U.S. patent application number 11/900042 was filed with the patent office on 2009-03-12 for folding mechanism of a treadmill.
Invention is credited to Leao Wang.
Application Number | 20090069159 11/900042 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40432490 |
Filed Date | 2009-03-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090069159 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wang; Leao |
March 12, 2009 |
Folding mechanism of a treadmill
Abstract
A folding mechanism of a treadmill having a slide pusher at the
bottom of a platform frame thereof. By use of a pneumatic cylinder,
the platform frame may push the rear support in an opposing
direction to keep a ground-touching slide action when the platform
frame is moved upward and downward. In this way, an effective,
strong, and auxiliary support force is created until the platform
frame is moved in a vertical storage position or in a horizontal
operation position.
Inventors: |
Wang; Leao; (Taiping,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
KUO-HSIUNG CHIU
13F., NO.23, JIUN-HO STREET, PEITUN DISTRICT
TAICHUNG
406
TW
|
Family ID: |
40432490 |
Appl. No.: |
11/900042 |
Filed: |
September 10, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
482/54 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 22/0235 20130101;
A63B 22/0023 20130101; A63B 2210/50 20130101; A63B 22/02
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
482/54 |
International
Class: |
A63B 22/02 20060101
A63B022/02 |
Claims
1. A folding mechanism of a treadmill having a platform frame with
a transmission motor at one side thereof for driving a continuous
moving belt into rotation by use of a transmission belt, a front
roller, and a rear roller, a lifting motor being employed to move
an adjusting support upward and downward for adjusting the
supporting angle of the platform frame, two connection pins being
disposed at both sides of the platform frame, respectively, for
pivotally coupling a handrail assembly and a rear support,
respectively, wherein a slide rail, on which a slipper moves, is
interposed between a first and a second strengthening bar; wherein
a slide pusher is pivotally attached to the bottom of the slipper
while the other end of the slide pusher is pivotally connected to
the rear support; and wherein a pneumatic cylinder is pivotally
coupled to the bottom of a third strengthening bar of the platform
frame while the other end of the pneumatic cylinder is pivotally
attached to a central crossbar of the slide pusher.
2. A folding mechanism of a treadmill having a platform frame with
a transmission motor at one side thereof for driving a continuous
moving belt into rotation by use of a transmission belt, a front
roller, and a rear roller, a lifting motor being employed to move
an adjusting support upward and downward for adjusting the
supporting angle of the platform frame, two connection pins being
disposed at both sides of the platform frame, respectively, for
pivotally coupling a handrail assembly and a rear support,
respectively, wherein a slide rail, on which a slipper moves, is
interposed between a first and a second strengthening bar; wherein
a slide pusher is pivotally attached to the bottom of the slipper
while the other end of the slide pusher is pivotally connected to
the rear support; and wherein a pneumatic cylinder is pivotally
coupled to the bottom of a third strengthening bar of the platform
frame while the other end of the pneumatic cylinder is pivotally
attached to the rear end of the slide pusher.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Fields of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates to a folding mechanism of a treadmill,
and more particularly, to a folding mechanism utilizing a pneumatic
cylinder and a slide pusher to provide an excellent auxiliary
supporting force.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] As well-known, the treadmill has a large volume and a great
weight. It is therefore common to provide the platform frame of the
treadmill with a fold-up function for facilitating the
transportation and the storage. In view of the basic accessories of
the treadmill, the fold-up mechanism can be divided into an
electric and a manual folding configuration. The invention is
intended for the manual folding configuration.
[0005] In fact, the conventional treadmills are not able to provide
an excellent auxiliary supporting force for helping the operator to
complete the fold-up or fold-down process when the platform frame
is moved either in a storage position or in an operation position.
Thus, the women often regard the fold-up or fold-down process of
the treadmill as an impossible mission because any careless action
would cause injuries to the body.
[0006] The worry about the above-mentioned operation of the
treadmill can be attributed to the improper or insufficient design
of the treadmill in addition to the bulky platform frame. This is
the key point of the problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] It is a primary object of the invention to eliminate the
above-mentioned drawbacks and to provide a folding mechanism of a
treadmill that employs a pneumatic cylinder and a slide pusher to
provide an effective and auxiliary supporting force when the
platform frame is moved in a vertical position or in a horizontal
position.
[0008] According to the invention, a folding mechanism of a
treadmill includes a slide pusher at the bottom of a platform frame
thereof. By use of a pneumatic cylinder, the platform frame may
push the rear support in an opposing direction to keep a
ground-touching slide action at all times. In this way, an
effective, strong, and auxiliary support force is created when the
platform frame is moved in a vertical storage position or in a
horizontal operation position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The accomplishment of this and other objects of the
invention will become apparent from the following description and
its accompanying drawings of which:
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of
the invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 1 with the treadmill's
platform lifted in an inclined position;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a side view of FIG. 1 with the treadmill's
platform lifted in a storage position; and
[0014] FIG. 5 is a side view of a second embodiment of the
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0015] The present invention will now be described in more detail
hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings that show
various embodiments of the invention.
[0016] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a platform frame 10 includes a
transmission motor 11 at one side thereof for driving a continuous
moving belt (not shown) into rotation by use of a transmission belt
12, a front roller 13, and a rear roller 14. Meanwhile, a lifting
motor 15 is employed to move an adjusting support 16 upward and
downward for adjusting the supporting angle of the platform frame
10. Moreover, two connection pins 17, 18 are disposed at both sides
of the platform frame 10, respectively, for pivotally coupling a
handrail assembly 19 and a rear support 20, respectively.
[0017] A slide rail 22, on which a slipper 21 moves, is interposed
between a first and a second strengthening bar 101, 102. A slide
pusher 23 is pivotally attached to the bottom of the slipper 21.
The other end of the slide pusher 23 is pivotally connected to the
rear support 20. Besides, a pneumatic cylinder 24 is pivotally
coupled to the bottom of a third strengthening bar 103 of the
platform frame 10. Meanwhile, the other end of the pneumatic
cylinder 24 is pivotally attached to a central crossbar 231 of the
slide pusher 23.
[0018] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the pneumatic cylinder 24 is
brought into a compressed state by the weight of the platform frame
10 when the platform frame 10 is moved in a horizontal operation
position. The pneumatic cylinder 24 provides an auxiliary
supporting force to push the slide pusher 23 toward the front end
of the platform frame 10 when the operator lifts the rear end of
the platform frame 10. In this way, the rear support 20 may be also
pushed toward the front end of the platform frame 10 for a
ground-touching rotation until the platform frame 10 is moved in a
vertical storage position. Accordingly, the platform frame 10 may
be stably supported by means of ground-touching feet 25 at the
frontmost end of the platform frame 10 and guide wheels 201 at the
rear end of the rear support 20 that are brought into contact with
the ground.
[0019] Likewise, the guide wheels 201 of the rear support 20 are
also brought into a ground-touching rotation under the influence of
the shock mitigation provided by the pneumatic cylinder 24 when the
platform frame 10 is compressed downward until the platform frame
10 is moved in a horizontal position. Accordingly, a stable and
effort-saving effect is achieved.
[0020] As shown in FIG. 5, the pneumatic cylinder 24 according to
the invention can be pivotally attached to the rear end of the
slide pusher 23. This may achieve the same effect.
[0021] 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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