Prosthetic leg having electronically controlled prosthetic knee with regenerative braking feature
First Claim
1. A prosthetic leg having a regenerative knee, comprising:
- a frame;
a knee joint;
a damping device connected between said frame and said knee joint, said damping device operative to adjust the gait of a user;
an actuator/generator associated with said knee joint;
at least one electrical energy storage device in communication with said actuator/generator;
at least one sensor for monitoring and reporting at least one condition of said prosthetic leg; and
an electronic control system in communication with said damping device, said actuator/generator, said at least one electrical energy storage device, and said at least one sensor;
wherein bending of the knee joint during ambulation of a user causes a forced movement of said actuator/generator and the subsequent generation of electrical energy;
wherein said electronic control system adjusts said damping device as needed to regulate the gait of said user; and
wherein said electronic control system is operative to distribute electrical energy to one or more electrical energy consuming devices associated with said prosthetic leg and transfers excess electrical energy produced by said actuator/generator to said at least one electrical energy storage device for later use.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A prosthetic leg having an electronically controlled regenerative prosthetic knee. In certain embodiments of the present invention the knee may be passive, whereby it is used only to generate electrical energy. In other embodiments, the knee may be active, whereby it can be used to assist with or completely control gait, as well as to generate electrical energy. The knee makes use of an actuator motor/generator to control gait and/or to generate electrical energy. An electronic control system is provided to control overall operation of the prosthetic leg, to distribute generated electrical energy, and to transfer excess electrical energy to one or more storage devices for later use. A prosthetic leg of the present invention having an active prosthetic knee may be especially helpful in assisting an amputee with activities that impart a high torque load to the knee joint.
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Citations
158 Claims
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1. A prosthetic leg having a regenerative knee, comprising:
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a frame; a knee joint; a damping device connected between said frame and said knee joint, said damping device operative to adjust the gait of a user; an actuator/generator associated with said knee joint; at least one electrical energy storage device in communication with said actuator/generator; at least one sensor for monitoring and reporting at least one condition of said prosthetic leg; and an electronic control system in communication with said damping device, said actuator/generator, said at least one electrical energy storage device, and said at least one sensor; wherein bending of the knee joint during ambulation of a user causes a forced movement of said actuator/generator and the subsequent generation of electrical energy; wherein said electronic control system adjusts said damping device as needed to regulate the gait of said user; and wherein said electronic control system is operative to distribute electrical energy to one or more electrical energy consuming devices associated with said prosthetic leg and transfers excess electrical energy produced by said actuator/generator to said at least one electrical energy storage device for later use. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A prosthetic leg having an active and regenerative knee, comprising:
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a frame; a knee joint; an auxiliary damping device connected between said frame and said knee joint; an actuator/generator in communication with said frame and said knee joint; at least one electrical energy storage device in communication with said actuator/generator; at least one sensor for monitoring and reporting at least one condition of said prosthetic leg; and an electronic control system in communication with said auxiliary damping device, said actuator/generator, said at least one electrical energy storage device, and said at least one sensor; wherein said electronic control system operates said actuator/generator in an actuator mode as needed to actively control the gait of said user; wherein said auxiliary damping device is used only to supplement said actuator/generator during periods of high torque load on said knee joint; wherein bending of said knee joint during ambulation of a user causes a forced actuation of said actuator/generator in a generator mode and the subsequent generation of electrical energy; wherein said electronic control system distributes electrical energy to one or more electrical energy consuming devices associated with said prosthetic leg; and wherein said electronic control system transfers excess electrical energy produced by said actuator/generator to said at least one electrical energy storage device for later use, wherein said electronic control system transfers excess electrical energy produced by said actuator/generator to said at least one electrical energy storage device for later use. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77)
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78. A prosthetic leg having an active and regenerative knee, comprising:
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a frame; a knee joint; a damping device connected between said frame and said knee joint; an actuator/generator in communication with said knee joint; at least one electrical energy storage device in communication with said actuator/generator; at least one sensor for monitoring and reporting at least one condition of said prosthetic leg; and an electronic control system in communication with said damping device, said actuator/generator, said at least one electrical energy storage device, and said at least one sensor; wherein said damping device is preset to some gross stiffness value and serves as the primary controller of a user'"'"'s gait; wherein said electronic control system operates said actuator/generator in an actuator mode as needed to make adjustments to the gait of said user; wherein bending of the knee joint during ambulation of a user causes a forced actuation of said actuator/generator in a generator mode and the subsequent generation of electrical energy; wherein said electronic control system distributes electrical energy to one or more electrical energy consuming devices associated with said prosthetic leg; and wherein said electronic control system transfers excess electrical energy produced by said actuator/generator to said at least one electrical energy storage device for later use. - View Dependent Claims (79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116)
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117. A prosthetic leg having an active and regenerative knee, comprising:
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a frame; a knee joint; an actuator/generator in communication with said frame and said knee joint; at least one electrical energy storage device in communication with said actuator/generator; at least one sensor for monitoring and reporting at least one condition of said prosthetic leg; and an electronic control system in communication with said actuator/generator, said at least one electrical energy storage device, and said at least one sensor; wherein said electronic control system operates said actuator/generator in an actuator mode as needed to actively control the gait of a user; wherein bending of said knee joint during ambulation of said user causes a forced actuation of said actuator/generator in a generator mode and the subsequent generation of electrical energy; wherein said electronic control system distributes electrical energy to one or more electrical energy consuming devices associated with said prosthetic leg; and wherein said electronic control system transfers excess electrical energy produced by said actuator/generator to said at least one electrical energy storage device for later use. - View Dependent Claims (118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154)
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155. A prosthetic leg having a regenerative knee, comprising:
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a frame; a knee joint; a damping device connected between said frame and said knee joint, said damping device operative to adjust the gait of a user; an actuator/generator associated with said knee joint; at least one electrical energy storage device; at least one sensor for monitoring and reporting at least one condition of said prosthetic leg; and an electronic control system in communication with said damping device, said actuator/generator, said at least one electrical energy storage device, and said at least one sensor; wherein said electronic control system adjusts said damping device as needed to regulate the gait of said user; wherein bending of the knee joint during ambulation of a user causes a forced movement of said actuator/generator and the subsequent generation of electrical energy; wherein said electronic control system concurrently distributes electrical energy produced by said actuator/generator to one or more electrical energy consuming devices associated with said prosthetic leg and/or with said user; and wherein additional electrical energy may be drawn from said at least one electrical energy storage device to supplement an amount of electrical energy produced by said actuator/generator.
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156. A prosthetic leg having an active and regenerative knee, comprising:
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a frame; a knee joint; an auxiliary damping device connected between said frame and said knee joint; an actuator/generator in communication with said frame and said knee joint; at least one electrical energy storage device; at least one sensor for monitoring and reporting at least one condition of said prosthetic leg; and an electronic control system in communication with said auxiliary damping device, said actuator/generator, said at least one electrical energy storage device, and said at least one sensor; wherein said electronic control system operates said actuator/generator in an actuator mode as needed to actively control the gait of said user; wherein said auxiliary damping device is used only to supplement said actuator/generator during periods of high torque load on said knee joint; wherein bending of said knee joint during ambulation of a user causes a forced actuation of said actuator/generator in a generator mode and the subsequent generation of electrical energy; wherein said electronic control system concurrently distributes electrical energy produced by said actuator/generator to one or more electrical energy consuming devices associated with said prosthetic leg and/or with said user; and wherein additional electrical energy may be drawn from said at least one electrical energy storage device to supplement an amount of electrical energy produced by said actuator/generator.
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157. A prosthetic leg having an active and regenerative knee, comprising:
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a frame; a knee joint; a damping device connected between said frame and said knee joint; an actuator/generator in communication with said knee joint; at least one electrical energy storage device; at least one sensor for monitoring and reporting at least one condition of said prosthetic leg; and an electronic control system in communication with said damping device, said actuator/generator, said at least one electrical energy storage device, and said at least one sensor; wherein said damping device is preset to some gross stiffness value and serves as the primary controller of a user'"'"'s gait; wherein said electronic control system operates said actuator/generator in an actuator mode as needed to make adjustments to the gait of said user; wherein bending of the knee joint during ambulation of a user causes a forced actuation of said actuator/generator in a generator mode and the subsequent generation of electrical energy; wherein said electronic control system concurrently distributes electrical energy produced by said actuator/generator to one or more electrical energy consuming devices associated with said prosthetic leg and/or with said user; and wherein additional electrical energy may be drawn from said at least one electrical energy storage device to supplement an amount of electrical energy produced by said actuator/generator.
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158. A prosthetic leg having an active and regenerative knee, comprising:
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a frame; a knee joint; an actuator/generator in communication with said frame and said knee joint; at least one electrical energy storage device; at least one sensor for monitoring and reporting at least one condition of said prosthetic leg; and an electronic control system in communication with said actuator/generator, said at least one electrical energy storage device, and said at least one sensor; wherein said electronic control system operates said actuator/generator in an actuator mode as needed to actively control the gait of a user; wherein bending of said knee joint during ambulation of said user causes a forced actuation of said actuator/generator in a generator mode and the subsequent generation of electrical energy; wherein said electronic control system concurrently distributes electrical energy produced by said actuator/generator to one or more electrical energy consuming devices associated with said prosthetic leg and/or with said user; and wherein additional electrical energy may be drawn from said at least one electrical energy storage device to supplement an amount of electrical energy produced by said actuator/generator.
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Specification