Finger exoskeleton mechanism and hand exoskeleton mechanism driven by elastic components

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of finger exoskeletons, and discloses a finger exoskeleton mechanism and a hand exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic component, and the finger exoskeleton mechanism comprises the elastic driving component which is arranged on one side close to the hand back and can stretch and retract; one ends of the connecting rods and the finger joints or the palm form a hand fixing pair, and the other ends of the connecting rods and the end part of the elastic driving component form an elastic driving component fixing pair and the non-end part of the elastic driving component form a composite motion pair; wherein the elastic driving component has the following working states: a bending working state: when the elastic driving component extends, the elastic driving component bends towards the direction of the palm; in the stretching movement working state, when the elastic driving component retracts, the elastic driving component stretches in the direction away from the palm. The finger exoskeleton mechanism can independently drive a plurality of finger joints to bend, and has the advantages of being good in finger protection performance, high in hand size compatibility, multiple in freedom degree and the like.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of finger exoskeleton, and in particular to a finger exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member. On this basis, the present invention also relates to a hand exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member. Background Art

[0002] With the aggravation of the aging population and the increase in limb injuries caused by work-related injuries and traffic accidents, the demand for hand rehabilitation is increasing. Traditional hand rehabilitation therapy mainly relies on manual operation by physical therapists, but this method is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also difficult to ensure the accuracy and consistency of treatment. Therefore, the development of a robotic device that can assist hand rehabilitation and realize the automation and precision of the rehabilitation process has important clinical significance and application value.

[0003] The research on hand exoskeletons began in the early 1990s and was initially applied to the field of master-slave operations, such as the control of robotic hands for astronauts' extravehicular activities. With the continuous advancement of technology, hand exoskeletons have gradually been applied to the field of rehabilitation engineering and have become an important auxiliary tool for hand rehabilitation.

[0004] Hand exoskeleton technology solutions are mainly divided into three categories: soft exoskeletons, soft-hard hybrid hand exoskeletons, and hard hand exoskeletons.

[0005] Soft hand exoskeleton has good flexibility, small structure size, and can fit the hand well, but the fit makes the force arm of driving finger joint rotation short, and the ratio of joint rotation torque to driving force is low. There are two main types: wire drive and pneumatic drive. The wire drive type can only provide pulling force. Each joint drive requires 2 drive motors or 1 drive motor and an additional movable pulley combination. The overall wiring is relatively complicated, the hand size compatibility is poor, and it needs to be customized according to the patient's hand size. The overall mass is heavy and the manufacturing cost is high. Compared with wire drive, pneumatic drive has good hand size compatibility, but the ratio of hand joint driving torque to driving force is lower, the gripping force is small, and the servo control accuracy of position and speed is poor.

[0006] The soft-hard hybrid hand exoskeleton cannot independently control the movement of each finger joint. Compared with the physiological structure of the finger, the flexibility of the finger is greatly reduced, and the hand posture that can be controlled is limited, and many rehabilitation movements cannot be achieved; because the driving force drives the distal knuckles of the fingers, the ratio of the rotation torque of each finger joint to the driving force is low, resulting in a small grip force. What is more serious is that since the driving force has a large component in the direction perpendicular to the axis of joint rotation, the pressure on the three joints of the finger is high, which can easily cause joint damage. Secondly, the rigidity in the direction perpendicular to the rotation of the joint when the finger is flexed and extended is large, which strictly restricts the opening and closing of the finger. At the same time, when the wear is not aligned, it causes discomfort to the patient.

[0007] Rigid hand exoskeletons, represented by linkage mechanisms, have many components, large size, large motion space, and heavy mass. At the same time, it is difficult to align the kinematic pairs of the mechanism with the joints, which can easily cause dislocation, causing discomfort to the patient and even damage to the patient's joints. The hand size compatibility is poor. When the hand size of different patients changes, it is usually necessary to replace the components in the mechanism to adapt. In addition, since the finger joints have as many as 21 degrees of freedom, the rigid hand exoskeleton mechanism has strict restrictions on the remaining degrees of freedom of the joints except for the controlled joint degrees of freedom. When the patient has a certain degree of movement ability for the degrees of freedom restricted by the mechanism, it is not conducive to hand rehabilitation training. Summary of the invention

[0008] The purpose of the present invention is to overcome at least one of the above-mentioned technical problems existing in the prior art, and to provide a finger exoskeleton mechanism and a hand exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic component, wherein the finger exoskeleton mechanism has the advantages of better protection for fingers and stronger hand size compatibility.

[0009] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the first aspect of the present invention provides a finger exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member, comprising: an elastic driving member, which is arranged on a side close to the back of the hand and can be extended and retracted and flexed and extended; and a plurality of connecting rods, one end of the connecting rod forms a hand fixed pair with the finger joint and the palm, the other end of the connecting rod forms an elastic driving member fixed pair with the end of the elastic driving member, and the other end of the connecting rod forms a composite motion pair with the non-end of the elastic driving member, wherein the composite motion pair is configured to make the elastic driving member perform flexion and extension; wherein the elastic driving member has the following working states: In the bending working state, when the elastic driving member is extended, the elastic driving member bends toward the palm of the hand; and in the stretching working state, when the elastic driving member is retracted, the elastic driving member stretches away from the palm of the hand.

[0010] Through the above technical solution, the elastic drive member is connected to the finger joints (such as the distal joint of the finger, the middle joint of the finger, and the proximal joint of the finger) or the palm of the hand through the elastic drive member fixing pair, the connecting rod, and the hand fixing pair in sequence. The elastic drive member is bendable, rotatable, and retractable. It is loaded on the elastic drive member by mobile drive or manual drive to retract, so that the elastic drive member has a bending motion working state and an extension motion working state. Specifically, when the elastic drive member is extended, the length of the elastic drive member between the two elastic drive member fixing pairs increases, and the length of the human finger is fixed, so the elastic drive member bends toward the palm of the hand to adapt to the increase in the length of the elastic drive member between the two elastic drive member fixing pairs, thereby driving the hand joints between the two elastic drive member fixing pairs to rotate toward the palm of the hand, so that the fingers are bent. Similarly, when the elastic drive member is retracted, the elastic drive member rotates away from the palm of the hand to adapt to the decrease in the length of the elastic drive member between the two elastic drive member fixing pairs, thereby driving the fingers to extend.

[0011] In the finger exoskeleton mechanism provided by the present invention, the hand fixed pair is connected to the finger joints or palms, and does not need to be aligned with the finger joints, which is convenient for wearing; compared with the alignment of the hand fixed pair with the finger joints, it is relatively easy to achieve the alignment of the hand fixed pair with the finger joints, and it is not easy to be misaligned during use, causing discomfort to the user or even damaging the finger joints; at the same time, it also makes the finger exoskeleton mechanism have better compatibility with different sizes of hands. When the hand sizes of different users change, there is no need to customize or replace the components in the finger exoskeleton mechanism, saving economic costs. Moreover, as mentioned above, the elastic drive member is extended to increase the length of the curve between the two elastic drive member fixed pairs to achieve the bending of the fingers. In this way, by increasing the length of the elastic drive members between different elastic drive member fixed pairs, different finger joints can be bent, thereby adapting to different rehabilitation treatment needs. On this basis, the finger exoskeleton mechanism provided by the present invention can also realize the independent control of bending of different finger joints to achieve more hand postures.

[0012] In addition, the finger exoskeleton mechanism of the present invention uses an elastic driving member to drive the bending of the finger. When the mobile drive loads an excessive driving force to the elastic driving member, if a non-elastic driving member, such as a steel cable, is used, the excessive driving force will transmit a large force to the finger joints during the bending of the steel cable, increasing the risk of finger joint injury. However, since the elastic driving member itself has a certain elasticity, the elastic driving member will buffer part of the excessive driving force during the bending process, thereby protecting the finger joints.

[0013] In some embodiments, the hand fixation pair includes a first fixation pair formed by connecting the distal segment of the finger with the first connecting rod, a third fixation pair formed by connecting the middle segment of the finger with the second connecting rod, a fifth fixation pair formed by connecting the proximal segment of the finger with the third connecting rod, and a seventh fixation pair formed by connecting the palm with the fourth connecting rod.

[0014] In some embodiments, the elastic driving member fixing pair includes a second fixing pair, a fourth fixing pair, a sixth fixing pair and an eighth fixing pair formed by connecting the elastic driving member with the first connecting rod, the second connecting rod, the third connecting rod and the fourth connecting rod respectively.

[0015] In some embodiments, the elastic driving member includes a first elastic driving member whose end is connected to the first connecting rod to form the second fixed pair, a second elastic driving member whose end is connected to the second connecting rod to form the fourth fixed pair, and a third elastic driving member whose end is connected to the third connecting rod to form the sixth fixed pair.

[0016] In some embodiments, the compound kinematic pair includes a first compound kinematic pair formed by connecting the second connecting rod with the first elastic driving member, a second compound kinematic pair formed by connecting the third connecting rod with the first elastic driving member and the second elastic driving member, and a third compound kinematic pair formed by connecting the fourth connecting rod with the first elastic driving member, the second elastic driving member and the third elastic driving member.

[0017] In some embodiments, the finger exoskeleton mechanism further includes a mobile drive, which is loaded on the elastic drive member to cause the elastic drive member to perform telescopic movement.

[0018] In some embodiments, the movement drive includes a first movement drive loaded on the first elastic driving member, a second movement drive loaded on the second elastic driving member, and a third movement drive loaded on the third elastic driving member.

[0019] In some embodiments, the compound kinematic pair includes a translation and rotation compound kinematic pair, and the translation and rotation compound kinematic pair is configured to enable the elastic driving member to perform axial translation and flexion-extension movement.

[0020] In some embodiments, the compound motion pair includes a cylindrical and rotating compound motion pair, and the cylindrical and rotating compound motion pair is configured to enable the elastic driving member to perform axial movement, bending and extension movement, and rotation around the central axis of the cylindrical and rotating compound motion pair.

[0021] In some embodiments, the elastic driving member is made of polytetrafluoroethylene.

[0022] A second aspect of the present invention provides a hand exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member, comprising a plurality of the aforementioned finger exoskeleton mechanisms driven by the elastic member, wherein the plurality of finger exoskeleton mechanisms are correspondingly installed on different fingers.

[0023] Other features and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail in the following detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the finger exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member disclosed in the present invention; Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the finger exoskeleton mechanism disclosed in the present invention driving the proximal segment of the finger to bend and rotate around the palm; Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the finger exoskeleton mechanism disclosed in the present invention driving the proximal segment of the finger to bend and rotate around the palm; Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the finger exoskeleton mechanism disclosed in the present invention driving the proximal segment of the finger to bend and rotate around the palm; Figure 5 It is a structural schematic diagram of the finger exoskeleton mechanism disclosed in the present invention, excluding the second elastic driving member, the third elastic driving member and related connecting parts; Figure 6 It is a structural schematic diagram of the finger exoskeleton mechanism disclosed in the present invention, excluding the first elastic driving member, the third elastic driving member and related connecting parts; Figure 7 It is a structural schematic diagram of the finger exoskeleton mechanism disclosed in the present invention excluding the first elastic driving member and related connecting parts; Figure 8 It is a structural schematic diagram of the finger exoskeleton mechanism disclosed in the present invention excluding the first elastic driving member, the second elastic driving member and related connecting parts.

[0025] Description of Reference Numerals 1-distal segment of finger; 2-middle segment of finger; 3-proximal segment of finger; 4-palm; 5-first fixed pair; 6-first connecting rod; 7-second fixed pair; 8-first cylinder and rotation compound motion pair; 9-third fixed pair; 10-second connecting rod; 11-fourth fixed pair; 12-first rotation center; 13-fifth fixed pair; 14-third connecting rod; 15-sixth fixed pair; 16-second cylinder and rotation compound motion pair; 17-second rotation center; 18-seventh fixed pair; 19-fourth connecting rod; 20-eighth fixed pair; 21-third cylinder and rotation compound motion pair; 22-third rotation center; 23-first elastic driving member; 24-second elastic driving member; 25-third elastic driving member; 26-first mobile drive; 27-second mobile drive; 28-third mobile drive. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The specific implementation of the present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific implementation described here is only used to illustrate and explain the present invention, and is not used to limit the present invention.

[0027] In the present invention, unless otherwise specified, the directions or positional relationships indicated by terms such as "up, down, left, right, inside, outside, top, bottom" etc. are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific direction, be constructed and operated in a specific direction, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

[0028] In addition, the terms "first", "second", etc. are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0029] In the present invention, the description with reference to the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "example", "specific example", or "some examples" etc. means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described may be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner. In addition, those skilled in the art may combine and combine the different embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of the different embodiments or examples, without contradiction.

[0030] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected", "fixed" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral one; it can be a mechanical connection, an electrical connection, or communication with each other; it can be a direct connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements, unless otherwise clearly defined. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0031] A first aspect of the present invention provides a finger exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member, referring to Figure 1-Figure 8As shown, the finger exoskeleton mechanism comprises: an elastic driving member and a plurality of connecting rods arranged on a side close to the back of the hand, the elastic driving member is retractable and bendable and rotatable, one end of the connecting rod forms a hand fixed pair with the finger joint and the palm, the other end of the connecting rod forms an elastic driving member fixed pair with the end of the elastic driving member, and the other end of the connecting rod forms a composite motion pair with the non-end of the elastic driving member, the composite motion pair is configured to make the elastic driving member perform flexion and extension motion, wherein the elastic driving member has the following working states: In the bending motion working state, when the driving member drives the elastic driving member to extend, the elastic driving member bends toward the palm of the hand; In the stretching motion working state, when the driving member drives the elastic driving member to retract, the elastic driving member stretches away from the palm of the hand.

[0032] In the finger exoskeleton mechanism provided by the present invention, the connecting rod forms a hand fixed pair at the finger joints (such as the distal joints, middle joints, and proximal joints) or the palm 4, which does not need to be aligned with the finger joints, making it easy to wear; compared with the connection rod being aligned with the finger joints to form a fixed pair, it is relatively easy to align the connection rod with the finger joints, reducing the probability of dislocation during use, improving the user's comfort, and avoiding damage to the finger joints; at the same time, it also makes the finger exoskeleton mechanism have better compatibility with different sizes of hands. When the hand sizes of different users change, there is no need to customize or replace the components in the finger exoskeleton mechanism, saving economic costs. Moreover, as mentioned above, the elastic drive member is extended to increase the length of the curve between the two elastic drive member fixed pairs to achieve the bending of the fingers. In this way, by increasing the length of the elastic drive member between different elastic drive member fixed pairs, different finger joints can be bent, thereby adapting to different rehabilitation treatment needs. On this basis, the finger exoskeleton mechanism provided by the present invention can also achieve independent control of bending of different finger joints to achieve more hand postures.

[0033] In some embodiments, the number of hand fixation pairs can be 3 or 4, corresponding to the number of finger joints and the palm. For example, when the finger exoskeleton mechanism provided by the present invention is worn on the thumb, the number of hand fixation pairs, elastic drive member fixation pairs and connecting rods are all 3, respectively connected to the two finger joints of the thumb and the palm 4. Figure 1-Figure 4 As shown, the number of hand fixation pairs is 4, including the first fixation pair 5, the third fixation pair 9, and the seventh fixation pair 18. Generally speaking, the three knuckles of the fingers are named as the distal knuckle 1, the middle knuckle 2, and the proximal knuckle 3 from the direction away from the palm 4 to the direction close to the palm 4, and the three joints of the fingers are named as the distal knuckle, the proximal knuckle, and the metacarpophalangeal joint from the direction away from the palm 4 to the direction close to the palm 4. Figure 1-Figure 4As shown, one end of the first connecting rod 6 is connected to the distal segment 1 of the finger to form a first fixed pair 5, one end of the second connecting rod 10 is connected to the middle segment 2 of the finger to form a third fixed pair 9, one end of the third connecting rod 14 is connected to the proximal segment 3 of the finger to form a fifth fixed pair 13, and one end of the fourth connecting rod 19 is connected to the palm 4 to form a seventh fixed pair 18. Correspondingly, the second fixed pair 7 is formed by connecting the other end of the first connecting rod 6 to the elastic drive member, the fourth fixed pair 11 is formed by connecting the other end of the second connecting rod 10 to the elastic drive member, the sixth fixed pair 15 is formed by connecting the other end of the third connecting rod 14 to the elastic drive member, and the eighth fixed pair 20 is formed by connecting the other end of the fourth connecting rod 19 to the elastic drive member.

[0034] Of course, the specific number of hand fixation pairs, elastic drive component fixing pairs and connecting rods can be adjusted according to actual rehabilitation needs. For example, if only rehabilitation treatment of the metacarpophalangeal joint is required, the number of hand fixation pairs, elastic drive component fixing pairs and connecting rods is two, and the two connecting rods are respectively connected to the palm 4 and the proximal segment 3 of the finger.

[0035] In some embodiments, the finger exoskeleton mechanism further includes a mobile drive, which is loaded on the elastic drive member to cause the elastic drive member to perform telescopic movement. The number of elastic drive members and mobile drives can also be adjusted according to actual rehabilitation needs. The number of elastic drive members can be one or more, and the number of mobile drives can be one or more. In some embodiments, one mobile drive can be loaded to drive one or more elastic drive members to telescope, or one mobile drive can be loaded to drive one elastic drive member to telescope. For example, refer to Figure 5 , Figure 6 and Figure 8 As shown, the number of elastic driving components is 1, as shown in Figure 5 As shown, the elastic driving member is a first elastic driving member 23 that is transmission-connected to the first moving drive 26, and the end of the first elastic driving member 23 can form a second fixed pair 7 with the other end of the first connecting rod. Figure 6 As shown, the elastic driving member is a second elastic driving member 24 that is transmission-connected to the second moving drive 27, and the end of the second elastic driving member 24 can form a fourth fixed pair 11 with the other end of the second connecting rod 10. Figure 8 As shown, the elastic driving member is a third elastic driving member 25 which is transmission-connected to the third mobile driving member 28. The end of the third elastic driving member 25 can form a sixth fixed pair 15 with the other end of the third connecting rod 14. The third mobile driving member 28 is loaded on the third elastic driving member 25 to stretch the third elastic driving member 25, thereby increasing the length of the curve between the eighth fixed pair 20 and the sixth fixed pair 15, thereby bending the proximal segment 3 of the finger around the metacarpophalangeal joint.

[0036] In some embodiments, reference Figure 7 As shown, the elastic driving member includes a second elastic driving member 24 that is transmission-connected to the second mobile drive 27 and a third elastic driving member 25 that is transmission-connected to the third mobile drive 28. The end of the second elastic driving member 24 forms a fourth fixed pair 11 with the other end of the second connecting rod 10, and the non-end of the second elastic driving member 24 forms a compound motion pair at the other end of the third connecting rod 14 and the fourth connecting rod 19 respectively. The end of the third elastic driving member 25 forms a sixth fixed pair 15 with the other end of the third connecting rod 14, and the non-end of the third elastic driving member 25 forms a compound motion pair with the other end of the fourth connecting rod 19.

[0037] In some embodiments, reference Figure 1-Figure 4 As shown, the elastic drive member includes a first elastic drive member 23, a second elastic drive member 24 and a third elastic drive member 25 which are respectively connected to the first mobile drive 26, the second mobile drive 27 and the third mobile drive 28 in a transmission manner. The end of the first elastic drive member 23 forms a second fixed pair 7 with the other end of the first connecting rod 6, the end of the second elastic drive member 24 forms a fourth fixed pair 11 with the other end of the second connecting rod 10, and the end of the third elastic drive member 25 forms a sixth fixed pair 15 with the other end of the third connecting rod 14. The first elastic drive member 23, the second elastic drive member 24 and the third elastic drive member 25 form a compound kinematic pair at the other end of the fourth connecting rod 19, the first elastic drive member 23 and the second elastic drive member 24 form a compound kinematic pair at the other end of the third connecting rod 14, and the first elastic drive member 23 forms a compound kinematic pair at the other end of the second connecting rod 10.

[0038] In some embodiments, the compound kinematic pair includes a first compound kinematic pair formed by connecting the second connecting rod 10 with the first elastic driving member 23, a second compound kinematic pair formed by connecting the third connecting rod 14 with the first elastic driving member 23 and the second elastic driving member 24, and a third compound kinematic pair formed by connecting the fourth connecting rod 19 with the first elastic driving member 23, the second elastic driving member 24 and the third elastic driving member 25.

[0039] In some embodiments, the rotation of the elastic drive member through the compound kinematic pair may be a rotation about a rotation center and / or a rotation about a central axis of the elastic drive member.

[0040] In some embodiments, the compound kinematic pair includes a moving and rotating compound kinematic pair, and the elastic driving member is configured to be able to move axially and rotate around a rotation center through the moving and rotating compound kinematic pair, and the rotation center is located on the side close to the back of the hand or the side close to the palm. Preferably, the rotation center is located on the side close to the back of the hand, so that when the driving member drives the elastic driving member to extend, the elastic driving member moves axially toward the distal segment 1 of the finger through the moving and rotating compound kinematic pair. At the same time, because the rotation center is located on the side close to the back of the hand, the elastic driving member is bent and rotated in a direction away from the back of the hand when it moves axially out of the moving and rotating compound kinematic pair, so as to avoid deformation toward the finger surface to damage the finger, and also increase the driving torque of the finger joint.

[0041] In some embodiments, the compound motion pair includes a cylinder and a rotation compound motion pair, and the elastic driving member is configured to be able to move axially and rotate through the cylinder and the rotation compound motion pair, and the rotation includes rotation around the rotation center and rotation around the central axis of the cylinder and the rotation compound motion pair, and the rotation center is located on the side close to the back of the hand or the side close to the palm.

[0042] The compound kinematic pair includes a first compound kinematic pair formed by connecting the second connecting rod 10 with the first elastic driving member 23, a second compound kinematic pair formed by connecting the third connecting rod 14 with the first elastic driving member 23 and the second elastic driving member 24, and a third compound kinematic pair formed by connecting the fourth connecting rod 19 with the first elastic driving member 23, the second elastic driving member 24 and the third elastic driving member 25.

[0043] Reference Figure 1-Figure 4 As shown, the cylinder and rotation compound motion pair includes a first cylinder and rotation compound motion pair 8 formed by connecting the second connecting rod 10 with the first elastic driving member 23, a second cylinder and rotation compound motion pair 16 formed by connecting the third connecting rod 14 with the first elastic driving member 23 and the second elastic driving member 24, and a third cylinder and rotation compound motion pair 21 formed by connecting the fourth connecting rod 19 with the first elastic driving member 23, the second elastic driving member 24 and the third elastic driving member 25, wherein the first rotation center 12 of the first cylinder and rotation compound motion pair 8, the second rotation center 17 of the second cylinder and rotation compound motion pair 16 and the third rotation center 22 of the third cylinder and rotation compound motion pair 21 are located on the side close to the back of the hand. One end of the first elastic driving member 23 is connected to the first moving drive 26 in transmission connection, and the other end extends from the palm 4 toward the distal segment 1 of the finger to connect with the second fixed pair 7. One end of the second elastic driving member 24 is connected to the second moving drive 27 in transmission connection, and the other end extends from the palm 4 toward the middle segment 2 of the finger to connect with the fourth fixed pair 11. One end of the third elastic driving member 25 is transmission-connected to the third moving drive 28 , and the other end thereof extends from the palm 4 toward the proximal segment 3 of the finger and is connected to the sixth fixing pair 15 .

[0044] In some embodiments, the elastic driving component is made of polytetrafluoroethylene, which reduces the resistance of the elastic driving component to bending and rotation, thereby reducing the required driving torque. At the same time, the elastic driving component made of polytetrafluoroethylene makes the resulting finger exoskeleton light in weight and low in manufacturing cost.

[0045] It should be noted that the elastic driving component can bend and deform around the finger joint rotation axis, such as bending and rotating toward or away from the palm, and can also be deformed around a direction perpendicular to the joint rotation direction, such as driving the fingers to open and close, that is, wearing the finger exoskeleton mechanism provided by the present invention can allow a certain degree of opening and closing between the fingers of the hand.

[0046] The specific process of driving the finger bending and stretching by the finger exoskeleton mechanism provided by the present invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings: First, refer to Figure 2 As shown, the first mobile drive 26, the second mobile drive 27 and the third mobile drive 28 synchronously drive the first elastic drive member 23, the second elastic drive member 24 and the third elastic drive member 25 to extend respectively, so that the length of the curve between the third cylinder and the rotation compound motion pair 21 and the second cylinder and the rotation compound motion pair 16 increases, so that the first elastic drive member 23, the second elastic drive member 24 and the third elastic drive member 25 are deformed, bent and rotated toward the palm direction, and the proximal segment 3 of the finger is driven to bend and rotate around the palm 4.

[0047] Next, refer to Figure 3 As shown, the first mobile drive 26 and the second mobile drive 27 synchronously drive the first elastic drive member 23 and the second elastic drive member 24 to extend, so that the length of the curve between the first cylinder and the rotation compound motion pair 8 and the second cylinder and the rotation compound motion pair 16 increases, so that the first elastic drive member 23 and the second elastic drive member 24 are deformed, bend and rotate toward the palm direction, and drive the middle segment 2 of the finger to bend and rotate around the proximal segment 3 of the finger.

[0048] Then, refer to Figure 4 As shown, the first mobile drive 26 drives the first elastic driving member 23 to extend, so that the length of the curve between the first cylinder and the rotational composite motion pair 8 and the second fixed pair 7 increases, so that the first elastic driving member 23 is deformed, bends and rotates toward the palm direction, and drives the distal segment 1 of the finger to bend and rotate around the middle segment 2 of the finger.

[0049] The finger extension process driven by the finger exoskeleton mechanism provided by the present invention is opposite to the above-mentioned finger bending process. First, the first mobile drive 26, the second mobile drive 27 and the third mobile drive 28 synchronously drive the first elastic drive member 23, the second elastic drive member 24 and the third elastic drive member 25 to retract, so that the length of the curve between the third cylinder and the rotation compound motion pair 21 and the second cylinder and the rotation compound motion pair 16 is reduced, so that the first elastic drive member 23, the second elastic drive member 24 and the third elastic drive member 25 are deformed, bent and rotated away from the palm direction, and the proximal segment 3 of the finger is driven to extend and rotate around the palm 4.

[0050] Next, the first mobile drive 26 and the second mobile drive 27 synchronously drive the first elastic drive member 23 and the second elastic drive member 24 to retract, so that the length of the curve between the first cylinder and the rotation compound motion pair 8 and the second cylinder and the rotation compound motion pair 16 is reduced, so that the first elastic drive member 23 and the second elastic drive member 24 are deformed and bend away from the palm direction, driving the middle segment 2 of the finger to extend and rotate around the proximal segment 3 of the finger.

[0051] Then, the first mobile drive 26 drives the first elastic driving member 23 to retract, so that the length of the curve between the first cylinder and the rotational composite motion pair 8 and the second fixed pair 7 is reduced, so that the first elastic driving member 23 is deformed, bends and rotates away from the palm direction, and drives the distal segment 1 of the finger to extend around the middle segment 2 of the finger.

[0052] The finger exoskeleton mechanism provided by the present invention can achieve any bending and extension angles of the three joints of the finger by controlling the driving ratios and directions of the first movement drive 26, the second movement drive 27 and the third movement drive 28, thereby achieving any bending and extension posture of the finger.

[0053] The second aspect of the present invention provides a hand exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member, comprising a plurality of finger exoskeleton mechanisms driven by the aforementioned elastic member, wherein the plurality of finger exoskeleton mechanisms are correspondingly installed on different fingers. The number of finger exoskeleton mechanisms can be adjusted according to the treatment needs of the patient, for example, the number of finger exoskeleton mechanisms is two, respectively worn on the index finger and middle finger of the patient, or the number of finger exoskeleton mechanisms is five, respectively worn on the five fingers of the patient.

[0054] The finger exoskeleton mechanism and hand exoskeleton mechanism provided by the present invention have the following beneficial effects: (1) Multiple hand postures: The finger exoskeleton mechanism of the present invention has multiple degrees of freedom and can realize full bending of the three joints of the fingers. The bending of each joint can be independently controlled with higher precision. Therefore, the hand exoskeleton composed of five finger exoskeleton mechanisms can realize more hand postures compared with the existing technology. (2) Fewer driving components and simple control: The elastic driving component of the present invention is different from the wire drive in the prior art. When the finger is flexed and extended, the driving law of the elastic driving component is the same, and the flexion and extension of one joint of the finger can be achieved by one driving component; (3) No need to align finger joints when wearing: The finger joints of the present invention are completely connected by elastic driving components, so there is no requirement for alignment of the mechanism kinematic pairs and finger joints when wearing. Therefore, it is convenient and quick to wear, and will not cause discomfort caused by joint dislocation in the prior art, or even damage to the fingers. At the same time, it allows a certain amount of finger opening and closing, which is more consistent with the physiological structure of the fingers, further improving the comfort of wearing and exercising; (4) Fewer components, simple connection, light weight and low cost: The mechanism of the present invention has fewer components, fewer connecting kinematic pairs, and the elastic driving component is made of polytetrafluoroethylene, which further reduces the weight of the obtained finger exoskeleton and reduces the manufacturing cost; (5) The ratio of the generated torque to the driving force is high: the rotation center of the cylinder and the rotation compound kinematic pair is located above the back of the finger, so that the elastic driving component deforms away from the finger surface, avoiding deformation toward the finger surface and damaging the finger. At the same time, the driving torque of the finger joint is increased, thereby improving the gripping force of the hand exoskeleton composed of five finger exoskeletons; (6) Multiple hand exoskeleton combinations: Different numbers of finger exoskeleton mechanisms can be selected to form a hand exoskeleton mechanism based on patient needs.

[0055] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described in detail above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Within the technical concept of the present invention, the technical solution of the present invention can be subjected to a variety of simple modifications, including the combination of various specific technical features in any appropriate manner. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, the present invention will not further describe various possible combinations. However, these simple modifications and combinations should also be regarded as the contents disclosed by the present invention and belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A finger exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member, characterized in that: include: An elastic driving member, which is arranged on a side close to the back of the hand and is capable of retracting and bending; as well as, A plurality of connecting rods, one end of each connecting rod and the finger joint and the palm (4) form a hand fixing pair, the other end of each connecting rod and the end of each elastic driving member form an elastic driving member fixing pair, and the other end of each connecting rod and the non-end of each elastic driving member form a composite motion pair, wherein the composite motion pair is configured to cause the elastic driving member to perform flexion and extension motion; Wherein, the elastic driving member has the following working states: In the bending working state, when the elastic driving member is extended, the elastic driving member bends toward the palm of the hand; as well as, In the extended working state, when the elastic driving member is retracted, the elastic driving member extends away from the palm of the hand.

2. The finger exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member according to claim 1, characterized in that: The hand fixing pair comprises a first fixing pair (5) formed by connecting the distal segment of the finger (1) with the first connecting rod (6), a third fixing pair (9) formed by connecting the middle segment of the finger (2) with the second connecting rod (10), a fifth fixing pair (13) formed by connecting the proximal segment of the finger (3) with the third connecting rod (14), and a seventh fixing pair (18) formed by connecting the palm (4) with the fourth connecting rod (19).

3. The finger exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member according to claim 2, characterized in that: The elastic drive member fixing pair comprises a second fixing pair (7), a fourth fixing pair (11), a sixth fixing pair (15) and an eighth fixing pair (20) formed by connecting the elastic drive member with the first connecting rod (6), the second connecting rod (10), the third connecting rod (14) and the fourth connecting rod (19) respectively.

4. The finger exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member according to claim 3, characterized in that: The elastic driving member comprises a first elastic driving member (23) whose end is connected to the first connecting rod (6) to form the second fixed pair (7), a second elastic driving member (24) whose end is connected to the second connecting rod (10) to form the fourth fixed pair (11), and a third elastic driving member (25) whose end is connected to the third connecting rod (14) to form the sixth fixed pair (15).

5. The finger exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member according to claim 4, characterized in that: The compound kinematic pair comprises a first compound kinematic pair formed by connecting the second connecting rod (10) with the first elastic driving member (23), a second compound kinematic pair formed by connecting the third connecting rod (14) with the first elastic driving member (23) and the second elastic driving member (24), and a third compound kinematic pair formed by connecting the fourth connecting rod (19) with the first elastic driving member (23), the second elastic driving member (24) and the third elastic driving member (25).

6. The finger exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member according to claim 4, characterized in that: The finger exoskeleton mechanism further comprises a mobile drive, which is loaded on the elastic drive member to enable the elastic drive member to perform telescopic movement.

7. The finger exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member according to claim 6, characterized in that: The movement drive comprises a first movement drive (26) loaded on the first elastic drive member (23), a second movement drive (27) loaded on the second elastic drive member (24), and a third movement drive (28) loaded on the third elastic drive member (25).

8. The finger exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member according to claim 1, characterized in that: The compound kinematic pair comprises a translation and rotation compound kinematic pair, and the translation and rotation compound kinematic pair is configured to enable the elastic driving member to perform axial movement and flexion-extension movement.

9. The finger exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member according to claim 1, characterized in that: The compound motion pair comprises a cylindrical and rotating compound motion pair, and the cylindrical and rotating compound motion pair is configured to enable the elastic driving member to perform axial movement, bending and extension movement, and rotation around the central axis of the cylindrical and rotating compound motion pair.

10. The finger exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The elastic driving component is made of polytetrafluoroethylene.

11. A hand exoskeleton mechanism driven by an elastic member, characterized in that: It comprises a plurality of finger exoskeleton mechanisms driven by elastic components according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the plurality of finger exoskeleton mechanisms are correspondingly installed on different fingers.

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