U.S. patent application number 11/822880 was filed with the patent office on 2009-01-15 for fitness equipment meter display storage.
Invention is credited to Chin-Yeh Hung.
Application Number | 20090017991 11/822880 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40253635 |
Filed Date | 2009-01-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090017991 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hung; Chin-Yeh |
January 15, 2009 |
Fitness equipment meter display storage
Abstract
A fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus includes a
fitness equipment body and a meter installed on a frame at the
front of the fitness equipment body and having a button/signal
input unit on a surface of the meter for transmitting a signal to
an internal microprocessor. The meter includes a microprocessor MCU
in the meter, a power supply unit for supplying required electric
power, an AV OUT control element connected to the microprocessor
for outputting the data of the microprocessor by audio and video
signals, and a large display device having an AV IN control element
connected to the AV OUT control element of the meter through an AV
signal line for displaying the exercise status of a user, such that
the user can know about the exercise volume and the whole
physiological condition while doing exercises, so as to make an
appropriate adjustment for the best exercise effect.
Inventors: |
Hung; Chin-Yeh; (Taoyuan
City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROSENBERG, KLEIN & LEE
3458 ELLICOTT CENTER DRIVE-SUITE 101
ELLICOTT CITY
MD
21043
US
|
Family ID: |
40253635 |
Appl. No.: |
11/822880 |
Filed: |
July 11, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
482/8 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 22/02 20130101;
A63B 71/0619 20130101; A63B 22/0605 20130101; G16H 20/30 20180101;
A63B 2220/836 20130101; A63B 2225/20 20130101; A63B 2230/06
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
482/8 |
International
Class: |
A63B 24/00 20060101
A63B024/00 |
Claims
1. A fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus, comprising:
a) a fitness equipment body; and b) a meter installed on a frame at
the front of the fitness equipment body and having a button/signal
input unit disposed on a surface of the meter for transmitting a
signal to an internal microprocessor; characterized in that the
meter comprises: i) a microprocessor MCU installed in the meter and
having a power supply unit for supplying required electric power;
ii) an AV OUT control element coupled to the microprocessor for
outputting the data of the microprocessor by audio and video
signals; and iii) a large display device having an AV IN control
element and coupled to the AV OUT control element of the meter by
an AV signal line for displaying the exercise status of a user.
2. The fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus as recited
in claim 1, wherein the meter further comprises a USB socket, for
plugging in a storage element having a USB interface.
3. The fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus as recited
in claim 2, wherein the portable storage element is one selected
from the collection of a flash disk and a MP3 disk.
4. The fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus as recited
in claim 1, wherein the microprocessor comprises a load control
device connected with the microprocessor in the fitness equipment
body for adjusting a predetermined exercise resistance.
5. The fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus as recited
in claim 1, wherein the frame of the fitness equipment body further
comprises a voltage detection unit for detecting a heartbeat, and
the voltage detection unit is connected to the microprocessor.
6. The fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus as recited
in claim 1, wherein the microprocessor further includes a wireless
receiving circuit connected to the microprocessor for receiving a
heartbeat frequency signal issued by a heartbeat detector worn/tied
on the user's hand/body.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a fitness equipment meter
apparatus, and more particularly to a meter apparatus having an AV
OUT component that works with any AV IN display device available in
the market for displaying exercise statuses, and the meter has a
USB socket for storing exercise data anywhere, analyzing the data
in a personal computer and communicating with a trainer via
network.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Since present fitness equipments such as treadmills and
fitness bikes are not restricted by outdoor environments and
exercisers can obtain the required exercise and fitness effect
through the fitness equipments, therefore these fitness equipments
become very popular.
[0005] The fitness equipment basically includes related electronic
control elements such as sensors for detecting exercise data of
speed, mileage and heartbeat, etc, inputting the data into a meter
10 and displaying the data on a small LCD panel 11 as shown in FIG.
1, so as to achieve the effect of displaying a user's exercise
volume and physical conditions.
[0006] Further, most present fitness equipments come with an
application of a magnetic control resistance load device which has
a function similar to a variable speed used for changing the
resistance for the jogging or stepping exercise to meet the
physical fitness of different users, so as to achieve the best
exercise status and display the resistance of the exercise on the
small LCD panel 11.
[0007] However, the size of the small LCD panel 11 on the meter 10
is very small, and users have to lower their head to view the meter
10 inconveniently during the exercise, and thus such fitness
equipment cannot be used for many other applications due to the
limitation of their display mechanism. Obviously, the poor display
mechanism of the prior art fitness equipment requires
improvements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] Therefore, it is a primary object of the invention to
provide a fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus, and
its meter has an AV OUT control element that can operate with any
large display having an AV IN display device, so that a user can
know about the exercise and the overall physiological condition
while doing exercises and make adjustments anytime to achieve the
best exercise effect.
[0009] Another objective of the present invention is to provide a
fitness equipment meter display storage apparatus, and its meter
has a USB socket for storing exercise data, carrying the exercise
data anywhere, analyzing the data in a personal computer, or
interacting with a trainer/doctor via a network, so as to perform a
complete analysis and evaluation to achieve the bidirectional
communication effect.
[0010] In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, a fitness
equipment meter display storage apparatus in accordance with the
invention includes:
[0011] a) a fitness equipment body; and
[0012] b) a meter installed on a frame at the front of the fitness
equipment body and having a button/signal input unit disposed on a
surface of the meter for transmitting a signal to an internal
microprocessor; characterized in that the meter comprises: [0013]
i) a microprocessor MCU installed in the meter and having a power
supply unit for supplying required electric power; [0014] ii) an AV
OUT control element coupled to the microprocessor for outputting
the data of the microprocessor by audio and video signals; and
[0015] iii) a large display device having an AV IN control element
and coupled to the AV OUT control element of the meter by an AV
signal line for displaying the exercise status of a user.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0016] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of using a prior art fitness
equipment;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of
the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a structure of a preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a main structure of a
preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an application of the present
invention; and
[0021] FIG. 6 is a schematic view of another application of the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0022] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4 for a meter display apparatus in
accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention,
the meter display apparatus comprises the following elements:
[0023] A fitness equipment body 20 includes but not limited to a
treadmill in this embodiment, but any other fitness equipment such
as a fitness bike is intended to be covered by the scope of the
present invention.
[0024] A meter 10 is installed on a frame 21 at the front of the
fitness equipment body 20, and a surface of the meter 10 has a
button/signal input unit 12 for setting a user's value and
transmitting different parameter signals to an internal
microprocessor 13. The meter 10 may or may not adopt a small LCD
panel 11 on the surface of the meter.
[0025] The microprocessor 13 as shown in FIG. 3 is installed in the
meter 10, and a power supply unit 14 is provided for supplying
required electric power. The power supply unit is composed of a
battery installed in the meter 10 or an external power going
through a voltage conversion.
[0026] An AV OUT control element 101 is connected to the
microprocessor 13 for outputting data of the microprocessor 13 by
audio and video signals.
[0027] A large display device 16 has an AV IN control element 161,
which is connected to the AV OUT control element 101 of the meter
10 through an AV signal line 15 and provided for displaying a
user's exercise status. The large display device 16 as shown in
FIG. 3 can be installed to a fixed object (not shown in the figure)
at an appropriate position of the front of the fitness equipment
body 20 or fixed the frame 21 by a fixing object (not shown in the
figure) to achieve the purpose of connecting with the meter 10.
[0028] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the meter 10 of the invention
further comprises a USB socket 17, for inserting and connecting a
portable storage element 30 having a USB interface. The portable
storage element 30 is composed of a flash disk or a MPEG Layer3
(MP3) disk.
[0029] In FIG. 3, the microprocessor 13 includes a load control
device 18 connected to the microprocessor 13 in a fitness equipment
body 20 for adjusting a predetermined exercise resistance, and the
load control device is comprised of a controller and a magnetic
control device, which are prior art and not thus will not be
described here.
[0030] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4 for the present invention, a
voltage detection unit 40 is installed at a frame of the fitness
equipment body 20 for detecting a heartbeat, and connected to the
microprocessor 13 in the meter 10, such that when a user hold the
voltage detection unit 40 by both hands, the user's blood
circulation will produce a voltage. If the heartbeat rate varies,
the voltage frequency will be different. Therefore, this principle
is applied for detecting a heartbeat when the user touches the
voltage detection unit 40 by both left and right hands. A signal is
transmitted to the microprocessor 13, and the microprocessor 13
converts the signal into a heartbeat/pulse chart and display the
heartbeat and pulse on the large display device 16, so that users
can know about the change of their heartbeat at a glance during
exercisers conveniently.
[0031] Further, the heartbeat detection mode can be set to wireless
transmission, so that a heartbeat detector 50 is worn at a user's
wrist or tied to a user's chest. When the heartbeat detection unit
51 detects a heartbeat frequency signal, a wireless transmission
circuit 52 sends out a signal, and a wireless receiving circuit 19
installed in the meter 10 transmits the received signal to the
processor 13, so that the user's heartbeat changing chart can be
displayed on the large display device 16, and users can know about
their exercise status synchronously.
[0032] With the aforementioned technical measures, the present
invention has the following effects and improvements.
[0033] 1. The invention installs the AV OUT control element 101
connected to the microprocessor 13 in the meter 10, and thus the
invention can be used with any display device having an AV IN
control element, such that users can know about the exercise volume
and the whole physiological condition while doing exercises, so as
to make an appropriate adjustment for the best exercise effect.
[0034] 2. The invention installs the USB socket 17 connected to the
microprocessor 13 on the meter 10, for facilitating an electric
connection to the portable storage element 30, and storing the data
temporarily stored in the microprocessor 13 into the portable
storage element 30. After the data is accumulated for a period of
time such as a week, a month or a year as shown in FIG. 5, and the
portable storage element 30 is connected to a personal computer 61,
an Auto Run program built in the portable storage element 30
displays all personal exercise conditions including heartbeat,
speed and exercise time for a period of time immediately on a
personal computer 61 to facilitate users to know their own
physiological condition. In FIG. 6, the collected user data is
transmitted automatically, logged on and linked to a platform
server 62 by a personal computer 61 and also linked to a service
provider server 63, such that a doctor/trainer at a remote site can
obtain the user's physiological information from the personal
computer 64 for periodic tracking and suggestions. In FIG. 6, the
doctor/trainer can send the analysis and evaluation and inform the
user through telephone or E-mail or upload the data to the service
provider server 63, and users can know about the doctor/trainer's
analysis reports or suggestions through the platform server 62 from
their personal computer 61 conveniently.
[0035] Many changes and modifications in the above-described
embodiments of the invention can, of course, be carried out without
departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the
progress in science and the useful arts, the invention is disclosed
and is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended
claims.
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