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KR-20260066352-A - Exoskeleton Suit for Assisting Passive Stretching Exercises

KR20260066352AKR 20260066352 AKR20260066352 AKR 20260066352AKR-20260066352-A

Abstract

The present invention relates to an exoskeleton suit for assisting stretching exercises. The exoskeleton suit for assisting stretching exercises according to the present invention comprises: a back plate that adheres to the back of a patient; a wearable part that is fixed to the upper body of the patient together with the back plate; an upper limb connecting part that is connected to one arm of the patient; a flexion support arm in which the upper limb connecting part is provided at the lower end and the upper end rotates around a coronal axis; an abduction support arm in which the flexion support arm is provided at the outer end and the inner end rotates around a sagittal axis; a flexion control part equipped with a first ratchet mechanism that transmits the movement generated when a rotational knob for flexion control is operated to the flexion support arm via a cable to induce flexion movement of the arm to which the upper limb connecting part is connected, and fixes the flexion support arm at an arbitrary position to fix the patient's arm at a controlled angle; and an abduction control part equipped with a second ratchet mechanism that fixes the abduction support arm, which rotates around the sagittal axis by the abduction movement of the arm to which the upper limb connecting part is connected, at an arbitrary position. Thus, the present invention allows a physical therapist to assist the patient's flexion and abduction movements by operating a rotary knob for flexion control and a rotary knob for abduction control while positioned on the side or back of the patient, thereby enabling stable assistance of the patient's rehabilitation exercises without preventing the patient's rehabilitation treatment.

Inventors

  • 이동훈
  • 전하늘
  • 김태호
  • 윤호진
  • 김현중

Assignees

  • 숭실대학교산학협력단

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20241104

Claims (5)

  1. The present invention relates to an exoskeleton suit worn by a patient requiring shoulder stretching exercises to support forward flexion and abduction movements of one arm, A back plate (100) that adheres to the back of the patient; A wearable part (200) fixed to the upper body of the patient together with the back plate (100) above; An upper limb connecting part (300) that is connected to one arm of the patient and moves together with the arm; The upper limb connecting part (300) is provided at the bottom, and the upper part is a bending support arm (400) that rotates around a tubular axis (S1); An external support arm (500) is provided at the outer end of the above-mentioned bending support arm (400), and the inner end is coupled to the back plate (100) so as to rotate around the sagittal axis (S2); A bending control unit (600) equipped with a first ratchet mechanism (650) that fixes the patient's arm at a controlled angle by fixing the bending support arm (400) at an arbitrary position, and inducing a bending movement of the arm to which the upper limb coupling part (300) is coupled by transmitting the movement generated during rotational operation of a bending control rotary knob (620) provided to be operated from the side or rear of the patient through a cable (640) (640'); and An abduction control unit (700) equipped with a second ratchet mechanism (720) for fixing an abduction support arm (500) at any position, which rotates around the sagittal axis (S2) by the abduction movement of the arm to which the upper limb coupling unit (300) is coupled; An exoskeleton suit for assisting stretching exercises, characterized by including
  2. In paragraph 1, The above bending control unit (600) is, A drive pulley (610) installed on the back plate (100); A rotary knob (620) for bending control installed to rotate together with the drive pulley (610); A driven pulley (630) provided at the top of the bending support arm (400) to rotate together with the bending support arm (400); A pair of cables (640)(640`) connecting the driving pulley (610) and the driven pulley (630) to transmit the movement of the driving pulley (610) to the driven pulley (630); and The first ratchet mechanism (650) for selectively suppressing the rotation of the drive pulley (610); An exoskeleton suit for assisting stretching exercises, characterized by including
  3. In paragraph 2, The above cable (640)(640') is a Bowden cable having a wire (642) that penetrates the cable support (643) and connects to the driving pulley (610) and the driven pulley (630) inside the outer sheath (641) which is connected to the cable support (643) installed on the back plate (100) and the external support arm (500), respectively, and is configured to assist in stretching exercises.
  4. In paragraph 1, The above external rotation control unit (700) is, A rotary knob (710) for external rotation control having a screw shaft (711) with a thread formed on the outer surface of the end; and The second ratchet mechanism (720) is installed between the external rotation support arm (500) and the back plate (100) and is connected to the external rotation control rotary knob (710), thereby suppressing the rotation of the external rotation support arm (500) by the unidirectional rotation of the external rotation control rotary knob (710) and allowing the rotation of the external rotation support arm (500) by the other unidirectional rotation of the external rotation control rotary knob (710); An exoskeleton suit for assisting stretching exercises, characterized by including
  5. In paragraph 1, An adjustment link (730) installed between the abduction support arm (500) and the back plate (100) to rotate around the sagittal axis (S2) together with the abduction support arm (500), and equipped with a guide (740) that supports the abduction support arm (500) so that the abduction support arm (500) slides left and right in correspondence with the patient's shoulder width; An exoskeleton suit for assisting stretching exercises, characterized by further including

Description

Exoskeleton Suit for Assisting Passive Stretching Exercises The present invention relates to an exoskeleton suit that assists in passive stretching exercises for the rehabilitation of a patient's shoulder. More specifically, the back plate, which adheres to the patient's back, is equipped with a rotary knob and a control unit for controlling flexion and abduction movements, respectively, allowing a physical therapist to position themselves on the side or back of the patient to guide flexion and abduction exercises. Each control unit is equipped with a ratchet mechanism that restrains the movement of the control unit so that the arm is fixed at a controlled angle, thereby assisting in stretching exercises without the need for the physical therapist to separately support the patient's upper arm. In general, in stretching exercises aimed at the rehabilitation of patients with frozen shoulder, the effectiveness of rehabilitation can be improved by performing passive stretching exercises at a higher intensity with the help of a physical therapist rather than the patient performing stretching exercises on their own. Meanwhile, shoulder rehabilitation exoskeleton suits are designed to allow patients to independently perform higher-intensity stretching exercises or assist physical therapists, and can be classified into motor, pneumatic, and wire types depending on the operating mechanism. Exoskeleton suits equipped with motor-based operating mechanisms can improve mobility and prevent the direct transfer of the suit's weight to the patient; however, since motors must be attached to every joint, the suit is very bulky and heavy, which has the disadvantage of restricting natural movement. Exoskeleton suits equipped with pneumatic-based operating mechanisms can perform various movements through pneumatic control and have the advantage of being lighter than motor-based mechanisms; however, they have the disadvantage of lower durability due to the non-linear nature of pneumatic control and the need for an external controller and fluid supply to generate pneumatic power. Exoskeleton suits equipped with wire-based operating mechanisms have the advantage of being lightweight and easy to wear due to the use of wires that can be adjusted to the patient's body; however, they have the disadvantage of lacking an independent axis of rotation, requiring the patient to manually rotate their arms in the intended direction, and making it impossible to provide intuitive feedback to the physical therapist assisting with the exercise. Meanwhile, regarding a prior art document related to an exoskeleton suit with a pneumatic-based operating mechanism, Korean Registered Patent No. 10-2223459 (registered on February 26, 2021, hereinafter referred to as the 'prior art document') has been proposed. The shoulder rehabilitation treatment device according to the prior art document includes an arm mounting part (1) and a body mounting part (2) as shown in FIG. 1, and the arm mounting part (1) and the body mounting part (2) are connected by an actuator (3). The above actuator (3) uses air pressure to lift the wearer's arm upward. It is formed by connecting multiple air bags (4), which are hollow inside to allow air to flow in, in a zigzag shape. When air flows into the actuator (3), the multiple air bags (4) expand and unfold, lifting the wearer's arm. When air flows out of the actuator (3), the multiple air bags (4) contract and fold, thereby lowering the wearer's arm downward. The shoulder rehabilitation device of the prior art literature can raise and lower the arm using an actuator (3), so the user can perform rehabilitation exercises directly without external assistance. However, the prior art literature describes a method in which a plurality of air bags (4) connected in a zigzag shape expand and contract by pneumatic pressure to unfold or fold, thereby assisting the wearer's arm movement. In this method, it is difficult to precisely control the angle of arm movement, and consequently, systematic rehabilitation treatment is difficult in order to gradually expand the range of motion of a frozen shoulder patient's shoulder to a normal range. Furthermore, excessive rehabilitation exercises caused by errors in angle control can induce excessive stress on surrounding muscles, potentially leading to long-term muscle damage, and there are problems such as a prolonged recovery period due to increased inflammation and pain. FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of a shoulder rehabilitation treatment device according to prior art literature, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an exoskeleton suit according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of an exoskeleton suit according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the front structure of an exoskeleton suit excluding the wearable part according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a bendi