Multi-air-cavity variable stiffness soft robot driving device and application thereof

Abstract

The application relates to a multi-air-cavity variable-rigidity soft robot driving device, which comprises a cavity, a framework arranged in the cavity and a plurality of limiting structures, the cavity is provided with a plurality of air cavities, the air cavities are sequentially arranged along the length direction of the cavity, each air cavity is independently connected with a driving air source through an air pipe, the framework is located in the cavity and outside the air cavities, and the limiting structures are fixed on one side outside the cavity. Compared with the prior art, the multi-air-cavity variable-rigidity soft robot driving device can be used for specific joint strengthening rehabilitation training, and the rehabilitation effect is better.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of medical device technology, specifically to a multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot drive device and its application. Background Technology

[0002] Humans use their hands for perception and movement, especially the palms, which are crucial for daily life. However, finger injuries or strokes can lead to hand dysfunction, impacting quality of life. Clinical studies have shown that during the early rehabilitation phase after limb injury, continuous passive movement can compensate for insufficient active movement, increase limb range of motion, and reduce related complications. Consequently, a large number of assistive rehabilitation medical devices have emerged on the market.

[0003] Most existing multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot drive devices achieve single drive for collective flexion and extension of all five fingers, and a few achieve independent drive for each finger. However, none of them can independently drive one or several finger joints to carry out personalized rehabilitation training, thus affecting the treatment effect.

[0004] Therefore, there is an urgent need in this field for a multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot drive device for independent single-joint drive. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the defects of the prior art and provide a multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot drive device.

[0006] To achieve the objectives of this invention, the following technical solutions are provided in this application.

[0007] In a first aspect, this application provides a multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot drive device. The drive device includes a cavity, a skeleton disposed within the cavity, and multiple limiting structures. Multiple air cavities are provided within the cavity and arranged sequentially along the length of the cavity. Each air cavity is independently connected to a drive air source via an air pipe. The skeleton is located inside the cavity and outside the air cavities. The limiting structures are fixed to one side of the cavity exterior.

[0008] In one embodiment of the first aspect, each of the air pipes is provided with an air valve, and the driving device includes a controller for driving the air valve to switch on or off.

[0009] In one embodiment of the first aspect, the number of air chambers is the same as the number of finger joints corresponding to the multi-air-chamber variable stiffness soft robot drive device.

[0010] In one embodiment of the first aspect, the material of the limiting structure is a flexible but limited material.

[0011] In one embodiment of the first aspect, the cavity is made of a stretchable, flexible material.

[0012] In one embodiment of the first aspect, the material of the skeleton is a rigid material.

[0013] In a second aspect, this application also provides the multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot drive device for driving the movement of joints in the upper and lower limbs, or the multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot drive device for making a bionic hand.

[0014] In one embodiment of the second aspect, the joints of the upper limb include one or more of the shoulder joint, elbow joint, wrist joint, or finger joint.

[0015] In one embodiment of the first aspect, the lower limb joint includes one or more of the hip joint, knee joint, or ankle joint.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: the multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot drive device of the present invention can perform enhanced rehabilitation training for specific joints, that is, it can drive the joint to bend with positive pressure and drive the joint to straighten with negative pressure, resulting in better rehabilitation effect, better fit with human fingers, and better human-computer interaction experience. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the rehabilitation glove in Example 1;

[0018] Figure 2 for Figure 1 Schematic diagram of section AA;

[0019] Figure 3 for Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the BB section;

[0020] Figure 4 for Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the C-section;

[0021] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the rehabilitation glove during operation.

[0022] In the attached diagram, 1 represents a glove, 2 a cavity, 3 an air chamber, 4 a trachea, 5 a restrictive structure, 6 a skeleton, and 7 an airway. Detailed Implementation

[0023] Unless otherwise defined, the technical or scientific terms used in this specification and claims shall have the ordinary meaning understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. All values ​​listed herein, ranging from the minimum to the maximum, refer to all values ​​obtained by incrementing the minimum and maximum values ​​by one unit when the difference between the minimum and maximum values ​​is more than two units.

[0024] The following describes specific embodiments of the present invention. It should be noted that, in order to provide a concise description, this specification cannot provide a detailed description of all features of the actual embodiments. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, those skilled in the art can modify and substitute the embodiments of the present invention, and the resulting embodiments are also within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0025] Traditional multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot actuators typically operate on a single finger or even an entire hand, failing to provide targeted reinforcement training for specific joints or joints, thus impacting the effectiveness of rehabilitation. This application aims to provide a multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot actuator comprising a cavity, a skeleton housed within the cavity, and multiple limiting structures. The cavity contains multiple air chambers arranged sequentially along its length. Each air chamber is independently connected to a driving air source via an air tube. The skeleton is positioned outside the air chambers, and the limiting structures are fixed to one side of the cavity. In this application, the number of air chambers corresponds to the number of joints to be driven. For example, to drive the thumb, which has two joints, two air chambers are required; to drive the index finger, which has three joints, three air chambers are needed. Similarly, to drive the upper limb, including the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints, three air chambers are required, and the same applies to the lower limb. For the finger actuation device, the position of each constraint structure matches the position of an air chamber. Because the phalanges are relatively short, long constraint structures are not required, and the bending of the actuation device will not excessively compress the phalanges. For the upper and lower limbs, the constraint structures and air chambers do not need to be too long; they only need to correspond to the joint positions. Air chambers and constraint structures are not required at the bones on both sides of the joint. Taking the multi-air-chamber variable stiffness soft robot actuation device on the finger as an example, the working principle of the actuation device is described as follows: When the entire finger needs to undergo rehabilitation training, all air chambers are fully inflated, and all air chambers expand radially or elongate axially. Due to the presence of the skeleton, the radial expansion of the air chambers is restricted, so the entire cavity can only elongate uniformly. Furthermore, due to the presence of the constraint structure, one side of the cavity cannot elongate, resulting in some cavities elongating and some cavities not elongating on the same cross-section, thus the cavity will exhibit a bent state. When targeted rehabilitation training is needed for a certain joint, simply inflate the specific air cavity. At this time, only one cavity will elongate. Also, due to the presence of the limiting structure, that cavity will bend, while the rest of the cavity remains basically unchanged. In this way, only one joint will bend with the cavity, achieving the purpose of targeted treatment.

[0026] In this application, the driving air source can be an air pump for inflation, a vacuum pump for extraction, or an integrated inflation and extraction device.

[0027] In one specific embodiment, each of the air tubes is provided with an air valve, and the multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot drive device includes a controller for driving the air valve switching.

[0028] In one specific embodiment, the number of air chambers is the same as the number of finger joints corresponding to the multi-air-chamber variable stiffness soft robot drive device.

[0029] In one specific embodiment, the material of the limiting structure is a flexible but limited material, such as engineering plastics, nylon, or fiber cloth.

[0030] In one specific embodiment, the cavity is made of a stretchable flexible material, such as silicone, rubber, or PVC.

[0031] This application also provides applications of the above-mentioned driving device, wherein the multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot driving device is used to drive the movement of joints in the upper and lower limbs, or the multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot driving device is used to make a bionic hand.

[0032] The joints of the upper limb include one or more of the shoulder joint, elbow joint, wrist joint, or finger joint;

[0033] The joints of the lower limb include one or more of the hip joint, knee joint, or ankle joint.

[0034] For example, this drive mechanism can be used to manufacture a rehabilitation glove, which includes at least one drive mechanism as described above. Preferably, all five fingers are provided with the drive mechanism as described above.

[0035] In one specific embodiment, the rehabilitation glove includes a glove, and the cavity of the driving device is fixed to the glove. When in use, fingers are inserted into the glove, and the fingers extend in the same direction as the air cavity.

[0036] Example

[0037] The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below. These embodiments are implemented based on the technical solution of the present invention, and detailed implementation methods and specific operation processes are given. However, the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0038] Example 1

[0039] A type of rehabilitation glove, the structure of which is as follows Figures 1-4As shown, the invention includes a five-finger glove 1, with a multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot drive device fixed to one side of each finger. The drive device includes a cavity 2 and multiple air cavities 3. Each air cavity 3 has a closed front end and an air passage 7 at its end, connected to a drive air source via an air tube 4. A connector can be provided at the end of the air passage 7 for easy connection of the air tube (the connector is not shown in the figure). An air valve is provided on the air tube 4, controlled by a controller (the air valve, drive air source, and controller are not shown in the figure). The drive device corresponding to the thumb has two air cavities 3, and the drive devices corresponding to the other four fingers have three air cavities 3. Within the same drive device, all air cavities 3 are arranged sequentially along the length of the finger, and their positions correspond to the joints on the fingers (joints in this invention include the joints connecting the fingers and the palm). On the side of the cavity 2 that is fixed to the glove 1, there are two or three limiting structures 5, the positions of which correspond to the positions of the air chamber 3 (the driving device corresponding to the thumb has two limiting structures 5, and the driving devices corresponding to the other four fingers have three limiting structures 5). Inside the cavity 2, there is also a skeleton 6 that limits the radial expansion of the cavity 2, the skeleton 6 being arranged in a ring shape outside the air chamber 3. The cavity 2 is made of silicone, which has a certain degree of ductility (elasticity), the skeleton 6 is made of aluminum alloy, and the limiting structures 5 are made of engineering plastic.

[0040] In use, the user inserts each of their five fingers into one of the five finger sleeves of glove 1. The working principle of this rehabilitation glove in this embodiment is as follows (using the index finger as an example):

[0041] When the entire finger needs to be bent synchronously, the air valves corresponding to the three air chambers 3 are opened simultaneously, meaning the air source simultaneously inflates the three air chambers 3. The three air chambers 3 expand or elongate simultaneously. Due to the presence of the skeleton 6, the cavity 2 cannot expand radially (i.e., cannot become thicker); the entire cavity 2 can only elongate. Simultaneously, due to the presence of the restricting structure 5, the cavity 2 fixed to the restricting structure 5 cannot elongate. This results in one side of the cavity 2 being unable to elongate while the other parts elongate on the same cross-section. Therefore, the entire cavity 2 bends towards the side that cannot elongate, thereby driving the index finger to bend. If all five fingers are bent according to the above principle, the switching between an open palm and a clenched fist state can be completed.

[0042] When performing targeted rehabilitation on the two joints at the tip of the index finger (i.e., the joint where the index finger connects to the palm does not require rehabilitation), only the two air chambers 3 at the tip are inflated. At this time, the front end of chamber 2 extends while the rear end remains stationary. Also, due to the presence of the constraint structure 5, the front end of chamber 2 can bend while the rear end remains straight, as shown below. Figure 5 As shown, bending the tip can specifically drive the two joints at the tip of the index finger. If all five fingers are bent according to the above principle, it is possible to switch between two states: an open palm and a claw hand.

[0043] If the driving air source is changed from an air pump (inflating) to a vacuum pump (evacuating), and the material of the limiting structure 5 is changed to engineering plastic (i.e., it cannot be shortened), then the reverse bending of the joint can be achieved, and the principle is the same as above.

[0044] Example 2

[0045] A rehabilitation device for the lower limbs includes a cavity containing three air chambers arranged axially along its axis. The three air chambers are positioned corresponding to the hip, knee, and ankle joints, respectively. One end of each air chamber is closed, and the other end is connected to a driving air source via an air tube. An external skeleton is provided for each air chamber to limit its radial expansion, and each air chamber corresponds to two restraining structures located on one side of the cavity's exterior. A fixing structure, such as straps, is also provided externally to the cavity to secure it to the user's lower limb during use. The size of the cavity can be customized according to the user's specific needs.

[0046] This lower limb rehabilitation device has three independently controllable air chambers, which are used to drive the hip, knee and ankle joints separately. The principle of bending each joint is the same as in Example 1.

[0047] The above description of the embodiments is intended to enable those skilled in the art to understand and apply this application. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be easily made to these embodiments, and the general principles described herein can be applied to other embodiments without creative effort. Therefore, this application is not limited to the embodiments described herein, and any improvements and modifications made by those skilled in the art based on the disclosure of this application without departing from the scope and spirit of this application are within the scope of this application.

Claims

1. A multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot drive device, characterized in that, The drive device is used to manufacture a rehabilitation device for strengthening joint rehabilitation training. The drive device includes a cavity, a skeleton disposed in the cavity, and multiple limiting structures. The cavity has multiple air chambers arranged sequentially along the length of the cavity. The number of air chambers is the same as the number of joints corresponding to the drive device. Each air chamber is independently connected to a drive air source through an air tube. The drive air source is an air source device that integrates inflation and deflation. The skeleton is located inside the cavity and outside the air chambers. The skeleton is made of a rigid material. The limiting structures are fixed to one side outside the cavity, and the limiting structures are made of a flexible but limited material.

2. The multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot drive device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Each of the air pipes is equipped with an air valve, and the driving device includes a controller for driving the air valve to switch on and off.

3. The multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot drive device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The cavity is made of a stretchable, flexible material.

4. The multi-cavity variable stiffness soft robot drive device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The joints include one or more of the shoulder joint, elbow joint, wrist joint, finger joint, hip joint, knee joint, or ankle joint.

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