JP6665766B2 - Walking training equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a walking training device.

  2. Description of the Related Art A walking training device provided with a lifting device that restores the body to its original position without hindering the operation at the time of normal training and applying no impact when falling down is known.

JP 2004-329278 A

  For example, when a walking assist device that assists bending of a joint by using the driving force of a motor is attached to a leg to perform walking training, it is necessary to perform various preparations before starting the training. In some cases, the user may forget to attach a safety device to prevent the vehicle from falling. Even though the safety device is configured to appropriately support the body according to the trainee's situation, if the trainee forgets to wear it, the effect cannot be enjoyed.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and provides a technique for preventing a forgotten wearing of a safety device in order to safely perform a walking training for a walking trainee.

  A walking training device according to a specific embodiment of the present invention is a walking training device that includes at least one of a treadmill that encourages a trainee to walk and a walking assist device that assists the movement of the trainee's legs. A brace to be worn on the body, a hanger connected at one end to the brace, a drive unit connected to the other end of the brace to lift and lower the hanger, and a load detector to detect a load received from the legs. Unit and the drive unit to start lifting the lifting gear, and if the load detection unit does not detect a certain decrease in load before the predetermined condition is satisfied, a warning process for the trainee, activation of the treadmill A control unit that performs at least one of prohibition and operation prohibition of the walking assist device.

  With this configuration, if the trainee forgets to attach the lifting device as a safety device, the walking training device cannot detect the decrease in the load even if the lifting device is lifted, so that the increase in the reduction cannot be detected. In this case, it is possible to warn the trainee that he / she has forgotten to wear it, or to prohibit the subsequent training operation, thereby preventing the walking training from proceeding in a dangerous state.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the technique which prevents forgetting to attach a safety device can be provided in order to implement walk training of a walk trainer safely.

It is a schematic perspective view of the walking training device concerning this embodiment. It is a schematic perspective view of a walking assistance apparatus. It is a figure showing the system configuration of a walking training device. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation of a walking training device. It is a schematic perspective view of the walking training device concerning the modification of this real embodiment.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention, but the invention according to the claims is not limited to the following embodiments. In addition, all of the configurations described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential as means for solving the problem.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a walking training device 100 according to the present embodiment. The walking training device 100 is a device for a trainee 900 who is a disabled person having a disorder such as hemiplegia or an elderly person with weakened leg strength to perform walking training. The walking training device 100 mainly includes a front tension unit 135, a rear tension unit 137, and a harness tension unit 112 attached to a frame 130 forming the entire skeleton, a treadmill 131 on which the trainee 900 walks, and a trainee. And a walking assist device 120 to be attached to the legs 900.

  The frame 130 is erected on a treadmill 131 installed on the floor. The treadmill 131 rotates a ring-shaped belt 132 by a motor (not shown). The treadmill 131 is a device that encourages the trainee 900 to walk. The trainee 900 performing the walking training rides on the belt 132 and attempts a walking operation in accordance with the movement of the belt 132.

  The frame 130 supports a control panel 133 that houses the overall control unit 210 that controls the motors and sensors, a display unit 138 that is a liquid crystal panel that displays the progress of training, and the like. In addition, the frame 130 supports the front pulling portion 135 near the upper front of the trainee 900, the harness pulling portion 112 near the upper head, and the rear pulling portion 137 near the upper rear of the trainee. Further, the frame 130 includes a handrail 130a for the trainee 900 to grasp.

  One end of the front wire 134 is connected to the winding mechanism of the front pulling unit 135, and the other end is connected to the walking assist device 120. The winding mechanism of the front pulling unit 135 turns on / off a motor (not shown) to wind or unwind the front wire 134 according to the movement of the affected leg. Similarly, one end of the rear wire 136 is connected to the winding mechanism of the rear pulling portion 137, and the other end is connected to the walking assist device 120. The winding mechanism of the rear pulling portion 137 winds or unwinds the rear wire 136 according to the movement of the affected leg by turning on / off a motor (not shown).

  The walking training device 100 includes a harness device as a safety device that mainly includes the brace 110, the harness wire 111, and the harness pulling unit 112. The orthosis 110 is a belt wound around the waist of the trainee 900, and is fixed to the waist by, for example, a hook-and-loop fastener. The brace 110 includes a connecting hook 110a that connects one end of a harness wire 111 that is a hanging tool. The trainee 900 wears the orthosis 110 so that the connection hook 110a is located on the back.

  One end of the harness wire 111 is connected to the connection hook 110 a of the brace 110, and the other end is connected to the winding mechanism of the harness pulling portion 112. The winding mechanism of the harness pulling unit 112 winds or unwinds the harness wire 111 by turning on / off a motor (not shown). The harness pulling section 112 has a function as a driving section for lifting and hanging the harness wire 111 including a motor (not shown). With such a configuration, when the trainee 900 is about to fall, the harness apparatus supports the upper body of the trainee 900 with the brace 110 to prevent the trainee 900 from falling.

  The walking assist device 120 is mounted on the affected leg, which is a leg to be trained by the trainee 900, and assists the trainee 900 in walking by reducing the load on the affected leg. The walking assist device 120 includes a sole sensor 125 for detecting a load applied to the sole. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the walking assist device 120. The walking assist device 120 mainly includes a control unit 121 and a plurality of frames supporting each part of the affected leg, in addition to the sole sensor 125.

  The control unit 121 includes an auxiliary control unit 220 that controls the walking assist device 120, and also includes a motor (not illustrated) that generates a driving force for assisting the bending motion of the knee joint. The frame supporting each part of the affected leg includes an upper leg frame 122, a lower leg frame 123 rotatably connected to the upper leg frame 122, a foot frame 124 rotatably connected to the lower leg frame 123, and a front side. It includes a front connection frame 127 for connecting the wires 134 and a rear connection frame 128 for connecting the rear wires 136.

Upper leg frame 122 and the lower leg frame 123 rotate relatively to the hinge axis _{H a} surrounding shown. Motor control unit 121 is rotated in accordance with an instruction of the auxiliary controller 220, upper leg frame 122 and the lower leg frame 123 or helping to open relatively around the hinge axis H _a, or Kase closed so . The lower leg frame 123 and the foot frame 124 relatively rotate around the illustrated hinge axis _Hb . The angle of relative rotation is adjusted by the adjusting mechanism 126 before walking training.

  The front connecting frame 127 is provided so as to extend the front side of the upper leg in the left-right direction and connect to the upper leg frame 122 at both ends. A connection hook 127a for connecting the front wire 134 is provided on the front connection frame 127 near the center in the left-right direction. The rear connecting frame 128 is provided so as to extend the rear side of the lower leg in the left-right direction, and to be connected to the lower leg frame 123 extending vertically at both ends. The rear connection frame 128 is provided with a connection hook 128a for connecting the rear wire 136 near the center in the left-right direction.

  The upper leg frame 122 includes an upper leg belt 129. The thigh belt 129 is a belt provided integrally with the thigh frame 122, and is wrapped around the thigh of the affected leg to fix the thigh frame 122 to the thigh. This prevents the entire walking assist device 120 from shifting with respect to the leg of the trainee 900.

  The sole sensor 125 is a load sensor embedded in the foot frame 124. The sole sensor 125 detects the magnitude and distribution of the vertical load applied to the sole of the trainee 900. The sole sensor 125 is, for example, a resistance change detection type load detection sheet in which electrodes are arranged in a matrix.

  Next, the system configuration of the walking training device 100 will be described. FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram of the walking training device 100. The overall control unit 210 is, for example, a CPU, and controls the entire apparatus by executing a control program read from a system memory. The treadmill drive unit 211 includes a motor for rotating the belt 132 and a drive circuit for the motor. The overall control unit 210 executes rotation control of the belt 132 by sending a drive signal to the treadmill drive unit 211. For example, the rotation speed of the belt 132 is adjusted according to a preset walking speed.

  The operation receiving unit 212 receives an input operation from the trainee 900 or an operator, and transmits an operation signal to the overall control unit 210. The trainee 900 or the operator operates the operation buttons, the touch panel, the attached remote controller, and the like, which constitute the operation reception unit 212, and gives an instruction to turn on / off the power and start the training, and to perform setting. Input of numerical values and selection of menu items.

  The display control unit 213 receives a display signal from the overall control unit 210, generates a display screen, and displays the display screen on the display unit 138. The display control unit 213 generates a screen indicating the progress of the training and a warning screen described later according to the display signal. The pulling drive unit 214 includes a motor for pulling the front wire 134 constituting the front pulling unit 135 and a drive circuit thereof, and a motor for forming the rear pulling unit 137 and pulling the rear wire 136 and the motor. And a driving circuit. The overall control unit 210 controls the winding of the front wire 134 and the winding of the rear wire 136 by sending a driving signal to the tension driving unit 214. In addition, the pulling force of each wire is controlled by controlling not only the winding operation but also the driving torque of the motor. The overall control unit 210 identifies, for example, the timing at which the affected leg switches from the free leg to the standing leg and the timing at which the affected leg switches from the standing leg to the free leg based on the detection result of the sole sensor 125, and synchronizes with each timing to determine the pulling force of each wire. Is increased or decreased to assist the training of the trainee 900.

  The harness driving section 215 includes a motor for pulling the harness wire 111, which constitutes the harness pulling section 112, and a drive circuit therefor. The overall control unit 210 controls the winding of the harness wire 111 and the tensile force of the harness wire 111 by sending a drive signal to the harness driving unit 215. Specific control will be described later in detail. The load sensor 115 is, for example, a strain gauge type load cell, and indirectly detects a tension applied to the harness wire 111 by detecting a pressing force received from the harness wire 111. The load sensor 115 transmits the detected detection signal to the overall control unit 210.

  As described above, the walking assist device 120 is mounted on the affected leg of the trainee 900, and the walking training device 100 controls the overall control unit in order to give instructions to the walking assist device 120 and receive sensor information. A communication connection IF 219 connected to the communication interface 210 is provided. The walking assist device 120 also includes a communication connection IF 229 connected to the communication connection IF 219 by wire or wirelessly. The communication connection IF 229 is connected to the auxiliary control unit 220 of the walking assist device 120. The communication connection IFs 219 and 229 are communication interfaces such as a wireless LAN in accordance with a communication standard.

  The auxiliary control unit 220 is, for example, a CPU, and executes control of the walking assist device 120 by executing a control program given from the overall control unit 210. Further, the state of the walking assist device 120 is notified to the overall control unit 210 via the communication connection IFs 219 and 229. In addition, in response to a command from the overall control unit 210, the start / stop of the walking assist device 120 is performed.

The joint drive unit 221 includes a motor of the control unit 121 and a drive circuit thereof. Auxiliary controller 220, by sending a driving signal to the articulation drive 221, or Kase as the upper leg frame 122 and the lower leg frame 123 is opened relatively around the hinge axis H _a, or Kase closed so . The sole sensor 125 detects the magnitude and distribution of the vertical load applied to the sole of the trainee 900 as described above, and transmits a detection signal to the auxiliary control unit 220. By receiving and analyzing the detection signal, the auxiliary control unit 220 determines the state of the free leg / standing leg, and estimates switching from the free leg to the standing leg or from the standing leg to the free leg. The sole sensor 125 cooperates with the auxiliary control unit 220 and the overall control unit 210 to function as a load detection unit that detects a load received from the affected leg.

  By the way, the trainee 900 and the operator need to perform various preparatory operations before starting the training, such as initial setting of the device and mounting the walking assist device 120 on the affected leg. In a situation where such preparation work is performed, the trainee 900 or the like sometimes forgets to attach the brace 110 to the waist or forgets to connect the harness wire 111 to the brace 110. In addition, the trainee 900 or the like may not intentionally attach or connect, or may improperly attach or connect. Then, the harness device will not function properly, and the trainee 900 will be at risk of falling.

  Therefore, the gait training device 100 according to the present embodiment executes a process for confirming that the harness device functions reliably before shifting to the operation process for gait training. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the walking training device 100. The flow starts when the trainer 900 or the operator activates the device.

  When the walking training device 100 is started, the overall control unit 210 receives an input of the weight of the trainee from the trainee 900 or the like via the operation receiving unit 212 in step S100. The trainee 900 or the like inputs the weight of the trainee 900 from a touch panel or the like.

  In step S101, the overall control unit 210 waits until an instruction to start provisional walking is received from the trainee 900 or the like via the operation reception unit 212. After various preparations are completed, the trainee 900 and the like perform an operation of starting provisional walking. When the instruction to start the temporary walking is received, the process proceeds to step S102.

In step S102, the overall control unit 210 receives a detection signal from the sole sensor 125 via the auxiliary control unit 220, and checks the load received from the affected leg (step S103). Load W detected at this time, if already smaller than the load W ₀ is a reference value, the appliance 110 is properly seated in the waist, as the harness wire 111 is properly connected to the appliance 110, step Proceed to S110. If the determination in step S103 is not made, step S100 may be omitted and the weight W detected in step S102 may be used as the weight of the trainee 900.

If load _{W 0} or load W is equal to the reference value, the process proceeds to step S104. Note that the reference load W ₀ is a harness wire determined according to the height of the waist of the trainee 900 when the brace 110 is properly attached to the waist and the harness wire 111 is appropriately connected to the brace 110. At a payout amount of 111, the value is set in advance based on a load (unloading load) by which the harness wire 111 lifts the trainee 900. For example, if the weight of the trainee 900 is _{W T,} setting the relieving load during mounting _{W S} (e.g. 5 kgf), because the load of the affected leg side is _{half, W} 0 = (W _T - W _S ) / 2.

The overall control unit 210 transmits a driving signal to the harness driving unit 215 in step S104, and starts winding the harness wire 111. While the harness wire 111 is being wound, the overall control unit 210 continuously acquires a detection signal from the sole sensor 125 via the auxiliary control unit 220, and monitors a change in the load W. In step S105, the load W being monitored is determined whether the below load W ₀ is a reference value. If it is determined that it has fallen below, it is determined that the brace 110 is properly attached to the waist and the harness wire 111 is appropriately connected to the brace 110, and the process proceeds to step S110. If it is determined that the value is not below, the process proceeds to step S106.

The overall control unit 210, at step S106, the winding amount L of the harness wire 111 from the start winding confirms whether exceeds the taking-up quantity L ₀ as the threshold value. The winding amount L of the harness wire 111 is converted from the integrated value of the drive signal transmitted to the harness drive unit 215. If the accuracy is to be further increased, an encoder may be provided in the winding mechanism and monitoring may be performed. Incidentally, the winding-up amount L ₀ as the threshold value is a value set in advance, may set various criteria reference. For example, the length of the slackable harness wire 111 calculated from the height of the waist of the trainee 900 and the total length of the harness wire 111 may be determined as a reference.

Does not exceed the taking-up quantity L ₀ to the winding amount L is a threshold, the process returns to step S104, the overall controller 210 continues winding of the harness wire 111. Once beyond the taking-up quantity L ₀ to the winding amount L is a threshold, since the hoisting harness wire 111 a predetermined amount so that did not decrease to a certain load, the total control unit 210, the appliance 110 is properly The process proceeds to step S107 assuming that the harness wire 111 is not attached to the waist or the harness wire 111 is not properly connected to the brace 110.

  The overall control unit 210 stops the winding of the harness wire 111 in step S107, and executes a warning process in step S106. The warning process is a process of displaying a warning display on the display unit 138. The overall control unit 210 causes the display control unit 213 to generate and display a warning display such as, for example, “The harness wire is not properly mounted. Start training after properly mounting the harness wire.” It is displayed on the section 138. The warning process is not limited to displaying a warning display on the display unit 138, and may generate a warning sound or turn on a red light together with or instead of the warning display.

  The overall control unit 210 proceeds to step S109, and executes a process of prohibiting the operation of the treadmill 131 and prohibiting the operation of the walking assist device 120. Specifically, the overall control unit 210 prohibits the transmission of the drive signal to the treadmill drive unit 211 so as not to execute the rotation of the belt 132 scheduled by the walking training program. Further, a control signal for prohibiting transmission of a drive signal to joint drive unit 221 is transmitted to auxiliary control unit 220. Then, a series of processes is ended without executing the motion process for walking training.

On the other hand, if it is determined that is below the load W ₀ of the load W is the reference detected in step S103 or step S105, the appliance 110 is properly seated in the waist harness wire 111 is properly connected to the brace 110 As a result, the overall control unit 210 proceeds to operation processing for walking training. Specifically, in step S110, until the load detected by the sole sensor 125 becomes larger _{W 1} than _{W 0,} to release the harness wire 111. That is, when the trainee 900 performs the walking training, the harness wire 111 is paid out to a slightly loosened degree so as not to hinder the training. Thus, the load W ₁ of the this reference is set to about half of the load by adding the own weight of the harness wire 111 on the body weight of the trainee 900.

  The overall control unit 210 proceeds to step S111, and waits until an instruction to start the actual walking is received from the trainee 900 or the like via the operation reception unit 212. When various preparations are completed, the trainee 900 and the like perform the operation of starting the actual walking. When the instruction to start the actual walking is received, the process proceeds to step S112. In step S112, the overall control unit 210 executes an operation process for walking training programmed in advance. When the operation processing is completed, a series of processing ends.

  Next, a modified example of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a walking training device 101 according to a modification of the present embodiment. The walking training device 101 includes the same elements as the walking training device 100, but differs from the walking training device 100 in further including a floor load sensor 140. FIG. 5 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1, but the same elements as those of the walking training apparatus 100 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

  The floor load sensor 140 is a load sensor provided on the back side of the belt 132, which is a walking surface on which the trainee 900 walks, on the main body of the treadmill 131 such that the belt 132 slides on the surface. The floor load sensor 140 is, for example, a resistance change detection type load detection sheet in which electrodes are arranged in a matrix, and detects the magnitude and distribution of a vertical load received from each leg of the trainee 900 via the belt 132. I do.

  In the walking training device 100, by calculating the load received from the affected leg using the sole sensor 125, it can be determined whether or not the brace 110 is properly attached to the waist and the harness wire 111 is properly connected to the brace 110. It was judged. The walking training device 101 performs a similar determination by monitoring a detection signal from the floor load sensor 140 instead of the sole sensor 125.

Specifically, to set the load W ₀ as a reference value in the same manner as the walking exercise device 100, the detected load W to confirm whether below the W _0. Since the floor load sensor 140 can detect the load received from the affected leg on which the walking assist device 120 is mounted and the load received from the other leg, respectively, the load W to be detected is the sum of these. It can be. In this case, for example, in the case the weight of the trainee 900 is _{W T,} the relieved load during mounting With the setting _{W S} (e.g. 5 _kgf), can be calculated as W _{0 =} W T -W _S.

Thus to set the load W ₀ as a reference, also monitor the load W from the floor load sensor 140 can perform the same process flow as the process flow described with reference to FIG. According to this processing flow, for example, even when the trainee 900 does not exert much force on the affected leg due to pain or the like and the load on the left and right legs is imbalanced, the orthosis 110 Can be properly attached to the waist, and whether the harness wire 111 is appropriately connected to the brace 110 can be determined appropriately.

  In the present embodiment described above including the modification, a warning process for the trainee 900 is performed in step S108, and the prohibition of the operation of the treadmill 131 and the prohibition of the operation of the walking assist device 120 are performed in step S109. These orders may be reversed. In addition, any one of the prohibition of operation of the treadmill 131 and the prohibition of operation of the walking assist device 120 in step S109 may be performed. Alternatively, one of step S108 and step S109 may be performed, and the other may be omitted. In any case, if the trainee 900 or the like can be aware that the brace 110 is not properly attached to the waist or the harness wire 111 is not properly connected to the brace 110, it is necessary to promote appropriate use. Can be.

  In addition, the walking training devices 100 and 101 according to the present embodiment perform walking training by linking the operation of the walking assist device 120 and the operation of the treadmill 131, but the walking training device has such a configuration. Not exclusively. A walking training device including either a walking assist device or a treadmill may be used. If the treadmill is not provided and the walking assist device is not provided, the process may be executed by acquiring the load W from the floor load sensor 140 described as a modification. In addition, in step S109, a process of prohibiting the operation of the device included in the walking training device may be performed.

Also, the walking training device 100 according to this embodiment, if not reduced to the load W ₀ load W is equal to the reference value until the condition of exceeding the taking-up quantity L ₀ to the winding amount L is the threshold Then, the warning process and the like are performed, but the predetermined condition is not limited to this. Previously defined conditions, for example, may be a time required to decrease to the load W _0. Any condition may be adopted as long as it is determined that a reduction in load cannot be expected even if the winding operation of the harness wire 111 is continued further.

Reference Signs List 100, 101 walking training device, 110 brace, 111 harness wire, 112 harness pulling part, 115 load sensor, 120 walking assist device, 121 control unit, 122 upper leg frame, 123 lower leg frame, 124 foot frame, 125 foot sensor , 126 adjustment mechanism, 127 front connection frame, 128 rear connection frame, 129 thigh belt, 130 frame, 131 treadmill, 132 belt, 133 control panel, 134 front wire, 135 front pulling portion, 136 rear wire, 137 Rear tension unit, 140 floor load sensor, 210 overall control unit, 211 treadmill drive unit, 212 operation reception unit, 213 display control unit, 214 tension drive unit, 215 harness drive unit, 219 communication connection IF, 220 auxiliary control unit , 221 Section drive unit, 229 communication connection IF, 900 trainee

Claims (1)

A walking training device including at least one of a treadmill that encourages a trainee to walk and a walking assist device that assists movement of the trainee's legs,
A brace worn on the body of the trainee,
A hanger having one end connected to the brace,
A drive unit connected to the other end of the hanging device, for lifting and hanging the hanging device,
A load detector that detects a load received from the leg,
A warning process for the trainee, the treadmill, when the load detecting unit does not detect a constant decrease in load before the driving unit starts lifting the lifting implement and a predetermined condition is satisfied. operation inhibition, and and a control unit for performing at least one of operation inhibition of the walking assist device,
The load detection unit is provided in a walking assist device attached to a leg of the trainee to be trained, a sole sensor for detecting a load applied to the sole, or a walk in which the trainee walks. it is the surface, on the back side of the belt which is rotated by the treadmill, walking training device to which the belt Ru floor load sensor der provided to slide the surface.

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