US20190105531A1

US20190105531A1 - Treadmill

Info

Publication number: US20190105531A1
Application number: US15/884,554
Authority: US
Inventors: Chieh-Ming Wu
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2017-10-06
Filing date: 2018-01-31
Publication date: 2019-04-11
Also published as: TW201914654A

Abstract

A treadmill includes a frame unit and a roller unit. The frame unit has a front end portion and a rear end portion that is opposite to the front end portion. The roller unit includes a plurality of spaced apart rollers and a plurality of linkage members. The rollers are mounted rotatably between the front end portion and the rear end portion, each of the rollers having a roller wheel. Each of the linkage members links a corresponding adjacent pair of the rollers to drive synchronized rotation of each of the rollers.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of Taiwanese Patent Application No. 106134499, filed on Oct. 6, 2017.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to a type of exercise equipment, and more particularly to a treadmill.

BACKGROUND

A treadmill provides a moving platform for a user to walk at a given movement speed while staying at the same place, and may also passively resist user motion for workout purpose. A conventional treadmill disclosed in Taiwanese Utility Model Patent No. 128972 includes a plurality of spaced-apart rollers mounted rotatably between two ends of the treadmill. The conventional treadmill allows a user to walk thereon and to drive rotation of each of the rollers. Another conventional treadmill disclosed in Taiwanese Utility Model Patent No. M401455 includes a plurality of rollers mounted on a hollow frame and operable to support a conveyor belt for rotation.
Although both the abovementioned treadmills are capable of achieving intended purpose as a moving platform, the conventional treadmill disclosed in Taiwanese Utility Model Patent No. 128972 lacks a conveyor belt, such that only the rollers that are stepped on would rotate. Consequently, adjacent rollers would have different rotational speed, making it easier for the user to lose control of the movement speed on the treadmill and potentially slip.
However, even with the addition of a conveyer belt in the treadmill as disclosed in Taiwanese Utility Model Patent No. M401455, the conveyer belt is only able to transmit walking movement of the user into rotation of the rollers that are in direct frictional contact with the conveyor belt, which are limited to those that are right underneath the user's feet. As such, the other rollers not in direct frictional contact do not gain as much rotational speed from the conveyer belt, resulting in different rotational speed between the rollers, which may easily pull and damage the conveyer belt.
Besides the inability to control movement speed on the treadmill, the abovementioned prior arts also lack the capability to adjust workout intensity for the user.

SUMMARY

Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a treadmill that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art.
According to the disclosure, the treadmill includes a frame unit and a roller unit. The frame unit has a front end portion and a rear end portion that is opposite to the front end portion. The roller unit includes a plurality of spaced apart rollers and a plurality of linkage members. The rollers are mounted rotatably between the front end portion and the rear end portion, each of the rollers having a roller wheel. Each of the linkage members links a corresponding adjacent pair of the rollers to drive synchronized rotation of each of the rollers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a treadmill according to the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary partly exploded perspective view of a roller unit of the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a sectional side view of the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line V-V of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a second embodiment of the treadmill according to the disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a sectional side view of the second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before the disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be noted that where considered appropriate, reference numerals or terminal portions of reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements, which may optionally have similar characteristics.
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, the first embodiment of the treadmill according to the disclosure includes a frame unit 10, a roller unit 20, and a damping unit 40.
The frame unit 10 includes a base frame 11 that has two spaced-apart side frame boards 113. The side frame boards 113 cooperatively have a front end portion 111, and a rear end portion 112 that is opposite to the front end portion 111, and a plurality of spaced-apart roller slots 114 formed between the front end portion 111 and the rear end portion 112. The base frame 11 further includes a plurality of shafts 12 that extend in an axial direction (L) and are mounted rotatably to the base frame 11, and a handle frame 13 mounted to the base frame 11.
The roller unit 20 includes a plurality of spaced-apart rollers 21 and a plurality of linkage members 22. The rollers 21 are mounted rotatably between the front end portion 111 and the rear end portion 112 of the frame unit 10. Each of the rollers 21 extends in the axial direction (L), and has a cylinder body 211 that has two opposite ends and a roller wheel 212 that is mounted to one of the ends of the cylinder body 211. In addition, the roller wheel 212 of each of the rollers 21 is proximate to the roller wheels 212 of a corresponding adjacent pair of the rollers 21. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the cylindrical body 211 of each of the rollers 21 has two coupling members 214 that engage respectively a corresponding pair of the roller slots 114 that are aligned with each other in the axial direction (L). The roller wheel 212 of each of the rollers 21 has a plurality of annular positioning grooves 213 that are spaced apart in the axial direction (L). As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, each of the linkage members 22 is configured as a toothed belt that is trained on the roller wheel 212 of a corresponding adjacent pair of the rollers 21, so as to link the corresponding adjacent pair of the rollers 21 to drive synchronized rotation of each of the rollers 21.
The damping unit 40 includes a mounting seat 41 that is mounted to the front end portion 111 of the frame unit 10, a damping wheel 42 that is mounted rotatably to the mounting seat 41, a transmission member 43 that interconnects the damping wheel 42 and the roller wheel 212 of one of the rollers 21, a retarding member 44 that is disposed on the mounting seat 41 for creating frictional contact with the damping wheel 42, and an adjusting member 45 that is connected to the retarding member 44.
Referring to FIGS. 1, 4, 5 and 6, the rollers 21 of the roller unit 20 cooperatively define a concave top surface 210 for supporting the user. Because the roller wheels 212 of each of the corresponding adjacent pairs of the rollers 21 are linked by a corresponding one of the linkage members 22, when the user walks on the top surface 210 to drive rotational movement of one or more of the rollers 21, all other rollers 21 would be synchronized to rotate as well. All of the rollers 21 are forced to maintain the same rotational speed, whether or not the user walks fast or slowly thereon.
In addition, for the purpose of exercising, the adjusting member 45 is operable to drive the retarding member 44 to be proximate to or distant from the damping wheel 42, thereby adjusting friction between the retarding member 44 and the damping wheel 42. As the transmission member 43 interconnects the damping wheel 42 and one of the rollers 21, adjustment to the retarding member 44 directly adjust rotational damping of the rollers 21 as well, allowing the user to exercise with the treadmill under different workout intensity.
Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the second embodiment of the treadmill of the disclosure is similar to that of the first disclosure, with an addition of a conveyer belt 30. The conveyor belt 30 is mounted on the base frame 11 of the frame unit 10 and surrounds the roller unit 20. The conveyer belt 30 is supported by the shafts 12 and the roller unit 20, and is driven by the roller unit 20 to rotate relative to the frame unit 10. Given that the rollers 21 are operable to maintain synchronized rotation due to the linking of linkage members 22, the conveyer belt 30 is able to effectively transmit walking movement of the user into rotation of the rollers 21 that are in direct frictional contact with the conveyor belt 30, as well as the rollers 21 that are not. The conveyer belt 30 is also able to rotate smoothly without wearing from the rollers 21. As such, the second embodiment has the same advantage as those of the first embodiment.
In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what are considered the exemplary embodiments, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A treadmill comprising:

a frame unit having a front end portion and a rear end portion that is opposite to said front end portion; and

a roller unit including

a plurality of spaced-apart rollers that are mounted rotatably between said front end portion and said rear end portion, each of said rollers having a roller wheel, and

a plurality of linkage members, each of said linkage members linking a corresponding adjacent pair of said rollers to drive synchronized rotation of each of said rollers.

2. The treadmill as claimed in claim 1, further includes a damping unit including a mounting seat that is mounted to said front end portion of said frame unit, a damping wheel that is mounted rotatably to said mounting seat, and a transmission member that interconnects said damping wheel and one of said rollers.

3. The treadmill as claimed in claim 2, wherein said damping unit further includes:

a retarding member disposed for creating frictional contact with said damping wheel; and

an adjusting member connected to said retarding member, and operable for driving said retarding member to be proximate to or distant from said damping wheel, thereby adjusting friction between said retarding member and said damping wheel.

4. The treadmill as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said rollers of said roller unit extends in an axial direction, said roller wheel of each of said rollers having a plurality of annular positioning grooves that are spaced apart in the axial direction, each of said linkage members being configured as a toothed belt that is trained on said roller wheels of the corresponding adjacent pair of said rollers.

5. The treadmill as claimed in claim 1, further includes a conveyer belt that is mounted on said frame unit, that is supported by said roller unit, and that is driven rotatably by said roller unit.

6. The treadmill as claimed in claim 5, wherein said frame unit further includes a base frame, a plurality of shafts extending in the axial direction and mounted rotatably to said base frame, and a handle frame mounted on said base frame, said base frame having said front end portion and said rear end portion, said roller unit and said shafts cooperatively support said conveyor belt.