Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Kei Shimada

Ken Yasuhara

Takashi Hirata

Yosuke Endo

Toru Takenaka

Tatsuya Noda

Yasushi Ikeuchi

Jun Ashihara

Takako Fujii

Tetsuya Ido

Shuichi Wakita

Eiichi Genda

Provided is a motion transmission mechanismof a limb motion support deviceA configured so as not to transmit the movements of a pair of bracesR andL attached to right and left legs to spring membersR andL in a state where the bending degrees of the right and left legs are smaller than a predetermined bending degree in the case where both of the right and left legs equipped with the bracesL andR are bent from a stretched state and configured to transmit the movements of the bracesL andR to the spring membersL andR via a wireafter the bending degrees of the legs increase to be larger than the predetermined bending degree.

Limb motion support device

A motion assist device for assisting a motion such as a walking motion of a user includes: a pair of femoral part support units (L,R) configured to be worn by two femoral parts of a user, a single power source () for producing power and a power transmission unit () for transmitting the power of the power source to the femoral part support units as an opposite phase motion, wherein the power transmission unit includes a differential unit () for accommodating a same phase motion of the two femoral part support units. The device may further include a control unit () configured to actuate the power source when the femoral part support units are undergoing the opposite phase motion, and to keep the output end of the power source stationary when the femoral part support units are undergoing the same phase motion.

Motion assist device

Provided is a motion assist device that can minimize the number of actuators that are required for assisting a certain mode of motion of the user while allowing a greater freedom of motion beside from the motion which the motion assist device is designed to assist. A power transmission mechanism for the device includes a belt drive mechanism which is incorporated with a differential mechanism.

The present invention provides a rehabilitation device using a walking assistance device () having an actuator which generates and provides torque to a lower limb joint of a wearer wearing the walking assistance device (), comprising a floor reaction force pattern storing unit () configured to store a reference floor reaction force pattern; a control target floor reaction force setting unit () for determining a control target floor reaction force based on the floor reaction force pattern stored in the floor reaction force pattern storing unit (); a target torque calculating unit () for calculating a target torque of the actuator to achieve the control target floor reaction force determined by the control target floor reaction force setting unit (); and an actuator output controller () for controlling output of the actuator such that the actuator generates a torque matching the target torque calculated by the target torque calculating unit (); wherein the floor reaction force that the wearer receives is increased and decreased by the application of torque generated by the actuator.

Rehabilitation device and controlling method thereof

When securing a frame () made of a rigid member for carrying a heavy object such as a drive unit () for a walking assistance device on the hip of a wearer, a hip protective belt () made of fabric is wrapped around the hip of the wearer, and the frame () is secured thereon via a flexible plate () and a pressure plate () located on an outer side of the flexible plate () and having a higher rigidity than the flexible plate (). The intermediate members allow the wearer to feel the rigidity of the frame in a mitigated manner, and the wearer would not experience any discomfort from the pressure of the frame even when the posture of the wearer is changed. The hip protective belt can readily conform to the body contour of the wearer, but the frame would not deform. Because the intermediate members absorb the difference in the builds of different wearers, the frame may come in a small number of different sizes to fit almost any wearer allowing the hip support member can be mass produced at low cost.

Hip support member

A movement assist system for assisting stably a movement of a creature, particularly a creature whose body part is paralyzed due to neuropathy or the like. According to the movement assist system, walking movement of a human is assisted according to an output from an actuator of a movement assist device. A timing of an electrical stimulation applied to the creature is adjusted by an electrical stimulation device on the basis of a signal representing an arithmetic processing result by a first controller which controls the output of the actuator. According thereto, it is possible to apply an electrical stimulation to the human at an appropriate timing from the viewpoint of maintaining an appropriate posture by considering a periodical movement state of the human even in cases where the body function is degraded, allowing the human assisted by the movement assist device to continue the walking movement.

Movement assist system

Provided is a device capable of assisting a periodical motion of a creature, such as a human, by applying a force to the creature so as to match a motion rhythm and a motion scale of the periodical motion to a desired motion rhythm and a desired motion scale, respectively, while reducing computation processing load. According to a motion assist device () of the present invention, a value of a member or a coefficient contained in a simultaneous differential equation of a state variable (u) for defining a second model which generates a second oscillator (&#x3be;) is adjusted by means of an adjusting device (). The second oscillator (&#x3be;) is generated by the adjusted second model and a torque (T) applied to a human (P) is controlled to vary periodically according to the second oscillator (&#x3be;).

The present invention provides a walking assistance device comprising a pelvis support member () adapted to be worn on a hip of a wearer; a thigh support member () adapted to be worn on a thigh of the wearer; a leg support member () adapted to be worn on a leg of the wearer; a knee joint hinge () disposed at a position corresponding to a side part of a knee of the wearer and connecting the leg support member () to the thigh support member () in a manner that enables back-and forth rotation of the leg support member () with respect to the thigh support member (); and a power generator assembly () mounted to the pelvis support member () at a position corresponding to a side part of a hip joint of the wearer; wherein the power generator assembly () comprises a hip joint power generator () and a knee joint power generator () each having an output member (, respectively), with the output member () of the hip joint power generator () being connected to the thigh support member () in a power-transmittable manner and the output member () of the knee joint power generator () being connected to the leg support member () via a power transmitting mechanism () which transmits power generated by the knee joint power generator () to the leg support member ().

Walking assistance device

The motion assist device () is provided with an auxiliary oscillator generation element () configured to generate, on the basis of a second intrinsic angular velocity (&#x3c9;) set according to a first oscillator (&#x3be;) generated from a first motion oscillator (&#x3c6;) and a first model and a second oscillator (&#x3be;) generated from a second motion oscillator (&#x3c6;) and a second model, an auxiliary oscillator (&#x3b7;) which includes therein a first auxiliary oscillator (&#x3b7;) denoting an elastic force originated from a virtual elastic element for assisting the motion of the user so as to approximate a value of a third motion oscillator (&#x3c6;) to a desired value (&#x3c6;, &#x3c6;) related to a desired motion scale of the user, and an auxiliary oscillator regulation element () configured to sequentially regulate the first auxiliary oscillator (&#x3b7;) so as to approximate a motion index value of the user to a reference value.

A motion assist device for assisting a periodical motion of a creature such as a human by applying a force with appropriate strength to the creature so as to match a motion scale with a desired motion scale thereof regardless of a motion rhythm of the periodical motion. According to the motion assist device (), a second model is corrected so as to approximate a value of a motion variable (&#x3be;) to a desired value (&#x3be;). A second oscillator (&#x3be;) is generated according to the corrected second model. A periodical force (torque) (T) applied to the human (P) is controlled according to the second oscillator (&#x3be;).

A system for managing exercise of an animal such as a human being so that the motion of the animal is induced with an appropriate scale and rhythm in accordance with the physiological conditions of the animal is provided. According to the exercise management system () of the present invention, during the process where the user's walking motion is induced by an operation of a walking motion induction device (), a walking ratio (k) and a physiological variable such as consumed energy are measured. Then, the walking ratio (k) in the state where the physiological variable attains an appropriate value in consideration of activation of physical functions or reduction of body load of the user is set as a recommended walking ratio (k). This ensures that the recommended walking ratio (k) is set as appropriate in consideration of activation of the physical functions of the user or the like. As the walking motion is induced based on this recommended walking ratio (k) by the walking motion induction device (), the induction scale and rhythm can be controlled appropriately so that the step width (q) and the walking rate (p) are appropriate in consideration of activation of the physical functions of the user or the like.

Exercise management system

A system for managing exercise of an animal such as a human being so that the animal can be trained to move with an appropriate scale and rhythm while harmonizing the motion of the animal with the operations of two devices which induce the motion of the animal in different manners, is provided. According to the exercise management system () of the present invention, the speed of the walking motion of the user is adjusted by an operation of a treadmill (first motion induction device) (). The user's walking motion is induced with the motion scale being adjusted with a rhythm harmonized with the motion rhythm of the animal by an operation of a walking motion induction device (second motion induction device) (). At this time, the operation of the walking motion induction device () is controlled based on the walking speed v (walking rate p, as required). Accordingly, it is possible to train the user so that the user walks with an appropriate scale and rhythm, while realizing harmonization between the walking motion of the user, the operation of the treadmill (), and the operation of the walking motion induction device ().

In walking assistance device, a force detector () is provided between thigh retaining member () that directly retain the thigh of the user and a thigh support member () that is actuated by an actuator (TA) provided in hip coupling portion. Thereby, the load acting on the hip coupling portion can be accurately detected, and the output of the force detector can be favorably used for the purpose of controlling the actuator so as to minimize the force that is applied to the thigh of the user. In particular, to the end of providing a suitably rigidity to the thigh retaining member so that the force produced by the actuator may be evenly applied to the entire thigh, and facilitating the effort required for the wearer to wear the walking assistance device, the thigh retaining member comprises a base portion () connected to the thigh support member and two pairs of resilient arms () extending laterally from either side of the base portion so that the thigh retaining member generally defines a shape of letter-C in plan view.

Walking assistance device provided with a force sensor

A walking assistance system includes an upper leg fitting which is attached along a user's upper leg. The upper leg fitting is formed from an upper leg frame that forms a framework of the upper leg fitting, and an upper leg coupling member that is vertically slidably supported on a guide rail provided on the upper leg frame, rotatably supported around a support shaft, and joined to the upper leg. When the upper leg fitting is made to swing in the fore-and-aft direction relative to the user's hip by a hip joint actuator, the position of the center of swing of the upper end of the upper leg fitting and the position of the hip joint are displaced, but it is possible to make the upper leg coupling member follow the upper leg by moving the upper leg coupling member relative to the upper leg frame, thus eliminating any uncomfortable sensation.

Walking assistance system

In a walking assistance device that includes a pelvis support member adapted to be worn around a hip of a wearer and at least one actuator having a base end mounted on the pelvis support member and a free end engaging a thigh of the wearer, the pelvis support member comprises a substantially U-shaped base portion having a relatively high rigidity and adapted to be worn around the hip of the wearer and a pair of flaps having a relatively high resilient flexibility and extending from either end of the base portion toward each other; free ends of the flaps defining a gap smaller than a width of the hip of the wearer. Therefore, the wearer can bend the flaps outward so as to define a gap wide enough to pass the hip of the wearer, and once the wearer is fit into the pelvis support member, the flaps are allowed to return to their original shape owing to their resiliency, and engage the front side part of the hip of the wearer. The base portion, on the other hand, may be given with an adequate rigidity to support the actuator without any problem.

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Wako, Japan

Kei Shimada