U.S. patent application number 10/206108 was filed with the patent office on 2003-02-13 for remote measuring device for an exercise machine with counterweights.
This patent application is currently assigned to Technogym S.p.A.. Invention is credited to Alessandri, Nerio, Zini, Roberto.
Application Number | 20030032529 10/206108 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 11439555 |
Filed Date | 2003-02-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030032529 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Alessandri, Nerio ; et
al. |
February 13, 2003 |
Remote measuring device for an exercise machine with
counterweights
Abstract
A device for measuring at least one current mechanical state
parameter of a mobile counterweight on an exercise machine with
counterweights, in which the counterweight comprises a plurality of
weights placed one on top of another, whose number can be selected
using a selection pin, which can be attached as required to one of
the weights, so as to define a counterweight with a predetermined
weight. The device comprises means for generating a signal that
indicates the instantaneous position of the pin relative to a
predetermined reference part and means for detecting the signal.
The generation means and the detector means are directly opposite
one another and separated by the distance which the signal covers
only once so that the length of the signal path is minimized.
Inventors: |
Alessandri, Nerio;
(Longiano, IT) ; Zini, Roberto; (Lugo,
IT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SQUIRE, SANDERS & DEMPSEY L.L.P.
14TH FLOOR
8000 TOWERS CRESCENT
TYSONS CORNER
VA
22182
US
|
Assignee: |
Technogym S.p.A.
|
Family ID: |
11439555 |
Appl. No.: |
10/206108 |
Filed: |
July 29, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
482/94 ;
482/8 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 24/00 20130101;
A63B 21/0628 20151001; A63B 21/063 20151001 |
Class at
Publication: |
482/94 ;
482/8 |
International
Class: |
A63B 071/00; A63B
021/06 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 8, 2001 |
IT |
BO2001A000510 |
Claims
What is claimed:
1) a device for measuring at least one current mechanical state
parameter of a mobile counterweight on an exercise machine with
counterweights; the counterweight comprising a plurality of weights
placed one on top of another, whose number can be selected using a
selection pin, which can be attached as required to one of the
weights, so as to define a counterweight with a predetermined
weight; the device comprising means for generating a signal that
indicates the instantaneous position of the pin relative to a
predetermined reference part; and means for detecting the signal;
and wherein the generation means and the detector means are
directly opposite one another, separated by a distance which the
signal covers only once so that the length of the signal path is
minimized.
2) The device according to claim 1, comprising remote control means
designed to enable the exchange of the signal between the
generation means and the detector means.
3) The device according to claim 2, wherein the remote control
means are designed to switch off the generation means after the
emission of the position signal.
4) The device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the remote control
means are designed to switch on the generation means.
5) The device according to claim 4, wherein the remote control
means are designed to switch also the detector means on and
off.
6) The device according to any of the claims from 1 to 5, wherein
the generation means are integral with the selection pin.
7) The device according to claim 6, wherein the reference part is
positioned below the selection pin, and is rigidly connected to an
apparatus which is fixed relative to a machine frame.
8) The device according to claim 6, wherein the reference part is
positioned above the selection pin, and is rigidly connected to a
given apparatus which is fixed relative to a machine frame.
9) The device according to at least one of the foregoing claims,
wherein the generation means are designed in such a way as to emit
pulsed signals activated and/or deactivated for predetermined
intervals.
10) The device according to at least one of the foregoing claims,
wherein the generation means comprise a signal transmitter which
emits the signals with predetermined characteristics, the detector
means comprising a receiver designed to receive the signals from
the transmitter.
11) The device according to claim 10, wherein each signal emitted
has wavelength and frequency in the ultrasonic spectrum.
12) The device according to claim 10, wherein each signal emitted
has wavelength and frequency in the radio wave spectrum.
13) The device according to claim 10, wherein each signal emitted
has wavelength and frequency in the light spectrum.
14) The device according to claim 10, wherein each signal emitted
has wavelength and frequency in the infrared spectrum.
15) The device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the fixed
apparatus is directly connected to the machine frame.
16) The device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the fixed
apparatus is independent of the exercise machine frame.
17) The device according to claim 11, further comprising a
calibration device for compensating variations in the speed of
propagation of the ultrasound waves due to external
interference.
18) The device according to any of the foregoing claims, in which
the exercise machine with counterweights comprises processing means
interfacing with the detector means, for receiving and processing
the signal so as to identify the instantaneous position of the pin,
the device further comprising a system for monitoring at least one
of the mechanical parameters of the pack of weights interfaced with
the processing means to supply data correlated to at least one of
the selection pin mechanical parameters.
19) A method for measuring at least one current mechanical state
parameter of a mobile counterweight on an exercise machine with
counterweights; the counterweight comprising a plurality of weights
placed one on top of another, whose number can be selected using a
selection pin, which can be attached as required to one of the
weights, so as to define a counterweight with a predetermined
weight; the method comprising a step of exchanging a signal between
the generation means and the detector means; the signal indicating
the instantaneous position of the pin relative to a predetermined
reference part; the generation means and detector means being
opposite one another and separated by a distance which the signal
they exchange covers only once so as to minimize the length of the
signal path.
20) The method according to claim 19, wherein the step of
exchanging a signal between generation means and detector means in
turn comprises the steps of: activating the signal generation
means, indicating the instantaneous position of the selection pin
relative to a predetermined reference part; activating the means
which detect the signals emitted by the generation means, located
in a fixed apparatus, remote from the generation means; and
identifying the current position of the selection pin, relative to
the reference part, according to the change in the distance between
the selection pin and the fixed apparatus, calculated with
reference to given signal propagation parameters between the
generation means and the detector means.
21) The method according to claim 20, wherein the aforementioned
steps are reiterated many times, at cyclical intervals, in a given
space of time.
22) The method according to claim 21, wherein the cyclical
intervals involve sequential repetition of the steps at least ten
times per second.
23) The method according to any of the foregoing claims from 20 to
22, wherein the instantaneous position of the selection pin is
indicated by ultrasound signals.
24) The method according to any of the foregoing claims from 20 to
22, wherein the instantaneous position of the selection pin is
indicated by light signals.
25) The method according to claim 24, wherein the light signals are
within the visible light spectrum.
26) The method according to claim 24, wherein the light signals are
within the infrared spectrum.
27) The method according to claim 23, further comprising a step of
calibrating the signal, compensating variations in the speed of
propagation of the ultrasound waves caused by external
interference.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to the sector of exercise
machines with counterweights, in which the counterweights consist
of a vertical stack of plates positioned one on top of another,
which the machine user can select as required, using a selection
pin and in proportion to the desired counterweight load.
[0002] The present invention relates in particular to a remote
measuring device, designed to measure several important parameters
relating to the mechanical state of the counterweight--such as the
static load applied and the intensity of the kinematic speed and
displacement parameters of the counterweights during the
exercise.
[0003] In the aforementioned sector of devices for the measurement
of parameters, devices are known which can substantially be classed
as electromechanical systems, and combined electromechanical and
optical systems.
[0004] The latter include in particular a device--described in
document BO2000A000389 in the name of the same Applicant--which, to
measure the aforementioned mechanical parameters, uses a laser unit
positioned in a fixed location relative to the machine and equipped
with: an emitter part; a laser beam receiver part; and a laser beam
reflector part attached to the counterweight plate selector means,
the reflector part being opposite and at a given distance from the
laser unit emitter part. Depending on the instantaneous position
assumed by the stack selector means, both in the weights static
selection condition, and relative to the movement of the
counterweight as a result of the exercise being performed, the
length of the flight path covered by the laser beam: between the
emitter part, the reflector part and the receiver part, is normally
variable relative to a reference distance predetermined according
to a given positional relationship initially predetermined for the
various device components.
[0005] The definition on each occasion of the difference between
the actual path of the laser beam and the reference path allows the
evaluation of: the number of plates selected, that is to say, the
load applied to the counterweight; the displacement of the selector
means relative to the reference position; and, by relating this
displacement to the time required to complete it, the speed of the
counterweight as the exercise is performed.
[0006] The aforementioned device provided completely satisfactory
practical results. However, some factors, including the high level
of power needed for device operation, the different resolution
obtainable for measuring the distance, with the various types of
lasers; and the high device production costs, prompted interest in
investigating measuring systems which, although based on the
time-of-flight of a signal, are alternatives to the laser.
[0007] Basically, a possible alternative system may be obtained
using ultrasound, that is to say, with a device which for a short
period of time sends a suitable ultrasonic frequency to a reflector
part attached to the selector means. Since the speed of sound in a
given means is known, a simple calculation including the interval
of time between the pulse sent and the echo returned gives an
evaluation of the distance between the device and the reflective
surface.
[0008] However, given the short distance to be traveled, whose size
varies in practice (approximately) from 20 cm to around 200 cm, and
given the presence of many mechanical devices normally located
close to or in the exercise machine's physical space, (for example:
the weight stack; the guard; various types of brackets and
supports, etc.) such a device has operating problems, since
reflected echoes which cannot be eliminated overlap with the signal
emitted by the emitter part, making the data associated with the
measurement of the signal which reaches the receiver part
unreliable, and so compromising the overall reliability of the
measuring device.
[0009] The aim of the present invention is, therefore, to overcome
such disadvantages using a device which activates the weight stack
plate selector means, that is to say, which allows the selector
means, with a suitable remote control, to autonomously generate an
ultrasonic signal which is then conveniently directed towards the
outside.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] Accordingly, the present invention achieves this result
using a detector device for at least one current mechanical state
parameter of a mobile counterweight on an exercise machine with
counterweights. The counterweight comprises a plurality of weights
placed one on top of another, whose number can be selected using a
selection pin, which can be attached as required to one of the
weights, so as to define a counterweight with a predetermined
weight. The device comprises means which generate a signal
indicating the instantaneous position of the pin relative to a
predetermined reference part; means which detect the signal. In the
device according to the invention, the generation and detector
means are directly opposite one another, separated by a distance
which the signal covers only once to minimize the length of its
path.
[0011] The present invention also relates to a measuring method,
which conforms to device operation.
[0012] The aforementioned device and method allow the important
result of making detection of the selection pin position
insensitive to the interference around the device, the machine as a
whole and/or its component parts.
[0013] Since the receiver means are directly opposite the generator
means, the first sign on the receiver means of the ultrasonic
signal emitted by the generator means, indicating that the signal
has covered the shortest flight path, that is to say, that the
distance between the generation and detector means has been covered
only once, is sufficient to determine the position of the selection
pin. Any echoes or signal distortion which follow do not disturb or
modify the measurement already taken in any way.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] The technical features of the present invention, in
accordance with the aforementioned aims, are set out in the claims
herein and the advantages more clearly illustrated in the detailed
description which follows, with reference to the accompanying
drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention
without limiting the scope of the inventive concept, and in
which:
[0015] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective assembly view of a
detector device applied to a generic exercise machine with
counterweights;
[0016] FIG. 2 illustrates the operating principle of the
device;
[0017] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the device; and
[0018] FIG. 4 is an example of a possible waveform of a signal
generated by the device.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0019] With reference to FIG. 1 in the accompanying drawings, the
numeral 1 denotes as a whole a device for measuring one or more
current mechanical state parameters of a counterweight 2 on an
exercise machine 3 with counterweights.
[0020] More specifically, the counterweight 2 of the exercise
machine 3 opposes the muscular force generated by the user during
the exercise and consists of a vertical stack of weights 4, whose
number may be selected on each occasion as required by the user,
relative to the exercise requirement and using customary selector
means, equipped with a selection pin 5 designed to allow the user
to set the number of weights 4 to be picked up from the top of the
stack and applied to the machine 3 as the resistant force.
[0021] The counterweight 2 mechanical parameters of practical
interest for machine 3 operation may be the most diverse. However,
some which deserve special mention are the total weight "P" of the
counterweight 2 applied to the machine 3 each time,--FIG. 2--and
the movement "s" and instantaneous speed "v" of the vertical stack
of weights 4 relative to a suitable, predetermined fixed reference
part 19.
[0022] Such mechanical parameters can advantageously be detected
with reference to the current position of the selection pin 5. For
this reason, the device 1 basically comprises:
[0023] a mobile element 6, attached to the selection pin 5 and
fitted with self-contained means 14 for generating a signal
indicating the instantaneous position of the selection pin 5
relative to the fixed reference part 19;
[0024] a fixed apparatus 8, remote from the mobile element 6, which
is in turn fitted with means 15 for detecting the signals from the
mobile element 6; and
[0025] processing means 16--preferably consisting of an electronic
control unit--interfacing with the detector means 15, which are
designed to process the data received in the form of the
aforementioned signals 18 so as to identify the instantaneous
position of the selection pin 5 relative to the reference part
19.
[0026] The generation means 14 are preferably designed to include
an ultrasonic transmitter 9 able to generate and emit to the fixed
apparatus 8 directly opposite, a pulsed ultrasonic signal 18 with
appropriate frequency, wavelength and duration "DT"--FIG.
4--following a remote activation command supplied from outside the
machine 3.
[0027] The command which activates the signal 18 generation means
14 is preferably provided by remote control means 17 (generic
remote control means of the type with--preferably--or without,
wires), operating at a distance from the generation means 14,
attached to a fixed apparatus 8 together with the detector means 15
and the processing means 16--FIG. 3. The remote control means 17
which issue the command that switches the mobile element 6
generation means 14 on and off are designed to also switch the
fixed apparatus 8 detector means 15 on and off. These means consist
of a suitable ultrasonic receiver 10.
[0028] The fixed apparatus 8 illustrated in FIG. 1 has a
self-contained structure independent of the exercise machine 3
structure 7. However, this does not restrict the scope of
application of the present invention, since, obviously the fixed
apparatus 8 may equivalently be attached to and/or built into the
exercise machine 3 structure 7.
[0029] The measuring device 1 may also incorporate a calibration
device 12 designed to compensate any variations in the speed of
propagation of the signal 18 ultrasound waves due to external
interference, caused for example by temperature changes. It also
has a monitoring system 13 for the mechanical parameters of the
stack of weights 4, detected and/or calculated.
[0030] In practice, the device 1 operates as follows: the remote
control means 17--for example a radio transmitter, or an optical
transmitter controlled by the machine control unit which controls
its operation--send an activation pulse 20 to the ultrasonic signal
18 generation means 14, fitted on the mobile element 6.
[0031] Simultaneously with the activation of the ultrasonic signal
generation means 14, the remote control means 17 enable the
detector means 15 to receive the ultrasonic signal 18 and enable
the processing means 16 to process the data relevant to the signal.
The flight time of the control pulse 20--however it is issued,
whether by radio wave or light pulse--is negligible, since the
distance between the generation means 14 and the signal 18 detector
means 15 is only covered once, and therefore, with the minimum
length of the total distance. Thus, it may be assumed that the
generation means 14 and the detector means 15 of the signal 18
generated by the generation means 14 are activated the moment the
pulse 20 is transmitted. At this point, the selection pin 5
transmits the ultrasonic signal 18 to the detector means 15. If the
speed of propagation of the ultrasound signals in the air is known,
the time which elapses between the pulse 20 being issued by the
control means and the ultrasonic signal 18 arriving at the detector
means 15 allows the calculation of a distance which is correlated
to the position of the selection pin 5 on the stack, that is to
say, to the number of weights selected, and that is, the weight "P"
selected. As the exercise is performed, the length of the
ultrasonic signal 18 path, that is to say, the distance between the
selection pin 5 and the detector means 15 is detected as often as
possible, being reiterated many times in the unit of time at
cyclical intervals, for example at least ten times per second. This
is done in order to achieve a suitable signal resolution for the
measurement or measurements during the exercise with the machine
moving.
[0032] The measuring device 1 therefore allows the expected results
to be achieved in a simple, reliable and relatively economical way,
without being affected by interference caused by reflection of the
ultrasonic waves by any obstacles constituted by the machine 3, its
component parts and/or other objects near the machine. These
reflections or interference, when the sound emission has been
switched off, are exhausted and only reproduced after renewed
activation, but always in such a way that they do not affect the
precision of the measurement. Although in the preferred embodiment
of the invention described above specific reference is made to the
use of ultrasonic signals 18, such an embodiment is provided by way
of example only. By operating in an equivalent way, different types
of signals 18 may be used, for example signals with a wavelength
within the range of frequencies and wavelengths typical of radio
waves; or light waves operating both in the visible light spectrum
and in the infrared electromagnetic radiation spectrum.
[0033] The invention described has evident industrial applications
and can be subject to modifications and variations without thereby
departing from the scope of the inventive concept. Moreover, all
the details of the invention may be substituted by technically
equivalent elements.
* * * * *