KR101222914B1 - Ankle auxiliay equipment, and robot suit for wearable robot for assisting the muscular strength of lower extremity using thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is an ankle protection walking aids and lower extremity muscle support robot suit using the same, foot support for supporting the sole; At least one bearing portion installed to support the foot rest with two degrees of freedom; At least one piston vertically connected to the bearing part and vertically moving inside the cylinder filled with MR fluid; At least one encoder for measuring the displacement per hour in the cylinder of the piston; An electromagnet which is connected to the upper and lower parts of the cylinder by at least one branch tube and filled with MR fluid, and which is adjacent to the branch tube and changes the strength of the magnetic field applied according to the displacement per hour measured by the encoder to adjust the damping force. It characterized in that it comprises at least one MR damper unit installed.
By providing the present invention, it is possible to prevent the varus sprains that may occur during walking and to improve the grip, as well as to increase the degree of freedom to move the ankle to induce walking naturally, stable and comfortable fit Will be provided.

Description

Ankle assistive device for walking and lower extremity muscle support robot suit using it. {ANKLE AUXILIAY EQUIPMENT, AND ROBOT SUIT FOR WEARABLE ROBOT FOR ASSISTING THE MUSCULAR STRENGTH OF LOWER EXTREMITY USING THEREOF}

The present invention relates to a walking aid, and more particularly, to an ankle protection walking aid and a muscle support robot lower leg using the same, which is excellent in wearing comfort and can effectively prevent entanglement.

In general, the wearable muscle strength support robot is divided into a biosignal input type, a force sensor input type, a muscle hardness sensor input type, and a sensor mixed type robot according to the type of a synchronization signal that a user wears. Depending on the type of motor-driven, hydraulic cylinder-driven, artificial muscle-driven and the like.

In terms of user synchronization signal input, the bio-signal input type can expect fast response because it uses a user's direct muscle signal. However, when the exoskeleton robot is worn, there is a cumbersome problem of additionally wearing attachments for acquiring a biosignal.

In addition, since the muscle sensor input type is used as a robot synchronous signal by measuring the degree of muscle expansion, the user can directly obtain a synchronization signal to move, but the degree of muscle expansion is not constant for each user. There is a problem that can not secure a certain level of operation performance.

In addition, in the classification by the mounted actuator, the hydraulically driven actuator system realizes a high degree of freedom in one joint or a wide range of joint movements such as the shoulder joint in terms of converting the linear movement of the hydraulic cylinder into the rotational movement of the joint. There is a limitation, and the system equipped with artificial muscle has a problem of causing interference with the peripheral devices of the user and the exoskeleton robot when the actuator is inflated because it uses the length shrinkage characteristic through the expansion of the actuator.

As described above, in the conventional wearable muscle strength support robot suit, there is a problem that it is not easy to configure the measurement device for measuring the movement and the strength support actuator through the same as the above-described problem.

In addition, as well as the above-described sensor and muscle support actuator, there is a need for a walking aid device that can prevent the occurrence of splices, distortions, etc. occurring during walking, and induce natural walking.

In particular, ankle ligament injuries account for the largest range of damage to various body parts in various sports and leisure activities, which are increasing in recent years, and about 25% or more occur in running and jumping. Ankle sprains account for most of the ankle joint injuries and 85% of these injuries are caused by varus injuries. Although these ankle ligament injuries are effectively treated with conservative therapies applied appropriately and correctly at the beginning of the injury, about 20 to 40% of patients will lead to chronic ankle instability and subsequent disability.

Although the muscle support robot suit is worn to compensate for the ankle joint damage, the conventional chute serves to supplement or support ankle distortion through a hydraulic damper, but it is difficult to respond quickly and to supplement with proper damping force. There was a problem that there is a significant inconvenience in walking after wearing because of the inherent freedom of the ankle movement.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to prevent the varus sprains that can occur when walking, and to improve the grip, as well as to increase the degree of freedom to move the ankle can be induced to walk naturally The purpose of the present invention is to provide a protective walking aid and a lower limb muscle support robot suit.

A first feature of the present invention for solving the above problems is the footrest supporting the sole; At least one bearing portion installed to support the foot rest with two degrees of freedom; At least one piston vertically connected to the bearing part and vertically moving inside the cylinder filled with MR fluid; At least one encoder for measuring the displacement per hour in the cylinder of the piston; MR cylinder is filled by connecting the upper and lower parts of the cylinder with at least one branch tube, and includes at least one MR damper unit provided with a magnet capable of applying a magnetic field adjacent to the branch tube, wherein the displacement per hour measured by the encoder As a result, the damping force of the raw MR damper is characterized in that it is different.

Here, the degree of freedom of rotation is preferably the degree of freedom of rotation of the upper and lower (pitch) and the left and right (yaw) of the foot, each one of the bearing portion, piston, encoder and MR damper is located on the side of the foot support, the bearing portion Each of the piston, encoder and MR damper is preferably located at the rear of the footrest.

In addition, preferably any one of the bearing portion, the piston, the encoder and the MR damper may be located inside the side of the footrest, the magnet of the MR damper may be a permanent magnet or an electromagnet, the permanent The magnet may be connected to the servomotor to control the strength of the magnetic field by varying the proximity distance to the branch tube.

In addition, a second feature of the present invention is a robot suit composed of an ankle, a knee and a waist, wherein the ankle comprises: a foot rest supporting the sole; At least one bearing portion installed to support and have two degrees of freedom; At least one piston vertically connected to the bearing part and vertically moving inside the cylinder filled with MR fluid; At least one encoder for measuring the displacement per hour in the cylinder of the piston; MR cylinder is filled by connecting the upper and lower parts of the cylinder with at least one branch tube, and includes at least one MR damper unit provided with a magnet capable of applying a magnetic field adjacent to the branch tube, wherein the displacement per hour measured by the encoder As a result, the damping force of the raw MR damper is characterized in that it is different.

Here, the degree of freedom of rotation is preferably the degree of freedom of rotation of the upper and lower (pitch) and the left and right (yaw) of the foot, each one of the bearing portion, piston, encoder and MR damper is located inside the side of the foot support, the bearing The other one of the part, the piston, the encoder and the MR damper is preferably located at the back of the footrest.

In addition, it is preferable that the magnet of the MR damper is a permanent magnet or an electromagnet, and the permanent magnet is connected to a servo motor to adjust the strength of the magnetic field by varying an approach distance from the branch tube.

By providing the present invention, it is possible to prevent the varus sprains that may occur during walking and to improve the grip, as well as to increase the degree of freedom to move the ankle to induce walking naturally, stable and comfortable fit Will be provided.

In addition, it is possible to control the damping force quickly and precisely by finely adjusting the strength of the magnetic field to provide a muscle support robot suit that can respond quickly to changes in the body and realize a high degree of freedom without disturbing the movement of the ankle. Will be.

1 is a perspective view of the ankle protection walking aids according to the present invention,
2 is a view showing an MR damper structure and a rod end bearing part applied to the ankle protection walking aid according to the present invention;
3 is a view showing the configuration of the lower extremity muscle support robot chute according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 is a view showing a perspective view of the ankle protection walking aids according to the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, the walking aid of the present invention is a foot support portion 100 for supporting the sole; At least one bearing part 200 installed to support the foot rest part 100 with two degrees of freedom; At least one piston 250 vertically connected to an upper portion of the bearing part 200 and vertically moving inside a cylinder filled with MR fluid; At least one encoder 400 for measuring the displacement per hour in the cylinder 310 of the piston 250; MR cylinders are filled by connecting the upper and lower parts of the cylinder with at least one branch tube 330, and at least one MR damper unit having a magnet 350 installed therein to apply a magnetic field adjacent to the branch tube 330. Including a 300, it characterized in that the damping force of the generated MR damper unit 300 in accordance with the displacement per hour measured by the encoder (400).

As described above, the present invention is a key feature of the design of the structure having two degrees of freedom in the ankle, and to form a damper structure using MR fluid to prevent varus sprains and to improve the grip.

Conventionally, an ankle assist mechanism was formed with a structure having one degree of freedom to rotate the foot up and down. However, considering the ankle sprain, which is generated when the foot is entangled, the degree of rotational freedom in the folding direction is required. have. Of course, the structure that supports the conventional ankle fixed to the side can prevent the original folding, but there is a problem that it is unnatural when walking by preventing the flexible movement.

However, in the present invention, as shown in Fig. 1, the rod end bearing portion 200 is formed on the side surface of the foot support so as to have the rotational freedom degree Pitch in the vertical direction of the foot and the rotational freedom degree Yaw in the left and right directions. Here, the footrest 100 is a foot portion 100 is in contact with the sole, is located on the lowermost surface of the entire auxiliary mechanism, the bearing portion 200 is preferably formed at least one of the side or the back. .

That is, when the rod end bearing having a three-axis degree of freedom is attached to the side or the rear side and installed in connection with the upper piston 250, the degree of freedom can be increased more than the structure of the conventional fixed auxiliary mechanism, leading to natural walking. Not only can it be done, but it also provides a stable and comfortable fit. In addition, it is a matter of course that all of the bearing portion having a structure having two degrees of freedom.

In addition, the damper structure using the MR fluid is a structure for supporting the ankle is folded through the bearing portion 200 having the two degrees of freedom and generating a resistance to prevent sprains and protect the ankle. To this end, the piston 250 and the piston 250 vertically connected to the bearing are filled with an MR 310 filled with MR fluid capable of vertical movement, and are connected to upper and lower portions of the cylinder 310 through the MR fluid. It is configured to include a filled branch tube 330 and a magnet 350 that can selectively apply a magnetic field to the branch tube 330.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an MR damper structure and a rod end bearing part applied to the ankle protection walking aid according to the present invention. As shown in Figure 2, the MR damper structure is preferably installed on the side and back of the ankle. As described above, the damper structure according to the present invention includes a piston 250 vertically connected to the bearing part 200 having two degrees of freedom and a cylinder filled with MR fluid capable of vertical movement of the piston 250 ( 310, a branch tube 330 connected to upper and lower portions of the cylinder 310 and filled with the MR fluid and a magnet 350 to selectively apply a magnetic field to the branch tube 330. .

The damper structure is a structure that generates a resistance or damping force by measuring the displacement amount of time of the piston 250 and feeding it back to the magnet 350 to apply the magnetic field. That is, at the moment of contacting, it is connected to the bearing of the piston 250 to cause displacement in the cylinder 310, and the displacement amount per hour is measured in the encoder 400, thereby determining the strength of the magnetic field in the magnet 350 Command signal is applied to generate the most appropriate damping force. In the case of the permanent magnet 350, the magnet 350 adjusts the strength of the magnetic field applied by the servo motor 370 according to the distance adjacent to the branch tube 330.

In more detail, injuries of the ankle sprains are common sprains that occur in severe ankle sprains and in mountain climbing and sports, and varus sprains account for more than 85% of the ankle sprains. In the present invention, since the foot force is bent to one side in the cantilever and the lateral ligament damage occurs, in the present invention, the damper structure using the MR fluid is formed and protected to support the case of the folding. Here, the damper serves as a shock absorber and is a device for suppressing the movement of the position.

In the present invention, if the cartilage can also be damaged if repeatedly damaged, the range of the joint of the ankle sprain is an angle suggested by Gerhardt, the base of the sprain at the valgus 20 degrees and valgus 10 degrees. Here, a magneto-rheological (MR) fluid is a suspension in which polar particles of several microns in size are dispersed in a non-conductive solvent. MR fluids are functional fluids whose rheological properties change continuously and reversibly within several msec depending on the externally loaded magnetic field strength. Because of this feature, MR fluids have been applied to various devices such as shock absorbers, vibration isolators and brakes and clutches.

That is, MR fluid refers to a fluid in which particles dispersed in a fluid cause magnetization when an external magnetic field is applied to form a ring-shaped cluster of fibrous structure in a direction parallel to the magnetic field. The coupling force of the clusters has a property of resisting the flow of the fluid or the shear force applied from the outside, the coupling force of the cluster depends on the strength of the applied magnetic field.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, MR fluid is filled in the cylinder 310 extending vertically connected to the rod end bearing portion 200 having two degrees of freedom, and the upper and lower portions of the cylinder have a diameter larger than that of the cylinder 310. When a small branch tube 330 is connected to each other and a magnetic field is applied to the branch tube 330 through the magnet 350, the piston 250 is applied to an external force (the piston 250 pressing force generated when the foot is folded). When moved by the filled MR fluid is pushed to move through the branch tube 330, the damping force is generated by applying a magnetic field to the magnet 350 to a portion of the branch tube 330.

In addition, referring to Figure 2, since the rod end bearing portion 200 has two degrees of freedom of rotation, to prevent the movement of each other in the direction of travel when the yaw rotation and pitch rotation occurs during actual walking, the cylinder By connecting the 310 and the encoder 400 through a link, the amount of movement of the piston 250 may be measured to calculate angles during yaw rotation and pitch rotation.

The magnetic field is applied to the branch tube 330 by determining the strength of the applied magnetic field by calculating the amount of movement or the angle at the time of rotation, and since the MR fluid changes its viscosity characteristic and density in response to the magnetic field, It acts as a resistance to the ankle joint to prevent abnormal ankle bending. The change in resistance due to the MR fluid is possible by controlling the distance or spacing between the permanent magnet 350 (neodymium) and the branch tube 330.

In addition, the magnet 350 may use an electromagnet instead of the permanent magnet 350. In the case of the permanent magnet 350, the strength of the magnetic field applied to the adjacent distance from the branch tube 330 may be adjusted. In this case, the intensity of the applied magnetic field is adjusted by adjusting the intensity of the current applied to the coil through an external power source. In addition, in the case of the electromagnet, another device is not required, and the strength of the magnetic field can be finely adjusted, and the response speed is very fast by an electrical signal (not shown).

3 is a view showing the configuration of the lower extremity muscle support robot chute according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the robot chute according to the present invention includes an ankle part, a knee part 600, and a waist chute 700, wherein the ankle part includes: a foot support part 100 supporting the sole of the foot; At least one bearing part 200 installed to support and have two degrees of freedom; At least one piston 250 vertically connected to an upper portion of the bearing part 200 and vertically moving inside a cylinder filled with MR fluid; At least one encoder 400 for measuring the displacement per hour in the cylinder 310 of the piston 250; MR cylinders are filled by connecting the upper and lower parts of the cylinder with at least one branch tube 330, and at least one MR damper unit having a magnet 350 installed therein to apply a magnetic field adjacent to the branch tube 330. Including a 300, it characterized in that the damping force of the generated MR damper unit 300 in accordance with the displacement per hour measured by the encoder (400).

That is, the embodiment of the present invention proposes a muscle-powered robot suit equipped with an ankle protection walking aid illustrated in FIG. Referring to FIG. 3, the muscle support robot suit is largely composed of an ankle part, a knee part 600, and a waist part 700, wherein the ankle part uses an ankle protection walking aid illustrated in FIG. 2. to be.

The muscle support robot suit illustrated in FIG. 3 may be configured to support a muscle force by placing a driving motor at the knee part 600 and the waist 700, or to support muscle force at another joint part, and the muscle support driver We propose a damper structure to prevent sprains from occurring in the ankle joint. As described above, the ankle portion includes a rod end bearing portion 200 having two degrees of freedom, and a damper portion 300 using MR fluid.

In general, the wearable muscle strength support robot is formed in a structure to support the muscle strength by the actuator through the synchronization signal to be worn by the user to wear, as described above, an independent device such as a sensor for measuring the synchronization signal There was a problem to be further provided, and a problem that a fast response and a high degree of freedom is required.

Thus, in the present invention, as shown in Figure 3, when a sudden change, such as the ankle is folded, the displacement amount of the piston 250 through the encoder 400 connected by a link between the rod end bearing and the cylinder 310 is calculated and Accordingly, by applying a magnetic field to the branch tube 330 filled with the MR fluid for generating a damping force to prevent the sprains caused by the folding, a quick response to changes in the body, and obstruct the movement of the ankle It is possible to provide a muscle support robot suit that realizes a high degree of freedom.

As shown in FIG. 3, the rod end bearing part 200 and the MR damper part 300 are preferably installed on at least one of the side surfaces or the rear surface of the footrest part 100, and the side surfaces are frequently walking. Since the generated creases are often bent inward, it is preferable to install them on the inner side. When the ankle is bent and folded inward, the rod end bearing portion 200 and the cylinder 310 are adjacent to each other so that the piston 250 pressurizes the MR fluid filled in the cylinder 310 to damp the force due to the application of a magnetic field. This is because it is easy to generate.

While the invention has been shown and described with respect to the specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Anyone with it will know easily.

100: foot support portion, 200: bearing portion, 250: piston, 300: MR damper portion,
310: cylinder, 330: branch tube, 350: permanent magnet, 370: servo motor
400: encoder

Claims (11)

delete delete delete delete delete delete In the robot suit consisting of ankle, knee and waist,
The ankle part,
Foot rest supporting the sole of the foot;
At least one bearing portion installed to support and have two degrees of freedom;
At least one piston vertically connected to the bearing part and vertically moving inside the cylinder filled with MR fluid;
At least one encoder for measuring the displacement per hour in the cylinder of the piston; And
An electromagnet which is connected to the upper and lower parts of the cylinder by at least one branch tube and filled with MR fluid, and which is adjacent to the branch tube and changes the strength of the magnetic field applied according to the displacement per hour measured by the encoder to adjust the damping force. Muscle support robot suit, characterized in that it comprises at least one MR damper unit installed.
The method of claim 7, wherein
The rotational freedom degree is a muscle support robot suit, characterized in that the rotational freedom of the pitch (pitch) and yaw (yaw).
9. The method according to claim 7 or 8,
Each one of the bearing portion, the piston, the encoder and the MR damper is located inside the side of the foot support portion,
And each other of the bearing part, the piston, the encoder, and the MR damper is located on the back of the footrest.
delete delete

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