Motion-based power assist system for wheelchairs

Abstract

A motion-based push activation power assist system for manual wheelchairs. The system uses motion-based measurements to determine when the user applies a push to the wheelchair handrims and brakes with the handrims. The push recognition activates a drive system that provides an assistive driving force-pulse to the wheelchair to reduce the demand on the user during propulsion. The brake recognition deactivates the power assist. The provided power assist is proportional to the sensed push and can be modulated to different proportional settings.

Claims

1. A power assist system for wheelchairs with an axle, the power assist system comprising: a motion sensing system comprising one or more motion-sensitive instruments configured to measure the motion of the power assist system; and a drive system comprising one or more electric motors, one or more drive wheels, and an axle mounting attachment, wherein the motion-sensitive instruments are further configured to measure a change in rotational position of the one or more drive wheels to determine the motion of the power assist system; wherein the motion sensing system and the drive system are contained in a housing that is adapted to pivotally attach to an axle extending between two wheels of a wheelchair.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the power assist system is configured to use the motion measurements to detect acceleration or deceleration of the power assist system.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the power assist system activates the drive system to provide an assistive drive force based on the detected acceleration when the detected acceleration is above a predetermined threshold level.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the level of assistive drive force is based upon the magnitude of the detected acceleration.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the proportion of the assistive drive force is modulated between different configuration settings.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a drive linkage attached to said one or more drive wheels, and pivotally attached to the axle mounting attachment via an adjustable slide pocket in a drive linkage frame.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said one or more drive wheels make contact with the ground.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a remote control device.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the drive system is mounted on the wheelchair axle such that the one or more drive wheels contacts the ground at a point behind the axle.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the motion sensing system is further configured to: determine a rotational speed of the drive wheel based on the change in rotational position of the one or more drive wheels; and determine a linear acceleration of the power assist system based on the rotational speed.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the motion sensing system is further configured to determine a linear acceleration of the wheel chair based on the linear acceleration of the power assist system.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the motion sensitive instrument comprises one of a Hall Effect sensor or a reed switch.

13. A power assist system for wheelchairs with an axle, the power assist system contained within a housing adapted to attach to the axle and comprising: a motion sensing system comprising one or more motion-sensitive instruments configured to measure a change in rotational position of one or more drive wheels to determine the motion of the power assist system; and a drive system configured to provide an assistive drive force via the one or more drive wheels based on motion measured by the motion sensing system exceeding a predetermined threshold value.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising a circuit configured to: receive and process measurements from the motion sensing system; and provide command signals to the drive system based on the measurements.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the motion measured by the motion sensing system is acceleration or deceleration, the circuit configured to determine acceleration or deceleration of the power assist system based on the measurements.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the circuit is configured to activate the drive system to provide an assistive drive force when acceleration exceeding a predetermined threshold acceleration value and to deactivate the drive system when the deceleration falls below a predetermined deceleration value.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the drive system further comprises one or more electric motors, the one or more drive wheels, and the axle mounting attachment.

18. A power assist system for wheelchairs with an axle, the power assist system comprising a housing adapted to pivotally attach to an axle extending between two wheels of a wheelchair via an axle mounting attachment, the housing containing: one or more batteries; one or more electric motors; a drive system comprising one or more drive wheels; and a circuit comprising one or more motion-sensitive instruments configured to: measure a change in rotational position of the one or more drive wheels to determine the motion of the power assist system; and activate the drive system to provide an assistive drive force via the one or more drive wheels based on the determined motion.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the circuit is further configured to: determine a speed of the power assist system during the change in rotational position; and control the drive system to provide the assistive drive force via the one or more drive wheels to achieve the speed.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 shows an isometric view of an exemplary embodiment, a single drive wheel power assist attachment and remote control device mounted to a generic wheelchair. One of the rear wheels is removed for clarity.

(2) FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the single drive wheel power assist attachment of FIG. 1 mounted to the axle bar of a wheelchair frame.

(3) FIG. 3 shows an exploded assembly view of the single drive wheel power assist attachment of FIG. 1 removed from the wheelchair.

(4) FIG. 4 shows an enlarged view of the single drive wheel power assist attachment of FIG. 1 mounted to the axle bar clamp, with the wheelchair removed for clarity.

(5) FIG. 5 shows the remote control device of FIG. 1 unclipped from the wheelchair seat upholstery.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

(6) In various exemplary embodiments, the present invention comprises a power assist system used on a manual wheelchair. Motion-based instrumentation measures the kinematics of the power assist system. The kinematics measured include, but are not limited to, linear velocities, angular velocities, linear accelerations, and angular accelerations. These parameters are quantified using a range of instruments, including but not limited to, gyroscopes, encoders, potentiometers, inertia measuring units, and multi-axis accelerometers. From these motion-based measurements, push activation can be recognized.

(7) The push activation recognition employs the principle that when the user is applying a push to the rim mounted handrim of typical wheelchair rear wheels 16 on a generic manual wheelchair 8, as shown in FIG. 1, the wheelchair rear wheels 16 are being accelerated by the user. If the rear wheels 16 are experiencing an angular acceleration then the wheelchair 8 and all onboard parts will experience acceleration. Because the wheelchair is accelerating, the power assist which is connected to it will also accelerate. If the power assist acceleration measurements are found to be above a threshold of approximately 1.5 m/s/s, a user push will be recognized. Similarly, if the power assist deceleration measurements are found to be below a threshold of approximately 1.5 m/s/s, a user brake will be recognized. The push recognition triggers the activation of an assistive power-pulse to help in the propulsion of the wheelchair 8 and the user that is performing the push. The power assist provided will be related to the manual power input as calculated from the motion-based sensors. In one approach, the power assist drive is set to the speed reached during the user's push. When user braking is detected, the provided power is discontinued.

(8) FIGS. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of the power assist system employing the motion-based push activation. The power assist system, which in this embodiment comprises a single wheel power assist attachment 10, is shown mounted on a generic wheelchair 8, comprising a drive linkage 18, an electric hub drive wheel 20, a mounting attachment 22, and a remote control device 24.

(9) The single wheel power assist attachment 10 is positioned between the wheelchair drive wheels 16 such that the electric drive wheel 20 contacts the ground at a point midway between the wheelchair drive wheels 16. This positioning prevents the wheelchair from turning or drifting when an assistive force is provided, while not significantly hindering the rotation of the chair when desired for maneuvering. The single wheel power assist attachment 10 and drive linkage 18 are also angled such that as the drive wheel power is increased, the wheel digs into the ground for ideal traction control.

(10) The electric drive wheel 20 mounts to the distal end of the drive linkage 18, which is pivotally attached to the wheelchair axle bar 14 through the mounting attachment 22. While FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show an embodiment with a singular mount attachment 22, in other embodiments a plurality or multitude of mounting attachments may be used to connect to the drive linkage 18. A remote control device 24 comprises part of the single wheel power assist attachment 10 to turn the unit on and modulate between multiple configuration settings for providing different amounts of driving force related to the sensed acceleration of the power assist system from the push of the user.

(11) An exploded assembly of the power assist attachment 10 is shown in FIG. 3. The drive linkage 18 contains a shell or frame 30, a battery pack 32, custom printed circuit board 28, and electric hub motor 20. The primary role of the custom circuit board 28 is to receive sensor measurements, process those measurements to determine whether the users is pushing or braking, and then deliver the appropriate amount of power from the battery to the motor 20. Motion sensors can include inertial measurement units (gyroscopes, accelerometers and magnetometers) on the custom printed circuit board 28, rotational position sensors (optical encoders, Hall Effect sensors, or reed switches) in the drive motor 20, or inertial measurement units on the remote control device 24. Determining the linear acceleration of the wheelchair can be accomplished using several of these sensing modalities individually or with increased fidelity when done in combination to filter out any undesired motion artifacts, such as rolling over bumps or down slopes. The simplest method to derive linear acceleration of the wheelchair is to frequently sample the rotational position of the drive wheel 20 and differentiate discrete samples to derive the rotational speed and then differentiate rotational speed values to determine the rotational acceleration of the wheel. The linear acceleration of the wheelchair is directly related to the rotational acceleration of the drive wheel 20. Accelerations that occur when the power assist components are experiencing rapid changes in attitude (uphill/downhill angle) or vertical acceleration can be ignored as artifacts of environmental factors and not related to the user pushing or braking the wheelchair.

(12) Sensor measurements and motor power is passed to and from the printed circuit board 28 by cables that pass though the motor axle 26. Sensor measurements and configuration information from the remote control device 24 is passed to the printed circuit board 28 wirelessly using any of a number of standard data transmission protocols.

(13) The power assist unit 10 can be made to accommodate wheelchairs of varying rear wheel sizes by allowing the linkage pivot point to be adjusted along a slide pocket 36 in the drive linkage frame 30, as shown in FIG. 4. The pivot location can then be fixed by tightening machine screws in the pivot slider 34. The slide range can be limited using a stop in the slide track 38.

(14) The remote control device 24, shown removed from the wheelchair in FIG. 5, can be made to slide onto the seat upholstery using a simple spring clip 40. In this embodiment, it can be quickly installed onto a wheelchair without the use of tools and it can be easily removed when the power assist is not needed. The remote can be used to turn the unit on using a button or switch 72. Another use for the remote is to allow the user to select between various modes of operation, such as LOW 42 and HIGH 44. Low and high modes can serve to decrease or increase the level of power delivered to the motor for any applied push. This can be accomplished by altering the multiplier used in setting the motor power in response to a measured acceleration. In an alternate approach, low and high modes could be used to limit the maximum drive speed of the motor for indoor and outdoor use.

(15) In another exemplary embodiment, motion-based push activation is used on two wheel hub motors incorporated into each of the wheelchair drive wheels. The design and operation of hub motors is well-known in the prior art. The motor assembly comprises a self-contained unit which includes a center shaft that fixable mounts the wheelchair to a stator. The motor housing has permanently mounted magnets and is rotationally driven by the push and pulling forces induced by the electrical excitation of the stator. The rotationally driven motor housing is connected to the tire supporting rim of the wheelchair wheel. The nature of this power assist system allows for the handrims to be directly mounted to the rim of the wheelchair drive wheels. As the user performs a push to the handrims, the wheelchair accelerates, activating the power assist through the motion-based recognition instrumentation.

(16) The instrumentation and motion control processing is similar to the previously described embodiment. The primary difference is that the rotational position of the two rear wheels would be measured directly and averaged to yield a single rotational position, which would then be processed as previously described. Each rear wheel would communicate wirelessly with the other in order to exchange rotational position information. Each drive wheel would be set to the same drive speed setting at the same time. Similarly, power to each drive wheel would be discontinued at the same time when a braking event is detected.

(17) In another embodiment, motion-based push activation is incorporated into a wheelchair frame fixed drive system. The wheelchair wheels are secured to the wheelchair as normally done. Drive motors are then affixed to the frame of the wheelchair and the output shafts are pressed into the rear wheel tires to effectively couple their rotations together. When a user pushes, the rear wheels along with the drive motor shafts accelerate and a push is recognized using the aforementioned sensing. The motor power is mechanically transferred to the rear wheels providing propulsion assistance. The mechanical means of transferring rotation from the drive motor to the rear wheels includes but is not limited to friction, gears, or belts, all of which is operationally well-known and need not be explained.

(18) The foregoing description is that of certain exemplary embodiments, and various changes and adaptations can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, it should be understood that the embodiments and examples described herein have been chosen and described in order to best illustrate the principles of the invention and its practical applications to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited for particular uses contemplated. Even though specific embodiments of this invention have been described, they are not to be taken as exhaustive.