Patent Application
20170079810
Field
The present application relates to actuators, and more particularly, to actuators used in prosthetic or orthotic joints.
Description of the Related Art
Various types of prosthetic devices are available as artificial substitutes for a missing body part, such as an arm or leg. Prosthetic joints are also available as substitutes for human joints, such as an ankle or knee. Prosthetic joints can include actuators to create motion of the joint, such as to adjust a heel height of the prosthetic foot.
According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a prosthetic foot is provided that includes a first plate extending between a proximal end and a distal end, a second plate disposed below the first plate and extending between a proximal end and a distal end, an adapter pivotally coupled to the proximal end of the first plate at a first joint, and a mechanical actuator assembly coupled to the proximal end of the second plate and pivotally coupled to the adapter at a second joint disposed rearward of the first joint, the actuator adjustable to adjust a heel height of the prosthetic foot. The actuator can include a first component having one or more magnets; a second component having one or more magnets, the second component sized to extend into an opening in the first component; wherein when at least one magnet or at least a portion of at least one magnet in the first component having a first polarity is aligned with at least one magnet or at least a portion of at least one magnet in the second component having a second polarity opposite to the first polarity, a position of the second component is substantially fixed relative to the first component, substantially locking the actuator, and wherein when the at least one magnet or at least a portion of at least one magnet in the first component is not aligned with the at least one magnet or at least a portion of at least one magnet in the second component, the position of the second component is adjustable relative to the first component to adjust a heel height of the prosthetic foot.
The prosthetic foot can be arranged such that the magnets are bar magnets.
The prosthetic foot can be arranged such that the first component comprises a connector configured to couple the first component to the adapter and an outer housing, wherein the one or more magnets are disposed in the outer housing and the outer housing is disposed around at least a portion of the connector. The prosthetic foot can be further configured such that the connector comprises a ball joint configured to be coupled to the adapter. The prosthetic foot can be configured such that the connector comprises a threaded shaft configured to engage a first internally threaded portion of the second component. The prosthetic foot can be further configured such that the actuator further comprises a third component comprising a connector configured to couple the actuator to the proximal end of the second plate. The prosthetic foot can be further configured such that the heel height of the prosthetic foot is adjusted by rotating the second component relative to the first and/or third components.
The prosthetic foot can be arranged such that the first and second components define a stepper magnet actuator.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an actuator can be provided that includes a first component having one or more magnets; a second component having one or more magnets, the second component sized to extend into an opening in the first component; wherein when at least one magnet or at least a portion of at least one magnet in the first component having a first polarity is aligned with at least one magnet or at least a portion of at least one magnet in the second component having a second polarity opposite to the first polarity, a position of the second component is substantially fixed relative to the first component, substantially locking the actuator, and wherein when the at least one magnet or at least a portion of at least one magnet in the first component is not aligned with the at least one magnet or at least a portion of at least one magnet in the second component, the position of the second component is adjustable relative to the first component to adjust a length of the actuator.
The actuator can be arranged such that the length of the actuator is adjusted by rotating the second component relative to the first component.
The actuator can be arranged such that the actuator is configured for use in a prosthetic or orthotic device.
The actuator can be arranged such that the magnets are bar magnets.
The actuator can be arranged such that the first component comprises a connector configured to couple the first component to a first portion of an orthotic or prosthetic device and an outer housing, wherein the one or more magnets are disposed in the outer housing and the outer housing is disposed around at least a portion of the connector. The actuator can be further arranged such that the connector comprises a ball joint configured to be coupled to the adapter. The actuator can be arranged such that the connector comprises a threaded shaft configured to engage a first internally threaded portion of the second component. The actuator can be further arranged such that the actuator further includes a third component comprising a connector configured to couple the actuator to a second component of the orthotic or prosthetic device. The actuator can be further arranged such that the connector of the third component comprises a threaded shaft configured to engage a second internally threaded portion of the second component. The actuator can be further arranged such that a height of the orthotic or prosthetic device is adjusted by rotating the second component relative to the first and/or third components.
All of these embodiments are intended to be within the scope of the disclosure herein. These and other embodiments will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description having reference to the attached figures, the disclosure not being limited to any particular disclosed embodiment(s).
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present disclosure are described with reference to the drawings of certain embodiments, which are intended to schematically illustrate certain embodiments and not to limit the disclosure.
Although certain embodiments and examples are described below, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the disclosure extends beyond the specifically disclosed embodiments and/or uses and obvious modifications and equivalents thereof. Thus, it is intended that the scope of the disclosure herein disclosed should not be limited by any particular embodiments described below. While the actuator or adjustment mechanism described in the embodiments below is described in the context of a prosthetic joint, one of skill in the art will recognize that the disclosed actuator or adjustment mechanism embodiments can also be implemented in an orthotic or other exoskeleton device, and the scope of the disclosure is intended to cover these as well.
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With continued reference to
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The magnets 122 in the outer housing 121 and magnets 137 on the cylindrical shaft 138 can have opposing poles such that the magnets attract each other. When the central component 130 is rotated relative to the outer housing 121 such that the magnets 137 in the central component 130 are aligned with the magnets 122 in the outer housing 121, the attraction between the magnets locks or substantially locks the position of the central component 130 relative to the outer housing 121 and therefore locks or substantially locks the height or length of the actuator 100. If desired, a user can overcome the magnetic force between the magnets to rotate the central component 130 relative to the outer housing 121 and adjust the height of the actuator 100 (e.g., by rotating the central component 130 relative to the upper component 120 with a rotational force that is higher than the magnetic force between the magnets).
In the illustrated embodiment, adjacent magnets 137 in the central component 130 have alternating polarities. In some embodiments, instead of a plurality of adjacent magnets 137, the cylindrical shaft 138 and/or a magnet coupled to and/or disposed around the cylindrical shaft 138 can be a single piece of material that is magnetized in steps to form a plurality of adjacent sections of different, e.g., alternating, polarities. The magnets 122 in the upper component 120 can have split polarities. For example, as shown in
In some embodiments, the actuator 100 includes or acts as a stepper magnet. The central component 130 can be rotated among discrete locations or positions to adjust the length of the actuator 100, thereby, for example, adjusting the heel height of a prosthetic foot that incorporates the actuator 100. When the central component 130 is positioned in one of the discrete locations, attraction between the magnets 122, 137 holds the rotational position of the central component 130 in a locked position.
In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in
In the embodiment of
Also as shown in
In some embodiments, the actuator 100, 1300 can be used in a prosthetic joint. For example, a prosthetic ankle incorporating the actuator 1300 is shown in the example embodiments of
In the illustrated embodiment, the prosthetic foot 300 includes an upper foot member 240, an intermediate foot member 250, and a lower foot member 260. In the illustrated embodiment, the lower foot member 260 extends from a heel end to a toe end, the upper foot member 240 is L-shaped, the intermediate foot member 250 is generally straight, and the intermediate 250 and upper 240 foot members extend from proximal ends to distal ends that are proximal of the toe end of the lower foot member 260. However, other numbers and configurations of foot members are also possible, and the ankle module 200 can be adapted for use with other arrangements of foot members. For example, the upper foot member 240 can be C-shaped. The lower foot member 260 may not extend to a toe end, and the upper 240 or intermediate 250 foot member may instead extend to a toe end. In some embodiments, the prosthetic foot 300 may only include an upper foot member 240 and a lower foot member 260.
In the illustrated embodiments, the upper attachment portion 210 has three connection portions or points 212, 214, 216. The first connection portion 212 attaches the ankle module 200 to a user or another prosthetic device. In the illustrated embodiment, the first connection portion is a pyramid connector, although other connectors and adapters are also possible. The upper connector ball joint 1310a connects to the upper attachment portion 210 at the second connection point 214 rotatably or non-rotatably. The upper attachment portion 210 connects to the proximal end of the upper foot member 240 at the third connection portion 216. In the illustrated embodiment, a brace 226 is attached, pivotably or non-pivotably, to the upper attachment portion 210 at the third connection portion 216, and the upper foot member 240 is coupled to the brace 226. The upper foot member 240 can be secured to the brace 226 via one or more fasteners 227, such as one or more screws. In an embodiment in which the prosthetic foot 300 only includes an upper foot member 240 and a lower foot member 260, the ankle module 200 can be modified such that the third 216 connection portion couples to the upper foot member 240. In the illustrated embodiment, the third connection portion 216 is in a front portion of the upper attachment portion 210, and the second connection portion 214 is in a rear portion of the upper attachment portion 210. Therefore, the actuator 1300 is located at a rear portion of the ankle module 200. However, in other embodiments the actuator 1300 can be positioned in a front portion of the ankle module 200.
In the illustrated embodiment, the lower attachment portion 230 couples to the proximal end of the intermediate foot member 250. The intermediate foot member 250 can be secured to the lower attachment portion 230 via one or more fasteners 231, such as one or more screws. The lower attachment portion also couples to the lower connector 1312, either rotatably or non-rotatably, at a fourth connection portion 232.
The ankle module 200 can advantageously provide a passive prosthetic ankle with ankle motion that is closer to a biological ankle than previously available passive prosthetic feet. The prosthetic foot 300 can advantageously store energy with less effort for the user, which can help avoid excessive pressure on the user's residual limb, while still returning high energy during the push-off or toe-off phase of the gait cycle. The fourth connection portion 232, which can be a pivot point, can act as an ankle joint and create a fixed pivot axis for ankle motion during use. This allows for separate stiffness profiles to be achieved for ankle motion at different locations in stance phase. For example, in midstance, ankle stiffness is low, which helps reduce moment and pressure on the user's residual limb. During initial loading of the foot 300 during gait, the stiffness is lower than previously available prosthetic feet. This reduced stiffness allows for lower resistance to initial dorsiflexion as the foot 300 moves through stance and less moment required from the residual limb to load the foot 300. As the user moves through stance, the prosthetic foot 300 progressively stiffens. For a given load, the prosthetic foot 300 has higher displacement and a greater range of ankle motion than previously available prosthetic feet. The prosthetic foot 300 also stores energy over a longer period of times than previously available prosthetic feet and therefore returns more energy during push-off.
Although this disclosure has been described in the context of certain embodiments and examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the disclosure extends beyond the specifically disclosed embodiments to other alternative embodiments and/or uses and obvious modifications and equivalents thereof. In addition, while several variations of the embodiments of the disclosure have been shown and described in detail, other modifications, which are within the scope of this disclosure, will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art. It is also contemplated that various combinations or sub-combinations of the specific features and aspects of the embodiments may be made and still fall within the scope of the disclosure. For example, features described above in connection with one embodiment can be used with a different embodiment described herein and the combination still fall within the scope of the disclosure. It should be understood that various features and aspects of the disclosed embodiments can be combined with, or substituted for, one another in order to form varying modes of the embodiments of the disclosure. Thus, it is intended that the scope of the disclosure herein should not be limited by the particular embodiments described above. Accordingly, unless otherwise stated, or unless clearly incompatible, each embodiment of this invention may comprise, additional to its essential features described herein, one or more features as described herein from each other embodiment of the invention disclosed herein.
Features, materials, characteristics, or groups described in conjunction with a particular aspect, embodiment, or example are to be understood to be applicable to any other aspect, embodiment or example described in this section or elsewhere in this specification unless incompatible therewith. All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive. The protection is not restricted to the details of any foregoing embodiments. The protection extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.
Furthermore, certain features that are described in this disclosure in the context of separate implementations can also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations, one or more features from a claimed combination can, in some cases, be excised from the combination, and the combination may be claimed as a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
Moreover, while operations may be depicted in the drawings or described in the specification in a particular order, such operations need not be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. Other operations that are not depicted or described can be incorporated in the example methods and processes. For example, one or more additional operations can be performed before, after, simultaneously, or between any of the described operations. Further, the operations may be rearranged or reordered in other implementations. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments, the actual steps taken in the processes illustrated and/or disclosed may differ from those shown in the figures. Depending on the embodiment, certain of the steps described above may be removed, others may be added. Furthermore, the features and attributes of the specific embodiments disclosed above may be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Also, the separation of various system components in the implementations described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the described components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single product or packaged into multiple products.
For purposes of this disclosure, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features are described herein. Not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment. Thus, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves one advantage or a group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
Conditional language, such as “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements, and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements, and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements, and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.
Conjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, and Z,” unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to convey that an item, term, etc. may be either X, Y, or Z. Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require the presence of at least one of X, at least one of Y, and at least one of Z.
Language of degree used herein, such as the terms “approximately,” “about,” “generally,” and “substantially” as used herein represent a value, amount, or characteristic close to the stated value, amount, or characteristic that still performs a desired function or achieves a desired result. For example, the terms “approximately”, “about”, “generally,” and “substantially” may refer to an amount that is within less than 10% of, within less than 5% of, within less than 1% of, within less than 0.1% of, and within less than 0.01% of the stated amount. As another example, in certain embodiments, the terms “generally parallel” and “substantially parallel” refer to a value, amount, or characteristic that departs from exactly parallel by less than or equal to 15 degrees, 10 degrees, 5 degrees, 3 degrees, 1 degree, 0.1 degree, or otherwise.
The scope of the present disclosure is not intended to be limited by the specific disclosures of preferred embodiments in this section or elsewhere in this specification, and may be defined by claims as presented in this section or elsewhere in this specification or as presented in the future. The language of the claims is to be interpreted broadly based on the language employed in the claims and not limited to the examples described in the present specification or during the prosecution of the application, which examples are to be construed as non-exclusive.
Any and all applications for which a foreign or domestic priority claim is identified in the Application Data Sheet as filed with the present application are hereby incorporated by reference under 37 CFR 1.57. This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/220,823, filed Sep. 18, 2015, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62220823 | Sep 2015 | US |
