Walking assistance devices and methods of controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10064778-B2
Application number	US-201414337684-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 22, 2014
Priority date	Oct 2, 2013
Publication date	Sep 4, 2018
Grant date	Sep 4, 2018

Abstract

A walking assistance device may include at least one walking assistance unit configured to assist a user in walking; and/or a controller configured to control, based on a walk pattern of the user, the at least one walking assistance unit to produce torque only in at least one assistance period needing walking assistance in a walk cycle. A method of controlling walking assistance may include: calculating a walking assistance time using a difference between a start time and a termination time of an assistance period needing the walking assistance in a walk pattern; and/or assisting a user in walking when the assistance period begins, by producing torque for the walking assistance time.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A walking assistance device, comprising:
a walking assistance unit configured to assist a user in walking;
a plurality of sensors configured to sense change of pressure to a feet of the user and sense at least one of a rotational angle or a rotational rate of the walking assistance unit; and
a controller configured to control the walking assistance unit to produce torque only in at least one assistance period needing walking assistance in a walk cycle based on a walk pattern of the user, the at least one assistance period being one or more portions of the walk cycle,
wherein the controller is further configured to determine a first point in time of one foot of the user contacting a ground surface and a second point in time of hip joints of the user crossing each other subsequent to the first point in time, based on information from the plurality of sensors, and control the walking assistance unit to initiate to produce the torque at the first point in time and terminate production of the torque at the second point in time, and
wherein the controller is further configured to determine a third point in time point of the other foot of the user contacting the ground surface and a fourth point in time of the hip joints of the user crossing each other subsequent to the third point in time, based on the information from the plurality of sensors, and control the walking assistance unit to initiate to produce the torque at the third point in time and terminate production of the torque at the fourth point in time.

2. The walking assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to calculate a walking assistance time using a difference between a start time and termination time of the assistance period in the walk pattern, and
wherein the controller is further configured to control the walking assistance unit to produce torque for the calculated walking assistance time in response to the assistance period starting.

3. The walking assistance device according to claim 2 , wherein the controller comprises a pattern analysis unit configured to (1) analyze the walk pattern for a certain period of time to extract a change pattern of the walk pattern and (2) correct the walking assistance time based on the change pattern of the walk pattern.

4. The walking assistance device according to claim 2 , wherein the controller comprises a torque adjustment unit configured to adjust a pattern of torque to be produced by the walking assistance unit, based on the walking assistance time.

5. The walking assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein the torque is produced to gradually increase and then gradually decrease.

6. The walking assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein the assistance period is a period in the walk cycle needing consumption of a relatively large amount of energy by the user.

7. The walking assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one assistance period includes a plurality of assistance periods, and a torque pattern produced during one of the assistance periods differs from a torque pattern produced during another of the assistance periods.

8. The walking assistance device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a status collector including the plurality of sensors and configured to collect a physical activity of the user,
wherein the controller comprises a pattern analysis unit to analyze a walk pattern of the user based on the collected physical activity.

9. The walking assistance device according to claim 8 , wherein the plurality of sensors comprise a pressure sensor configured to sense change in pressure applied to feet of the user.

10. The walking assistance device according to claim 8 , wherein the plurality of sensors comprise an encoder sensor configured to collect information related to rotation of the walking assistance unit.

11. A method of controlling a walking assistance device, comprising:
sensing change of pressure to a feet of a user and at least one of a rotational angle or a rotational rate of a walking assistance unit;
calculating a walking assistance time using a difference between a start time and termination time of each of at least one assistance period needing walking assistance in a walk cycle, the at least one assistance period being one or more portions of the walk cycle; and
assisting the user in walking, by producing torque only for the at least one walking assistance period,
wherein the assisting includes,
determining a first point in time of a heel of one foot of the user contacting a ground surface and a second point in time of hip joints of the user crossing each other subsequent to the first point in time, based on sensed information, and controlling the walking assistance unit to initiate to produce the torque at the first point in time and terminate production of the torque at the second point in time, and
determining a third point in time point of a heel of the other foot of the user contacting the ground surface and a fourth point in time of the hip joints of the user crossing each other subsequent to the third point in time, based on the sensed information, and controlling the walking assistance unit to initiate to produce the torque at the third point in time and terminate production of the torque at the fourth point in time.

12. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:
collecting physical activity information of the user; and
analyzing a walk pattern of the user based on the collected physical activity information.

13. The method according to claim 11 , wherein in the assisting, the torque is gradually changed.

14. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the calculating comprises:
analyzing a walk pattern for a certain period of time to extract a change pattern of the walk pattern; and
correcting the calculated walking assistance time based on the change pattern of the walk pattern.

15. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the assisting comprises adjusting a pattern of the torque based on the calculated walking assistance time.

16. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the assisting comprises gradually increasing the torque and gradually decreasing the torque.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Moon Kyung-Won
• Kim Ji Young
• Shim Young-Bo
• Lim Bok Man

Classifications

• A61H2201/50

  Control means thereof · CPC title

• A61H2201/5007

  computer controlled · CPC title

• A61H2201/1215

  Rotary drive · CPC title

• A61B5/112

  Gait analysis · CPC title

• A61H2201/5092

  Optical sensor · CPC title