Knee joint assembly and exoskeleton device

Abstract

The utility model provides a knee joint assembly and an exoskeleton device. The knee joint assembly comprises a base, a transmission shaft, a gear and a locking piece. A mounting hole is formed in the base, and a plurality of positioning grooves are formed in the inner wall of the mounting hole; a convex positioning part is arranged on the transmission shaft; the gear is arranged on the transmission shaft; and the locking piece is movably arranged on the base and is clamped with a tooth groove of the gear so as to lock the transmission shaft in the mounting hole. According to the knee joint assembly, the locking piece and the gear structure are matched to lock the transmission shaft, and then the locking angle between the two leg assemblies of the lower limb assembly of the exoskeleton is locked, so that the knee joint of an employee is supported, and the situation that the knee joint of the employee is frequently bent, so that a large amount of physical strength is consumed, and cartilage is damaged is avoided; and the positioning part and the positioning groove can improve the position stability between the base and the transmission shaft, the stress of the locking piece is reduced, and the stability of the locking piece for locking the gear can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of exoskeletons, in particular to a knee joint component and an exoskeleton device. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, wearable exoskeleton devices have attracted more and more attention from scholars and researchers at home and abroad, becoming a new research hotspot and gradually being applied to military, medical, industrial and civilian fields. Depending on whether there is an active power drive unit such as a motor or hydraulic, exoskeletons can be divided into active exoskeletons and passive exoskeletons.

[0003] When a person is in a bent-knee posture, the knee joint bears the weight of the upper body, causing greater stress on the knee joint. In some exoskeleton usage scenarios, due to the high frequency of knee bending, the knee joint is in a state of high stress for a long time, which increases the wear of the cartilage and causes great damage to the human knee joint. Utility Model Content

[0004] The purpose of the utility model is to overcome the shortcomings and deficiencies in the prior art and to provide a knee joint component and an exoskeleton device.

[0005] An embodiment of the utility model provides a knee joint assembly, comprising: a base, a transmission shaft, a gear and a locking member;

[0006] The base is provided with a mounting hole, the inner wall of the mounting hole is provided with a plurality of positioning grooves, and the positioning grooves are evenly arranged in a direction surrounding the mounting hole;

[0007] The transmission shaft is provided with a protruding positioning portion, the transmission shaft is rotationally matched with the mounting hole, the positioning portion is positioned and matched with the positioning groove, and when the transmission shaft rotates relative to the mounting hole, the positioning portion is separated from the current positioning groove and is positioned and matched with other positioning grooves;

[0008] The gear is arranged on the transmission shaft;

[0009] The locking member is movably arranged on the base and is engaged with the tooth groove of the gear to lock the transmission shaft in the mounting hole.

[0010] In some optional embodiments, guiding slopes are respectively provided on both sides of the positioning groove, and the positioning portion slides along the guiding slopes when the positioning portion is separated from the positioning groove.

[0011] In some optional embodiments, a plurality of positioning portions are provided on the transmission shaft, and the plurality of positioning portions are evenly arranged around the rotation axis of the transmission shaft.

[0012] In some optional embodiments, a through hole is provided on the gear, a circumferential limit groove is provided in the through hole, a portion of the transmission shaft passes through the through hole, and the positioning portion corresponds to and cooperates with the circumferential limit groove.

[0013] In some optional embodiments, a mounting cavity is provided in the base, the gear and the locking member are provided in the mounting cavity, and the mounting hole is communicated with the mounting cavity.

[0014] In some optional embodiments, two mounting holes are provided on the base, and the two mounting holes are respectively provided on both sides of the mounting cavity, and the transmission shaft passes through one of the mounting holes, the mounting cavity and the other mounting hole in sequence.

[0015] In some optional embodiments, a connecting portion and a limiting portion are respectively provided at both ends of the transmission shaft, and the limiting portion and the connecting portion are respectively located on both sides of the base, and when the connecting portion is connected to the leg assembly of the exoskeleton device, the limiting portion is pressed against the base.

[0016] In some optional embodiments, a pressing member is provided on the locking member, and the pressing member at least partially extends out of the installation cavity.

[0017] In some optional embodiments, the locking member is rotatably disposed in the installation cavity, and the pressing member is connected to the locking member via a locking rod, wherein the pressing member and the locking rod are rotatably matched.

[0018] In some optional embodiments, the pressing member is provided with an arc-shaped pressing portion, and the arc-shaped pressing portion extends along a direction surrounding a rotation axis of the pressing member.

[0019] In some optional embodiments, an anti-slip stripe structure is provided on the arc-shaped pressing portion.

[0020] Another embodiment of the utility model provides an exoskeleton device, comprising: a plurality of lower limb components and a plurality of knee joint components as described above, wherein the lower limb components include a thigh component and a calf component;

[0021] The base of the knee joint assembly is connected to the thigh assembly, and the transmission shaft of the knee joint assembly is connected to the calf assembly;

[0022] Alternatively, the base of the knee joint component is connected to the calf component, and the transmission shaft of the knee joint component is connected to the thigh component.

[0023] Compared with the prior art, the knee joint assembly of the utility model locks the transmission shaft through the locking piece and the gear structure, and then locks the locking angle between the two leg assemblies of the lower limb assembly of the exoskeleton, so as to provide support for the employee's knee joint, thereby avoiding the employee's knee joint from consuming a lot of physical strength and damaging cartilage due to frequent bending, which can save effort for the employee's lower limbs and effectively protect the employee's knee joint; in addition, the positioning part and the positioning groove can improve the position stability between the base and the transmission shaft, reduce the force on the locking piece, and help to improve the stability of the locking gear of the locking piece.

[0024] In order to more clearly understand the present invention, the specific implementation of the present invention will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of a knee joint assembly according to an embodiment of the utility model;

[0026] Figure 2 An exploded view of a knee joint assembly according to an embodiment of the utility model;

[0027] Figure 3 The figure is a schematic structural diagram of a gear and a locking member according to an embodiment of the utility model.

[0028] Description of reference numerals:

[0029] 10. Base; 11. Mounting hole; 12. Positioning groove; 13. Guide slope; 14. Mounting cavity; 20. Transmission shaft; 21. Positioning portion; 22. Connecting portion; 23. Limiting portion; 30. Gear; 31. Through hole; 32. Circumferential limiting groove; 40. Locking piece; 41. Pressing piece; 42. Locking rod; 43. Arc-shaped pressing portion. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the utility model in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the utility model. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the utility model, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the utility model, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of the utility model. In the description of the utility model, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means 2 or more, and "several" means 1 or more. In addition, unless otherwise specified, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", etc., indicating orientations or positional relationships, are based on the orientations 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 orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

[0031] In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "connected", "connected", and "fixed" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; 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. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0032] See also Figure 1 and Figure 2 An embodiment of the utility model provides a knee joint assembly, including: a base 10, a transmission shaft 20, a gear 30 and a locking member 40.

[0033] The base 10 is provided with a mounting hole 11, and the inner wall of the mounting hole 11 is provided with a plurality of positioning grooves 12, and the positioning grooves 12 are evenly arranged in a direction surrounding the mounting hole 11. In this embodiment, the base 10 is installed on the thigh component of the exoskeleton.

[0034] A protruding positioning portion 21 is provided on the transmission shaft 20, and the transmission shaft 20 is rotationally matched with the mounting hole 11, and the positioning portion 21 can be positioned and matched with one of the positioning grooves 12, and the transmission shaft 20 is connected to the lower leg component of the exoskeleton.

[0035] See also Figure 3The gear 30 is arranged on the transmission shaft 20, and the locking member 40 is movably arranged on the base 10 and engages with the tooth groove of the gear 30 to lock the transmission shaft 20 in the mounting hole 11. The knee joint assembly locks the transmission shaft 20 through the locking member 40 and the gear 30 structure, and then locks the locking angle between the two leg assemblies of the lower limb assembly of the exoskeleton, so as to provide support for the employee's knee joint, thereby avoiding the employee's knee joint from consuming a lot of physical strength and damaging cartilage due to frequent bending, which can save effort for the employee's lower limbs and effectively protect the employee's knee joint.

[0036] After the locking member 40 moves, it disengages from the tooth groove of the gear 30, and the locking member 40 releases the restriction on the transmission shaft 20, so that the transmission shaft 20 can rotate relative to the mounting hole 11. After the transmission shaft 20 rotates relative to the mounting hole 11, the positioning portion 21 disengages from the current positioning groove 12. After the transmission shaft 20 rotates to a suitable angle relative to the mounting hole 11, the positioning portion 21 is positioned and matched with other positioning grooves 12. The matching of the positioning portion 21 and the positioning groove 12 is beneficial to the position stability between the base 10 and the transmission shaft 20, reduces the force on the locking member 40, and is beneficial to improving the stability of the locking member 40 locking the gear 30.

[0037] In some optional embodiments, guide slopes 13 are respectively provided on both sides of the positioning groove 12. When the positioning portion 21 disengages from the positioning groove 12, the positioning portion 21 slides along the guide slopes 13. The guide slopes 13 can guide the positioning portion 21 to move, thereby facilitating the positioning portion 21 to move out of the positioning groove 12.

[0038] In order to improve the positioning stability, in some optional embodiments, a plurality of positioning portions 21 are provided on the transmission shaft 20 , and the plurality of positioning portions 21 are evenly arranged around the rotation axis of the transmission shaft 20 , and each positioning portion 21 corresponds to a positioning groove 12 for positioning cooperation.

[0039] In order to facilitate the assembly of the transmission shaft 20 and the gear 30, in some optional embodiments, a through hole 31 is provided on the gear 30, a circumferential limit groove 32 is provided in the through hole 31, a portion of the transmission shaft 20 is passed through the through hole 31, and the positioning portion 21 corresponds to the circumferential limit groove 32 for limiting cooperation, so that the gear 30 and the transmission shaft 20 cannot rotate relative to each other.

[0040] To facilitate assembly of the gear 30 and the locking member 40 , in some optional embodiments, a mounting cavity 14 is provided in the base 10 , the gear 30 and the locking member 40 are disposed in the mounting cavity 14 , and the mounting hole 11 is in communication with the mounting cavity 14 .

[0041] In order to improve the stability of the transmission shaft 20, in some optional embodiments, two mounting holes 11 are provided on the base 10, and the two mounting holes 11 are respectively provided on both sides of the mounting cavity 14. The transmission shaft 20 passes through one of the mounting holes 11, the mounting cavity 14 and the other mounting hole 11 in sequence, and the gear 30 is located between the two mounting holes 11. When the locking member 40 locks the gear 30, the two mounting holes 11 can stably support the transmission shaft 20 so that the transmission shaft 20 is not easy to shake, thereby improving stability.

[0042] In some optional embodiments, a connecting portion 22 and a limiting portion 23 are respectively provided at both ends of the transmission shaft 20, and the limiting portion 23 and the connecting portion 22 are respectively located on both sides of the base 10, and when the connecting portion 22 is connected to the leg assembly of the exoskeleton device, the limiting portion 23 presses against the base 10. In this embodiment, the connecting portion 22 is connected to the calf assembly of the exoskeleton device, so that the transmission shaft 20 can press the base 10 toward the calf assembly, so that the base 10 can be stably assembled with the calf assembly.

[0043] In some optional embodiments, a pressing member 41 is provided on the locking member 40 , and the pressing member 41 at least partially extends out of the installation cavity 14 , so that an employee can press the pressing member 41 to operate the locking member 40 .

[0044] In some optional embodiments, the locking member 40 is rotatably arranged in the installation cavity 14. When the user presses the pressing member 41 so that the locking member 40 rotates, the pressing member 41 will also rotate. This results in the pressing member 41 being designed to be relatively far away from the base 10 to avoid interference between the pressing member 41 and the base 10. In order to adapt to the movement of the pressing member 41, the pressing member 41 is connected to the locking member 40 through a locking rod 42, wherein the pressing member 41 and the locking rod 42 are rotatably matched. When the user presses the pressing member 41 to rotate the locking member 40, the pressing member 41 can also rotate relative to the locking rod 42 so that the angle of the pressing member 41 adapts to the swing of the user's hand, thereby facilitating the user to press the pressing member 41. The locking rod 42 can keep the pressing member 41 away from the base 10, thereby avoiding interference between the pressing member 41 and the base 10 and causing wear and collision.

[0045] In some optional embodiments, an arc-shaped pressing portion 43 is provided on the pressing member 41, and the arc-shaped pressing portion 43 extends along the direction of the rotation axis surrounding the pressing member 41. When the pressing member 41 swings to adapt to the user's hand, the arc-shaped pressing portion 43 can maintain contact and force with the user's hand to avoid slipping.

[0046] In some optional embodiments, an anti-slip stripe structure is provided on the arc-shaped pressing portion 43 , and the anti-slip stripe can increase the friction between the user's hand and the arc-shaped pressing portion 43 , thereby achieving an anti-slip effect.

[0047] The above-mentioned knee joint assembly is applied to an exoskeleton device, which includes: a plurality of lower limb assemblies and a plurality of knee joint assemblies as described above, wherein the lower limb assemblies include a thigh assembly and a calf assembly. The base 10 of the knee joint assembly is connected to the thigh assembly, and the transmission shaft 20 of the knee joint assembly is connected to the calf assembly; or, the base 10 of the knee joint assembly is connected to the calf assembly, and the transmission shaft 20 of the knee joint assembly is connected to the thigh assembly.

[0048] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and variations may be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, and that the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0049] In the description of this specification, 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.

Claims

1. A knee joint assembly, characterized in that: include: Base, drive shaft, gears and locking parts; The base is provided with a mounting hole, the inner wall of the mounting hole is provided with a plurality of positioning grooves, and the positioning grooves are evenly arranged in a direction surrounding the mounting hole; The transmission shaft is provided with a protruding positioning portion, the transmission shaft is rotationally matched with the mounting hole, the positioning portion is positioned and matched with the positioning groove, and when the transmission shaft rotates relative to the mounting hole, the positioning portion is separated from the current positioning groove and is positioned and matched with other positioning grooves; The gear is arranged on the transmission shaft; The locking member is movably arranged on the base and is engaged with the tooth groove of the gear to lock the transmission shaft in the mounting hole.

2. A knee joint assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: Guide slopes are respectively arranged on both sides of the positioning groove, and when the positioning portion is separated from the positioning groove, the positioning portion slides along the guide slopes.

3. A knee joint assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transmission shaft is provided with a plurality of positioning parts, and the plurality of positioning parts are evenly arranged around the rotation axis of the transmission shaft.

4. A knee joint assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: The gear is provided with a through hole, a circumferential limiting groove is provided in the through hole, a part of the transmission shaft is passed through the through hole, and the positioning portion is correspondingly matched with the circumferential limiting groove.

5. A knee joint assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The base is provided with a mounting cavity, the gear and the locking member are arranged in the mounting cavity, and the mounting hole is communicated with the mounting cavity.

6. A knee joint assembly according to claim 5, characterized in that: The base is provided with two mounting holes, which are respectively arranged on both sides of the mounting cavity, and the transmission shaft passes through one of the mounting holes, the mounting cavity and the other mounting hole in sequence.

7. A knee joint assembly according to claim 5, characterized in that: A connecting portion and a limiting portion are respectively provided at both ends of the transmission shaft. The limiting portion and the connecting portion are respectively located on both sides of the base. When the connecting portion is connected to the leg assembly of the exoskeleton device, the limiting portion is pressed against the base.

8. A knee joint assembly according to claim 5, characterized in that: The locking member is provided with a pressing member, and the pressing member at least partially extends out of the installation cavity.

9. A knee joint assembly according to claim 8, characterized in that: The locking member is rotatably disposed in the installation cavity, and the pressing member is connected to the locking member via a locking rod, wherein the pressing member and the locking rod are rotatably matched.

10. A knee joint assembly according to claim 9, characterized in that: The pressing member is provided with an arc-shaped pressing portion, and the arc-shaped pressing portion extends along a direction surrounding a rotation axis of the pressing member.

11. A knee joint assembly according to claim 10, characterized in that: The arc-shaped pressing portion is provided with an anti-slip stripe structure.

12. An exoskeleton device, characterized in that: include: A plurality of lower limb assemblies and a plurality of knee joint assemblies according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the lower limb assemblies include a thigh assembly and a calf assembly; The base of the knee joint assembly is connected to the thigh assembly, and the transmission shaft of the knee joint assembly is connected to the calf assembly; Alternatively, the base of the knee joint component is connected to the calf component, and the transmission shaft of the knee joint component is connected to the thigh component.

Images