JPH05309109

PURPOSE:To extend the battery service life by providing a built-in generator driven by the rocking of the crus frame of a lower-extremity prosthesis which controls its operating speed according to the walking speed of a person wearing the extremity prosthesis. CONSTITUTION:A lower-extremity prosthesis for a person having no knee by cutting off the thigh is composed of a thigh frame 1 into to which his thigh is inserted, a crus frame 2 connected rockably to the thigh frame 1 through a knee shaft 3, and a cylinder 5 provided between the both frames 1 and 2. By controlling the feeding and the exhausting of the air to the cylinder 5 by a variable throttle mechanism through a computer depending on the output of a speed detector to detect the rocking speed of the crus frame 2, the oscillating speed of the crus frame 2 is controlled. In this case, when the crus frame 2 is rocked, a generator 37 is driven through the gearing of a fan-shaped gear 40 fixed to the knee shaft 3 and a gear 39 provided to a rotor shaft 38, so as to utilize the generated power to the motive power to control the variable throttle mechanism.