US20050096189A1 - Folding exercise treadmill with front inclination - Google Patents

Abstract

An exercise treadmill includes a base frame, a treadmill frame having a front side detachably connected to the base frame, a locking mechanism for locking the front side of the treadmill frame to the base frame, two wheeled crank arms pivoted to the treadmill frame, and a lifting mechanism. The lifting mechanism has a motor and a transmission unit coupled to the motor and the crank arms for lifting or lowering the front side of the treadmill frame after unlocking of the locking mechanism or for lifting or lowering a rear side of the treadmill frame after locking of the front side of the treadmill frame to the base frame by the locking mechanism.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
• 1. Field of the Invention
• The present invention relates to an exercise treadmill and more particularly, to an exercise treadmill having a fold-up capability and a front that is adjustable in the vertical direction.
• 2. Description of the Related Art
• A conventional exercise treadmill essentially includes a base frame and a treadmill frame. The base frame is placed on the floor, having an upright upwardly extended from the front side for holding by the user walking on the treadmill belt of the treadmill frame. In order to simulate walking on a slope, the treadmill frame is provided with a locating hole on the front side for connection to one of a vertical row of locating holes at the front side of the base frame selectively by a lock pin. After use, the user can lift the rear side of the treadmill frame and receive the treadmill frame to the upright of the base frame to reduce space occupation.
• This manual design is suitable for a small scale exercise treadmill, not practical for use in a big scale exercise treadmill. When received in the non-operative position, an additional lock device is necessary to lock the treadmill frame in the received position. A mistake during operation may cause the treadmill frame to fall, resulting in an accident.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
• It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide an exercise treadmill, which enables the treadmill frame to be received in the non-operative position or adjusted to the desired angle of inclination by means of an electric control.
• It is another objective of the present invention to provide an exercise treadmill, which provides a self-locking function during turning of the treadmill frame, ensuring a safety use.
• To achieve these objectives of the present invention the exercise treadmill comprises a base frame, a treadmill frame having a front side detachably connected with the base frame, a locking mechanism provided at a front side of the base frame for locking the front side of the treadmill frame to the base frame, at least one crank arm pivoted to the treadmill frame and having a sliding member for supporting on the floor, and a lifting mechanism mounted in the treadmill frame. The lifting mechanism includes a motor, and a transmission unit coupled between the motor and the crank arm for moving the sliding member of the crank arm on the floor upon operation of the motor so as to either force the front side of the treadmill frame to move vertically relative to the base frame while the front side of the treadmill is detached from the base frame or force a rear side of the treadmill frame to move vertically relative to the base frame while the front side of the treadmill is locked to the base frame by the locking mechanism.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• FIG. 1 is a top view of an exercise treadmill according to the present invention, wherein an upright of the base frame is not shown.
• FIG. 2 is a left side view of the present invention showing the treadmill frame set in horizontal.
• FIG. 3 is similar toFIG. 2 but showing the front of the treadmill frame lifted.
• FIG. 4 is a left side view of the present invention showing the received status of the exercise treadmill.
• FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line5-5 ofFIG. 1, showing the stop flange of the lock pin inserted through the locating plate; and
• FIG. 6 is similar toFIG. 5 but showing the stop flange of the lock pin stopped against the stop rods of the locating plate.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
• As shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, an exercise treadmill provided by a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown comprised of abase frame10, atreadmill frame20, alocking mechanism30, twocrank arms40, and alifting mechanism50.
• Thebase frame10 is a rectangular open frame formed of metal rod members by welding for placing on the floor. Thebase frame10 comprises an upright12 upwardly extended from the top near the front side for holding by the user using the exercise treadmill, acontrol panel13 mounted on the upright12, a retaining member, namely alug14, at the front side of the upright12, and twoupright sidewalls15 bilaterally longitudinally disposed at the front left and right sides. Thesidewalls15 each have a vertically extended guidingslot16 and asliding slot17 horizontally forwardly extended from the bottom end of the guidingslot16 to the periphery of the sidewall.
• Thetreadmill frame20 is mounted on thebase frame10, having afront side21, arear side22, aleft side23, aright side24, awalking belt25 provided between theleft side23 and theright side24 for walking by the user using the exercise treadmill, afoot member26 at the bottom of therear side22 for supporting the rear side of thetreadmill frame20 on the floor, a first retaining member, namely afirst lug27 having a through hole, at the bottom of thefront side21, two second retaining members, namely twosecond lugs28, symmetrically disposed at theleft side23 and theright side24 and connected with each other by arod28a, two locatingrods29 respectively outwardly protruded from theleft side23 and theright side24 between thefirst lug27 and thesecond lugs28 and respectively coupled to the guidingslots16 of thebase frame10.
• Referring toFIGS. 5 and 6 andFIGS. 1 and 2 again, thelocking mechanism30 comprises alock pin32, a locatingplate33, and acompression spring34. Thelock pin32 has astop flange35 protruded from the periphery of the middle part. The locatingplate33 has acenter insertion hole36, and twostop rods37 perpendicularly symmetrically extended from one side. Thelock pin32 is transversely provided at the front side of thebase frame10 and inserted through thecenter insertion hole36 of the locatingplate13, having one end extended out of thebase frame10 and provided with ahandle31, and the other end inserted into the trough hole of thefirst lug27 of the treadmill frame. When pushing thelock pin32 toward the inside of thebase frame10 to force thestop flange35 through thecenter insertion hole36 of the locatingplate13, thelock pin32 is engaged into thelug14 of thebase frame10 and the through hole of thefirst lug27 of thetreadmill frame20 to lock the front side of thetreadmill frame20 to thebase frame10. On the contrary, when pulled thelock pin32 outwards and then rotated thelock pin32 through an angle to disengage thelock pin32 from thelug14 of thebase frame10 and thefirst lug27 of thetreadmill frame20 and to stop thestop flange35 of thelock pin32 against thestop rods37 of the locatingplate33, thetreadmill frame20 is unlocked from thebase frame10. Further, thespring member34 is sleeved onto thelock pin32 to push thelock pin32 inwards from the unlocking position toward the locking position.
• The twocrank arms40 are respectively pivoted to therod28athat is connected to thesecond lugs28 of thetreadmill frame20, each having afirst segment41 and asecond segment42 integrally extended from an end of thefirst segment41 at an angle at an angle. Thefirst segment41 has the distal end mounted with a sliding member, namely aroller43, which is supported on the floor.Torsional springs44 are respectively sleeved onto therod28a. Thetorsional spring44 has a distal end fastened to the treadmill frame and the other distal end pressed on thefirst segment41 of thecrank arm40 for imparting a downward force to thefirst segment41 of eachcrank arm40 and an upward force to thetreadmill frame20.
• Thelifting mechanism50 is mounted in thetreadmill frame20, comprising amotor51 and atransmission unit52 driven by themotor51. Theoutput shaft53 of themotor51 is a screw rod extended in parallel to the length of thetreadmill frame20. Thetransmission unit52 is comprised of a slidingblock54 threaded onto theoutput shaft53 of themotor51, and twoparallel links55 pivotally connected to two lateral sides of thesliding block54. Thelinks55 each have one end respectively pivoted to the slidingblock54 and the other end respectively pivoted to the distal ends of thesecond segments42 of thecrank arms40. During rotary motion of theoutput shaft53 of themotor51, thesliding block54 is forced to move along theoutput shaft53, thereby causing thelinks55 to move thecrank arms40, and therefore therollers43 are moved forwards or backwards on the floor.
• Referring toFIGS. 3 and 4, when wishing to increase the angle of inclination of thetreadmill frame20, hold thehandle31 of thelock pin32 with the hand and then pull thelock pin32 outwards to unlock the front side of thetreadmill frame20 from thebase frame10, and then operate thecontrol panel13 to rotate theoutput shaft53 of themotor11 of thelifting mechanism50 clockwise (viewed from the front side of the treadmill frame20), causing theslide54 to move along theoutput shaft53 toward therear side22 of thetreadmill frame20. At this time, thelinks55 are forced to turn thecrank arms40 and to move therollers43 on the floor toward the front side, and therefore thetreadmill frame20 is turned about an axis passing through thefoot member26 to lift thefront side21 of thetreadmill frame20 from thebase frame10 and the locatingrods29 are moved upwards along the respective guidingslots16. When wishing to reduce the angle of inclination of thetreadmill frame20, operate the control panel138 to rotate theoutput shaft53 of themotor51 of thelifting mechanism50 in counter-clockwise direction, thereby causing the slidingblock54 to move along theoutput shaft53 toward thefront side21 of thetreadmill frame20. At this time, thelinks55 are forced to turn thecrank arms40 and to move therollers43 on the floor toward the rear side, and therefore thetreadmill frame20 is turned about an axis passing through thefoot member26 to lower thefront side21 of thetreadmill frame20 to thebase frame10 and the locatingrods29 are moved downwards along the respective guidingslots16.
• When wishing to receive thetreadmill frame20, move thetreadmill frame20 to horizontal according to the aforesaid angle of inclination adjustment procedure, and then push thelock pin32 toward the inside of thebase frame10 to lock thefront side21 of thetreadmill frame20 to thebase frame10, and then operate thecontrol panel13 to rotate theoutput shaft53 of themotor51 of thelifting mechanism50 in clockwise direction and to further move thesliding block54 along theoutput shaft53 toward therear side22 of thetreadmill frame20, thereby causing thelinks55 to pull thesecond segments42 of thecrank arms40. At this time, therollers43 are moved on the floor toward the front side, thereby causing thetreadmill frame20 to be turned about thelock pin32 and to lift therear side22 of thetreadmill frame20 from the floor, and therefore thetreadmill frame20 is received to the upright12 and held in the non-operative position. Because the slidingblock54 is coupled to theoutput shaft53 through screw joint, theoutput shaft53 can drive the slidingblock54 to move; however thesliding block54 cannot drive theoutput shaft53 to rotate. This one-way self-locking function prevents falling of thetreadmill frame20 accidentally during lifting or receiving operation.
• By means of the aforesaid design, the exercise treadmill can be electrically controlled to adjust the angle of inclination and automatically received in the non-operative position.
• Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.

Claims (5)

1. An exercise treadmill comprising:

a base frame for placing on a floor;

a treadmill frame having a front side detachably connected with said base frame, and a rear side;

a locking mechanism provided at a front side of said base frame for locking the front side of said treadmill frame to said base frame;

at least one crank arm pivoted to said treadmill frame, said crank arm having a sliding member for supporting on the floor; and

a lifting mechanism mounted in said treadmill frame, said lifting mechanism including a motor, and a transmission unit coupled between said motor and said crank arm for moving said sliding member of said crank arm on the floor upon operation of said motor to either force the front side of said treadmill frame to move vertically relative to said base frame while the front side of said treadmill is detached from the base frame or force the rear side of said treadmill frame to move vertically relative to said base frame while the front side of said treadmill is locked to the base frame by the locking mechanism.

2. The exercise treadmill as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said transmission unit comprises a sliding block coupled to said motor and forwardly backwardly movable by said motor in direction between the front side and rear side of treadmill frame, and at least one link pivotally coupled between said sliding block and said at least one crank arm.

3. The exercise treadmill as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said locking mechanism comprises a locating plate affixed to said base frame, said locating plate having a center insertion hole and at least one stop rod protruded from a side thereof, a lock pin inserted through the center insertion slot of said locating plate and movable between a first position where said lock pin is engaged into a part of the front side of said treadmill frame to lock the front side of said treadmill frame to said base frame and a second position where said lock pin is disengaged from the front side of said treadmill frame to unlock the front side of said treadmill frame from said base frame, said lock pin having a stop flange, which is moved through the center insertion hole of said locating plate when said lock pin is set in said first position, or stopped against said at least one stop rod to hold said lock pin in said second position after said lock pin has been disengaged from the front side of said treadmill frame and rotated relative to said locating plate through an angle.

4. The exercise treadmill as claimed inclaim 1, further comprising at least one torsional spring having a distal end connected to said crank arm and the other distal end connected to said treadmill frame.

5. The exercise treadmill as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said base frame comprises two upright sidewalls symmetrically disposed at two opposite lateral sides thereof, said upright sidewalls each having a vertically extended guiding slot and a sliding slot horizontally forwardly extended from a bottom end of said guiding slot; said treadmill frame comprises two locating rods respectively protruded from two opposite lateral sides thereof and respectively coupled to the guiding slots of said upright sidewalls and movable between the guiding slots and sliding slots of said upright sidewalls.

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