Method and apparatus for human trunk support device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9308112-B2
Application number	US-201113807456-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 28, 2011
Priority date	Jun 28, 2010
Publication date	Apr 12, 2016
Grant date	Apr 12, 2016

Abstract

A trunk support device ( 100 ) is configurable to be worn by a person to reduce the muscle forces in the person's back during forward bending. The device ( 100 ), among other things, includes: a waist strap ( 102 ) which is configurable to be coupled to the person waist; a chest support ( 104 ) which is configurable to be coupled to the person's chest and capable of pushing against the person chest; and first and second torque generators ( 106 ) coupled to the chest support ( 104 ) and the waist strap ( 102 ) and capable of providing a resistance torque between them. In operation, when a person wearing the device ( 100 ) bends forward, at least one of the torque generators ( 106 ) imposes a torque between the chest support ( 104 ) and the waist strap ( 102 ), causing the chest support ( 104 ) to impose a force onto the person's chest backwardly and the waist strap ( 102 ) to impose a force onto the person's hip.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A trunk support device configurable to be worn by a person to reduce muscle forces in a wearer's back during forward bending, the trunk support device comprising:
a waist strap configured to couple to a wearer's waist and including first and second hip portions;
a chest support including a chest engagement piece configured to engage a wearer's chest and first and second opposing support bars connected to opposing side portions of the chest engagement piece; and
first and second torque generators, each of the first and second torque generators connected to a respective one of the first and second hip portions of the waist strap and a respective one of the first and second opposing support bars of the chest support, wherein, when a wearer bends forward, said first and second torque generators each impose a resistance torque between said chest support and said waist strap, cause said chest engagement piece to impose a force against a wearer's chest, and cause said waist strap to impose a force onto a wearer's hips.

2. The trunk support device of claim 1 , wherein at least one of said first and second torque generators is a passive resilient component.

3. A trunk support device of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and second torque generators includes active components selected from the group consisting of hydraulic motors, hydraulic actuators, pneumatic motors, pneumatic actuators, electric motors and combinations thereof.

4. The trunk support device of claim 1 , further comprising a controller configured to automatically adjust an amount of resistance torque imposed by said first and second torque generators.

5. The trunk support device of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one sensor; and
a signal processor configured to produce a control signal for the first and second torque generators based on at least one input signal from the at least one sensor.

6. The trunk support device of claim 5 , wherein the at least one sensor is selected from the group consisting of a velocity sensor, an accelerometer, a force sensor, a pressure sensor, an angle sensor, a torque generator movement sensor, a torque generator speed sensor, a torque generator force sensor, or a combination thereof.

7. The trunk support device of claim 5 , wherein said at least one input signal is selected from the group consisting of a signal representing an angle of the chest support with respect to the waist strap, a signal representing a velocity of the chest support with respect to the waist strap, a signal representing an acceleration of the chest support with respect to the waist strap, a signal representing an absolute angle of the chest support, a signal representing an absolute velocity of the chest support, a signal representing an absolute acceleration of the chest support, a signal representing movement of the torque generator, a signal representing a speed of the torque generator, a signal representing acceleration of the torque generator, a signal representing torque of the torque generator, a signal representing a force of the torque generator, a signal representing a wearer's movement, a signal representing a wearer's bending angle, a signal representing a wearer's bending velocity, a signal representing a wearer's bending acceleration, a signal representing a contact force between a wearer and the chest strap, and combinations thereof.

8. The trunk support device of claim 7 , wherein the resistance torque imposed by the at least one of the first and second torque generators is a function of how much a wearer is bending forward.

9. The trunk support device of claim 1 , wherein the resistance torque imposed by at least one of the first and second torque generators increases automatically as a wearer bends forward.

10. The trunk support device of claim 1 , wherein the resistance torque imposed by at least one of the first and second torque generators increases linearly as the angle between a wearer and a vertical line increases.

11. The trunk support device of claim 1 , wherein the resistance torque imposed by at least one of the first and second torque generators increases linearly as an angle between said chest support and a vertical line increases.

12. The trunk support device of claim 1 , wherein the resistance torque imposed by at least one of the first and second torque generators is generally constant for at least one segment of a bending movement of a wearer.

13. The trunk support device of claim 1 , wherein said waist strap is constructed, at least in part, by a stiff material resistant to movement induced by the resistance torque between said chest support and said waist strap.

14. The trunk support device of claim 13 , wherein a first portion of said waist strap is constructed from a stiff material to resist movement induced by the resistance torque between said chest support and said waist strap, and a second portion of said waist strap adapted to be in contact with a wearer's body is constructed from a soft material.

15. The trunk support device of claim 14 , wherein said waist strap further includes first and second hinged arms adapted to removably connect to one another and enable coupling of the waist strap to a wearer.

16. The trunk support device of claim 13 , wherein said waist strap further includes:
a waist belt adapted to couple the waist strap to a wearer, a waist bracket coupled to the first and second torque generators and a line connecting the waist belt to the waist bracket, wherein said waist belt and said waist bracket are coupled to each other generally at the back area of a wearer and said line transfers forces from the waist bracket to the waist belt and consequently onto a wearer's hip region.

17. A method of reducing muscle forces in a wearer's back during forward bending using a trunk support device, the trunk support device including a waist strap, a chest support, and first and second torque generators connected to respective first and second opposing hip portions of the waist strap and first and second opposing support bars of the chest support, the method comprising:
imposing a resistance torque between said chest support and said waist strap via said first and second torque generators when the wearer bends forward to cause a chest engagement piece of the chest support to impose a force against the wearer's chest, and cause said waist strap to impose a force onto the wearer's hips.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the first and second torque generators are active components selected from the group consisting of hydraulic motors, hydraulic actuators, pneumatic motors, pneumatic actuators, electric motors and combinations thereof.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising the step of:
adjusting the amount of resistance torque imposed by said first and second torque generators.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the step of adjusting the amount of resistance torque is performed utilizing a controller based on at least one input signal received from at least one sensor of the trunk support device.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the at least one sensor is selected from the group consisting of a velocity sensor, an accelerometer, a force sensor, a pressure sensor, an angle sensor, a torque generator movement sensor, a torque generator speed sensor, a torque generator force sensor, or a combination thereof.

22. The method of claim 20 , wherein said at least one input signal is selected from the group consisting of a s

Assignees

• Kazerooni Homayoon
• Ryoo Kibeum
• Bae Han Woong
• Merala Daniel
• Univ California

Inventors

• Kazerooni Homayoon
• Ryoo Kibeum
• Bae Han Woong
• Merala Daniel

Classifications

• A61F2005/0188

  having pressure sensors · CPC title

• A61F5/02 Primary

  Orthopaedic corsets · CPC title