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Variable resistance exercise and rehabilitation hand device

Variable resistance exercise and rehabilitation hand device description/claims

This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/661,625 filed Mar. 14, 2005 entitled, SMART VARIABLE RESISTANCE EXERCISE HAND DEVICE, the whole of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

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Various devices exist to provide training and rehabilitation exercises for the human hand. These devices are usually based on simple mechanical systems such as springs and designed to provide resistive forces. Heavy Grips® hand grippers and Digi-Flex® rehabilitation systems are among the hand/finger exercise devices that are currently available and use springs to strengthen the hand grip. Other commercially available exercise devices for the hand and finger are even simpler, such as a flexible putty that provides resistance when a user squeezes it. Other similar exercise devices utilize rubber balls, egg-shapes or flexible sacks filled with various materials. While these are capable devices, the amount of resistive force that is available is fixed based on the material used and is not changeable in real time. Consequently, the range of exercises that are available with these devices is limited. Such devices must be changed in order to experience differing levels of resistance. However, these exercise and rehabilitative devices are in widespread use, and their low cost, availability and simplicity have contributed to their usefulness.

Another category of rehabilitative devices is the rehabilitation machines, such as isokinetic and CPM machines. These devices move all the joints of the hand passively through a range of motion. They supply resistive and assistive forces, while providing a unique tailoring of the rehabilitation regime to nearly any individual.

The present invention is directed to an exercising and rehabilitation hand device that addresses the shortcomings of existing devices. The hand device according to the invention is portable and controllable by smart fluid-based brakes/dampers to provide a compact, lightweight mechanism whose resistance to motion can be changed on-the-fly, through computerize control, to vary the exercises that can be performed and tune the workout or rehabilitation session to the responses of the user.

Smart fluids are a category smart materials, those whose properties can be altered through the application of various stimuli such as electric fields, magnetic fields and heat. As exemplified herein, smart fluids can be incorporated into small but powerful dampers to create lightweight devices whose properties can be changed to adapt to changing requirements. In one embodiment, a brake/damper based on the class of smart fluids known as Electro-Rheological Fluids (ERFs) is presented as an example of a smart fluid-based brake/damper system. An exercise and rehabilitation hand device utilizing an ERF brake/damper according to the invention is compact and lightweight with strong, highly tunable torque and force capabilities; is fully portable with onboard sensors, power and control circuitry; and has real time capabilities for closed loop computer control for optimizing rehabilitation exercises while in use. In comparable embodiments of the invention, a magneto-rheological fluid could alternatively be used.

Thus, in one aspect, the invention directed to a rotary electro-rheological fluid brake/damper device for providing resistance to a torque or force input, the brake device including a housing comprising an insulative case, a shaft rotatably mounted in the case; one or more rotatable cylindrical electrodes mounted to the shaft for rotation therewith; one or more ground cylindrical electrodes fixed to the case and disposed in opposition to and concentrically with the rotatable electrodes, a gap disposed between the ground electrode and the rotatable electrodes; and an electro-rheological fluid disposed within the gap. Preferably, the rotatable cylindrical electrodes comprise a single integral part and the ground cylindrical electrodes comprise a single integral part. The rotable cylindrical electrodes can comprise notches and holes sufficient to introduce discontinuities in the surface of the rotable electrode to reduce eddy currents for utilizing the brake/damper in high magnetic field devices such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

In another aspect, the invention is directed to a linear electro-rheological fluid brake/damper for providing resistance to a torque or force input, the “concentric channel” damper ERF device including a housing comprising an insulative case, an interior ground cylindrical electrode fixed to the case, the interior cylindrical electrode being a concentric cylinder with the exterior electrode fixed on the case, two flow channels at both sides of the ground electrode mounted on the case, a gap disposed between the ground interior electrode and the exterior electrode, a piston that moves linearly inside the interior electrode, a two-way relief valve or a one-way valve mounted on the piston to adjust baseline damping; and an electro-rheological fluid disposed within the gap and the interior electrode.

In a further aspect, the invention is directed to a strength training and rehabilitative device for the hand including a handle assembly having one or more gripping elements for gripping and squeezing by a hand of a user and a damper assembly including a smart fluid as described herein. Preferably, the damper assembly includes the electro-rheological brake/damper described herein, a gear assembly attached to the shaft of the electro-rheological fluid damper to couple an input or output force or torque to the handle assembly; and a ratchet assembly to minimize the return force of the movable handle. Alternatively, the hand device according to the invention can include either of the electro-rheological fluid brake devices described herein. More preferably, the hand device includes a sensor system comprising a sensor assembly operative to measure angle, velocity, and acceleration of the handles, wherein the sensor assembly is operative to provide closed-loop control of the device. The sensor assembly can also be operative to measure torque on the shaft or/and force on the handles to provide closed-loop control of the device. A preferred hand device further includes a controller assembly operative to control the electro-rheological fluid device, wherein the control assembly is operative to provide remote communication. More preferably, the hand device is operable under battery power comprising one or more batteries, which can be disposed within the device or externally to the device.

In a most general aspect, the invention is directed broadly to a human interface stand-alone device for exercise or rehabilitation, the device including a frame assembly manipulatable by a user; and a damper assembly coupled to the frame assembly and operative to provide a controllable variable resistive force reactive to motion provided by a user's input, the damper assembly including a smart fluid damper. Preferably, the stand-alone device is configured as a desktop device. The device is manipulatable via a hand, leg, foot, arm or any other appendage or movable part of the body.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments thereof and from the claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a hand device according to the invention, having pincer handle motion and a rotary brake;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional, 3-dimensional view of the ERF brake element of the embodiment of FIG. 1 showing fixed and rotating electrodes;

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