US 12,257,167 B2
Movement assistance apparatus, e.g., for feeding, writing
Alexandre Campeau-Lecours, Quebec (CA); Philippe Turgeon, Quebec (CA); François Routhier, Quebec (CA); and Thierry Laliberte, Quebec (CA)
Assigned to UNIVERSITE LAVAL, Quebec (CA)
Appl. No. 17/272,707
Filed by UNIVERSITE LAVAL, Quebec (CA)
PCT Filed Sep. 5, 2019, PCT No. PCT/CA2019/051241
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Mar. 2, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/047666, PCT Pub. Date Mar. 12, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/770,791, filed on Nov. 22, 2018.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/727,713, filed on Sep. 6, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0369478 A1, Dec. 2, 2021
Int. Cl. A61F 4/00 (2006.01); B25J 1/02 (2006.01)
CPC A61F 4/00 (2013.01) [B25J 1/02 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus comprising:
a main arm having links extending from a ground end to an effector end and allowing movement of the effector end from a first position to a second position, the links including at least a base link adapted to be pivotally connected to a base, and a spacing link pivotally mounted to a free end of the base link and extending to the effector end;
a first 4-bar parallelogram having pivot joints at its corners and including the base link of the main arm;
a second 4-bar parallelogram having pivot joints at its corners and including the spacing link of the main arm and an effector link at the effector end adapted to support an object;
a serial interconnection between the first 4-bar parallelogram and the second 4-bar parallelogram constraining the effector link to maintaining a constant orientation in at least two rotational degrees of freedom relative to the base; and
a handle connected to the second 4-bar mechanism at a location being offset from the effector end and between the serial interconnection and the effector end such that an amplitude of a movement of the effector end is greater than an amplitude of a movement applied to the handle.