Swinging joint device, walking assisting device, conveying device, manipulator, and walking-ability assisting device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016262969-A1
Application number	US-201615065481-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 9, 2016
Priority date	Mar 10, 2015
Publication date	Sep 15, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A swinging joint device includes a driving shaft member; a first output portion that swings about a driving axis serving as an axis of the driving shaft member; an elastic body that generates an urging torque corresponding to a first swinging angle that is a swinging angle of the first output portion; an apparent rigidity variable portion that varies apparent rigidity of the elastic body seen from the first output portion; a first angle detection portion that detects the first swinging angle; and a control portion that controls the apparent rigidity variable portion according to the first swinging angle detected by the first angle detection portion to adjust the apparent rigidity of the elastic body seen from the first output portion.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A swinging joint device comprising:
a driving shaft member; a first output portion that swings about a driving axis serving as an axis of the driving shaft member; an elastic body that generates an urging torque corresponding to a first swinging angle that is a swinging angle of the first output portion; an apparent rigidity variable portion that varies apparent rigidity of the elastic body seen from the first output portion; a first angle detection portion that detects the first swinging angle; and a control portion that controls the apparent rigidity variable portion according to the first swinging angle detected by the first angle detection portion to adjust the apparent rigidity of the elastic body seen from the first output portion.

2 . The swinging joint device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the elastic body includes a flat spiral spring; the apparent rigidity of the elastic body seen from the first output portion includes an apparent spring constant of the flat spiral spring seen from the first output portion; and the apparent rigidity variable portion that varies the apparent rigidity of the elastic body seen from the first output portion includes an apparent spring constant variable portion that varies the apparent spring constant of the flat spiral spring seen from the first output portion.

3 . The swinging joint device according to claim 2 , wherein:
a spring fixing member that supports a fixed end of the flat spiral spring is disposed at a position adjacent to the flat spiral spring; a free end serving as one end of the flat spiral spring is connected to a spring input shaft member that swings at an angle corresponding to the first swinging angle of the first output portion; the fixed end serving as the other end of the flat spiral spring is connected to a spring supporting body provided on the spring fixing member at a position distant from the driving axis; and the apparent spring constant variable portion is constituted by the spring fixing member that is supported so as to be pivotable about the driving axis and is caused to pivot about the driving axis at a prescribed pivoting angle to move a position of the spring supporting body relative to the driving axis about the driving axis by the prescribed pivoting angle, and a rigidity adjustment member that causes the spring fixing member to pivot about the driving axis to vary a position of the fixed end of the flat spiral spring.

4 . The swinging joint device according to claim 3 , wherein:
a transmission is provided between the first output portion and the flat spiral spring; and the transmission includes the spring input shaft member, and when the first output portion swings at the first swinging angle, the spring input shaft member swings at a swinging angle obtained by changing the first swinging angle based on a prescribed speed ratio.

5 . The swinging joint device according to claim 3 , wherein when the position of the spring supporting body, at which the flat spiral spring does not generate the urging torque in a case where the first swinging angle is zero, is set as a reference position, the control portion controls the rigidity adjustment member to adjust a pivoting angle of the spring fixing member to adjust the position of the spring supporting body relative to the reference position according to the first swinging angle of the first output portion, thereby adjusting the apparent spring constant of the flat spiral spring seen from the first output portion.

6 . The swinging joint device according to claim 2 , further comprising
a first driving portion that swings the first output portion about the driving axis based on a control signal from the control portion.

7 . The swinging joint device according to claim 2 , further comprising:
a second output portion supported so as to be swingable about the driving axis; a second angle detection portion that detects a second swinging angle that is a swinging angle of the second output portion; a second driving portion that swings the second output portion about the driving axis based on a control signal from the control portion; and a swinging link member that is connected to the first output portion and the second output portion and operates based on the first swinging angle of the first output portion and the second swinging angle of the second output portion.

8 . A walking assisting device comprising
the swinging joint device according to claim 1 .

9 . A conveying device comprising
the swinging joint device according to claim 3 , wherein: the conveying device includes the driving shaft member, a pinion that serves as the first output portion that pivots in a reciprocating manner so as to swing about the driving axis of the driving shaft member, an arm that has a rack portion engaging with the pinion and linearly reciprocates according to a swinging angle that is a reciprocally-pivoting angle of the pinion, the arm being configured to hold and release a workpiece, a pinion driving portion that rotates and drives the pinion, the first angle detection portion that detects the first swinging angle that is the swinging angle of the pinion, the flat spiral spring that accumulates energy when the pinion driving portion rotates and drives the pinion, and rotates and drives the pinion when releasing the accumulated energy, the apparent spring constant variable portion including the spring fixing member and the rigidity adjustment member, and the control portion that controls the pinion driving portion and the rigidity adjustment member; and the conveying device moves the workpiece by linearly reciprocating the arm to hold and release the workpiece.

10 . A manipulator comprising
the swinging joint device according to claim 3 , wherein: the manipulator includes the driving shaft member, a swinging portion serving as the first output portion that swings about the driving axis of the driving shaft member, a swinging portion driving portion that swings the swinging portion, the first angle detection portion that detects the first swinging angle that is a swinging angle of the swinging portion, the flat spiral spring that accumulates energy when the swinging portion driving portion swings the swinging portion, and swings the swinging portion when releasing the accumulated energy, the apparent spring constant variable portion including the spring fixing member and the rigidity adjustment member, and the control portion that controls the swinging portion driving portion and the rigidity adjustment member.

11 . A walking-ability assisting device that applies an assisting force to motion of a lower limb of a user, comprising:
a waist-side attachment portion attached to a waist-side portion of the user; a first swinging arm that has an elongate shape and is disposed on a lateral side of a femoral part of the user, the first swinging arm having one of a protruding portion and a recessed portion located at an upper portion of the first swinging arm, and the one of the protruding portion and the recessed portion serving as a swinging axis of the first swinging arm; a femoral attachment portion attached to the first swinging arm to be put on the femoral part of the user; a driving shaft member that supports the one of the protruding portion and the recessed portion that serves as the swinging axis of the first swinging arm, the driving shaft member supporting the first swinging arm such that the first swinging arm is swingable in a front-rear direction of the user relative to the waist-side attachment portion; a rigidity variable portion that varies rigidity representing a force required for swinging the first swinging ar

Assignees

• Jtekt Corp

Inventors

• Ohta Hiromichi
• Ohtsubo Kazuyoshi

Classifications

• A61H2205/10

  Leg · CPC title

• A61H2201/1619

  Thorax · CPC title

• A61H2201/5007

  computer controlled · CPC title

• A61H2201/5061

  Force sensors · CPC title

• A61H2201/1614

  Shoulder, e.g. for neck stretching · CPC title