JPH0247973Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] This invention provides a bicycle ergometer configured such that a flywheel to which a predetermined load is applied is rotated by driving a crank pedal. The load applied to the wheel is configured to be varied in conjunction with a device that compares a preset amount of exercise of the user with the current amount of exercise, and a device that measures the pulse rate of the user during exercise. This article concerns a bicycle-type ergometer.

[Prior art and its problems]

Physical strength is measured by applying a constant load to a rotating wheel or flywheel by driving a crank pedal and driving a bicycle while resisting the applied load, or by driving such a bicycle. Bicycle-type ergometers designed to improve the cardiorespiratory function and physical strength of the user are known for some time.

The following two methods are known as means for controlling the load applied to the flywheel in the above-mentioned known bicycle ergometer. In other words, a system that uses a device that applies a load by applying frictional force to a wheel or flywheel using brake pads or a brake belt. (Mechanical) A method that uses a device that applies a load using an electromagnetic brake mechanism using a generator or eddy current brake. (Electromagnetic type).

However, it has been pointed out that the conventional mechanism described above has the following drawbacks. In other words, in the case of the above-mentioned mechanism that applies a load to the flywheel by using the frictional force of the brake pads or brake belt, the tightening force of the brake pads or brake belt can be applied manually or by driving a motor. However, if the rotation speed of the driven wheel or flywheel changes, the power generated by the drive will fluctuate, and the power is kept constant regardless of the change in rotation speed. The drawback was that it could not meet the demands.

Furthermore, it is well known that the power is calculated from the rotational speed of the wheel or flywheel by detecting the load value, but in this case, the only basis for calculation is the rotational speed of the wheel or flywheel.
There is no way to determine whether the load is appropriate for the exerciser by detecting the exerciser's pulse rate.

(The following calculation formula is generally known as a method for calculating power W. Namely, W=K×N×T K...Constant, N...Rotational speed (rpm), T...Torque (Kgm) In the case of a mechanism that attempts to apply a load using an electromagnetic brake that utilizes eddy current as mentioned above, it is possible to achieve the purpose to a considerable extent compared to the above-mentioned mechanism, but It has been pointed out that the configuration for achieving this is complicated, making it extremely expensive and therefore not commonly used from an economic standpoint.

[Purpose of invention]

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the present invention aims to deal with this problem, and although it has an extremely simple structure that uses a mechanical brake mechanism,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a bicycle-type ergometer that can exhibit the same effects as those with an electromagnetic brake structure.

Another object of the present invention is to detect the mechanical power by detecting the load value applied to the wheel or flywheel and its rotation speed, and at the same time to detect the mechanical power by detecting the pulse rate of the user. The object of the present invention is to provide a bicycle ergometer that can simultaneously control the load so that it is appropriate for the exerciser.

[Key points of the idea]

The present invention is an ergometer in the form of a stationary bicycle, and the tip of the ergometer is attached coaxially with the flywheel, which is driven to rotate in conjunction with the rotation of a crank pedal attached to the ergometer body. At the same time, a balance arm is attached to the flywheel so that it can freely swing in the direction of rotation of the flywheel, and by tightening or loosening the brake mechanism attached to this balance arm, the flywheel can be adjusted. The balance arm has a structure in which a portion of the balance arm is pressed against a predetermined strength so that the load value on the user can be changed. Therefore, the key point of the invention is a bicycle-type ergometer configured to be able to apply a predetermined pullback force.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The ergometer, generally indicated by A, has a structure that takes the form of a stationary bicycle, and includes a floor-standing frame 1, a flywheel 2, a sprocket gear 3 with a crank pedal 31 attached,
A frame body 4 having a protruding handle post 41, a saddle 5, etc. are attached to each. The flywheel 2 is rotatably attached to one end of the frame 1, and a support shaft 21 supports the flywheel 2.
A sprocket gear 22 for receiving driving force transmission is coaxially attached and fixed to the portion.

A chain 32 for transmitting driving force is stretched between the sprocket gear 22 and the sprocket gear 3 to which the crank pedal 31 is attached.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a balance arm whose front shape is approximately inverted U-shaped.
As illustrated in detail in the figure, a flywheel 2 is attached to the center of the inverted U-shaped body so as to be rotatable and positionable.

Both ends of the balance arm 6, which is formed in an inverted U shape, are attached to a support shaft 21 that supports the flywheel 2 so as to be coaxial therewith, and the balance arm 6 is attached to the circumference of the flywheel 2. It is pivoted so that it can freely swing back and forth while following the direction.

61 is a rotary arm that protrudes from the upper end of the balance arm 6 with a predetermined length, and the upper end of the rotary arm 61 is connected to the rotary encoder 7 attached to the frame 4.
When the balance arm swings back and forth, it also swings back and forth in conjunction with this movement.
As a result, the rotation shaft of the rotary encoder 7 is rotated by a predetermined angle, thereby causing the rotary encoder to generate a predetermined pulse.

The rotary arm 61 is configured so that when the balance arm 6 swings in the front-rear direction, its upper end can maintain accurate connection with the rotary encoder 7 regardless of the swing angle of the balance arm. Preferably, a universal joint 62, such as a nut joint, is interposed therebetween.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a spring for pulling back the balance arm 6, whose base end is fixed to the frame 1 and whose distal end is locked to the balance arm 6.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a brake mechanism for controlling the rotation of the flywheel 2, in which the base ends of two clamping arms 92, 92 with brake pads 91 protruding inwardly from each other are connected to the balance arm 6 to open and close them. The arms 92, 92 are pivotably mounted, and a brake wire cable 11 is connected to the upper ends of the arms 92, 92.

The base end of the wire cable 11 described above is connected to a wire cable driving motor (pulse motor) 10 attached to the handle, and the tightening force is tightened or loosened according to the rotational drive of the motor 10. That's what I do.

Note that the drive motor 10 described above is connected to the main body 4.
It is connected to a motor control section C4 of a control computer C installed in the motor controller C4, and is designed to operate in conjunction with the motor control section C4.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a sensor for detecting pulse rate, and its base end is connected to a pulse rate detection section C3 of a computer C for control.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a rotational speed detection sensor attached to the frame 1, which detects the rotational speed of the flywheel 2 using a photoelectric detection mechanism such as a photo sensor. The rotation speed detected by the sensor 13 is input to a rotation speed detection section C6 of a control computer C.

The control computer C includes an operating body using a microcomputer, etc., as shown in FIG. A number detection section C6 is incorporated, and each section is configured to operate in conjunction with each other.

The control operation of the control computer C is determined as the power, and the power calculated in advance is stored and input as a numerical value (personal condition) corresponding to the individual.

The power to be input is calculated using the power measurement formula described above, that is, W=K×N×T (W...power, K...constant, N...rotational speed, T...torque).

Among the above formulas, the torque T related to the present invention is calculated as follows.

Let the length of the balance arm 6 be l, and let F be the force converted by the amount of movement of the spring 8 to pull back the balance arm 6.

T=l×F Therefore, W=K×N×(l×F).

When using the present invention, a load value corresponding to the exerciser's personal conditions that has been entered in advance into the control computer C described above is selected, and the loading mechanism (main In the invention, the load applied to the flywheel (load applied to the flywheel) is attenuated, or if the pulse rate is recovered again after attenuation, the above-mentioned amount of load is restored.

The personal conditions that should be set above are:
In addition to set values based on the exerciser's age, sexual strength, and physical strength, it also includes means for detecting the exerciser's pulse rate during use and changing the load value in response to fluctuations in the pulse rate. .

Note that these computer-based control methods are not particularly new, and are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 14875/1988 (title: Method for determining optimal motion conditions) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 14876/1989, filed by the applicant. (Name: training device) etc.

[Operation of the present invention]

The present invention configured as described above is used as follows.

(1) By operating the selection key section C2 provided on the control computer C, the user selects a power rate that is preset according to his or her age, gender, and physical strength.

(2) When the power is selected by the above operation, the tightening motor 10 is activated according to instructions from the motor control section C4 in the control computer C.
The tightening force of the brake pad 91 interlocked with the tightening arm 92 is determined, and the wire cable 11 connected thereto is tightened to prepare for the start of use.

(3) In the condition described in the previous paragraph, the user presses the crank pedal 31,
31 starts rotating.

(4) Due to the operation described in (2), the brake mechanism 9 attached to the balance arm 6 is pressed against the flywheel 2 with a constant force, so when the crank pedal 31 is driven, the balance arm 6 Rotation direction (forward in the example shown in Figure 3)
be moved to. (Movement in a Pivotally Supported State) (5) The movement of the balance arm 6 causes the retraction spring 8, which is biased in the opposite direction, to be stretched.

(6) The extension of the pullback spring 8 is stopped when it extends to a certain distance due to the balance with the contraction action of the spring 7, and only the flywheel 2 is affected by the sliding force of the brake pad 91. It starts to rotate against it. (In other words, the load applied to the crank pedal 31 and the pressing force of the brake pad 91 are balanced.) (7) By tightening the tightening arm 92, the balance arm 6 integrated with it swings forward. When the movement is performed, the rotary arm 61 connected to the upper end of the balance arm 6 also swings, and as a result, the rotary encoder 7 connected to the tip thereof is also activated, prompting the operation to generate an electric signal. That will happen.

(8) As a result of the rotation of the rotary arm 61, the internal mechanism of the rotary encoder 7 generates a predetermined electric signal (pulse) and sends the control signal to the control computer C. Calculation is performed to calculate the load value given to the user. The result of the calculation is displayed on the load detection section C5.

(9) In this case, the sensor 13 provided separately also calculates the rotation speed of the flywheel 2 and detects the rotation speed of the flywheel 2, and the result is displayed on the rotation speed detection section C6.

(10) Using the load value given to the user and the rotational speed obtained from checking the rotational signal given to the flywheel, calculate the "power" by performing calculations according to the above formula.

(11) If the pulse rate maintains a predetermined value, it is recognized that the most appropriate exercise is being performed,
Moreover, the control computer C does not operate to attenuate the pressing force.

(12) If the rotation speed of the flywheel 2 and the position of the balance arm 6 do not change, it is recognized that the predetermined power has been achieved, but if the rotation speed of the flywheel 2 decreases, the power W becomes the desired value. In other words, the value of N in the formula [W=K×N×T] will decrease.

In this case, the control computer C detects this and operates the tightening motor 10 to tighten the wire cable 11. As a result, the resistance of the brake pad 91 is increased, so that the desired power can be maintained.

(13) The present invention also provides the above-mentioned flywheel 2.
In addition to detecting a decrease in power due to a decrease in rotational speed, the pulse rate sensor 12 can also be used to determine the intensity of the load being applied to the user.

That is, when the signal given to the control computer C by the pulse rate sensor 12 exceeds a predetermined value, the pulse rate detection section C3 built in the computer C detects this and changes the load, The tightening of the tightening arm 92 is adjusted accordingly.

(14) The tightening operation of the device as the pulse rate normalizes is the same as in the above case.

[Effect of idea]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to determine the appropriate power for the exerciser by detecting the power based on the load value and rotational speed during exercise (i.e., mechanical power detection) and by detecting the pulse rate. It is now possible to control different loads in parallel, and it has an extremely excellent feature that it can produce effects that could never be expected with conventional mechanical ergometers. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure shows an embodiment of the present invention, and shows the first embodiment.
2 is a partially cutaway front view, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of essential parts, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control computer. A... Ergometer, C... Control computer, 1... Frame, 2... Flywheel,
21... Support shaft, 22, 3... Sprocket gear, 31... Crank pedal, 32... Chain, 4... Body, 41... Handle post, 5...
... Saddle, 6 ... Balance arm, 61 ... Rotary arm, 62 ... Joint, 7 ... Rotary encoder, 8 ... Retraction spring, 9 ... Brake mechanism, 91 ... Brake pad, 92 ... Tightening arm, 10... Motor, 11... Wire cable, 12... Pulse sensor, 13... Rotation speed detection sensor, C1...
Display unit, C2...Selection key unit, C3...Pulse detection unit, C4...Motor control unit, C5...Load detection unit, C6...Rotation speed detection unit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) An ergometer in the form of a stationary bicycle, in which the tip of the flywheel is rotated in conjunction with the rotation of a crank pedal attached to the ergometer body. A balance arm is installed coaxially with the flywheel, and the entire balance arm can swing freely along the direction of rotation of the flywheel, and the brake mechanism attached to this balance arm is tightened or relaxed. Part of the flywheel is press-contacted with a predetermined strength, thereby changing the load value for the user. A bicycle-type ergometer configured to apply a predetermined pull-back force by a pull-back spring tensioned on the bicycle. (2) The load value that can be changed by tightening or loosening the brake mechanism is determined by a load value detection device that measures the extension of the pullback spring stretched between the balance arm and the ergometer body, and the rotation of the flywheel. 2. The bicycle type ergometer according to claim 1, wherein the bicycle ergometer is calculated by a control computer comprising a pulse rate detection device and a user's pulse rate detection device. (3) The brake mechanism is configured to be operated by transmitting the force of a motor driven by a control computer via a wire cable.
Bicycle ergometer as described in section.