Rope-Driven Soft Hand Rehabilitation Device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hand rehabilitation robots are cumbersome, expensive, and often fail to adequately rehabilitate the thumb, which is crucial for grasping function, and traditional manual treatments are time-consuming and labor-intensive.
Innovation Solution
A rope-driven soft hand function rehabilitation device with a soft exoskeleton structure and adjustable finger mechanisms, using a rope to facilitate flexion/extension, abduction/adduction, and incorporating a soft rubber glove for improved comfort and tightness, allowing the actuator to be placed on a fixed base.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a conventional rigid exoskeleton mechanism is used, then the structure provides strong support and control, but the device becomes large and uncomfortable to wear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies this principle by replacing the conventional rigid exoskeleton with a soft exoskeleton made of flexible materials. The soft exoskeleton includes a glove body with integrated drive elements that conform to the hand shape, providing structural support while maintaining comfort and reducing device volume. The flexible nature of the soft exoskeleton allows it to adapt to the user's hand without requiring large rigid components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the traditional rigid mechanical exoskeleton system with a soft robotic system that uses flexible materials and rope-driven actuation. This substitution eliminates the need for heavy metal structures, motors, and gear systems, thereby reducing device size while maintaining the necessary support and control functions through soft materials and pneumatic or cable-based actuation.
2Ease of operation
If an actuator is placed on the human hand, then direct control is achieved, but the comfort of the patient is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the actuator from the human hand and relocates it to an external position. The soft exoskeleton uses rope-driven actuation where the actuators are positioned outside the hand, and the driving force is transmitted through flexible cables or ropes integrated into the glove structure. This extraction eliminates the discomfort caused by placing motors and mechanical components directly on the patient's hand while maintaining direct control capability.
3Force
If a metal mechanism with large reduction ratio is used, then sufficient torque is achieved, but manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the metal mechanism with large reduction ratio gears and motors with a soft robotic system using flexible materials and rope-driven actuation. This substitution significantly reduces manufacturing costs by eliminating precision metal machining, assembly of complex mechanical transmissions, and expensive motor components, while achieving sufficient torque through the mechanical advantage of the rope-pulley system and elastic energy storage in the soft materials.
4Device complexity
If only four fingers are supported, then the device structure is simplified, but thumb rehabilitation is neglected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies this principle by designing the soft exoskeleton to provide unified support for all five digits including the thumb. The glove structure integrates drive elements for each finger and the thumb, allowing the same basic mechanism to control multiple degrees of freedom across all digits. This multi-functional design enables comprehensive hand rehabilitation without significantly increasing structural complexity, as the same soft exoskeleton framework serves all fingers.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device provides comfortable and effective rehabilitation by allowing the hand to move within a maximum functional range, improving wearing tightness and adaptability, and enabling various training modes, including thumb opposition, while reducing manufacturing costs and enhancing user comfort.
Implementation Method 1
uses a rope to realize flexion/extension, abduction/adduction of finger joints
Implementation Method 2
The whole soft rubber glove is made of 30° soft rubber, has high flexibility, and can be tightly worn on the hand of the user
Data Source
AI summary
A rope-driven soft hand function rehabilitation device includes four finger exoskeleton mechanisms, a thumb exoskeleton mechanism, and a soft rubber glove. An index-finger exoskeleton mechanism includes an index-finger distal phalanx loop, an index-finger middle phalanx loop, and an index-finger proximal phalanx loop which are mutually connected via a hinge structure. The thumb exoskeleton mechanism includes a thumb proximal phalanx loop and a thumb distal phalanx loop which are connected via a hinge structure. The rope is fastened to the hand function rehabilitation device via an aluminum sleeve which prevents the rope from slipping off during finger flexion/extension and abduction/adduction when the fingers are pulled by the rope at the palm and the hand back.