Exercise and diagnostic apparatus and method
First Claim
1. An apparatus for performing a lift task comprising:
- interface means adapted to be grasped and lifted by a human subject and having an actual mass value;
means for setting a simulated mass value for said interface means independent of said actual mass value;
force measuring means for measuring the value of vertical force exerted by said human subject upon said interface means, said force measuring means comprising;
load measuring means for measuring total vertical force applied to said interface means;
acceleration measuring means for measuring the actual vertical acceleration of said interface means;
weight calculating means for calculating an actual mass value of said interface means;
inertia calculating means for calculating an inertia calibration factor for said interface means; and
force calculating means for calculating the actual force applied by said human subject as a function of the current output of said load measuring means, said actual mass value, the current output of said acceleration measuring means and said inertia calibration factor; and
exercise control means, coupled to said interface means and responsive to said force measuring means, for providing a controlled vertical movement of said interface means as a function of said simulated mass value such that said interface means responds to a lifting force by said human subject in a manner that simulates the inertia of an object having a mass value equal to said simulated mass value in a gravitational field.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A horizontal support arm is mounted for upward and downward movement on a vertical support column. An interface unit having an actual mass value is disposed on a free end of the horizontal support arm and is adapted to be grasped and lifted by a human subject. A simulated mass value independent of said actual mass value may be set for the interface unit, and the amount of vertical force exerted by the human subject upon the interface unit is measured. An exercise control unit provides for controlled vertical movement of the interface unit as a function of the simulated mass value such that the interface unit responds to a lifting force by the human subject in a manner that simulates the inertia of an object having a mass value equal to the simulated mass value in a gravitational field.
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Citations
64 Claims
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1. An apparatus for performing a lift task comprising:
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interface means adapted to be grasped and lifted by a human subject and having an actual mass value; means for setting a simulated mass value for said interface means independent of said actual mass value; force measuring means for measuring the value of vertical force exerted by said human subject upon said interface means, said force measuring means comprising; load measuring means for measuring total vertical force applied to said interface means; acceleration measuring means for measuring the actual vertical acceleration of said interface means; weight calculating means for calculating an actual mass value of said interface means; inertia calculating means for calculating an inertia calibration factor for said interface means; and force calculating means for calculating the actual force applied by said human subject as a function of the current output of said load measuring means, said actual mass value, the current output of said acceleration measuring means and said inertia calibration factor; and exercise control means, coupled to said interface means and responsive to said force measuring means, for providing a controlled vertical movement of said interface means as a function of said simulated mass value such that said interface means responds to a lifting force by said human subject in a manner that simulates the inertia of an object having a mass value equal to said simulated mass value in a gravitational field. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for performing a lift task comprising:
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an interface device adapted to be grasped and lifted by a human subject; mounting means for mounting said interface device for combined movement within a range of z, r, and theta coordinates of a cylindrical coordinate system with said z coordinate having a vertical orientation; force measuring means for measuring the amount of vertical force applied to said interface device by said human subject and for producing an output force signal; acceleration measuring means for directly measuring the amount of linear vertical acceleration of said interface device and for producing an output acceleration signal for simulating an inertia of the interface device in a gravitational field; and movement control means, operatively associated with said mounting means and responsive to at least one of said output force signal and said output acceleration signal for controlling movement of said interface device along said z coordinate and for controlling z coordinate velocity and acceleration of said interface device in accordance with a preselected lift task function. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 23)
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15. An apparatus for performing a lift task comprising:
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an interface device adapted to be grasped and lifted by a human subject; mounting means for mounting said interface device for combined movement within a range of z, r, and theta coordinates of a cylindrical coordinate system with said z coordinate having a vertical orientation; force measuring means for measuring the amount of vertical force applied to said interface device by said human subject and for producing an output force signal; acceleration measuring means for measuring the amount of vertical acceleration of said interface device and for producing an output acceleration signal; and movement control means, operatively associated with said mounting means and responsive to at least one of said output force signal and said output acceleration signal for controlling movement of said interface device along said z coordinate and for controlling z coordinate velocity and acceleration of said interface device in accordance with a preselected lift task function; wherein said mounting means comprises; a vertical support column; a carriage; carriage mounting means for mounting said carriage for vertical movement on said vertical support column; a support arm; arm mounting means for mounting said support arm for damped swinging movement in a horizontal plane on said carriage; and wherein said support arm comprises; a first arm member mounted at one end thereof to said carriage by said arm mounting means; and a second arm member mounted in a freely sliding relation on said first arm member with said interface device mounted on a free end of said second arm member.
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20. An apparatus for performing a lift task comprising:
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a horizontal arm; a vertical support; a carriage means, mounted on said vertical support, for carrying said horizontal arm for vertical upward and downward movement; transmission means, coupled to said carriage means, for driving said carriage means in said upward and downward movement; servo motor means, coupled to said transmission means, for powering said transmission means to drive said carriage means; servo control means, coupled to said servo motor means, for controlling the operation of said servo motor means in driving said transmission means; load measuring means, mounted on a free end of said horizontal arm for measuring the amount of vertical force applied to said horizontal arm and for producing an output force signal; acceleration measuring means, mounted on said horizontal arm, for directly measuring the linear vertical acceleration of the horizontal arm and for producing an output acceleration signal for simulating an inertia of the interface device in a gravitational field; interface means, coupled to said load measuring means, for enabling a human subject to apply vertical force to said horizontal arm; and wherein said servo control means receives said output force signal and said output acceleration signal for controlling said servo motor means for driving said transmission means as a prearranged function of a preselected lift task control mode and associated control mode parameters including a simulated mass value for said interface means, said output force signal and said output acceleration signal.
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21. An apparatus for performing a lift task comprising:
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a horizontal arm; a vertical support; a carriage means, mounted on said vertical support, for carrying said horizontal arm for vertical upward and downward movement; transmission means, coupled to said carriage means, for driving said carriage means in said upward and downward movement; servo motor means, coupled to said transmission means, for powering said transmission means to drive said carriage means; servo control means, coupled to said servo motor means, controlling the operation of said servo motor means in driving said transmission means; load measuring means, mounted on a free end of said horizontal arm for measuring the amount of vertical force applied to said horizontal arm and for producing an output force signal; acceleration measuring means, mounted on said horizontal arm, for measuring the vertical acceleration of the horizontal arm and for producing an output acceleration signal; interface means, coupled to said load measuring means, for enabling a human subject to apply vertical force to said horizontal arm; and wherein said servo control means receives said output force signal and said output acceleration signal for controlling said servo motor means for driving said transmission means as a prearranged function of a preselected lift task control mode and associated control mode parameters including a simulated mass value for said interface means, said output force signal and said output acceleration signal; wherein said servo control means comprises; a central processor; converter means, coupled to said acceleration measuring means, to said load measuring means and to said central processor, for converting said output acceleration signal and said output force signal from analog to digital signal values for input to said central processor at a preselected data acquisition rate; and said processor including; an interface calibration module operative during a calibration interval prior to operation of said apparatus in said preselected lift task control mode; said interface calibration module including; means for storing as an interface weight parameter the digital signal value corresponding to said output force signal when said interface means is being acted on only by earth gravitational forces; means for controlling said servo motor means during an inertial calibration interval prior to performing a lift exercise task to move said interface means through a pattern of different acceleration values; means for storing the associated digital signal values corresponding to said output force signal and said output acceleration signal during said inertial calibration interval; and means for analyzing said stored associated digital signal values to determine an inertial calibration factor which translates an output acceleration signal into a corresponding inertial force value due to acceleration applied to said interface means; and a velocity command calculating module for calculating a velocity command value to supply to said servo motor control means during operation of said apparatus in said preselected lift task control mode, said velocity command calculation module including; means for storing set mass and set threshold force parameter values associated with inertia and weight of an object to be simulated as the object to be lifted by a human subject; means for reading and storing the digital signal value corresponding to said output force signal as a lift force parameter value and for reading and storing the digital signal value corresponding to said output acceleration signal as a current acceleration parameter value; means for calculating a force parameter as the actual force being applied by a human subject to said interface means as a predetermined function of said lift force parameter, said interface weight parameter, said current acceleration parameter, and said inertial calibration factor, means for calculating a simulated net force applied to said interface means as a function of said force parameter and said set threshold force parameter, means for calculating a velocity change parameter as a function of said net force parameter and said set mass parameter, and means for calculating and storing a new velocity command parameter as a function of the currently stored velocity command parameter and said velocity change parameter. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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24. An apparatus for performing a lift task comprising:
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a horizontal arm; a vertical support; carriage means, mounted on said vertical support, for carrying said horizontal arm for vertical upward and downward movement; transmission means, coupled to said carriage means, for driving said carriage means in said upward and downward movement; servo motor means, coupled to said transmission means, for powering said transmission means to drive said carriage means; servo control means, coupled to said servo motor means, for controlling the operation of said servo motor means in driving said transmission means; interface means, having an actual mass value and being coupled to said horizontal arm, for enabling a human subject to apply vertical force to said horizontal arm; means for setting a simulated mass value for said interface means independent of said actual mass value; force measuring means for measuring the value of vertical force exerted by said human subject upon said interface means, said force measuring means comprising; load measuring means for measuring total vertical force applied to said interface means and for producing an output load signal; acceleration measuring means for measuring the actual vertical acceleration of said interface means; weight calculating means for calculating an actual mass value of said interface means; inertia calculating means for calculating an inertia calibration factor for said interface means; and force calculating means for calculating the actual force applied by said human subject as a function of the current output of said load measuring means, said actual mass value, the current output of said acceleration measuring means and said inertia calibration factor; and wherein said servo control means is coupled to said force measuring means for controlling said servo motor means for driving said transmission means in response to said force measuring means so that said interface means responds to a lifting force by said human subject in a manner that simulates the inertia of an object having a mass value equal to said simulated mass value in a gravitational field. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. An apparatus for performing a lift task comprising:
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a horizontal arm; interface means, having an actual mass value and being coupled to said horizontal arm for enabling a human subject to apply vertical force to said horizontal arm; a vertical support; carriage means, mounted on said vertical support, for carrying said horizontal arm for vertical upward and downward movement, said carriage means including hinge means for carrying said horizontal arm and for providing rotation of said horizontal arm through an angular range of motion; wherein said horizontal arm comprises a fixed arm member mounted on said hinge means and a movable arm member mounted for translation with respect to said fixed arm member in a horizontal plane; wherein said interface means is coupled to a free end of said movable arm member for translation therewith so that said interface means can be moved throughout a three dimensional working envelope including a horizontal working envelope component defined by the angular range of motion of said horizontal arm on said hinge means and the linear range of motion of said movable arm member relative to said fixed arm member; transmission means, coupled to said carriage means, for driving said carriage means in said upward and downward movement; servo motor means, coupled to said transmission means, for powering said transmission means to drive said carriage means; servo control means, coupled to said servo motor means, for controlling the operation of said servo motor means in driving said transmission means; load measuring means, coupled to said horizontal arm, for measuring the amount of vertical force applied to said horizontal arm and for producing an output load signal; wherein said servo control means receives said output load signal for controlling said servo motor means for driving said transmission means as a prearranged function of a preselected lift task control mode and said output load signal; first position tracking means for producing an output height signal to said servo control means corresponding to the vertical height of said carriage means on said vertical support; second position tracking means for producing an output angle signal to said servo control means corresponding to the angle of said horizontal arm in said horizontal plane about said vertical support; and third position tracking means for producing an output radius signal to said servo control means corresponding to the position of said movable arm member relative to said fixed arm member; and wherein said servo control means controls the operation of said servo motor means in response to said height, angle and radius signals in a cylindrical coordinate system. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. An apparatus for performing a lift task comprising:
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an interface device adapted to be grasped and lifted by a human subject; mounting means for mounting said interface device for combined movement within a range of z, r, and theta coordinates of a cylindrical coordinate system with said z coordinate having a vertical orientation; force measuring means for measuring the amount of vertical force applied to said interface device by said human subject and for producing an output force signal; acceleration measuring means for measuring the amount of vertical acceleration of said interface device and for producing an output acceleration signal; and movement control means, operatively associated with said mounting means and responsive to at least one of said output force signal and said output acceleration signal for controlling movement of said interface device along said z coordinate and for controlling z coordinate velocity and acceleration of said interface device in accordance with a preselected lift task function; wherein said interface device has a spatial interface geometry, and wherein said movement control means further comprises; means for defining a safe working three dimensional envelope for said interface device as a function of said spatial interface geometry; means for assessing the current spatial position of said interface device; means for determining when said interface device crosses the boundary of said three dimensional envelope; and means for limiting the movement of said interface device to maintain the interface device within said three dimensional envelope.
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59. An apparatus for performing a lift task comprising:
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an interface device adapted to be grasped and lifted by a human subject; mounting means for mounting said interface device for combined movement within a range of z, r, and theta coordinates of a cylindrical coordinate system with said z coordinate having a vertical orientation; force measuring means for measuring the amount of vertical force applied to said interface device by said human subject and for producing an output force signal; acceleration measuring means for measuring the amount of vertical acceleration of said interface device and for producing an output acceleration signal; and movement control means, operatively associated with said mounting means and responsive to at least one of said output force signal and said output acceleration signal for controlling movement of said interface device along said z coordinate and for controlling z coordinate velocity and acceleration of said interface device in accordance with a preselected lift task function; wherein said movement control means further comprises; means for defining an upper motion limit and a lower motion limit; means for defining an upstroke mode, said upstroke mode designating a lift task wherein said interface device is to be moved from said lower motion limit to said upper motion limit; and means for precluding downward movement of said interface device when said movement control means is in upstroke mode.
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60. An apparatus for performing a lift task comprising:
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an interface device adapted to be grasped and lifted by a human subject; mounting means for mounting said interface device for combined movement within a range of z, r, and theta coordinates of a cylindrical coordinate system with said z coordinate having a vertical orientation; force measuring means for measuring the amount of vertical force applied to said interface device by said human subject and for producing an output force signal; acceleration measuring means for measuring the amount of vertical acceleration of said interface device and for producing an output acceleration signal; and movement control means, operatively associated with said mounting means and responsive to at least one of said output force signal and said output acceleration signal for controlling movement of said interface device along said z coordinate and for controlling z coordinate velocity and acceleration of said interface device in accordance with a preselected lift task function; wherein said movement control means further comprises; means for defining an upper motion limit and a lower motion limit; means for defining a downstroke mode, said downstroke mode designating a lift task wherein said interface device is to be moved from said upper motion limit to said lower motion limit; and means for precluding upward movement of said interface device when said exercise control means is in downstroke mode. - View Dependent Claims (61)
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62. An apparatus for performing a lift task comprising:
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an interface device adapted to be grasped and lifted by a human subject; mounting means for mounting said interface device for combined movement within a range of z, r, and theta coordinates of a cylindrical coordinate system with said z coordinate having a vertical orientation; force measuring means for measuring the amount of vertical force applied to said interface device by said human subject and for producing an output force signal; acceleration measuring means for measuring the amount of vertical acceleration of said interface device and for producing an output acceleration signal; and movement control means, operatively associated with said mounting means and responsive to at least one of said output force signal and said output acceleration signal for controlling movement of said interface device along said z coordinate and for controlling z coordinate velocity and acceleration of said interface device in accordance with a preselected lift task function; wherein said movement control means further comprises; means for defining an upper motion limit and a lower motion limit; means for defining an upstroke mode and a downstroke mode; wherein said upstroke mode designates a lift task wherein said interface device is to be moved from said lower motion limit to said upper motion limit; wherein said downstroke mode designates a lift task wherein said interface device is to be moved from said upper motion limit to said lower motion limit; means for simulating an upstroke weight value of said interface device during said upstroke mode; means for simulating a downstroke weight value of said interface device during said downstroke mode; and wherein said downstroke weight value is greater than said upstroke weight value. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64)
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Specification