Floor equipped with exercise fixtures

Abstract: An equipped floor having at least one cavity (7) opening outwards and for housing at least one exercise fixture (6).

Description: The present invention relates to an equipped floor. More specifically, the present invention relates to an equipped gym floor for group fitness lessons, in which group members perform a physical exercise program under the guidance and supervision of an instructor, and to which the following description refers purely by way of example. As is known, a fitness gym comprises a substantially horizontal floor on which are arranged a number of exercise fixtures, and is normally used for different types of fitness lessons, each of which may call for either a specific type of fixture, e.g. exercise bikes, treadmills, steppers, or for a specific fixture layout on the floor. A major drawback of known gyms of the above type lies in the fixtures having to be changed according to the type of lesson, and in the unused fixtures being set aside temporarily in a given part of the gym, thus greatly reducing the space available for the lesson. The same also applies to any other type of equipped floor. Another drawback of known gyms of the above type lies in the fixtures being changed manually, thus complicating organization and involving a good deal of time-consuming work to set up the gym for each lesson. Document DE-B-1097652 describes a jump pit to be applied in polyvalent fitness gyms, provided with a pillow filled in with sand, located in a cavity of the floor and with a covering panel for the cavity, so as to hide said pillow once it has been introduced into the bottom of the cavity. As a matter of fact, said pillow is supported by a pair of cylinders with vertical axis which allow for the displacement of the pillow both in vertical and in parallel position with respect to the pillow itself, from a raised position, where the pillow is on the same line as the gym floor, to a lowered position, where the pillow is inserted into the cavity and hidden by the covering panel, which slides laterally thanks to an actuator dragging it from an extracted position, where the panel lies on the pillow and is on the same line as the floor, to an withdrawn position, where the panel is completely inserted and hidden into an interstice located underneath the floor of the gym. The idea of displacing the pillow both in vertical and in parallel position by means of a cylinder with vertical axis located under the pillow, implies the inconvenience of digging a very deep cavity, which must be at least as depth as the sum of the length of the cylinder, the thickness of the pillow and the thickness of the covering panel. Moreover, the fact that the covering panel lies on the pillow, when the cavity is in closed position, does not guarantee a rigid support to the panel. It is an object of the present invention to provide an equipped floor designed to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks. According to the present invention, there is provided an equipped floor, characterized by comprising at least one cavity opening outwards and for housing at least one exercise fixture. Specific object of the present invention is to provide a fitness gym with an equipped floor featuring at least one cavity having a reduced depth and a perfectly rectangular section, aiming at housing and hiding a treadmill whose supporting frame is hinged, in connection with its front ends, on pins having horizontal axis and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the cavity, so as said treadmill can swing between two positions, a raised position where it is on the same line as the floor and a lowered position where it is housed inside the cavity. Said swinging frame is operated by an actuator device located in the same area as the supporting frame, so as to keep the size of the whole structure as small as possible and reduce to the minimum the depth of the cavity housing the treadmill. A further object of the invention is to provide the panel covering the cavity with a rigid support; as a matter of fact the panel according to the present invention lies and slides over the longitudinal sides of the aforementioned supporting frame. A non-limiting embodiment of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a schematic view in perspective, with some parts enlarged and parts removed for clarity, of a preferred embodiment of an equipped floor in accordance with the present invention and forming part of a gym; Figure 2 shows a schematic view in perspective of a detail in Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a schematic side view, with parts removed for clarity, of the Figure 2 detail in four different operating positions. It should be stated that, though the following description substantially refers to a gym, the teachings of the invention may be applied to advantage to any equipped floor, such as an equipped bathroom floor. Number 1 in Figure 1 indicates as a whole a gym, which has a floor 2 defined on top by a substantially horizontal upper surface 3, and is used for group fitness lessons in which a group of members 4 perform an exercise program under the guidance and supervision of an instructor 5. Gym 1 is used for different types of fitness lessons, each of which may call for either a specific type of exercise fixture 6, or for a specific layout of exercise fixtures 6 on surface 3. In the Figure 1 embodiment, gym 1 is equipped with different types of exercise fixtures 6 : treadmills 6a, exercise bikes 6b, and steppers 6c. Each treadmill 6a is housed inside a portion 7a of a substantially parallelepiped-shaped cavity 7, which is formed in floor 2, beneath surface 3, is upwardly concave, and opens outwards at an opening 8 in surface 3. Cavity 7 is defined by two parallel major lateral walls 9, two parallel minor lateral walls 10 perpendicular to walls 9, and a bottom wall 11 parallel to surface 3 and perpendicular to walls 9 and 10. With reference to Figure 2, treadmill 6a is a known type and comprises a supporting frame 12 in turn comprising two substantially parallel elongated sides 13 hinged to floor 2 so as to swing, with respect to floor 2 and by virtue of an actuating device 14, about a hinge axis 15 perpendicular to walls 9. More specifically, the two sides 13 are defined at the top by respective coplanar surfaces 16, and at the bottom by respective coplanar surfaces 17 parallel to surfaces 16. Treadmill 6a also comprises a conveyor belt 18 located between sides 13 and looped about two pulleys (not shown, and one of which is powered) fitted between sides 13 to rotate continuously about respective axes substantially parallel to axis 15. Treadmill 6a also comprises a substantially rectangular plate 19 extending between and along part of the length of sides 13, and having a display 20 connected to a computer (not shown) for controlling operation of treadmill 6a. Device 14 comprises two actuating cylinders 21, each of which is housed inside one of sides 13 and has an output rod 22 which is movable between a withdrawn position (Figures 3b and 3c) and an extracted position (Figures 3a and 3d) to move treadmill 6a between a lowered position (Figures 3b and 3c) and a raised position (Figures 3a and 3d) in which plate 19 is substantially coplanar with surface 3. Each rod 22 comprises a top portion (hereinafter indicated 22a) mounted to slide along respective cylinder 21 and perpendicularly to respective surface 17; and a bottom portion (hereinafter indicated 22b), a first end of which is hinged to respective portion 22a, and a second end of which is positioned contacting wall 11. Treadmill 6a also has a device 23 for covering opening 8 and comprising a parallelepiped-shaped panel 24, which is substantially the same thickness as plate 19, is substantially the same width as opening 8, both measured parallel to axis 15, and is of a length, measured crosswise to axis 15, substantially equal to the difference between the lengths, also measured crosswise to axis 15, of opening 8 and plate 19. Device 23 also comprises an actuating device 25 for moving panel 24 (as explained later on) along surfaces 16 of sides 13 in a direction 26 crosswise to axis 15, and between a work position (Figures 3a and 3b) in which panel 24 is positioned contacting plate 19 and over belt 18, and a rest position (Figures 3c and 3d) in which panel 24 is housed inside a portion 7b of cavity 7 adjacent to portion 7a. Device 25 comprises a rack 27, which is fitted to a bottom surface of panel 24, is positioned facing belt 18, extends between and parallel to sides 13, and has an end portion 28 projecting from panel 24 towards portion 7b. To move panel 24 between the work and rest positions along sides 13, rack 27 (as explained later on) meshes with a pinion 29 housed inside portion 7b and rotated by a motor 31 about a respective axis 30 parallel to axis 15. Device 25 also comprises two sets 32 of rollers 33 housed inside portion 7b on opposite sides of rack 27. The rollers 33 in each set 32 are mounted to rotate about respective axes 34 parallel to axes 15 and 30, and are aligned with one another in direction 26 to guide panel 24 between the work and rest positions. Cavity 7 is provided with a number of sensors 35 : one, hereinafter indicated 35a, for detecting the lowered position of treadmill 6a; one, hereinafter indicated 35b, for detecting the raised position of treadmill 6a; one, hereinafter indicated 35c, for detecting the work position of panel 24; and one, hereinafter indicated 35d, for detecting the rest position of panel 24. Operation of gym 1 will now be described with reference to Figure 3 and one cavity 7, and as of the instant (Figure 3a) in which treadmill 6a is in the raised position, and panel 24 is in the work position, i.e. closing cavity 7. At this point, treadmill 6a is moved into the lowered position (Figure 3b) by means of the two cylinders 21, so that panel 24 is parallel to direction 26 and the end portion 28 of rack 27 meshes with pinion 29. In this connection, it should be pointed out that, since portions 22b of the two actuating cylinders 21 are hinged to respective portions 22a, the free ends of the two portions 22b remain contacting bottom wall 11 of cavity 7. By means of actuating device 25, panel 24 is then moved in direction 26 into the rest position (Figure 3c), i.e. to open cavity 7; and, finally, treadmill 6a is moved back into the raised position (Figure 3d) for use by one of the members 4 in the fitness lesson group. In an embodiment not shown, cavities 7 may be formed to house exercise fixtures 6 other than treadmills 6a. In a further embodiment not shown, each exercise fixture 6 may be moved perpendicularly to wall 11 between a raised position in which exercise fixture 6 is located substantially outside cavity 7, and a lowered position in which exercise fixture 6 is substantially housed inside cavity 7. By housing treadmills 6a inside respective cavities 7, exercise fixtures 6 can be changed over relatively quickly to equip gym 1 for the next lesson, and only a relatively small portion of gym 1 is required for storing the unused exercise fixtures 6. Moreover, when treadmills 6a and respective panels 24 are positioned closing respective cavities 7, a relatively large portion of gym 1 is left available for actual use.

Claims: An equipped gym floor (3) comprising : at least one cavity (7) for housing at least one exercise fixture (6), said cavity (7) opening outwards, underneath the said floor and being provided with a tunnel-like portion (7b) whose length is at least equal to the length of top-less portion (7a) of the cavity (7); covering means (23) for covering said cavity (7), said covering means (23) being laterally movable and located substantially underneath the floor (3) when the cavity is in an open position while, when said cavity (7) is in a closed position, said covering means (23) are substantially coplanar with the floor (3); first actuator means (14) for moving said covering means (23) between said closed position and a lowered position second actuator means (25) for moving said covering means (23) between said lowered position and said open position and characterized in that : said exercise fixture (6) is a treadmill (6a), the supporting frame (12) of which swings about a hinge axis (15), perpendicular to longitudinal walls (9) of the cavity (7), and also in that said first actuator means (14) are housed inside sides (13) of frame (12). An equipped gym floor according to claim 1 wherein the first actuator means (14) comprise two actuating cylinders (21) and an output rod (22) which is movable between a lowered position and an extracted position to move treadmill (6a) between a lowered position and a raised position. An equipped gym floor according to the previous claims wherein said covering means (23) comprise a panel (24) that lies and slides over the surface (16) of the sides (13) of supporting frame (12). An equipped gym floor according to claim 3, wherein said second actuator means (25) comprise a pinion (29), with rotating axis (30), that meshes with a rack (27) parallel to said sides (13) and is secured underneath panel (24) and positioned facing belt (18) of treadmill (6a); said rack (27) being provided with an end portion (28) projecting from panel (24) towards portion (7b) of cavity (7). An equipped gym floor according to claims 3 and 4, wherein said second actuator means (25) comprise two sets (32) of rollers (33) housed inside portion (7b) on opposite sides of rack (27); it being provided that rollers (33) in each set (32) are mounted to rotate about respective axes (34) parallel to axes (15) and (30). An equipped gym floor according to the previous claims wherein said treadmill (6a) comprise a substantially flat portion (19) having a display (20); said portion (19) being substantially coplanar with the floor (3) when said covering means (23) are in the closed position.

Inventors: PANATTA RODOLFO, PANATTA, RODOLFO
Applicants: PANATTA SPORT S R L, PANATTA SPORT S.R.L.
Application year: 2000
Main classification: A63B71
IPC codes: A63B22, A63B71