Joint device for artificial leg, method of controlling the joint device, and control unit
First Claim
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1. A joint device for an artificial leg, comprising:
- an upper member;
a lower member spaced from said upper member;
an actuator connected between said upper member and said lower member, for accumulating energy generated by a weight of a user'"'"'s body acting on the artificial leg, and operating by releasing the accumulated energy to actuate said lower member into joint motion; and
control means for controlling release of the accumulated energy to control operation of said actuator,wherein said actuator has an upper cylinder, a lower cylinder, a connecting pipe communicating with said upper and lower cylinders to form an oil passage filled with hydraulic fluid for operation of said actuator, and a switching valve mounted on said connecting pipe for opening and closing said oil passage,wherein said control means opens and closes said switching valve to thereby control said actuator in respect of at least one of an operational speed and an operational timing,wherein said actuator comprises a plurality of actuators connected to different locations on said upper member and said lower member, andwherein said control means controls said actuators such that said actuators operate differently in respect of at least one of the operational speed and the operational timing, so as to cause the joint motion in a direction different from a direction in which the weight of the user'"'"'s body acts.
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Abstract
There is provided a joint device for an artificial leg, which makes it possible to dramatically achieve reduction of the weight of a power source and an increase in duration of the same, as well as facilitates knee bending/stretching motion, toe-up motion, and kicking motion. The joint device has an above-knee member and an under-knee member spaced from each other. Three expansible links are connected between the above-knee member and the under-knee member, for accumulating energy generated by the weight of a user'"'"'s body acting on the artificial leg, and operating by releasing the accumulated energy to actuate the under-knee member into joint motion.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A joint device for an artificial leg, comprising:
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an upper member; a lower member spaced from said upper member; an actuator connected between said upper member and said lower member, for accumulating energy generated by a weight of a user'"'"'s body acting on the artificial leg, and operating by releasing the accumulated energy to actuate said lower member into joint motion; and control means for controlling release of the accumulated energy to control operation of said actuator, wherein said actuator has an upper cylinder, a lower cylinder, a connecting pipe communicating with said upper and lower cylinders to form an oil passage filled with hydraulic fluid for operation of said actuator, and a switching valve mounted on said connecting pipe for opening and closing said oil passage, wherein said control means opens and closes said switching valve to thereby control said actuator in respect of at least one of an operational speed and an operational timing, wherein said actuator comprises a plurality of actuators connected to different locations on said upper member and said lower member, and wherein said control means controls said actuators such that said actuators operate differently in respect of at least one of the operational speed and the operational timing, so as to cause the joint motion in a direction different from a direction in which the weight of the user'"'"'s body acts. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A joint device for an artificial leg, comprising:
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an upper member; a lower member spaced from said upper member; an actuator connected between said upper member and said lower member, for accumulating energy generated by a weight of a user'"'"'s body acting on the artificial leg, and operating by releasing the accumulated energy to actuate said lower member into joint motion; and control means for controlling release of the accumulated energy to control operation of said actuator, wherein said actuator has an upper cylinder, a lower cylinder, a connecting pipe communicating with said upper and lower cylinders to form an oil passage filled with hydraulic fluid for operation of said actuator, and a switching valve mounted on said connecting pipe for opening and closing said oil passage, wherein said control means opens and closes said switching valve to thereby control said actuator in respect of at least one of an operational speed and an operational timing, wherein said actuator comprises a plurality of actuators connected to different locations on said upper member and said lower member, wherein said lower member is rotatably connected to said actuators, and wherein said control means controls said actuators such that said actuators operate differently in respect of at least one of the operational speed and the operational timing, so as to cause rotational motion including twisting motion, as the joint motion. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A joint device for an artificial leg, comprising:
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an upper member; a lower member spaced from said upper member; an actuator connected between said upper member and said lower member, for accumulating energy generated by a weight of a user'"'"'s body acting on the artificial leg, and operating by releasing the accumulated energy to actuate said lower member into joint motion; and control means for controlling release of the accumulated energy to control operation of said actuator, wherein said actuator has an upper cylinder, a lower cylinder, a connecting pipe communicating with said upper and lower cylinders to form an oil passage filled with hydraulic fluid for operation of said actuator, and a switching valve mounted on said connecting pipe for opening and closing said oil passage, wherein said control means opens and closes said switching valve to thereby control said actuator in respect of at least one of an operational speed and an operational timing, and wherein said control means controls operation of said actuator based on a 2 degree-of-freedom proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control algorithm. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. A method of controlling a joint device for an artificial leg, the joint device including an upper member and a lower member spaced from each other, and an actuator connected between the upper member and the lower member,
the method comprising: -
an accumulation step of causing the actuator to accumulate therein energy generated by a weight of a user'"'"'s body acting on the artificial leg; and a release step of causing the actuator to release the accumulated energy to thereby actuate the lower member into joint motion, wherein said actuator includes an upper cylinder, a lower cylinder, a connecting pipe communicating with said upper and lower cylinders to form an oil passage filled with hydraulic fluid for operation of said actuator, and a switching valve mounted on said connecting pipe for opening and closing said oil passage, wherein said release step includes opening and closing said switching valve to control said actuator in respect of at least one of an operational speed and an operational timing, wherein the actuator comprises a plurality of actuators connected to different locations on the upper member and the lower member, and wherein said release step includes controlling the actuators such that the actuators operate differently in respect of at least one of the operational speed and the operational timing, so as to cause the joint motion in a direction different from a direction in which the weight of the user'"'"'s body acts. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A method of controlling a joint device for an artificial leg, the joint device including an upper member and a lower member spaced from each other, and an actuator connected between the upper member and the lower member,
the method comprising: -
an accumulation step of causing the actuator to accumulate therein energy generated by a weight of a user'"'"'s body acting on the artificial leg; and a release step of causing the actuator to release the accumulated energy to thereby actuate the lower member into joint motion, wherein said actuator includes an upper cylinder, a lower cylinder, a connecting pipe communicating with said upper and lower cylinders to form an oil passage filled with hydraulic fluid for operation of said actuator, and a switching valve mounted on said connecting pipe for opening and closing said oil passage, wherein said release step includes opening and closing said switching valve to control said actuator in respect of at least one of an operational speed and an operational timing, wherein the actuator comprises a plurality of actuators connected to different locations on the upper member and the lower member, wherein the lower member is rotatably connected to the actuators, and wherein said release step includes controlling the actuators such that the actuators operate differently in respect of at least one of the operational speed and the operational timing, so as to cause rotational motion including twisting motion, as the joint motion. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of controlling a joint device for an artificial leg, the joint device including an upper member and a lower member spaced from each other, and an actuator connected between the upper member and the lower member,
the method comprising: -
an accumulation step of causing the actuator to accumulate therein energy generated by a weight of a user'"'"'s body acting on the artificial leg; and a release step of causing the actuator to release the accumulated energy to thereby actuate the lower member into joint motion, wherein said actuator includes an upper cylinder, a lower cylinder, a connecting pipe communicating with said upper and lower cylinders to form an oil passage filled with hydraulic fluid for operation of said actuator, and a switching valve mounted on said connecting pipe for opening and closing said oil passage, wherein said release step includes opening and closing said switching valve to control said actuator in respect of at least one of an operational speed and an operational timing, and wherein said accumulation step and said release step are executed based on a 2 degree-of-freedom proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control algorithm. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification