US 11,786,384 B2
Assistance device and control method therefor
Xiaojun Sun, Tokyo (JP)
Assigned to BIONICM INC., Tokyo (JP)
Appl. No. 16/980,690
Filed by BIONICM INC., Tokyo (JP)
PCT Filed Mar. 13, 2019, PCT No. PCT/JP2019/010274
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 14, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/177022, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 19, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 2018-045451 (JP), filed on Mar. 13, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0015637 A1, Jan. 21, 2021
Int. Cl. A61F 2/66 (2006.01); A61F 2/70 (2006.01); A61F 2/76 (2006.01); A61F 2/50 (2006.01); A61F 2/60 (2006.01)
CPC A61F 2/6607 (2013.01) [A61F 2/70 (2013.01); A61F 2/76 (2013.01); A61F 2002/5072 (2013.01); A61F 2002/607 (2013.01); A61F 2002/6614 (2013.01); A61F 2002/701 (2013.01); A61F 2002/764 (2013.01); A61F 2002/7645 (2013.01)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An assistance device to assist a joint motion of a foot part, the device comprising:
a driving part which comprises a motor and a transmission mechanism to change a speed of the motor, and converts a rotational motion of the motor into a linear motion;
an elastic part which alleviates an impact from an object through the foot part and accumulates an impact force or self-gravity by compression, and releases an accumulated energy by stretching to apply an energizing force for motion assistance; and
a crank mechanism which is provided between the driving part and the foot part, and an ankle part connected to the crank mechanism, the ankle part comprising a rotation shaft,
wherein:
the crank mechanism comprises a crank connected to and rotatable around the rotation shaft of the ankle part, and a rod with one end and the other end, the one end of the rod being connected to a leading end of the driving part, the other end of the rod being connected to the crank,
and wherein:
the crank mechanism is constituted so as to make one end of the rod on the side opposite to the driving part side to perform circulation motion, make the crank rotate around the rotation shaft of the ankle part, converts the linear motion into a rotational motion while changing a deceleration ratio by the crank, thereby transmitting the rotational motion to the foot part via the ankle part,
the deceleration ratio rate is expressed by a following expression:

OG Complex Work Unit Math
Nm is a number of teeth of a pulley on a side of motor in the transmission mechanism,
Nb is a number of teeth of the pulley on a side of a ball screw in the transmission mechanism, Lb is a lead length of the ball screw,
R is a arm length of the ankle part, and
K is a deceleration coefficient by the crank represented as follows:

OG Complex Work Unit Math
wherein α is an angle between an arm of the ankle part and a vertical direction, and
β is an angle between the vertical direction and the rod.