Abstract:
A microprocessor based exercise treadmill control system is disclosed which includes various features to enhance user operation. These features include programs operative to: permit a set of user controls to cause the treadmill to initially operate at predetermined speeds; permit the user to design custom workouts; permit the user to switch between workout programs while the treadmill is in operation; and perform an automatic cooldown program where the duration of the cooldown is a function of the duration of the workout or the user&#39;s heart rate. The features also include a stop program responsive to a detector for automatically stopping the treadmill when a user is no longer on the treadmill and a frame tag module attached to the treadmill frame having a non-volatile memory for storing treadmill configuration, and operational and maintenance data.

Description:
This application claims benefit of Prov. Nos. 60/152,657 filed Sep. 7,1999 and 60/159,268 filed Oct. 13,1999. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention generally relates to exercise equipment and in particular to exercise treadmills having control systems utilizing microprocessors. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Exercise treadmills are widely used for performing walking or running aerobic-type exercise while the user remains in a relatively stationary position. In addition exercise treadmills are used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Generally, for all of these purposes, the person on the treadmill performs an exercise routine at a relatively steady and continuous level of physical activity. One example of such a treadmill is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,897. 
     Although exercise treadmills that operate using a microprocessor based control system have reached a relatively high state of development, there are a number of significant improvements in the program software that can improve the user&#39;s exercise experience. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an exercise treadmill having improved user programs. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide a treadmill having a control panel that includes a standard set of user controls with a second set of quick start user controls that permits the user to select certain predetermined treadmill operating parameters such as speed to initiate a workout or to change to one of the predetermined speeds during a workout. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a treadmill having a control panel that includes user controls that permit the user to program custom user workouts which have certain operating parameters such as speed and inclination where the custom workouts have greater flexibility than the standard workouts normally programed in a treadmill. 
     An additional object of the invention is to permit the user to switch programs while the treadmill is operating by merely pressing a particular program button without having to stop the treadmill and start a new program. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic cooldown feature that automatically begins upon conclusion of the user&#39;s workout where the duration of the cooldown is determined by the length of time of the user&#39;s workout and where the treadmill includes a heart rate management system, the cooldown can be terminated by the user&#39;s heart rate reaching 60% of maximal. 
     Another object of the invention is to increase the frequency of display information on the user display that is relevant to the manner in which the treadmill is being used and to decrease the frequency of the display information that is not relevant. 
     A still further object of the invention is to provide a user detect feature that can use a detector such as an IR receiver/transmitter to stop the operation of the treadmill in order to overcome the problem of users leaving treadmills before the end of their programs which can result in treadmills continuing to run for a period of time. 
     Yet an additional object of the invention is to provide a frame tag module secured to the frame of the treadmill and that includes a nonvolatile electrically erasable programmable memory chip and a real time clock. 
     It is also an object of the invention to provide a treadmill with a quick start feature. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG.  1 . is a perspective view of an assembled exercise treadmill according to the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the control system for the treadmill of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a plan view quick start/quick speed control including a set of user switches for a quick start feature for use with the control system of FIG. 1; 
     FIGS. 4 and 5 are flow charts illustrating the operation of the quick start/quick speed control of FIG. 3; 
     FIGS. 6 and 7 are flow charts illustrating the operation of a custom workout feature for use with the control system of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the control system of FIG. 2 to implement a feature whereby the user can select a new workout program while the treadmill of FIG. 1 is operating in another workout program; 
     FIGS.  9  and  10 A-B are flow charts illustrating the operation of an automatic cooldown feature for use with the control system of FIG. 2; and 
     FIGS. 11 and 12 are flow charts of a user detect feature for use with the treadmill with the control system of FIG.  2 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 1 shows the general outer configuration of an exercise treadmill  10 , according to the invention. The treadmill includes a control panel  12  having a set of displays  14 ; a set of workout program control buttons  16 ; a set of operational controls  18 - 22  including a pair of time control buttons  18 , a pair of incline control buttons  20  and a pair of speed control buttons  22 ; a numerical keypad  24 ; and a stop button  26 . In addition, the treadmill  10  includes such conventional treadmill elements such as a belt  28 , a deck  30  and an inclination mechanism  32  of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,951. 
     FIG. 2 is a representative block diagram of a control system  34  for the treadmill  10 . The control system  34  is generally similar to the treadmill control systems of the type shown in FIG. 16 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,951 and controls an AC motor  38  having a motor controller  36  to propel the belt  28 . The control system  34  uses a microprocessor based system controller  40  to control the control panel displays  14  including a message display  14 , the user controls  16 - 22  and  26  along with the keypad  24 , an optional remote display  42  and a remote keypad  44 . In addition, the control system  34  serves to control a heart rate monitoring system of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,487 utilizing a set of pulse sensors  46  and a deck or belt lubrication system  48  of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,679 along with the inclination mechanism  32 . The control system also controls a user detect or sense system  50 . 
     FIGS. 3-5 illustrate a quick start feature that can be implemented in the control system  34 . In particular, a quick start keypad  52  can be attached to the control panel  12  or some other part of the treadmill  10 . The keypad  52  is provided with a set of three buttons: a walk button  54 , a jog button  56  and a run button  58  that can be used by the user to immediately initiate a workout or change a workout having preferably a predetermined speed, for example corresponding to walk, jog or run. The operational controls  18 - 22  can also be used to set other predetermine workout parameters such as inclination, time, distance or calories. User operation is described in FIG.  4  and operation of the program is described in the flow chart of FIG.  5 . Along with a quick start, as indicated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the keypad  52  can be used by the user to immediately implement the predetermined speeds or other workout parameters while another workout is in progress. In addition, it is also possible to use a single quick start button  59  on the control panel  12  in combination with the operational controls  18 - 22  to initiate the quick start feature. 
     FIGS. 6 and 7 are flow charts describing the logic of a preferred embodiment of a custom workout program that can be implemented in the control system  34 . Generally, this feature permits a user or his trainer to use the control keys  18 - 22 , the keypad  24  and the displays  14  to design and program into the control system  34  a custom workout having greater flexibility than the standard workouts normally programed in a treadmill. For example as described in FIGS. 6 and 7, the trainer can define a heart rate workout utilizing the pulse sensors and heart rate management system  46  consisting of a series of segments, up to  30 , of a fixed duration in seconds, each segment containing a predetermined target heart rate. As indicated at a block  60  in the flow charts of FIGS. 6 and 7, the user can select the custom program mode by pressing a custom button  62  which is one of the program buttons  16  on the control panel  12 . In this case the heart rate management program can be used to control the inclination mechanism  32  of the treadmill  10  thereby regulating the user&#39;s heart rate for each interval or segment of the program. Also, custom interval hill workouts can be designed where each segment of the workout represents a different incline of the treadmill  10 . Similarly, custom interval speed workouts can be designed by the trainer where each segment of the workout utilizes a different speed. Here, it is desirable to provide the user with an aural warning over a speaker  64  shown in FIG. 2 of speed changes to prevent surprise transitions. Thus, it is possible to provide a wide variety of custom workouts where the user or trainer can define a number of workout parameters such as the initial speed, duration of the workout, distance and calories burned. 
     FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the control system  34  to execute workout programs where, as indicated a pair of blocks  66  and  68 , the control system  34  also permits the user to switch workout programs on the fly by merely pressing one of the program buttons  16  without having to stop the treadmill  10  and start a new workout program. Specifically, the user can select a new workout program having different parameters including, for example, speed, incline, intervals and heart rate while in the midst of a first workout program. 
     FIGS.  9  and  10 A-B show in flow chart form the logic of an automatic cooldown feature that can be implemented in the control system  34 . In the protocol described in FIGS.  9  and  10 A-B, cooldown will begin automatically upon conclusion of the user&#39;s workout. Here, the duration of the cooldown is determined by the length of time of the user&#39;s workout or can also be terminated by the user&#39;s heart rate reaching 60% of maximal if a heart rate management program of the type identified above is being used. In addition, cooldown can be initiated by the user at any time by pressing a cooldown button  70  located on the control  10  panel  12 . In the system described in FIGS.  9  and  10 A-B, the cooldown sequence will normally automatically progress each minute except that the user can advance the cooldown by pressing the cooldown button  70  or extend the cooldown by using arrow keys on the keypad  24 . 
     Another feature of the treadmill  10  is the provision in the system controller  34  to only display information on the user displays  14  that is relevant to the manner in which the treadmill  10  is being used. Because the number of discrete displays on the user displays  14  is limited and non-relevant information can be annoying to a user, it is desirable to provide only that information to the user that is most useful for the particular workout that he is performing at the moment. For example, the treadmill  10  having its incline mechanism  32  set at something other than zero will accumulate and can display on one the displays  14  the total vertical distance the user has climbed during the workout. However, if the treadmill  10  is set at zero inclination, the user might become annoyed with a message on the displays  14  always having a zero reading. Thus, in the preferred embodiment of the invention the system controller  40  of the control system of  34  will be programed to only generate a total climb figure on one of the displays  14  at periodic intervals such as 5 minutes. By the same token, generally only runners are interested in their pace such as minutes per mile, so this information will not be displayed by the system controller  40  on the displays  14  for walkers. Also, calories per hour, watts and mets will only be displayed on one of the displays  14  upon a workload change such as a significant speed or incline change so as to eliminate the same message from being displayed on the displays  14  over and over. 
     FIGS. 11 and 12 are flow chart illustrating the logic applied by the system controller  40  to implement a user detect feature for use with the treadmill  10 . In order to overcome the problem of users leaving treadmills before the end of workout programs which can result in treadmills continuing to run for a period of time, the treadmill  10  can be provided with an auto belt stop mechanism that utilizes a detector such as the infrared receiver/transmitter  72  shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In the preferred embodiment, a receiver/transmitter  72  transmits an infrared beam which is amplitude modulated at 40 Khz for 500 μsecs every 500 msec. If a user is on the treadmill, some portion of the light will be reflected back to the receiver/transmitter  72  which is sensitive not only to the frequency of the beam but also to the 40 Khz modulation. Thus, the control system  34  can determine if a user is on the treadmill belt  28 . When, for example, the user leaves the treadmill  10  with the belt  28  still moving, the system controller  40  will cause the treadmill  10  to wait a predetermined time, such as  6  seconds, and then switch to a pause mode. In the pause mode the belt  28  is stopped and a “pause” message is displayed on one of the displays  14 . If there is no user input for another predetermined time to the control system  34 , such as  1  minute, the pause mode will time out and the system  34  will reset. Also, the system controller  40  will cause the treadmill inclination mechanism  32  to return the inclination of the treadmill  10  to a zero. It should also be noted that the function of the receiver/transmitter  72  to detect the presence of a user on the belt  28  can be performed by a number of other techniques including a weight sensor  74  as shown in FIG.  2 . 
     Another feature of the treadmill  10  is a frame tag module  76  as shown in FIG. 2 which is preferably secured to one of the side frames of the treadmill  10  and is adapted to communicate with the system controller  40 . In the preferred embodiment, the frame tag module  76  includes a nonvolatile electrically erasable programmable memory chip (EEPROM)  78  and a real time clock  80 . Included with the EEPROM  78  is a 10 year battery (not shown). Preferably, the clock  80  will be initialized to GMT at the time of manufacture of the treadmill  10  and then set to local time when the treadmill  10  is installed at a customer location and each entry into the EEPROM  78  will be date stamped by the clock  80 . In normal operation, each time the treadmill  10  is powered up, the system controller  40  will retrieve treadmill configuration information from the frame tag module  76 . Included in this information can be such data items as English or metric units for display on the displays  14 , maximum and minimum treadmill belt speeds, language selection as well as accumulated treadmill operational data such as the total time, the total miles, the belt time, the belt miles and the number of program selections. Preferably, when the treadmill  10  is in operation, the system controller  40  will cause data relating to each user workout and operation of the treadmill  10  to be stored in the EEPROM  78  along with all information relating to system errors that might occur. In addition, all information relating to any service procedure is stored in the EEPROM  78 . This information stored in the EEPROM  78  including set up, operational and service data can be displayed on the displays  14  by the system controller  40  so that the history of the treadmill  10  can be read by service personnel. One of the advantages of the frame tag module  76  is if any of the major electrical or mechanical components of the treadmill  10  is replaced, the operational history of the treadmill  10  is not lost. For example, if the control panel  12  containing the system controller  40 , is replaced the treadmill&#39;s history will not be lost. The frame tag module  76  can also be replaced without losing the machine&#39;s history. In this case, because when the treadmill  10  is powered up, this information is transmitted from the old frame tag module  76  to the system controller  40 , this information can then be transmitted back to the new frame tag module  76  after it has been installed on the treadmill  10  thereby maintaining the treadmill&#39;s history with the treadmill  10 . 
     It should be noted that the various features described above have been described in terms of their preferred embodiments in the context of the particular treadmill  10  and control system  34  disclosed herein. The manner in which these features can be implemented will depend upon a number of factors including the nature of the treadmill and control system. With respect to programing, there are many different types of hardware and programing languages and techniques that would be suitable for implementing these features that would be within the scope of this invention.