Abstract:
Fitness machines with attached machine parameter sensors send machine parameter data over a local area network to a computer where the sensed data is stored and processed. The processed data is made available to a user to show machine adjustments made in previous workouts, the number of repetitions made as well as other exercise or health related parameters. Other data which can be entered into the computer includes, for example, a user&#39;s body dimensions, if any soreness was felt during or immediately after a workout and data from body monitors worn during the workout to monitor, for example, heart rate. The computer can have data on different exercise regimes and application data for suggesting a workout regime for a particular user.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     This invention relates to fitness machines and, more specifically, to electronic data gathering and processing for fitness machines.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     Currently a minority of fitness machines being used provide exercise data that is available for use with a data processing machine such as a computer, and this data is limited to a few machine parameters of the fitness machines. Furthermore, this data is not stored and thus there are many machine parameters of fitness machines which are not readily available to a user, or, in the case of electronic based fitness machines, are only available until the workout is complete at which time the data is lost. A few basic machine parameter, for example, are the seat position adjustment, weight used, repetitions completed, or in the case of electronic based fitness equipment, distance traveled, calories burned, etc. Some other parameters associated with using fitness machines are a knowledge of what a user&#39;s fitness goals are (e.g., muscle tone, weight loss, stamina, a muscular body), the user&#39;s individual physical parameters (e.g., weight, muscle strength), historical workout data and data showing progress toward a user&#39;s goals.  
         [0005]     Therefore, it can be appreciated that system which facilitates using existing or new fitness machines used in conjunction with a computer system which stores these and other machine parameters of the fitness machine from previous workouts by a particular user, which has algorithms in the computer for generating an appropriate selection and use of fitness machines, which uses a local area network to couple the computer to the individual fitness machines and which makes available summaries of the machine parameters of the fitness machines at previous workouts so that progress towards selected fitness goals can be monitored locally or remotely is highly desirable.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     In one aspect the present invention generally provides a system for monitoring exercise which includes a fitness machine with a sensor mounted on the machine for sensing a machine parameter of the fitness machine. The sensed parameter is converted to digital data and passed over a local area network which receives and processes the digital data.  
         [0007]     In a further aspect the present invention generally provides a method for monitoring an exercise machine including converting a parameter of the machine into digital data and transferring the data over a local area network to a computer.  
       OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     It is, therefore, one of the primary objects of the present invention to store predetermined machine parameter data for a particular user on a computer associated with a fitness machine.  
         [0009]     Another object of the present invention is to provide algorithms stored in the computer for generating appropriate selection and use of fitness machines for a particular user.  
         [0010]     A further object of the present invention is to provide a local area network coupling the computer to the individual fitness machines.  
         [0011]     An even further object of the present invention is to make available summaries of the machine parameters at previous workouts so that progress towards selected fitness goals can be monitored.  
         [0012]     Still another object of the present invention is to provide to a user the ability to monitor certain body parameters during exercise such as heart rate and blood pressure. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0013]     The aforementioned and other features, characteristics, advantages, and the invention in general will be better understood from the following more detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.  
         [0014]      FIG. 1A  is a local area network diagram of the present invention suitable for use in a home environment;  
         [0015]      FIG. 1B  is a variation of the local area network diagram of  FIG. 1A ;  
         [0016]      FIG. 1C  is the local area network of  FIG. 1A  with the direct connections of the local area network replaced by wireless connections;  
         [0017]      FIG. 1D  is another variation of the local area network diagram of  FIG. 1A ;  
         [0018]      FIG. 2  is a is a local area network diagram of the present invention suitable for use in a health club environment;  
         [0019]      FIG. 3A  is a perspective view of a fitness machine that has sensors to provide information to the local area network of  FIGS. 1A, 1B ,  1 C,  1 D and  2 ;  
         [0020]      FIG. 3B  is a perspective view of a simplified version of the fitness machine of  FIG. 3A ;  
         [0021]      FIG. 3C  is a perspective view of a rower that provides information to the local area network of  FIGS. 1A, 1B ,  1 C,  1 D and  2 ;  
         [0022]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a position sensor that may be used in the present invention;  
         [0023]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a weight stack with weight position sensors that may be used with the present invention; and  
         [0024]      FIG. 6  is a large area network diagram showing connections between remote fitness machines and other computers using the present invention. 
     
    
       [0025]     It will be appreciated that for purposes of clarity and where deemed appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated in the figures to indicate corresponding features, and that the various elements in the drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale in order to better show the features of the invention.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0026]     Turning now to the drawings,  FIG. 1A  is a local area network diagram of an electronic data gathering and processing system of the present invention suitable for use with fitness machines, particularly in a home environment, generally designated as  10 . Fitness machines  12  and  14 , each having sensors  16  and  18 , respectively, can be of various types such as leg presses, stationary bicycles and leg extension machines. The fitness machines  12  and  14 , when originally manufactured, did not have data ports.  
         [0027]     A third fitness machine  22  has a data port  24 , which transfers data through a cable  26  to a data interface module  28  over a local area network which connects together the various blocks of  FIG. 1A . In  FIG. 1A  the data at the data port  24  does not have a format compatible with the computer interface module  20 . For example, the data format used in one embodiment of the present invention is the Ethernet format, and the data format of the fitness machine  22  in  FIG. 1A  is an incompatible format. The data interface module  28  converts the format of the data transferred through the data port  24  into a format compatible with the computer interface module  20  and, if the fitness machine  22  is configured to receive data, the data received from the computer interface module  20  is converted into the format of the fitness machine  22 . In addition to the data transferred through the data port  24 , additional sensors  30 , like sensors  16  and  18 , could be installed on the fitness machine  22 . The data transferred between the sensors  30  and the computer interface module  20  could be transferred between the data interface module  28  and the fitness machine  22  via a connection  32 , where the data transferred between the data port  24  is combined with the data transferred between the sensors  30  and the data interface module  28 . Alternatively, as shown in  FIG. 1B , data could be transferred directly between the sensor  30  and the computer interface module  20  on a cable  34 .  
         [0028]     Returning to  FIG. 1A , additional fitness machines, in additional to fitness machines  12 ,  14  and  22 , could be added as indicated by the down arrow in  FIG. 1A  each having a connection on one of the cables  36  to the computer interface module  20 .  
         [0029]     It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the sensors  16  and  18  can be added after the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) ships the fitness machine from its factory, and it is also within the scope of the present invention that all of the sensors described herein could be installed by the fitness machine OEM.  
         [0030]     Also shown in  FIG. 1A  is a body measurement device  38  for measuring physical parameters of a user which can be, for example, a scales, body dimension measurement tools or a device to determine the per cent body fat of a user. Sensors  40  associated with the body measurement device  38  capture this data and provides it to the computer interface module  20  through a direct connection cable  42 .  
         [0031]     In addition to the body measurement device  38 , there is also a body monitor  44  for monitoring certain body parameters when a user is exercising. Such body parameters could be, for example, heart rate and blood pressure. Sensors  46  associated with the body monitor  44  captures this data and provides it to the computer interface module  20  through a cable  48 . In another example, the body monitor  44  could consist of attachments for measuring the EKG of a user along with an adapter to transmit the EKG data to the computer  50  via the computer interface module  20 . Furthermore, the computer  50  could, in turn, pass such data in real time or at a later time to an automated EKG analysis system  186  (shown in  FIG. 6 ) located remote from the electronic data gathering and processing system  10 .  
         [0032]     The computer interface module  20  transfers data between itself and the individual fitness machines  12 ,  14  and  22 , the body measurement device  38  and the body monitor  44 . Cables  52 ,  54 ,  58 ,  42  and  48  connect fitness machines  12 ,  14  and  22 , the body measurement device  38 , and the body monitor  44 , respectively, to the computer interface module  20 .  
         [0033]     The computer interface module  20  is connected via a cable  58  to the computer  50  which, in turn, is connected to a printer  60 .  
         [0034]      FIG. 1C  uses a wireless connection instead of the direct connections of  FIG. 1A  in which antennas  62 , along with their respective transceivers, communicate with an antenna  64 , along with its respective transceiver, attached to the computer interface module  20 , and cables  34 ,  42 ,  48 ,  52 ,  54  and  56  are eliminated.  
         [0035]      FIG. 1D  is a modification of  FIG. 1A  in which the data connections from the sensors  16  and the data interface module  28  are routed to the sensors  18  instead of directly to the computer interface module  20  in order to minimize the cabling required for the wired connections to the fitness machines  12 ,  18  and  22 . Sensors  18  combine the data from sensors  16 , data interface module  28  and its own data to communicate this data to or from the computer interface module  20  on cable  54 . In a similar manner the data interface module  28  connects with the sensors from the additional fitness machines, with connections from each of the additional sensors connected in a daisy chain manner.  
         [0036]     In operation the sensors including sensors  16 ,  18  and  30  are usually attached to a fitness machine as described in more detail below. The data transferred to and/or from the sensors  16 ,  18  and  30  can be encoded using any of the well known communication protocols such as the Ethernet protocol.  
         [0037]     These signals are routed to and/or received from the computer interface module  20 , which multiplexes the signals (if, for example, two people are using fitness machines at the same time) and sends the multiplexed signal to the computer  50 .  
         [0038]     In the preferred embodiment of the invention the communication paths are all bidirectional for reasons discussed below. However, for less complicated systems, such as may be used in a home, one way communication paths may be appropriate which would lower the cost of the system  10 .  
         [0039]     The computer  50  stores the data it receives from the computer interface module  20  and from the keyboard of the computer  50  and runs various applications that manipulate the received data according to computer algorithms which may also use information from a source such as a remote processing center  186 . Such applications may simply store the data or may use more complicated applications such as the following:  
         [0040]     (1) Applications which provide a selection of training regimes for a user with information about each of the regimes;  
         [0041]     (2) Applications which provide daily workout exercises which vary so that the exercise session isn&#39;t routine, but which is selected to fit the needs of a particular user at a particular point in his or her training; and  
         [0042]     (3) Applications which provide instructions on the setup of the selected fitness machines by, for example, printing such instructions on the printer  60 .  
         [0043]      FIG. 2  is the electronic data gathering and processing system  10  of  FIG. 1A  which is modified for a health club, generally designated as  70 . In  FIG. 2  two computers are connected to the local area network, an administrator&#39;s computer  50  with the attached printer  60 , and a user&#39;s computer  72  connected to the computer interface module  20  through a data cable  74 . The fitness machines  12 ,  14  and  22  have attached to them card readers  76  for the users to identify themselves when they are using a particular machine. The body measurement device  38  and the body monitor  44  have card readers  78  and  79 , respectively, associated with them, and the two computers  50  and  72  have associated card readers  80  and  82 , respectively. In the preferred embodiment of the invention computer  50  can only be accessed by someone with a administrator&#39;s card, while computer  72  can be used by anyone with a user&#39;s card.  
         [0044]     The electronic data gathering and processing system  70  operates in the same manner as  FIG. 1A  except that the user of each of the fitness machines  12 ,  14  and  22  or the user of the body measurement device  38  is identified by the card readers  74  and  78 . In addition the users can manually enter data at the keyboard of the computer  72  after registering using the card reader  82 . The variations of  FIGS. 1B, 1C  and  1 D are also applicable to  FIG. 2 .  
         [0045]      FIG. 3A  is a perspective view of a leg press which includes sensors according to the present invention and can be one of the fitness machines of  FIGS. 1A, 1B ,  1 C,  1 D and  2 . The leg press  90  has a seat  92 , a foot plate  94 , a weight stack  96  and various pulleys and cables for connecting the foot plate  94  to the weight stack  96 . The leg press  90  also has an interactive display  98  consisting of a visual display  100  for receiving visual information from the computer  50 , a keypad  102  and a speaker  104 . The interactive display  98  also has a USB port  105  for receiving data from and/or sending data to a USB memory stick  107  that can be plugged into the port  105 . Below the interactive display  98  is a card reader  106  which has a LED  108  mounted on it. An adjustment position sensor  110  is connected to a support member  111  receiving a portion of the seat assembly, and a rotation sensor  112  for sensing the amount of rotation the foot plate  94  has with respect to the frame of the leg press  90 .  
         [0046]     In operation the interactive display  98  accepts information manually entered on the keypad  102  and provides information to the user on the display  100 . Information can also be communicated to the user using the speaker  104 . For example, the user could use the keypad  102  to ask the computer  50  and/or the USB memory stick  107  for certain information such as, for example, the machine parameters from the last workout (e.g., seat position, amount of weight, number of repetitions per set and the number of sets). The computer  50  or the USB memory stick  107  would then provide this information to the user via the display  100 . Also, the speaker  104  could provide beeps to provide a cadence for the user when exercising. Moreover, the computer  50  or the USB memory stick  107  could ask, using the display  100 , a series of questions which would be answered by the user using the keypad  102 , about the machine parameters not directly sensed in order to have a complete set of parameters available when the user again uses the leg press  90 . The display  98  could be used to show video of the proper settings and use of the leg press  90 .  
         [0047]     The card reader  106  would be used to identify the user with the LED  108  providing a confirmation that the user has been recognized. The adjustment position sensor  110  senses the seat adjustment position with regard to the foot plate  94  as described below in more detail with respect to  FIG. 5 .  
         [0048]     During the use of the machine the foot plate  94  moves back and forth and thereby changes the angle of the connecting member  114  with respect to the frame of the leg press  90 . This angle is measured with the rotation sensor  112  to thereby provide the motion of the foot plate  94  to the computer  50  during the workout to capture the range of motion and the time of each cycle of the foot plate  94 . The display  100  and/or the speaker  104  could provide feedback to the user during the exercise as to where to stop the foot plate  94  during the exertion phase, where to stop the foot plate  94  during the relaxation phase, to indicate to the user the cadence (the amount of time to spend on each of the exertion and relaxation phases) and the rest time between each set. Wires  116  provide power to the sensors and a cable for transferring data between the foot press  90  and the computer interface module  20 .  
         [0049]     The data sensed by the sensors, such as the rotation sensor  112 , during the workout could be stored directly in the memory stick  107 , or the memory stick  107  could be updated after the workout from the computer  50  using the USB port on the computer  50 .  
         [0050]      FIG. 3B  is a prospective view of an alternate leg press  117  that is a simplified version of  FIG. 3A . In one form of this simplified version only the card reader  106  would be used to identify a user. The LED  108  could be present to indicate to the user that the card has been read and that his or her identity has been confirmed. The user would manually adjust the leg press  117 , including the weights, and the computer  50  would receive and store the data from the sensors during the workout.  
         [0051]     Instead of the card reader  106 , the display  98  with the visual display  100  and keypad  102  could be used for registering the user using a password. In this embodiment the visual display  100  could be simply one or more LEDs to indicate to the user that his or her password has been accepted.  
         [0052]      FIG. 3C  is a perspective view of a rower  118  having a visual display  119  attached to the rower  118  at the factory. The information shown on the visual display  119  would be transmitted over the wire  121  to the computer  50  using either a modification to the visual display  119  to provide the data on the wire  121 , or using the data from the data port  24  on the visual display  119  installed by the manufacturer.  
         [0053]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a weight stack  120  and its supporting frame  122 , designated generally as  124 . The weight stack  120  consists of  14  separate weights, each having a hole there through  126  for connecting each weight to a central shaft  128  with a pin  130 . The central shaft  128  is attached to a cable  132  which is connected to a movable element in a fitness machine which is moved when the machine is being used. Guide rods  134  keep the weights in line. The elements described above with respect to  FIG. 4  are well known in the art. A plurality of bar codes  136 , two bar code readers  138  and  140 , an encoder box  142  and cables  144  are used in conjunction with the present invention.  
         [0054]     In operation the two bar code readers  138  and  140  read the bar codes  136  on the weights and provide this information through the encoder box  142  and out one of the cables  144  to the computer interface module  20  and then to the computer  50 , with the second cable used to provide power to the encoder box  142  and the bar code readers  138  and  140 . When some of the weights are moving up and down, the bar code readers  138  and  140  detect the bar code  136  on whatever weights are moving. This data is used in the computer  50  to determine how much weight has been selected by the user, and can also be used to detect the end points of the exertion phase and the relaxation phase and to detect the user&#39;s speed of motion.  
         [0055]     The bar code readers, such as the bar code readers  138  and  140  may vary in number and placement depending on the particular weight stack  120 . The number and placement of the bar code readers is chosen such that the bar code readers are able to detect which individual weights have been selected for an exercise. The top bar code reader is positioned to read the bar code of the top weight when the weight is at rest. The minimum amount of travel of the central shaft  128  needs to be determined based on the range of movement of the central shaft  128  during normal operation of the fitness machine using the weight stack  120 . After the minimum amount of travel has been determined, the placement of the next lower bar code reader is set by placing the bar code reader opposite the weight that is just below the weight that the top bar code reader reads when the central shaft  128  has moved the minimum amount of travel. In the same manner additional bar code readers are positioned until the bottom weight&#39;s bar code can be read when the central shaft  128  has moved the minimum distance.  
         [0056]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an adjustment device for adjusting the relative position of an inner rectangular box member  150  with respect to an outer rectangular box member  152 , together with a locking pin  154  and knob  156  and a bar card reader  158  for reading bar codes  160  and  162 , generally designated as  164 . A bar code reader module  166  is mounted at an acute angle with respect to the long axis of the inner and outer rectangular members  150  and  152 . The bar card reader module  166  projects a beam  168  onto the bar code  160  and detects the reflection from the bar code  160  to read the bar code  160 . As can be seen in  FIG. 5 a  series of holes  170  are present in the inner member  150  for locking the inner member  150  with respect to the outer member  152  using the pin  154 .  
         [0057]     In operation once the position of the inner member  150  is secured with respect to the outer member  152  and locked in place with the pin  154 , the bar code reader  158  reads the bar code  160  immediately under the adjustment hole  170  of the inner member  150  which holds the locking pin  156 . The bar code number is transferred over the local area network to the computer  50  where it is recorded as the particular adjustment position for a particular fitness machine for a particular user. The information is then made available to the user so that the same adjustment position can be used, if desired, the next time the user uses such fitness machine.  
         [0058]     A variation of the assembly  164  of  FIG. 5  would be to mount the bar code reader module  166  perpendicular to the long axis of the inner and outer members  150  and  152  provided that the inner member  150  is long enough for the required extra bar codes below the bottom hole of the adjustment holes  170  which would need to be placed at the same height intervals as the upper two bar codes  162 .  
         [0059]      FIG. 6  is a large area network diagram, generally designated as  180 , showing connections between remote fitness machines which are using the present invention. The diagram  180  shows a group of electronic data gathering and processing systems  182  which are connected to a switch or router  184  of a large area network. The large area network in the preferred embodiment of the invention is the internet with switch  184  representing a plurality of switches and/or routers. Each of the systems  182  can communicate to the other systems  182  through the large area network which includes the switch  184 . Using this large area networking a user in a remote health club could connect with his home health club and get information stored in the computer  50  at his home health club or at his or her home computer for use in the remote health club. A remote processing center  186  for performing complicated or proprietary processing of a user&#39;s data could also be connected to the large area network  182 . In addition a user&#39;s home computer  188  could be connected to the large area network  182  so that users could review their personal data at home, and could also peruse different types of training regimes away from the health club.  
         [0060]     With regard to the location and ownership of the software used in the present invention, a number of alternatives are available. For purposes of this analysis, the software will be considered to consist of three segments. The first segment is the software to transfer the data from the sensors, such as sensors  16  shown in  FIG. 1A  to the computer  50 . The second segment is the software to store the data. The third segment is software to arrange the data into a form convenient for a user to read, and optionally, to analyze the data and to provide to various training regimes for the user&#39;s selection. For the first two segments, the software resides in the home or health club facility and usually would be licensed for use in the home or health club facility. The third segment could also reside in the home or health club facility, or could reside in a remote location as shown in  FIG. 6 . Such a location could be a URL on the internet. The owner of the URL location could then develop the software and thereby own the software, or the software could be licensed to URL by a another company who would then own the software.  
         [0061]     Although the invention has been described in part by making detailed reference to a certain specific embodiment, such detail is intended to be, and will be understood to be, instructional rather than restrictive. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many variations may be made on the structure and mode of operation without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the teachings contained herein.