Patent ID: 8079967

Claim:
A walking assistance device having: a receiving portion configured to be disposed between the root of both legs of a user so as to receive a part of the weight of the user from above; a pair of left and right thigh frames respectively connected to the receiving portion through first joints; a pair of left and right crus frames respectively connected to the thigh frames through second joints; a pair of left and right foot attachment portions that are respectively connected to the crus frames through third joints and respectively attached to the feet of the left and right legs of the user and that come in contact with the ground when the legs of the user are standing legs; an actuator for the left which drives the second joint among the joints of a left leg link composed of the first joint, the thigh frame, the second joint, the crus frame, the third joint, and the foot attachment portion on the left side; and an actuator for the right which drives the second joint among the joints of a right leg link composed of the first joint, the thigh frame, the second joint, the crus frame, the third joint, and the foot attachment portion on the right side; the second joints of the leg links being driven by the actuators so that upward lifting forces are applied to the user from the receiving portion, wherein: the first joint of each leg link is a joint that connects the thigh frame of the leg link and the receiving portion in such a way that the leg link is free to swing at least in the forward/backward direction with a forward/backward swing central point being a predetermined point located above the receiving portion and within the anteroposterior width of a contact surface between the receiving portion and the user from the third joint, each leg link is connected to the receiving portion so that a line of action of a supporting force applied to the crus frame from the third joint of the leg link corresponding to a standing leg passes through the predetermined point, when the leg link is viewed in the sagittal plane of the user; and the walking assistance device comprises means which applies the lifting forces to the user by controlling the actuators so that forces to be controlled reach predetermined desired values for the respective leg links with the supporting forces as the forces to be controlled.