DEVICE FOR CARRYING OUT MOVEMENTS BY SHIFTING THE CENTER OF GRAVITY AND/OR ACTUATING MUSCLES OF A HUMAN BODY

Abstract

A device is used for carrying out movements by shifting the center of gravity and/or actuating muscles of a human body. A user lies on the device and shifts the center of gravity by moving his or her hip region in order to incline a movable part of the device including the user's own body in different directions. Furthermore, the user wears video goggles or the like during the process and can move in a virtual environment using the overall system, which includes the video goggles and the movement device and can interact with these. The movements caused by the user can be generated solely using gravity by shifting the center of gravity. Additionally, the movements of the device are influenced by motors or dampers arranged in or on the device.

Claims

1. A device (1) for carrying out movements by shifting the centre of gravity and/or actuating muscles of a human body, said device comprising: a supporting means (2) for supporting body parts, wherein the waist region of the body is freely movable, a base (3) for supporting forces on the ground (2) and/or on a wall, a kinematic device for connecting the supporting means (2) and said base (3), wherein said kinematic device is adapted to allow a movement of the body about a virtual longitudinal axis and about a virtual lateral axis.

2. The device (1) according to claim 1, wherein said supporting means (2) supports the body exclusively at the body's extremities.

3. The device (1) according to claim 2, wherein the longitudinal axis and the transverse axis form an intersection point.

4. The device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the common center of gravity of the body and the movable part of said device (1) is located at or below said intersection point of the longitudinal and transverse axes in a resting state.

5. The device (1) according to claim 1, wherein said base (3) has a height axis, which is substantially vertical, wherein said height axis intersects a contact plane which divides said device (1) into upper and lower parts, wherein said upper part of said device (1) is rotatable about said height axis relative to said lower part, wherein said height axis is not identical to the normal of said contact plane, wherein the overall centre of gravity of said device (1) is raisable as a result of a relative rotation in order to generate a restoring moment.

6. The device (1) according to claim 5, wherein a damping element is provided between said upper and lower parts of said device (1).

7. The device (1) according to claim 1, wherein all elements of said supporting means (2) are not movable relative to one another.

8. The device (1) according to claim 1, wherein said supporting means (2) for supporting the body parts comprises two arm shells (21) for respectively supporting a forearm of the body, and two leg shells (23) for respectively supporting a lower leg of the body.

9. The device (1) according to claim 8, wherein said supporting means (2) for supporting the body parts comprises two strut elements (24) for respectively supporting a sole of a foot.

10. The device (1) according to claim 1, wherein said supporting means (2) for supporting the body parts comprises two handle elements (20), each to be gripped with one hand.

11. The device (1) according to claim 10, wherein each handle element (20) is formed as a unit (22) with the corresponding arm shell (21), wherein each unit (22) consisting of said arm shell (21) and said handle element (20) is displaceable independently of the other unit (22).

12. The device (1) according to claim 1, comprising: a position detecting means for detecting the current position of each movable part of said device, and a transmitting means for transmitting the position data to a computing unit for further processing.

13. The device (1) according to claim 1, comprising at least one motor and/or at least one damping element, whereby the movement of the movable elements of said device (1) can be influenced, wherein said damping element is adapted to counteract a movement, wherein said motor is adapted to counteract a movement and/or to assist a movement.

14. The device (1) according to claim 1 wherein the individual elements of said supporting means (2), which support the body, are moveable relative to one another.

15. The device (1) according to claim 1, comprising: stops for limiting the possibility of movement of the movable parts of said device, wherein the degrees of freedom of the possibility of movement and said stops are adjustable at will.

16. The device (1) according to claim 1, wherein said kinematic device comprises a supporting element (82) in the form of a closed circle or at least a circular arc segment, said supporting element (82) being adapted to allow a rotation of the human body about the longitudinal axis of said device.

17. Method for carrying out movements with a device (1) according to claim 1, wherein said supporting means (2) is moved, together with the body parts supported thereon, about the lateral axis and the longitudinal axis by a shift of the centre of gravity of the body.

18. Method for carrying out movements with a device (1) according to claim 11, wherein a control signal is generatable by moving said units (22) of said arm shell (21) and said handle element (20).

19. Method for carrying out movements with a device (1) according to claim 5, the method comprising the steps of: applying a torque about the height axis of said device (1), thereby preventing a rotation of said upper part of said device (1) relative to said lower part of said device (1) from being caused, shifting the overall centre of gravity of said device upwards in the vertical direction, generating a restoring moment by raising the overall centre of gravity upwards, canceling the rotation by shifting the overall centre of gravity downwards in the vertical direction into the initial position, which is caused by gravity.

20. A system comprising a device (1) according to claim 1 and a visual output apparatus.

21. The system according to claim 1, wherein said visual output apparatus comprises video goggles worn on the head of the human body.

22. The system according to claim 21, wherein the position of the head and said video goggles worn thereon as well as the position of the movable parts of said device (1) are independently detected and further processed to carry out movements by shifting the centre of gravity and/or actuating muscles of a human body.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the user is at least partially surrounded by said visual output apparatus on said device.

24. The system according to claim 20, wherein said visual output apparatus is adapted to output still and/or moving images.

25. The system according to claim 20, wherein said visual output apparatus is adapted to output three-dimensional images.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] An exemplary embodiment of the invention is discussed with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0024] The drawings:

[0025] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of the invention in a perspective view.

[0026] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary embodiment of the invention in a front view.

[0027] FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the invention in a view from the left.

[0028] FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the invention in plan view.

DETAILED DISCUSSION OF THE INVENTION

[0029] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the device 1 for carrying out movements by shifting the center of gravity and/or actuating muscles of a human body. A longitudinal axis is shown, which extends in a longitudinal direction of the device. A lateral axis is shown, which extends in a lateral direction of the device. And a height axis is shown, which extends in a vertical direction. The height axis may extend vertically, as shown in the present exemplary embodiment, or may also be inclined forwards or backwards. The directional and positional indications front, rear, left and right are also drawn in FIG. 1, and are additionally clearly shown in plan view in FIG. 4. The embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes a base plate 5 and a base 3, via which the entire device 1 rests on the ground. The supporting means 2 has handle elements 20, arm shells 21 and leg shells 23. By means of the supporting means 2, the body of a user is supported on the device. The individual parts of the supporting means are connected to a frame element 81. The arm shell 21 on the right side of the device forms a unit with the handle element 20 on the right side of the device, and similarly the handle element 20 on the left side forms a unit with the arm shell 21 on the left side of the device 1. The handle element 20 and the arm shell 21, each forming a unit, are fixedly connected to each other in this embodiment. Each unit is connected to the frame element 81 by a rail element 51, whereby the respective units can move within fixed bounds in the longitudinal direction of the device 1. The individual elements of the supporting means 2 may be tilted together with the frame element 81 about the lateral axis of the device 1. This tilting functionality is made possible by an arrangement 420 of shaft and bearing, which connects the supporting structure (frame element 81) accommodating the supporting means 2 to an arcuate further supporting element (arcuate element 82). This further arcuate element 82 is supported by a roller support 41 and guided therethrough such that the supporting means 2, together with the frame element 81 and the arcuate element 82, can rotate about the longitudinal axis of the device. The roller guide 41 has an arcuate arrangement of roller elements 410 on which the components, that is, the supporting means 2, the frame element 81, and the arcuate element 82, are mounted, wherein, in addition, at least one roller is arranged in the vertical direction above the arcuate element 82 to also secure these components in a vertical direction. The components, that is, the supporting means 2, the frame element 81, and the arcuate element 82, are referred to as the movable part of the device. Furthermore, at the rear end of the supporting means 2, strut elements 24 are arranged, by means of which a user can support the soles of the feet. The height axis of the device 1 is arranged vertically in this embodiment. However, it would also be conceivable for the height axis to be inclined forwards or backwards. Further, in this embodiment, the longitudinal axis extends horizontally. It would also be conceivable for the longitudinal axis to be tilted downwards or upwards. In this exemplary embodiment, the lateral axis is fixed relative to the frame element 81. Thus, if the frame element 81 is tilted about the longitudinal axis, the lateral axis of the device also tilts. If the movable part of the device 1 has already been tilted about the longitudinal axis, a further tilting of the supporting means 2 together with the frame element 81 occurs therefore about the likewise tilted lateral axis.

[0030] The arcuate supporting element or arcuate element 82 does not necessarily have to be arcuate. In another embodiment, this supporting element may, for example, follow an arbitrary curve function with its shape. Furthermore, it would also be conceivable to configure the support element as a closed circle. In such an embodiment, it could be possible for the user to perform a full rotation about the longitudinal axis with the device.

[0031] FIG. 2 shows the front view of a device 1 for carrying out movements by shifting the center of gravity and/or actuating muscles of a human body, the height axis of the device extending in the vertical direction and the lateral axis of the device extending in the horizontal direction. In this view, it can be seen clearly that the frame element 81 includes two parts arranged on the right and left sides of the image. The individual parts of the device 1 may be made of different materials, for example, carbon fibre reinforced plastics, conventional plastics or metal. In a preferred embodiment, the entire configuration of the device is as light as possible. By a small mass, in particular of the movable parts of the device, the operating convenience for the user may be increased since a tilting can be induced easier.

[0032] FIG. 3 shows a side view of an embodiment of the device 1 with the longitudinal axis of the device extending in the horizontal direction and the height axis extending in the vertical direction. When the frame element 81 tilts about the lateral axis of the device, the lateral axis extending in the direction of the drawing plane, that is to say out of the drawing plane, the supporting means 2, which comprises, among other elements, the arm shells 21, the handle elements 20 and the leg shells 23, tilts also about the lateral axis of the device.

[0033] FIG. 4 shows a plan view of an embodiment of the device 1, the lateral axis of the device in the figure extending vertically and the longitudinal axis of the device extending horizontally, wherein the rear region of the device 1 is arranged on the right side of the image, the front region of the device 1 is arranged on the left side of the image, the right region of the device 1 is arranged at the upper edge of the image, and the left region of the device 1 is arranged at the lower edge of the image. Furthermore, the leg supports 23, the foot struts 24, the arm shells 21, and the handle elements 20 are recognizable.