Patent ID: 9655762
Date: 2017-05-23
CPC Classifications: A61F

Claim:
1. A trunk supporting exoskeleton configured to be worn by a person to reduce the muscle forces in the wearer's back during forward lumbar flexion, said exoskeleton comprising: a supporting trunk configured to be coupled to a wearer's trunk; first and second thigh links configured to couple to a wearer's thighs, wherein each of the first and second thigh links is rotatably coupled to said supporting trunk in a manner that allows for flexion and extension of respective first and second thigh links relative to said supporting trunk; and first and second torque generators, wherein each of the first and second torque generators is configured to automatically transition, independently of one another, between a neutral position wherein no torque is generated and an engaged position, to generate torque between the respective first and second thigh links and said supporting trunk, wherein when a wearer bends forward in the sagittal plane such that a predetermined portion of said supporting trunk extends beyond a predetermined angle from vertical, at least one of the first or second torque generators imposes a resisting torque between said supporting trunk and at least one of the first and second thigh links, causing said supporting trunk to impose a force against a wearer's trunk and at least one of the first and second thigh links to impose a force onto a wearer's thigh and, when the predetermined portion of the supporting trunk does not extend beyond a predetermined angle from vertical, said first and second torque generators, through an entire range of motion of the first and second thigh links, impose no resisting torques between said supporting trunk and the respective first and second thigh links.