Electrically powered artificial hand

摘要

The invention addresses the problem of providing an electrically powered artificial hand that can be constructed with a simple configuration, the operation of which is easy to master and the control of which is highly reproducible. The electrically powered artificial hand (1) is provided with: a shape-detecting sensor (2) for detecting the shape of the forearm of an upper limb amputee; a hand section (6) having a pair of arms (7a, 7b) that are capable of opening and closing movements; and a main control unit body (8) having a sensor signal-receiving circuit for receiving the sensor signal output from the shape-detecting sensor (2) according to the shape of the forearm, and a control signal-generating and -sending circuit for generating a control signal on the basis of the sensor signal and sending the control signal to the hand section (6) to control the opening and closing movements of the arms (7a, 7b). The control signal comprises a control direction for controlling the direction of the movement of arms (7a, 7b), the direction being determined on the basis of the direction of the change in shape from a previously prescribed initial shape of the forearm, and a control magnitude for controlling the distance of movement of the arms (7a, 7b), the magnitude being determined on the basis of the magnitude of the change in shape from the initial shape.

主权项

1. An electrically powered prosthesis comprising: a first shape-detecting sensor configured to be attached to part of a forearm or an upper arm of an upper limb amputee and to detect a shape of said forearm or said upper arm and generate a sensor signal output, wherein the first shape-detecting sensor is a strain sensor; a hand section having at least a pair of levers that are capable of opening and closing movements; and a main control unit body electrically connected to said first shape-detecting sensor, said main control unit body including: a sensor signal-receiving circuit that receives the sensor signal output from said first shape-detecting sensor in accordance with a shape of said forearm or said upper arm, and a control signal-generating and -sending circuit that generates a control signal responsive to both direction and displacement information contained in said received sensor signal and sends said control signal to said electrically connected hand section so as to control opening and closing movements of said levers based on a control direction and a control amount of displacement contained in said control signal, the control direction for controlling a direction of movement of said levers being determined in accordance with a direction of a change in shape from a previously prescribed first initial shape of said forearm or said upper arm, and the control amount of displacement for controlling a distance of movement of said levers being determined based on an amount of the change in shape from the first initial shape.