Human lower limb performance enhancement outfit systems

Abstract

The present invention comprises a user-friendly, soft and resilient, biomimetic (mimicking biological entities) lower limb support outfits that can be worn externally by people to improve and enhance lower limb, legs and knees performance in sports, daily dynamic activities and medical rehabilitation / physical therapy. More specifically, the present invention relates to an outfit, which allows a portion of the upper limb's quasi-static weight and dynamic weight due to impact forces to be excluded from being transmitted to the lower limb, legs, quadriceps and hamstrings muscles and knees by directly transmitting them to the ankles, footwear and / or the ground, through soft elastic columnar quasi-legs that are equipped with smart biomimetic materials such as shape memory materials and artificial muscles such as synthetic and / or ionic polymeric muscles and provide lower limb support function by buckling and bending in accordance with the dynamic maneuvering of the user. The said lower limb performance enhancing outfit is encapsulated by user-friendly fabric means for easy wear. The upper portion of the outfit can be in the form of a sports short worn by the user and encapsulating the buttocks support plates or supporting other outfits worn on the torso of the user or support other loads on the torso such as a backpack.

Description

CROSSREFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. utility application Ser. No. 11 / 115,731, “Human lower limb performance enhancement outfit,” filed Apr. 26, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference, and is related to U.S. utility application titled “Backpack Support Apparatus,” filed concurrently, which is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND [0002] The present invention relates to lower limb performance enhancement and augmentation outfits that can be worn by people to improve and enhance lower limb, as well as hip and waist, legs and knees performance in sports, daily dynamic activities and medical rehabilitation / physical therapy. [0003] General everyday life activities, athletics and sports activities such as skiing and snowboarding and medical rehabilitation and physical therapy, exercise or training activities or the like excessively load the muscles of the leg (quadriceps, hamstrings and musculus glutaeus maximus or ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015] The present invention provides a user-friendly, soft and resilient, biomimetic (mimicking biological entities) lower limb, as well as hip and waist, support outfits that can be worn externally by people to improve and enhance lower limb, legs and knees performance in sports, daily dynamic activities and medical rehabilitation / physical therapy. The present invention provides an outfit, which allows a portion of the upper limb's quasi-static weight and dynamic weight due to impact forces to be excluded from being transmitted to the lower limb, hip and waist, legs, quadriceps and hamstrings muscles and knees by directly transmitting them to the ankles, footwear and / or the ground, through soft elastic columnar quasi-legs that are equipped with smart biomimetic materials such as shape memory materials and artificial muscles such as synthetic and / or ionic polymeric muscles and provide lower limb support function by buckling and bending in accordance with the maneuvering of the user. The said lower limb performance-enhancing outfit is encapsulated by user-friendly fabric means for easy wear. The upper portion of the outfit is in the form of a sports short worn by the user and encapsulating the buttocks support plates.

[0017] The present invention can also provide a more user friendly and soft and elastic pair of biomimetic quasi-legs that are capable of biomimetically buckling and bending to maintain a controllable force and thus providing an additional smart and elastically compliant support in a lower limb and hip and waist performance enhancement outfit. The present invention can also provide a less cumbersome and more non-mechanical and biomimetic system, compared to the systems proposed in US Patents described in the previous section for use in an individual's dynamic lower limb performance enhancement. The present invention can also provide a lower limb performance outfit that drastically differs from Dandy, et al. teachings in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,161,825 and 5,131,685 and 5,131,684 and 5,072,970 by replacing the rigid rods an stretchable rubber loops and all other cumbersome mechanical parts by a simple pair of compliant biomimetic bending rather than stretching legs to enhance the lower limb performance.

[0018] The present invention can provide soft, compliant, biomimetic and unique coupling and enhancement means arching between the upper limb through musculus glutaeus maximus (the buttocks muscles) and the lower limb, as well as hip and waist, of an individual involved in dynamic activities involving the use of lower limb and placing dynamic loads on the lower limb muscles and the knees. The present invention can provide a unique performance enhancement outfit, which is worn by the user in a comfortable fashion, and with an aesthetically pleasing appearance. The present invention can comprise lower limb assist and / or support outfits that can be worn by people to improve and enhance lower limb, as well as hip and waist, legs and knees performance in sports, daily dynamic activities and medical rehabilitation / physical therapy, which allows a portion of the upper limb's quasi-static weight and dynamic weight due to impact forces to be excluded from being transmitted to the lower limb, as well as hip and waist, legs, quadriceps and hamstrings muscles and knees by directly transmitting them to the ankles, footwear and / or the ground, through soft elastic columnar quasi-legs that are equipped with biomimetic smart materials and artificial muscles and provide lower limb support function by columnar buckling and bending in accordance with the dynamics movement and maneuvering of the user.

[0019] The present invention can provide a one piece, user-friendly non-cumbersome means, biomimetic, compliant, bendable pair of quasi-legs to enhance lower limb performance in dynamic activities. The present invention can provide a one piece outfit wearable in a user-friendly manner with bendable biomimetic quasi-legs equipped with biomimetic smart materials and artificial muscles to enhance lower limb performance in dynamic activities. The present invention can be very simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Problems solved by technology

General everyday life activities, athletics and sports activities such as skiing and snowboarding and medical rehabilitation and physical therapy, exercise or training activities or the like excessively load the muscles of the leg (quadriceps, hamstrings and musculus glutaeus maximus or the buttocks muscles), the bones of the leg such as femur, tibia and fibula and the knee anatomical parts such as the patella, quadriceps tendons and ligaments and often cause disorders in the lower limbs.

Skiers' legs are normally subject to a tremendous amount of strain and pressure.

Furthermore, the older or less conditioned the skier, the greater the amount of stress and strain on their lower limbs.

Snowboarders also experience lower limb (leg and knee) strain and fatigue, which of course limits their jumping, turning and acrobatics.

Many of the previous attempts involve hard mechanical parts, and have not been able to really address the problems with lower limb support and power augmentation.

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