The present creation relates to a cushioning air cylinder, especially to an adjustment-free multi-stage prosthesis air cylinder which has a multi-stage air pressure valve and can be used in prosthesis joint.
The air cylinder is a structure which controls air pressure by using the piston's stretch-out and draw-back. It has characteristics of accepting accumulation of pressures and automatically returning after removing of external forces due to the compressibility of air pressure.
The air cylinder is also applied to prosthesis joint and used as medical device providing cushioning function as an alternative of joint. In the common design of the prosthesis joint, the cushioning air cylinder provides cushioning function for certain compression strength. For example, a cushioning air cylinder that corresponds to a slow walking speed is used for the user who slowly walks; while the user wants to conduct a brisk walk or go jogging, it must be replaced by another cushioning air cylinder which adapts to that brisk walk speed. In other words, the user must prepare two or more kinds of cushioning air cylinders in order to be adapted to different walking speeds.
Another relatively new type of cushioning air cylinder has a stepped device to set the level of the cushioning force. The users themselves can adjust the air cylinder setting according to the walking speeds so that the cushioning air cylinder can generate corresponding cushioning capacity.
However, although this type of air cylinder can be individually used to respond to the changes of the environment, the user still needs to actively adjust the device whenever the walking speed is changed, whatever modification is made to the adjustment mode. And, under any condition where a wrong cushioning mode is set, it may not only cause the damage of the cushioning air cylinder, but also more likely to cause the user uncomfortable or even injured for the lack of cushioning capacity.
The present creation intends to provide an adjustment-free multi-stage prosthesis air cylinder having a multi-stage air pressure valve, which can be used in prosthesis joint to be automatically adapted to different impact strength under different motion speeds of the joint, so as to improve the environmental adaptability as well as the life span of the prosthesis joint.
The present creation provides a multi-stage air pressure valve 1 which is disposed in the air way comprising a first component, a second component, two sealing rings and an elastic piece with the inner of the first component including a main channel and a first bypass channel. The main channel penetrates through the first component, forms an air inlet on the top surface of the first component and a first air outlet on the bottom surface of the first component. The first bypass channel communicates with the main channel and forms a second air outlet on the side surface of the first component. The second component is optionally sleeved on the first component. A second bypass channel communicating with the first bypass channel is formed between the first component and the second component. The two sealing rings are sleeved on the side surface of the first component to optionally close the second bypass channel, and the second air outlet is located between the two sealing rings. The elastic piece connects the first component with the second component.
The present creation further provides an adjustment-free multi-stage prosthesis air cylinder comprising an air cylinder body, a piston, a first check valve and a multi-stage air pressure valve. An air chamber is formed inside the air cylinder body, and the cylinder body forms a lower air way. One end of the piston is slidably disposed in the air chamber, and the other end of the piston extends out of the air cylinder body. The piston divides the air chamber into an upper air chamber and a lower air chamber. An upper air way is formed inside the piston, having one end connecting to the outside and the other end connecting to the upper air chamber. The lower air chamber communicates with the lower air way, and the piston makes a reciprocating movement in the air chamber. The first check valve is disposed in the piston to optionally connect the upper air chamber with the lower air chamber. The multi-stage air pressure valve that is disposed inside the lower air way comprises a first component, a second component, two sealing rings and an elastic piece. The inner of the first component includes a main channel and a first bypass channel, the main channel penetrates through the first component, forming an air inlet on the top surface of the first component and a first air outlet on the bottom surface of the first component. The first bypass channel communicates with the main channel and forms a second air outlet on the side surface of the first component. The second component is optionally sleeved on the first component, and a second bypass channel communicating with the first bypass channel is formed between the first component and the second component. The two sealing rings are sleeved on the side surface of the first component to optionally close the second bypass channel, and the second air outlet is formed between the two sealing rings; the elastic piece connects the first component with the second component.
The present creation is beneficial in that the adjustment-free multi-stage prosthesis air cylinder of the present creation is suitable for prosthesis joint, mainly suitable for knee prosthesis for legs; when the users are slowly walking (usually with a walking speed less than 2-4 km/h), the gas flow rate is relatively larger, so as to quickly discharge the inside pressure, which enables a longer cushioning stroke for the piston so that the users can feel more comfortable. When the users are walking in a high speed (usually with a walking speed around 4-8 km/h), the gas flow rate of the multi-stage air pressure valve 1 is automatically reduced so that the inner thereof has an instantaneous high pressure, which enables a shorter cushioning stroke for the piston to provide the users with a good operability.
The adjustment-free multi-stage prosthesis air cylinder of the present creation is simple to install, so that the users do not need to adjust the setting of the air pressure valve but only need to assemble the adjustment-free multi-stage prosthesis air cylinder with the prosthesis joint; moreover, since the adjustment-free multi-stage prosthesis air cylinder has a simple structure, lower cost, and longer span lift, it overcomes the defects of the traditional installation that is complex, error-prone and requires frequent maintenance.
The features and the technical contents of the present creation will be further appreciated from the following detailed description and figures which are illustrated for reference and explanation only but not to limit the extent of the scope of the present creation.
The adjustment-free multi-stage prosthesis air cylinder of the present creation uses the multi-stage air pressure valve which is disposed in the air passage to generate cushioning effect and supporting force corresponding to different pressures.
Referring to
The second component 12 is optionally sleeved on the first component 11, and a second bypass channel 15 is formed between the first component 11 and the second component 12. In details, the second component 12 includes a bottom part 121 and an extension part 122, the extension part 122 radially extends along the direction of the first component 11 and surrounds the top part 111 of the first component 11. The first component 11 slides in the inner of the second component 12, and the protrusion part 112 of the first component 11 optionally slides into the bottom part 121 of the second component 12. Two sealing rings 13 are disposed on the first component 11, in which one is sleeved on the protrusion part 112 and the other one is sleeved on the top part 111; a second air outlet 1141 is located between the two sealing rings 13.
The second bypass channel that is formed between the first component 11 and the second component 12 is optionally sealed by the sealing ring 13. In details, one sealing ring 13 seals the gap between the top part 111 and the extension part 122, and the other sealing ring 13 seals the gap between the protrusion part 112 and the bottom part 121.
An elastic piece 14 is disposed in the sliding direction of the first component 11 and of the second component 12; the elastic piece 14 may be a spring which surrounds the protrusion part 112 of the first component 11, one end of the elastic piece is connecting to the top part 111 of the first component 11, and the other end is connecting to the bottom part 121 of the second component 12.
Referring to
Referring to
It should be supplemented that the sealing ring 13 is disposed between the top part 111 and the extension part 122 for preventing the air of the second bypass channel 15 from couter-flowing to the outside via that gap.
An embodiment of another multi-stage air pressure valve 1 of the present creation is as shown in
The operational pattern of the present embodiment is shown in
As mentioned above, the gas flow rate of the multi-stage air pressure valve 1 of the present embodiment is provided by the main channel 113, the first bypass channel 114, and the second bypass channel 15. The gas flow rate of the second bypass channel 15 is gradually reduced as the first component 11 is subjected to the compressing force and gradually merged into the second component 12. In other words, the multi-stage air pressure valve 1 of the present embodiment provides different gas flow rates according to different compressing forces to obtain multi-stage adjustment of the air pressure valve.
As shown in
An air chamber 21 is formed inside the air cylinder body 2, and the piston 3 is disposed inside the air chamber 21.
The piston 3 externally extends out of the cylinder body 2. One end of the piston 3 is slidably disposed inside the air chamber 21, and the other end of the piston 3 extends to the outside of the air cylinder body 2. The piston 3 divides the air chamber 21 into an upper air chamber 211 and a lower air chamber 212, and the piston 3 optionally slides in the air chamber 21 to make a reciprocating movement, so that volumes of the upper air chamber 211 and the lower air chamber 212 are variable.
The first check valve 4 is disposed in the piston 3, having one end connecting to the upper air chamber 211, and the other end connecting to the lower air chamber 212. The air in the upper air chamber 211 can enter the lower air chamber 212 through the first check valve 4, but the air in the lower air chamber 212 can not counter-flow into the upper air chamber 211 due to the stop function of the first check valve 4.
An upper air way 31 is formed inside the piston 3, the two ends of the upper air way 31 are connected to the outside and to the upper air chamber 211, respectively, and a second check valve 5 is disposed inside the upper air way 31. A lower air way 22 is formed inside the air cylinder body 2, and the two ends of the lower air way 22 are connected to the outside and to the lower air chamber 212, respectively.
As shown in
In conclusion, when the piston 3 slowly reciprocates, the air in the lower air chamber 212 is discharged through the main channel 113, the bypass channel 114 and the bypass channel 115 of the multi-stage air pressure valve 1 (
As shown in
The airflow can be preliminarily adjusted when passing through the piston 3, and further adjusted for its gas flow rate via the multi-stage pressure valve 1 in the lower air way 22, so that the adjustment-free multi-stage prosthesis air cylinder having multiple stages is realized by the mutual-combination of the multi-stage air pressure valves I disposed in the piston 3 and in the lower air way 22.
The adjustment-free multi-stage prosthesis air cylinder of the present creation is suitable for prosthesis joint, mainly suitable for knee prosthesis for legs. When the users are slowly walking (usually with a walking speed less than 2-4 km/h), the gas flow rate is relatively larger, so as to quickly discharge the inside pressure, which enables a longer cushioning stroke for the piston so that the users can feel more comfortable. When the users are walking in a high speed (usually with a walking speed around 4-8 km/h), the gas flow rate of the multi-stage air pressure valve 1 is automatically reduced so that the inner thereof has an instantaneous high pressure, which enables a shorter cushioning stroke for the piston to provide the prosthesis with a good operability.
The adjustment-free multi-stage prosthesis air cylinder of the present creation is simple to install, so that the users do not need to adjust the setting of the pressure valve, but only need to assemble the adjustment-free multi-stage prosthesis air cylinder with the prosthesis joint, without requirements to check and adjust the pressure valve. Moreover, since the adjustment-free multi-stage prosthesis air cylinder has a simple structure, lower cost, and longer span lift, it overcomes the defects of the traditional installation that is complex, error-prone and requires frequent maintenance.
It should be stated that the above description only illustrates the preferred embodiments of the present creation and is not intended to limit the extent of scope thereof. Therefore all the equivalent changes by following the concepts of the specification and the drawings of the present creation should be fallen within the claimed extent of scope thereof.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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101206148 | Apr 2012 | TW | national |