Patents on the soles of your shoes...: Oh, patents! Exoskeleton vest (2)

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Oh, patents! Exoskeleton vest (2)

According to OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), MSDs (musculoskeletal disorders) are one of the leading causes of work-related injury, in the US. Every year, approximately, 600,000 MSDs are reported serious enough to cause time-off-work. Work on assembly lines, or in the construction industry, exposing workers to highly repetitive motion, awkward positions, vibrations and contact stress, are prime examples of work conditions conducive to MSDs.

Industrial uses of exoskeletons precisely address the issues of MSDs. For example, products such as the Ekso Bionics Eksovest provide robotic, upper body, strength to the worker, on such tasks as power tool use for drilling, cutting and grinding, in a raised arm position.

The goal of the exoskeleton Eksovest invention is to transfer, to the vest, both the weight of tools and the weight of arms raised overhead for prolonged periods of time. The transfer of weight to the vest, decreasing the weight borne by the worker’s body, thus decreases fatigue, which in turn results in an increase in time on task. Most importantly, use of exoskeleton arm support, for power tool use in above-eye-level arm positions, also prevents injury to muscles and to the worker’s own skeleton. The weight of the power tool travels from hands through the exoskeleton arm supports, down the spine of the vest to a hip belt, or to a surface where the robotic arms might optionally be attached.

The marketed Eksovest product is adjustable to workers' height (ranging from 5' to 6'.4), lightweight (9.5 lbs) and easy to put on, and to take-off. It also provides 5 to 15 lbs lift assistance.

Many aspects of the Eksovest invention are patented. Torque assistance to the worker’s arm is recited in the following family of 5 patents:

EP3189945 (A1) ― 2017-07-12- Exoskeleton and method of providing an assistive torque to an arm of a wearer
CA2952403 (A1) ― 2017-06-22 - Exoskeleton and method of providing an assistive torque to an arm of a wearer
JP2017159442 (A) ― 2017-09-14 - Exoskeleton and method of providing assistive torque to arm of wearer
KR20170074814 (A) ― 2017-06-30 - Exoskeleton and method of providing an assistive torque to an arm of a wearer
US2017173783 (A1) ― 2017-06-22 - Exoskeleton and method of providing an assistive torque to an arm of a wearer

The abstract of this invention is included below, together with a patent front view drawing of the vest, showing the arms attached to the vest’s spine, on each side of a bar. The included video advertises the Ekso Bionics Eksovest.

An exoskeleton (100) includes a first link (215, 216) that pivots in a transverse plane about a first vertical axis and a second link (220, 221) that pivots in a transverse plane about a second vertical axis. The second link (220, 221) is coupled to the first link (215, 216). An arm support assembly (230, 231) is coupled to the second link and pivots about a horizontal axis. The arm support assembly (230, 231) includes a spring (410) that generates an assistive torque that counteracts gravity. The arm support assembly (230, 231) provides the assistive torque to an arm of a wearer to support the arm of the wearer. The arm support assembly (230, 231) further includes a cam profile (400) and a cam follower (405). Contact between the spring, cam follower and cam profile determines an amount of the assistive force provided by the arm support assembly (230, 231). A cuff is coupled to the arm support assembly (230, 231) and the arm of the wearer. [Abstract US2017173783]