Abstract:
A support for a bicycle includes a front unit, a rear adjust unit, a front roller unit, a rear roller unit and a connection unit. Different sizes of bicycles can be connected to the support. The rear adjust unit, the front roller unit and the rear roller unit are adjustable to obtain different operation modes. The support is equipped with sensing system to be cooperated with software and hardware so as to perform as a video game.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This is a Continuation-In-Part application of the applicant&#39;s former patent application Ser. No. 12/785,543, filed on May 24, 2010, The present invention relates to a support, and more particularly, to a support for supporting a bicycle and providing multiple exercising modes. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    A conventional support for a bicycle is shown in  FIG. 1  and generally includes a front unit  1  with a swinging frame  3  connected thereto, and a rear unit  2  with a restriction frame  4  connected thereto. The restriction frame  4  restricts the wheel axle. Rollers  6  are connected to both of the front and rear units  1 ,  2 , and a connection member  7  is connected between the rollers  6  on the front and rear units  1 ,  2 . When the bicycle  5  is operated, the rear wheel drives the rollers  6  on the rear unit  2  and the rollers  6  on the front unit  1  are rotated. 
         [0003]    However, the rollers  6  are connected to the front and rear units  1 ,  2  so that the users can only experience the mode of cycling on smooth roads. If the users want to change the mode and feel the cycling on rough roads, the rollers  6  have to be replaced and this is inconvenient for the users and requires significant time. Besides, the conventional support cannot be adjusted so that the users cannot experience the cycling on slopes. 
         [0004]    The present invention intends to provide a support for a bicycle and the support can provide multiple different cycling modes. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The present invention relates to a support for a bicycle and comprises a front unit, a rear adjust unit, a front roller unit, a rear roller unit and a connection unit. By adjusting the rear adjust unit, the bicycle on the support of the present invention simulates the cycling on different slopes. 
         [0006]    The surfaces of the rollers of the front roller unit and the rear roller unit can be changed, and the front roller unit and the rear roller unit are movable so that the exerciser on the support of the present invention can simulate different road conditions. 
         [0007]    The exerciser on the support of the present invention can be equipped with a sensing system which is cooperated computers to make the operation of the bicycle perform as a video game. 
         [0008]    The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  shows a conventional support and a bicycle; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view to show the support of the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view to show the support of the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view to show a bicycle is supported on the support of the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a side view to show the bicycle is supported on the support of the present invention, and 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  shows another application of the bicycle and the support of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0015]    Referring to  FIGS. 2 to 4 , the support of the present invention comprises a front unit  11  having a front base  111  and side trusses  112  on two sides of the front base  111  so as to form a frame. A support frame  113  is pivotably connected on the two respective tops  1121  of the side trusses  112  of the front unit  11 . The support frame  113  has a recessed area and has a front adjust rod  1131  extending therefrom. Multiple holes  1121  are defined through the front adjust rod  1131  which is cooperated with the rear adjust rod  1411  on the rear roller unit  14  by using a pin  16  to adjust the distance between the front unit  11  and a rear adjust unit  12 . 
         [0016]    The rear adjust unit  12  has a front portion  121  and a rear portion  122 , the front portion  121  has a first support  1211  and an adjust portion  1212  extending therefrom. The rear portion  122  has two parallel second supports  1221  and an adjust link  1222  extending therefrom, wherein a transverse rod  123  is connected to the first support  1211  and the second supports  1221 . The transverse rod  123  is connected to side trusses  148  on the underside of the rear roller unit  14 . The adjust portion  1212  is mounted to an end of the adjust link  1222  to make the rear adjust unit  12  be a cone-shaped mechanism. The adjust link  1222  is retractable relative to the adjust portion  1212  to adjust the height of the rear roller unit  14 . The adjust portion  1212  can be a cylinder or a nut. 
         [0017]    A front roller unit  13  has a base  131 , a movable part  132 , a roller unit  133 , a swinging part  134 , and a fixing frame  135 . The base  131  of the front roller unit  13  has multiple slide members  1311  pivotably connected thereto which are rollers or made by material with low friction such as plastic or Acrylic. The base  131  has multiple holes  1312  defined in four corners thereof and a support member  1313  extends from an end of the base  131  so that an adjust member  137  is connected on the support member  1313 . 
         [0018]    The movable part  132  is connected between two sets of holes  1312  of the base  131  and includes tubes  1321  on two ends thereof. The rods  136  extend through the holes  1312  and the tubes  1321  so as to connect the movable part  132  to the base  131 , such that the movable part  132  is moved left and right on the base  131 . 
         [0019]    The movable part  132  has a connection member  1322  and an extension rod  1371  is connected to the connection member  1322 . The extension rod  1371  is connected to the adjust member  137  and retractable or fixed relative to the adjust member  137 . The adjust member  137  can be a hydraulic cylinder or a nut. 
         [0020]    The roller unit  133  has rollers  1331 , U-shaped connection caps  1332  and bolts  1333 . The two sides of the rollers  1331  are engaged within the connection caps  1332  and the bolts  1333  threadedly connect the connection caps  1332  and the movable part  132 . The rollers  1331  are rotatable on the movable part  132  and have several sections of different types of patterns. 
         [0021]    An L-shaped rod  1314  extends from the base  131  and a hole  1315  is defined through the L-shaped rod  1314 . A bearing  1316  is engaged with the hole  1315  so that an end of the swinging part  134  is pivotably connected to the L-shaped rod  1314 . 
         [0022]    The swinging part  134  is a Y-shaped member and the end of the swinging part  134   i  is connected to the hole  1315  of the L-shaped rod  1314  by the bearing  1316 . The swinging part  134  has a vertical slot  1341  defined therein and the fixing frame  135  extends through the vertical slot  1341 . 
         [0023]    The fixing frame  135  is a U-shaped member with two extensions on two ends thereof and each extension has a recess  1351  defined therein and a resilient member  1352  is received in the recess  1351 . 
         [0024]    The rear roller unit  14  is same as the front roller unit  13  and has a base  141 , a movable part  142 , a roller unit  143 , a swinging part  144 , and a fixing frame  145 . The movable part  142  is movable on the base  141  by the rods  146 . The connection of the extension rod  1471  and the adjust member  147  controls the movement of the movable part  142 . The difference from the front roller unit  13  is that the slide member  1311  is pivotably connected to the underside of the front roller unit  13 , but the rear roller unit  14  has side trusses  148  connected on the underside of the two sides thereof. A transverse rod  123  connects the rear adjust unit  12  and the trusses  148  of the rear roller unit  14 . 
         [0025]    The rear roller unit  14  has a rear adjust rod  1411  extending therefrom which is a hollow rod in which the front adjust rod  1131  is inserted. The rear adjust rod  1411  has holes defined therethrough so that a pin  16  extends through aligned holes  1132 ,  1412  of the front and rear adjust rods  1131 ,  1411  to adjust the distance between the front unit  11  and the rear adjust unit  12 , such that different sizes of bicycles  16  can be installed. 
         [0026]    A connection unit  15  has an outer tube  151  in which an inner tube  152  is inserted, and a pivotal member  153 . The pivotal member  153  is pivotably connected with the axles  1334 ,  1434  of the rollers  1331 ,  1431  of the front and rear roller units  13 ,  14 . When the rollers  1431  of the rear roller unit  14  rotate, the inner tube  152  is rotated by the rotation of the axle  1434 . 
         [0027]    When the users want to exercise by using a bicycle  16 , the bicycle  16  is simply put on the support of the present invention and the front adjust rod  1131  and the rear adjust rod  1411  are properly adjusted. Using a pin  16  to extend through the aligned holes  1132 ,  1412  of the front adjust rod  1131  and the rear adjust rod  1411 . The front wheel  161  and the rear wheel  162  are respectively put on the swinging parts  134 ,  144  and the fixing frames  135 ,  145 . The pins  1353 ,  1453  extend through the recesses  1351 ,  1451  and the axles  1611 ,  1621  of the front and rear wheels  161 ,  162  of the bicycle  16 . The resilient members  1352 ,  1452  are engaged beneath the pins  1353 ,  1453 . The front and rear wheels  161 ,  162  are respectively put on the rollers  1331 ,  1431  of the front roller unit  13  and the rear roller unit  14 . 
         [0028]    When the user pedals the pedals to drive the rear wheel  162 , the rollers  1431  on the rear roller unit  14  are rotated and the inner tube  152  is rotated. The rollers  1331  of the front roller unit  13  and the front wheel  161  are rotated. Because the swinging parts  134 ,  144  are pivotable and the base  131  of the front roller unit  13  has slide members  1311 , so that the bicycle  16  can tilt left and right to simulate real biking experience. 
         [0029]    The rollers  1331 ,  4131  of the front and rear roller units  13 ,  14  have different patterns, and the front and rear roller units  133 ,  143  can swing by the pivotal movement of the movable parts  132 ,  142  on the bases  131 ,  141  so that the different patterns on the rollers  1331 ,  1431  can simulate different road conditions. 
         [0030]    The rear adjust unit  12  is adjusted by adjusting the adjust link  1222  so that the angle between the first and second, supports  1211 ,  1221  is adjusted. The rear roller unit  14  can be adjusted its height so simulate the bicycle  16  is operated on slopes as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0031]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , sensing systems (not shown) are respectively connected to the support frame  113 , the rollers  1331 ,  1431 , the rear adjust unit  12  and the swinging part  134  so as to detect the direction, speed and slopes of the bicycle  16 . The data that sensed by the sensing systems are collected to an emitting device  17  which emits signals which are received by a receiving device  18 . A decoding system  19  decodes the signals and transfers the signals into images. The decoding system  19  can be a computer with a monitor and this arrangement allows the operation of the bicycle  16  to perform like a video game. 
         [0032]    While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention: