Claims
- 1. In an exercise treadmill including a generally planar slider bed having a head end, a tail end, and a top surfacing extending substantially between said ends thereof, an endless treadmill belt trained over said slider bed top surfacing and a lower run passing under said slider bed, and means for driving said belt for movement of said belt upper run from said head end to said tail end of said slider bed,
- the improvement wherein:
- said slider bed has a cross member extending transversely thereof adjacent and forwardly of said head end thereof,
- said belt driving means comprising:
- a head roller journalled in said slider bed adjacent the head end of same over which the belt is trained,
- said head roller being journalled for rotation about an axis paralleling said cross member,
- an electric drive motor assembly mounted on the cross member between said cross member and said head roller for pivotal movement about an axis substantially paralleling said cross member,
- said drive motor assembly including a drive motor driving a drive shaft about an axis substantially paralleling said motor assembly pivot axis and having keyed to same a first drive stepping pulley for rotation about said drive shaft axis,
- with said head roller having keyed to same a second drive stepping pulley for rotation about said head roller axis,
- a pulley belt in drive transmitting relation between said pulleys, with said pulleys being in substantially coplanar stepping-reverse stepping relation,
- said head roller axis and said drive shaft axis being in substantially coplanar relation in a plane substantially paralleling said slider bed,
- said drive motor assembly pivot axis being disposed below said plane and said motor and disposing said drive motor assembly in cranking relation to said head roller axis about said drive motor assembly pivot axis for shifting said drive shaft axis toward said head roller axis in one direction of movement about said drive motor assembly pivot axis, and for shifting said drive shaft axis away from said head roller axis in the opposite direction of movement about said drive motor assembly pivot axis,
- and means for subjecting said drive motor assembly to uniform spring biasing action in said opposite direction about its said pivot axis for uniformly tensioning said pulley belt into said drive transmitting relation with said pulleys and for spring absorption of load surges imposed on said pulley belt,
- said drive motor assembly including a handle crank means for pivoting said drive motor assembly in said cranking relation in said one direction about its said pivot axis in opposition to said subjecting means for manually relieving the tensioning of said pulley belt for freeing same from said drive transmitting relation with said drive pulleys for adjusting said pulley belt relative to said pulleys for changing the speed of movement of said treadmill belt, as driven by said drive motor, stepping pulley fashion,
- said biasing action of said subjecting means, on manual release of said handle crank means with said pulley belt positioned for said drive transmitting relation with said pulleys in the changed speed relation of same to said pulleys, acting on said drive motor assembly for pivoting said drive motor assembly in said cranking relation in said opposite direction about its said pivot axis for restoring said uniform tensioning of said pulley belt into said drive transmitting relation with said pulleys in the adjusted speed relation of same and for said spring absorption of load surges imposed on said pulley belt.
- 2. The improvement set forth in claim 1 wherein:
- said drive pulleys are respectively of the step up and step down type for manual changing of the ratios of said drive pulleys, on operation of said handle crank means, to free said pulley belt of said tensioning by said subjecting means.
- 3. The improvement set forth in claim 1 wherein:
- said subjecting means acts on said motor assembly with substantially constant force when said pulley belt is in said drive transmitting relation with said pulleys.
- 4. The improvement set forth in claim 1 wherein:
- said handle crank means comprises:
- a handle affixed to the upper portion of said drive motor and projecting therefrom rearwardly of the treadmill.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of my application Ser. No. 452,300, filed Dec. 22, 1982, abandoned, which is a division of my application Ser. No. 378,627, filed May 17, 1982, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,683, granted May 1, 1984, which is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 226,766, filed Jan. 21, 1981, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,587, granted Feb. 22, 1983.
This application is also a division of my application Ser. No. 552,803, filed Nov. 17, 1983, which is a continuation-in-part of my said application Ser. No. 378,627.
This invention relates to an exercise treadmill, and more particularly to an exercise treadmill of the endless belt type.
Various forms and types of treadmill assemblies are available for exercise purposes involving endless belts. However, most commercially available equipment of this type is unduly expensive to be practical for individuals to have for home use, due to the tendency to incorporate sophisticated monitoring equipment and overdesign the basic apparatus to insure continuous exercise for individuals weighing up to two hundred fifty pounds or more and yet permit adjustment in slope and speed for making available to the user mild to exhaustive exercise for testing or conditioning purposes.
A principal object of the present invention is to provide a walking exercise treadmill of few and simple parts that avoids costly sophisticated instrumentation and other equipment not essential to exercise use as such, while providing the user with ready infinitely variable slope adjustment between zero and a predetermined maximum, such as twenty-five percent, and a suitable selection of belt speed adjustments.
Another principal object of the present invention is to provide an exercise treadmill that essentially comprises a slider bed type, endless belt trained, frame assembly characterized by the belt and slider bed surfacing it rides on being formed of plastic materials that are lubricant free, and providing the manually operable stepless slope selectability between zero and a predetermined maximum slope, with the frame support being arranged to automatically increase stability as the slope is increased to the maximum provided for.
Another important object of the invention is to provide an exercise treadmill that has minimal space requirements for storage and use, that has minimal driving energy requirements in use, that has nominal maintenance requirements, and that is long lived and effective in use.
In accordance with the invention, an exercise treadmill is provided comprising a generally planar frame providing a slider bed, and head and tail rollers at the corresponding ends of the slider bed, over which is trained an endless belt formed from nylon, the upper run of which rides on a lubrication free facing of the slider bed that is preferably formed from ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, the belt engaging surfacing of which is preferably sanded. The rollers are, on the other hand formed from rigid metallic materials and are provided with a belt centering crown which in the case of the head roller is formed by an elastomeric material. The treadmill frame adjacent to and spaced forwardly of its head end is provided with a cross member fixed thereto in which slope adjusting devices are provided comprising a pair of spaced apart screw members that are threadedly mounted for supporting and changing the elevation of the frame head end to provide the slope, if any, desired. Each screw member is individually rotationally journalled in its own supporting foot that is arranged for rocking relation of the screw members with respect to the treadmill supporting surface for the treadmill feet, and the screw members are mounted for rotation about upright axes that are at like acute angles with respect to the plane of the slider bed, which axes angle forwardly of the treadmill frame upwardly of the slider bed frame. The indicated acute angulation of the screw member axes equal the maximum angulation the slider bed frame is to have at its maximum slope to be provided for, which is approximately twenty-seven percent in a preferred embodiment of the invention. The upper ends of the screw members are coupled together by a manually operated drive chain arrangement for adjusting the elevation of the treadmill head end to provide the slope desired up to the indicated maximum slope. The tail end of the treadmill frame is equipped with a pair of pivotally mounted spaced feet, and the treadmill feet at both ends of the frame are proportioned so that the treadmill slider bed and cooperating endless belt are horizontally disposed when the screw members are in their retracted, maximum angulation, positions, with the slider bed and cooperating belt being angled upwardly at the predetermined maximum slope to be provided by the treadmill unit when the screw members are in their extended, substantially vertical relations.
The belt is power driven by a suitable electric motor carried by the treadmill frame cross member with stepped pulleys being provided for stepping down of the drive RPM and belt speed adjustment to provide belt movement at several selected speeds, such as 2, 2.9, and 3.5 miles per hour for walking exercise. The treadmill assembly or unit is equipped on either side of same with a hand hold railing of P shaped configuration of which the head of the railing configuration is positioned for grasping as needed by the user.
Hand crank operation of the screw members from their retracted relations to their extended positions both swings the screw members to a substantial vertical supporting position without changing their angular relationship relative to the treadmill slider bed, and angles the treadmill slider bed and endless belt trained thereover at the desired maximum slope provided for, which is at the same acute angle relative to the horizontal that the screw member axes are angled relative to the plane of the treadmill slider bed. The treadmill slider bed in moving between its horizontal and maximum inclined positions has pivotal action only at its feet, with its rear feet shifting forwardly as the frame moves from its horizontal to its maximum inclining position, and vice versa.
The screw members of the slope adjusting devices are threadedly mounted in the treadmill frame cross member by way of a pair of special nut assemblies associated therewith, each of which includes a tubular member of square section through which the screw member associated therewith passes, and first and second nut members respectively keyed to the lower and upper ends of the tubular frame which threadedly engage the screw member thereof. The nut members are formed from nylon and the screw members are formed from steel, with the threading thereof being roll formed. The upper nut member of each nut assemblies is mounted for lost motion movement relative to the nut assembly tubular member to accommodate tolerance variations in the screw member threading.
The belt drive assembly includes a motor mounting assembly arrangement that is spring biased to apply an essentially constant tension in the drive transmitting pulley belt involved, which is freed from overstressing, with the motor mounting assembly arrangement including a hand crank arrangement for manually overcoming such biasing means and freeing the pulley belt for ready changing of treadmill driving speeds.
Still other objects, uses and advantages will become obvious or apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description and the application drawings in which like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Divisions (2)
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552803 |
Nov 1983 |
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378627 |
May 1982 |
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Continuation in Parts (2)
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226766 |
Jan 1981 |
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378627 |
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Patent Grant
4566689
