A lightweight, height-adjustable flexible rope-driven lower limb exoskeleton robot

Abstract

The present application relates to a kind of lightweight, adjustable height flexible rope driven lower limb exoskeleton robot.The knee joint driver is installed in the exoskeleton thigh in the present application, the weight of joint is moved up, force and torque are transmitted between the driver and wire reel through flexible Bowden wire, the mass and rotational inertia at the knee joint can be significantly reduced, which is beneficial to reduce the additional energy loss caused by the problem that joint is not accurate to heart, and the wearable nature and man-machine coordination of exoskeleton knee joint are improved.Meanwhile, to solve the slack problem of flexible rope when the rope-driven structure operates, a pre-tightening structure is installed at the knee joint driver, which reduces the non-linear force transmission problem of rope drive when the mechanism operates;And the knee joint Bowden wire of the present application is placed in parallel, which greatly reduces the complexity of rope-driven friction model modeling, improves the accuracy of model, so that the knee joint rope drive control is more accurate.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to a flexible rope-driven lower limb exoskeleton robot, in particular to a lightweight and height-adjustable flexible rope-driven lower limb exoskeleton robot. BACKGROUND

[0002] Lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton robot is a combination of robot technology and medical equipment, integrating motor control, sensors, information interaction and other technologies, protecting and supporting patients to complete corresponding training actions, providing more scientific training mode and more accurate training actions, which can effectively improve the treatment efficiency and help to realize centralized rehabilitation treatment and remote rehabilitation medical treatment. However, compared with most existing domestic and foreign researches, the following problems are found: the overall quality is heavy, the rigidity is large, and the flexibility is lacking; the structure is complex, and the quality is large; there is a deviation between the mechanism and the human body rotating joint, causing discomfort when wearing. As a new emerging robot technology in recent years, flexible exoskeleton combines flexible driving and wearable mechanism, effectively solving the problems of heavy weight, poor compliance, low efficiency, and poor wearing comfort of traditional rigid exoskeleton robots, and is particularly suitable for assisting walking and motion rehabilitation of patients with motor disorders.

[0003] However, the knee joint of the existing exoskeleton robot is generally designed to install a driving device on the knee joint for direct driving, or to design a flexible rope driving structure with a relatively complex rolling cam variable instant center structure. Both of them reduce the comfort of the wearer and the rehabilitation assistance effect of the exoskeleton due to the large weight and moment of inertia of the exoskeleton knee joint.

[0004] Through the search of the existing technical documents, it is found that the Chinese invention patent with application number CN201711093654.3 discloses a rope-driven exoskeleton robot with a driver connection main body structure, which includes a robot main body, a driver, a pulley set, an arm body, and a turnover body. The cooperation of the transmission part of the structure can reduce power consumption, so the driver is small, the material is carbon fiber, and the overall weight control is ideal; the driving mode is rope driving, which has a certain flexibility and can ensure the safety of wearing. However, the joint design of this structure is a simple rotating pair, which cannot realize the coordination and adaptation of the human joint; the winding is long, the control requirement is high, passive motion cannot be realized, and flexibility is lacking.

[0005] The Chinese invention patent with application number CN201911408571.8 discloses a main and passive combined variable instant center rope-driven lower limb exoskeleton robot and control method, including a flexible variable instant center mechanism bionic joint. The mechanism has strong bionics, can adapt to human motion, realize standing support and normal walking, and is more suitable for human joint rotation. However, the structure is relatively complex, and the exoskeleton has poor universality, which cannot meet the wearing of people of different heights. SUMMARY

[0006] The present application aims at the above-mentioned prior art deficiencies, and develops a flexible rope-driven lower limb exoskeleton robot based on a variable stiffness driver, the core of which is to develop a lightweight exoskeleton robot capable of realizing height adjustment, having a flexible rope-driven knee joint and smaller rotational inertia, and being more suitable for human motion.

[0007] The above-mentioned scheme has the following beneficial effects:

[0008] In the present application, the knee joint driver is installed at the exoskeleton thigh, the joint weight is moved upward, the force and torque are transmitted between the driver and the wire reel through the flexible Bowden cable, the mass and rotational inertia at the knee joint can be significantly reduced, the additional energy loss caused by the misalignment of the joint to the heart can be reduced, and the wearable nature and human-machine coordination of the exoskeleton knee joint are improved. Meanwhile, in order to solve the problem of relaxation of the flexible rope during operation of the rope-driven structure, the present application installs a pre-tightening structure at the knee joint driver, reduces the non-linear force transmission problem of the rope drive during operation of the mechanism, and the knee joint Bowden cable is placed in parallel, which greatly reduces the complexity of the rope drive friction model modeling, improves the model accuracy, and makes the knee joint rope drive control more accurate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0009] Figure 1 The present application provides a structural schematic diagram of a robot in the embodiment thereof;

[0010] Figure 2 The present application provides a structural schematic diagram of a waist exoskeleton 10 in the embodiment thereof;

[0011] Figure 3 The present application provides a partial exploded structural schematic diagram of the waist exoskeleton 10 in the embodiment thereof;

[0012] Figure 4 The present application provides a structural schematic diagram of a thigh exoskeleton in the embodiment thereof;

[0013] Figure 5 The present application provides an installation schematic diagram of a hip joint driver in the embodiment thereof;

[0014] Figure 6 The present application provides a partial exploded structural schematic diagram of a thigh exoskeleton in the embodiment thereof;

[0015] Figure 7 The present application provides a structural schematic diagram of a calf exoskeleton in the embodiment thereof;

[0016] Figure 8 The present application provides an installation schematic diagram of an ankle exoskeleton and a foot exoskeleton in the embodiment thereof.

[0017] In the drawings: 10, waist exoskeleton; 11, back and shoulder part 11; 12, waist and back part slider; 13, hip joint fixing part; 14, waist and back part connecting part; 15, hip joint slider; 16, waist and hip rotation pair; 17, hip joint connecting part; 18, waist and back part outer shell; 19, waist and back part inner shell; 110, waist and back part cam handle; 111, hip joint cam handle; 20, thigh exoskeleton; 21, hip joint driver mounting frame; 22, hip joint driver; 23, hip joint output rod; 24, thigh rod; 25, hip joint abduction and adduction rotation pair; 26, thigh telescopic rod; 27, knee joint driver; 28, Bowden wire pretensioning mechanism; 29, power output wire disc; 210, upper thigh outer shell; 211, upper thigh nested shell; 212, upper thigh inner shell; 213, lower thigh outer shell; 214, lower thigh inner shell; 30, shank exoskeleton; 31, shank telescopic rod; 32, shank rod; 33, bearing outer baffle; 34, bearing inner baffle; 35, wire routing support; 36, wire disc; 37, stepped shaft; 38, shank inner shell; 39, shank outer shell; 310, telescopic rod cam handle; 40, ankle joint exoskeleton; 50, foot exoskeleton; 51, joint connecting rod; 52, foot pedal; 60, control box. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without creative work fall within the protection scope of the present application.

[0019] It should be noted that the embodiments in the present application and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other without conflict.

[0020] The present application will be further described below with reference to the drawings and specific embodiments, but is not limited to the embodiments.

[0021] As shown in the drawings, the robot provided in the embodiments of the present application comprises: Figures 1 to 6 As shown in the drawings, the robot provided in the embodiments of the present application comprises:

[0022] The waist exoskeleton 10 comprises a back and shoulder part 11 and a waist circumference adjusting assembly for adjusting the waist circumference of the exoskeleton robot;

[0023] The thigh exoskeleton 20 comprises a hip joint driver mounting frame 21, a hip joint driver 22 mounted on the hip joint driver mounting frame 21, the hip joint driver mounting frame 21 being mounted on the waist circumference adjusting assembly; a hip joint output rod 23 mounted on an output end of the hip joint driver 22; a thigh rod 24 mounted on the hip joint output rod 23 through a hip joint abduction-adduction rotary pair 25; and a thigh telescopic rod 26 adjustably mounted on the thigh rod 24, the thigh telescopic rod 26 being provided with a knee joint driver 27 and a Bowden cable pre-tightening mechanism 28, an output end of the knee joint driver 27 being provided with a power output cable disc 29, and the Bowden cable pre-tightening mechanism 28 being screw-mounted on the thigh telescopic rod 26;

[0024] The calf exoskeleton 30 comprises a calf telescopic rod 31; a calf connecting rod 32, the calf connecting rod 32 being provided with a bearing outer baffle 33, a bearing inner baffle 34 and a cable disc 36, the calf connecting rod 32 being mounted on the thigh telescopic rod 26 through the bearing inner baffle 34, the bearing outer baffle 33 being provided with a cable routing support 35, and the calf telescopic rod 31 being adjustably embedded in the calf connecting rod 32; and the cable disc 36 being mounted on the calf connecting rod 32 through a stepped shaft 37; the ankle exoskeleton 40 is mounted on the calf telescopic rod 31; the foot exoskeleton 50 is mounted on the ankle exoskeleton 40; and

[0025] The ankle exoskeleton 40 is mounted on the calf telescopic rod 31; and

[0026] The foot exoskeleton 50 is mounted on the ankle exoskeleton 40.

[0027] One end of one of the Bowden wires on the power output wire disc 29 is threaded out from the inner reserved hole of the power output wire disc 29, and then threaded out from the left side of the power output wire disc 29 after being threaded around the power output wire disc 29 for half a circle counterclockwise, and then threaded through the Bowden wire pretensioning mechanism 28 and the wire support in sequence and connected to the left side of the power input wire disc to control the extension movement of the lower leg exoskeleton around the bearing inner baffle; one end of the other Bowden wire on the power output wire disc 29 is threaded out from the outer reserved hole of the power output wire disc 29, and then threaded out from the right side of the power output wire disc 29 after being threaded around the wire disc for half a circle clockwise, and then threaded through the Bowden wire pretensioning mechanism 28 and the wire support in sequence and connected to the right side of the power input wire disc to control the flexion movement of the knee joint. The winding ways of the left and right lower leg exoskeletons 30 in the application are mirror image structures. In the application, the knee joint driver is installed on the exoskeleton thigh, the joint weight is moved upward, the force and torque are transmitted between the driver and the wire disc through the flexible Bowden wire, which can significantly reduce the mass and rotational inertia at the knee joint, reduce the additional energy loss caused by the misalignment of the joint to the heart, and improve the wearability and human-machine coordination of the exoskeleton knee joint. At the same time, in order to solve the problem of relaxation of the flexible rope during the operation of the rope driving structure, the pretensioning structure is installed at the knee joint driver to reduce the non-linear transmission problem of the rope driving during the operation of the mechanism; and the knee joint Bowden wires in the application are placed in parallel, which greatly reduces the complexity of the rope driving friction model modeling, improves the model accuracy, and makes the knee joint rope driving control more accurate.

[0028] Considering that different wearers have different heights and thus have different wearing needs when wearing the robot, the thigh exoskeleton 20 and the lower leg exoskeleton 30 are optimally designed, and the wearer adjusts the thigh connecting rod 21 and the lower leg telescopic rod 31 in sequence when using to adapt to the height, and then wears the exoskeleton robot and uses it.

[0029] As a specific example, the above-mentioned waist circumference adjusting assembly comprises two waist and back sliding blocks 12, which are adjustably embedded on the backrest 11 left and right; two hip joint fixing members 13, which are correspondingly installed on the waist and back sliding blocks 12 through waist and back connecting members 14; and two hip joint sliding blocks 15, which are adjustably embedded on the hip joint fixing members 13 front and back, and on which hip joint connecting members 17 are installed through waist and hip rotating pairs 16, and hip joint drive mounting racks 21 are installed on the hip joint connecting members 17. In the above structure, when adjustment is needed, the waist and back sliding blocks 12 can be adjusted left and right to the appropriate position and then locked, and then the hip joint sliding blocks 15 can be adjusted front and back to the appropriate position and then locked, so as to adapt to the waist circumference of different wearers.

[0030] Further, in order to improve safety and avoid contact between the wearer's body and the robot components, the waist circumference adjusting assembly can further include a waist and back outer shell 18 fixed to the side wall of the hip joint fixing member 13 opposite to the wearer, and a waist and back inner shell 19 fixed to the side wall of the hip joint fixing member 13 close to the wearer, the waist and back inner shell 19 and the waist and back outer shell 18 enclosing and covering the periphery of the hip joint fixing member 13 to avoid the entanglement of the wearer's clothes with the corresponding structure.

[0031] As a specific example of adjusting and locking the corresponding structure, the waist circumference adjusting assembly can further include two waist and back cam handles 110 installed on the backrest 11, and two hip joint cam handles 111 installed on the hip joint fixing member 13, so that when the waist and back slider 12 is adjusted to the appropriate position, the waist and back slider 12 can be first locked on the backrest 11 using the waist and back cam handle 110, and then the hip joint slider 15 is adjusted to the appropriate position and locked using the hip joint cam handle 111.

[0032] Further, in order to improve safety and avoid contact between the wearer's body and the robot components, the thigh exoskeleton 20 can further include an upper thigh outer shell 210 installed on the thigh rod 24 opposite to the wearer, the top of the upper thigh outer shell 210 extending upwards below the hip joint driver 22, an upper thigh nested shell 211 installed on the thigh telescopic rod 26 opposite to the wearer, the upper thigh nested shell 211 also nested inside the upper thigh outer shell 210, an upper thigh inner shell 212 installed on the thigh rod 24 close to the wearer, the top of the upper thigh inner shell 212 extending upwards below the hip joint driver 22, a lower thigh outer shell 213 installed on the thigh telescopic rod 26 opposite to the wearer, and a lower thigh inner shell 214 installed on the thigh telescopic rod 26 close to the wearer, so that the upper thigh outer shell 210, the upper thigh nested shell 211, and the upper thigh inner shell 212 cover the periphery of the thigh rod 24, and the lower thigh outer shell 213 and the lower thigh inner shell 214 cover the periphery of the thigh link 21, and when the thigh telescopic rod 26 is adjusted up and down, the upper thigh nested shell 211 can move up and down synchronously with the upper thigh nested shell 211 to avoid the entanglement of the wearer's clothes with the corresponding structure.

[0033] As a specific example of adjusting and locking the corresponding structure, the thigh exoskeleton 20 can further include a thigh link cam handle (not shown in the figure), so that when the thigh link 21 is adjusted to the appropriate position, the thigh link can be locked using the thigh link cam handle.

[0034] In order to improve safety and avoid contact between the wearer's body and the robot components, the lower leg exoskeleton 30 can further include a lower leg medial shell 38 mounted on the side wall of the lower leg bar 32 close to the wearer, and a lower leg lateral shell 39 mounted on the side wall of the lower leg bar 32 away from the wearer, the lower leg lateral shell 39 being clamped on the lower leg medial shell 38, and the lower leg lateral shell 39 and the lower leg medial shell 38 enclosing and covering the periphery of the lower leg bar 32. When the lower leg telescopic bar 31 is adjusted up and down, the lower leg telescopic bar 31 can correspondingly extend out of the shell structure or retract into the shell structure, so as to avoid the clothes of the wearer from being entangled with the structural components.

[0035] In the application, the ankle joint exoskeleton 40 is an ankle joint rotating pair with a passive single degree of freedom, so that the structure is simple and can bear a large weight; the foot exoskeleton 50 includes a joint connecting rod 51 and a foot pedal 52, and the foot pedal is installed on the ankle joint rotating pair through the joint connecting rod.

[0036] In the lower limb exoskeleton robot of the application, each of the hip joint and the knee joint is provided with one active degree of freedom, the hip joint is provided with two passive degrees of freedom, and the ankle joint is provided with one passive degree of freedom, so as to improve the coordination of human walking movement and ensure the stability of the structure.

[0037] In the application, the cam handle structure is basically the same as that in the prior art, the difference lies in that a locking part (as shown in Figure 2 、 Figure 3 , the handle part of the cam handle in the application) is designed on the handle part of the cam handle, and the locking part can be locked by

[0038] The above is only the preferred embodiment of the application, and does not limit the implementation and protection scope of the application. It should be realized by those skilled in the art that any equivalent replacement and obvious changes made according to the content of the specification and drawings should be included in the protection scope of the application.

Claims

1. A lightweight, height-adjustable, flexible cable-driven lower limb exoskeleton robot, characterized in that, include: A lumbar exoskeleton, comprising a backrest and a waist adjustment assembly for adjusting the waist circumference of the exoskeleton robot; A thigh exoskeleton includes a hip joint actuator mounting bracket on which a hip joint actuator is mounted, the hip joint actuator mounting bracket being mounted on the waist adjustment assembly; a hip joint output rod on which the hip joint output rod is mounted; a thigh rod on which the thigh rod is mounted via a hip joint abduction and adduction rotating joint; and a thigh telescopic rod on which the thigh telescopic rod is mounted in an adjustable manner, a knee joint actuator and a Bowden cable pretensioning mechanism are mounted on the thigh telescopic rod, a power output cable reel is mounted on the output end of the knee joint actuator, and the Bowden cable pretensioning mechanism is screwed onto the thigh telescopic rod; The lower leg exoskeleton includes a lower leg telescopic rod; a lower leg rod with an outer bearing baffle, an inner bearing baffle, and a power input cable reel mounted on it, the lower leg rod being mounted on the upper leg telescopic rod via the inner bearing baffle, a cable routing bracket being mounted on the outer bearing baffle, and the lower leg telescopic rod being adjustablely mounted on it; and a power input cable reel mounted on the lower leg rod via a stepped shaft. An ankle exoskeleton, wherein the ankle exoskeleton is mounted on the lower leg telescopic rod; as well as A foot exoskeleton, which is mounted on the ankle exoskeleton; One end of one Bowden cable on the power output cable reel emerges from the inner channel pre-drilled hole of the power output cable reel, circles the power output cable reel counterclockwise for half a turn, and then emerges from the left side of the power output cable reel. It then passes through the Bowden cable pre-tightening mechanism and the cable routing bracket in sequence before connecting to the left side of the power input cable reel to control the extension movement of the lower leg exoskeleton around the inner baffle of the bearing. The other end of the Bowden cable on the power output cable reel emerges from the outer channel pre-drilled hole of the power output cable reel, circles the cable reel clockwise for half a turn, and then emerges from the right side of the power output cable reel. It then passes through the Bowden cable pre-tightening mechanism and the cable routing bracket in sequence before connecting to the right side of the power input cable reel to control the knee joint flexion movement.

2. The flexible cable-driven lower limb exoskeleton robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The waist adjustment component includes: Two adjustable back sliders are embedded in the backrest portion; Two hip joint fixation devices, wherein the hip joint fixation devices are correspondingly mounted on the lumbar and back slider via lumbar and back connectors; and Two hip joint sliders are adjustable in the front and rear and are embedded in the hip joint fixation component. A hip joint connector is mounted on the hip joint slider through a waist-hip rotation joint. The hip joint actuator mounting bracket is mounted on the hip joint connector.

3. The flexible cable-driven lower limb exoskeleton robot according to claim 2, characterized in that, The waist adjustment assembly also includes: The outer shell of the lower back is fixed to the side wall of the hip joint fixation member opposite to the wearer; and The inner shell of the lower back is fixed to the side wall of the hip joint fixation member that is relatively close to the wearer. The inner shell of the lower back and the outer shell of the lower back surround and cover the periphery of the hip joint fixation member.

4. The flexible cable-driven lower limb exoskeleton robot according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The waist adjustment assembly also includes: Two lumbar support cam handles are used to adjust and lock the lumbar support slider, and the lumbar support cam handles are mounted on the backrest; and Two hip joint cam handles are used to adjust and lock the hip joint slider, and the hip joint cam handles are mounted on the hip joint fixation component.

5. The flexible cable-driven lower limb exoskeleton robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The thigh exoskeleton also includes: The upper outer thigh shell is installed on the side of the thigh bar opposite to the wearer, and the top of the upper outer thigh shell extends upward to below the hip joint actuator; The upper thigh nesting shell is installed on the side of the thigh telescopic rod that is opposite to the wearer, and the upper thigh nesting shell is also nested inside the upper thigh outer shell; The upper inner thigh shell is installed on the opposite side of the thigh extension rod facing the wearer, and the top of the upper inner thigh shell extends upward to below the hip joint actuator; The lower thigh outer shell is installed on the side of the thigh telescopic rod opposite to the wearer; and The lower inner thigh shell is installed on the side of the thigh that is opposite to the wearer during extension and retraction.

6. The flexible cable-driven lower limb exoskeleton robot according to claim 5, characterized in that, The thigh exoskeleton also includes: A thigh linkage cam handle is used to adjust and lock the thigh telescopic rod, and the thigh linkage cam handle is mounted on the thigh rod.

7. The flexible cable-driven lower limb exoskeleton robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The lower leg exoskeleton also includes: The inner calf shell is installed on the side wall of the calf rod closest to the wearer; and The outer shell of the lower leg is installed on the side wall of the lower leg rod opposite to the wearer. The outer shell of the lower leg is snapped onto the inner shell of the lower leg, and the outer shell of the lower leg and the inner shell of the lower leg surround and cover the periphery of the lower leg rod.

8. The flexible cable-driven lower limb exoskeleton robot according to claim 7, characterized in that, The lower leg exoskeleton also includes: A telescopic rod cam handle is used to adjust and lock the lower leg telescopic rod, and the telescopic rod cam handle is installed on the lower leg telescopic rod.

9. The flexible cable-driven lower limb exoskeleton robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The ankle exoskeleton is a rotational joint of the ankle joint.

10. The flexible cable-driven lower limb exoskeleton robot according to claim 9, characterized in that, The foot exoskeleton includes joint links and foot pedals, with the foot pedals mounted on the ankle joint rotatable joint via the joint links.

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