Support device, operation support device, and muscle strength training support device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9320636-B2
Application number	US-201314412806-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 25, 2013
Priority date	Jul 5, 2012
Publication date	Apr 26, 2016
Grant date	Apr 26, 2016

Abstract

A support device includes: a force measurement sensor structure which includes a shaft having first and second end sections, an intermediate element movably provided between the first and second end sections, first and second elastic members respectively provided between the first end section and the intermediate element and between the second end section and the intermediate element, a linear potentiometer detecting the one dimensional direction position of the intermediate element, and a gripping unit transmitting a force to the intermediate element in an interlocking manner with movement of upper or lower limb; a drive unit changing a load applied to the intermediate element; a control unit controlling the drive unit; and a wearable unit including a front frame provided on a front side of a user, a rear frame connected to the front frame, provided on a rear side of the user, and supporting the drive unit, and an arm suspending a wire which connects the force measurement sensor structure and the drive unit, wherein the first and second elastic members can apply a load to the intermediate element in one dimensional direction, and linear potentiometer detects a force applied to the intermediate element, and the control unit controls the drive unit depending on the force applied to the intermediate element.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A support device comprising:
a force measurement sensor structure comprising: first and second elastic members; and an intermediate element supported between the first and second elastic members;
a drive unit which is configured to vary a load applied to the intermediate element from the first and second elastic members of the force measurement sensor structure;
a control unit which is configured to control the drive unit; and
a wearable unit which a user wears on the user's body;
wherein the force measurement sensor structure includes:
a shaft having a first end section and a second end section;
the intermediate element movably provided between the first end section and the second end section along the shaft;
the first elastic member provided between the first end section and the intermediate element along the shaft;
the second elastic member provided between the second end section and the intermediate element along the shaft;
a linear potentiometer connected to the intermediate element and configured to detect a position of the intermediate element in one dimensional direction along the shaft; and
a gripping unit connected to the intermediate element and configured to transmit a force to the intermediate element in an interlocking manner with a movement of an upper limb or a lower limb of the user,

the wearable unit includes:
a front frame provided on a front side of the user;
a rear frame connected to the front frame, provided on a rear side of the user, and supporting the drive unit; and
an arm attached on the front frame, the arm suspending a wire which connects the force measurement sensor structure and the drive unit to each other,

wherein the first and second elastic members are configured to support the intermediate element, are capable of applying a load to the intermediate element in directions opposite to each other in one dimensional direction along the shaft,
the linear potentiometer detects a position of the intermediate element in one dimensional direction along the shaft to measure a force applied to the intermediate element, and
the control unit is configured to control the drive unit depending on the measured force applied to the intermediate element.

2. The support device according to claim 1 , wherein the drive unit is configured to vary at least one of a magnitude of a load applied to the intermediate element from the first elastic member and the second elastic member and a direction of the load.

3. The support device according to claim 1 , wherein the wearable unit includes a rear frame open/close mechanism which is configured to open or close the rear frame.

4. The support device according to claim 3 , wherein the rear frame open/close mechanism is constituted of a rotatable hinge portion which connects the front frame and the rear frame, and is configured to open or close the rear frame upward using the hinge portion as a fulcrum.

5. The support device according to claim 4 , wherein the rear frame open/close mechanism connects the rear frame and the arm to each other, includes a damper which imparts a buffer action to movement of the rear frame and movement of the arm, and is configured to buffer an open/close operation of the rear frame by the damper in opening or closing the rear frame.

6. The support device according to claim 3 , wherein the rear frame open/close mechanism is configured to open or close at least a portion of the rear frame sideward.

7. The support device according to claim 3 , wherein the rear frame open/close mechanism is configured to open or close at least a portion of the front frame upward.

8. The support device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a slide rail provided on the front frame; and
a slide frame arranged on the slide rail and relatively movable relative to the front frame by the slide rail.

9. The support device according to claim 1 , further comprising a side bar connecting the front frame and the rear frame along a side portion of a user such that a width between the front frame and the rear frame is variable.

10. The support device according to claim 1 , wherein the arm is arranged at respective portions of the front frame corresponding to both shoulders of the user, respectively.

11. The support device according to claim 1 , further comprising a shoulder belt for supporting the wearable unit by being suspended from a shoulder of the user.

12. The support device according to claim 1 , the first and second elastic members are each constituted of one or more kinds of members selected from a group consisting of spring, rubber, and air.

13. An operation support device including: the support device according to claim 1 , wherein
the control unit is configured to support a movement of an upper limb or a lower limb of the user by controlling the drive unit such that a measured force applied to the intermediate element is decreased depending on a movement of the upper limb or the lower limb of the user.

14. A muscle strength training support device including: the support device according to claim 1 , wherein
the control unit is configured to support muscle strength training of an upper limb or a lower limb of the user by controlling the drive unit such that a predetermined force is applied to the intermediate element depending on a movement of an upper limb or a lower limb of the user.

Assignees

• Panasonic Corp

Inventors

• Shirogauchi Go
• Fujimoto Hiromichi
• Ueda Yoshiaki
• Konishi Makoto

Classifications

• A61H2201/1664

  linear · CPC title

• A61H2201/164

  Feet or leg, e.g. pedal · CPC title

• A63B21/153

  wound-up and unwound during exercise, e.g. from a reel · CPC title

• A63B21/4043

  Free movement, i.e. the only restriction coming from the resistance (A63B21/00043, A63B21/072 take precedence) · CPC title

• A63B2024/0093

  the load of the exercise apparatus being controlled by performance parameters, e.g. distance or speed · CPC title