Brake assembly for robotic surgery system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021237789-A1
Application number	US-202117301269-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 30, 2021
Priority date	May 22, 2019
Publication date	Aug 5, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

A robotic surgery cart has a pair of rear wheel assemblies and a pair of front wheel assemblies. A brake assembly for the robotic surgery cart includes a gearbox interposed between and connected to the pair of rear wheel assemblies by rotatable shafts. Elongate actuators extend between and interconnect the rotatable shafts and brake mechanisms for the front wheel assemblies. A pedal lever is rotatably coupled to the gearbox and can rotate clockwise by pressing one portion of the pedal lever and can rotate counterclockwise by pressing another portion of the pedal lever. Rotation of the pedal lever causes the gearbox to rotate the rotatable shafts to substantially lock the pair of rear wheel assemblies, and substantially simultaneously causes a translation of the elongate actuators to actuate the brake mechanisms of the front wheel assemblies, such that the wheels of the front and rear wheel assemblies brake substantially simultaneously.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A brake assembly for a robotic surgery cart, comprising:
a pair of rear wheel assemblies, each having a brake mechanism actuatable to selectively brake a wheel of each of the rear wheel assemblies; a pair of front wheel assemblies, each having a brake assembly actuatable to selectively brake a wheel of each of the front wheel assemblies; a gearbox interposed between the pair of rear wheel assemblies; a pair of rotatable shafts extending along a first axis and interconnecting the gearbox with the pair of rear wheel assemblies; a pair of actuators interconnecting the pair of rotatable shafts and the brake assemblies of the front wheel assemblies; and a pedal lever rotatably coupled to the gearbox and configured to rotate about a second axis different than the first axis, the pedal lever configured to rotate in a first direction about the second axis and to rotate in an opposite second direction about the second axis, wherein rotation of the pedal lever in one of the first and second directions about the second axis causes the gearbox to rotate the pair of rotatable shafts about the first axis to substantially lock the pair of rear wheel assemblies, and substantially simultaneously causes a translation of at least a portion of the pair of actuators to actuate the brake assemblies to substantially lock the front wheel assemblies, such that the wheels of the front and rear wheel assemblies brake substantially simultaneously.

2 . The brake assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pair of rear wheel assemblies are casters.

3 . The brake assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pair of actuators are gas springs.

4 . The brake assembly of claim 1 , wherein rotation of the pedal lever in the other of the first and second directions about the second axis causes the gearbox to rotate the pair of rotatable shafts about the first axis to substantially unlock the pair of rear wheel assemblies, and substantially simultaneously causes a translation of at least a portion of the pair of actuators to deactivate the brake assemblies to substantially unlock the front wheel assemblies.

5 . The brake assembly of claim 1 , wherein rotation of the pedal lever away from a neutral position in either of the first and second directions about the second axis causes the gearbox to rotate the pair of rotatable shafts about the first axis to substantially lock the pair of rear wheel assemblies, and substantially simultaneously causes a translation of at least a portion of the pair of actuators to actuate the brake assemblies to substantially lock the front wheel assemblies, such that the wheels of the front and rear wheel assemblies brake substantially simultaneously.

6 . The brake assembly of claim 5 , wherein positioning of the pedal lever in the neutral position about the second axis causes the gearbox to rotate the pair of rotatable shafts about the first axis to substantially unlock the pair of rear wheel assemblies, and substantially simultaneously causes a translation of at least a portion of the pair of actuators to deactivate the brake assemblies to substantially unlock the front wheel assemblies.

7 . The brake assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of the pair of actuators couples to one of the pair of rotatable shafts via a linkage movably coupled to a lever that is rotatably fixed to the rotatable shaft.

8 . The brake assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of the pair of actuators couples to one of the brake assemblies via a linkage coupled to a movable lever of the brake assembly, wherein the lever is movable by the actuator between a first position where the brake assembly does not inhibit rotation of the front wheel and a second position where the brake assembly applies a braking force on the front wheel.

9 . The brake assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a pair of rotary detents disposed on opposite sides of the gearbox, the rotary detents configured to engage a spring assembly to exert a force on the rotatable shafts to inhibit their rotation unless the pedal lever is actuated.

10 . The brake assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pedal lever is configured to rotate over a range of approximately 60 degrees.

11 . The brake assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a baseplate configured to support the pair of rear wheel assemblies, the pair of front wheel assemblies, and the gearbox.

12 . A brake assembly for a robotic surgery cart, comprising:
a pair of rear wheel assemblies, each having a brake mechanism actuatable to selectively brake a wheel of each of the rear wheel assemblies; at least one front wheel assembly; a brake assembly actuatable to selectively brake the at least one front wheel assembly; a gearbox interposed between the pair of rear wheels; a pair of rotatable shafts extending along a first axis and interconnecting the gearbox with the pair of rear wheels; at least one actuator interconnecting at least one of the pair of rotatable shafts and the brake assembly; and a pedal lever rotatably coupled to the gearbox and configured to rotate about a second axis different than the first axis, the pedal lever configured to rotate in a first direction about the second axis and to rotate in a second direction opposite to the first direction about the second axis, wherein rotation of the pedal lever in one of the first direction and the second direction about the second axis causes the gearbox to rotate the pair of rotatable shafts about the first axis to substantially lock the pair of rear wheel assemblies, and substantially simultaneously causes a translation of the at least one elongate actuator to actuate the brake assembly to substantially lock the front wheel assembly, such that the rear wheel assemblies and the at least one front wheel assembly brake substantially simultaneously.

13 . The brake assembly of claim 12 , wherein the pair of rear wheel assemblies are casters.

14 . The brake assembly of claim 12 , wherein the at least one actuator is a pair of elongate actuators that extend between and interconnect the pair of rotatable shafts and a pair of brake assemblies.

15 . The brake assembly of claim 12 , wherein the at least one actuator is a gas spring.

16 . The brake assembly of claim 12 , wherein rotation of the pedal lever in the other of the first and second directions about the second axis causes the gearbox to rotate the pair of rotatable shafts about the first axis to substantially unlock the pair of rear wheel assemblies, and substantially simultaneously causes a translation of at least a portion of the pair of actuators to deactivate the brake assemblies to substantially unlock the front wheel assemblies.

17 . The brake assembly of claim 12 , wherein rotation of the pedal lever away from a neutral position in either of the first and second directions about the second axis causes the gearbox to rotate the pair of rotatable shafts about the first axis to substantially lock the pair of rear wheel assemblies, and substantially simultaneously causes a translation of at least a portion of the pair of actuators to actuate the brake assemblies to substantially lock the front wheel assemblies, such that the wheels of the front and rear wheel assemblies brake substantially simultaneously.

18 . The brake assembly of claim 17 , wherein positioning of the pedal lever in the neutral position about the second axis causes the gearbox to rotate the pair of rotatable shafts about the first axis to substantially unlock the pair of rear wheel assemblies, and substantially simultaneously causes a translation of at least a portion of

Assignees

• Titan Med Inc

Inventors

• Basco De Rosa Payne Angelica
• Pratt Spencer Scott
• Shipley Abraham Allen

Classifications

• F16D55/2255

  in which the common actuating member is pivoted · CPC title

• B60B33/0092 Primary

  actuated remotely, e.g. by cable or electrically · CPC title

• B62B2301/044

  arranged remote from the longitudinal centreline of the hand propelled vehicle · CPC title

• B62B2202/00

  Indexing codes relating to type or characteristics of transported articles · CPC title

• F16D2125/64

  Levers · CPC title