Walking training apparatus

Abstract

Provided is a walking training apparatus including: a walking-assist robot which is worn on a lower half of a body of a walking trainee; a treadmill which has a tread plate moving at a predefined speed which the walking trainee walks on; a load pulling unit which holds a body of the walking trainee upward; and a controller which controls driving of the walking-assist robot, the treadmill, and the load pulling unit, wherein the load pulling unit includes: a harness which is worn on the body of the walking trainee; a main rope which is connected to the harness; a driving motor which operates to pull the main rope so as to pull the harness upward; and a counter-load weight plate unit which applies a counter-load to the walking trainee. Accordingly, the load pulling unit pulls a patient, and a counter-load is appropriately set according to a state of the patient or a purpose of a therapy, so that it is possible to prevent the patient from falling during the waling training, and it is possible to effectively perform rehabilitation training of the patient.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A walking training apparatus comprising:
 a walking-assist robot which is worn on a lower half of a body of a walking trainee;   a treadmill which has a tread plate moving at a predefined speed which the walking trainee walks on;   a load pulling unit which holds a body of the walking trainee upward; and   a controller which controls driving of the walking-assist robot, the treadmill, and the load pulling unit,   wherein the load pulling unit includes:   a harness which is worn on the body of the walking trainee;   a main rope which is connected to the harness;   a driving motor which operates to pull the main rope so as to pull the harness upward; and   a counter-load weight plate unit which applies a counter-load to the walking trainee.   
     
     
         2 . The walking training apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the load pulling unit further includes a spin lock which is installed on the main rope to be engaged to clamp the main rope with respect to only one-directional tension of the main rope and an auxiliary rope having the one end which is fixed to the spin lock and the other end which is fixed the counter-load weight plate unit. 
     
     
         3 . The walking training apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein the spin lock includes a ratchet gear which allows the spin lock to clamp the main rope only if tension is exerted on the harness side when the main rope is locked. 
     
     
         4 . The walking training apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein the counter-load weight plate unit includes:
 a hollow load which the main rope penetrates;   a plurality of unit weight plates which are stacked on an outer surface of the load;   a fixing pin which is used to fix the unit weight plates to the load; and   a fixing bracket which is fixed on a top surface of the uppermost unit weight plate, which the main rope penetrates a central portion thereof, and which the other end of the auxiliary rope is fixed to.   
     
     
         5 . The walking training apparatus according to any one of  claims 1  to  4 , further comprising a rope drooping prevention unit which temporarily accommodates the main rope so as to present the main rope from drooping when the driving motor does not operate. 
     
     
         6 . The walking training apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the walking-assist robot includes a hip joint robot which is worn on a hip joint of the walking trainee, a knee joint robot which is worn on a knee joint of the walking trainee, and an ankle joint robot which is worn on an ankle of the walking trainee. 
     
     
         7 . The walking training apparatus according to any one of  claims 1  to  4  and  6 , further comprising a robot load balance unit which is connected to the walking-assist robot to support the walking-assist robot upward and to adjust load balance of the walking-assist robot. 
     
     
         8 . The walking training apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein the robot load balance unit includes a plurality of variable unit weight plates which exert a counter-load on the walking-assist robot. 
     
     
         9 . The walking training apparatus according to  claim 8 , wherein the robot load balance unit further includes a spring which elastically supports the unit weight plates.