Introduction

The invention is based on the idea of providing an exoskeleton with a compensation mechanism that gives complete freedom of movement to the user. This is possible thanks to the presence of a lever that allows a very rigid compression spring to return a force of particularly high intensity. The exoskeleton is equipped with a mechanism for the elastic balancing of the loads applied to it, where the mechanism includes: a connection element and a housing pivoting on a first axis of oscillation and connectable to two respective relatively rotatable parts of the exoskeleton.

Technical features

Exoskeletons need to leave plenty of freedom of movement to the wearer, not only with respect to the limb involved in rehabilitation or in the execution of certain movements, as many exoskeletons present in the state of the art do, but to the whole body. The mechanism proposed, includes a rigid connection element and a rigid housing mutually pivoting on a first axis of oscillation, connectable to the respective parts of a relatively rotatable exoskeleton. A lever is mounted by rotating towards the housing on a second axis of oscillation. A flexible traction element has a first rotational end fixed to the connecting element with respect to the first axis of oscillation and a second end fixed to that lever at a fixing point crossed by the second axis of oscillation. A compression spring exerts a push, away from the first axis of oscillation, against a part of the lever intermediate between the second axis of oscillation and the fixing point at the second end of the tensile element. We thus obtain an elastic mechanism, incorporated in the exoskeleton and having dimensions as compact as possible. TRL=7.

Possible Applications

• Rehabilitative exoskeletons
• Exoskeletons that may be used in fields other than biomedical engineering, such as in the manufacturing industry

Advantages

• Robust and mechanically simple balancing mechanism
• Built-in system in the exoskeleton, with compact as possible dimensions and able to give to the user an adequate freedom of movement