Knee brace

Abstract

To provide a knee wearing brace in which a worker can bend a knee without pain, while the worker wears a knee pad in a knee part.SOLUTION: A knee wearing brace of the present invention is worn in a knee part of a worker, and is connected to a wearing device worn in an upper body of the worker through a connecting belt. The knee wearing brace has a wearing brace body arranged along the knee back part of the worker, a buckle for connecting the connecting belt, a fixing belt being sewn to the wearing brace body while connected to the buckle, and a fastening member for fastening the buckle in the wearing brace body.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a knee support such as a knee pad used in a motion assist device that reduces the burden on the lower back of a worker when working for long periods in a bent-over position or when lifting heavy materials. [Background technology]

[0002] Various motion-assistance devices called assist suits have been proposed to reduce the strain on the lower back of workers who work for long periods of time in a bent-over position or who lift heavy materials. The motion-assistance devices have an elastic body that is placed along the back of the worker, and are structured so that a mounting part that is attached to the worker's upper body and knee pads that are attached to the worker's left and right knees are connected by a connecting belt or the like that is provided from the back to the back of the knees. For example, when the worker bends forward, the reaction force generated by the elastic body provided on the mounting part is distributed and applied to the worker's upper body (particularly both shoulders) and left and right knees, thereby reducing the strain on the worker's lower back (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6760602 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the motion-assist device disclosed in Patent Document 1, knee pads attached to the left and right knees have buckles, and connecting belts attached to a mounting portion attached to the upper body of a worker are connected to the buckles in an adjustable manner. For example, as shown in FIG. 7( a), a buckle 101 attached to a knee pad 100 is sewn to the knee pad 100 while being connected to, for example, a fixing belt 102. Therefore, when a predetermined tension is applied to the connecting belt 110, the buckle 101 is pulled toward the mounting portion attached to the upper body of the worker by the tension applied to the connecting belt 110. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7( a), when the connecting belt 110 is loosened to release the predetermined tension, the buckle 101 rotates by its own weight in the direction G in FIG. 7( a) about the one end connected to the fixing belt 102 as the center of rotation, and is held in a position overlapping the front surface of the fixing belt 102. If the knee is bent in this state, the buckle 101 may dig into the thigh and calf of the worker, causing pain.

[0005] As described above, the fixing belt 102 is sewn across the entire width of the knee pad 100 so that it will not come off the knee pad 100 due to the reaction force transmitted via the connecting belt 110. The fixing belt 102 is made of a synthetic resin belt such as nylon or polyester. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7(b), if the worker bends his or her knee while wearing the knee pad 100, the bent fixing belt 102 may dig into the back of the worker's knee, causing pain.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a knee pad that allows a worker to bend his / her knees without pain when wearing the knee pad on the knee part of the worker. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the knee attachment of the present invention is attached to the knee of a worker and connected via a connecting belt to an attachment device attached to the upper body of the worker, and is characterized by having a attachment main body that is placed along the back of the worker's knee, a buckle that connects the connecting belt, a fixing belt that is sewn to the attachment main body while connected to the buckle, and a fastening member that fastens the buckle to the attachment main body.

[0008] The fastening member has a flange at one end in the direction of the central axis, a sleeve whose other end in the direction of the central axis is inserted into an attachment hole provided in the fastened object, and a shaft portion inserted into the sleeve; by pulling the shaft portion toward the flange, a head portion provided at the tip of the shaft portion moves toward the flange, and as the head portion moves, the other end side of the sleeve protruding from the attachment hole in the fastened object is deformed, thereby fastening the fastened object between the deformed part of the sleeve and the flange; the fastening member is a disc-shaped member with a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the flange, and is fastened to the fastening device main body together with the buckle by the rivet while being positioned on the back side of the fastening device main body, and has a deviation prevention member that prevents the fastening device main body from deviating.

[0009] Furthermore, when the worker wears the attachment device main body and the worker is standing, with the direction connecting the worker's head and feet being the up-down direction, the lower end of the fixing belt sewn to the attachment device main body passes through the midpoint of the attachment device main body in the up-down direction and is located above a plane perpendicular to the up-down direction.

[0010] The device also has two upper strap-like parts, which extend outward from the left and right ends in the left-right direction perpendicular to the up-down direction of the upper part of the wearing device main body in the up-down direction, and are wrapped around the operator's kneecap when the knee wearing device is attached to the knee, and then joined together with one tip facing inward and overlapping each other; two lower strap-like parts, which extend outward from the left and right ends in the left-right direction perpendicular to the up-down direction of the lower part of the wearing device main body in the up-down direction, and are wrapped around the operator's kneecap when the knee wearing device is attached to the knee, and then joined together with the other tip facing inward and overlapping each other; and a release prevention member that prevents the joining of at least the two lower strap-like parts from being released.

[0011] The attachment device is a motion assistance device having an attachment portion that is attached to the upper body of the worker, and an elastic body that is attached along the back of the worker and has one end in the extension direction connected to the attachment portion at a position that corresponds to the worker's shoulder, and the other end in the extension direction connected to a connecting device that joins the connecting belt. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present invention, a worker can bend his / her knees without feeling any pain while wearing knee pads on his / her knees. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a motion assist device according to an embodiment of the present invention from the back side; [Figure 2] FIG. 2(a) is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the front surface side of a knee pad, and FIG. 2(b) is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the back surface side of a knee pad. [Figure 3] (a) is an example of a front view when the knee pad is attached to the knee part, (b) is an example of a left side view, (c) is an example of a right side view, and (d) is an example of a back view. [Figure 4](a) is a diagram showing the configuration of the rivet before fastening and fixing, (b) is a diagram showing the state in which the shaft portion is pulled and a deformed portion is formed at the tip of the sleeve, and (c) is a diagram showing the state in which the buckle female component and the pad main body are fastened by the rivet. [Figure 5] (a) is a diagram showing the state in which the pad body is placed on the back of the knee, (b) is a diagram showing the state in which the upper belt-like portion is wrapped around it, (c) is a diagram showing the state before the two upper belt-like portions are joined and the female buckle member and male buckle member are engaged and fastened, and (d) is a diagram showing the state after the female buckle member and male buckle member are engaged and fastened. [Figure 6] 1A is a view of the knee pads attached to the knees of a worker as seen from behind the worker, and FIG. 1B is a view of the worker in the middle of bending his knees. [Figure 7] (a) is a view of a conventional knee pad attached to a worker's knees as seen from behind the worker, and (b) is a view of the worker in the middle of bending his knees while wearing the conventional knee pad. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a motion-assist device 10 includes pressure-contact belts 11 and 12, elastic members 13 and 14, a lower leg belt 15, and a knee pad 16. Note that the motion-assist device 10 shown in FIG. 1 is merely an example, and the configuration of the motion-assist device 10 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 1. Here, the motion-assist device 10 corresponds to a wearing device in the claims. The pressure-contact belts 11 and 12 correspond to a wearing unit in the claims. The lower leg belt 15 corresponds to a connecting belt in the claims. Furthermore, the knee pad 16 corresponds to a knee brace in the claims.

[0015] The pressure welding belts 11 and 12 are belts made of synthetic resins such as nylon, polyester, polyurethane, and rayon, or natural fibers such as cotton, but other materials may also be used. The pressure welding belts 11 and 12 are sewn together (fixed to each other) while crossing each other at the center in the stretch direction of each belt. A buckle 17 is attached to one end of each pressure welding belt 11 in the stretch direction. The other end of the pressure welding belt 12 in the stretch direction is attached to the buckle 17 attached to one end of the pressure welding belt 11 in the stretch direction. Furthermore, the other end of the pressure welding belt 11 in the stretch direction is attached to the buckle 17 attached to one end of the pressure welding belt 12 in the stretch direction. Therefore, these pressure welding belts 11 and 12 are connected endlessly via the buckle 17.

[0016] The method of attaching the other end of the pressure-welding belt 12 in the stretching direction to the buckle 17 provided at one end of the pressure-welding belt 11 in the stretching direction is, for example, to insert the other end of the pressure-welding belt 12 in the stretching direction into a belt loop hole (not shown) provided in the buckle 17, fold it back so as to wrap it around a belt shaft (not shown) provided inside the belt loop hole, and then insert the folded back end into the belt loop hole again.

[0017] The two pressure welding belts 11, 12 are put on by a worker as follows: First, the worker puts his / her left arm through the loop portion 21 provided on the left side in FIG. 1 and his / her right arm through the loop portion 22 provided on the right side in FIG. 1 so that the intersecting portions of the pressure welding belts 11, 12 are positioned on the back side of the worker. Next, the other end of the pressure welding belt 12 attached to the buckle 17 provided on the pressure welding belt 11 and the other end of the pressure welding belt 11 attached to the buckle 17 provided on the pressure welding belt 12 are pulled simultaneously or at slightly different times. As a result, the lengths of the pulled pressure welding belts 11, 12 pulled out from the buckle 17 each increase, the total lengths of the two loop portions 21, 22 of the endless pressure welding belts 11, 12 decrease, and the loop portions 21, 22 tighten around the upper half of the worker's body (more specifically, the back, shoulders, and sides of the worker).

[0018] Connectors 23, 24 are provided on the pressure welding belts 11, 12 at positions that will come into contact with the rear (back) of the left and right shoulders of the worker when the pressure welding belts 11, 12 are worn by the worker. One end of the elastic body 13 is hooked to the connector 23. Also, one end of the elastic body 14 is hooked to the connector 24.

[0019] The elastic bodies 13, 14 are, for example, tension springs or artificial muscles. For example, when a worker wearing the action-assist device 10 performs a forward bending motion, the elastic bodies 13, 14 stretch and generate an elastic force due to the stretching. The elastic body 13 is disposed so as to straddle the connector 23 and a connecting ring 25 (described later), and is hooked to both the connector 23 and the connecting ring 25. The elastic body 14 is disposed so as to straddle the connector 24 and a connecting ring 25 (described later), and is hooked to both the connector 24 and the connecting ring 25.

[0020] The lower leg belt 15 is folded back through the connecting ring 25 and fastened to a belt adjuster 26 near the connecting ring 25. One end 15a of the lower leg belt 15 fastened to the belt adjuster 26 is attached to the buckle 18 of the knee pad 16 worn on the worker's left knee, and the other end 15b is attached to the buckle 18 of the knee pad 16 worn on the worker's right knee. Note that these knee pads 16 have the same configuration, but in FIG. 1, the knee pad worn on the worker's left knee is designated as knee pad 16a, and the knee pad worn on the worker's right knee is designated as knee pad 16b. Here, the lower leg belt 15 corresponds to a connecting belt in the claims. The connecting ring 25 corresponds to a fastener in the claims.

[0021] The configuration of the knee pad 16 will be described below with reference to Figures 2 and 3. While not shown in detail, the knee pad 16 has a three-layer structure including, for example, a core material, an outer fabric disposed on the surface side of the core material, and an inner fabric disposed on the underside of the core material. A stretchable fabric is sewn around the entire periphery of the knee pad 16. The outer fabric of the knee pad 16 is a pile fabric with numerous loops (or loop elements) formed on its surface. This outer fabric of the knee pad 16 functions as a female hook-and-loop fastener that can be joined to a male hook-and-loop fastener. That is, the outer fabric of the knee pad 16 functions as a female hook-and-loop fastener that can be joined to a male hook-and-loop fastener 35 provided on the upper belt-like portion 33a, a male hook-and-loop fastener 36 provided on the lower belt-like portion 32b, a male hook-and-loop fastener 63 provided on the tightening belt 62, and a male hook-and-loop fastener 70 provided on the tightening belt 69, which will be described later.

[0022] The core material and lining are fabrics made of synthetic fibers such as nylon, polyester, polyurethane, and rayon, but other synthetic or natural fibers may also be used. The knee pad 16 has a three-layer structure consisting of a core material, an outer fabric, and an inner fabric, but it may also have a two-layer structure without a core material, or a multi-layer structure of four or more layers. The area of the outer fabric of the knee pad 16 that functions as a female hook-and-loop fastener may be the entire outer fabric of the knee pad 16, or it may be a partial area of the outer fabric.

[0023] The knee pad 16 has a pad body 31, two band-like portions 32 extending outward from the left end of the pad body 31, and two band-like portions 33 extending outward from the right end of the pad body 31. Here, the two band-like portions extending outward from the upper part of the pad body 31 are referred to as upper band-like portions 32a, 33a, and the band-like portions extending outward from the lower part of the pad body 31 are referred to as lower band-like portions 32b, 33b.

[0024] The pad main body 31 is a portion that is placed along the back of the knee of the worker when the knee pad 16 is worn on the knee of the worker. Furthermore, the upper belt-like portions 32a, 33a are wrapped around the portion above the worker's knee when the knee pad 16 is worn on the knee of the worker. Furthermore, the lower belt-like portions 32b, 33b are wrapped around the portion below the worker's knee when the knee pad 16 is worn on the knee of the worker. Here, the pad main body 31 corresponds to the wearing tool main body in the claims.

[0025] Of the upper belt-like portions 32a, 33a, a male hook-and-loop fastener 35 is sewn to the back surface of the tip end portion in the extension direction of the upper belt-like portion 33a, which joins with the outer fabric of the knee pad 16. Similarly, of the lower belt-like portions 32b, 33b, a male hook-and-loop fastener 36 is sewn to the back surface of the tip end portion in the extension direction of the lower belt-like portion 32b, which joins with the outer fabric of the knee pad 16. The male hook-and-loop fasteners 35, 36 have hook-shaped or other hook elements on their surfaces and are formed using synthetic fibers such as nylon, polyester, and PPS (polyphenylene sulfide).

[0026] In addition to the buckle 18, the knee pad 16 is also provided with a plurality of male buckle members 61, 68 and a plurality of female buckle members 64, 66 attached to the outer fabric side. For example, a fastening belt 42 is sewn to the upper end of the pad body 31 constituting the knee pad 16, and a female buckle member 41 constituting the buckle 17 is connected to the fastening belt 42. The fastening belt 42 is a belt made of synthetic resin such as nylon, polyester, polyurethane, or rayon, or natural fiber such as cotton. The buckle 18 is composed of a female buckle member 41 and a male buckle member 43, and the male buckle member 43 is connected (engaged) to the female buckle member 41. The lower leg belt 15 is connected to the male buckle member 43 in a length-adjustable manner. Therefore, the female buckle member 41, together with the knee pad 16, receives the elastic force of the elastic bodies 13, 14 acting via the lower leg belt 15 and the male buckle member 43. The lower end of the fixing belt 42 sewn to the pad body 31 passes through the center of the pad body 31 in the vertical direction and is located above a plane L1 extending in the left-right direction (see FIG. 3(d)).

[0027] Furthermore, the above-mentioned buckle female member 41 is fastened to a position above the position where the fixing belt 42 is sewn in the up-down direction of the pad main body 31. As a method of fastening the buckle female member 41 to the pad main body 31, for example, a method of fastening the buckle female member 41 to the pad main body 31 using a rivet 51 can be mentioned. In Fig. 4 described below, the surface side that the buckle female member 41 abuts is the front side (outer fabric side) of the pad main body 31, and the surface side that the washer 56 abuts is the back side (inner fabric side) of the pad main body 31. In other words, the rivet 51 fastens the buckle female member 41 located on the front side of the pad main body 31 from the back side of the pad main body 31.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 4(a), the rivet 51 has, for example, a tubular sleeve 53 having a flange 52 on one end side, and a shaft 55 that is inserted into the sleeve 53 and has a head 54 at its tip end that has an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of the sleeve 53.

[0029] The buckle female member 41 is fastened to the pad main body 31 using the rivet 51 in the following procedure. Here, the rivet 51 corresponds to a fastening member recited in the claims. As shown in FIG. 4(a), the sleeve 53 of the rivet 51 is inserted from the backing side of the pad main body 31 through the insertion hole 56a of the washer 56, the insertion hole 31a provided in the pad main body 31, and the insertion hole 41a provided in the buckle female member 41, in that order, and the flange 52 is brought into contact with the washer 56. Then, as shown in FIG. 4(b), the shaft 55 is pulled upward (in the direction A in FIG. 4(b)). When the shaft 55 is pulled, the head 54 at the tip of the shaft 55 moves toward the flange 52, deforming the tip side of the sleeve 53 (reference numeral 53a in FIG. 4(b)). When the movement of the head 54 toward the flange 52 due to the upward pulling of the shaft 55 is stopped, the shaft 55 breaks at the breaking portion provided on the shaft 55. At this time, the washer 56, the pad main body 31, and the buckle female member 41 are sandwiched between the flange 52 and the deformed portion 53a at the tip of the sleeve 53 (see FIG. 4(c)). Here, the pad main body 31, the buckle female member 41, and the washer 56 correspond to the fastened object recited in the claims. Furthermore, the insertion hole 56a of the washer 56, the insertion hole 31a provided in the pad main body 31, and the insertion hole 41a provided in the buckle female member 41 correspond to the mounting hole recited in the claims. Furthermore, the washer 56 corresponds to the slippage prevention member recited in the claims.

[0030] In this embodiment, a washer 56 is disposed on the back side of the pad main body 31 when fastening the buckle female member 41 and the pad main body 31. The washer 56 is made of a metal such as aluminum. The washer 56 is used to prevent the pad main body 31 from coming off the rivet 51 when the reaction force of the elastic bodies 13, 14 acts on the knee pad 16 via the lower leg belt 15. This prevents the insertion hole 31a formed in the pad main body 31 from expanding in diameter due to the difference in material between the pad main body 31 and the rivet 51. Here, it is preferable that the washer 56 has an inner diameter of the insertion hole 56a of, for example, 3.3 mm and an outer diameter of, for example, 10 mm or more. In this case, the pad main body 31 can be effectively prevented from coming off the rivet 51.

[0031] 2 and 3, a tightening belt 62 that connects (holds) a buckle male member 61 in an adjustable length is sewn to the approximate center of the upper band-like portion 32a in the extension direction. As shown in Figure 3(a) or 3(c), the buckle male member 61 engages with a buckle female member 64, which will be described later, to prevent the connection of the two upper band-like portions 32a, 33a from being released. The buckle male member 61 and the buckle female member 64 form a buckle (reference numeral omitted).

[0032] With the buckle male member 61 engaged with the buckle female member 64, when the other end of the tightening belt 62, which is on the opposite side of the one end sewn to the upper band-like portion 32a across the buckle female member 64, is pulled in the stretching direction of the tightening belt 62, the length of the other end of the tightening belt 62 pulled out from the buckle male member 61 increases. This change in the pulled length causes the buckle female member 64 to move toward the fixing belt 42. This makes it possible to increase the force with which the two upper band-like portions 32a, 33a, whose tip ends overlap, tighten the area above the worker's knees.

[0033] Furthermore, a male hook-and-loop fastener 63 that joins to the outer fabric of the knee pad 16 is sewn to the surface side of the other end of the tightening belt 62, which is opposite to the one end that is sewn to the upper belt-like portion 32a in the stretching direction of the tightening belt 62. By providing the male hook-and-loop fastener 63, the other end of the tightening belt 62, which is opposite to the one end that is sewn to the upper belt-like portion 32a in the stretching direction of the tightening belt 62, is joined to the knee pad 16, making it possible to prevent the tightening belt 62 from getting caught on other equipment at the work site, etc., during work or movement.

[0034] A fixing belt 65 connected to a female buckle member 64 is sewn to the tip of the upper band-shaped portion 33a in the extension direction. When the knee pad 16 is fitted to the knees of the worker, the female buckle member 64 engages with the male buckle member 61 described above.

[0035] Furthermore, a fixing belt 67 connected to a buckle female member 66 is sewn to the tip of the lower band-shaped portion 32b in the extension direction. A tightening belt 69 connected to a buckle male member 68 in an adjustable length is sewn to the approximate center of the lower band-shaped portion 33b in the extension direction. The buckle male member 68 engages with the buckle female member 66 described above to prevent the connection of the two lower band-shaped portions 32b, 33b from being released. The buckle male member 68 and the buckle female member 66 form a buckle (reference numeral omitted). The buckle female member 66 and the buckle male member 68 correspond to release prevention members in the claims.

[0036] With the buckle male member 68 and the buckle female member 66 engaged, when the other end of the tightening belt 69, which is on the opposite side of the one end sewn to the lower band-like portion 33b across the buckle female member 66, is pulled in the direction of extension of the tightening belt 69, the length of the other end of the tightening belt 69 pulled out from the buckle male member 68 increases. This change in the pulled out length causes the buckle male member 68 to move toward the fixing belt 42. This makes it possible to increase the force with which the two lower band-like portions 33b, 33b, whose tip ends overlap, tighten around the area below the worker's knees.

[0037] Furthermore, a male hook-and-loop fastener 70 that joins with the outer fabric of the knee pad 16 is sewn to the surface side of the other end of the tightening belt 69, which is opposite the one end that is sewn to the lower belt-like portion 33b in the direction in which the tightening belt 69 stretches. By providing the male hook-and-loop fastener 70, the other end of the tightening belt 69, which is opposite the one end that is sewn to the lower belt-like portion 33b in the direction in which the tightening belt 69 stretches, is joined to the knee pad 16, preventing the tightening belt 69 from getting caught on other equipment at the work site during work or movement.

[0038] Next, the procedure for putting on the knee pad 16 will be described. As shown in Fig. 5(a), with the pad body 31 of the knee pad 16 placed against the back of the knee, the tip of the upper band-like portion 32a in the extension direction is moved in the direction B in Fig. 5(a) and wrapped around a part above the knee as shown in Fig. 5(b). Next, as shown in Fig. 5(b), the tip of the upper band-like portion 33a in the extension direction is moved in the direction C in Fig. 5(b) and wrapped around a part above the knee as shown in Fig. 5(c). At this time, the upper band-like portion 33a, which functions as a female fastener, is joined to the male hook-and-loop fastener 35 present on the upper band-like portion 32a with the upper band-like portion 32a facing downward (inside: knee side).

[0039] As shown in FIG. 5(c), after joining the upper belt-like portion 33a and the upper belt-like portion 32a, the male buckle member 61 and the female buckle member 64 are engaged. Then, the other end of the tightening belt 62, which is on the opposite side of the one end sewn to the upper belt-like portion 32a with the female buckle member 64 sandwiched therebetween, is pulled in the direction D in FIG. 5(c) and the other end of the tightening belt 62 is pulled out from the male buckle member 61. As a result, the two upper belt-like portions 32a, 33a with overlapping tips are tightened to a position above the worker's knees. Finally, the male hook-and-loop fastener 63 provided at the other end of the tightening belt 62 is joined to the outer fabric of the knee pad 16, which functions as a female hook-and-loop fastener (see FIG. 5(d)).

[0040] The lower belt portions 32b, 33b are joined by moving the lower belt portion 33b in the direction E in Figure 5(d) to wrap the lower belt portion 33b around the lower part of the knee, and then moving the lower belt portion 32b in the direction F in Figure 5(d). In this case, the lower belt portion 32b is overlapped with the lower belt portion 33b facing downward, and the lower belt portion 33b, which functions as a female hook-and-loop fastener, is joined to the male hook-and-loop fastener 36 on the lower belt portion 32b. After the lower belt portion 32b is joined to the lower belt portion 33b, the buckle male member 68 and the buckle female member 66 are engaged. The tightening belt 69 is then pulled to tighten the two overlapping lower belt portions 32b, 33b, and the male hook-and-loop fastener 70 on the other end of the tightening belt 69 is joined to the outer fabric of the knee pad 16.

[0041] As shown in Figure 6(a), when the knee pad 16 is worn on the knee of a worker, the male buckle member 43 to which the lower leg belt 15 is connected (held) engages with the female buckle member 41 held by the pad main body 31 attached along the back of the knee. As described above, the male buckle member 43 is attached to the pad main body 31 via the fixing belt 42, and is further fastened to the pad main body 31 using, for example, a rivet 51 at a position above the sewing position of the fixing belt 42 (a position on the worker's waist side). Therefore, even if the lower leg belt 15 is loosened, the female buckle member 41 does not rotate around the lower end side through which the fixing belt 42 is inserted, and the state of the female buckle member 41 when tension is applied to the lower leg belt 15 (i.e., a state in which the belt insertion portion of the female buckle member 41 does not fall down so that it faces downward) is maintained. Therefore, when the worker bends his knees, the buckle female member 41 and the buckle male member 43 that engages with the buckle female member 41 are prevented from digging into the worker's thighs and calves.

[0042] Furthermore, in the past, the buckle female member 41 was fixed to the knee pad 16 using the fixing belt 42 so as to be closer to the worker's waist than the upper end (the end closer to the worker's waist) of the pad main body 31 of the knee pad 16. In this case, after the worker puts on the motion-assist device, the length of the lower leg belt 15 can be adjusted without the worker bending forward. Therefore, the distance between the belt adjuster 26 and the buckle female member 41 is short, making it difficult to ensure an adjustment margin for adjusting the length of the lower leg belt 15 to match this distance. In this embodiment, the buckle female member 41 is attached to a position above the pad main body 31 of the knee pad 16 via the fixing belt 42, thereby increasing the distance between the belt adjuster 26 and the buckle female member 41 and ensuring an adjustment margin for adjusting the length of the lower leg belt 15 to match the distance between the belt adjuster 26 and the buckle female member 41.

[0043] The lower end of the fixing belt 42 sewn to the pad body 31 passes through the center of the pad body 31 in the vertical direction and is located above a plane L1 perpendicular to the vertical direction.

[0044] With this, when the worker bends his knee, the pad body 31 does not bend so that the portion attached to the worker's thigh and the portion attached to the worker's calf overlap (come closer together), preventing the bent portion of the fixing belt 42 from digging into the back of the knee, which occurs in conventional knee pads.

[0045] In this embodiment, when the knee pad 16 is attached to the knee, the male buckle member 61 on the upper band-like portion 32a engages with the female buckle member 64 on the upper band-like portion 33a, and at the same time, the male buckle member 68 on the lower band-like portion 33b engages with the female buckle member 66 on the lower band-like portion 32b. This allows the knee pad 16 to reliably receive the elastic force of the elastic bodies 13, 14 transmitted via the lower leg belt 15, preventing the connection between the two upper band-like portions 32a, 33a and / or the connection between the two lower band-like portions 32b, 33b from being released. In other words, the knee pad 16 is prevented from coming off the knee. However, if the elastic force of the elastic bodies 13, 14 transmitted via the lower leg belt 15 can be received by the knee pad 16 and the knee pad 16 can be prevented from coming off the knee, a configuration in which a buckle male member 61 and a buckle female member 64 that form a buckle (symbol omitted) are provided on either the two upper belt-like portions 32a, 32a or the two lower belt-like portions 32b, 33b may be used.

[0046] In this embodiment, the buckles (symbols omitted) are each made up of a buckle female member 64 and a buckle male member 61 that engages with the buckle female member 64, and a buckle female member 66 and a buckle male member 68 that engages with the buckle female member 66, but buckles other than those described in this embodiment can also be used.

[0047] In this embodiment, a male hook-and-loop fastener 35 is provided on the surface of the upper band-shaped portion 33a, and a male hook-and-loop fastener 36 is provided on the surface of the lower band-shaped portion 32b, thereby joining the two upper band-shaped portions 32a, 33a and the two lower band-shaped portions 32b, 33b together. For example, if a buckle male member 61 that is connected to a tightening belt 62 is provided on the upper band-shaped portion 32a, and a buckle female member 64 that is connected to a fixing belt 65 is provided on the upper band-shaped portion 33a, and the two upper band-shaped portions are tightened by the tightening belt 62 after the buckle male member 61 is engaged with the buckle female member 64, then the male hook-and-loop fastener 35 does not need to be provided on the surface of the upper band-shaped portion 33a. The same applies to the lower band-shaped portion 32b; if the same configuration as the above-mentioned upper band-shaped portion is adopted, the male hook-and-loop fastener 36 does not need to be provided on the surface of the lower band-shaped portion 32b.

[0048] <About the effects> The knee pad 16 in this embodiment is worn on the knee of a worker and connected via a lower leg belt 15 to the action-assist device 10 worn on the worker's upper body, and includes a pad main body 31 arranged along the back of the worker's knee, a female buckle member 41 and a male buckle member 43 that function as buckles for connecting the lower leg belt 15, a fixing belt 42 that is sewn to the pad main body 31 while connected to the female buckle member 41, for example, and a rivet 51 that fastens the female buckle member 41 to the pad main body 31.

[0049] According to this, because the buckle female member 41 is fastened to the pad body 31 via the rivet 51, the buckle female member 41 is prevented from rotating and falling over, compared to when it is not fastened to the pad body 31 via the rivet 51. Therefore, when the worker bends their knees, the buckle female member 41 and the buckle male member 43 that engages with the buckle female member 41 are prevented from digging into the worker's thighs and calves.

[0050] The rivet 51 has a flange 52 at one end in the central axis direction, and a sleeve 53 at the other end in the central axis direction that is inserted into insertion holes 31a, 41a provided in the pad main body 31 and the buckle female member 41, and a shaft portion 55 that is inserted into the sleeve 53. By pulling the shaft portion 55 toward the flange 52, a head portion 54 provided at the tip of the shaft portion 55 is moved toward the flange 52, and as the head portion 54 moves, the other end side of the sleeve 53 that protrudes from the insertion hole 41a is deformed, thereby fastening the pad main body 31 and the buckle female member 41 between the flange 52 and the deformed portion 53a of the sleeve 53. The washer 56 is disc-shaped with an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the flange 52, and is fastened to the pad main body 31 together with the buckle female member 41 by the rivet 51 while placed on the back side of the pad main body 31, thereby preventing the pad main body 31 from slipping out.

[0051] According to this, when the elastic force of the elastic bodies 13, 14 acts on the knee pad 16 via the lower leg belt 15, the difference between the material of the pad body 31 and the material of the rivet 51 causes the insertion hole 31a provided in the pad body 31 to expand in diameter, preventing the pad body 31 from coming off the rivet 51.

[0052] Furthermore, when the pad body 31 is worn by a worker in an upright position, with the direction connecting the worker's head and feet being the up-down direction, the lower end of the fixing belt 42 sewn to the pad body 31 passes through the midpoint of the pad body 31 in the up-down direction and is located above the plane L1 perpendicular to the up-down direction.

[0053] According to this, in the conventional case, when a worker bends his / her knee, the pad main body 31 bends so that the portion attached to the worker's thigh and the portion attached to the worker's calf overlap, and the fixing belt 42 does not bend so as to overlap, so that the bent portion of the fixing belt 42 does not dig into the back of the knee, which occurs in the conventional knee pad.

[0054] The pad body 31 also has two upper band-like portions 32a, 33a that extend outward from the left and right ends in the left-right direction perpendicular to the up-down direction at the upper part in the up-down direction, and are wrapped around the operator's kneecap when the knee pad 16 is attached to the knee, and then joined together with one tip facing inward and overlapping each other; two lower band-like portions 32b, 33b that extend outward from the left and right ends in the left-right direction perpendicular to the up-down direction at the lower part in the up-down direction of the pad body 31, and are wrapped around the operator's kneecap when the knee pad 16 is attached to the knee, and then joined together with the other tip facing inward and overlapping each other; and a buckle female member 66 and a buckle male member 68 that prevent the connection of the at least two lower band-like portions 32b, 33b from being released.

[0055] According to this, when the reaction force of the elastic bodies 13, 14 acts on the knee pad 16 via the lower leg belt 15, even if the connection of the upper belt-like portions 32a, 33a is released, the connection of the lower belt-like portions 32b, 33b is prevented from being released, and the knee pad 16 can be prevented from slipping off the knee of the worker.

[0056] The motion-assist device 10 also includes pressure-contact belts 11, 12 that are worn on the upper body of the worker, and elastic bodies 13, 14 that are worn along the back of the worker and have one end in the extension direction connected to the pressure-contact belts 11, 12 at a position that corresponds to the worker's shoulder, and the other end in the extension direction connected to a connecting ring 25 that connects the lower limb belt 15.

[0057] This allows the worker to bend his knees without pain while wearing the action-assist device 10. In addition, the knee pads 16 can be prevented from slipping out of place when the worker works in a bent-over position for a long time or lifts heavy materials. [Explanation of symbols]

[0058] 10...Movement assist device 11, 12...Pressing belt 15...Lower leg belt 16...Knee pads 25…Connection ring 31...Pad body 32a, 33a...Upper belt 32b, 33b...Lower band 41, 64, 66...Buckle female parts 42...Fixing belt 43, 61, 68...Buckle male member 51...Rivet 56...Washer

Claims

1. A knee harness is attached to the knees of a worker and is connected via a connecting belt to a harness attached to the upper body of the worker, a wearing device main body that is placed along the back of the knee of the worker; a buckle for connecting the connecting belt; a fixing belt that is sewn to the wearing device body while being connected to the buckle; a fastening member that fastens the buckle to the wearing device main body; have A knee brace characterized by:

2. The knee brace according to claim 1, the fastening member is a rivet having a flange at one end in the central axis direction, a sleeve having the other end in the central axis direction inserted into an attachment hole provided in the fastened object, and a shank inserted into the sleeve, and by pulling the shank toward the flange, a head provided at the tip of the shank moves toward the flange, and when the head moves, the other end side of the sleeve protruding from the attachment hole in the fastened object is deformed, thereby fastening the fastened object between the deformed part of the sleeve and the flange, The attachment has a disc-shaped member with a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the flange, and is fastened to the attachment body together with the buckle by the rivet while being disposed on the back side of the attachment body, and has a deviation prevention member that prevents deviation of the attachment body. A knee brace characterized by:

3. The knee brace according to claim 1 or 2, When the worker wears the wearing device main body, the worker is in a standing position, and the direction connecting the worker's head and feet is the up-down direction, The lower end of the fixing belt sewn to the wearing device main body passes through the midpoint of the wearing device main body in the vertical direction and is located above a plane perpendicular to the vertical direction. A knee brace characterized by:

4. The knee brace according to claim 3, Two upper belt-shaped parts extend outward from the left and right ends in the left-right direction perpendicular to the up-down direction of the upper part of the wearing device main body in the up-down direction, and are wound around the kneecap of the worker when the knee wearing device is worn on the knee, and then joined together in an overlapping state with one tip end facing inward; Two lower belt-shaped parts extend outward from the left and right ends in the left-right direction perpendicular to the up-down direction of the lower part of the wearing device main body in the up-down direction, and are wound around the lower part of the kneecap of the worker when the knee wearing device is worn on the knee, and then joined together in an overlapping state with the tip of the other inside. a release prevention member that prevents the joining of at least the two lower band-shaped portions from being released; have A knee brace characterized by:

5. The knee brace according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The wearing device is a motion assisting device having a wearing part that is worn on the upper body of the worker, and an elastic body that is worn along the back of the worker and has one end in the extension direction connected to the wearing part at a position that corresponds to the shoulder of the worker, and the other end in the extension direction connected to a connecting tool that connects the connecting belt. A knee brace characterized by:

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