Cushioning device for treadmill

Abstract

The present invention is related to a cushioning device for treadmill, wherein the treadmill has a base with a side frame on each of its both sides, a deck disposed on the base to allow for the motions of running or walking by users, and a track surrounding and disposed on the deck. The deck is fastened to the base at least at its one end. At least one cushioning devices with adjustable cushion force are correspondingly disposed between the both sides of the deck and the side frames of the base. Each cushioning device has a plunger cylinder used to provide a cushion force in the reverse direction to cushion impact loads imparted on the deck while running or walking.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a cushioning device for treadmill, and more particularly to a device with cushioning plunger cylinders disposed at the deck and the side frames of a treadmill.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, there is a conventional treadmill 8. It can be seen from the figures that a plunger cylinder 82 with a constant cushion force is disposed between each of the two side frames 801 of the base 1 and each of the both sides of the deck 81. The plunger cylinder 82 is used to reduce the counteracting force exerted on users' feet by the deck 81 while the users are running thereon.

Though such treadmill 8 could achieve the cushioning effect by the cushioning device with a constant cushion force, however, the constant cushion force could only satisfy a certain body weight or certain practicing requirements. When the users with different body weights or asking for different practicing requirements are practicing or running on the treadmills with such cushioning devices, the users would feel uncomfortable. In other words, when the cushioning effect is required for heavier body weights or stronger practicing requirements, the users would feel the deck 81 is too soft while running or practicing; contrariwise, when the cushioning effect is required for lighter body weights or weaker practicing requirements, the users would feel the deck 81 is too hard while running or practicing, so that their cushioning effect cannot meet the users' requirements.

Also referring to FIG. 10, a conventional treadmill 9 is shown. It can be seen from the figures that the treadmill has a hand support 91 located on a base 90, and a cushioning device 93 with adjustable cushion force is disposed between a deck 92 and the hand support 91. In such treadmills, one end of the deck 92 is suspended on the cushioning device 93, and a cushion is provided for the deck 92 by adjusting the cushion force of the cushioning device 93 when users are practicing or running thereon. Even if such treadmills have the cushioning effect and adjustable cushion force, however, the members of their cushioning devices are complicated and the volume of the cushioning device is relatively large in comparison with that of the entire treadmill, so that it occupies a lot of space for running.

Furthermore, the deck of a treadmill is usually made of a slightly flexible plate, so that downward sags would occur where impact loads imparted on the deck while running. This would result in the deformation of the deck after use for a long time. Not only cannot the cushioning devices for the foregoing two kinds of treadmills solve this problem, but also the performance of the cushioning devices would be affected due to the deformation of the deck.

Accordingly, the main point of the present invention is to solve the problems caused by the cushioning devices for conventional treadmills.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a cushioning device for treadmill, which can solve the above problems by means of the cushioning devices with adjustable cushion force disposed between the side frames of the base and the deck, such that users can adjust different cushion forces according to the requirements of their body weights and habits while running or walking on the deck. Besides, the members of the present invention are simpler than the adjustable cushioning devices for conventional treadmills, and they are installed between the deck and the side frames of the base without occupation of the space for running or practicing.

The secondary objective of the present invention lies in that a connector is disposed below the deck and between the cushioning devices on the both sides of the deck, thus preventing the deck from easy deformation after use for a long time so as to avoid affecting the cushioning effect of the cushioning device.

To achieve the foregoing objectives, the treadmill of the present invention has a base with a side frame on each of its both sides, a deck disposed on the base to allow for the motions of running or walking by users, and a track surrounding and disposed on the deck, and the deck is fastened to the base at least at its one end, characterized in that at least one cushioning devices with adjustable cushion force are correspondingly disposed between the both sides of the deck and the side frames of the base, and each cushioning device has a plunger cylinder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional outline of the treadmill and cushioning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional exploded view of the cushioning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the plunger cylinder is adjusted to a higher cushion force according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the plunger cylinder is adjusted to a lower cushion force according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a three-dimensional outline of the treadmill and cushioning device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a three-dimensional exploded view of the cushioning device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a three-dimensional outline of a conventional treadmill and cushioning device.

FIG. 8 is a structural plan view of the cushioning device for the treadmill in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a cushion of the cushioning device for the treadmill in FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a structural plan view of another conventional treadmill and cushioning device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 2, those shown in the figures are the structures of the embodiments selected from the present invention, which are only illustrative and not meant to restrict the scope of the invention in any manner.

In this embodiment, a cushioning device for treadmill is provided, wherein the treadmill has a base 1 with a side frame 11 on each of its both sides, a deck 2 disposed on the base 1 to allow for the motions of running or walking by users, and a track 3 surrounding and disposed on the deck 2, and the deck 2 is fastened to the base 1 at least at its one end, and at least one cushioning devices 4 are correspondingly disposed between each of the both sides of the deck 2 and the side frame 11 of the base 1, and each cushioning device 4 has a plunger cylinder 41 to allow for adjusting the cushion force. In this embodiment, a connector 44 is disposed between the cushioning devices 4 correspondingly disposed between the both sides of the deck 2 and the two side frames 11 of the base 1 and disposed below the deck 2 to avoid the deformation of the deck 2. A hand support 12 extends upwardly from one end of the base 1 to provide auxiliary support for users while running or walking.

The above plunger cylinder 41 has a cylinder block 411, a piston rod 412 extending from one end of the cylinder block 411, and at least one positioning portions 42 disposed on each of the both sides of either the side frames 11 of the base 1 or the deck 2, and each positioning portion 42 is fastened to the end of the piston rod 412 and has at least one positioning punches 421 for adjusting the cushion angle between the position where the plunger cylinder 41 is located at the deck 2 and the position where the plunger cylinder is located at the base 1, and the other is pivotally connected to the cylinder block 411 of the plunger cylinder 41.

In this embodiment, the positioning portion 42 is disposed on the both sides of the deck 2 and has a notch 422 therein, and the positioning punches 421 of the positioning portion 42 are curved and disposed on the both sides of the notch 422 as well as symmetrically disposed below the side frames 11, and a pivoting base 413 is outwardly disposed between the both ends of the plunger cylinder 41, and the pivoting base has between the both ends thereof a pivoting rod 414 extending toward the side frame 11 and pivoted to a pivoting hole 111 of the side frame. A fastener 43 passes through the positioning punches 421 at the both sides of the positioning portion 42, and the plunger cylinder 41 is fastened inside the notch 422 of the positioning portion 42 after adjusting the angle of the plunger cylinder 41.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the positioning punch 421 has therein a plurality of screw mounting holes 421a with a diameter slightly larger than that of the punch 421, and the fastener 43 has a rotating portion 431, an external thread portion 432 extending from the rotating portion 431, and the external thread portion 432 passes through the positioning punches 421 at the both sides of the positioning portion 42 from the exterior to the interior, and the other end of the rotating portion 431 and an internal thread portion 433 are screw mounted to the outer sides of the two positioning punches 421 of the positioning portion 42.

It can be seen from the structure of the above cushioning device 4 that the plunger cylinder 41 can be tilted at different angles between the deck 2 and the side frame 11 of the base 1 to change the cushion force. When the plunger cylinder 41 is adjusted to be vertical as shown in FIG. 3, the acting force due to the impact loads imparted on the deck 2 is almost completely supported by the plunger cylinder 41, so that the plunger cylinder 41 would generate a counteracting force with respect to the deck 2 based on the preset values of the cushion force. On the other hand, when the plunger cylinder 41 is adjusted to be more tilted as shown in FIG. 4, the deck imparted by the impact loads would vibrate up and down vertically, that is, the downward pressure on the deck imparted by the impact loads is vertically downward, so that the plunger cylinder 41 only bears the component of the downward pressure along the direction of the axis of the plunger cylinder 41 and the other component thereof is vertical to the plunger cylinder 41. Therefore, the plunger cylinder 41 could only cushion the component of the downward pressure, and the other component thereof is supported by the pivoting end and counteracted by its pivotal rotation. As the result, when the plunger cylinder 41 is maintained at the preset values of the cushion force and the deck 2 is under the same downward pressure, the effective cushion force would be reduced.

When the body weights of users are heavier or a greater cushion force is required for running, the plunger cylinder 41 could be appropriately adjusted to be upright between the deck 2 and the side frame 11 of the base 1, such that the cushioning device 4 has a higher cushion force and the more upright the plunger cylinder is, the more increased the cushion force will relatively become. On the other hand, when the body weights of users are lighter or a lower cushion force is required for practicing, the plunger cylinder 41 could be appropriately adjusted to be tilted between the deck 2 and the side frame 11 of the base 1, such that the cushioning device 4 has a lower cushion force and the more tilted the plunger cylinder is, the more reduced the cushion force will relatively become.

Therefore, it can be seen in comparison with the cushioning devices for conventional treadmills that the cushioning device according to the present invention has the cushioning effect of the function of adjustable cushion force, such that users can adjust different cushion forces according to the requirements of their body weights and habits while running or walking on the deck 2. Besides, the members of the present invention are simpler than the adjustable cushioning devices for conventional treadmills, and they are installed between the deck 2 and the side frames 11 of the base 1 without occupation of the space for running.

Additionally, in order to overcome the deformation of the flexible deck 2 caused by running and walking for a long time, which would affect the cushioning effect of the cushioning device 4, in this embodiment, a connector 44 is disposed below the deck 2 and between the cushioning devices 4 on the both sides. Thus, when impact loads imparted on the deck 2 while running or walking, the downward pressure the deck 2 bears can be supported by the connector 44 and distributed more evenly on the deck 2.

Needless to say, there are still many examples of the present invention which differ only on the details. Referring to FIGS. 5 to 6, a second embodiment of the present invention is shown, whose difference lies in that the positioning portion is disposed on the side frames 11 of the base 1, and the end of the piston rod 412 of the plunger cylinder 41 is pivoted to the deck, and the one end of the cylinder block 411 of the plunger cylinder 41 is pivoted inside the notch 422 of the positioning portion 42 located at the side frame 11, thereby achieving the cushioning effect as same as that of the first embodiment.

Claims

1. A cushioning device for treadmill, wherein the treadmill has a base with a side frame on each of its both sides, a deck disposed on the base to allow for the motions of running or walking by users, and a track surrounding and disposed on the deck, and the deck is fastened to the base at least at its one end, characterized in that at least one cushioning devices with adjustable cushion force are correspondingly disposed between the both sides of the deck and the side frames of the base, and each cushioning device has a plunger cylinder.

2. The cushioning device for treadmill as described in claim 1, wherein the plunger cylinder has a cylinder block, a piston rod extending from one end of the cylinder block, and at least one positioning portions disposed on the both sides of either the side frames of the base or the deck and fastened to the end of the piston rod, and each positioning portion has at least one positioning punches for adjusting the cushion angle between the position where the plunger cylinder is located at the deck and the position where the plunger cylinder is located at the base, and the other is pivotally connected to the cylinder block of the plunger cylinder.

3. The cushioning device for treadmill as described in claim 2, wherein the positioning portion is fastened to the deck and has a notch therein, and the positioning punches of the positioning portion are curved and disposed on the both sides of the notch as well as symmetrically disposed below the side frames, and a pivoting base is outwardly disposed between the both ends of the plunger cylinder, and the pivoting base has between the both ends thereof a pivoting rod extending toward the side frame and pivoted to a pivoting hole of the side frame, and a fastener passes through the positioning punches at the both sides of the positioning portion and the other end of the plunger cylinder and is fastened inside the notch of the positioning portion after adjusting the angle of the plunger cylinder.

4. The cushioning device for treadmill as described in claim 2, wherein the positioning portion is disposed at the side frame of the base and has a notch therein, and the positioning punches of the positioning portion are curved and disposed on the both sides of the notch as well as symmetrically disposed below the side frames, and the end of the piston rod of the plunger cylinder is pivoted to the deck, and a fastener passes through the positioning punches at the both sides of the positioning portion and the end of the piston rod of the plunger cylinder and is fastened inside the notch of the positioning portion after adjusting the angle of the plunger cylinder.

5. The cushioning device for treadmill as described in claim 3, wherein the positioning punch has therein a plurality of screw mounting holes with a diameter slightly larger than that of the punch, and the fastener has a rotating portion, an external thread portion extending from the rotating portion, and the external thread portion passes through the positioning punches at the both sides of the positioning portion from the exterior to the interior, and the other end of the rotating portion and an internal thread portion are screw mounted to the outer sides of the two positioning punches of the positioning portion.

6. The cushioning device for treadmill as described in claim 4, wherein the positioning punch has therein a plurality of screw mounting holes with a diameter slightly larger than that of the punch, and the fastener has a rotating portion, an external thread portion extending from the rotating portion, and the external thread portion passes through the positioning punches at the both sides of the positioning portion from the exterior to the interior, and the other end of the rotating portion and an internal thread portion are screw mounted to the outer sides of the two positioning punches of the positioning portion.

7. The cushioning device for treadmill as described in claim 1, wherein a connector is disposed between the cushioning devices correspondingly disposed between the both sides of the deck and the side frames at the both sides of the base and below the deck to avoid the deformation of the deck.