Patent Publication Number: US-2007105693-A1

Title: Control mechanism of an electric treadmill

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Fields of the Invention  
      The invention relates to a control mechanism of an electric treadmill, and more particularly, to a mechanism that ensures an easy control of the rotational speed of a running belt as well as a practical adjustment of the inclination of a tread base without distracting the attention of the operator.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      The electric treadmill provides an optimal simulation of walking movement so that it becomes more and more popular and is one of the important indoor exercise devices. Moreover, the treadmill allows an easy control of the rotational speed of a running belt and a practical adjustment of a tread base. The relevant techniques belong to the prior art so that no further descriptions thereto are given hereinafter.  
      The control of the rotational speed of the running belt and the adjustment of the tread base is often done either by the operation keys on an electronic console or by the touch switches on handle bars. However, the operation keys and the touch switches are often so small and far away from the operator that the operator has to be concentrated to locate the operation keys and the touch switches when he wants to execute the adjustment. In other words, the operator has to avoid false input while keeping up with the speed of the running belt during the exercise session, and this would pose a hazard to the operator.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      A primary object of the invention is to avoid the above-mentioned drawbacks and to provide a control mechanism of an electric treadmill that ensures an easy control of the rotational speed of a running belt as well as a practical adjustment of the inclination of a tread base without distracting the attention of the operator.  
      In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a large area pressure strip is located on each of handles of the treadmill while a touch switch is disposed under the pressure strip. The touch switch is electrically connected to an electronic console either for an easy control of the rotational speed of a running belt or for a practical adjustment of the fold-up inclination of a tread base. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The accomplishment of this and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description and its accompanying drawings of which:  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a cutaway view of a handle and a pressure strip of the preferred embodiment of  FIG. 1   
       FIG. 3  is a cutaway view of the handle and the pressure strip of the preferred embodiment of  FIG. 1  after a force acts on the pressure strip;  
       FIG. 4  is a cutaway view of the handle and the pressure strip in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the invention 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      Referring to  FIGS. 1 through 3 , an electric treadmill  10  in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention includes a support base  11 , two handles  12 , an electronic console  13 , a tread base  14 , a running belt  15  and bottom support elements  16 . The tread base  14  can be driven by a lifting motor (not shown) to create change of supporting inclination. The running belt  15  is driven by another motor (not shown) for an in-place rotation. Each of the handles  12  is provided with at least one large area pressure strip  20  under which a touch switch  22  is disposed. The touch switch  22  is electrically connected to the electronic console  13  either for an easy control of the rotational speed of the running belt  15  or for a practical adjustment of the fold-up inclination of the tread base  14 .  
      The operation will be described by use of a simple example as follows. For example, a command of acceleration can be given to the motor for the running belt  15  via the electronic console  13  when the pressure strip  20  on one handle  12  is compressed to trip the touch switch  22 . Meanwhile, the corresponding elements on the other handle  12  are designed for the deceleration command. The pressure strip  20  occupies such a large space that the operator can easily reach one of the pressure strips  20  for a desired action of the treadmill.  
      Of course, a spring element  24  is interposed between the pressure strip  20  and the handle  12  for resetting the pressure strip  20  to its original position after removal of an external force on the pressure strip  20 .  
      Alternatively, the pressure strips  20  on the handles  12  and the associated touch switches  22  can be designed for controlling the lifting motor to adjust the inclination of the tread base  14 . This belongs to a prior art so that no further descriptions are given hereinafter.  
      As shown in  FIG. 4 , a T-shaped pressure strip  30  can be employed in cooperation with two touch switches  22 . In this way, the T-shaped pressure strip  30  can be compressed at both sides thereof while both touch switches  22  are correspondingly designed both for acceleration or deceleration and for fold-up or fold-down action. Thus, the operator can install on both handles  12  of the electric treadmill  10  two sets of control units for adjusting the operation speed of the running belt  15  and the inclination of the tread base  14 . As a result, the application value of the treadmill can be enhanced.  
      Many changes and modifications in the above-described embodiment of the invention can, of course, be carried out without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science and the useful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claim.