A wearable full-body type flexible power-assisted exoskeleton device

Abstract

The application discloses a wearable full-body flexible power-assisted exoskeleton device, which comprises an upper limb part, a connecting part, a lower limb part and a control part, the upper limb part is connected with the lower limb part through the connecting part, the upper limb part comprises a back plate, a harness, a motor, a transmission device, a wire reel, a flexible pipe and a battery; the control part comprises a core development board, a pressure sensor and an inertial measurement unit, the pressure sensor and the inertial measurement unit respectively measure cargo weight and human body posture data, so that the operation of the motor is controlled through the core development board to realize power-assisted control. The application directly transmits the self weight of a part of the exoskeleton to the ground through a mechanical structure, thereby effectively reducing the pressure of self weight and improving work efficiency; the flexible rope is connected and equipped with the harness to realize the function of carrying assistance, the flexible rope arranged on the harness not only can save space, but also will not affect the operation of the human body and the machine.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of medical device technology, and in particular to a wearable, full-body flexible assistive exoskeleton device. Background Technology

[0002] With rapid economic development, the logistics industry plays a vital role in people's daily lives, including in the military field. Common injuries sustained by workers during handling operations include strain on the lumbar exoskeleton and upper limbs. Developing exoskeleton robots can effectively alleviate these issues. Exoskeletons provide assistance to workers during operations, offering both support and protection. For example, when squatting, bending over, or lifting goods, the limbs bear significant loads. Wearing an exoskeleton can effectively reduce the load on the lumbar exoskeleton and legs, significantly transferring weight and reducing the actual weight borne by the body, thus providing protection.

[0003] In existing exoskeletons, the assistance provided by handling robots is mainly targeted at individual joints, such as the upper limb, lower limb, or lumbar exoskeleton. These are generally quite targeted, providing assistance to a specific part, sometimes neglecting the negative impact on other parts. For example, with an upper limb exoskeleton, long-term operation can lead to increasing load on the lower limb and even damage to the lumbar exoskeleton. Conversely, lower limb and lumbar exoskeletons often fail to adequately consider the other two aspects, causing harm to the human body.

[0004] Most existing exoskeletons primarily provide assistance to individual body parts. For example, the one published in [CN110039518 A] uses a simple upper limb structure, which is also a fully rigid structure. This greatly increases the load on the lower limbs, often leading to fatigue and damage to the lumbar exoskeleton. Even if the shell is made of lightweight materials, there are still motors, power supplies, etc., which increase the load. Although these are within the limits of the human body, wearing it for a long time and relying solely on one part of the body for support will still cause some strain.

[0005] In addition, if only part of the body is covered by an exoskeleton, it often makes the body uncoordinated, feeling unbalanced and uncomfortable, increasing the difficulty of daily operations, and sometimes even backfiring, causing inconvenience to human activities. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to provide a wearable, full-body flexible assistive exoskeleton device to solve the problems existing in the prior art. It achieves the function of transmission assistance through flexible ropes, and effectively transmits the load to the ground through the exoskeleton connection, thereby greatly reducing the pressure caused by the equipment itself concentrating the load on a certain part, thus providing experimental assistance.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following solution:

[0008] This invention provides a wearable full-body flexible assistive exoskeleton device, including an upper limb, a connecting part, a lower limb, and a control part. The upper limb is connected to the lower limb via the connecting part. The upper limb includes a back plate, a shoulder strap, a motor, a transmission device, reels, flexible tubes, and a battery. The back plate is worn across the back of the human body via the shoulder strap. The motor is mounted on the back plate. Two reels are provided. The motor is connected to the two reels via the transmission device and can drive the two reels to rotate. Flexible ropes are wound on both reels. Two flexible tubes are provided. One end of the two flexible tubes is connected to the top two sides of the back plate, and the other end of the two flexible tubes is respectively connected to the two shoulder straps. The movable ends of the flexible ropes on the two reels are respectively passed through the two flexible tubes.

[0009] The control unit includes a core development board, a pressure sensor, and an inertial measurement unit. The pressure sensor and the inertial measurement unit measure the weight of the cargo and the posture data of the human body, respectively, and then control the operation of the motor through the core development board to achieve power assist control.

[0010] Preferably, the motor is mounted on the back plate via a motor bracket.

[0011] Preferably, the drive device includes gear one, gear two and gear three. The gear shaft of gear one is connected to the power shaft of the motor through a coupling. Gear two and gear three are meshed and connected to the top two sides of gear one. The two spools are respectively mounted on gear two and gear three.

[0012] Preferably, the battery is mounted on the top of the back plate, and a fixing bracket for fixing one end of the flexible tube is provided on the back plate on both sides of the battery, and a fixing member for fixing the other end of the flexible tube is provided on the two shoulder straps.

[0013] Preferably, the core development board is connected to the backplate via an insulating fixing bracket.

[0014] Preferably, the lower limb includes a lumbar exoskeleton worn on the waist and thigh exoskeleton, calf exoskeleton, and foot exoskeleton respectively opposite the thigh, calf, and foot. The lumbar exoskeleton has a U-shaped frame structure. The two sides of the lumbar exoskeleton are hinged to the top of the thigh exoskeleton at the hip joint and are equipped with hip joint motors that drive the hinges. The bottom of the thigh exoskeleton is hinged to the top of the calf exoskeleton at the knee joint and is equipped with knee joint motors that drive the hinges. The bottom of the calf exoskeleton is hinged to the foot exoskeleton.

[0015] Preferably, a pressure sensor and an inertial measurement unit are also provided at the connection between the lumbar exoskeleton and the thigh exoskeleton at the hip joint. After a person bends over to lift heavy goods, the pressure sensor detects the weight of the goods, and the inertial measurement unit detects the data and transmits it to the core development board. The core development board processes the data to obtain control commands, and then controls the motor to move, which in turn drives the reel to rotate. The reel drives the flexible rope, which provides assistance in the lifting process. Similarly, an inertial measurement unit and a pressure sensor are also provided at the connection between the thigh exoskeleton and the lower leg exoskeleton at the knee joint. When lifting goods, the pressure sensor detects the weight of the goods when a person stands up, and the inertial measurement unit detects the data and transmits it to the core development board. The core development board processes the data to obtain control commands, which control the knee joint motor to operate, providing support and assistance.

[0016] Preferably, the connecting part is a connecting plate connecting the back plate and the lumbar exoskeleton. The top of the connecting plate is connected to the bottom of the back plate by bolts. The bottom of the connecting plate is provided with several adjustment holes vertically. The connecting plate is connected to the lumbar exoskeleton by adjusting bolts passing through the corresponding adjustment holes.

[0017] Preferably, the carrying straps are provided in two parts, with the top ends of the two straps respectively connected to the top sides of the back plate, and the bottom ends of the two straps connected to the waist exoskeleton.

[0018] Preferably, the inner sides of both the thigh exoskeleton and the lower leg exoskeleton are provided with straps for wearing the lower limbs onto the human lower limbs.

[0019] The present invention achieves the following beneficial technical effects compared to the prior art:

[0020] 1. This invention uses a full-body exoskeleton device, which transfers part of the exoskeleton's weight directly to the ground through a mechanical structure, thereby effectively reducing the pressure of the user's own load and improving work efficiency; it uses flexible ropes for connection and is equipped on the carrying straps to achieve the function of assisting in carrying. Setting the flexible ropes on the carrying straps not only saves space, but also does not affect the operation of the human body and the machine.

[0021] 2. In this invention, the upper limb assistive device uses a single motor to provide power and uses an inertial measurement unit to capture and predict motion, which reduces the difficulty of coordinated control and improves the overall reliability and stability of the system.

[0022] 3. This invention employs gear transmission to achieve power transmission. Gears made from polyoxymethylene (POM) are used to reduce the need for a single motor, thus minimizing the weight required for dual-motor transmission. The transmission device utilizes the meshing of two gears to transmit power and motion through mechanical transmission. It is a device that directly transmits motion and power using the teeth of the driving and driven gears. It features smooth transmission, precise transmission ratio, reliable operation, high efficiency, long service life, and a wide range of applicable power, speed, and size specifications.

[0023] 4. In this invention, a motor is added to the joints where the main force is applied during handling to provide assistance. When bending over and standing up, the motor operation reduces the load on the human body. Attached Figure Description

[0024] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0025] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional assembly diagram of the wearable full-body flexible assistive exoskeleton device of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the upper limb in this invention;

[0027] Figure 3 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the lower limb in this invention;

[0028] Figure 4 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the connecting part in this invention;

[0029] In the diagram: 1-Upper limb, 101-Back plate, 102-Shoulder strap, 103-Motor, 104-Motor bracket, 105-Spindle, 106-Flexible tube, 107-Battery, 108-Gear 1, 109-Gear 2, 110-Gear 3, 111-Fixing frame, 112-Fixing component;

[0030] 2-Connecting part, 201-Connecting plate, 202-Adjusting hole;

[0031] 3-Lower limbs, 301-Thigh exoskeleton, 302-Lower leg exoskeleton, 303-Foot exoskeleton, 304-Hip joint motor, 305-Knee joint motor, 306-Strap, 307-Lumbar exoskeleton. Detailed Implementation

[0032] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0033] The purpose of this invention is to provide a wearable, full-body flexible assistive exoskeleton device to solve the problems existing in the prior art.

[0034] To make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention more apparent and understandable, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0035] The wearable full-body flexible assistive exoskeleton device in this embodiment, such as Figure 1-4 As shown, the device includes an upper limb 1, a connecting part 2, a lower limb 3, and a control part. The upper limb 1 is connected to the lower limb 3 through the connecting part 2. The upper limb 1 includes a back plate 101, a carrying strap 102, a motor 103, a transmission device, a spool 105, a flexible tube 106, and a battery 107. The back plate 101 is worn across the back of the human body through the carrying strap 102. The motor 103 is mounted on the back plate 101 through a motor bracket 104. There are two spools 105. The motor 103 is connected to the two spools 105 through the transmission device and can drive the two spools 105 to rotate. Flexible ropes are wound on both spools 105. There are two flexible tubes 106. One end of the two flexible tubes 106 is connected to the top two sides of the back plate 101, and the other end of the two flexible tubes 106 is connected to the two carrying straps 102 respectively. The movable ends of the flexible ropes on the two spools 105 are respectively passed through the two flexible tubes 106.

[0036] The control unit includes a core development board, a pressure sensor, and an inertial measurement unit. The pressure sensor and the inertial measurement unit measure the weight of the cargo and the posture data of the human body, respectively, and then control the operation of the motor 103 through the core development board to achieve power assist control.

[0037] In this specific embodiment, the driving device includes gear 108, gear 2 109, and gear 3 110. The gear shaft of gear 108 is connected to the power shaft of motor 103 via a coupling. Gear 2 109 and gear 3 110 are meshed on the top two sides of gear 108. Two reels 105 are respectively mounted on gear 2 109 and gear 3 110. The power of motor 103 is transmitted to gear 2 109 and gear 3 110 through gear 108. Gear 2 109 and gear 3 110 drive the reels 105 on them to rotate to achieve winding or unwinding of the line. During operation, initially, part of the flexible rope is wound around the reel 105, and the other part is exposed. When the worker bends over, the reel 105 is released, and the flexible rope extends. After picking up the goods and standing up, motor 103 drives the reel 105 to rotate, retracting the flexible rope, thereby providing assistance.

[0038] In this specific embodiment, the battery 107 is installed on the top of the back plate 101. Fixing brackets 111 for fixing one end of the flexible tube 106 are provided on the back plate 101 on both sides of the battery 107, and fixing members 112 for fixing the other end of the flexible tube 106 are provided on the two shoulder straps 102. The core development board (not shown in the figure) is connected to the back plate 101 through an insulating fixing bracket.

[0039] In this specific embodiment, the lower limb 3 includes a waist exoskeleton 307 worn on the waist of the human body and a thigh exoskeleton 301, a calf exoskeleton 302, and a foot exoskeleton 303 respectively opposite to the thigh, calf, and foot of the human body. The waist exoskeleton 307 has a U-shaped frame structure. The two sides of the waist exoskeleton 307 are hinged to the top of the thigh exoskeleton 301 at the hip joint and are provided with a hip joint motor 304 for driving the hinge to operate. The bottom of the thigh exoskeleton 301 is hinged to the top of the calf exoskeleton 302 at the knee joint and is provided with a knee joint motor 305 for driving the hinge to operate. The bottom of the calf exoskeleton 302 is hinged to the foot exoskeleton 303.

[0040] In this specific embodiment, a pressure sensor and an inertial measurement unit are also provided at the connection between the waist exoskeleton 307 and the thigh exoskeleton 301 at the hip joint. After a person bends over to lift heavy goods, the pressure sensor detects the weight of the goods, the inertial measurement unit detects the data, and transmits it to the development board. The development board processes the data to obtain control commands, and then controls the motor 103 to move, which in turn drives the reel 105 to rotate. The reel 105 drives the flexible rope, which plays an auxiliary role in lifting. An inertial measurement unit and a pressure sensor are also provided at the connection between the thigh exoskeleton 301 and the lower leg exoskeleton 302 at the knee joint. When lifting goods, the pressure sensor detects the weight of the goods when a person stands up, the inertial measurement unit detects the data, and transmits it to the development board. The development board processes the data to obtain control commands, and controls the knee joint motor 305 to operate, which plays a supporting and auxiliary role, thereby achieving the purpose of standing.

[0041] In this specific embodiment, the connecting part 2 is a connecting plate 201 connecting the back plate 101 and the waist exoskeleton 307. The top of the connecting plate 201 is connected to the bottom of the back plate 101 by bolts. The bottom of the connecting plate 201 is provided with a plurality of adjustment holes 202 vertically. The connecting plate 201 is connected to the waist exoskeleton 307 by adjusting bolts passing through the corresponding adjustment holes 202.

[0042] In this specific embodiment, two shoulder straps 102 are provided. The top ends of the two shoulder straps 102 are respectively connected to the top two sides of the back plate 101, and the bottom ends of the two shoulder straps 102 are connected to the waist exoskeleton 307.

[0043] In this specific embodiment, the inner sides of both the thigh exoskeleton 301 and the calf exoskeleton 302 are provided with straps 306 for wearing the lower limb 3 onto the human lower limb.

[0044] This invention has illustrated its principles and implementation methods using specific examples. The descriptions of these embodiments are merely illustrative of the method and its core ideas; furthermore, those skilled in the art will recognize that modifications may be made to the specific implementation methods and application scope based on the principles of this invention. Therefore, the content of this specification should not be construed as limiting the invention.

Claims

1. A wearable, full-body flexible assistive exoskeleton device, characterized in that: The device includes an upper limb, a connecting part, a lower limb, and a control part. The upper limb is connected to the lower limb via the connecting part. The upper limb includes a back plate, a carrying strap, a motor, a transmission device, reels, flexible tubes, and a battery. The back plate is worn across the back of the user via the carrying strap. The motor is mounted on the back plate. There are two reels, and the motor is connected to the two reels via the transmission device and can drive the two reels to rotate. Flexible ropes are wound on both reels. There are two flexible tubes, one end of which is connected to the top two sides of the back plate, and the other end of which is connected to the two carrying straps respectively. The movable ends of the flexible ropes on the two reels are respectively passed through the two flexible tubes. The control unit includes a core development board, a pressure sensor, and an inertial measurement unit. The pressure sensor and the inertial measurement unit measure the weight of the cargo and the posture data of the human body, respectively, and then control the operation of the motor through the core development board to achieve power assist control. The lower limbs include a lumbar exoskeleton worn on the waist and thigh, calf, and foot exoskeletons respectively opposite the thigh, calf, and foot. The lumbar exoskeleton has a U-shaped frame structure. The two sides of the lumbar exoskeleton are hinged to the top of the thigh exoskeleton at the hip joint and are equipped with hip joint motors that drive the hinges. The bottom of the thigh exoskeleton is hinged to the top of the calf exoskeleton at the knee joint and is equipped with knee joint motors that drive the hinges. The bottom of the calf exoskeleton is hinged to the foot exoskeleton. The lumbar exoskeleton and the thigh exoskeleton are equipped with pressure sensors and inertial measurement units at the hip joint connection. When a person bends over to lift heavy goods, the pressure sensors detect the weight of the goods, and the inertial measurement unit detects the data and transmits it to the core development board. The core development board processes the data to obtain control commands, and then controls the motor to move, which in turn drives the reel. The reel drives the flexible rope, providing assistance in the lifting process. The thigh exoskeleton and the lower leg exoskeleton are also equipped with inertial measurement units and pressure sensors at the knee joint connection. When a person stands up while lifting goods, the pressure sensors detect the weight of the goods, and the inertial measurement unit detects the data and transmits it to the core development board. The core development board processes the data to obtain control commands, and controls the knee joint motor to operate, providing support and assistance.

2. The wearable full-body flexible assistive exoskeleton device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The motor is mounted on the back plate via a motor bracket.

3. The wearable full-body flexible assistive exoskeleton device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transmission device includes gear one, gear two and gear three. The gear shaft of gear one is connected to the power shaft of the motor through a coupling. Gear two and gear three are meshed and connected to the top two sides of gear one. The two pulleys are respectively mounted on gear two and gear three.

4. The wearable full-body flexible assistive exoskeleton device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The battery is mounted on the top of the back plate. Fixing brackets for fixing one end of the flexible tube are provided on the back plate on both sides of the battery. Fixing members for fixing the other end of the flexible tube are provided on the two shoulder straps.

5. The wearable full-body flexible assistive exoskeleton device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The core development board is connected to the backplate via an insulating mounting bracket.

6. The wearable full-body flexible assistive exoskeleton device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The connecting part is a connecting plate that connects the back plate and the lumbar exoskeleton. The top of the connecting plate is connected to the bottom of the back plate by bolts. The bottom of the connecting plate is provided with several adjustment holes vertically. The connecting plate is connected to the lumbar exoskeleton by adjusting bolts passing through the corresponding adjustment holes.

7. The wearable full-body flexible assistive exoskeleton device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The carrying straps are provided in two parts. The top ends of the two carrying straps are respectively connected to the top two sides of the back plate, and the bottom ends of the two carrying straps are connected to the waist exoskeleton.

8. The wearable full-body flexible assistive exoskeleton device according to claim 1, characterized in that: Both the thigh exoskeleton and the lower leg exoskeleton have straps on their inner sides for attaching the lower limbs to the human lower limbs.

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