US 12,102,585 B2
Wearable robot for assisting upper limb movement by using artificial muscle
Ki-Uk Kyung, Daejeon (KR); Jaeyeon Jeong, Daejeon (KR); Kyujin Hyeon, Daejeon (KR); Jungwoo Han, Daejeon (KR); Kwang-Ok An, Seoul (KR); and Won-Kyung Song, Seoul (KR)
Assigned to KOREA ADVANCED INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Daejeon (KR); and NATIONAL REHABILITATION CENTER, Seoul (KR)
Filed by KOREA ADVANCED INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Daejeon (KR); and National Rehabilitation Center, Seoul (KR)
Filed on Nov. 27, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/105,692.
Claims priority of application No. 10-2019-0179309 (KR), filed on Dec. 31, 2019; application No. 10-2020-0033601 (KR), filed on Mar. 19, 2020; and application No. 10-2020-0149279 (KR), filed on Nov. 10, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0196555 A1, Jul. 1, 2021
Int. Cl. A61H 1/00 (2006.01); A61H 1/02 (2006.01); A61H 3/00 (2006.01)
CPC A61H 3/00 (2013.01) [A61H 1/0274 (2013.01); A61H 1/0277 (2013.01); A61H 1/0288 (2013.01); A61H 2001/0203 (2013.01); A61H 2201/0207 (2013.01); A61H 2201/0214 (2013.01); A61H 2201/0242 (2013.01); A61H 2201/0285 (2013.01); A61H 2201/1207 (2013.01); A61H 2201/1614 (2013.01); A61H 2201/1638 (2013.01); A61H 2201/165 (2013.01); A61H 2201/1659 (2013.01); A61H 2201/1671 (2013.01); A61H 2201/1676 (2013.01); A61H 2201/5058 (2013.01); A61H 2201/5061 (2013.01); A61H 2205/06 (2013.01); A61H 2205/067 (2013.01); A61H 2230/085 (2013.01)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A wearable robot for assisting a wrist, to which heat-shrinkable artificial muscle is applied, the wearable robot comprising:
a plurality of flexible actuators including
a plurality of first flexible actuators each having a first end configured to be installed on a back of a hand of a wearer and a second end configured to be installed on a wrist of the wearer, and
a plurality of second flexible actuators each having a first end configured to be installed on a palm of the hand of the wearer and a second end configured to be installed on the wrist of the wearer;
a sensor which senses an intensity of force applied to the heat-shrinkable artificial muscle wearable robot; and
a control unit configured to control any one of the plurality of flexible actuators to be contracted or relaxed according to a wrist movement of a wearer, and in response to the intensity of force sensed by the sensor being larger than a predetermined threshold intensity, restore at least one flexible actuator contracted or relaxed among the plurality of flexible actuators to an initial state,
wherein each of the plurality of flexible actuators includes:
a driving part which is contractively deformed by a current or transfer heat applied from the control unit or is relaxed when the heat is lost, and
a refrigerant circulating part which is implemented to surround the driving part and circulates a refrigerant so that the contractively deformed driving part is cooled under control of the control unit.