elastic members respectively provided between the first end section and the intermediate element and between the second end section and the intermediate element, a linear potentiometer detecting the one dimensional direction position of the intermediate element, and a gripping unit transmitting a force to the intermediate element in an interlocking manner with movement of upper or lower limb; a drive unit changing a load applied to the intermediate element; a control unit controlling the drive unit; and a wearable unit including a front frame provided on a front side of a user, a rear frame connected to the front frame, provided on a rear side of the user, and supporting the drive unit, and an arm suspending a wire which connects the force measurement sensor structure and the drive unit, wherein the first and second elastic members can apply a load to the intermediate element in one dimensional direction, and linear potentiometer detects a force applied to the intermediate element, and the control unit controls the drive unit depending on the force applied to the intermediate element.

Support device, operation support device, and muscle strength training support device

A motion assist apparatus is provided with an attaching member that has a glove shape with finger portions and a middle hand portion that is attachable to one of hands of a user, a back-side actuator that is freely expanded and contracted, and bridged between a tip of each of the finger portions and the middle hand portion on the back side of the attaching member, and a palm-side actuator that is freely expanded and contracted, and bridged between the tip of each of the finger portions and the middle hand portion on the palm side of the attaching member, and in this structure, the palm-side actuator is provided with a wire unit formed of two wires that are disposed on each of the finger portions on the palm side from the tip of each of the finger portions on the back side to the middle hand portion along the finger portion, passing through two side portions of the finger portion, so that intervals therebetween are made different at respective positions corresponding to joints of the finger portion, and rubber artificial muscle is coupled to the wire unit and is formed on the middle hand portion.

Motion assist apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Kyoto, Japan

Go Shirogauchi