GB1590729A

GB1590729A - Exercise monitor apparatus and method

Info

Publication number: GB1590729A
Application number: GB4416577A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1977-09-12
Filing date: 1977-10-24
Publication date: 1981-06-10
Also published as: IT1090682B; FR2402439B1; LU78571A1; IE45892L; DK472077A; BE860565A; IE45892B1; DE2753041A1; JPS5444376A; NL7712105A; FR2402439A1; MX144124A; CA1101494A

Description

(54) EXERCISE MONITOR APPARATUS AND METHOD (71) I, PERRY ANDRE LAPEYRE, a citizen of the United States of America of, P.O. Box 430, Houma, State of Louisiana 70360, United States of America do hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to the monitoring of exercise to encourage optimal exercise, especial- ly of the aerobic type, for cardiovascular fitness.

It has been found that only aerobic exercises promote cardiovascular fitness. This is because they significantly increase the continuous flow of blood through the heart and large skeletal muscles. The better aerobic exercises are walking briskly,jogging, cycling at rapid speed, running, swimming, ice or roller skating, and rope skipping.

Fitness exercise probelms are twofold; first, the exercises which generally move both arms and legs vigorously should be sustained at target level for 20 minutes or longer. The target zone is between 70 and 85 percent of the maximal attainable heart rate, roughly 220 minus the users age in years. Women reach the same maximal heartbeats as men of comparable age. Below 70 percent of the target zone capacity, there is little fitness benefit from exercise for the purposes hereof. Above 85 percent there is little added benefit from extra exercise.

Secondly, the user must presently take his own pulse count at 5 minute intervals to determine the vigor needed for target zone.

Obviously, the display of the heartbeat is of tremendous value for an aerobic exercise programme, and the display of the personal parameters and speed controlled scene are motivating.

Such a fitness programme consists of three basic stages, mainly warm-up, target zone, and cool down. The warm-up period should consume 5 to 10 minutes and the heartbeat should be less than 50 percent of the user's maximal heart rate at the warm-up period conclusion.

Immediately after the warm-up period the exercise should be more vigourous until target zone is reached. This segment should last 20 to 30 minutes. The pulse count is repeated at 5 minute intervals.

The cool down period is accomplished by easing up on the exercise over a 5 to 10 minute period before stopping. At the end of the cool down period, the pulse should be back to less than 50 percent of maximal obtainable heartbeat.

This programme should be practiced no less than three times weekly. The problem, of course, is to encourage the user to be persistent in the programme. All of the monitored parameters, along with the variable speed outdoor exercise display encourage the user to persist.

This is enhanced by the fact that the user may refer to charts or his memory to know that he is within the target zone and to regulate his output, accordingly.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus for use in monitoring exercise by a person using an exerciser, comprising means for developing a signal indicative of the heart-rate of a person using an exerciser, means for developing a signal indicative of the speed of operation of the exerciser by the person, means for developing a signal indicative of the corresponding distance travelled by operation of the exerciser, means for displaying a scene of outdoor exercise activity on a monitor for viewing by the person, means for controlling the speed of display of said activity by said speed signal, and means for applying said speed signal to the monitor for viewing by the person, and means for applying said distance signal to the monitor for viewing by the person.

According to said one aspect of the invention there is also provided exercising apparatus comprising an exerciser for operation by a person, apparatus as described above for monitoring exercise by the person using the exerciser, and a visually observable monitor connected to the latter apparatus for viewing by the person.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of monitoring exercise by a person using an exerciser, comprising developing signals indicative of the heart-rate of the person, the speed of operation of the exerciser by the person and the corresponding distance travelled by operation of the exerciser, display ing a scene of outdoor exercise activity on a monitor for viewing by the person, controlling the speed of display of said activity by said speed signal, and applying said speed and distance signals to the monitor for viewing by the person.

A specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a representation of the user relative to an exercising and exercise monitoring apparatus according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a block diagram of apparatus according to the present invention for monitoring exercise; Figure 3 is a detailed block diagram of a portion of the diagram of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a further block drawing with waveforms of a further portion of the apparatus of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a chart showing the target zone defined by heart rate vs. age in years; Figure 6 is a further chart, based on target zone, but delineating the preferred range of minutes of exercise for a typical programme per day or every other day; and Figure 7 is a pictorial view of the monitor used in the exercise monitoring apparatus according to the present invention.

In Figure I, a typical exercise machine 11 is shown as a treadmill, operated by the user 13. His pulse rate is picked up by pulse transducer 15, and transferred over signal lead 17 to TV monitor 21 via a circuit later to be described.

As treadmill 11 cycles, a magnetic or light beam pickoff generates a speed control signal, transferred over lead 18 to video tape cassette or other signal generator 19, for control of speed of the cassette, and, also for superposition on the video and further transfer over cable 23 to monitor 21.

A support 27 includes an on-off control 29, along with a speed control which, if used, may be manipulated by the user 13 to stay abreast of the set treadmill speed.

In Figure 2, a magnetic or light beam pickoff, associated with the treadmill, cycle, rowing machine or the like is illustrated at 31. It provides an electrical signal on lead 33 which signal pulses on every stroke of a lever or revolution of a wheel of the exerciser. This signal is provided, over lead 35, to a speed control generator 37, adapted to produce a playback speed control signal over lead 39 to video tape cassette player 41, or the like.

Speed control generator 37 is conventional, and may produce a variable voltage or variable frequency signal to control the speed of video tape cassette player 41. Whether it is a variable frequency or variable voltage, depends on the particular type of video tape player being used.

If it is a variable frequency signal, it can be generated by a phase lock loop frequency synthesizer tied to the exercise machine pulse output.

Also, the pulse train speed signal on lead 33 is directed to the converter timing circuitry 43. The circuitry 43 generates binary coded decimal signals on leads 45 and 47. The three digit BCD signal on lead 45 represents the user's speed in minutes and tenths of a minute per equivalent mile. The signal on lead 47 represents the total number of.miles to the hundreths of a mile.

These two signals, along with the video from video tape cassette player 41 (via lead 51) are applied to TV character positioning and generation circuits 53. The latter circuitry is conventional and merely superimposes the character data on the video for application over lead 55 to video to RF converter 57. The combination signal, consisting of the video with superimposed data, is converted to the radio-frequency signal applied over lead 59 to the television set, TV monitor, or the like 21.

Heart pulse sensor 62 developes a pulsing signal of heartbeat or blood pressure rate, converted to BCD at BCD convertor 63 for 3 digit output on lead 64 to the TV character positioning and generation circuits 53. The 3 digits are beats per minute.

In this manner, the pertinent data on TV monitor 21 (see Figure 7) is available to the user. The video scene, by way of example, is the rowing scene 65, taking place in an outdoor background. The speed of the rower is increased or decreased in accordance with the speed of the user. The momentary speed is illustrated on the lower right hand corner of monitor 21 as the user's speed of 6.5 minutes per mile.

The distance thus far transversed, by the user, is shown directly above the speed as 1.25 miles.

At the lower left of monitor 21, there appears the pulse rate, shown as 155, in heartbeats per minute, which rate may be high and low alarmed, according to the target zone region 67 of Figure 5, as per age of user.

Space 66, on monitor 21 is availalbe for a comparison user's pulse rate, the other parameters being the same as the user's.

Turning now to Figure 3, further detail is illustrated with respect to converter-timing circuitry 43 of Figure 2. The input pulse train on lead 33 is applied to dividing counter 75. Counter 75 may be of the divided-by-N integrated circuit type with N being selected by ajumpered plug or switch 77 so as to match the exercise machine 11. For example, N may range from 10 (for a rowing machine) to 100 (for a treadmill). N is selected as being the number of pulses on input lead 33 per equivalent hundreth of a mile.

The output 79, from dividing counter 75 is used to gate the time pulse counting circuit, shown as the BCD counter 81, and the holding register 83, at each hundreth of a mile.

Clock 85 provides a constant output of 1000 pulses per minute to BCD counter 81, such that the speed reciprocal signal in minutes per mile appears on the BCD output lead 45 to the tenths order.

The dividing counter 75, also energizes the distance BCD counter 87 to provide the distance signal on lead 47 in BCD to the hundreths order of equivalent miles.

In Figure 4, one method of implementing the pulse-rate to BCD converter 63 (Figure 2) circuitry is detailed. The input electrical signal from the heart pulse sensor 62 from either electrodes on the user's body or an infra red transmission transducer (on an ear lobe or finger) is amplified and band-pass filtered in the amplifier filter unit 101 to change the heart pulsing signal from that pictured at 103 (Figure 4) to the wave form 105. Signal 105 is applied to threshold detector 107, which generates the square pulses, shown as the wave train 109.

Square pulse train 109 is fed to pulse generator 111 to produce a constant amplitude, constant width pulse train 113.

These uniform pulses 113 charge capacitor 115 at the same time that it is being discharged by a current proportional to the count at lead 64 (i.e. BCD counter 117 output) to display pulses per minute (to three figures). The discharging current flows through lead 116 relative to the charging current on lead 112. The output from the comparator 121 on lead 108 will cause the count at the BCD counter 117 to increment if current along lead 116 is less than current along 112 and decrement if visa versa.

The frequency of the clock 119 to the counter 117 should be about half the nominal heartbeat rate (plus or minus 50So). The BCD output at lead 64 from the up-down counter 117 will thus be proportional to the heartbeat rate and may be calibrated by the resistor 131. Digital to analog converter 133 is a current converter for the BCD output (count) of counter 117 to analog current along lead 116 for algebraic combination with the current along lead 112 in controlling the charge and discharge of capacitor 115.

TV character positioning and generation circuits 53 of Figure 1 may be large scale integrated circuits, such as Texas Instrument Model SN76460. Alternatively, but less preferable, are integrated circuit counters coupled with an oscillator and ROM for performing similar functions. These circuits are simply used to determine the TV spots vertical position (by counting horizontal lines) and horizontal position (by counting the oscillator's output). Thus at the proper counts, the output from the ROM would be used to superimpose the body of a number onto the video from the video tape player, creating the BCD numbers on the screen of the monitor 21.

These techniques are known from TV game techniques, for moving the ball in games, such as tennis and ping pong, and the superimposition of data on video is seen every day on TV screens.

The video-to-RF converter 57, converts the video signal into a radio frequency signal for display on an ordinary TV set. These are also off-the-shelf components.

The charts of Figures 5 and 6 have been generally explained heretofore. For example, in Figure 5, the target zone 67 for a 40 year old person is between 128 and 155 heartbeats per minute. This is 70 to 85 percent of the maximal obtainable heart rate of 182 for such a 40 year old user.

In Figure 6 the chart explains the warm-up heartbeat in terms of minutes of exercise. It should be noted that the target zone 67' should not be obtained until after the warm-up period, as explained.

Claims

WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. Apparatus for use in monitoring exercise by a person using an exerciser, comprising means for developing a signal indicative of the heart-rate of a person using an exerciser, means for developing a signal indicative of the speed of operation of the exerciser by the person, means for developing a signal indicative of the corresponding distance travelled by operation of the exerciser, means for displaying a scene of outdoor exercise activity on a monitor for viewing by the person, means for controlling the speed of display of said activity by said speed signal, and means for applying said speed signal to the monitor for viewing by the person, and means for applying said distance signal to the monitor for viewing by the person.

2. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said means for applying the speed signal to the monitor includes means for converting said speed signal into a signal representing a digital number for display on the monitor;

3. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein said means for developing the speed signal comprises means for sensing the speed of operation of the exerciser by one of electrical sensing and magnetic sensing.

4. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said means for applying said distance signal to the monitor includes means for converting said distance signal into a signal representing a digital number for display on the monitor.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said means for developing said distance signal comprises means for deriving said distance signal from said speed signal.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising means for converting said heart-rate signal into a signal representing a digital number and means for applying said signal representing said digital number to the monitor for viewing by the person.

7. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said means for .developing said heart-rate signal comprises means for sensing the person's heart-rate by one of electrical and infra-red means.

8. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising warning means operable in response to said heart-rate signal when the person's heart-rate exceeds a predetermined level, which level can be preset in accordance with the person's age.

9. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said means for displaying a scene of outdoor exercise activity comprises a video tape cassette player, said speed control means controlling the speed of operation of the video tape cassette player.

10. Exercising apparatus comprising an exerciser for operation by a person, apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims for monitoring exercise by the person using the exerciser, and a visually observable monitor connected to the latter apparatus for viewing by the person.

11. A method of monitoring exercise by a person using an exerciser, comprising developing signals indicative of the heart-rate of the person, the speed of operation of the exerciser by the person and the corresponding distance travelled by operation of the exerciser, displaying a scene of outdoor exercise activity on a monitor for viewing by the person, controlling the speed of display of said activity by said speed signals, and applying said speed and distance signals to the monitor for viewing by the person.

12. A method as claimed in Claim 11, further comprising converting said speed signal into a signal representing a digital number and displaying said digital number on the monitor.

13. A method as claimed in Claim 11 or Claim 12, wherein developing said speed signal includes sensing the speed of operation of the exerciser by one of electrical sensing and magnetic sensing.

14. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 11 to 13, further comprising converting the said distance signal into a signal representing a digital number and displaying said digital number on the monitor.

15. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 11 to 14, wherein developing said distance signal includes deriving said distance signal from said speed signal.

16. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 11 to 16, further comprising converting said heart-rate signal into a signal representing a digital number and displaying said digital number on the monitor.

17. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 11 to 16, wherein developing said heartrate signal includes sensing the person's heartrate by one of electrical and infra-red means.

18. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 11 to 17, further comprising warning the person when the person's heart-rate exceeds a predetermined level dependent on the person's age.

19. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 11 to 18, further comprising providing a video cassette player to display said scene of outdoor exercise activity and controlling the speed of display of said activity by controlling the speed of operation of the video tape cassette player.

20. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 11 to 19, further comprising providing an exerciser for operation by the person and a visually observable monitor for viewing by the person.

21. Apparatus, for use in monitoring exercise by a person using an exerciser, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

22. Exercising and exercise monitoring apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

23. A method, of monitoring exercise by a person using an exerciser, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.