Abstract:
The invention relates to a device particularly intended for sports training, for example for cycling competitions. The device comprises an exercise system with which a sportsman engages so as to generate a fictitious movement at a certain speed, according to a certain positioning angle. A database is provided in the form of an optical record concerning said movement. Said database contains images of the landscape surrounding the movement and also stores positioning information (climbing/downhill) for determining said positioning along the entire movement.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a device intended in particular for athletic training, the device comprising an exercise system on which an athlete acts in order to generate fictitious movement at a certain speed and with a certain positioning. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This type of device finds major applications in facilitating the training of athletes and more particularly bicycle training for which the exercise system is based on a set of pedals driving a flywheel. 
         [0003]    Naturally, the invention may be applied to any other sort of training, such as for example running races, where the exercise system then consists in an endless belt running at a speed that is a function of the movements of the runner. Another application lies in training rowers for a boat. Under such circumstances, the moving system consists in handles simulating oars that a rower needs to operate in order to move the boat. 
         [0004]    Such a device is described in EP patent no. 1 813 313. 
         [0005]    In that device, the athlete sees a landscape in which the athlete is moving. Nevertheless, that patent document does not present all of the conditions of realism that are desirable for good training. 
       OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The invention proposes a device of the kind mentioned in the introduction that provides additional conditions for making training effective. 
         [0007]    In accordance with the invention, the device specified in the introduction is remarkable in that it includes a database relating to said movement, and in which there is inserted positioning data for determining said positioning. 
         [0008]    Thus, the invention enables the athlete to take up different positions that are to be encountered in reality and thus enables the athlete to exercise muscles in different ways. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    The following description and the accompanying drawings, given by way of non-limiting example, make it understood how the invention can be implemented. In the drawings: 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  shows a device in accordance with the invention in which the positioning is in the low state; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  shows a device in accordance invention in which the positioning is in the high state; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  shows a variant embodiment of the device in accordance with the invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  shows another variant embodiment of the device in accordance with the invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a diagram of the control system; 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  shows the organization of the AVI format adapted for use by the invention; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart explaining the operation of the device of the invention. 
       
    
    
       [0017]    In the figures, elements in common are all given the same references in all of the figures. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    In  FIG. 1 , reference  1  indicates an exercise system  2  for an athlete. In this first embodiment, the system is a training bike with a flywheel. It is made up of a saddle  5 , a handlebar  6 , and a pedal assembly  8 . The pedal assembly  8  is connected to a flywheel  10  by a chain or a belt  11 . All of these elements are fastened to a frame formed by a first tube  15  on which the saddle  5  is fitted, and by a second tube  16  on which the handlebar  6  is fastened, and having the first tube  15  and a third tube  17  welded thereto. The axle of the flywheel  10  is held by the third tube  17 . The flywheel is driven in rotation by means of the pedal assembly  8  held by the tube  16 . A fourth tube  18  unites the tubes  16  and  17  via their bottom ends. The above are all supported by a base plate  22 . A display screen  25  is also provided for showing a moving landscape. The screen is fastened to a tube  26  standing on the base plate  22 . 
         [0019]    In accordance with an aspect of the invention, it is proposed to modify the position of the frame. There can be seen a so-called “tilted” or “elevated” position for simulating a sloping path; as happens when the athlete is going up or down a hill, or even is pedaling on a level road. 
         [0020]    To achieve this, a first ball joint mechanism  30  is provided that is situated at a junction point between the tubes  18  and  16 , and a second ball joint mechanism  32  is provided that is situated at a junction point between the tubes  17  and  18 . A raising and lowering mechanism  35  acts on the ball joint  32  to move it vertically. In  FIG. 1 , the ball joint  32  is situated at its lowest point. The raising and lowering mechanism  35  has legs  44  and  45  that are united in their top portions with said ball joint  32  and in their bottom portions with a drive device  46  that moves these bottom portions towards each other in order to simulate going uphill or that moves them apart from each other in order to simulate going downhill. The intermediate position is for simulating a level road. The drive device  46  thus consists in a controlled actuator that serves to move the bottom portions of said legs  44  and  45  as a function of a tilt command that is applied thereto. A constraint device  50 , here consisting in a brake, brakes the flywheel  10  as a function of data. 
         [0021]      FIG. 2  shows the position of the frame that corresponds to an uphill portion of the road on which the athlete is supposed to be traveling. Under such circumstances, the legs  43  and  44  are moved towards each other so as to raise the ball joint  32 . The front of the bike is thus raised, as is indeed the case when going uphill. 
         [0022]    A control system  55  governs the operation of the device  1  of the invention. This system uses as input parameters:
       a previously-filmed film of a landscape in which the athlete is supposed to be traveling. The film is recorded on an optically-etched medium that is read in a reader  57 . Data about slopes and/or constraints is also recorded on this medium; and   an indication of speed or an indication of distance supplied by a speed/distance meter  60  that serves to control the movement of the landscape.       
 
         [0025]    In return, on the basis of this data, the system delivers:
       commands to the device  35  for simulating a slope;   commands to the constraint device  50  either for simulating slopes or for graduating the forces that the athlete seeks to deliver; and   commands for moving the landscape on the display screen  25  as a function of the virtual movement of the bike.       
 
         [0029]      FIG. 3  shows a variant embodiment in which a certain amount of variation in lean angle is allowed, as can occur when cornering. To do this, a damper  85  is provided that is fastened on the base plate  22 , and that acts on a point of the tube  18  level with the ball joint  30  via a bearing portion  86  that slides in an opening provided in a fastening portion  87  that is attached to the tube  18 . The action of the damper  85  thus makes it possible to allow the bike to have a certain amount of lean angle as a function of the reaction of the athlete riding the bike. 
         [0030]      FIG. 4  shows another variant embodiment of the device in accordance with the invention. In this variant, the exercise system consists in an endless belt and having one end connected to the ball joint  30  and its other end to the raising and lowering mechanism  35 . 
         [0031]      FIG. 5  shows the structure of the control system in diagrammatic manner. The system is arranged around a signal processor  100 . Around the processor, there are to be found in conventional manner: a permanent memory assembly  102  such as a read only memory intended rather for containing the instructions that enable the system  55  to operate; a memory assembly of the random access memory (RAM) type; and an interface circuit  110  for providing data to the various components of the device, i.e. to the raising and lowering mechanism  35 , to the constraint device  50 , and to the screen  25 . The interface circuit also makes it possible to receive data provided by the speed/distance meter  60 . The data relating to the landscape is delivered by the disk reader  57  via a reader interface circuit  112 . The recording medium processed by the reader contains a variety of data relating to the landscape, together with data about slopes and constraints. The data is recorded in the AVI format that enables images to be recorded synchronously with other data at a lower data rate. 
         [0032]    The system  55  also contains an interrupt generator  115  that provides interrupt pulses to the processor  100  so as to enable it to run the same program each time an interrupt occurs. The program accesses the data contained in the optical medium of the reader  57  in order to act on the behavior of the device of the invention. It needs to be executed at a frequency that is greater than or equal to the frequency of the filmed images of the landscape. 
         [0033]      FIG. 6  explains how the AVI format is used in the context of the invention. There can be seen a portion PICT that contains the landscape-representing images that are to be displayed on the screen  25 . A second portion ALT contains data representing altitude, and a third portion CSTR contains data relating to constraints that may be associated in particular with level changes in the filmed itinerary. 
         [0034]    The operation of the device is shown diagrammatically by the flowchart of  FIG. 7 . The flowchart relates to the program running as from said interrupts. 
         [0035]    The program starts, in box 0 , as soon as an interrupt signal appears. The first task, in box 2 , consists in analyzing the content of the speed meter. The value of the speed is used to deduce the distance DST (box K 4 ) traveled since the preceding interrupt. This distance as calculated in this way serves to increment, in box 6 , a distance meter for use in determining the indexing counter of the AVI file. Thus, in box 8 , it is possible to take the image from the optical media reader  57  together with the other data that is associated therewith. Box K 10  represents the processing of this data and delivery of commands to the various components of the device. Although some data does not require any particular processing, slope data must be processed in order to act on the brake  50  and on the raising and lowering mechanism  35 . In particular, a zero slope corresponds to a certain position and a certain level of constraint, such that when going downhill all the constraint is released and the position is lowered. When going uphill, the level of constraint is therefore increased and the position is raised. The program is then stopped, in box 12 . 
         [0036]    The content of the constraint data contained in CSTR may provide additional conditions, e.g. for representing soft ground that requires greater effort on the part of the athlete. 
         [0037]    The AVI files are recorded using a high definition camera and at a fast rate so that when traveling slowly the images do not appear jerkily. The soundtrack is advantageously used for recording other data and in particular altitude data that is taken from a GPS device or more simply from a pressure-type altimeter.