JP2938830B2 - Bicycle exercise equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for exercising by stepping on a petal of a bicycle, and more particularly, to a bicycle-type exercise in which when the petal is rotated quickly, the petal becomes heavier, as in a bicycle running on a road. Related to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When traveling on a road by bicycle, the petal becomes heavier as the vehicle runs faster. This is because the running resistance increases as the speed increases. The running resistance when running a bicycle at a constant speed is a sliding resistance for rotating wheels and the like and a wind resistance. The sliding resistance can be considerably reduced. For this reason, most of the running resistance is wind resistance. Especially when riding a bicycle fast, most of it is wind resistance. Wind resistance increases in proportion to the square of the bicycle speed. Therefore,
In a bicycle-type exercise apparatus capable of exercising in a state similar to actually running on a road, when the petal is rotated quickly, the petal needs to be heavier in proportion to the square of the rotation speed.

[0003] This state can be realized, for example, by a structure in which a generator is rotated by a petal and the output of the generator is consumed by a load such as a low-resistance resistor. This is because the output voltage of the generator increases in proportion to the rotation speed of the petal, and the power consumption of the load connected to the generator increases in proportion to the square of the output voltage of the generator. . Doubling the rotation speed of the petal doubles the output voltage of the generator,
The power consumption of the load is quadrupled. For this reason, rotating the petal at twice the rotation speed requires four times the rotation torque.

A bicycle-type exercise device in which a generator is rotated by a petal is described, for example, in the following publication. JP-A-58-7271 JP-A-57-197965 JP-A-61-182759

[0005]

As described in these publications, a bicycle-type exercise apparatus that rotates a generator by using a petal increases the rotational torque of the petal in proportion to the square of the rotational speed of the petal. In other words, the braking force of the petal rotation can be increased. However, the bicycle exercise device having this structure requires a generator having a complicated structure and a load that consumes the output of the generator, and therefore, it is difficult to manufacture the bicycle exercise device at low cost. Further, a unique structure is required to dissipate the heat generated by the load.

[0006] The present invention has been developed with a view to solving such a drawback. An important object of the present invention is to provide a bicycle-type exercise apparatus which has an extremely simple structure, can be mass-produced at low cost, and can increase the braking force in proportion to the square of the rotational speed of the petal.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A bicycle-type exercise apparatus according to the present invention includes a crankshaft 2 rotated by a petal 1 of a bicycle;
A drive member 3 rotated by the crankshaft 2 and a fixed plate 6 that presses against a brake pad 5 of a brake mechanism 4 provided on the drive member 3 to brake the rotation of the drive member 3 are provided.

[0008] The brake mechanism 4 includes a rotating drive member 3.
The transmission mechanism 7 converts the centrifugal force of the brake pad 5 into the pressing force of the brake pad 5. The transmission mechanism 7 presses the brake pad 5 against the fixed plate 6 by a centrifugal force generated when the drive member 3 is rotated. The centrifugal force increases in proportion to the square of the rotation speed of the driving member 3. Therefore, when the rotation speed of the driving member 3 increases, the force with which the brake pad 5 presses the fixed plate 6 increases in proportion to the square of the rotation speed of the driving member 3, and the rotation of the crankshaft 2 is strongly braked.

The wind resistance when the bicycle actually travels on the road increases in proportion to the square of the bicycle speed.
If the braking force can be increased in proportion to the square of the speed at which the petal 1 is rotated, it is possible to exercise in the same way as actually running on a road by bicycle. The bicycle exercise device of the present invention accomplishes this with a very simple mechanism. This is because, like the wind resistance, the rotation of the petal 1 is braked by using the centrifugal force that increases in proportion to the square of the rotation speed at which the petal 1 is rotated.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments described below exemplify a bicycle-type exercise device for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the present invention does not specify the bicycle-type exercise device as follows.

Further, in this specification, in order to make it easy to understand the claims, the numbers corresponding to the members shown in the embodiments will be referred to as “claims” and “ In the column of “means”.
However, the members described in the claims are not limited to the members of the embodiments.

The bicycle exercise device shown in the side view of FIG. 1 and the rear view of FIG. 2 includes two cover plates 8 and a crankshaft 2 rotatably connected to the cover plates 8. A drive member 3 connected to the crankshaft 2 and rotated inside the cover plate 8, a brake mechanism 4 mounted on the drive member 3, and a fixed plate 6 against which a brake pad 5 of the brake mechanism 4 is pressed. ing.

The cover plate 8 is formed by bending an iron plate into a box shape to provide a closed space therein. The cover plates 8 on both sides are fixed at an interval in which the driving member 3 and the fixing plate 6 can be disposed. Further, the cover plate 8 has a structure in which a horizontal leg 9 is fixed to a lower end so that the cover plate 8 can stand upright in a stable manner.

The crankshaft 2 has the same structure as a normal bicycle. That is, the petals 1 are connected to each other in a direction of 180 degrees, and are attached to the two cover plates 8 via bearings so as to be rotatable.

The driving member 3 is rotatably mounted on the cover plate 8 via a bearing, as shown in the sectional view of FIG. The driving member 3 is, as shown in FIG.
Crankshaft 2 via chain 10 and sprocket 11
And rotated by the crankshaft 2. The sprocket 12 fixed to the crankshaft 2 is larger than the sprocket 11 of the driving member 3 and increases the rotation of the crankshaft 2 to rotate the driving member 3. Since the braking force of the driving member 3 increases in proportion to the rotation speed, the driving member 3 rotated at an increased speed in this manner reduces the force for rotating the crankshaft 2 and reduces the braking force of the driving member 3. Can be increased.

The drive member 3 is a metal disk, and is connected to three sets of brake mechanisms 4 balanced on the outer periphery. It is not always necessary to provide three sets of the brake mechanism 4. For example, mounting two sets of brake mechanisms on the drive member,
Alternatively, four or more sets can be provided, or alternatively, one set of brake mechanisms can be provided. A plurality of brake mechanisms can be mounted on the drive member in a balanced manner, but a set of brake mechanisms cannot be mounted on the drive member in a balanced manner. Therefore, the driving member provided with one set of the brake mechanism fixes the balance weight on the opposite side of the brake mechanism.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the brake mechanism 4 connects the brake pad 5 for holding the fixing plate 6 from both sides and the one brake pad 5 to the drive member 3 so as to be able to move in parallel. The vehicle includes a fixing bolt 13 and a transmission mechanism 7 mounted on the fixing bolt 13 and pressing the brake pad 5 by centrifugal force. The brake pad 5 is fixed to a surface in contact with the fixing plate 6 by bonding a friction material such as leather.

The transmission mechanism 7 includes a base 14 fixed to the driving member 3 by fixing bolts 13, and a rotating shaft 1
Tilt arm 16 that is tiltably connected via
And a weight 17 fixed to the back surface of the tilt arm 16.

The base 14 is formed by bending a metal plate such as an iron plate into a U-shape, and the lower end of FIG.
At 3, it is fixed to the driving member 3. Further, the base 14 is
In order to mount the tilting arm 16 so that the tilting arm 16 can be tilted, a U-shaped notch 18 is provided at the upper end. Furthermore, the base 14 has a rotating shaft 15 connected to the upper portions of the bent portions on both sides.

The tilt arm 16 is connected to the base 14 via a rotation shaft 15. The rotation shaft 15 is connected to the base 14 in a posture facing the rotation direction of the driving member 3.
The tilting arm 16 is connected so as to be able to rotate to the right.
The tilting arm 16 has a weight 17 fixed to the back of the portion connected to the rotating shaft 15, and a pressing projection 19 for pressing the brake pad 5 is provided at the upper end of the front of the rotating shaft 15. When the driving member 3 is rotated, the weight 17 fixed to the back surface of the tilt arm 16 receives a centrifugal force in a direction indicated by an arrow A in FIG. The centrifugal force in this direction is
Is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow B, and the brake pad 5 is pressed against the fixing plate 6. The force by which the tilt arm 16 presses the brake pad 5 is proportional to the product of the weight of the weight 17, the square of the number of rotations of the driving member 3, and the distance between the weight 17 and the rotation center of the driving member 3. growing. Drive member 3
Is proportional to the force with which the brake pad 5 presses the fixed plate 6. Therefore, the brake mechanism 4 having this structure can adjust the weight of the weight 17 to adjust the braking force of the driving member 3, in other words, the braking force of the crankshaft 2.

The fixing plate 6 is a metal disk having a hexagonal outer shape and a large circular hole 20 opened at the center.
It is arranged between the two brake pads 5 and connected to the cover plate 8 so as not to rotate. The fixing plate 6 is connected to the cover plate 8 at three corners by connecting bolts 21. The fixing plate 6 has a through hole 22 through which the connecting bolt 21 is inserted, and the connecting bolt 21 is inserted through the through hole 22 to be connected to the cover plate 8. The connecting bolt 21 connects the fixing plate 6 to the cover plate 8 so as to be movable in the axial direction of the bolt. The connection bolt 21 is inserted through a collar 23 having a total length equal to the interval between the two cover plates 8 disposed opposite to each other, and is fixed to the cover plate 8 by tightening a nut outside the cover plate 8. The through hole 22 of the fixing plate 6 is opened to an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the collar 23 and is connected so as to be movable in the axial direction.

The fixing plate 6 which can move in the axial direction of the connecting bolt 21 moves between the two brake pads 5 disposed opposite to each other, and the two brake pads 5 uniformly press both surfaces. You. The circular hole 20 of the fixing plate 6 serves as a gap for rotating the fixing bolt 13 for fixing the brake mechanism 4 to the driving member 3.

A saddle 24 is provided above the crankshaft 2, and the user sits on the saddle 24 and steps on the petal 1. However, the present invention does not specify the position of the saddle above the crankshaft. A bicycle-type exercise apparatus that can step on a petal while sitting on a chair moves the crankshaft and saddle horizontally close to each other.

[0024]

The bicycle exercise apparatus of the present invention has a very simple structure and has a feature that the braking force for the rotation of the petal can be increased in proportion to the square of the rotation speed of the petal. that is,
A bicycle-type exercise device according to the present invention includes a driving member that is rotated by a crankshaft, and a fixed plate that presses a brake pad of a brake mechanism provided on the driving member to brake the rotation of the driving member. This is because the transmission mechanism that converts the centrifugal force of the rotating drive member into the pressing force of the brake pad presses the brake pad against the fixed plate to brake the rotation of the drive member. Since the centrifugal force increases in proportion to the square of the rotation speed, when the rotation speed of the drive member increases, the centrifugal force increases in proportion to the square of the rotation speed of the drive member,
The force with which the brake pad presses the fixing plate increases. Therefore, like a real bicycle, there is a feature that the rotation of the petal can be strongly braked in proportion to the square of the speed at which the petal is rotated. As described above, the bicycle-type exercise apparatus of the present invention that uses the centrifugal force to brake the rotation of the petal can achieve the same exercise as that of actually traveling on a road by bicycle with a simple mechanism.

Further, the bicycle-type exercise device of the present invention has a structure in which the brake pad of the brake mechanism is pressed against the fixed plate to stop the rotation of the petal using the centrifugal force generated when the driving member rotates. Therefore, like a conventional bicycle-type exercise device, a generator with a complicated structure,
There is no need for a load that consumes the output of the generator or a unique structure for dissipating the heat generated by the load.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a bicycle exercise device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the bicycle exercise device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an AA step view of the bicycle-type exercise device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the transmission mechanism shown in FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Petal 2 ... Crankshaft 3 ... Drive member 4 ... Brake mechanism 5 ... Brake pad 6 ... Fixing plate 7 ... Transmission mechanism 8 ... Cover plate 9 ... Horizontal leg 10 ... Chain 11 ... Sprocket 12 ... Sprocket 13 ... Fixing bolt 14 ... Base 15 ... Rotating shaft 16 ... Tilting arm 17 ... Weight 18 ... Notch 19 ... Pressing projection 20 ... Circular hole 21 ... Connecting bolt 22 ... Through hole 23 ... Collar 24 ... Saddle

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A crankshaft (2) provided with a bicycle petal (1), a driving member (3) rotated by the crankshaft (2) and provided with a brake mechanism (4), Element
Brake pad (5) of brake mechanism (4) provided in (3)
And a fixing plate (6) for braking the rotation of the driving member (3) .The brake mechanism (4) presses the centrifugal force of the rotating driving member (3) against the brake pad (5). The brake pad (5) is pressed against the fixed plate (6) by centrifugal force via the transmission mechanism (7) that converts pressure, and when the rotation speed of the driving member (3) increases, the brake pad (5) is (6) A bicycle-type exercise device configured to increase the pressing force to strongly brake the rotation of the crankshaft (2).