Patent Application
20220379163
The present invention is related to an exercise equipment, and in particular, to a treadmill with a safety monitoring function and a safety monitoring method for a treadmill.
As people value heath more seriously nowadays, a lot of people install a treadmill at their own homes, such that they are able to use the treadmill to perform exercise at home regardless of the outdoor weather condition.
However, in comparison to gym, the home environment is relatively more complicated to ensure safe operation of the equipment. For example, in the event that a child at home activates the treadmill without adult supervision, or the treadmill is accidentally activated, injury may occur under such a situation.
Accordingly, an objective of the present invention is to provide a treadmill with a safety monitoring function capable of preventing accidental activation by a child.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a safety monitoring method for a treadmill capable of preventing accidental activation by a child.
To achieve the objectives, the present invention provides a treadmill with a safety monitoring function, allowing a runner to stand and run thereon. The treadmill with a safety monitoring function comprises a running unit, a driving unit, a detection unit, and a control unit.
The running unit comprises a base, two side rails arranged spaced apart from each other and extending rearward from the base, a driving roller and a driven roller pivotally installed between the side rails, and a running belt arranged between the side rails and mounted on the driving roller and the driven roller and provided for the runner to stand and run thereon. A front-rear direction is defined along an extension direction of each one of the side rails.
The driving unit is arranged on the base and is configured to drive the driving roller to rotate in order to drive the running belt to rotate around the driving roller and the driven roller, thereby allowing the runner to run forward along the front-rear direction on the running belt.
The detection unit comprises a camera. The camera is arranged at a predefined height range on top of the running belt for photographing, and is configured to photograph an image of the runner.
The control unit is electrically connected to the driving unit and the detection unit for transmitting signals. The control unit is able to analyze a height of the runner based on the image photographed by the camera. When the height of the runner is greater than a predefined height, the control unit controls the driving roller to be driven by the driving unit.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a safety monitoring method for a treadmill, applicable to a treadmill and a runner standing on the treadmill. The treadmill includes a running belt. The safety monitoring method for a treadmill comprises an image photographing step and an activation analysis step.
The image photographing step is to obtain an image of a predefined height range on top of the running belt of the treadmill.
The activation analysis step is to analyze whether the image obtained at the image photographing step contains the runner, and to analyze whether a height of the runner is greater than a predefined height. If the height of the runner is greater than the predefined height, and a first monitoring output is generated.
The technical effects of the present invention are as follows. Through the image photographed at the predefined height on top of the running belt, the image may be analyzed to determine whether the image contains the runner, and to determine whether the height of the runner is greater than the predefined height. Accordingly, a determination standard may be applied for determining whether the driving roller can be driven by the driving unit to rotate, thereby preventing the hazard due to accidental activation by a child of insufficient height.
Other features and technical effects of the present invention will be illustrated clearly in the accompanied drawings and the embodiments as follows:
Please refer to
The running unit 1 comprises a base 11, two side rails 12 arranged spaced apart from each other and extending rearward from the base 11, a driving roller 13 and a driven roller 14 pivotally installed between the side rails 12, and a running belt 15 pivotally installed between the side rails 12 and mounted on the driving roller 13 and the driven roller 14 and provided for the runner 9 to stand thereon, two handrails 16 extended upward from the side rails 12, and a front base 17 connected between the handrails 16 and located on top of a front end of the running belt 15. A front-rear direction X is defined along an extension direction of each one of the side rails 12.
In this embodiment, the driving roller 13 is located at the front side, and the driven roller 14 is located at the rear side. However, the present invention is not limited to such configuration.
The driving unit 2 is arranged on the base 11 and is configured to drive the driving roller 13 to rotate in order to drive the running belt 15 to rotate around the driving roller 13 and the driven roller 14, thereby allowing the runner 9 to run forward along the front-rear direction X on the running belt 15.
The detection unit 3 comprises a camera 31. The camera 31 is arranged at a predefined height range above the running belt 15 for photographing, and is configured to photograph an image of the runner 9. In this embodiment, the camera 31 is arranged on the front base 17 and is configured to photograph rearward in order to photograph the image of the runner 9. In this embodiment, the predefined height range is between 140 cm and 190 cm; however, the present invention is not limited to such range.
The control unit 5 is electrically connected to the driving unit 2, the input unit 4 and the detection unit 3 for transmitting signals.
The control unit 5 is able to analyze a height of the runner 9 based on the image photographed by the camera 31. In this embodiment, the control unit 5 is able to analyze a head position of the runner 9 based on the image photographed by the camera 31 and to analyze the height of the runner 9 based on the head position of the runner 9.
When the height of the runner 9 is greater than a predefined height, the control unit 5 controls the driving roller 13 to be driven by the driving unit 2. In addition, when the height of the runner 9 is not greater than the predefined height, it is able to control the driving roller 13 to prevent it from being driven by the driving unit 2. In this embodiment, the predefined height range is 150 cm, however the present invention is not limited to such height.
The control unit 5 is configured to continuously analyze a change of the height of the runner 9 based on the image photographed by the camera, and to control the driving unit 2 and to control a rotational speed of the driving roller 13 when a maximum height change of the runner 9 within a predefined time is greater than a predefined height difference. In this embodiment, the predefined time is 5 seconds, and the predefined height difference is 30 cm, however the present invention is not limited to such height.
Please refer to
The image photographing step S1 is to obtain an image within the predefined height range on top of the running belt of the treadmill 15.
The activation analysis step S2 is to analyze whether the image obtained at the image photographing step S1 containing the runner 9, and to analyze whether a height of the runner 9 is greater than the predefined height. If the height of the runner 9 is greater than the predefined height, a first monitoring output is generated.
In this embodiment, the activation analysis step S2 is to analyze whether the image obtained contains an object, and then to analyze whether a head portion of the object in the image can be identified. Next, the head position of the runner 9 is determined, following which the height of the runner 9 is determined based on the head position of the runner 9.
The falling analysis step S3 is to continuously analyze a height change of the runner 9 based on the image obtained in the image photographing step S1, and to generate a second monitoring output when a maximum height change of the runner 9 within the predefined time is greater than the predefined height difference.
When the runner 9 uses the treadmill with a safety monitoring function and inputs the command via the input unit 4 such that the running belt 15 is expected to be activated for rotation, the control unit 5 executes the image photographing step S1 and the activation analysis step S2 first.
When the first monitoring output is generated in the activation analysis step S2 (meaning that the height of the runner 9 is greater than the predefined height), the control unit 5 is able to control the driving roller 13 to be driven by the driving unit 2 (such as: allowing the driving unit 2 to be electrically conducted), thereby allowing the running belt 15 to rotate.
When no first monitoring output is generated in the activation analysis step S2 (meaning that the height of the runner 9 is not greater than the predefined height), the control unit 5 is able to control the driving roller 13 to prevent it from being driven by the driving unit 2 (such as preventing electrical conduction of the driving unit 2), such that even the runner 9 has inputted the command via the input unit 4, the running belt 15 still cannot be driven to rotate. Accordingly, it is able to prevent accidental activation of the treadmill with a safety monitoring function by a child of insufficient height.
In addition, during the rotation of the running belt 15, the control unit 5 is able to execute the image photographing step S1 and the falling analysis step S3.
When the falling analysis step S3 generates the second monitoring output (meaning that the maximum height change of the runner 9 within the predefined time is greater than the predefined height difference), it means that the runner 9 might have fallen down. Accordingly, the control unit 5 is able to control the driving unit 2 to control the rotational speed of the driving roller 13, in order to reduce the rotational speed of the driving roller 13 and to stop it gradually, or allow the driving roller 13 to stop immediately, thereby preventing the runner 9 from being caught in the gap between the running belt 15 and one of the side rails 12 due to continuous movement of the running belt 15.
Accordingly, through the image photographed at the predefined height on top of the running belt 15, the image can be analyzed to determine whether the image contains the runner 9, and to determine whether the height of the runner 9 is greater than the predefined height. As a result, it can be used as a determination standard for determining whether the driving roller 13 can be driven by the driving unit 2 to rotate, thereby preventing the hazard due to accidental activation by a child of insufficient height.
It shall be noted that in this embodiment, the camera 31 is arranged at the front base 17, and is configured to photograph rearward in order to photograph the image of the runner 9. However, the present invention is not limited to such configuration only, In another embodiment, the camera 31 can also be arranged at other locations, such as the arrangement on a wall 8 as shown in
In view of the above, for the treadmill with a safety monitoring function and the safety monitoring method for a treadmill of the present invention, through the image photographed at the predefined height above the running belt 15, the image can be analyzed to determine whether the image contains the runner 9, and to determine whether the height of the runner 9 is greater than the predefined height. Accordingly, it can be used a determination standard for determining whether the driving roller 13 can be driven by the driving unit 2 to rotate, thereby preventing the hazard due to accidental activation by a child of insufficient height. As a result, it is able to achieve the objectives of the present invention.
It shall be understood that the above description is provided to illustrate the possible embodiments of the present invention only, and it shall not be treated as limitation to the implementation scope of the present invention. All mere and equivalent changes and modifications made based on the scope of the claims and the content of the specification of the present invention shall be considered to be within the scope of the claims of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 110118898 | May 2021 | TW | national |
