Multi-articulated link knee joint

Abstract

A multi-articulated link knee joint includes: a knee unit in which an upper link unit rotates relative to a lower link unit by a multi-articulated link mechanism including a plurality of link units including the upper link unit and the lower link unit; a cylinder device for assisting the motion of the knee unit and moving in accordance with the rotation of the upper link unit; a position detector for detecting the distance from the lower link unit to the cylinder device; and an angle detector for obtaining the bending angle of the knee unit from the detected distance from the cylinder device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A multi-articulated link knee joint comprising:
 a knee unit in which an upper link unit is structured to rotate relative to a lower link unit by a multi-articulated link mechanism including a plurality of link units including the upper link unit and the lower link unit;   an auxiliary driver structured to assist motion of the knee unit and to move in accordance with rotation of the upper link unit;   a position detector structured to detect a relative position of the auxiliary driver relative to the lower link unit; and   an angle detector structured to obtain a bending angle of the knee unit from the detected relative position of the auxiliary driver.   
     
     
         2 . The multi-articulated link knee joint according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the position detector detects a distance from the lower link unit to the auxiliary driver as the relative position of the auxiliary driver, and   the angle detector obtains a bending angle of the knee unit from the detected distance.   
     
     
         3 . The multi-articulated link knee joint according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the position detector detects an inclination angle of the auxiliary driver relative to the lower link unit as the relative position, and   the angle detector obtains a bending angle of the knee unit from the detected inclination angle.   
     
     
         4 . The multi-articulated link knee joint according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the position detector detects a rotation angle of the auxiliary driver with respect to the lower link unit as the relative position, and   the angle detector obtains a bending angle of the knee unit from the detected rotation angle.   
     
     
         5 . The multi-articulated link knee joint according to  claim 1 , wherein the position detector and the angle detector are provided at the same portion.