US 12,337,468 B2
Joint function unit
Takafumi Hirata, Kanagawa (JP); Yuki Hotoda, Kanagawa (JP); and Masahiro Inaba, Kanagawa (JP)
Assigned to NHK SPRING CO., LTD., Kanagawa (JP)
Appl. No. 18/015,537
Filed by NHK SPRING CO., LTD., Kanagawa (JP)
PCT Filed Jul. 14, 2021, PCT No. PCT/JP2021/026388
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jan. 11, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/014628, PCT Pub. Date Jan. 20, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 2020-122343 (JP), filed on Jul. 16, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0256625 A1, Aug. 17, 2023
Int. Cl. B25J 17/02 (2006.01); A61B 34/30 (2016.01)
CPC B25J 17/02 (2013.01) [A61B 34/30 (2016.02); A61B 2034/305 (2016.02)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A joint function unit in which a movable-side member is supported so as to be displaceable between a bending position and an extension position with respect to a fixed-side member, the joint function unit comprising:
a plurality of drive wires, having a fixed part fixed to the movable-side member on one side in an axial direction and a supported part supported by the fixed-side member on the other side in the axial direction; and
an elastic body, configured to support the supported part of the plurality of drive wires on the fixed-side member, energize the supported part toward a side opposite to the fixed part in the axial direction, and apply tension to the plurality of drive wires, wherein
each of the plurality of drive wires is inserted through the fixed-side member between the fixed part and the supported part, and
the elastic body is interposed between and abuts against the supported part of the plurality of drive wires and the fixed-side member.