KR102300669B1 - Omni-directional treadmill - Google Patents

Abstract

An omnidirectional treadmill is disclosed. An omnidirectional treadmill according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: an inner core having a dome shape having a flat upper surface and having a plurality of inner omnidirectional wheels rotatable in all directions on the surface; an omnidirectional belt that surrounds the inner core, a plurality of cell pads are connected to each other to have a net structure, and is rotatable in all directions around the inner core; a plurality of external rotational supports in contact with the outside of the omnidirectional belt to support the omnidirectional belt, and having an external wheel rotatable to correspond to the rotation of the omnidirectional belt; And so that the upper surface of the omnidirectional belt is exposed to the outside, it includes a body frame for accommodating the inner core, the omnidirectional belt and the external rotation support.

Description

Omni-Directional Treadmill {OMNI-DIRECTIONAL TREADMILL}

The present invention relates to an omni-directional treadmill, and more particularly to an omni-directional treadmill implemented in a novel manner.

In general, a treadmill is an exercise device that a user moves while walking or running on the upper part of a caterpillar rotating belt, and is also called a treadmill. However, since the conventional caterpillar rotary belt can only move forward and backward in one direction while rotating forward or backward by a driving force such as a motor, there is a problem in that it cannot respond to the user's movement in various directions. In particular, in recent years, as virtual reality-related technologies develop, there is a demand for a treadmill capable of being driven in an omnidirectional manner that can be interlocked with virtual reality.

In response to this demand, a plurality of caterpillar rotary belts capable of moving (rotating about the x-axis) in one direction (y-axis direction) are movable (rotating about the y-axis) in a direction perpendicular to one direction (x-axis direction). The Omni-Directional Treadmill has been developed, which is divided into a unit rotating belt and allows simultaneous movement (rotation) in the x and y-axis directions. However, in the case of such an omni-directional treadmill, it is not a complete omni-directional treadmill as a two-degree-of-freedom system that can move forward, backward and left and right, and there is still a limit to complete tracking of the user's omnidirectional movement.

On the other hand, referring to Patent Document 1 (US7,399,258), the inner platform frame 28 provided with the omnidirectional wheel 40 along the edge is formed of a dome-shaped (disk-shaped) belt 46 made of an elastic material. wrapped around, and as the user progresses on this belt 46 in any direction, the belt 46 rotates about the inner platform frame 28 in any direction (opposite the direction of travel of the user), thereby omnidirectional. An omnidirectional treadmill of three degrees of freedom (forward, backward, left and right, rotation in a plane) is disclosed which realizes movement.

However, in order for the belt 46 to wrap the inner platform frame 28, for example, after the frame 28 is wrapped with two separate sheets, the two sheets must be sewn together. Then, a seam line is formed on the belt 46. do. The seam portion of the belt 46 has a different elasticity or coefficient of friction from other portions, so it does not provide uniform elasticity or frictional force as the entire belt 46. There is a difficult problem.

US registered patent US7,399,258 (2008.07.15)

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new type of omnidirectional treadmill capable of more complete tracking and smooth operation of a user's omnidirectional movement.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the upper surface has a flat dome shape, the inner core having a plurality of inner omnidirectional wheels rotatable in all directions on the surface; an omnidirectional belt surrounding the inner core, a plurality of cell pads connected to each other to have a net structure, and rotatable in all directions around the inner core; a plurality of external rotational supports in contact with the outer side of the omnidirectional belt to support the omnidirectional belt and having external wheels rotatable to correspond to the rotation of the omnidirectional belt; and a body frame for accommodating the inner core, the omnidirectional belt, and the plurality of external rotation supports so that the upper surface of the omnidirectional belt is exposed to the outside.

Here, according to the embodiment, the omnidirectional belt may include: a plurality of link members interconnecting the plurality of cell pads; and a plurality of joint members to which the plurality of link members are coupled, wherein the plurality of cell pads are connected to each other by the plurality of link members and the plurality of joint members to form the omnidirectional belt.

In this case, the plurality of link members are provided to be radially coupled to one joint member, respectively, and the link member coupled to any one joint member among the plurality of joint members may be coupled to another adjacent joint member. have.

Also, in this case, the plurality of cell pads are formed in an equilateral triangle, and the omnidirectional belt is radially arranged such that the six link members have the same angle from any one of the plurality of joint members. It is coupled to a joint member, and the cell pads are respectively disposed in a space formed by the plurality of link members to have a first unit structure connected to the link member, and the plurality of first unit structures are coupled to each other to form the omnidirectional belt can form.

In addition, according to an embodiment, the omnidirectional belt further includes a plurality of joint members to which the plurality of cell pads are coupled, and the plurality of cell pads are connected to each other by the plurality of joint members to form the omnidirectional belt. can form.

In this case, the plurality of cell pads are formed in an equilateral triangle, and the omnidirectional belt is radially arranged so that the six cell pads have the same angle from any one joint member of the plurality of joint members. has a second unit structure coupled to the , and a plurality of the second unit structures may be coupled to each other to form the omnidirectional belt.

In addition, according to an embodiment, the omnidirectional belt further includes a plurality of pad direct connection members for interconnecting the plurality of cell pads, and the plurality of cell pads are connected to each other by the plurality of pad direct connection members, so that the It is possible to form an omnidirectional belt.

In this case, the plurality of cell pads are formed in an equilateral triangle, and the omnidirectional belt is radially arranged so that the six cell pads have the same angle with respect to the center, and any one cell of the plurality of cell pads is provided. The edge of the pad and the edge of another cell pad adjacent to each other may have third unit structures connected to each other by the pad direct coupling member, and a plurality of the third unit structures may be coupled to each other to form the omnidirectional belt.

In addition, the inner core, a portion of the lower surface including the central portion of the lower surface may be open.

In addition, the omnidirectional treadmill may further include a control unit for controlling the driving of the outer wheel in response to the user's movement.

In addition, according to an embodiment, each of the plurality of external rotation supports has a plurality of the external wheels connected by a connecting shaft, and the omnidirectional belt by gripping the outer side of the omnidirectional belt by the plurality of the external wheels can support

In this case, the plurality of external rotation support may be configured to be able to lift individually or at the same time.

In addition, the omni-directional treadmill may further include a plurality of lifting driving units respectively disposed at a plurality of locations under the main frame to lift and lower the main body frame.

In addition, the omni-directional treadmill may further include a virtual reality unit that implements virtual reality.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an omni-directional treadmill capable of more complete and smooth omnidirectional operation.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an omni-directional treadmill according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 (a) and 2 (b) are views for explaining the operation principle of the omni-directional treadmill according to the present invention.
3 is a view for explaining a design process of an omnidirectional belt in an omnidirectional treadmill according to the present invention, and is a view showing an icosahedron formed by an equilateral triangle.
4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which any one equilateral triangle constituting each face of the icosahedron of FIG. 3 is again divided into several equilateral triangles.
FIG. 5 is a view of a state in which the equilateral triangle divided into a plurality in FIG. 4 is corrected to have the same radius from the center of the icosahedron and approximated to a sphere.
6 is a view showing the unit structure of the omnidirectional belt according to the first example in the omnidirectional treadmill of the present invention.
7 is a view illustrating a state in which a plurality of unit structures of FIG. 6 are provided and coupled to each other.
8 is a perspective view illustrating omnidirectional wheels applicable to an inner wheel or an outer wheel in the omnidirectional treadmill of the present invention.
9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an omni-directional treadmill according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of arrangement of an external rotary support in the omni-directional treadmill shown in FIG. 9 .
11 is a view for explaining a method of driving an external rotary support in the omni-directional treadmill shown in FIG. 9 .
12 is a view of a user wearing a virtual reality unit and using the omni-directional treadmill in the omni-directional treadmill according to the present invention.
13 is a view showing the unit structure of the omnidirectional belt according to the second example in the omnidirectional treadmill of the present invention.
14 is a view illustrating a state in which a plurality of unit structures of FIG. 13 are provided and coupled to each other.
15 is a view showing the unit structure of the omnidirectional belt according to the third example in the omnidirectional treadmill of the present invention.
16 is a view illustrating a state in which a plurality of unit structures of FIG. 15 are provided and coupled to each other.

Hereinafter, it will be described in detail according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. The terms or words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as being limited to their ordinary or dictionary meanings, and the inventor may properly define the concept of the term in order to best describe his invention. It should be interpreted as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that there is. Therefore, the configuration shown in the embodiments and drawings described in the present specification is only the most preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not represent all the technical spirit of the present invention, so at the time of the present application, various It should be understood that there may be equivalents and variations.

In the drawings, the size of each component or a specific part constituting the component is exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated for convenience and clarity of description. Accordingly, the size of each component does not fully reflect the actual size. If it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, such description will be omitted.

As used herein, the term 'coupled' or 'connected' refers to a case in which one member and another member are directly coupled or directly connected, as well as when one member is indirectly coupled to another member through a joint member, or indirectly. Including cases connected to

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an omnidirectional treadmill according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the principle of an omnidirectional treadmill according to the present invention, and FIGS. 3 to 5 are front views according to the present invention It is a view for explaining the design process of the omni-directional belt in the directional treadmill, FIGS. 6 and 7 are views showing the construction process of the omni-directional belt according to the first example in the omni-directional treadmill of the present invention, and FIG. It is a perspective view illustrating omnidirectional wheels applicable to the omnidirectional treadmill of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , an omnidirectional treadmill 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes an omnidirectional belt 100 , an inner core 200 , an external rotation support 300 , and a body frame 400 . ) is included.

The omnidirectional belt 100 may move in all directions according to the movement of the user. That is, when the user moves in any direction on the upper surface of the omnidirectional belt 100, it may move (rotate) in any direction (in the direction opposite to the user's movement) to correspond to the user's movement.

1 and 2, the omnidirectional belt 100 may have a shape corresponding to, for example, a case in which an object such as a gimbal 1 formed in a sphere is pressed to have an approximately elliptical cross-section. have.

Referring to FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) for explaining the principle of the omnidirectional belt 100 of the omnidirectional treadmill, in FIG. 2 (a), the upper plate 2 on the upper side and the lower side of the sphere 1 ) and the lower plate 3 (ground) are in contact, respectively, and when the upper and lower sides of the sphere 1 are pressed by the upper plate 2 and the lower plate 3, the sphere ( 1) is pressed into a thick disk shape with an approximately elliptical cross section to form flat parts on the upper and lower surfaces.

As such, the upper plate 2 in contact with the upper surface of the sphere 1 pressed in FIG. 2(b) can move smoothly in all directions, and the omnidirectional belt 100 of the omnidirectional treadmill 10 according to the present invention is According to this principle, it can move smoothly in all directions. That is, the omnidirectional belt 100 of FIG. 1 may be formed in a similar manner to the pressed sphere 1 of FIG. 2(b), and an inner core 200 is provided inside the omnidirectional belt 100, An external rotation support 300 is provided on the outside so that it can move smoothly, smoothly and naturally in all directions.

The omnidirectional belt 100 is configured to surround the inner core 200 to be described later. Here, if the omnidirectional belt 100 is integrally manufactured, the inner core 200 cannot be put therein. Therefore, in Patent Document 1, a belt is formed as a separate sheet, a platform frame is put therein, and then the two sheets are sewn together. In this case, there is a problem of the seam as described above.

Accordingly, in the present invention, a new method is introduced to form the omnidirectional belt 100 . Hereinafter, the design process of the omnidirectional belt in the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 .

First, referring to FIG. 3 , an icosahedron 4 is formed by 20 equilateral triangles 5 . And, referring to FIG. 4 , the equilateral triangular face 5 constituting each face of the icosahedron 4 of FIG. 3 may be configured to be divided into several equilateral triangles 6 again. Then, if the equilateral triangle 6 divided into a number is corrected to have the same radius from the center of the icosahedron 4, it is approximated to the sphere 7 as in FIG. 5 .

That is, if the operation of dividing the equilateral triangle 5 from the icosahedron 4 and correcting the divided plurality of equilateral triangles 6 to have the same radius from the center of the icosahedron 5 is repeated, The icosahedron 4 is approximated to the sphere 7 of FIG. 5 by a number of small equilateral triangles 6 . And when this sphere 7 is pressed up and down, it becomes the pressed sphere 1 of FIG. 2(b), that is, an omnidirectional belt. However, the omnidirectional belt 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention is different from the one-piece (strictly, two sheets of sheet) belt of Patent Document 1 described above, a plurality of equilateral triangular cell pads are connected to each other to form a net structure. have

Specifically, in the omnidirectional belt 100 according to the first example, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 , a plurality of equilateral triangular cell pads 111 are formed by a link member 113 and a joint member 115 . It may be provided to form a shape similar to a sphere by connecting them. That is, the cell pad 111 of the equilateral triangle of FIG. 6 corresponds to the equilateral triangle 6 of FIG. 5 , and the link member 113 of FIG. 6 corresponds to the side (edge) of the equilateral triangle 6 of FIG. The joint member 115 of 6 corresponds to the vertex of the equilateral triangle 6 of FIG. 5 .

Here, the cell pad 111 does not necessarily have to be an equilateral triangle, and if a plurality of cell pads 111 are connected to form a spherical-like network structure, the cell pad 111 may have various shapes other than an equilateral triangle. . The cell pad 111 may have any shape other than an equilateral triangle, for example, a combination of regular hexagons or rhombuses, or a soccer ball in which pentagonal and hexagonal shapes are repeated, or a volleyball ball, baseball, or basketball in which the unit cell pad has a curved outline. It can be approximated to a sphere with

However, iterative division into a plurality of cell pads described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 or the convenience of manufacturing a spherical omnidirectional belt by connecting a plurality of cell pads shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 ; Furthermore, in consideration of uniform distribution of the stretching force in any direction, the shape of the cell pad is preferably an equilateral triangle. Here, as the shape of the cell pad, a regular hexagon can be viewed as a combination of six equilateral triangles, and a rhombus can be viewed as a combination of two equilateral triangles.

Therefore, hereinafter, for convenience of description, a case in which the cell pad 111 is 'basically an equilateral triangle' will be mainly described. When the cell or cell pad has an equilateral triangle shape to form a sphere, it is advantageous for balanced distribution of forces applied to each link, joint, and cell pad fixing member. Here, 'basically an equilateral triangle' means, referring to FIG. 6 , the shape of a slightly deformed shape from the original equilateral triangle, such as rounding or chamfering the vertices for the necessity of combining or preventing interference, etc. within the scope of an equilateral triangle. This means that the concept is included, and in the present specification, the shape of the cell pad 111 of FIG. 6 is also described as an equilateral triangle.

The link member 113 may be configured to interconnect the plurality of cell pads 111 . That is, as shown in FIG. 6 , one link member 113 may be coupled to the edge (side) of the cell pad 111 in the longitudinal direction. That is, the side surface of the link member 113 may be coupled to the edge of the cell pad 111 .

In addition, a plurality of link members 113 may be coupled to the joint member 115 . The joint member 115 and the link member 113 may be coupled in various ways. For example, a coupling groove 150 (refer to FIG. 7 ) is formed in the joint member 115 , and a coupling protrusion 140 is formed at an end of the link member 113 , and the coupling protrusion 140 of the link member 113 is formed. ) may be inserted into the coupling groove 150 of the joint member 115 to be coupled. However, the coupling method of the joint member 115 and the link member 113 is not limited thereto. In this way, the plurality of cell pads 111 , the plurality of link members 113 , and the plurality of joint members 115 may be connected to each other to form the omnidirectional belt 100 .

Here, the plurality of link members 113 are provided to be radially coupled to one joint member 115 , and the link member 113 coupled to any one joint member 115 among the plurality of joint members 115 . may be provided to be coupled to another adjacent joint member 115 .

Specifically, referring to FIG. 6 , the first unit structure 110 is provided in the omnidirectional belt 100 according to the first example, and the first unit structure 110 is provided with six link members 113 . , six link members 113 are radially disposed to have the same angle from any one of the plurality of joint members 115 and are coupled to the joint member 115 . In addition, the equilateral triangular cell pad 111 may be configured to be respectively disposed in a space formed by a plurality of link members 113 to be connected to the link members 113 .

And, as shown in FIG. 7 , a plurality of first unit structures 110 may be coupled to each other to form the omnidirectional belt 100 . 7 shows a plane in which several first unit structures 110 are coupled to each other, but when more first unit structures 110 are coupled to each other and bent in a curved shape to form a sphere, the ends are coupled , it is possible to manufacture an omnidirectional belt 100 of a net structure having a shape similar to a sphere. However, the first unit structures 110 are bent in a curved shape so as to form a spherical shape by being coupled to each other so that the inner core 200 to be described later is wrapped before the ends are combined, and then the first unit structures 110 are completely removed. It should be connected to complete the omnidirectional belt 100 .

On the other hand, the cell pads 111 , 121 , 131 , the link members 113 , the joint members 115 and 125 , and the pad direct connection member 133 to be described later are elastic and flexible (easy to bend) synthetic resin, synthetic or natural rubber, synthetic or natural fiber. These materials may be used alone or in combination. In addition, the same material as the rotary belt in the conventional one-way treadmill may be used. Here, the cell pads 111 , 121 , and 131 , the link member 113 , the joint members 115 and 125 , and/or the pad direct connection member 133 may be formed of the same material or different materials.

The omnidirectional belt 100 can be formed by this new method, and the cell pad 111 is coupled to the link member 113 and the joint member 115 to have a mesh structure connected to each other. The inner core 200 can be easily accommodated on the inside of the. In addition, each separable member and the net structure facilitate access to the inner core 200 by disassembling a portion of the net structure for maintenance as well as the process of accommodating the inner core 200 .

In addition, the problem caused by the seam of Patent Document 1 described above through this method is solved. That is, in the case of the omnidirectional belt 100 of the omnidirectional treadmill 10 according to the present invention, there is no suture line as in Patent Document 1, or numerous suture lines (link members) are uniform throughout the omnidirectional belt 100. is formed Accordingly, it is possible to provide even elasticity and frictional force over the entire omnidirectional belt 100 , so that the inner platform frame (inner core) edge can be smoothly crossed.

The inner core 200 has a dome shape with a flat top surface, and has a plurality of inner omnidirectional wheels 220 rotatable in all directions on the surface. The inner omnidirectional wheel 220 is disposed to face the inner side of the omnidirectional belt 100 , and is rotatable in any direction (forward direction) in contact with the inner side of the omnidirectional belt 100 . The inner omni-directional wheel 220 may include any wheel capable of rotating in an omni-directional direction, for example, the inner omni-directional wheel 220 is an omni-ball 700, omni-ball as shown in FIG. 8 (a). ) may be, or it may be an omni wheel 710, omni-wheel, such as FIG. 8(b), or a mecanum wheel 720, such as in FIG. It may include various wheels.

The inner core 200 may further include a guide member 210 . Referring to FIG. 1 , the guide member 210 may have a dome shape with a flat top surface, and may be formed in a shape corresponding to the shape of the omnidirectional belt 100 , that is, a cross section of the guide member 210 is approximately oval. And, the inner omnidirectional wheel 220 is coupled to the surface of the guide member 210 is provided to rotate in the omnidirectional direction.

On the other hand, since the user moves on the upper surface of the omnidirectional belt 100, the inner core 200 may have a portion of the lower surface including the central portion of the lower surface open. That is, the guide member 210 may have a shape in which a portion of the lower portion is cut off from an oval as shown in FIG. 1 . In this way, when a portion of the lower portion of the guide member 210 is cut off, the weight of the inner core 200 is reduced.

And, although it is shown that the external rotation support 300 is disposed at a position corresponding to the part where the guide member 210 is cut in FIG. 1, the external rotation support 300 is the guide member 210 in the cut part. It may not be arranged in a corresponding position.

The external rotation support 300 is in contact with the outside of the omnidirectional belt 100 to rotatably support the omnidirectional belt 100 around the inner core 200 . A plurality of external rotation support 300 is provided to be rotatable in all directions. In particular, the external rotation support 300 supports the omnidirectional belt 100 and the inner core 200 while rotating to correspond to the rotation of the omnidirectional belt 100 when the omnidirectional belt 100 moves (when rotating). do. In addition, as will be described later, when the control unit 500 detects or predicts the user's movement through a sensor or the like and drives the external rotation support 300 according to the user's movement, The direction belt 100 may rotate.

The external rotation support 300 may be implemented as an omnidirectional wheel that can rotate in the omni-direction like the above-described internal omni-directional wheel 220, specifically, the omni ball 700 of FIG. 8, the omni wheel 710 or It may be a Mecanum wheel 720 .

The body frame 400 includes an inner core 200, an omnidirectional belt 100 and an external rotation support 300 such that at least a portion (upper surface) of the omnidirectional belt 100 is exposed to the outside, as shown in FIG. 1 . Accept. However, the shape of the body frame 400 is not limited to the shape shown in FIG. 1 and may be variously changed.

In addition, the omni-directional treadmill 10 according to the present invention is driven to be inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the ground, thereby realizing a situation such as a user moving on a slope. That is, the omnidirectional treadmill 10 according to an embodiment may include the lifting driving unit 410 disposed at a plurality of lower portions of the body frame 400 as shown in FIG. 1 .

The lifting driving unit 410 may be implemented as a hydraulic cylinder or a pneumatic cylinder, each of which is individually controlled by the control unit 500 to vertically expand and contract to incline the entire body frame 400 in any direction. Here, in order to incline the body frame 400 in any direction, at least three elevating driving units 410 expand and contract vertically while supporting the body frame 400 at three points, or one point is fixed and the remaining two points or more. One for each, a total of two or more lifting driving units 410 are disposed so as to expand and contract up and down, respectively.

Furthermore, by simultaneously raising and lowering the plurality of lift driving units 410 , it is possible to implement a situation as if the user is on an elevator.

On the other hand, when the omnidirectional belt 100 is mounted on the inner core 200, the omnidirectional belt 100 is in its original shape (spherical as in FIG. is transformed Accordingly, the omni-directional belt 100 is stretched the most in the portion located at the side edge of the disk rather than the upper and lower surfaces of the disk, and the degree of expansion and contraction for each part of the omni-directional belt 100 is not uniform. This non-uniform expansion and contraction is dispersed and absorbed by the cell pad 111, the link member 113, and the joint member 115 made of a stretchable material. There is a possibility that the direction belt 100 may not be able to move (rotate) smoothly. In order to minimize the non-uniformity of the degree of expansion and contraction, the shape of the omnidirectional belt 100 should be maintained as close to a spherical shape as possible. will grow bigger

Accordingly, an omnidirectional treadmill according to another embodiment capable of maximally suppressing an increase in device size while minimizing the non-uniformity of the degree of expansion will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11 .

9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an omnidirectional treadmill according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view showing an arrangement example of an external rotation support, and FIG. 11 is a view for explaining a driving method of the external rotation support am.

Meanwhile, in the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 to 11 , the same reference numerals are assigned to the same and similar components as those of the above-described embodiment, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted. However, it goes without saying that the individual configurations, features, or modifications described in the above-described embodiment and the present embodiment may be selectively applied interchangeably as long as they do not contradict each other.

In the omni-directional treadmill 10' according to this embodiment, the shape of the omni-directional belt 100 mounted on the inner core 200' is different from the omni-directional treadmill 10 of the above-described embodiment. That is, in the present embodiment, the omnidirectional belt 100 has a flat top surface as in the above-described embodiment, but a substantially hemispherical shape with a downward convex or a spherical shape cut out from an upper part.

Accordingly, the degree of expansion of the rest of the omni-directional belt 100 except for the upper surface is approximately the same, so that the non-uniformity of the overall degree of expansion is significantly reduced compared to the above-described embodiment, so that the omnidirectional belt 100 moves in any direction ( rotation) is smoother. In addition, since the overall shape of the omnidirectional belt 100 is not a perfect spherical shape, but a shape obtained by cutting out a portion of the spherical upper part, it is possible to suppress the increase in the overall size of the device while reducing the non-uniformity of the degree of expansion and contraction.

In order to maintain the shape of the omnidirectional belt 100 in a substantially hemispherical or spherical shape, the inner core 200 ′, in particular, the lower shape of the guide member 210 ′ is different from the above embodiment. Alternatively, it forms into an approximately hemispherical shape that is convex downwards. Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, as in the above-described embodiment, the inner core 200 ′ may have a portion of the lower surface including the central portion of the lower surface open.

In addition, the body frame 400 ′ of this embodiment also has an accommodating space 420 having a shape of a substantially hemispherical or spherical shape cut out from an upper portion along the inner core 200 ′ and the omnidirectional belt 100 . On the other hand, the body frame 400' of this embodiment may be installed on the ground as in the above-described embodiment, but in this embodiment, the height (depth of the accommodation space) of the device increases compared to the above-described embodiment, so the (including the floor surface of the building) is preferably formed by digging down in a substantially hemispherical shape. In this case, the body frame 400' becomes the ground.

In this embodiment, the external rotation support 300 ′ may be arranged to support the outer side of the omnidirectional belt 100 . Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 , the external rotation support 300 ′ includes a plurality of external wheels 310 , a connecting shaft 320 and an external wheel driving unit 330 (in FIGS. 10 and 12 ). not shown) may be included.

The plurality of outer wheels 310 support the omnidirectional belt 100 and the inner core 200 ′ in the form of gripping the outer side of the omnidirectional belt 100 from above and below. According to this configuration, as shown in FIG. 9 , even if an external rotation support or an external wheel is not disposed under the omnidirectional belt 100 and the inner core 200 ′, the omnidirectional belt 100 and the inner core 200 . ') can be supported in a floating state from the bottom of the accommodation space 420 . In addition, the most deformation (elongation) occurs during movement (rotation) of the omnidirectional belt 100, and therefore, the portion having the greatest resistance is the outer side portion of the inner core 200'. Therefore, when the external rotation support 300' is disposed in this part and the external wheel 310 is rotationally driven as will be described later, the external wheel is disposed below the omnidirectional belt 100 and the inner core 200', It is possible to move (rotate) the omnidirectional belt 100 much more efficiently and smoothly than in the case of rotational driving.

When the omnidirectional belt 100 moves (rotates) according to the user's movement, the outer wheel 310 of the external rotation support 300' is moved in a direction corresponding to that, that is, the movement (rotation) of the omnidirectional belt 100. ) by being driven to rotate in the opposite direction to the direction, the omnidirectional belt 100 can be moved (rotated) to facilitate the user's movement.

To this end, the omni-directional treadmill 10 ′ according to the present embodiment may further include a control unit 500 . The control unit 500 controls the movement or rotation of the omnidirectional belt 100 by driving the outer wheel 310 to correspond to the movement of the user moving on the upper surface of the omnidirectional belt 100 .

Specifically, in Fig. 11, in order to move the omnidirectional belt 100 in a desired direction (a direction of a thick arrow), four external wheels 310 capable of forward and reverse rotation about a central axis (connecting shaft 320), respectively, are provided. The driving direction of each of the outer wheels 310 of the provided external rotation support 300 is shown.

For example, when the user moves backward (moving in the 4:30 direction in FIG. 11) on the upper surface of the omnidirectional belt 100, as shown in FIG. 11(a), the omnidirectional belt 100 moves leftward. (Move in the direction of the bold arrow in the direction of 10 o'clock). In this case, the control unit 500 stops the outer wheel 310 disposed on the upper left and lower right sides in FIG. and the outer wheel 310 disposed on the lower left side rotates in a counterclockwise direction when viewed from the lower left side.

In this way, the control unit 500 may drive and control each of the outer wheels 310 so that the omnidirectional belt 100 moves in a desired direction (a thick arrow direction). Here, although only eight directions of driving control are shown in FIGS. 11( a ) to 11 ( h ), by varying the rotational speed of each outer wheel 310 , in any direction not shown in FIG. 11 . Movement of the omnidirectional belt 100 can be implemented.

In addition, when the omnidirectional belt 100 is rotated on a plane about an axis perpendicular to the ground in FIGS. 11(i) and 11(j), the driving directions of each of the outer wheels 310 are shown. For example, as shown in FIG. 11(i), when the omnidirectional belt 100 is rotated rightly on a plane, all of the four outer wheels 310 may be rotated counterclockwise when viewed from the outside.

Meanwhile, in this embodiment, the outer wheel 310 may be implemented as a simple wheel rotatable about each central axis, but like the inner omnidirectional wheel 220, it may be implemented as an omnidirectional wheel rotatable in any direction. . That is, the outer wheel 310 may be implemented as the omni ball 700 , the omni wheel 710 or the Mecanum wheel 720 shown in FIG. 8 .

In addition, in this embodiment, as in the above-described embodiment, a situation such as a user moving on a slope can be implemented. However, in this embodiment, since the body frame 400' is the ground itself, it is difficult to implement the inclined driving of the body frame itself using the elevating driving unit 410 as in the above-described embodiment.

Accordingly, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9 , the plurality of external rotation supports 300 ′ holding the omnidirectional belt 100 and the inner core 200 ′ from the outer side are individually or interlocked with each other. By driving up and down, the omnidirectional belt 100 and the inner core 200' are driven obliquely.

Specifically, the plurality of external rotation support 300', the external wheel driving unit 330 is fixed to the upper end of the inner wall of the accommodation space 420 to be movable up and down as indicated by the arrow A within a predetermined range. In addition, an elevating driving unit (not shown) for moving each of the external wheel driving units 330 up and down is provided inside the body frame 400 ′. In addition, the control unit 500 performs rotation control of the external wheel 310 as described above, and controls the lifting driving unit (not shown) to move the external wheel driving unit 330 up and down, so that the body frame 400 is ') may be inclined to drive the omnidirectional belt 100 and the inner core 200' in a fixed state.

Furthermore, by simultaneously raising and lowering a plurality of external rotational supports 300 ′, it is possible to implement a situation as if the user is on an elevator.

The omni-directional treadmill 10 according to the present invention may be used in combination with a virtual reality system. That is, referring to FIG. 12 , a user may wear a virtual reality unit 600 , and the omnidirectional treadmills 10 and 10 ′ according to an embodiment of the present invention are a virtual reality unit 600 that implements virtual reality. It can be used for various purposes such as games or training with

In this case, the control unit 500 may control the movement or rotation of the omnidirectional belt 100 to correspond to the movement of the user wearing the virtual reality unit 600 . For example, by installing a sensor for detecting movement on the user's body or installing a camera sensor in a space where the omni-directional treadmills 10 and 10' are installed, the control unit 500 detects or predicts the user's movement direction And it is possible to control the driving of the external rotation support (300, 300') corresponding thereto.

Meanwhile, although the user is shown wearing the virtual reality unit 600 in FIG. 12 , the virtual reality unit may be implemented as an image projected on a screen disposed in a space in which the omnidirectional treadmills 10 and 10 ′ are installed.

13 and 14 are views showing the configuration of an omnidirectional belt according to a second example in the omnidirectional treadmill of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the omnidirectional belt 100 according to the second example will be described with reference to the drawings, but differences from the first example will be mainly described, and the common contents will be replaced with the above description.

The second example is different from the first example in that the cell pad 121 is directly coupled to the joint member 125 without a link member.

Referring to FIG. 13 , the omnidirectional belt 100 includes a cell pad 121 and a joint member 125 . The cell pad 121 may have various shapes, but a case in which the cell pad 121 is 'basically an equilateral triangle' as in the first example will be mainly described. That is, as shown in FIG. 13 , the shape in which the coupling protrusion 160 is formed at the vertex of the cell pad 121 will be described as an equilateral triangle.

In the second example, since there is no link member, a plurality of cell pads 121 are directly coupled to the joint member 125 as shown in FIG. 13 . Specifically, referring to FIG. 13 , the omnidirectional belt 100 may have a second unit structure 120 , and the second unit structure 120 includes six equilateral triangular cell pads 121 and a plurality of joint members. It may be formed by being radially disposed to have the same angle from any one of the joint members 125 of 125 and coupled to the joint member 125 . Here, the coupling method between the cell pad 121 and the joint member 125 is not limited to the illustrated example.

And, referring to FIG. 14 , a plurality of second unit structures 120 may be coupled to each other to form the omnidirectional belt 100 .

15 and 16 are views showing the configuration of the omnidirectional belt according to the third example in the omnidirectional treadmill of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the omnidirectional belt 100 will be described in the third example with reference to the drawings, but the differences from the first and second examples will be mainly described, and the common contents will be replaced with the above description. .

The third example is different from the first or second example in that the cell pad 131 is directly connected to the pad direct connection member 133 without a joint member and a link member.

Referring to FIG. 15 , the omnidirectional belt 100 includes a cell pad 131 and a pad direct connection member 133 . Although the cell pad 131 may have various shapes, the case where the cell pad 131 is 'basically an equilateral triangle' as in the first and second examples will be mainly described. That is, as shown in FIG. 15 , the shape in which the coupling groove 170 is formed in the edge (side) of the cell pad 121 will also be described as an equilateral triangle.

In the third example, since there are no joint members and link members, a plurality of cell pads 131 are directly coupled to each other using the pad direct connection member 133 as shown in FIG. 15 . In addition, the plurality of cell pads 131 and the plurality of pad direct connection members 133 are detachably connected to each other to form the omnidirectional belt 100 .

Here, referring to FIG. 15 , the omnidirectional belt 100 may have a third unit structure 130 , and the third unit structure 130 has six equilateral triangular cell pads 131 forming a central portion P. They are radially arranged to have the same angle as the reference.

In addition, the pad direct connecting member 133 may be provided to connect the edge of one of the plurality of cell pads 131 and the edge of the other adjacent cell pad 131 to each other.

Here, one pad direct connecting member 133 may connect the corners of the cell pad 131 to each other, or two pad direct connecting members 133 may connect the corners of the cell pad 131 to each other as shown in FIG. 15 . Alternatively, a larger number of pad direct connecting members 133 may connect the edges of the cell pad 131 to each other. A method in which the pad direct connecting member 133 is coupled to each cell pad 131 is not limited to the illustrated example.

And, referring to FIG. 16 , a plurality of third unit structures 130 may be coupled to each other to form the omnidirectional belt 100 .

In the above, although the present invention has been described with reference to limited embodiments and drawings, the present invention is not limited thereto and will be described below with the technical idea of the present invention by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains. Of course, various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of equivalents of the claims.

10, 10': omnidirectional treadmill 100: omnidirectional belt
110: first unit structure 111: cell pad
113: link member 115: joint member
120: second unit structure 121: cell pad
125: joint member 130: third unit structure
131: cell pad 133: pad direct connection member
140: coupling protrusion 150: coupling groove
200, 200': inner core 210, 210': guide member
220: inner omnidirectional wheel 300, 300': outer rotation support
310: outer wheel 320: connecting shaft
330: external wheel drive 400, 400': body frame
410: lifting driving unit 420: receiving space
500: control unit 600: virtual reality unit

Claims (15)

an inner core having a dome shape having a flat upper surface and having a plurality of inner omnidirectional wheels rotatable in all directions on the surface;
an omnidirectional belt surrounding the inner core, a plurality of cell pads connected to each other to have a net structure, and rotatable in all directions around the inner core;
a plurality of external rotational supports in contact with the outer side of the omnidirectional belt to support the omnidirectional belt and having external wheels rotatable to correspond to the rotation of the omnidirectional belt; and
and a body frame accommodating the inner core, the omnidirectional belt, and the plurality of external rotational supports so that the upper surface of the omnidirectional belt is exposed to the outside,
The omnidirectional belt may include a plurality of link members interconnecting the plurality of cell pads; and a plurality of joint members to which the plurality of link members are coupled,
The omnidirectional treadmill, characterized in that the plurality of cell pads are connected to each other by the plurality of link members and the plurality of joint members to form the omnidirectional belt. delete According to claim 1,
The plurality of link members are provided to be radially coupled to one joint member,
The omnidirectional treadmill, characterized in that the link member coupled to one of the plurality of joint members is also coupled to the other adjacent joint member. 4. The method of claim 3,
The plurality of cell pads are formed in an equilateral triangle,
The omnidirectional belt is arranged radially so that the six link members have the same angle from any one of the plurality of joint members and is coupled to the joint member, and within the space formed by the plurality of link members. Each of the cell pads is disposed and has a first unit structure connected to the link member,
An omnidirectional treadmill, characterized in that a plurality of the first unit structures are coupled to each other to form the omnidirectional belt. an inner core having a dome shape having a flat upper surface and having a plurality of inner omnidirectional wheels rotatable in all directions on the surface;
an omnidirectional belt surrounding the inner core, a plurality of cell pads connected to each other to have a net structure, and rotatable in all directions around the inner core;
a plurality of external rotational supports in contact with the outer side of the omnidirectional belt to support the omnidirectional belt and having external wheels rotatable to correspond to the rotation of the omnidirectional belt; and
and a body frame accommodating the inner core, the omnidirectional belt, and the plurality of external rotational supports so that the upper surface of the omnidirectional belt is exposed to the outside,
The omnidirectional belt further includes a plurality of joint members to which the plurality of cell pads are coupled,
The omnidirectional treadmill, characterized in that the plurality of cell pads are connected to each other by the plurality of joint members to form the omnidirectional belt. 6. The method of claim 5,
The plurality of cell pads are formed in an equilateral triangle,
The omnidirectional belt has a second unit structure in which the six cell pads are radially disposed to have the same angle from any one of the plurality of joint members and are coupled to the joint member,
An omnidirectional treadmill, characterized in that a plurality of the second unit structures are coupled to each other to form the omnidirectional belt. an inner core having a dome shape having a flat upper surface and having a plurality of inner omnidirectional wheels rotatable in all directions on the surface;
an omnidirectional belt surrounding the inner core, a plurality of cell pads connected to each other to have a net structure, and rotatable in all directions around the inner core;
a plurality of external rotational supports in contact with the outer side of the omnidirectional belt to support the omnidirectional belt and having external wheels rotatable to correspond to the rotation of the omnidirectional belt; and
and a body frame accommodating the inner core, the omnidirectional belt, and the plurality of external rotational supports so that the upper surface of the omnidirectional belt is exposed to the outside,
The omnidirectional belt further includes a plurality of pad direct connecting members for interconnecting the plurality of cell pads,
A coupling groove is formed in each corner of the plurality of cell pads,
The omnidirectional treadmill, characterized in that the plurality of pad direct connecting members are detachably connected to each other in the coupling grooves of the plurality of cell pads to form the omnidirectional belt. 8. The method of claim 7,
The plurality of cell pads are formed in an equilateral triangle,
In the omni-directional belt, the six cell pads are radially arranged to have the same angle with respect to the center, and the edge of one cell pad and the edge of the other adjacent cell pad among the plurality of cell pads are disposed in a radial direction. and a third unit structure connected to each other by the pad direct connection member,
An omnidirectional treadmill, characterized in that a plurality of the third unit structures are coupled to each other to form the omnidirectional belt. 8. The method of any one of claims 1, 5 and 7,
The inner core is an omnidirectional treadmill, characterized in that a portion of the lower surface including the central portion of the lower surface is opened. 8. The method of any one of claims 1, 5 and 7,
The omnidirectional treadmill further comprising a control unit for driving the outer wheel in response to a user's movement. 8. The method of any one of claims 1, 5 and 7,
Each of the plurality of external rotation supports has a plurality of the outer wheels connected by a connecting shaft, characterized in that for supporting the omnidirectional belt by holding the outer side of the omnidirectional belt by the plurality of the outer wheels omnidirectional treadmill. 8. The method of any one of claims 1, 5 and 7,
The omnidirectional treadmill, characterized in that the plurality of external rotating support is configured to be lifted individually or simultaneously. 8. The method of any one of claims 1, 5 and 7,
The omnidirectional treadmill further comprises a plurality of lifting driving units respectively disposed at a plurality of locations under the main body frame to lift and lower the main body frame. 8. The method of any one of claims 1, 5 and 7,
The omni-directional treadmill, characterized in that the upper surface of the omni-directional belt is flat and the lower part is convex downward, and the inner core is wrapped around the inner core. 8. The method of any one of claims 1, 5 and 7,
Omnidirectional treadmill, characterized in that it further comprises a virtual reality unit for realizing virtual reality.

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