Patent Application
20110201481
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a treadmill and, more particularly, to a buffering platform unit of a treadmill.
2. Related Prior Art
A treadmill includes a belt in the form of a loop wound around two parallel rollers. A section of the belt is supported on a platform or more rollers located between the rollers. A runner exerts horizontal forces and vertical forces on the treadmill while running the treadmill. The horizontal forces cause the belt to spin. The vertical forces are supposed to be absorbed with the platform or the rollers. However, the effect of the absorption of the vertical forces with the platform is inadequate since the platform and the rollers are made of metal. Some of the vertical forces are bounced back to the runner's feet. Thus, the runner's feet are not well protected. On the other hand, the treadmill is vulnerable to damages caused by the vertical forces.
To overcome the foregoing problem, there have been many attempts to provide a buffer apparatus beneath the platform as disclosed in Taiwanese Patent Publication Nos. 390207, 507582 and 576227 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,336,144 and 5,441,468 for example. The buffer apparatus is supposed to absorb the vertical forces. The buffer apparatus includes several soft pads located beneath the platform. The effects of buffer provided with the soft pads are however inadequate.
The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least alleviate the problems encountered in prior art.
It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a treadmill with an elastic platform.
To achieve the foregoing objective, the elastic platform includes a frame and a piece of fabric. The frame is connected to the treadmill. The piece of fabric is supported on the frame. The piece of fabric supports a section of a belt wound around two rollers of the treadmill.
Other objectives, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description referring to the attached drawings.
The present invention will be described via detailed illustration of two embodiments referring to the drawings where:
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The frame 40 includes two longitudinal beams 41, two transverse beams 42 and a reinforcing beam 43. All of the beams 41, 42 and 43 are tubes. The transverse beams 42 and the reinforcing beam 43 are located between the longitudinal beams 41.
Each of the extensive portions 32 of the piece of elastic fabric 31 is wound around a related one of the longitudinal beams 41. Each of the extensive portions 34 of the piece of elastic fabric 31 is wound around a related one of the transverse beams 42. The extensive portions 34 of the piece of elastic fabric 31 are securely connected to the beams 41 and 42.
By operating two adjusting sets 50 each located in a related one of the longitudinal beams 41, the distance between the transverse beams 42 is adjustable as shown in
Referring to
Similarly, each of the adjusting sets 50″ includes a socket, a nut and a threaded bolt. The socket is securely located in the reinforcing beam 43. The nut is securely connected to a related one of the tracks 44. The threaded bolt includes a head located outside the frame 40, a middle section engaged with the nut and a tip rotationally inserted in the socket.
By rotating the threaded bolts relative to the nuts of the adjusting sets 50′ and 50″, the distance between the longitudinal beams 41 is adjustable. Therefore, the tension in the piece of elastic fabric 31 is adjustable.
Each of the longitudinal beams 41 includes two opposite slots 53 since it is a tube, not a solid rod. The threaded bolts 52′ are inserted through the slots 53.
Referring to
By rotating the threaded bolts 52 relative to the threaded linings 51, the threaded linings 51 are moved in the longitudinal beams 41, and so are the nuts 51′. The threaded bolts 52′ are moved in and along the slots 53. Hence, the rear transverse beam 42 is moved relative to the front transverse beam 42. Hence, the tension in the piece of elastic fabric 31 is adjusted.
Referring to
The piece of elastic fabric 61 includes two edges rolled into loops. A rod 62 is inserted through each of the loops. Thus, the piece of elastic fabric 61 can be extended evenly.
The frame 70 includes two longitudinal beams 71 and three transverse beams 72. One of the longitudinal beams 71 will be referred to as the “stationary longitudinal beam 71” while the other longitudinal beam 71 will be called the “movable longitudinal beam 71” within the follow description for clarity. Each of the transverse beams 72 includes two bent ends. One of the bent ends is securely connected to the stationary longitudinal beam 71.
There are adjusting sets 90 operable to change the distance between the longitudinal beams 71 to adjust tension in the piece of elastic fabric 61. Each of the adjusting sets 90 includes a socket 91, a nut 92 and a threaded bolt 93. The socket 91 is securely connected to the other bent end of a related one of the transverse beams 72. The nut 92 is securely located in the movable longitudinal beam 71. The threaded bolt 93 includes a head located outside the movable longitudinal beam 71, a threaded body engaged with the nut 92, and a tip rotationally located within and abutted against the socket 91.
The piece of elastic fabric 61 is connected to the longitudinal beams 71 with several screws inserted through washers 94. Each of the washers 94 includes a head located outside the piece of elastic fabric 61 and a body inserted into the longitudinal beams 71 through the piece of elastic fabric 61.
Each of the covers 80 includes a groove 81 and recesses 82. The groove 81 receives a related one of the longitudinal beams 71. Each of the recesses 82 receives the head of a related one of the threaded bolts 93.
The present invention has been described via the detailed illustration of the embodiments. Those skilled in the art can derive variations from the embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments shall not limit the scope of the present invention defined in the claims.
