Therapeutic motion devices including artificial muscle drive units

12263,130

16/931589

July 17, 2020

A therapeutic motion device includes a support structure including a first support portion and a second support portion. The first support portion rotatably coupled to the second support portion and at least one of the first support portion and the second support portion is movable relative to the other of the first support potion and the second support portion. First and second actuation arms extend from the first and second support portions, respectively. An artificial muscle drive unit couples the first actuation arm to the second actuation arm, the artificial muscle drive unit including one or more artificial muscles expandable in a movement direction to provide a movement force to at least one of the first support portion and the second support portion.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. (Plano, TX, US)

TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, INC. (Plano, TX, US)

1. A therapeutic motion device comprising: a support structure comprising a first support portion and a second support portion, wherein: the first support portion rotatably coupled to the second support portion, and at least one of the first support portion and the second support portion is movable relative to the other of the first support potion and the second support portion; a first actuation arm extending from the first support portion; a second actuation arm extending from the second support portion; and an artificial muscle drive unit directly coupled to the first actuation arm and the second actuation arm, the artificial muscle drive unit comprising: an outer casing defining a cavity; and an artificial muscle assembly disposed within the cavity, the artificial muscle assembly comprising: an actuation plate directly connected to the first actuation arm, the actuation plate movable within the cavity relative to the outer casing, the second actuation arm directly connected to the outer casing; and one or more artificial muscles expandable in a movement direction to contact the actuation plate and provide a movement force to at least one of the first support portion and the second support portion by displacing at least one of the first actuation arm and the second actuation arm.

2. The therapeutic motion device of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more artificial muscles comprise: a housing comprising an electrode region and an expandable fluid region; and a dielectric fluid housed within the housing.

3. The therapeutic motion device of claim 2 , wherein each of the one or more artificial muscles further comprise an electrode pair positioned in the electrode region of the housing, the electrode pair comprising a first electrode fixed to a first surface of the housing and a second electrode fixed to a second surface of the housing, wherein the electrode pair is actuatable between a non-actuated state and an actuated state such that actuation from the non-actuated state to the actuated state directs the dielectric fluid into the expandable fluid region, expanding the expandable fluid region thereby applying pressure to at least one of the first actuation arm and the second actuation arms.

4. The therapeutic motion device of claim 3 , wherein the artificial muscle drive unit comprises a plurality of artificial muscles stacked on one another in the movement direction.

5. The therapeutic motion device of claim 4 , wherein expandable fluid regions of at least two of the plurality of artificial muscles contact one another such that expansion of the expandable fluid regions of the at least two artificial muscles adds in the movement direction.

6. The therapeutic motion device of claim 3 , wherein: the first electrode and the second electrode each comprise two or more tab portions and two or more bridge portions; each of the two or more bridge portions interconnects adjacent tab portions; and at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode comprises a central opening positioned between the two or more tab portions and encircling the expandable fluid region.

7. The therapeutic motion device of claim 1 , wherein: the support structure comprises a base, the first support portion and the second support portion are held by the base in spaced relation to one another such that there is a gap between the first support portion and the second support portion, and at least one of the first support portion and the second support portion is rotatably coupled to the base.

8. The therapeutic motion device of claim 1 , wherein the artificial muscle assembly further comprises a return force device disposed in the cavity, wherein the return force device providing a return force that opposes the movement force provided by the one or more artificial muscles.

9. The therapeutic motion device of claim 1 , wherein the artificial muscle assembly further comprises: a plurality of actuation platforms coupled to one of the first support portion and the second support portion; and a plurality of mounting platforms coupled to the other one of the first support portion and the second portion, wherein: the plurality of actuation platforms are interleaved with the plurality of mounting platforms to form a plurality of actuation cavities between plate pairs, each plate pair comprising one of the plurality of mounting platforms and one of the plurality of actuation platforms, the one or more artificial muscles comprises a plurality of artificial muscle structures disposed in each of the actuation cavities, and the expansion of each artificial muscle of each of the artificial muscle structures causes the actuation platform of each plate pair to move in a movement direction away from the respective mounting platform of each plate pair.

10. The therapeutic motion device of claim 9 , wherein each artificial muscle structure comprises: a first aligned pair of artificial muscles sharing a common central axis; and an offset artificial muscle; wherein each artificial muscle comprises a housing comprising an electrode region and an expandable fluid region; wherein the expandable fluid region of the offset artificial muscle is in contact with the electrode regions of the first aligned pair of artificial muscles.

11. The therapeutic motion device of claim 10 , wherein each artificial muscle structure further comprises a second aligned pair of artificial muscles sharing a second common central axis, wherein the expandable fluid region of the housing of the offset artificial muscle also contacts the electrode regions of the housings of both of the second aligned pair of artificial muscles.

12. The therapeutic motion device of claim 1 , further comprising: a rotating connector that connects the first support portion to the second support portion, the rotating connector comprising a rotating portion attached to one of the first support portion and the second support portion and a stationary portion connected to the other of the first support portion and the second support portion; and a motion resistance device coupled to the rotating portion, the motion resistance device comprising an engaging element selectively engageable with the rotating portion to resist relative motion between the first and second support portions.

13. A therapeutic motion device comprising: a support structure comprising a first support portion and a second support portion, wherein: the first support portion is rotatably coupled to the second support portion, and at least one of the first support portion and the second support portion is movable relative to the other of the first support potion and the second support portion; an artificial muscle drive unit connected to the first support portion and the second support portion via a first actuation arm extending from the first support portion and a second actuation arm extending from the second support portion, the artificial muscle drive unit comprising: an outer casing defining a cavity; and an artificial muscle assembly disposed within the cavity, the artificial muscle assembly comprising: an actuation plate directly connected to the first actuation arm, the actuation plate movable within the cavity relative to the outer casing, the second actuation arm directly connected to the outer casing; and one or more artificial muscles expandable in a movement direction to contact the actuation plate and directly apply a force to at least one of the first actuation arm and the second actuation arm, wherein each of the one or more artificial muscles comprise:  a housing comprising an electrode region and an expandable fluid region;  a dielectric fluid housed within the housing; and  an electrode pair positioned in the electrode region of the housing, the electrode pair comprising a first electrode fixed to a first surface of the housing and a second electrode fixed to a second surface of the housing, wherein the electrode pair is actuatable between a non-actuated state and an actuated state such that actuation from the non-actuated state to the actuated state directs the dielectric fluid into the expandable fluid region, expanding the expandable fluid region thereby applying force to the at least one of the first actuation arm and second actuation arm.

14. The therapeutic motion device of claim 13 , wherein: the first electrode and the second electrode each comprise two or more tab portions and two or more bridge portions; each of the two or more bridge portions interconnects adjacent tab portions; and at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode comprises a central opening positioned between the two or more tab portions and encircling the expandable fluid region.

15. The therapeutic motion device of claim 14 , wherein the first electrode and the second electrode each includes two pairs of tab portions and two pairs of bridge portions, each bridge portion interconnecting adjacent a pair of adjacent tab portions, each tab portion diametrically opposing an opposite tab portion.

16. The therapeutic motion device of claim 13 , wherein the artificial muscle drive unit comprises a plurality of artificial muscles stacked on one another in a direction of the force.

17. A method for actuating a therapeutic motion device, the method comprising: generating a voltage using a power supply electrically coupled to an electrode pair of an artificial muscle, the artificial muscle disposed in an artificial muscle drive unit directly coupled to a first actuation arm extending from a first support portion and a second actuation arm extending from a second support portion of the therapeutic motion device, the artificial muscle drive unit comprising: an outer casing defining a cavity; and an artificial muscle assembly disposed within the cavity, the artificial muscle assembly comprising: an actuation plate directly connected to the first actuation arm, the actuation plate movable within the cavity relative to the outer casing, the second actuation arm directly connected to the outer casing; and one or more artificial muscles expandable in a movement direction to contact the actuation plate and provide a movement force to the first support portion by displacing the first actuation arm, wherein: the artificial muscle comprises a housing having an electrode region and an expandable fluid region; the electrode pair is positioned in the electrode region of the housing; the electrode pair comprises a first electrode fixed to a first surface of the housing and a second electrode fixed to a second surface of the housing; and a dielectric fluid is housed within the housing; and applying the voltage to the electrode pair of the artificial muscle, thereby actuating the electrode pair from a non-actuated state to an actuated state such that the dielectric fluid is directed into the expandable fluid region of the housing and expands the expandable fluid region, thereby providing force to at least one of the first support portion and the second support portion of the therapeutic motion device via at least one of the first actuation arm and the second actuation arm to resist or assist movement of at least one of the first support portion and the second support portion.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the artificial muscle is one of a plurality of artificial muscles stacked in a direction of the force within the artificial muscle drive unit.

19. The method of claim 17 , the method further comprising: removing the voltage of the electrode pair to remove the force from at least one of the first support portion and the second support portion; and applying a return force to at least one of the first support portion and the second portion via a return force device of the artificial muscle drive unit, wherein the return force opposes the force provided by the artificial muscle.

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