The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 04, 2017
Filed:
Dec. 20, 2013
Controlling power in a prosthesis or orthosis based on predicted walking speed or surrogate for same
Bionx Medical Technologies, Inc., Bedford, MA (US);
Hugh Miller Herr, Somerville, MA (US);
Richard J. Casler, Jr., Lowell, MA (US);
Zhixiu Han, Acton, MA (US);
Christopher Eric Barnhart, Carlisle, MA (US);
Gary Girzon, Sudbury, MA (US);
BIONX MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC., Bedford, MA (US);
Abstract
In some embodiments of a prosthetic or orthotic ankle/foot, a prediction is made of what the walking speed will be during an upcoming step by using one sensor from which the walking speed can be predicted, and a second sensor from which ankle torque can be determined. A controller receives inputs from those sensors, and controls a motor's torque so that the torque for slow walking speeds is lower than the torque for fast walking speeds. This reduces the work performed by the actuator over a gait cycle and the peak actuator power delivered during the gait cycle. In some embodiments, a series elastic element is connected in series with a motor that can drive the ankle, and at least one sensor is provided with an output from which a deflection of the series elastic element can be determined.