Patent 10219919 was granted and assigned to Yale University on March, 2019 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The present invention provides a prosthetic hand capable of multiple grasp types. The prosthetic finger units are underactuated both within and between the finger units using a differential mechanism arrangement. The locking movement of the prosthetic thumb unit is coupled to the differential mechanism. As the user repositions the prosthetic thumb unit, the differential mechanism is effected as to alter both the initial positions and force distribution of the prosthetic finger units. The present invention further provides an additive manufacturing molding method for making the same.