Patent Publication Number: US-9901767-B2

Title: Exercise treadmill capable of generating electrical power

Description:
(A) TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an exercise treadmill capable of generating electrical power and, more particularly, to an exercise treadmill which employs the treading force provided by a user to accelerate a running belt to facilitate generation of electrical power. 
     (B) DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     Today, many busy office workers are unable to exercise outdoors due to lack of time, and this may lead to poor health or insufficient physical strength. Thus, various exercise machines, which may be large or small, have been developed for allowing persons to exercise indoors without having to go outdoors. According to the functions provided by an exercise machine, various parts of a human body can be trained properly and adequately. For example, an exercise bike allows users to train their feet through riding action; an exercise treadmill allows users to train their feet through walking or running. For meeting operational or functional requirements, an exercise machine can be provided with various electrical devices, such as a motor for driving a belt at different speeds, or a display panel which allows a user to be aware of information of the exercising activity. For such exercise machines installed with electrical devices, electrical power is indispensible. For large-scale exercise machines, the electricity can be supplied from city power. For small-scale exercise machines, batteries can supply necessary electricity. Since a training activity involved in an exercise machine can produce a certain amount of kinetic energy, it is a pity that the energy is not utilized. Thus, there is a need to develop an exercise machine, especially an exercise treadmill, which can make use of kinetic energy generated in it through a training activity to generate necessary electrical power for the machine. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     One object of the present invention is to provide an exercise treadmill, which comprises a machine body, which includes at least two rollers, a flywheel linked with one of the two rollers, a support assembly mounted between the two rollers, and a running belt fitted around and engaged with the two rollers and arranged around the support assembly. The exercise treadmill is provided with an accelerating means so that, while a user is walking or running on the machine body, the treading force provided by the user allows the running belt to be accelerated to facilitate generation of electrical power. 
     According to one feature of the present invention, the running belt is provided on its outer surface with a plurality of elongated aluminum plates, which allows a user to tread thereon to facilitate the running belt moving around the two rollers for generating electrical power. In addition to improving body health, the electrical power produced by the treadmill in a training activity can reduce the electrical consumption of city power. 
     According to another feature of the present invention, each of the elongated aluminum plates is installed at each of its two opposite ends with at least one small roller, which is in rolling contact with the support assembly, so as to reduce the friction between the elongated aluminum plates and the support assembly. In use, while a user is walking or running on the running belt overlaid with the elongated aluminum plates, due to the small rollers installed at the elongated aluminum plates being in rolling contact with the support assembly, the friction between the elongated aluminum plates and the support assembly can be significantly reduced, so that the running belt can be accelerated to move around the two rollers more easily. Furthermore, due to an inclination angle between a bottom of the main frame of the machine body and a floor, while a user is walking or running on the treadmill, the user&#39;s weight can be applied to the running belt to facilitate the running belt moving around the two rollers, so that the flywheel can be rotated more easily to generate electrical power. Therefore, the user can exercise on the machine more easily, improve body health, and reduce the electrical consumption of city power. 
     Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a 3-dimensional view of an exercise treadmill according one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  shows an exploded view of the exercise treadmill. 
         FIG. 3  shows a partially exploded view of a running belt used in the exercise treadmill, wherein the running belt is overlaid with a plurality of elongated aluminum plates. 
         FIG. 4  shows a fragmentary, enlarged, exploded view of the running belt together with the elongated aluminum plates. 
         FIG. 5  shows an exploded view of one of the elongated aluminum plates, wherein the elongated aluminum plate is provided with small rollers. 
         FIG. 6  show a side elevation view of the exercise treadmill, wherein an inclination angle (A) is formed between a bottom of the main frame and a floor (B). 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an exercise treadmill according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown, which comprises a machine body  10 , which generally includes an incline motor  34 , a flywheel or inertia wheel  33 , a brake unit  35 , at least two rollers, a support assembly  2  between the two rollers, and a running belt  4  fitted around and engaged with the two rollers and arranged around the support assembly  2 . In particular, the exercise treadmill is provided with an accelerating means, by which, while a user is walking or running on the machine body  10 , the treading force provided by the user enables the running belt  4  to be accelerated for generating electrical power. 
     The running belt  4  is provided on its outer surface with a plurality of elongated aluminum plates  5 , which allow a user to tread thereon to facilitate the running belt  4  to move around the two rollers for generating electrical power. 
     The machine body  10  generally includes a main frame  1  and a base frame  15 . The main frame  1  has a left side member  11 , a right side member  12 , a front side member  13 , and a rear side member  14 . The two rollers include a front roller  31  and a rear roller  32 . In this embodiment, the flywheel  33  is linked with the front roller  31 . The front roller  31  is mounted close to the front side member  13  of the main frame  1 . The rear roller  32  is mounted close to the rear side member  14  of the main frame  1 . The base frame  15 , which is generally mounted under the front side member  13  of the main frame  1 , can be driven by the incline motor  34  to cause a pivotal movement of the main frame  1 , so that an inclination angle (A), greater than zero degree, is formed between a bottom of the main frame  1  and a floor (B) on which the machine body  10  rests (see  FIG. 6 ). 
     The support assembly  2  includes a plurality of transverse bars  21 , a left rail  22 , and a right rail  23 . The transverse bars  21  are fixed onto the left and right side members  11 ,  12  of the main frame  1 . Each of the transverse bars  21  is provided with a left positioning seat  211  and a right positioning seat  212  respectively at its two opposite ends. The left rail  22  is mounted onto the transverse bars  21  through the left positioning seats  211 , while the right rail  23  is mounted onto the transverse bars  21  through the right positioning seats  212 . Since the running belt  4  is engaged with the two rollers  31 ,  32 , while a user is walking or running on the elongated aluminum plates  5  provided on the running belt  4 , the front and rear rollers  31 ,  32  can be driven into rotation, which in turn drives the flywheel  33  to rotate so as to generate electrical power. When the speed of the flywheel  33  is too fast, the brake unit  35  may increase motion resistance on the flywheel  33 , so that the speed of the flywheel  33  can be reduced, thus preventing a user from a possible danger in a training activity. On the other hand, when the speed of the flywheel  33  is too low, the brake unit  35  may decrease motion resistance on the flywheel  33 , so that the speed of the flywheel  33  can be increased. 
     The brake unit  35  may use an electromagnet to control the speed of the flywheel  33 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , each of the elongated aluminum plates  5  is provided with alternate raised and recessed portions on its outer surface to increase the friction between the elongated aluminum plates  5  and the soles of a user. The running belt  4  defines a plurality of through holes  40  in pairs. Each of the elongated aluminum plates  5  is fixed onto the running belt  4  by using a plurality of fasteners  96  sequentially inserted through washers  91 , spacers  99 , and the through holes  40  of the running belt  4  into the corresponding elongated aluminum plate  5 , wherein each of the spacers  99  defines two holes corresponding to one pair of the through holes  40  of the running belt  4 . For the running belt  4 , there is a gap (H), greater than zero, between every two adjacent elongated aluminum plates  5  to prevent the elongated aluminum plates  5  from being interfered with each other while the running belt  4  is driven to move around the two rollers  31 ,  32  (see  FIG. 6 ), so that the exercise treadmill can be operated more smoothly. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , each of the elongated aluminum plates  5  is installed at its left end  51  with two small rollers  6 , and installed at its right end  52  with two small rollers  7 , wherein the small rollers  6 ,  7  can be made in the form of a bearing to achieve the rolling function. Each of the elongated aluminum plates  5  defines two engagement holes  510  at its left end  51 . For installing the two small rollers  6 , two fasteners  97  are sequentially inserted two first washers  93 , the two small rollers  6 , and two second washers  92  to be engaged with the two engagement holes  510  of the elongated aluminum plate  5 . Similarly, for installing the two small rollers  7 , two fasteners  98  are sequentially inserted through two first washers  95 , the two small rollers  7 , and two second washers  94  into the right end  52  of the elongated aluminum plates. As such, the small rollers  6 ,  7  can be placed in rolling contact with the left and right rails  22 ,  23  of the support assembly  2 , respectively, so that the friction between the elongated aluminum plates  5  and the two rails of the support assembly  2  can be reduced. The accelerating means mentioned previously can be achieved by using the small rollers  6 ,  7  in rolling contact with the left rail  22  and the left rail  23  of the support assembly  2 . 
     In use, while a user is walking or running on the running belt  4  overlaid with the elongated aluminum plates  5 , due to the small rollers  6 ,  7  installed at the elongated aluminum plates  5  being in rolling contact with the left and right rails  22 ,  23  of the support assembly  2 , the friction between the elongated aluminum plates  5  and the rails  22 ,  23  can be significantly reduced. Thus, the running belt  4  can be accelerated to move around the front and rear rollers  31 ,  32  more easily. Furthermore, due to the inclination angle (A) between the bottom of the main frame  1  and the floor (B), while a user is walking or running on the treadmill, the user&#39;s weight can be applied to the running belt  4  to facilitate the running belt  4  moving around the front and rear rollers  31 ,  32 , so that the flywheel  33  can be rotated more easily to generate electrical power, and the user can exercise on the treadmill, such as walking or running, more easily. 
     As a summary, the present invention provides a machine body of an exercise treadmill, which includes at least two rollers, a flywheel  33  linked with the two rollers, a support assembly  2  between the two rollers, and a running belt  4  fitted around and engaged with the two rollers and arranged around the support assembly  2 . The running belt  4  is provided a plurality of elongated aluminum plates on its outer surface. While a user is walking or running on the machine body, the treading force provided by the user allows the running belt  4  to be accelerated to move around the two rollers to generate electrical power. In addition to improving body health, the electrical power produced by the treadmill in the training activity can reduce the electrical consumption of city power. 
     Although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure is made by way of example only and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention hereinafter claimed.