Walking Assist Device Movable Handle Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing walking assist devices, such as hand carts and electric four-wheel carts, do not effectively assist users in walking with their arms properly swinging in synchronization with leg movements, as they require users to grip fixed handles, limiting the ability for high-quality walk training.
Innovation Solution
A walking assist device with a frame, wheels, a traveling drive unit, and handle condition detection units, where the handles are gripped and move in the frame's front-rear direction, allowing the electronic control unit to control the device based on arm swinging conditions, with shafts housed in tubes that can move and return to a reference position, enabling synchronized arm and leg movement training.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If handles are fixed to the walking assist device, then the device structure is simple and stable, but the user cannot swing arms naturally in synchronization with leg movements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by transforming the fixed handle structure into a movable one. The handle is mounted on a shaft that can move forward and backward along the tube, allowing the handle to dynamically adjust its position relative to the device frame. This enables the user to swing arms naturally while maintaining connection to the device, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and structural simplicity.
2Ease of operation
If the shaft is completely movable in the tube, then the user can swing arms freely, but the shaft may detach or rotate unintentionally
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by providing movement freedom only in the necessary direction (forward-backward along the tube) while constraining other directions (rotation and lateral movement). The shaft can move partially along the tube's length to enable arm swinging, but is constrained by the tube walls to prevent excessive or unwanted movements, thus achieving both ease of operation and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by providing different degrees of freedom at different locations and directions. The shaft has freedom to move along the tube's longitudinal axis where arm swinging is needed, but is constrained in rotational and lateral directions where stability is required. This localized differentiation of movement properties resolves the contradiction between freedom and stability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the handle moves beyond a certain range, then the user can swing arms with larger amplitude, but the device control becomes unstable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies feedback by using a detection unit to monitor the shaft's position within the tube and providing this information to the control unit. The control unit can then adjust device operation based on the detected handle position, ensuring stable control even when the handle moves through a relatively large range. This feedback mechanism allows the system to adapt to handle position changes while maintaining overall stability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A walking assist device includes a frame (50); wheels including at least one driving wheel; at least one traveling drive unit; a battery; right and left handles (20R, 20L); handle condition detection units (21RS, 21LS); an electronic control unit (40) configured to control the at least one traveling drive unit based on the conditions of the handles (20R, 20L) that are detected based on detection signals from the respective handle condition detection units (21RS, 21LS); right and left shafts (21R, 21L) fixed to the respective handles (20R, 20L) and extending in a frame front-rear direction; and right and left tubes (30R, 30L) that are attached to the frame (50) so as to extend in the frame front-rear direction, the tubes (30R, 30L) being configured to house the respective shafts (21R, 21L) such that the shafts (21R, 21L) are movable in the frame front-rear direction.