U.S. patent application number 13/302403 was filed with the patent office on 2013-05-23 for platform for supporting conveyor belt of treadmill.
The applicant listed for this patent is Terry Chen, Ren Chiu, Fong-chiao Chung, Kuang-Hua Hou, Chi-ming Liu, Hung Yang. Invention is credited to Terry Chen, Ren Chiu, Fong-chiao Chung, Kuang-Hua Hou, Chi-ming Liu, Hung Yang.
Application Number | 20130130869 13/302403 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 48427486 |
Filed Date | 2013-05-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130130869 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hou; Kuang-Hua ; et
al. |
May 23, 2013 |
PLATFORM FOR SUPPORTING CONVEYOR BELT OF TREADMILL
Abstract
A platform for supporting a conveyor belt of a treadmill
includes a wooden plate, a reinforcement plate above the wooden
plate, and a shock-absorbing plate sandwiched between the wooden
plate and the reinforcement plate. The shock-absorbing plate has a
surface facing the wooden plate base, and a plurality of cushions
protruding from the surface and stopping against the wooden plate
for providing good elastic support force and cushion effect.
Inventors: |
Hou; Kuang-Hua; (Taoyuan
County, TW) ; Yang; Hung; (Taipei City, TW) ;
Liu; Chi-ming; (Taipei City, TW) ; Chen; Terry;
(Taoyuan County, TW) ; Chiu; Ren; (New Taipei
City, TW) ; Chung; Fong-chiao; (Taoyuan County,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Hou; Kuang-Hua
Yang; Hung
Liu; Chi-ming
Chen; Terry
Chiu; Ren
Chung; Fong-chiao |
Taoyuan County
Taipei City
Taipei City
Taoyuan County
New Taipei City
Taoyuan County |
|
TW
TW
TW
TW
TW
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
48427486 |
Appl. No.: |
13/302403 |
Filed: |
November 22, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
482/54 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 2209/02 20130101;
A63B 22/0285 20130101; A63B 22/02 20130101; A63B 22/0214
20151001 |
Class at
Publication: |
482/54 |
International
Class: |
A63B 22/02 20060101
A63B022/02 |
Claims
1. A platform for supporting a conveyor belt of a treadmill, the
platform comprising: a wooden plate; a reinforcement plate above
the wooden plate; and a shock-absorbing plate sandwiched between
the wooden plate and the reinforcement plate and provided with a
surface facing the wooden plate base, and a plurality of cushions
protruding from the surface and stopping against the wooden
plate.
2. The platform as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cushions each
are an inverted truncated cone having a relatively wide top end
connected with the surface of the shock-absorbing plate, and a
relatively narrow bottom end stopped at the wooden plate.
3. The platform as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cushions are
spacedly arranged in a matrix in rows and columns.
4. The platform as claimed in claim 3, wherein an interval between
each two of the rows of the matrix is equal to an interval between
each two of the columns of the matrix.
5. The platform as claimed in clam 3, wherein each two of the rows
of the matrix have an equal interval and the columns that are
arranged at a front portion of the shock-absorbing plate have an
interval smaller than that of the columns that are arranged at a
rear portion of the shock-absorbing plate.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates generally to parts of a
treadmill, and more particularly, to a platform for supporting a
conveyor belt of the treadmill.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] A treadmill is an apparatus capable of simulating walking
and/or running for cardiorespiratory training. Generally, the
treadmill includes an endless wide conveyor belt for allowing a
person to do a running exercise while staying in one place. In
order to allow the belt to run continuously, the treadmill is
equipped with a platform for supporting the belt. Conventionally,
the platform has a wooden plate with a concavity recessed from a
top thereof, and a cushion plate disposed in the concavity of the
wooden plate for absorbing the impact force generated by runner's
steps. On the top of the wooden plate a reinforcement plate may be
mounted for enhancing the structural strength of the platform.
[0005] However, the aforesaid cushion plate used in the
conventional platform is usually a simple plate member provided
with no auxiliary cushion structure at its top and bottom surfaces.
This simple design of the cushion plate tends to make the
conventional platform have an insufficient elastic support force,
resulting in that the conventional platform for supporting the
conveyor belt of the treadmill can provide a limited cushion
effect.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The present invention has been accomplished in view of the
above-noted circumstances. It is therefore one objective of the
present invention to provide a platform for supporting a conveyor
belt of a treadmill, which can provide good elastic support force
and cushion effect.
[0007] To achieve the above-mentioned objective, the platform
provided by the present invention comprises a wooden plate, a
reinforcement plate above the wooden plate, and a shock-absorbing
plate sandwiched between the wooden plate and the reinforcement
plate. The shock-absorbing plate is provided with a surface facing
the wooden plate base, and a plurality of cushions protruding from
the surface and stopping against the wooden plate. By means of this
design, the platform can provide a good elastic support force to
the conveyor belt and a good cushion effect when it receives an
external force.
[0008] In the present invention, the cushions may be configured
having a shape like an inverted truncated cone having a relatively
wide top end connected with the surface of the shock-absorbing
plate and a relatively narrow bottom end stopped at the wooden
plate. Preferably, these cushions are spacedly arranged in a matrix
in rows and columns. More preferably, each two of the rows of the
matrix may have an equal interval and the interval between each two
of the columns may be the same or different.
[0009] Further scope of applicability of the present invention will
become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter.
However, it should be understood that the detailed description and
specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the
invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various
changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the
invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from
this detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The present invention will become more fully understood from
the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying
drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are
not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
[0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a platform according to a
preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0012] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the platform of FIG. 1;
[0013] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of
FIG. 1;
[0014] FIG. 4 is a bottom view of a shock-absorbing plate of the
platform of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
and
[0015] FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4, but showing an alternate form
of the shock-absorbing plate.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] As shown in FIG. 1, a platform 10, which is provided
according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention for
being used in a treadmill (not shown in the drawing) to support a
conveyor belt (not shown), comprises a wooden plate 20, a
reinforcement plate 30 and a shock-absorbing plate 40.
[0017] The reinforcement plate 30 is made of phenolic resin and
located above the wooden plate 20 for enhancing the structural
strength of the platform 10.
[0018] The shock-absorbing plate 40 is sandwichedly mounted between
the wooden plate 20 and the reinforcement plate 30 and has a top
surface that is remote from the wooden plate 20 attached with the
reinforcement plate 30, and a bottom surface that faces the wooden
plate 20. A plurality of cushions 42 integrally protrude from the
bottom surface of the shock-absorbing plate 40 and stop against the
wooden plate 20, as shown in FIG. 3. Each cushion 42 has a shape
like an inverted truncated cone with a relatively wide top end
connected with the bottom surface of the shock-absorbing plate 40
and a relatively narrow bottom end stopped at the wooden plate 20.
The cushions 42 are arranged in a matrix in rows and columns. As
shown in FIG. 4, in this preferred embodiment, the interval between
each two of the rows of the matrix is equal to the interval between
each two of the columns of the matrix.
[0019] By means of the matrix arrangement of the truncated
cone-shaped cushions 42, the platform 40 of the present invention
can provide a good elastic support force to the conveyor belt of
the treadmill. Once the runner treads on the conveyor belt
supported by the platform 10 of the present invention, the cushions
42 corresponding in location to the runner's step will compliably
and compressedly deform subject to the magnitude of the stepping
force so as to provide the runner a good cushion effect. On the
other hand, the arrangement of the cushion 42 may vary. For
example, as shown in FIG. 5, each two of the rows of the matrix
have an equal interval and the columns that are arranged at a front
portion of the shock-absorbing plate 40 have an interval smaller
than that of the columns that are arranged at a rear portion of the
shock-absorbing plate 40. In other word, the cushions 42 are
arranged more crowded at the front portion of the shock-absorbing
plate 40 than the rear portion of the shock-absorbing plate 40,
such that the platform 10 can provide a relatively hard cushion at
its front portion and a relatively soft cushion at its rear
portion. As a result, the platform 10 of the present invention will
have different softness at different portions thereof so as to
provide a cushion effect suitable for the runner running on the
treadmill simulating a real running on the ground.
[0020] The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that
the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be
regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention,
and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in
the art are intended to be included within the scope of the
following claims.
* * * * *