Exoskeletons for running and walking

Abstract

An exoskeleton worn by a human user consisting of a rigid pelvic harness worn about the waist of the user and exoskeleton leg structures each of which extends downwardly alongside one of the human user's legs. The leg structures include hip, knee and ankle joints connected by adjustable length thigh and shin members. The hip joint that attaches the thigh structure to the pelvic harness includes a passive spring or an active actuator to assist in lifting the exoskeleton and said human user with respect to the ground surface upon which the user is walking and to propel the exoskeleton and human user forward. A controllable damper operatively arresting the movement of the knee joint at controllable times during the walking cycle, and spring located at the ankle and foot member stores and releases energy during walking.

1 . An exoskeleton worn by a human user comprising, in combination, 
 a rigid pelvic harness worn about the waist of the user,    first and second exoskeleton leg structures each of which extends downwardly alongside one of the human user's legs and each of which comprises: 
 a hip joint for attaching said leg structure at its upper end to said pelvic harness,  
 a knee joint,  
 a thigh member that extends from said hip joint to said knee joint, said thigh member being attached to the human user's thigh,  
 a foot member attached to a shoe worn by said human user,  
 a shin member extending from said knee joint to said foot member, said shin member being attached to said foot member by an ankle joint,  
 a passive spring or an active actuator positioned at said hip joint for applying a motive force for rotating said thigh member with respect to said pelvic harness to assist in lifting said exoskeleton and said human user with respect to the ground surface upon which the user is walking and to propel the exoskeleton and human user forward,  
 a controllable damper operatively connected to said knee joint for arresting the movement relative movement of said shin member and said thigh member at controllable times, and  
 a spring located is said foot member or said ankle joint for storing and releasing energy during walking.  
   
   
   
       2 . An exoskeleton as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said pelvic harness is attached to a load-carrying backpack worn on the back of said human user, said backpack being supported on said ground surface by said exoskeleton leg structures.  
   
   
       3 . An exoskeleton as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said rigid pelvic harness is attached to a seat which supports the human user so that a significant part of the weight of the human user is born by said exoskeleton leg structures.  
   
   
       4 . An exoskeleton as set forth in  claim 1  wherein the length of said thigh member may be adjusted to accommodate human users of different sizes.  
   
   
       5 . An exoskeleton as set forth in  claim 1  wherein the length of said shin member may be adjusted to accommodate human users of different sizes.  
   
   
       6 . An exoskeleton as set forth in  claim 5  wherein the length of said thigh member may be adjusted to accommodate human users of different sizes.