An upper limb active assistive exoskeleton robot

Abstract

The application relates to an upper limb active power assisting exoskeleton robot, which comprises a back plate and two power assisting mechanisms. The two power assisting mechanisms are respectively arranged at the left and right ends of the back plate. The power assisting mechanism comprises a shoulder sliding assembly, a driving assembly and an arm connecting assembly. The shoulder sliding assembly comprises a sliding rail, a sliding block and a connecting piece. The sliding rail is arranged on the back plate. The sliding block is slidingly arranged on the sliding rail and can slide in the left-right direction. The connecting piece is arranged on the sliding block. The driving assembly comprises a mounting part, a driving motor and an output part. The driving motor is arranged in the mounting part, and the output shaft of the driving motor is connected to the arm connecting assembly through the output part. The mounting part is hinged to the connecting piece, and the hinge axis is vertical. The arm connecting assembly is connected to the output part and can be connected to the upper arm of a user, so that the user can be assisted in lifting under the driving of the driving motor. The exoskeleton robot has high smoothness and comfort during use.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the technical field of exoskeleton robots, and in particular to an upper limb active assist exoskeleton robot. Background Technology

[0002] The upper limbs are the foundation for the human body to complete basic physiological activities, ensuring that the human body has basic mobility. Upper limb weight-bearing and lifting actions are one of the most common movement behaviors in human daily life and are irreplaceable. Upper limb active assistive exoskeleton robots can provide assistance during upper limb movements, help users share the weight of lifting objects, enhance the human body's own strength, and reduce user arm fatigue in scenarios such as assisting in fixation and support.

[0003] In industrial settings, when workers need to repeatedly lift items weighing tens of kilograms for extended periods, upper limb exoskeleton robots can provide additional strength support to help wearers easily lift heavy objects. For people who need upper limb rehabilitation training, upper limb exoskeleton robots can also help and guide wearers to conduct active rehabilitation training by developing unique movement patterns, serving as a force compensation tool to restore upper limb motor function.

[0004] The human shoulder joint actually has multiple degrees of freedom, including forward and backward movement around the joint and inward and outward movement around the joint. Existing upper limb exoskeleton robots, for stability reasons, typically only have a single degree of freedom at the shoulder joint. While this structure ensures the reliability of the mechanical system to some extent, the mismatch with the number of degrees of freedom in the human shoulder joint significantly restricts the wearer's shoulder range of motion, failing to provide sufficient range of motion. Furthermore, due to this mismatch in degrees of freedom, the exoskeleton robot may exhibit lag or overcompensation when following human movements, leading to unstable human-robot interaction and reduced wearing comfort and user experience. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this invention provides an active upper limb assistive exoskeleton robot.

[0006] The active assistive exoskeleton robot for upper limbs provided by this invention adopts the following technical solution: An active-assisted exoskeleton robot for the upper limb includes a backplate and two assist mechanisms. The two assist mechanisms are respectively distributed at the left and right ends of the backplate. Each assist mechanism includes a shoulder sliding assembly, a drive assembly, and an arm connection assembly. The shoulder sliding assembly includes a slide rail, a slider, and a connector. The slide rail is disposed on the backplate. The slider is slidably disposed on the slide rail and can slide in the left-right direction. The connector is disposed on the slider. The drive assembly includes a mounting component, a drive motor, and an output component. The drive motor is disposed within the mounting component, and its output shaft is connected to the arm connection assembly through the output component. The mounting component is hinged to the connector, and the hinge axis is vertical. The arm connection assembly is connected to the output component and can be connected to the user's upper arm to assist the user in lifting under the drive of the drive motor.

[0007] Optionally, the mounting component includes a housing and a hinge component; the housing is used to accommodate the drive motor and its shape is adapted to the shape of the drive motor; the hinge component is located on the side of the housing away from the user and is hinged to the connector; the housing has multiple cutouts to reduce the weight of the housing.

[0008] Optionally, the output component is connected to a flange mounted on the output shaft of the drive motor by bolts; an installation window is provided on the side of the housing where the hinge component is installed; the position of the installation window exposes the bolt holes of the output component for bolt insertion, so as to facilitate bolt installation.

[0009] Optionally, the arm connection assembly includes a guide shaft, a fixing member, an arm connection component, and an arm binding component; the fixing member is fixedly connected to the drive assembly; the guide shaft is vertically disposed on the fixing member; the arm connection component is slidably disposed on the guide shaft and can slide along the axial direction of the guide shaft when the user's upper arm moves; the arm binding component is used to connect the user's upper arm and is rotatably connected to the arm connection component, and can rotate about an axis parallel to the rotation axis of the shoulder joint when the arm is lifting.

[0010] Optionally, two Y-shaped legs extend from opposite ends of the fixing member on the side closest to the user; the legs are opposite each other in the vertical direction; a guide shaft is provided between every two pairs of legs that are opposite each other in the vertical direction; the arm connecting component is slidably engaged with both guide shafts.

[0011] Optionally, the arm connecting component includes a sliding part and a rotating part; the sliding part is slidably engaged with the guide shaft; the rotating part is rotatably disposed on the side of the sliding part closer to the user, and the axis of rotation is parallel to the axis of rotation of the user's shoulder joint when the arm is performing a lifting action.

[0012] Optionally, the arm binding component includes a rotating disc and a surrounding member; the rotating disc is coaxially disposed on the side of the rotating part closer to the user and can rotate coaxially with the rotating part; the surrounding member is fixedly installed on the side of the rotating disc closer to the user and is used to connect the user's upper arm.

[0013] Optionally, the rotating part includes a base, a rotating shaft, and two bosses; the base is connected to the sliding part by bolts; the rotating shaft is located on the side of the base near the user and is rotatably connected to the rotating disk; the rotating disk rotates around the axis of the rotating shaft; the cross-sectional shape of the two bosses along the radial direction of the rotating shaft is part of the same annulus; both bosses are located on the side of the base near the user, and the two bosses are symmetrically distributed with respect to one diameter of their respective annulus; the rotating disk has two arc-shaped grooves; the arc-shaped grooves correspond one-to-one with the bosses; the bosses are embedded in the corresponding arc-shaped grooves, so that the rotating disk and the base can rotate freely, and the bosses can drive the rotating disk to rotate after contacting the inner wall of the arc-shaped groove in the circumferential direction.

[0014] Optionally, the circumferential angle at which the boss can slide within the corresponding arcuate groove is 110°-130°.

[0015] Optionally, the surround is part of a cylinder with a cross-section that is two-thirds the size of a complete ring; and the surround can at least completely cover the back of the user's upper arm.

[0016] As described above, the active limb-assisted exoskeleton robot of the present invention has at least the following beneficial effects: 1. Through the cooperation of the slider and the slide rail, the exoskeleton robot of the present invention can achieve high-precision linear motion under high load conditions when the arm is carrying heavy objects, which increases the sliding degree of freedom in actual use, thereby improving the smoothness of the exoskeleton robot when it is used, and maintaining good motion stability while increasing the shoulder degree of freedom of the exoskeleton robot.

[0017] 2. In the drive assembly and arm connection assembly, the present invention achieves the combination of sliding and rotational degrees of freedom through the rotational cooperation between the rotating disk and the rotating part, and the sliding cooperation between the guide shaft and the sliding part. This can better simulate the multi-directional movement of the human upper arm when cooperating with the shoulder joint abduction and adduction, meet the comfort requirements of the interaction between the arm and the exoskeleton robot, and improve human-machine collaboration.

[0018] 3. The exoskeleton robot of the present invention also limits the range of free rotation of the arm binding component by the cooperation of the boss and the arc groove, so as to ensure that the arm binding component can not only rotate with the arm, but also assist the user in lifting under the drive of the drive motor. While ensuring the lifting function, it also ensures the redundancy and comfort when the user's upper arm and the exoskeleton robot move together as a whole. Attached Figure Description

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of an active exoskeleton robot for the upper limbs.

[0020] Figure 2 This is another schematic diagram of the overall structure of the active exoskeleton robot for the upper limbs.

[0021] Figure 3 This is another schematic diagram of the overall structure of the active exoskeleton robot for the upper limbs.

[0022] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram showing the direction of the torque acting on the slider.

[0023] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the torque exerted on the slider of an upper limb active exoskeleton robot when assisting a user in carrying things.

[0024] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the driver component structure.

[0025] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the arm connection component structure.

[0026] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the rotating part structure.

[0027] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the rotating disk structure.

[0028] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure after the rotating part and the rotating disk are assembled.

[0029] Figure 11 This is a simplified diagram of the mechanism motion equivalent to an upper limb active exoskeleton robot.

[0030] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the parameters used to calculate the maximum torque of the shoulder joint.

[0031] Figure 13 This is the motor characteristic curve of the RMD-X8 1:9 V2 motor.

[0032] Reference numerals: 1. Backplate; 11. Back support; 111. Chest binding interface; 12. Support plate; 13. Shoulder binding interface; 2. Slider; 21. Slide rail; 211. Limiting component; 3. Connector; 31. First connecting part; 32. Second connecting part; 4. Arm connecting assembly; 41. Guide shaft; 42. Fixing component; 421. Support leg; 43. Arm connecting component; 431. Sliding part; 432. Rotating part; 4321. Base; 4322. Rotating shaft; 4323. Boss; 44. Arm binding component; 441. Rotating disk; 4411. Arc groove; 442. Enclosure; 5. Drive assembly; 51. Mounting component; 511. Housing; 512. Hinge component; 52. Drive motor; 53. Output component. Detailed Implementation

[0033] The following specific examples illustrate the implementation of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the content disclosed in this specification. The present invention can also be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and various details in this specification can also be modified or changed based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It should be noted that, in the absence of conflict, the following embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other. It should also be understood that the terminology used in the embodiments of the present invention is for describing specific specific implementations and not for limiting the scope of protection of the present invention. The experimental upper limb active assistive exoskeleton robots in the following embodiments, unless specific conditions are specified, are generally operated under conventional conditions or according to the conditions recommended by the respective manufacturers.

[0034] It should be understood that the structures, proportions, sizes, etc., illustrated in the accompanying drawings of this specification are merely for illustrative purposes to aid those skilled in the art and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Therefore, they have no substantial technical significance. Any modifications to the structure, changes in proportions, or adjustments to size, without affecting the effectiveness and purpose of the invention, should still fall within the scope of the technical content disclosed in this invention. Furthermore, the terms such as "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "middle," and "one" used in this specification are merely for clarity and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Changes or adjustments to their relative relationships, without substantially altering the technical content, should also be considered within the scope of the invention.

[0035] The movements of the human arm joints are not simply a series of movements, but rather a series of parallel joints with multiple degrees of freedom, driven by the muscle groups attached to the torso or arm. The shoulder joint is a three-degree-of-freedom parallel joint, while the wrist and elbow joints each have two degrees of freedom. An arm, excluding the finger joints, has a total of seven degrees of freedom.

[0036] Please refer to Figure 1-13 This invention discloses an active-assisted exoskeleton robot for the upper limbs, comprising a backplate 1 and two assist mechanisms. The two assist mechanisms are respectively distributed at the left and right ends of the backplate 1. Each assist mechanism includes a shoulder sliding assembly, a drive assembly 5, and an arm connection assembly. The shoulder sliding assembly includes a slide rail 21, a slider 2, and a connector 3. The slide rail 21 is mounted on the backplate 1. The slider 2 is slidably mounted on the slide rail 21 and can slide in the left-right direction. The connector 3 is mounted on the slider 2. The drive assembly 5 includes a mounting component 51, a drive motor 52, and an output component 53. The drive motor 52 is housed within the mounting component 51, and its output shaft is connected to the arm connection assembly via the output component 53. The mounting component 51 is hinged to the connector 3, and the hinge axis is vertical. The arm connection assembly is connected to the output component 53 and can be connected to the user's upper arm to assist the user in lifting under the drive of the drive motor 52.

[0037] Please refer to Figures 1-3 The backplate 1 fits snugly against the back of the user's body when the exoskeleton robot of the present invention is worn on the user's body. The backplate 1 is a sheet metal part, a long, flat, oval shape with symmetrical left and right sides. To better adapt to the full curvature of the human back, both ends of the backplate 1 are bent towards the user at angles of 5°-10°, for example, 5°, 6°, 7°, 8°, 9°, and 10°. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, both ends of the backplate 1 are bent at an angle of 8°. With only the backplate 1 for support, the exoskeleton robot's stability is poor, and the user is prone to tilting backward due to its weight. Therefore, a back support 11 is provided at the lower part of the backplate 1 for support. The back support 11 is centrally located along the length of the backplate 1 and extends downward along the user's spine. Furthermore, a support plate 12 is fixedly connected to the lower end of the back support 11. The support plate 12 is a rectangular plate, with its length parallel to the left-right direction. The function of the support plate 12 is to increase the contact area between the exoskeleton robot and the user's back, improving the comfort of wearing the exoskeleton robot. To reduce the weight of the back support 11, it can be partially hollowed out.

[0038] Two shoulder strap interfaces 13 are symmetrically provided on the back panel 1. Each shoulder strap interface 13 is fitted with a shoulder strap (not shown in the figure) for securing the back panel 1 to the user's shoulders. The two shoulder straps can pass through the two shoulder strap interfaces 13 respectively and then wrap around the user's shoulders on both sides.

[0039] The lower part of the backplate 1 has several symmetrically arranged chest binding interfaces 111, each with a chest binding strap (not shown in the figure) threaded through it for securing the backplate 1 to the user's chest. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, two symmetrically arranged chest binding interfaces 111 are provided on the lower side of the backplate 1. In actual use, a chest binding strap is threaded through each of the two chest binding interfaces 111, and the two chest binding straps are wrapped around the user's chest and connected using a buckle such as a backpack buckle. Through the cooperation of the back support 11 and the chest binding straps, the user can be prevented from tilting backward due to the weight of the exoskeleton robot, and the backplate 1 can also be used to assist in fixing the exoskeleton robot and prevent large-scale lateral movement.

[0040] The two assistive mechanisms have the same structure, corresponding to the user's left and right shoulders respectively. For details, please refer to... Figure 1-3 The slider 2 on the back plate 1 can slide by cooperating with the slide rail 21. Specifically, the length direction of the slide rail 21 is parallel to the length direction of the back plate 1. There are two slide rails 21, both located on the side of the back plate 1 away from the user, and respectively set near both ends of the back plate 1. Each slide rail 21 is equipped with one slider 2.

[0041] More specifically, both ends of the slide rail 21 have limit components 211 to limit the sliding stroke of the slider 2. The sliding stroke of the slider 2 is between 30mm and 40mm, which needs to take into account the shoulder width requirements of different users, and on the other hand, it needs to balance the weight on both sides of the exoskeleton robot and the required torsional torque. For example, it can be 30mm, 35mm, or 40mm. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the sliding stroke of the slider 2 is 35mm.

[0042] For the selection of slider 2, please refer to... Figure 4 Slider 2 experiences forces in three directions during its movement: vertical swing, horizontal swing, and rolling, denoted by MA, MB, and MC, respectively. Its static torsional moment load must be sufficient to withstand lifting loads exceeding 20 kg to ensure the arm's structure remains undamaged during heavy lifting. Its force analysis is as follows: Figure 5 As shown, taking a user with a normal standard height of 175cm as an example, the straight-line distance Lm from slider 2 to the center of the shoulder joint is 0.25m. When lifting a 20kg weight (the direction of the force is as follows)... Figure 5 When (as shown in Figure F), the torque on slider 2 is 50 Nm. When slider 2 is used to move heavy objects, the main force direction is the left-right swing direction Mb. Therefore, the slider 2 of this invention is a heavy-duty guide rail slider 2, and the static allowable torque of slider 2 is greater than 60 Nm, for example, 69 Nm, which can meet the requirements of specific handling scenarios.

[0043] The connector 3 includes a first connecting portion 31 and a second connecting portion 32. The first connecting portion 31 is rectangular and is bolted to the side of the slider 2 away from the back plate 1. The second connecting portion 32 is fixed to the side of the first connecting portion 31 away from the slider 2, and is elongated, extending outward from the first connecting portion 31 in a horizontal direction away from the center of the back plate 1. The second connecting portion 32 and the first connecting portion 31 can be detachably connected by a pin, allowing for easy assembly and disassembly of the first connecting portion 31 and the second connecting portion 32.

[0044] Please refer to Figure 6 The drive assembly 5 includes a mounting component 51, a drive motor 52, and an output component 53. The mounting component 51 is hinged to the second connecting part 32. The drive motor 52 is mounted on the mounting component 51, and the axis of its output shaft is parallel to the rotation axis of the shoulder joint during the lifting motion of the arm. The output component 53 is fixedly connected to the output shaft of the drive motor 52 and is also connected to the arm connecting assembly 4.

[0045] Specifically, the mounting component 51 includes a housing 511 and a hinge component 512. The housing 511 is used to house the drive motor 52, and its shape is adapted to the shape of the drive motor 52. The housing 511 has pre-drilled screw holes for fixing the drive motor 52 inside by bolts. The hinge component 512 is fixedly connected to the side of the housing 511 away from the user, and is generally elongated, extending horizontally from the housing 511 along the curvature of the shoulder joint towards the user's back. Its end away from the housing 511 is hinged to the second connecting part 32. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the housing 511 has multiple perforations to reduce its weight. The output component 53 is elongated, and one end is fixedly connected to the output shaft of the drive motor 52 by bolts.

[0046] Please refer to Figures 7-10 The arm connection assembly 4 includes a guide shaft 41, a fixing member 42, an arm connection component 43, and an arm binding component 44. The fixing member 42 is fixedly connected to the drive assembly 5 and can move under the drive of the drive assembly 5. The guide shaft 41 is fixed to the fixing member 42 in a vertical direction. The arm connection component 43 is slidably disposed on the guide shaft 41 and can slide along the axial direction of the guide shaft 41. The arm binding component 44 is rotatably connected to the arm connection component 43 and can rotate about an axis parallel to the rotation axis of the shoulder joint when the arm is lifting, for connecting the user's upper arm.

[0047] Specifically, the fixing member 42 is a rectangular plate, with its side facing away from the user fixedly connected to the output component 53. Two Y-shaped support legs 421 extend from the user's side of the fixing member 42. A guide shaft 41 is installed between every two vertically opposite support legs 421. Through the guidance of the guide shaft 41 and the limiting position of the support legs 421, a sliding degree of freedom is added to the arm connecting assembly 4, increasing the smoothness and fluidity of the arm connecting assembly 4 during rotation.

[0048] The arm connecting component 43 includes a sliding part 431 and a rotating part 432. Two guide shafts 41 pass through the sliding part 431, allowing the sliding part 431 to slide under the guidance of the two guide shafts 41. The rotating part 432 is mounted on the side of the sliding part 431 closest to the user, and can rotate around its own axis, with the axis of rotation parallel to the axis of rotation of the shoulder joint when the arm is performing a lifting motion.

[0049] The arm restraint component 44 includes a rotating disc 441 and a surrounding member 442. The rotating disc 441 is coaxially connected to the rotating part 432 on the side near the user and can rotate coaxially with the rotating part 432. The surrounding member 442 is fixedly installed on the rotating disc 441 on the side near the user and is used to connect the user's upper arm.

[0050] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the rotating part 432 includes a base 4321, a rotating shaft 4322, and a boss 4323. The base 4321 is disc-shaped, and its side away from the user is connected to the sliding part 431 by bolts. The rotating shaft 4322 is coaxially fixedly connected to the side of the base 4321 near the user for rotatable connection with the rotating disk 441. The cross-section of the boss 4323 is part of a circular ring. There are two bosses 4323, both formed on the side of the rotating part 432 near the user. The rotating disk 441 has an arc-shaped groove 4411 corresponding to the boss 4323. After the rotating part 432 and the rotating disk 441 are installed in place, the two bosses 4323 are respectively embedded in one of the arc-shaped grooves 4411. The arc groove 4411 and the boss 4323 cooperate to allow free rotation between the rotating part 432 and the rotating disk 441. However, under the drive of the drive motor 52, after the boss 4323 contacts the inner wall of the arc groove 4411 in the circumferential direction, the driving force of the drive motor 52 is transmitted to the surrounding part 442 through the output part 53, the rotating part 432, and the rotating disk 441, thereby driving the surrounding part 442 to assist the user in lifting.

[0051] Furthermore, the circumferential angle at which the boss 4323 can slide within the arcuate groove 4411 is 110°-130°, for example, 110°, 120° or 130°. Preferably, 120° is selected in this embodiment.

[0052] The design of the boss 4323 and the arc-shaped groove 4411 not only reserves space for the user's upper arm to rotate freely, providing good comfort, but also ensures that the power of the drive motor 52 can be transmitted to the user's upper arm to assist the user in lifting.

[0053] The surrounding member 442 can be cylindrical, completely encircling the user's upper arm, or it can be a portion of a cylinder, not completely encircling the user's upper arm. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the surrounding member 442 is a portion of a cylinder, with a cross-section of two-thirds of a full circle. After being mounted on the rotating disk 441, the surrounding member 442 can encircle the user's upper arm from the rear. The opening edge of the surrounding member 442 has a pre-drilled strap groove. After the user's upper arm is encircled by the surrounding member 442 through the opening, the surrounding member 442 can be further secured to the upper arm by threading a strap through the strap groove and wrapping it around the upper arm. Through the aforementioned design, the user can easily put the surrounding member 442 on their upper arm. Moreover, when the surrounding member 442 moves under the drive of the drive motor 52, the surrounding member 442 will apply a lifting force to the upper limb from the back of the upper limb, which significantly increases the power transmission efficiency of the drive motor 52, and the feeling of the upper limb being lifted is also more intuitive.

[0054] In summary, please refer to Figure 11 The exoskeleton robot of this invention can be equivalent to a linkage slider 2 combination structure. The cooperation between the second connecting part 32 and the hinge component 512 can be equivalent to a revolute joint. Through the analysis of human shoulder joint movement, this invention applies active drive in the direction of the main force output movement of the shoulder joint to meet the assistance requirements of upper arm carrying and lifting movements. At the same time, multiple rotational degrees of freedom and one passive translational degree of freedom are designed to adapt to the abduction and adduction of the shoulder joint, simulate the rotation center position of the shoulder joint, and meet the requirements of movement flexibility. A rotational and a translational passive degree of freedom are designed at the interaction between the upper arm and the exoskeleton to improve human-machine coordination. In order to meet the requirements of lightweight, no assistance structure is designed during elbow joint flexion and extension.

[0055] The following is an analysis of the torque of the exoskeleton robot of this invention: When designing an exoskeleton robot, it is necessary to calculate the maximum joint torque required for the active joints, as this torque value has significant guiding significance. First, the maximum torque of the shoulder joint is calculated, such as... Figure 12 As shown, when a person lifts a heavy object, the shoulder joint is located in... Figure 12 The torque is greatest at the position shown. Since the human body moves slowly, the torque effects of inertia, Coriolis force, and sliding friction can be neglected. The maximum torque of the shoulder joint can then be calculated using the following formula: τ_1=mg·l_1 In the formula, τ_1 is the maximum torque of the shoulder joint, m is the mass of the object being lifted, and l_1 is the length of the user's upper arm.

[0056] In practical applications, the drive motor 52 needs to be selected based on the calculated maximum torque of the shoulder joint. Average data shows that the height of adult males ranges from 1678mm to 1814mm, the upper arm length from 313mm to 349mm, and the forearm length from 237mm to 268mm. To ensure the exoskeleton robot of this invention is compatible with people of various heights and meets assistance needs, an upper arm length of 330mm is chosen. When the designed lifting mass is 10kg, since people generally need to coordinate both hands when lifting and carrying, a single arm lifting a 5kg weight is selected. Substituting this into the above formula, the maximum torque of the shoulder joint is calculated to be 16.5Nm.

[0057] When selecting the drive motor 52, it is sufficient to meet the required maximum torque of 16.5 Nm. For example, if a motor of model RMD-X8 1:9 V2 is selected as the drive motor 52, its rated output torque is 10 Nm and its maximum output torque is 25 Nm. Its motor characteristic curve is as follows: Figure 13 As shown, this can satisfy the torque requirements of the shoulder joint.

[0058] When designing to handle other heavy objects of different masses, the same method is used for design calculations and selection of the drive motor 52.

[0059] Compared with the prior art, through the cooperation of slider 2 and slide rail 21, the exoskeleton robot of the present invention can achieve high-precision linear motion under high load conditions when the arm is carrying heavy objects, which increases the sliding degree of freedom in actual use and thus improves the smoothness of the exoskeleton robot when it is used. While increasing the shoulder degree of freedom of the exoskeleton robot, it can maintain good motion stability.

[0060] In the part of the drive component 5 and the arm connection component, the present invention achieves the combination of sliding degree of freedom and rotational degree of freedom through the rotational cooperation of the rotating disk 441 and the rotating part 432 and the sliding cooperation of the guide shaft 41 and the sliding part 431. This can better simulate the multi-directional movement state of the human upper arm when cooperating with the shoulder joint abduction and adduction, meet the comfort of the interaction between the arm and the exoskeleton robot, and improve human-machine collaboration.

[0061] The exoskeleton robot of the present invention also limits the range of free rotation of the arm binding component 44 by the cooperation of the boss 4323 and the arc groove 4411, ensuring that the arm binding component 44 can rotate with the arm and assist the user in lifting under the drive of the drive motor 52. While ensuring the lifting function, it also ensures the redundancy and comfort when the user's upper arm and the exoskeleton robot move together as a whole.

[0062] The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and effects of the present invention and are not intended to limit the invention. Any person skilled in the art can modify or alter the above embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, all equivalent modifications or alterations made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and technical concept disclosed in the present invention should still be covered by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. An upper limb active assistive exoskeleton robot, characterized in that: It includes a backplate (1) and two assist mechanisms; the two assist mechanisms are respectively distributed at the left and right ends of the backplate (1); each assist mechanism includes a shoulder sliding assembly, a drive assembly (5), and an arm connecting assembly; wherein, The shoulder sliding assembly includes a slide rail (21), a slider (2), and a connector (3); the slide rail (21) is disposed on the back plate (1); the slider (2) is slidably disposed on the slide rail (21) and can slide in the left and right directions; the connector (3) is disposed on the slider (2); The drive assembly (5) includes a mounting component (51), a drive motor (52), and an output component (53); the drive motor (52) is disposed in the mounting component (51), and its output shaft is connected to the arm connection assembly through the output component (53); the mounting component (51) is hinged to the connector (3), and the axis of the hinge is vertical; The arm connection assembly is connected to the output component (53) and can be connected to the user's upper arm to assist the user in lifting under the drive of the drive motor (52). The arm connection assembly (4) includes a guide shaft (41), a fastener (42), an arm connection component (43), and an arm binding component (44). The fastener (42) is fixedly connected to the drive assembly (5); The guide shaft (41) is vertically mounted on the fixing member (42); The arm connecting component (43) is slidably mounted on the guide shaft (41) and can slide along the axial direction of the guide shaft (41) when the user's upper arm moves. The arm binding component (44) is used to connect the user's upper arm. It is rotatably connected to the arm connecting component (43) and can rotate about an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of the shoulder joint when the arm is lifting. The arm connecting component (43) includes a sliding part (431) and a rotating part (432). The sliding part (431) is slidably engaged with the guide shaft (41); The rotating part (432) is rotatably disposed on the side of the sliding part (431) near the user, and the axis of rotation is parallel to the axis of rotation of the user's shoulder joint when the arm is performing a lifting motion. The arm binding component (44) includes a rotating disc (441) and a surrounding component (442). The rotating disk (441) is coaxially disposed on the side of the rotating part (432) closer to the user, and can rotate coaxially with the rotating part (432); The surround (442) is fixedly installed on the side of the rotating disk (441) near the user and is used to connect the user's upper arm; The rotating part (432) includes a base (4321), a rotating shaft (4322), and two bosses (4323). The base (4321) is connected to the sliding part (431) by bolts; The rotating shaft (4322) is located on the side of the base (4321) closer to the user and is rotatably connected to the rotating disk (441); the rotating disk (441) rotates around the axis of the rotating shaft (4322); The cross-sectional shape of the two bosses (4323) along the radial direction of the pivot (4322) is part of the same ring; the two bosses (4323) are both located on the side of the base (4321) closer to the user, and the two bosses (4323) are symmetrically distributed with respect to one diameter of the ring in which they are located. Two arc-shaped grooves (4411) are provided on the rotating disk (441). The arc-shaped groove (4411) corresponds one-to-one with the boss (4323); The boss (4323) is embedded in the corresponding arc groove (4411), so that the rotating disk (441) and the base (4321) can rotate freely, and after the boss (4323) contacts the inner wall of the arc groove (4411) in the circumferential direction, the boss (4323) drives the rotating disk (441) to rotate.

2. The active-assisted upper limb exoskeleton robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The mounting component (51) includes a housing (511) and a hinge component (512). The housing (511) is used to house the drive motor (52), and its shape is adapted to the shape of the drive motor (52); The hinge component (512) is located on the side of the housing (511) away from the user and is hinged to the connector (3); The outer casing (511) has multiple perforations to reduce its weight.

3. The upper limb active assist exoskeleton robot according to claim 2, wherein the output component (53) is connected to the flange sleeved on the output shaft of the drive motor (52) by bolts; The housing (511) has an installation window on the side where the hinge component (512) is installed; the position of the installation window exposes the screw hole of the output component (53) for passing through the bolt, so as to facilitate the installation of the bolt.

4. The active assistive exoskeleton robot for upper limbs according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fastener (42) has two Y-shaped legs (421) extending from opposite ends on the side closest to the user; the legs (421) are opposite each other in the vertical direction. A guide shaft (41) is provided between each pair of vertically opposite legs (421). The arm connecting component (43) and the two guide shafts (41) are in sliding engagement.

5. The active-assisted upper limb exoskeleton robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The circumferential angle at which the boss (4323) can slide within the corresponding arcuate groove (4411) is 110°-130°.

6. The active-assisted upper limb exoskeleton robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The surrounding member (442) is part of a cylindrical shape, and its cross-section is two-thirds of the complete ring; Furthermore, the surrounding member (442) can at least completely cover the back of the user's upper arm.

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