Abstract: A semi-actuated above knee prosthetic system, which is mostly passive in nature and includes a shank link coupled to an artificial foot, a knee mechanism connected to the shank link and a thigh link attached to an above-knee remaining lower limb of an amputee, is operable in either an actuated mode or an un-actuated mode controlled by a signal processor linked to various prosthetic mounted sensors which may include combinations of knee angle, stance, thigh angle and shank angle sensors. Power is delivered through an electric motor connected to a battery source and employed to drive a hydraulic pump which is part of an overall hydraulic power unit including the torque generator. A signal processor selects a swing state from at least forward, combination forward and descent, combination forward and ascent, reverse, combination reverse and descent, and combination reverse and ascent swing states.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
June 16, 2009
Date of Patent:
July 31, 2012
Assignees:
Berkeley Bionics, The Regents of the University of California
Inventors:
Dylan Miller Fairbanks, Adam Brian Zoss, Minerva Vasudevan Pillai, Miclas Schwartz, Nathan Harding, Matthew Rosa, Bram Gilbert Antoon Lambrecht, Sebastian Kruse, Homayoon Kazerooni
Abstract: A semi-actuated above knee prosthetic system, which is mostly passive in nature and includes a shank link coupled to an artificial foot, a knee mechanism connected to the shank link and a thigh link attached to an above-knee remaining lower limb of an amputee, is operable in either an actuated mode or an un-actuated mode controlled by a signal processor linked to various prosthetic mounted sensors. In the actuated mode, power is delivered to a torque generator connected to the knee mechanism to cause a forced movement between the thigh and shank links. In the un-actuated mode, a control circuit operates in a non-powered manner to allow operation of the knee mechanism with modulated resistance. Power is delivered through an electric motor connected to a battery source and employed to drive a hydraulic pump which is part of an overall hydraulic power unit including the torque generator.
Type:
Application
Filed:
June 16, 2009
Publication date:
January 28, 2010
Applicants:
Berkeley Bionics, The Regents of the University of California
Inventors:
Dylan Miller Fairbanks, Adam Brian Zoss, Minerva Vasudevan Pillai, Miclas Schwartz, Nathan Harding, Matthew Rosa, Bram Gilbert Antoon Lambrecht, Sebastian Kruse, Homayoon Kazerooni