KNEE JOINT AND PROSTHETIC LEG

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a knee joint and a prosthetic leg without requiring an electric component and an electronic component.SOLUTION: A knee joint is the one to join a socket to be mounted on a thigh with a prosthetic lower leg, and includes: a vane 106 that divides an oil chamber into a first chamber 103 and a second chamber 104 and is to be turned; a partition wall for separating the first chamber 103 and the second chamber 104; an oil passage 108 communicating with the first chamber 103; a first oil passage 109 and a second oil passage 110 that are branched from the oil passage 108; and a changeover valve 111 arranged at a branch point between the first oil passage 109 and the second oil passage 110. The first oil passage 109 includes: first means for generating a torque; and a second oil passage 110 for generating a torque with characteristics different from those of the first means. In the knee joint, the changeover valve 111 selectively changes over the flow destination of oil that has come into a valve chamber from the oil passage 108 communicating with the first chamber 103 to the first oil passage 109 or the second oil passage 110 in accordance with the change of a valve chamber inclination direction.