A length-adjustable lower limb exoskeleton mechanism

Abstract

A length-adjustable lower limb exoskeleton mechanism includes a waist support plate, four leg bones and two foot support mechanisms; the leg bones are driven by a motor, the bone rod is a telescopic structure, the motor and the rotating shaft can move axially, the motor as a whole cannot rotate, a screw rod is arranged in the bone rod, a nut is fixed in the bottom bone rod, the nut is matched with the screw rod, a bevel gear set is arranged between the screw rod and the rotating shaft, a joint bracket is arranged above the top bone rod, and a clamping-fitting limit block and limit groove are arranged between the rotating shaft and the joint bracket. When the length of the bone needs to be adjusted, the motor moves inward, the limit block and limit groove between the rotating shaft and the joint bracket are disengaged, the bevel gear set is meshed, the motor is started, and the screw rod is driven to rotate through the rotating shaft and the bevel gear set in turn to drive the nut to move along the axial direction of the screw rod to achieve the telescopic movement of the bone rod. When it is necessary to lift the leg or bend the leg, the motor moves outward, the limit block returns to the limit groove, the bevel gear set is separated, and the motor is started to achieve the swinging of the bone rod.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of wearable devices, and in particular relates to a length-adjustable lower limb exoskeleton mechanism. Background Art

[0002] As a wearable device, lower limb exoskeleton has made great progress in many fields. For example, it can improve the combat capability of soldiers in the military field, increase the weight of cargo carried by a single person in the logistics field, and improve the autonomous walking ability of some people with lower limb disabilities in the medical field. Therefore, lower limb exoskeleton has a good development prospect in the future.

[0003] However, the current lower limb exoskeleton mechanisms generally have the limitation of non-adjustable bone length in their design, because the lower limb exoskeleton mechanisms of the future will inevitably become public products, and there will only be very few customized products. When the lower limb exoskeleton mechanism is used in the military field, it is impossible for every soldier to be equipped with a set of lower limb exoskeleton mechanisms as standard. Several soldiers must share one set, and the heights of the soldiers cannot be exactly the same. For soldiers of different heights, when wearing the upper and lower limb exoskeleton mechanisms, some soldiers will inevitably have problems with wearing them, which will obviously affect the effectiveness of the lower limb exoskeleton mechanism. Similarly, in the fields of logistics and medicine, users also have different heights. If the bone length is not adjustable, it will affect the scope of application of the lower limb exoskeleton mechanism.

[0004] For this reason, a few lower limb exoskeleton mechanisms have designed the length of the bones to be adjustable. For example, the bones are designed to be two sections, the two bones are overlapped and fixed by positioning pins and nuts. When the length of the bones of the user and the lower limb exoskeleton mechanism does not match, the nuts and positioning pins need to be manually removed, and then the splicing length of the two bones is adjusted, and finally the positioning pins are reinstalled and locked with nuts. However, the number and position of the positioning pin holes for inserting the positioning pins are fixed, resulting in the length adjustment range of the bones being intermittent and very narrow. In addition, there are a few lower limb exoskeleton mechanisms that also have the ability to adjust the length of the bones, but the structural form they adopt has great disadvantages. The structural form uses a hydraulic telescopic rod or a pneumatic telescopic rod as the main body of the bones. Although it has the ability to adjust the length of the bones, the hydraulic telescopic cylinder or the pneumatic telescopic cylinder also needs to be equipped with a matching hydraulic or pneumatic control device, which will cause the overall mass of the lower limb exoskeleton mechanism to be too large, and there are also disadvantages of high energy consumption and high noise, which will seriously affect the use effect of the lower limb exoskeleton mechanism. Summary of the invention

[0005] In view of the problems existing in the prior art, the present invention provides a length-adjustable lower limb exoskeleton mechanism, which has the characteristics of simple structure, high length adjustment accuracy, light weight, low energy consumption and low noise.

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention adopts the following technical scheme: a length-adjustable lower limb exoskeleton mechanism, including a waist support plate, a left thigh bone, a left calf bone, a left foot support mechanism, a right thigh bone, a right calf bone and a right foot support mechanism; the upper end of the left thigh bone is connected to the left end of the waist support plate, the lower end of the left thigh bone is connected to the upper end of the left calf bone, and the left foot support mechanism is connected to the lower end of the left calf bone; the upper end of the right thigh bone is connected to the right end of the waist support plate, the lower end of the right thigh bone is connected to the upper end of the right calf bone, and the right foot support mechanism is connected to the lower end of the right calf bone; the left thigh bone, left calf bone, right thigh bone and right calf bone have the same structure and all include a first bone Rod, second skeletal rod, third skeletal rod, first joint bracket, second joint bracket, joint bracket protective cover, disc motor, rotating shaft, motor limit flange cover, active bevel gear, driven bevel gear, screw rod and nut; the first skeletal rod, the second skeletal rod and the third skeletal rod all adopt a hollow circular tube structure, the first joint bracket is fixedly arranged on the top of the first skeletal rod, the upper end rod body of the second skeletal rod is sleeved on the lower end rod body of the first skeletal rod, and the second skeletal rod can slide linearly along the axial direction of the first skeletal rod; the lower end of the second skeletal rod is screwed and fixedly connected with the upper end of the third skeletal rod, and the second joint bracket is fixedly arranged at the bottom of the third skeletal rod; the motor shaft of the disc motor is coaxially fixedly connected with one end of the rotating shaft through a coupling, and the other end of the rotating shaft is connected with the The first joint bracket is connected, and the rotating shaft has axial sliding freedom relative to the first joint bracket; the first joint bracket is extended from the outer end of the rotating shaft, and a rotating shaft rotation limit block is fixedly provided on the surface of the protruding part of the rotating shaft, and a rotating shaft rotation limit groove is provided on the outer end of the first joint bracket, and the rotating shaft rotation limit groove is snap-fitted with the rotating shaft rotation limit block; the inner end of the rotating shaft is fixedly sleeved with a rotating shaft rotation limit sleeve, and a pawl limit block is provided on the rotating shaft rotation limit sleeve The inner end of the first joint bracket is provided with a pawl limit block slot, and the pawl limit block slot is snap-fitted with the pawl limit block; the screw rod is coaxially inserted into the first skeleton rod, the second skeleton rod and the third skeleton rod, and the nut is coaxially fixed at the bottom of the second skeleton rod, the nut is sleeved on the screw rod, and the upper end of the screw rod It is connected to the first joint bracket through a bearing, and the top end of the screw rod extends into the first joint bracket. The driven bevel gear is fixedly mounted on the upwardly extending part of the top of the screw rod, and the active bevel gear is fixedly mounted on the rotating shaft, and the active bevel gear and the driven bevel gear are meshed and transmitted; the joint bracket protective cover is fixedly mounted on the first joint bracket; the motor limiting flange cover is coaxially sleeved on the outside of the disc motor, and a motor axial sliding guide groove is provided on the inner surface of the motor limiting flange cover, and a motor axial sliding guide block is fixedly provided on the outer surface of the disc motor, and the motor axial sliding guide block is located in the motor axial sliding guide groove, and the disc motor has only a linear sliding degree of freedom relative to the motor limiting flange cover; the motor limiting flange cover is fixedly connected to the waist support plate or the second joint bracket;The left foot support mechanism and the right foot support mechanism have the same structure, and both include a foot support plate, a shock-absorbing spring support, a calf adapter bracket, and a foot pitch drive motor; the foot pitch drive motor is fixedly mounted on the second joint bracket of the left calf bone or the right calf bone, the motor shaft of the foot pitch drive motor is fixedly connected to the calf adapter bracket, the upper end of the shock-absorbing spring support is fixedly connected to the calf adapter bracket, and the lower end of the shock-absorbing spring support is fixedly connected to the foot support plate.

[0007] Beneficial effects of the present invention:

[0008] The length-adjustable lower limb exoskeleton mechanism of the present invention has the characteristics of simple structure, continuously adjustable length, high length adjustment accuracy, light weight, low energy consumption and low noise. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of a length-adjustable lower limb exoskeleton mechanism of the present invention;

[0010] Figure 2 A stereoscopic diagram of the left thigh bone / left calf bone / right thigh bone / right calf bone of the present invention (the joint support protective cover is not shown);

[0011] Figure 3 It is a front view of the left thigh bone / left calf bone / right thigh bone / right calf bone of the present invention (the joint support protective cover is not shown);

[0012] Figure 4 It is a partial front view of the left thigh bone / left calf bone / right thigh bone / right calf bone of the present invention (when the bone length is adjusted);

[0013] Figure 5 It is a partial front view of the left thigh bone / left calf bone / right thigh bone / right calf bone of the present invention (during the leg lifting / leg bending action);

[0014] Figure 6 It is a structural schematic diagram of the left foot support mechanism / right foot support mechanism of the present invention;

[0015] In the figure, 1 is a waist support plate, 2 is a left thigh bone, 3 is a left calf bone, 4 is a left foot support mechanism, 5 is a right thigh bone, 6 is a right calf bone, 7 is a right foot support mechanism, 8 is a first bone rod, 9 is a second bone rod, 10 is a third bone rod, 11 is a first joint bracket, 12 is a second joint bracket, 13 is a joint bracket protective cover, 14 is a disc motor, 15 is a rotating shaft, 16 is a motor limit flange cover, 17 is an active bevel gear, 18 is a driven bevel gear. Gear, 19—screw rod, 20—nut, 21—coupling, 22—ball sleeve, 23—shaft rotation limit block, 24—shaft rotation limit groove, 25—shaft rotation limit sleeve, 26—pawl limit block, 27—pawl limit block slot, 28—bearing, 29—motor axial sliding guide groove, 30—motor axial sliding guide block, 31—foot support plate, 32—shock-absorbing spring support, 33—calf adapter bracket, 34—foot pitch drive motor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] The present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0017] like Figures 1 to 6As shown, a length-adjustable lower limb exoskeleton mechanism comprises a waist support plate 1, a left thigh bone 2, a left calf bone 3, a left foot support mechanism 4, a right thigh bone 5, a right calf bone 6 and a right foot support mechanism 7; the upper end of the left thigh bone 2 is connected to the left end of the waist support plate 1, the lower end of the left thigh bone 2 is connected to the upper end of the left calf bone 3, and the left foot support mechanism 4 is connected to the lower end of the left calf bone 3; the upper end of the right thigh bone 5 is connected to the right end of the waist support plate 1, the lower end of the right thigh bone 5 is connected to the upper end of the right calf bone 6, and the right foot support mechanism 7 is connected to the lower end of the right calf bone 6; the structures of the left thigh bone 2, the left calf bone 3, the right thigh bone 5 and the right calf bone 6 are the same, They all include a first skeleton rod 8, a second skeleton rod 9, a third skeleton rod 10, a first joint bracket 11, a second joint bracket 12, a joint bracket protective cover 13, a disc motor 14, a rotating shaft 15, a motor limit flange cover 16, an active bevel gear 17, a driven bevel gear 18, a screw rod 19 and a nut 20; the first skeleton rod 8, the second skeleton rod 9 and the third skeleton rod 10 all adopt a hollow circular tube structure, the first joint bracket 11 is fixedly arranged on the top of the first skeleton rod 8, the upper end rod body of the second skeleton rod 9 is sleeved on the lower end rod body of the first skeleton rod 8, and the second skeleton rod 9 can slide linearly along the axial direction of the first skeleton rod 8; the lower end of the second skeleton rod 9 is screwed and fixedly connected with the upper end of the third skeleton rod 10, and the second joint bracket 12 is fixedly arranged on the upper end of the third skeleton rod 10. At the bottom of the third skeleton rod 10; the motor shaft of the disc motor 14 is coaxially fixedly connected with one end of the rotating shaft 15 through a coupling 21, and the other end of the rotating shaft 15 is connected to the first joint bracket 11 through a ball sleeve 22, and the rotating shaft 15 has axial sliding freedom relative to the first joint bracket 11; the outer end of the rotating shaft 15 extends out of the first joint bracket 11, and a rotating shaft rotation limit block 23 is fixedly provided on the surface of the protruding part of the rotating shaft 15, and a rotating shaft rotation limit groove 24 is opened at the outer end of the first joint bracket 11, and the rotating shaft rotation limit groove 24 is snap-fitted with the rotating shaft rotation limit block 23; the inner end of the rotating shaft 15 is fixedly sleeved with a rotating shaft rotation limit sleeve 25, and the rotating shaft rotation limit sleeve 25 is provided with a ratchet limit block 26, A ratchet limit block slot 27 is provided at the inner end of the joint bracket 11, and the ratchet limit block slot 27 is snap-fitted with the ratchet limit block 26; the screw rod 19 is coaxially inserted into the first skeleton rod 8, the second skeleton rod 9 and the third skeleton rod 10, the nut 20 is coaxially fixed at the bottom of the second skeleton rod 9, the nut 20 is sleeved on the screw rod 19, the upper end of the screw rod 19 is connected to the first joint bracket 11 through a bearing 28, and the top of the screw rod 19 extends into the first joint bracket 11, the driven bevel gear 18 is fixedly mounted on the upwardly extending part of the top of the screw rod 19, the active bevel gear 17 is fixedly mounted on the rotating shaft 15, and the active bevel gear 17 is meshed and driven with the driven bevel gear 18; the joint bracket protective cover 13 is fixedly mounted on the first joint bracket 11;The motor limiting flange cover 16 is coaxially sleeved on the outside of the disc motor 14, and a motor axial sliding guide groove 29 is opened on the inner surface of the motor limiting flange cover 16. A motor axial sliding guide block 30 is fixed on the outer surface of the disc motor 14. The motor axial sliding guide block 30 is located in the motor axial sliding guide groove 29. The disc motor 14 has only a linear sliding degree of freedom relative to the motor limiting flange cover 16; the motor limiting flange cover 16 is fixedly connected to the waist support plate 1 or the second joint bracket 12; the left foot The support mechanism 4 and the right foot support mechanism 7 have the same structure, and both include a foot support plate 31, a shock-absorbing spring support 32, a calf adapter bracket 33, and a foot pitch drive motor 34; the foot pitch drive motor 34 is fixedly mounted on the second joint bracket 12 of the left calf bone 3 or the right calf bone 6, the motor shaft of the foot pitch drive motor 34 is fixedly connected to the calf adapter bracket 33, the upper end of the shock-absorbing spring support 32 is fixedly connected to the calf adapter bracket 33, and the lower end of the shock-absorbing spring support 32 is fixedly connected to the foot support plate 31. ;

[0018] The following describes a one-time use process of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

[0019] When the user needs to wear the lower limb exoskeleton mechanism, if it is found that the bone length of the lower limb exoskeleton mechanism does not match the user, the user only needs to press the disc motor 14 toward the inner side of the body to move the disc motor 14 inward until the motor axial sliding guide block 30 moves from the outer end of the motor axial sliding guide groove 29 to the inner end, thereby making the active bevel gear 17 mesh with the driven bevel gear 18. At the same time, the pawl limit block 26 disengages from the pawl limit block slot 27, and the shaft rotation limit block 23 disengages from the shaft rotation limit slot 24, and then the disc motor 14 is started. The motor 14 rotates the rotating shaft 15 and drives the active bevel gear 17 to rotate synchronously. Since the active bevel gear 17 is meshed with the driven bevel gear 18, the active bevel gear 17 will drive the driven bevel gear 18 and the screw rod 19 to rotate together. As the screw rod 19 rotates, the nut 20 will be driven to move linearly along the screw rod 19, and the second skeletal rod 9 and the third skeletal rod 10 will move synchronously with the nut 20, thereby causing the second skeletal rod 9 to slide along the first skeletal rod 8. Finally, the first skeletal rod 8 and the second skeletal rod 9 cooperate to achieve the extension or shortening of the bone length.

[0020] When the bone length of the lower limb exoskeleton is adjusted, the user can wear the lower limb exoskeleton together. When the left thigh bone 2 and the right thigh bone 5 need to lift the legs, or the left calf bone 3 and the right calf bone 6 need to bend the legs, just pull the disc motor 14 toward the outside of the body to move the disc motor 14 outward until the motor axial sliding guide block 30 moves from the inner end to the outer end of the motor axial sliding guide groove 29, thereby disengaging the active bevel gear 17 from the driven bevel gear 18. At the same time, the ratchet limit block 26 enters the ratchet limit block slot 27 and is restrained, and the shaft rotation limit block 23 enters the shaft rotation limit slot 24 and is restrained. Then, the disc motor 14 is started to rotate the shaft 15. At this time, the active bevel gear 17 is idle, and the ratchet limit block 26 and the shaft rotation limit block 23 are driven to rotate synchronously. Then, the ratchet limit block 26 and the shaft rotation limit block 23 drive the first joint bracket 11 to rotate with the shaft 15, and finally the first skeletal rod 8, the second skeletal rod 9 and the third skeletal rod 10 are synchronously swung with the first joint bracket 11. When the left thigh bone 2 and the right thigh bone 5 are corresponding, the leg lifting action is realized, and when the left calf bone 3 and the right calf bone 6 are corresponding, the leg bending action is realized. When the foot support plate 31 of the left foot support mechanism 4 and the right foot support mechanism 7 needs to perform a pitching action, the foot support plate 31 can be pitched by driving the calf adapter bracket 33 to rotate through the foot pitching drive motor 34. The above-mentioned leg lifting, leg bending and foot pitching actions only need to be combined according to the leg characteristics of the user when walking, and the lower limb exoskeleton mechanism can assist the user in assisting walking.

[0021] The solutions in the embodiments are not intended to limit the patent protection scope of the present invention. All equivalent implementations or changes that do not deviate from the present invention are included in the patent scope of this case.

Claims

1. A length-adjustable lower limb exoskeleton mechanism, characterized in that: It includes a waist support plate, a left thigh bone, a left calf bone, a left foot support mechanism, a right thigh bone, a right calf bone and a right foot support mechanism; the upper end of the left thigh bone is connected to the left end of the waist support plate, the lower end of the left thigh bone is connected to the upper end of the left calf bone, and the left foot support mechanism is connected to the lower end of the left calf bone; the upper end of the right thigh bone is connected to the right end of the waist support plate, the lower end of the right thigh bone is connected to the upper end of the right calf bone, and the right foot support mechanism is connected to the lower end of the right calf bone; the left thigh bone, left calf bone, right thigh bone and right calf bone have the same structure, and all include a first bone rod, a second bone rod, a third bone rod, a first joint bracket, a second joint bracket, a joint bracket protective cover, and a disc motor , a rotating shaft, a motor limiting flange cover, an active bevel gear, a driven bevel gear, a screw and a nut; the first skeleton rod, the second skeleton rod and the third skeleton rod all adopt a hollow circular tube structure, the first joint bracket is fixed on the top of the first skeleton rod, the upper end rod body of the second skeleton rod is sleeved on the lower end rod body of the first skeleton rod, and the second skeleton rod can slide linearly along the axial direction of the first skeleton rod; the lower end of the second skeleton rod is screwed and fixedly connected with the upper end of the third skeleton rod, and the second joint bracket is fixedly connected to the bottom of the third skeleton rod; the motor shaft of the disc motor is coaxially fixedly connected to one end of the rotating shaft through a coupling, and the other end of the rotating shaft is connected to the first joint bracket through a ball sleeve, and the rotating shaft has axial sliding freedom relative to the first joint bracket; the outer end of the rotating shaft extends out of the first joint The bracket is fixedly provided with a shaft rotation limit block on the surface of the protruding part of the shaft, and a shaft rotation limit groove is opened on the outer end of the first joint bracket, and the shaft rotation limit groove is clamped and matched with the shaft rotation limit block; the inner end of the shaft is fixedly sleeved with a shaft rotation limit sleeve, and the shaft rotation limit sleeve is provided with a pawl limit block, and the pawl limit block slot is opened on the inner end of the first joint bracket, and the pawl limit block slot is clamped and matched with the pawl limit block; the screw rod is coaxially inserted into the first skeleton rod, the second skeleton rod and the third skeleton rod, and the nut is coaxially fixed at the bottom of the second skeleton rod, the nut is sleeved on the screw rod, the upper end of the screw rod is connected to the first joint bracket through a bearing, the top end of the screw rod extends into the first joint bracket, and the driven bevel gear is fixedly mounted on the upward extending top of the screw rod. The extending part, the active bevel gear is fixed on the rotating shaft, and the active bevel gear is meshed with the driven bevel gear for transmission cooperation; the joint bracket protective cover is fixed on the first joint bracket; the motor limiting flange cover is coaxially sleeved on the outside of the disc motor, and a motor axial sliding guide groove is provided on the inner surface of the motor limiting flange cover, and a motor axial sliding guide block is fixed on the outer surface of the disc motor, and the motor axial sliding guide block is located in the motor axial sliding guide groove, and the disc motor has only a linear sliding degree of freedom relative to the motor limiting flange cover; the motor limiting flange cover is fixedly connected to the waist support plate or the second joint bracket; the left foot support mechanism and the right foot support mechanism have the same structure, both of which include a foot support plate, a shock-absorbing spring support, a calf adapter bracket and a foot pitch drive motor;The foot pitch drive motor is fixedly mounted on the second joint bracket of the left calf bone or the right calf bone, the motor shaft of the foot pitch drive motor is fixedly connected to the calf adapter bracket, the upper end of the shock-absorbing spring support is fixedly connected to the calf adapter bracket, and the lower end of the shock-absorbing spring support is fixedly connected to the foot support plate.

Images