Patent Application
20200254302
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0015556, filed on Feb. 11, 2019, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
One or more embodiments relate to treadmills.
A treadmill is also called a running machine and refers to an exercise machine that may provide an exercise effect of walking or running in a narrow space via a belt that rotates on a caterpillar. Because treadmills may enable walking or running exercise indoors at moderate temperatures regardless of weather, the demand for such machines has rapidly increased recently.
The treadmills may be classified into a powered treadmill in which a track unit rotates by a separate driving unit and a non-powered treadmill in which a track unit rotates by the user's movement without a separate driving unit. Because the non-powered treadmill does not require a separate driving unit, it may be arranged at various positions as compared to the powered treadmill. Recently, in such non-powered treadmills, various attempts have been made to allow users to feel as if they are actually exercising on floors. For example, for natural rotation of the non-powered treadmill, attempts have been made to reduce the rotational friction force of the track unit or to reduce the weight of the track unit in consideration of the rotational inertia of the track unit. However, even when the weight of the track unit has been reduced, it has still been difficult to completely reduce the rotational inertia of the track unit.
One or more embodiments include a non-powered treadmill capable of minimizing the rotational inertia of a track unit by reducing the weight of a rotation device rotating the track unit.
Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments of the disclosure.
According to one or more embodiments, a non-powered treadmill includes: a frame structure; a track unit rotatable with respect to the frame structure; and a rotation device arranged at the frame structure to rotatably support the track unit, wherein the track unit includes: a plurality of slats arranged along a rotation direction of the track unit; and a pair of belts arranged at both end portions of the plurality of slats to connect the plurality of slats to each other, the rotation device includes: a pair of bearing trains rotatably installed at the frame structure and including a plurality of first bearings arranged along a movement direction of the belt to guide a movement of an upper region of the pair of belts; and a front rotation module and a rear rotation module rotatably installed at the frame structure and respectively arranged at a front side and a rear side of the pair of bearing trains, and at least one of the front rotation module and the rear rotation module includes: a pair of rotation members arranged spaced apart from each other in a direction perpendicular to a rotation direction thereof; and a pair of rotation support units supporting the pair of rotation members such that the pair of rotation members rotate individually.
In an embodiment, the rotation member may include a wheel member having a diameter greater than a diameter of the first bearing.
In an embodiment, each of the pair of rotation support units may include: a support shaft fixed to the frame structure; and a bearing assembly arranged at the wheel member such that the wheel member may be rotatable with respect to the support shaft.
In an embodiment, the bearing assembly may include: at least one second bearing; and a connection boss for connecting the second bearing to the wheel member.
In an embodiment, the at least one second bearing may include: a bearing capable of rotating in both directions; and a one-way bearing arranged coaxially with the bearing and restricted to rotate in one direction.
In an embodiment, the connection boss may be arranged to be fixed to the wheel member.
In an embodiment, the bearing assembly may include an insertion hole into which the support shaft is inserted, and the rotation support unit may further include a first stopper arranged around the support shaft to guide an assembly position of the bearing assembly when the bearing assembly is installed at the support shaft through the insertion hole.
In an embodiment, the rotation support unit may further include a second stopper coupled to an end portion of the support shaft such that the bearing assembly may not deviate from the support shaft.
In an embodiment, a material of the wheel member may be lighter than a material of the connection boss and the support shaft.
In an embodiment, the track unit may include an upper region having a curved shape, and the plurality of first bearings may be arranged to correspond to the curved shape of the upper region of the track unit.
In an embodiment, the belt may include: an upper region; a lower region arranged under the upper region; and a front region and a rear region connecting the upper region to the lower region, and each of the pair of rotation members may include a plurality of third bearings arranged to guide a movement of at least one of the front region and the rear region.
In an embodiment, each of the pair of rotation members may further include a guide roller arranged between the plurality of third bearings and configured to prevent the belt from vibrating in a direction perpendicular to the rotation direction.
In an embodiment, an arrangement of the plurality of third bearings may have a curved shape such that the upper region may smoothly switch to the lower region.
In an embodiment, each of the pair of rotation support units may include a second bearing installed at the frame structure, each of the pair of rotation members may include: a wheel member; and an insertion shaft fixed to the wheel member and inserted into the second bearing, and the insertion shafts of the pair of rotation members may be coaxially arranged spaced apart from each other.
In an embodiment, the track unit may be configured to rotate by a user's foot movement.
Other aspects, features, and advantages other than those described above will become apparent from the accompanying drawings, the appended claims, and the detailed description of the disclosure.
These general and particular embodiments may be implemented by using a system, a method, a computer program, or a combination of the system, the method, and the computer program.
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain embodiments of the disclosure will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. In this regard, embodiments may have different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the descriptions set forth herein. Accordingly, embodiments are merely described below, by referring to the figures, to explain aspects of the present description. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Expressions such as “at least one of,” when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modify the individual elements of the list.
Referring to
The non-powered treadmill 1 may include a frame structure 110, a track unit 130 rotatable with respect to the frame structure 110, and a rotation device 150 rotatably supporting the track unit 130. The non-powered treadmill 1 may further include a handle unit 160 that may be gripped by the user and an output unit 170 that may display the exercise results.
The frame structure 110 may maintain the shape of the non-powered treadmill 1 and may include a center frame 111 and a side frame 113 arranged at both side portions of the center frame 111. The side frame 113 may be covered by a side cover 120.
The center frame 111 may include a left frame 111-1, a right frame 111-2, and a gap maintaining unit 111-3.
The track unit 130 may include a plurality of slats 131. The plurality of slats 131 may be arranged adjacent to each other in a first direction (Y direction) that is the rotation direction of the track unit 130. Each of the plurality of slats 131 may extend in a second direction (X direction) perpendicular to the rotation direction of the track unit 130.
The plurality of slats 131 may be connected by a connection member, for example, a pair of belts 132. The pair of belts 132 may be arranged at both end portions of the plurality of slats 131.
The slats 131 connected by the belts 132 may form a closed loop. The belts 132 may be wound around the rotation device 150 to be rotated. As the belts 132 rotate, the slats 131 connected by the belts 132 may be rotated.
The weight of the track unit 130 including the slats 131 and the belts 132 may be about 5 kg to about 100 Kg.
Referring to
One bearing train 151 among the pair of bearing trains 151 may be installed at the left frame 111-1 and the other bearing train 151 may be installed at the right frame 111-2.
The bearing train 151 may include a plurality of first bearings 1511 arranged along the rotation direction of the belt 132. The bearing train 151 may further include a guide roller 1512 arranged between the plurality of first bearings 1511.
The track unit 130 may include an upper region having a curved shape. In other words, a running surface thereof may have a curved shape. For this, the plurality of first bearings 1511 of the bearing train 151 may be arranged to correspond to the curved shape of the upper region of the track unit 130.
However, the upper region of the track unit 130 may not necessarily have a curved shape, and as illustrated in
Referring back to
At least one of the front rotation module 152 and the rear rotation module 153 may include a pair of rotation members 200 arranged spaced apart from each other in a direction perpendicular to the rotation direction and a pair of rotation support units 300 supporting the pair of rotation members 200.
The pair of rotation members 200 may include a pair of wheel members 201 arranged spaced apart from each other in a direction perpendicular to the rotation direction of the track unit 130 and having a diameter greater than the diameter of the first bearing 1511 of the bearing train 151.
Each of the pair of belts 132 may include an upper region 1321, a lower region 1322 arranged under the upper region 1321, and a front region 1323 and a rear region 1324 connecting the upper region 1321 to the lower region 1322.
The wheel member 201 may guide the movement of at least one of the front region 1323 and the rear region 1324 of the belt 132.
Referring to
The rotation support unit 300 may include a support shaft 310 fixed to the frame structure 110 and a bearing assembly 330 arranged at the wheel member 201 such that the wheel member 201 may be rotatable with respect to the support shaft 310.
The support shaft 310 may be fixed to the frame structure 110 through a support block 301. The support block 301 may be arranged inside the center frame 111. As the support shaft 310 is fixed by the support block 301 arranged inside the center frame 111, an end portion of the support shaft 310 may be aligned with a side surface of the center frame 111.
However, the support shaft 310 may not necessarily be fixed to the frame structure 110 through the support block 301 and may be directly fixed to the frame structure 110 when necessary.
Referring to
The bearing assembly 330 may include at least one second bearing 331 and a connection boss 335 for connecting the second bearing 331 to the wheel member 201.
The at least one second bearing 331 may include a bearing 332 capable of rotating in both directions and a one-way bearing 333 arranged coaxially with the bearing 332.
The one-way bearing 333 may rotate in one direction but may restrict rotation in the other direction. Accordingly, the one-way bearing 333 may restrict the rotation of the wheel member 201 in one direction. As the rotation of the wheel member 201 in one direction is restricted, the track unit 130 may be prevented from rotating in a direction opposite to the intended direction.
A first stopper 341 may be installed around the support shaft 310. The first stopper 341 may have a C-type ring structure.
The first stopper 341 may guide the assembly position of the bearing assembly 330 when the bearing assembly 330 is installed at the support shaft 310 through the insertion hole 3301. The first stopper 341 may prevent the bearing assembly 330 from being excessively inserted inwardly.
A second stopper 342 may be coupled to an end portion of the support shaft 310. The second stopper 342 may have a bolt structure.
The second stopper 342 may restrict the movement of the bearing assembly 330 such that the bearing assembly 330 installed at the support shaft 310 through the insertion hole 3301 may not deviate from the support shaft 310.
An inner ring of the second bearing 331 may be fixed to the support shaft 310 and an outer ring thereof may rotate with respect to the inner ring.
The connection boss 335 may be arranged around the second bearing 331 and may be fixed to the outer ring of the second bearing 331. As an example, the connection boss 335 may be arranged to be fixed to the wheel member 201 by a fixing member 350. However, the fixing method of the connection boss 335 is not limited thereto and may be variously modified. For example, as illustrated in
The connection boss 335 may include a metal material.
When the wheel member 201 rotates, the connection boss 335 fixed to the wheel member 201 and the outer ring fixed to the connection boss 335 may rotate with respect to the inner ring.
The material of the wheel member 201 may be lighter than the material of the connection boss 335 and the support shaft 310. For example, when the material of the connection boss 335 and the support shaft 310 is a metal material, the material of the wheel member 201 may be a plastic material.
As described above, because the front rotation module 152 has a structure in which the pair of rotation members 200 rotate individually, the weight of the front rotation module 152 may be reduced.
If the front rotation module 152 has a structure in which the pair of rotation members 200 are fixed to one rotation shaft to rotate together with the rotation shaft instead of rotating individually, the front rotation module 152 may be influenced by the weight of the rotation shaft.
On the other hand, the front rotation module 152 according to embodiments may remove the influence of the weight of the rotation shaft because it has a structure in which the pair of rotation members 200 are not fixed to the rotation shaft. Accordingly, the weight of the rotation device 150 rotating the track unit 130 may be reduced and the rotational inertia of the track unit 130 may be minimized.
Meanwhile, in the above embodiments, an example in which the support shafts 310 of the pair of the rotation support units 300 are spaced apart from each other has been mainly described; however, the present disclosure is limited thereto.
Also, in the above embodiments, an example in which the pair of rotation members 200 rotate individually in the front rotation module 152 has been mainly described; however, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
For example, a pair of rotation members 200 may be configured to rotate individually in a rear rotation module 153A as illustrated in
In the above embodiments, it has been mainly described that the pair of rotation members 200 are the wheel members 201; however, the pair of rotation members 200 may be implemented in various forms.
For example, as illustrated in
The third bearing 203 may be rotatably supported by the rotation support unit 300B installed at the frame structure 110.
The plurality of third bearings 203 may be arranged to guide the movement of at least one of the front region 1323 and the rear region 1324 of the belt 132.
The arrangement of the plurality of third bearings 203 may have a curved shape such that the upper region 1321 may smoothly switch to the lower region 1322. As an example, the arrangement of the plurality of third bearings 203 may be a portion of a circular shape as illustrated in
Also, in the above embodiments, a structure in which the outer ring of the second bearing 331 rotates in a state where the inner ring of the second bearing 331 is fixed to the support shaft 310 in each of the pair of rotation support units 300 and 300A has been mainly described. However, the pair of rotation support units 300 may be variously modified as long as there are within the range of supporting the pair of rotation members 200 to rotate individually.
For example, as illustrated in
The insertion shaft 202 may pass through the second bearing 331 and a third stopper 343 may be arranged at an end portion thereof. The position movement of the rotation member 200B may be restricted by the third stopper 343.
In a state where the insertion shaft 202 of the rotation member 200B is inserted into the second bearing 331, as the rotation member 200B rotates, the inner ring of the second bearing 331 may rotate with respect to the outer ring thereof.
In
The pair of insertion shafts 202 may be coaxially arranged spaced apart from each other.
Meanwhile, in the above embodiments, the non-powered treadmill in which the track unit is driven by the user's foot movement has been mainly described; however, the present disclosure is not limited thereto and may also be applied to a powered treadmill in which a track unit is driven by power or to a hybrid treadmill in which a track unit may be driven in both powered and non-powered manners.
According to the non-powered treadmills of embodiments of the present disclosure, the rotational inertia of the track unit may be minimized by reducing the weight of the rotation device rotating the track unit.
It should be understood that embodiments described herein should be considered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Descriptions of features or aspects within each embodiment should typically be considered as available for other similar features or aspects in other embodiments. While one or more embodiments have been described with reference to the figures, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2019-0015556 | Feb 2019 | KR | national |
