U.S. patent application number 15/334373 was filed with the patent office on 2018-04-26 for tread base for treadmill.
The applicant listed for this patent is Yin-Hsuan Lee. Invention is credited to Yin-Hsuan Lee.
Application Number | 20180111018 15/334373 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 61971681 |
Filed Date | 2018-04-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180111018 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lee; Yin-Hsuan |
April 26, 2018 |
Tread Base for Treadmill
Abstract
A tread base includes a tread base frame unit with front and
rear belt wheel sets arranged at opposing front and rear sides
thereof, and an endless running belt mounted around the front and
rear belt wheel sets and having slats transversely arranged on the
outer perimeter thereof in a parallel manner. The running belt
includes a plurality of movable sliding rollers respectively
mounted at the opposing left and right ends of the slats. The tread
base frame unit includes two smoothly arched sliding tracks
longitudinally arranged in parallel for supporting and guiding the
movable sliding rollers of the running belt to enhance the moving
stability of the running belt, preventing breaking of the slats of
the running belt, avoiding danger and prolonging the lifespan of
the tread base.
Inventors: |
Lee; Yin-Hsuan; (I-Lan Shih,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Lee; Yin-Hsuan |
I-Lan Shih |
|
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
61971681 |
Appl. No.: |
15/334373 |
Filed: |
October 26, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 22/0285 20130101;
A63B 22/02 20130101; A63B 2022/206 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A63B 22/02 20060101
A63B022/02 |
Claims
1. A tread base for treadmill, comprising: a tread base frame unit
comprising a main tread base frame for holding a front belt wheel
set and a rear belt wheel set respectively at opposing front and
rear sides thereof, and a left bracket and a right bracket
respectively affixed to opposing left and right sides of said main
tread base frame; a front belt wheel set comprising a front wheel
axle transversely pivotally mounted in the front side of said main
tread base frame and two front belt wheels respectively mounted at
opposing left and right ends of said front wheel axle; a rear belt
wheel set comprising a rear wheel axle transversely pivotally
mounted in the rear side of said main tread base frame and two rear
belt wheels respectively mounted at opposing left and right ends of
said rear wheel axle; a running belt comprising an endless wide
band belt mounted around the opposing front and rear sides of said
main tread base frame, a plurality of slats respectively fixedly
arranged around an outer perimeter of said endless wide band belt
in a parallel manner at a predetermined pitch, and two endless
narrow band belts respectively fixedly fastened to an inner
perimeter of said endless wide band belt at opposing left and right
sides and respectively coupled to the respective said belt wheels
of said front belt wheel set and said rear belt wheel sets;
wherein: said running belt further comprises at least one movable
sliding roller mounted at each of opposing left and right ends of
each said slat; said main tread base frame of said tread base frame
unit comprises two sliding tracks longitudinally arranged in
parallel for supporting and guiding said movable sliding rollers of
said running belt.
2. The tread base for treadmill as claimed in claim 1, wherein each
said sliding track has two opposite ends thereof smoothly
downwardly curving toward a middle point thereof to exhibit a
smoothly arched profile.
3. The tread base for treadmill as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
running belt further comprises a plurality of pivot blocks
respectively mounted at the respective opposing left and right ends
of said slats to support the respective said movable sliding
rollers.
4. A tread base for treadmill, comprising: a tread base frame unit
having a front side and a rear side opposite to said front side; a
front belt wheel set comprising a front wheel axle transversely
pivotally mounted in the front side of said main tread base frame
and two front belt wheels respectively mounted at opposing left and
right ends of said front wheel axle; a rear belt wheel set
comprising a rear wheel axle transversely pivotally mounted in the
rear side of said main tread base frame and two rear belt wheels
respectively mounted at opposing left and right ends of said rear
wheel axle; a running belt comprising an endless wide band belt
mounted around the opposing front and rear sides of said main tread
base frame, a plurality of slats respectively fixedly arranged
around an outer perimeter of said endless wide band belt in a
parallel manner at a predetermined pitch, and two endless narrow
band belts respectively fixedly fastened to an inner perimeter of
said endless wide band belt at opposing left and right sides and
respectively coupled to the respective said belt wheels of said
front belt wheel set and said rear belt wheel sets; wherein: said
running belt further comprises at least one movable sliding roller
mounted at each of opposing left and right ends of each said slat;
said tread base frame unit comprises two sliding tracks
longitudinally arranged in parallel for supporting and guiding said
movable sliding rollers of said running belt.
5. The tread base for treadmill as claimed in claim 4, wherein each
said sliding track has two opposite ends thereof smoothly
downwardly curving toward a middle point thereof to exhibit a
smoothly arched profile.
6. The tread base for treadmill as claimed in claim 4, wherein said
running belt further comprises a plurality of pivot blocks
respectively mounted at the respective opposing left and right ends
of said slats to support the respective said movable sliding
rollers.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
[0001] The present invention relates to treadmill technology and
more particularly, to a tread base for treadmill, which has two
sliding tracks arranged on a tread base frame unit for supporting
and guiding the movement of a movable sliding roller-equipped
running belt to enhance the moving stability of the running belt,
preventing breaking of slat components of the running belt and
prolonging the lifespan of the tread base.
2. Description of the Related Art
[0002] US2012/0010053A1 discloses a manually operated treadmill,
which includes a treadmill frame having a front end and a rear end
opposite the front end, a front shaft rotatably coupled to the
treadmill frame at the front end, a rear shaft rotatably coupled to
the treadmill frame at the rear end, and a running belt including a
curved running surface upon which a user of the treadmill may run.
The running belt is disposed about the front and rear shafts such
that force generated by the user causes rotation of the front shaft
and the rear shaft and also causes the running surface of the
running belt to move from the front shaft toward the rear shaft.
The treadmill is configured to control the speed of the running
belt to facilitate the maintenance of the contour of the curved
running surface.
[0003] However, this design of treadmill is still not satisfactory
in function and has drawbacks as follows:
[0004] 1. The running belt is comprised of a plurality of slat
components; when the user is running on the running belt, the left
and right bearing support frames supports the opposing left and
right sides of the running belt, however, a large part of each slat
component is suspended in the open air without support, and thus,
the slat components can break easily upon a heavy impact force,
causing accidents.
[0005] 2. The bearings (non-sliding rollers) at the opposing left
and right sides of the tread base frame unit are rotatable but not
movable with the running belt, unable to enhance the moving
smoothness of the running belt.
[0006] 3. The left and right bearing support frames must be
precisely processed to provide precision bearing holes for the
mounting of respective bearings; if the machining tolerances of the
bearing holes are slightly different, the sliding smoothness of the
running belt can be reduced, leading to a defective product; the
machining of the bearing holes and the installation of the bearings
are complicated and need much labor and time, greatly increasing
the manufacturing cost of the treadmill.
[0007] Further, the technique of using a conveyor belt to mate with
belt wheels in a treadmill for enabling a runner to experience
bumps and depressions when running is the known prior art
technique. U.S. Pat. No. 1,211,765, U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,337, U.S.
Pat. No. 5,470,293 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,598 disclose similar
technical contents.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention has been accomplished under the
circumstances in view. It is therefore the main object of the
present invention to provide a tread base for treadmill, which has
sliding tracks arranged on the tread base frame unit for supporting
and guiding the movement of the movable sliding rollers of the
running belt, enhancing the moving stability of the running
belt.
[0009] It is another object of the present invention to provide a
tread base for treadmill, which has sliding tracks arranged on the
tread base frame unit for supporting and guiding the movement of
the movable sliding rollers of the running belt, so that the impact
force produced during running of the user on the running belt can
be distributed through the movable sliding rollers of the running
belt to the sliding tracks of the tread base frame unit, preventing
breaking of the slats of the running belt, avoiding danger and
prolonging the lifespan of the tread base.
[0010] It is still another object of the present invention to
provide a tread base for treadmill, which facilitates the
fabrication and installation of the movable sliding rollers and the
sliding tracks without tedious precision dimensional tolerance
proofreading works, saving much fabrication and installation labor
and time and lowering the manufacturing cost.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0011] FIG. 1 is an oblique elevational view of a running belt of a
tread base for treadmill in accordance with the present
invention.
[0012] FIG. 2 is a side plain view of the running belt shown in
FIG. 1.
[0013] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the tread base frame unit and
running belt of the tread base in accordance with the present
invention.
[0014] FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the present invention,
illustrating the tread base frame unit assembled with the front and
bear belt wheel sets before mounting of the running belt.
[0015] FIG. 5 is an oblique elevational view of the tread base in
accordance with the present invention.
[0016] FIG. 6 is a side plain view of the present invention,
illustrating the running belt mounted around the main tread base
frame of the tread base frame unit.
[0017] FIG. 7 is a schematic drawing of the present invention,
illustrating the relationship between one slat and the respective
movable sliding rollers in the respective sliding tracks.
[0018] FIG. 8 is a sectional end view of FIG. 7.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0019] Referring to FIGS. 1-8, a tread base for treadmill in
accordance with the present invention is shown. The tread base
comprises:
[0020] a tread base frame unit 1, comprising a main tread base
frame 10 (see FIG. 3 and FIG. 4) for holding a front belt wheel set
2 and a rear belt wheel set 3 respectively at opposing front and
rear sides thereof, a left bracket 12 and a right bracket 13
respectively affixed to opposing left and right sides of the main
tread base frame 10 with fastening means or by welding;
[0021] a front belt wheel set 2 comprising a front wheel axle 21
(see FIG. 3 and FIG. 4) transversely pivotally mounted in the front
side of the main tread base frame 10 and two front belt wheels 22
respectively mounted at opposing left and right ends of the front
wheel axle 21;
[0022] a rear belt wheel set 3 comprising a rear wheel axle 31 (see
FIG. 3 and FIG. 4) transversely pivotally mounted in the rear side
of the main tread base frame 10 and two rear belt wheels 32
respectively mounted at opposing left and right ends of the rear
wheel axle 31;
[0023] a running belt 4 see FIGS. 1-4) comprising an endless wide
band belt 41 mounted around the opposing front and rear sides of
the main tread base frame 10, a plurality of slats 42 respectively
fixedly arranged around an outer perimeter of the endless wide band
belt 41 in a parallel manner at a predetermined pitch, and two
endless narrow band belts 43 respectively fixedly fastened to an
inner perimeter of the endless wide band belt 41 at opposing left
and right sides and respectively coupled to the respective belt
wheels 22,32 of the front and rear belt wheel sets 2,3 so that when
a user runs on the slats 42 of the running belt 4, the endless wide
band belt 41 and the endless narrow band belts 43 are forced to
move and to rotate the belt wheels 22,32 of the front, rear belt
wheel sets 2,3;
[0024] wherein:
[0025] the running belt 4 further comprises at least one movable
sliding roller 44 mounted at each of opposing left and right ends
of each slat 42 (see FIGS. 1-4 and FIG. 6);
[0026] the main tread base frame 10 of the tread base frame unit 1
comprises two sliding tracks 11 longitudinally arranged in parallel
(see FIGS. 3-4 and FIGS. 7-8) with respective two opposite ends 112
thereof smoothly downwardly curving toward a respective lowest
middle point 111 to exhibit a smoothly arched profile for
supporting and guiding the movable sliding rollers 44 of the
running belt 4 to enhance running stability.
[0027] Preferably, the running belt 4 further comprises a plurality
of pivot blocks 45 respectively mounted at the opposing left and
right ends of the slats 42 to support the respective movable
sliding rollers 44.
[0028] Thus, when a user runs on the slats 42 of the running belt 4
to move the endless wide band belt 41 and the endless narrow band
belts 43 and to rotate the belt wheels 22,32 of the front, rear
belt wheel sets 2,3, the movable sliding rollers 44 are rotated
along the respective sliding track 11 of the tread base frame unit
1, enhancing the stability of the movement of the running belt 4.
At the same time, the impact force produced during running of the
user is distributed through the movable sliding rollers 44 of the
running belt 4 to the sliding tracks 11 of the tread base frame
unit 1, preventing breaking of the slats 42 of the running belt 4,
avoiding danger and prolonging the lifespan of the tread base.
Further, the fabrication and installation of the movable sliding
rollers 44 and the sliding tracks 11 are simple and convenient
without tedious precision dimensional tolerance proofreading works,
saving much fabrication and installation labor and time and
lowering the manufacturing cost.
[0029] In general, the invention achieves the effects as
follows:
[0030] 1. The sliding tracks 11 are smoothly arched to support and
guide the movable sliding rollers 44 during movement of the running
belt 4, enhancing the moving stability of the running belt 4.
[0031] 2. The impact force produced during running of the user can
be distributed through the movable sliding rollers 44 of the
running belt 4 to the sliding tracks 11 of the tread base frame
unit 1, preventing breaking of the slats 42 of the running belt 4,
avoiding danger and prolonging the lifespan of the tread base,
further, the fabrication and installation of the movable sliding
rollers 44 and the sliding tracks 11 are simple and convenient
without tedious precision dimensional tolerance proofreading works,
saving much fabrication and installation labor and time and
lowering the manufacturing cost.
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