Patents by Inventor Ken Yasuhara

Ken Yasuhara has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11213450
    Abstract: Provided is a travel motion assist device capable of assisting a travel motion of a user without causing any discomfort, and has a high level of versatility. A travel motion assist device includes an assist drive unit configured to be worn on a prescribed joint of the user required for the travel motion of the user, and to be driven in a corresponding manner, a torso motion detection unit configured to be worn on a torso of the user, and to detect the displacement of a center of gravity C indicating the movement of the torso, and a control unit configured to control an operation of the assist drive unit, wherein the control unit estimates a phase of the travel motion of the user according to a detection result of the torso motion detection unit, and drives the assist drive unit at a prescribed phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Ken Yasuhara, Yosuke Ikedo, Toru Takenaka
  • Publication number: 20210000678
    Abstract: Provided is a travel motion assist device capable of assisting a travel motion of a user without causing any discomfort, and has a high level of versatility. A travel motion assist device includes an assist drive unit configured to be worn on a prescribed joint of the user required for the travel motion of the user, and to be driven in a corresponding manner, a torso motion detection unit configured to be worn on a torso of the user, and to detect the displacement of a center of gravity C indicating the movement of the torso, and a control unit configured to control an operation of the assist drive unit, wherein the control unit estimates a phase of the travel motion of the user according to a detection result of the torso motion detection unit, and drives the assist drive unit at a prescribed phase.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2018
    Publication date: January 7, 2021
    Inventors: Ken YASUHARA, Yosuke IKEDO, Toru TAKENAKA
  • Patent number: 10350129
    Abstract: Provided is a walking assist device including a main frame configured to be worn by a user, a power unit mounted on the main frame, a pair of power transmission members for transmitting assist force provided by the power unit to femoral parts of the user and a control unit for controlling an operation of the power unit, wherein the control unit comprises a differential angle computation unit for computing a differential angle between angular positions of the femoral parts of the user about respective hip joints of the user; a differential angle phase computation unit for computing a differential angle phase according to the differential angle; and an assist force computation unit for computing an assist force to be applied to the user according to the differential angle phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2019
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Tatsuya Ishikawa, Ken Yasuhara
  • Patent number: 9610209
    Abstract: According to a walking motion assist device 10, an assisting force T of a leg in a standing-leg period is controlled to indicate a greatest value or a maximum value in a first designated period (refer to the one-dot chain line and the two-dot chain line in t=t1 to t2). By doing so, in the first designated period (an initial period or a prior period) of one leg, a translation of a body derived from a floor reaction force acting on the one leg is largely prompted compared to other periods of the standing-leg period. A smooth starting of floor leaving and bending motion of the other leg is prompted so as to follow the translation of the body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Ken Yasuhara, Yosuke Endo
  • Publication number: 20160338897
    Abstract: Provided is a walking assist device including a main frame configured to be worn by a user, a power unit mounted on the main frame, a pair of power transmission members for transmitting assist force provided by the power unit to femoral parts of the user and a control unit for controlling an operation of the power unit, wherein the control unit comprises a differential angle computation unit for computing a differential angle between angular positions of the femoral parts of the user about respective hip joints of the user; a differential angle phase computation unit for computing a differential angle phase according to the differential angle; and an assist force computation unit for computing an assist force to be applied to the user according to the differential angle phase.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2016
    Publication date: November 24, 2016
    Inventors: Toru Takenaka, Tatsuya Ishikawa, Ken Yasuhara
  • Patent number: 9289345
    Abstract: A walking assist device is capable of operating at an appropriate cycle in view of the motion cycle of a human being to be assisted while at the same time reducing the number of control parameters to be adjusted or set. A second phase oscillator, based on which the phase of the periodic operation of each actuator is controlled, is calculated on the basis of the difference between a first phase oscillator, which indicates a phase of the periodic motion of each thigh relative to the upper body of a human being, and the second phase oscillator, and an intrinsic angular velocity. A current intrinsic angular velocity is set by correcting a previous intrinsic angular velocity by an amount based on a previous difference between the first phase oscillator and the second phase oscillator such that the previous difference approaches a desired difference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2016
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Ken Yasuhara
  • Patent number: 9119762
    Abstract: A walking assist device evaluates the degree of asymmetry between a left motion oscillator, which is a waveform signal indicative of the time-dependent change form of an output of a left hip joint angle sensor, and a right motion oscillator, which is a waveform signal indicative of the time-dependent change form of an output of a right hip joint angle sensor. In order to reduce the degree of asymmetry, the value of at least one of a left bending coefficient, a left stretching coefficient, a right bending coefficient, and a right stretching coefficient is adjusted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yosuke Endo, Ken Yasuhara
  • Publication number: 20140121575
    Abstract: According to a walking motion assist device 10, an assisting force T of a leg in a standing-leg period is controlled to indicate a greatest value or a maximum value in a first designated period (refer to the one-dot chain line and the two-dot chain line in t=t1 to t2). By doing so, in the first designated period (an initial period or a prior period) of one leg, a translation of a body derived from a floor reaction force acting on the one leg is largely prompted compared to other periods of the standing-leg period. A smooth starting of floor leaving and bending motion of the other leg is prompted so as to follow the translation of the body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2013
    Publication date: May 1, 2014
    Applicant: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ken Yasuhara, Yosuke Endo
  • Patent number: 8562548
    Abstract: The present invention provides a rehabilitation device using a walking assistance device (1) having an actuator which generates and provides torque to a lower limb joint of a wearer wearing the walking assistance device (1), comprising a floor reaction force pattern storing unit (330) configured to store a reference floor reaction force pattern; a control target floor reaction force setting unit (340) for determining a control target floor reaction force based on the floor reaction force pattern stored in the floor reaction force pattern storing unit (330); a target torque calculating unit (350) for calculating a target torque of the actuator to achieve the control target floor reaction force determined by the control target floor reaction force setting unit (340); and an actuator output controller (150) for controlling output of the actuator such that the actuator generates a torque matching the target torque calculated by the target torque calculating unit (350); wherein the floor reaction force that the we
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2013
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kei Shimada, Ken Yasuhara, Tetsuya Ido, Shuichi Wakita
  • Patent number: 8428737
    Abstract: A movement assist system for assisting stably a movement of a creature, particularly a creature whose body part is paralyzed due to neuropathy or the like. According to the movement assist system, walking movement of a human is assisted according to an output from an actuator of a movement assist device. A timing of an electrical stimulation applied to the creature is adjusted by an electrical stimulation device on the basis of a signal representing an arithmetic processing result by a first controller which controls the output of the actuator. According thereto, it is possible to apply an electrical stimulation to the human at an appropriate timing from the viewpoint of maintaining an appropriate posture by considering a periodical movement state of the human even in cases where the body function is degraded, allowing the human assisted by the movement assist device to continue the walking movement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2013
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yosuke Endo, Ken Yasuhara, Kei Shimada, Eiichi Genda
  • Publication number: 20120310122
    Abstract: A walking assist device evaluates the degree of asymmetry between a left motion oscillator, which is a waveform signal indicative of the time-dependent change form of an output of a left hip joint angle sensor, and a right motion oscillator, which is a waveform signal indicative of the time-dependent change form of an output of a right hip joint angle sensor. In order to reduce the degree of asymmetry, the value of at least one of a left bending coefficient, a left stretching coefficient, a right bending coefficient, and a right stretching coefficient is adjusted.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2012
    Publication date: December 6, 2012
    Applicant: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yosuke Endo, Ken Yasuhara
  • Patent number: 8317732
    Abstract: Provided is a device capable of assisting a periodical motion of a creature, such as a human, by applying a force to the creature so as to match a motion rhythm and a motion scale of the periodical motion to a desired motion rhythm and a desired motion scale, respectively, while reducing computation processing load. According to a motion assist device (10) of the present invention, a value of a member or a coefficient contained in a simultaneous differential equation of a state variable (ui) for defining a second model which generates a second oscillator (?2) is adjusted by means of an adjusting device (14). The second oscillator (?2) is generated by the adjusted second model and a torque (T) applied to a human (P) is controlled to vary periodically according to the second oscillator (?2).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2012
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ken Yasuhara, Kei Shimada, Yosuke Endo
  • Patent number: 8313448
    Abstract: The present invention provides a walking assistance device comprising a pelvis support member (10) adapted to be worn on a hip of a wearer; a thigh support member (20) adapted to be worn on a thigh of the wearer; a leg support member (40) adapted to be worn on a leg of the wearer; a knee joint hinge (60) disposed at a position corresponding to a side part of a knee of the wearer and connecting the leg support member (40) to the thigh support member (20) in a manner that enables back-and forth rotation of the leg support member (40) with respect to the thigh support member (20); and a power generator assembly (100) mounted to the pelvis support member (10) at a position corresponding to a side part of a hip joint of the wearer; wherein the power generator assembly (100) comprises a hip joint power generator (110) and a knee joint power generator (120) each having an output member (116, 126, respectively), with the output member (116) of the hip joint power generator (110) being connected to the thigh support m
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2012
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kei Shimada, Ken Yasuhara
  • Patent number: 8298164
    Abstract: Provided is a motion assisting device capable of assisting a periodical walking motion of a creature so as to conduct a smooth motion of a leg thereof. According to the motion assisting device, an assisting force applied to the creature so as to assist a leg of the creature in moving with respect to a body thereof is reinforced by an increment in an auxiliary coefficient increased in a reinforcement duration. Accordingly, the stretch motion of the leg at the on-ground state is assisted by a relatively stronger assisting force. Thereby, the body is conducted to translate forward by a floor reaction force subjected to the leg at the on-ground state. A flexion motion of the leg at an off-ground state is induced by a reflex (stretch reflex) to the stretch motion of the leg by the assisting force at a previous off-ground state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2012
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ken Yasuhara
  • Patent number: 8287473
    Abstract: A device for assisting a user's motion in an appropriate rhythm by bringing a user's motion rhythm close to its target rhythm while harmonizing the motion rhythms of different parts of the user's body and a rhythm for assisting the user's motion is provided. The inventive walking assist device generates a first oscillator which attains mutual entrainment with a first motion oscillator in such a way as to reflect a natural angular velocity. A new natural angular velocity is set based on a phase difference between the first motion oscillator and the first oscillator. Further, a second oscillator which oscillates in a rhythm reflecting the natural angular velocity is generated based on a second motion oscillator. An assist oscillator is then generated based on the second oscillator, and a variable force responsive to the assist oscillator is applied to the user's body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2012
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ken Yasuhara
  • Patent number: 8202233
    Abstract: A device for inducing a user's motion such that the user's motion rhythm and scale coincide, respectively, with a target rhythm and scale is provided. According to the inventive motion induction device, a first oscillator is generated which attains mutual entrainment with a motion oscillator in such a way as to reflect a natural angular velocity ?M. A new natural angular velocity ?M is set based on a phase difference (first phase difference) ?HM between the motion oscillator and the first oscillator. Further, a second oscillator is generated based on the new natural angular velocity ?M. An induction oscillator is then generated which includes a first induction oscillator, the first induction oscillator including the second oscillator and a first potential which brings the value of the motion oscillator responsive to the user's motion scale close to its target value according to the natural angular velocity ?M.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2012
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ken Yasuhara
  • Patent number: 8048008
    Abstract: The motion assist device (200) is provided with an auxiliary oscillator generation element (150) configured to generate, on the basis of a second intrinsic angular velocity (?2) set according to a first oscillator (?1) generated from a first motion oscillator (?1) and a first model and a second oscillator (?2) generated from a second motion oscillator (?2) and a second model, an auxiliary oscillator (?) which includes therein a first auxiliary oscillator (?1) denoting an elastic force originated from a virtual elastic element for assisting the motion of the user so as to approximate a value of a third motion oscillator (?3) to a desired value (?0+, ?0?) related to a desired motion scale of the user, and an auxiliary oscillator regulation element (160) configured to sequentially regulate the first auxiliary oscillator (?1) so as to approximate a motion index value of the user to a reference value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2011
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ken Yasuhara, Kei Shimada, Yosuke Endo
  • Patent number: 8034005
    Abstract: A motion assist device for assisting a periodical motion of a creature such as a human by applying a force with appropriate strength to the creature so as to match a motion scale with a desired motion scale thereof regardless of a motion rhythm of the periodical motion. According to the motion assist device (1), a second model is corrected so as to approximate a value of a motion variable (?) to a desired value (?0). A second oscillator (?2) is generated according to the corrected second model. A periodical force (torque) (T) applied to the human (P) is controlled according to the second oscillator (?2).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2011
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ken Yasuhara, Kei Shimada, Yosuke Endo
  • Patent number: 7942833
    Abstract: A device for inducing a user's motion in a rhythm responsive to a motion rhythm after the user's motion rhythm changes suddenly. The walking assist device generates a first oscillator which attains mutual entrainment with a user's hip joint angular velocity to reflect a natural angular velocity. On the other hand, a new natural angular velocity is set based on the phase difference between the hip joint angular velocity and the first oscillator. A second oscillator which oscillates in rhythm reflecting the natural angular velocity is generated. An inducing oscillator is generated based on the second oscillator, and a torque responsive to the inducing oscillator acts on the user's body. If the magnitude of a periodic variation in the hip joint angular velocity exceeds a threshold value, a second oscillator which oscillates in rhythm reflecting the angular velocity of the first oscillator instead of the natural angular velocity is generated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2011
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ken Yasuhara
  • Patent number: 7880552
    Abstract: A system capable of controlling an autonomous walking assist rhythm, while following changes in a walking rhythm of a walker at the same time. A control system 100 in accordance with the present invention generates a first oscillator x that tugs and is tugged by a walking oscillator (hip joint angular velocity) ?H? such that an intrinsic angular velocity is reflected. Then, a new intrinsic angular velocity ?m is determined on the basis of the difference between a first phase difference ?HM between the first oscillator x and the walking oscillator ?H? and a desired phase difference ?d. Furthermore, a second oscillator y is generated that tugs and is tugged by the walking oscillator ?H? such that the intrinsic angular velocity ?m is reflected, and has a second phase difference ?hm, which is closer to the desired phase difference ?d than the first phase difference ?HM is, with respect to the walking oscillator ?H?.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Ken Yasuhara, Yoshihiro Miyake