JP2009219731A - Passive exercise device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To adjust the vertical tilt width of step boards in a passive exercise device allowing a user to perform a stepping exercise or simultaneously perform the stepping exercise and an exercise twisting a body at the waist. <P>SOLUTION: This passive exercise device includes a unit part 30 tiltably having a pair of left/right step boards 33 and 34, a drive part 80 alternately tilting the step boards, and a control means 40 for controlling the operation of the drive part, wherein the control means controls the drive part to vary the tilt widths of the step boards. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a passive exerciser that can perform a stepping exercise or a stepping exercise and a hip twisting exercise at the same time.

  There is known a passive exerciser that can perform a stepping motion by placing a user's foot on a pair of left and right footboards and alternately tilting the footboards with a motor (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The user can receive the passive motion of stepping according to the tilting of the footboard without moving his / her foot by simply placing the left and right feet on the footboard of the passive exerciser. In addition, by stepping on the tread board, you can receive passive exercise with higher exercise effect.

JP 2004-358058 A

In the above, by making the rotation speed of the motor variable, the tilting speed of the tread can be adjusted, but the vertical tilt width of the tread has not been changed.
For this reason, depending on the user, the tilting width of the footboard is too large, and a load is applied to the foot. Further, when the tilt width is constant, the operation may become monotonous.

  An object of the present invention is to make it possible to adjust the vertical tilt width of a footboard in a passive exerciser that can perform a footstep exercise or a stepping motion and a hip twisting motion simultaneously.

In order to solve the above problems, the passive exerciser of the present invention is
A unit part that can be tilted with a pair of left and right footboards;
A drive unit that alternately tilts the footboard; and
Control means for controlling the operation of the drive unit;
A passive exercise device comprising
The control means controls the drive unit so that the tilt width of the footboard is variable.
For example, the tilting width of the footboard can be changed by rotating the drive unit forward and backward.

According to the passive exerciser of the present invention, since the tilting width of the footboard is variable, the amount of exercise can be adjusted according to the degree of exercise desired by the user.
In addition, for example, when it is desired to take a light exercise for rehabilitation or the like, the tilting width of the footboard can be reduced to adjust the load applied to the foot.
In addition, various variations are possible, such as changing the tilting width of the footboard during exercise, increasing it stepwise from the start of exercise, and decreasing it stepwise before the end of exercise, which makes the user tired. It is possible to provide passive movement that is not allowed to occur.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a passive exerciser (10) that can simultaneously perform not only stepping motion but also hip twisting motion will be described, but the present invention is passive that can perform only stepping motion. Of course, it can also be applied to exercise machines.

The outline of the passive exerciser (10) of the present invention will be described. The passive exerciser (10) includes a base part (20) placed on the floor surface, and a drive disposed in the base part (20). A unit part (30) supported so as to be rotatable by a predetermined angle to the left and right with respect to the base part (20) via the part (80) (see FIGS. 7 to 9), and the base part (20 ) And a handle portion (50) formed upward at the front end.
Here, the direction of the user's line of sight in the usage state is the front (the direction in which the handle (50) is located), and the opposite side is the rear.

The unit part (30) includes a rotating plate (31) supported so as to be integrally rotatable with a driving part (80) described later, and a pair of left and right elongated holes penetrating through the top surface of the rotating plate (31). Provided with treads (33) and (34) protruding from the openings (37) and (37) having a shape.
The footboards (33) and (34) are supported by the drive unit (80) so as to be tilted alternately left and right. On the upper surface of the footboards (33) and (34), a surface on which a user puts his / her foot is formed, and this surface is provided with cushions (35) and (35) such as rubber for cushioning and anti-slip purposes. Has been.

  Further, the handle portion (50) is tilted backward from the handle post (60) in a standing position (see FIGS. 1 to 3) on the handle base (51) protruding upward from the front end of the base portion (20). (See FIGS. 4 to 6) so as to be tiltable. The upper end of the handle post (60) includes an operation display unit (90) described later. In addition, a handle (70) that can be gripped by the user or placed on the elbow is rotatably supported near the upper end of the handle post (60).

Hereinafter, each configuration will be described in detail.
The base part (20) is formed of a substantially elliptical resin case that is long in the front-rear direction, and a handle base (51) projects from the front end side. In addition, on the rear side of the handle base (51), the unit portion (30) is rotatably supported, and a drive portion (80) is provided therein.
The drive unit (80) is formed on a unit frame (81) supported rotatably with respect to the base unit (20), and the unit frame (81) is configured to rotate the unit unit (30). It is covered with a plate (31) and can rotate integrally with the rotating plate (31).

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the drive unit (80) is disposed in a space formed by the base plate (20) and the rotating plate (31) of the unit unit (30).
The drive unit (80) has one motor (82) mounted on the unit frame (81) rotatably supported by the base unit (20), and the motor (82) is placed inside the worm gear (83). ) Is connected to the main shaft (85) via a speed reduction mechanism (84) including An example of the motor (82) is a DC motor.

  On / off of the motor (82) of the drive unit (80) and control of the rotational speed are performed by a control means (40) (see FIG. 10) described later.

The unit frame (81) can be rotated by pivotally supporting a vertical shaft (81a) at substantially the center thereof on the base portion (20). In FIG. 7, only the upper gear case (84a) of the speed reduction mechanism (84) is shown, and the lower gear case is omitted.
The main shaft (85) extends in the left-right direction of the unit frame (81), and a pulley (86) with eccentric angles shifted from each other by 180 ° is attached to the left and right positions sandwiching the speed reduction mechanism (84). .

  The unit frame (81) is provided with a pair of left and right support bases (81b), and both ends of the main shaft (85) are pivotally supported on the rear side of the support base (81b). An outer ring body (86a) is pivotally supported on the outer periphery of the left and right pulleys (86) via bearings, and a cylindrical portion (86b) is fixed to the upper part of the outer ring body (86a). Reference numeral (89) is a pair of left and right oscillating bodies, which are composed of a front part (89a) and a rear part (89b) joined by a front part (89a) and a pipe (89d), and the front part (89a) is a oscillating body. (89) is pivotally supported by a support shaft (89c) so as to swing up and down with respect to the unit frame (81). One end of the support shaft (89c) is supported on the front side of the support base (81b), and the other end is supported by a bearing portion (81c) provided between the motor (82). A swing shaft (89e) extending in the front-rear direction is attached between the front portion (89a) and the rear portion (89b) of the swing body (89). The rear side of the swing shaft (89e) is inserted into the cylindrical portion (86b) at the upper part of the outer ring body (86a) so as to be freely inserted and removed. Left and right footboards (33) and (34) are mounted on the left and right rocking bodies (89), respectively.

  The side surface on the motor (82) side of the oscillating body front portion (89a) and the base portion (20) are connected by a twist link (87). Both ends of the twist link (87) are connected to the side surface of the rocking body front part (89a) and the base part (20) via universal joints (88) and (88), respectively.

As described above, the rotation of the unit frame (81) arranged to be rotatable with respect to the base portion (20) can be detected by the detecting means (42). Examples of the detection means (42) include a combination of a magnet (43) and a Hall element (44). In the illustrated embodiment, the magnet (43) is disposed on the unit frame (81), the tread plates (33) and (34) have substantially the same tilt angle, and the tread plates (33) and (34) are In order to detect the magnet (43) at the symmetrical position (hereinafter referred to as the `` center position ''), the Hall element (44) is arranged on the base part (20) on the fixed side. Yes. The hall element (44) is electrically connected to the control means (40) described later.
The detection means (42) is not limited to the combination of the magnet (43) and the Hall element (44), and an optical element, an infrared element, a piezoelectric element, a proximity switch, or the like can be used.

Each time the rotating plate (31) rotates left and right, and the magnet (43) passes through the vicinity of the Hall element (44) that becomes the detecting means (42), the detecting means (42) is controlled by the control means (40 ) Signal. Therefore, this signal can be used to detect the number of reciprocating rotations of the rotating plate (31) (passing the detection means (42) twice per reciprocating motion), and the rotating plate (31) can be reciprocated once. In the meantime, since the footboards (33) and (34) reciprocate up and down one time, the number of steps of the footboards (33) and (34) can be calculated.
Further, as shown in FIG. 11, there is a correlation between the tilt angle of the footboards (33) and (34) and the rotation angle of the rotation plate (31). Therefore, by detecting the rotation angle of the rotation plate (31) by the detection means (42), the tilting state (tilting width) of the footboards (33) and (34) can be detected.

A handle portion (50) is formed at the front end of the base portion (20) in order to enhance the stability of the body while the user puts his / her feet on the footboards (33) and (34).
The handle portion (50) includes a handle base (51) protruding upward from the front end of the base portion (20), and brackets (52) (52) are formed on the left and right of the upper end of the handle base (51). Has been. A handle post (60) is pivotally supported between the brackets (52) and (52). The handle post (60) is tilted with respect to the handle base (51) from a standing state as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 to a folded state as shown in FIGS. It is possible. In the standing state, the handle post (60) can be fixed to the handle base (51) by screwing the post fixing screw (64) shown in FIG. 3 into the handle base (51). In FIG. 8, the bracket frame forming the skeleton of the bracket (52) is denoted by reference numeral (52).

  A handle (70) is attached to the upper end of the handle post (60) as shown in FIG. The handle (70) is rotatably supported by the handle post (60) by a handle shaft portion (71) penetrating the handle post (60) from side to side. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the handle (70) has a handle shaft portion (71) protruding from the handle post (60) to the left and right, and an upwardly bent arm portion (72) (72). And the distal ends of the arm portions (72) and (72) are bent inward to form the grip portion (73). The grip portions (73) and (73) face each other with a predetermined interval. The grip part (73) is a part where the user holds or places the elbow. The reason why the gap is provided between the grip portions (73) and (73) is to make it easier for the user to visually recognize the operation display portion (90) during use. The handle (70) can be rotated with respect to the handle post (60) and can be positioned by a handle fixing screw (75).

  When using the passive exerciser (10), the user first holds the handle post (60) upright and holds the handle (70) as shown in FIGS. (33) Just put the left and right feet on (34).

  An operation display section (90) electrically connected to the control means (40) is provided at the upper end of the handle post (60). The operation display unit (90) serves as a notification unit for notifying various buttons operated by the user and the user's exercise state, which will be described later, and the state of the passive exerciser (10), exercise time, calorie consumption, METs a display unit (92) for displaying (metabolic equivalents) and the like. In addition, METs are the exercise | movement intensity | strength which converts and shows how many times the user's metabolic rate in passive exercise is equivalent to the metabolic rate at rest.

The passive exerciser (10) of the present invention is operated by the operation display unit (90) described above, and is controlled by the control means (40) shown in FIG.
FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of the passive exerciser (10) of the present invention. The control means (40) includes detection means for detecting the rotation of the motor (82), the operation display section (90), the display section (92), and the rotation plate (31) of the drive section (80) described above. (42) and the like are electrically connected, and in addition, various control programs, a memory for storing a reference current described later, and the like are provided.

  When the control means (40) receives an operation command from the operation display section (90), the motor (82) is controlled by PWM control or the like so as to rotate the motor (82) at a speed command value corresponding to the operation command. ) Is applied. Further, the control means (40) causes the display unit (92) to display the operation content selected by the user, the exercise time, the calorie consumption, the METs, and the notification of the user's exercise state to be described later.

However, when the motor (82) is continuously rotated in one direction, the main shaft (85) rotates, and the left and right pulleys (86) rotate eccentrically with a phase shifted by 180 °. It is transmitted to the oscillating body (89) via the body (86a), the cylindrical portion (86b), and the oscillating shaft (89e), and the oscillating body (89) is oscillated up and down around the support shaft (89c). As a result, the left and right footboards (33) and (34) are tilted up and down so as to have opposite phases to each other (see FIG. 11). FIG. 11 schematically shows the positions of the footboards (33) and (34) of the passive exerciser (10) and the position of the rotation plate (31). The view of the plate (31) from the top, the figure on the left shows the tilted state of the footboard (33) (34) when the rotating plate (31) is rotated to the left most, and the right view The figure in the figure shows the tilting state of the footboards (33) and (34) when the rotating plate (31) is rotated to the right most, and the figure in the lower middle part shows the footboard (33) or (34 ) Is a view of the tilted state of FIG.
By the tilting motion of the rocking body (89), the twist link (87) (87) connected to the rocking body (89) pushes and pulls the base part (20), so that the unit frame (81) is Rotate left and right by a predetermined angle with respect to (20) (in the example shown, about 60 ° from the center position). Thereby, the rotation plate (31) attached to the unit frame (81) rotates left and right (see FIG. 11).
When the motor (82) is continuously rotated in one direction, as shown in FIG. 11, the tilting width of the footboards (33) and (34) is maximized.

The tilting width of the footboards (33) and (34) can be made variable by rotating the motor (82) forward and backward. Specifically, the detection means (42) rotates the motor (82) forward and backward so that the pulley (96) performs forward and reverse reciprocating rotation within a half turn from the position where the center position is detected. Thus, the tilting width of the footboards (33) (34) can be adjusted.
For example, if the forward / reverse rotation of the motor (82) is adjusted so that the rotation of the pulley (96) is reversed by 1/4 rotation (1/2 rotation in total left and right) after the center position is detected. The upper and lower limits of the tilting width of the footboards (33) and (34) can be halved as shown in FIG. At this time, the rotation angle of the rotation plate (31) is about 30 ° from the center position of about half.
As described above, by controlling forward / reverse rotation of the motor (82), the tilting width of the footboards (33) (34) can be adjusted as desired.

  Furthermore, if the left and right rotation angles of the rotation plate (31) are made different, the movements of the left and right footboards (33) and (34) can be made different. For example, when it is desired to reduce the stepping amount (lowering amount) of the right foot plate (34), the rotation angle of the rotation plate (31) to the left side may be made smaller than that on the right side.

In addition, when controlling the forward / reverse rotation of the motor (82) so as to reduce the tilting width of the footboard (33) (34), it is further used by lowering the rotation speed of the motor (82). The burden on the person's foot can be reduced. On the contrary, if the rotation angle of the motor (82) is increased, it can be changed to small movements.
In addition, when controlling the forward / reverse rotation of the motor (82) so as to increase the tilting width of the footboards (33) (34), by increasing the rotational speed of the motor (82), Can provide exercise.

It should be noted that the forward / reverse rotation of the motor (82) can be controlled step by step or randomly by a program or the like, and a variety of timeless passive motion can be provided.
For example, various variations are possible, such as changing the tilting width of the footboards (33) and (34) during exercise, increasing stepwise from the start of exercise, and decreasing stepwise from a predetermined time before the end of exercise. .

  When the passive exerciser (10) is stored after the movement, the handle (70) is loosened by rotating the handle (70) to the position shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 to store the handle (70). To do. Next, the post fixing screw (64) is loosened, and the handle post (60) may be tilted backward as shown in FIGS.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful as a passive exerciser that can perform a stepping exercise or a stepping exercise and a hip twisting exercise simultaneously.

It is a perspective view which shows the use condition of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is a front view which shows the use condition of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is a right view which shows the use condition of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the retracted state of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is a front view which shows the retracted state of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is a right view which shows the retracted state of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is arrow sectional drawing which follows the line AA of FIG. 2 of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the drive part of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is a top view which shows the drive part of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is a block diagram of a control means. It is a figure which shows typically the relationship between the tilting state of a foot board and a rotation plate. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which made small the inclination width of the foot board.

Explanation of symbols

(10) Passive exercise device
(20) Base part
(30) Unit section
(31) Rotating plate
(33) Footboard
(34) Footboard
(40) Control means
(42) Detection means
(80) Drive unit
(82) Motor

Claims (4)

A unit part that can be tilted with a pair of left and right footboards;
A drive unit that alternately tilts the footboard; and
Control means for controlling the operation of the drive unit;
A passive exercise device comprising
The passive exerciser characterized in that the control means controls the drive unit so that the tilting width of the footboard is variable.   The passive exerciser according to claim 1, wherein the control means changes the tilting width of the tread board by rotating the drive unit forward and backward.   3. The passive exerciser according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the drive speed of the drive unit to be slower when the tilt width of the tread is small compared to when the tilt width of the tread is large. The unit part is rotatably arranged on the base part placed on the floor surface,
The passive exerciser according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the drive unit tilts the footboard and rotates the unit unit.

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