Patent Publication Number: US-2004048725-A1

Title: Exercising hula-hoop assembly with radio frequency signal transmission and receiver unit

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] This present invention relates to an exercising hula-hoop assembly, and more especially to an exercising hula-hoop assembly with a radio frequency signal transmitter and a remote receiver unit for receiving radio frequency signal transmitted from the transmitter.  
       [0003] 2. The Related Art  
       [0004] The conventional exercising hula-hoop presents a popular exercise and is a recreational device suitable for the entire family, fun and easy to use with little space taken. However, in exercising with the conventional exercising hula-hoop, the user executes boring and monotonous shaking motion, nor can the user get related information of the exercise. Thus, the user often loses interest after a while. The conventional art sought to improve this by adding to the exercising hula-hoop the capabilities for keeping track of calories burned, duration of exercise, number of rotations, and audio feedback, etc. found in other exercise equipment.  
       [0005] One of the prior art exercising hula-hoops is designed to have information displaying function. Such prior art exercising hula-hoop is equipped with a display unit, a battery, and a triggering switch, so that related excising information can be displayed on the display unit. However, this design has various drawbacks. For example, when the exercising hula-hoop is prone to collision or falling to the floor during use, electronic components mounted within the exercising hula-hoop are easy to be damaged.  
       [0006] Moreover, because the display unit is mounted on the exercising hula-hoop, the user is unable to read the related information displayed on the display unit during exercise. To read the display unit, the user must stop exercising, which is inconvenient. Furthermore, as batteries, display unit and electronic components are mounted in the exercising hula-hoop, it increases the weight of the hula-hoop and causes weight imbalance when shaking the exercising hula-hoop around.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007] Thus, the primary object of the present invention is to provide an exercising hula-hoop assembly with a radio frequency signal transmitter and a remote receiver unit, so that the use of exercising hula-hoop can be monitored and displayed by the remote receiver unit.  
       [0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide an exercising hula-hoop composed of a plurality of arched sections and a plurality of connecting rings coupled therebetween. At least one of the arched sections is mounted with a depressible switch for detecting the use of the hula-hoop.  
       [0009] The other object of the present invention is to provide an exercising hula-hoop assembly with a switch contact assembly including a conductive member covered with a waterproof layer. When the conductive member is depressed by a force applied from the interior surface of the exercising hula-hoop, the conductive member is moved toward and contact a pair of contact pads, so that a radio frequency signal is transmitted by the radio frequency signal transmitter.  
       [0010] To achieve the above objects, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided an exercising hula-hoop assembly comprising an exercising hula-hoop having an interior surface and an opposite exterior surface defining an inner space therebetween; at least one depressible switch arranged on the interior surface of the exercising hula-hoop; a switch contact assembly arranged within the inner space of the exercising hula-hoop, operable by the depressible switch, which generating a triggering signal each time the triggering switch is depressed; a radio frequency signal transmitter arranged with in the inner space of the exercising hula-hoop and electrically connected to the switch contact assembly, for generating a radio frequency signal when the triggering signal is received from the switch contact assembly; and a remote receiver unit with a radio frequency signal receiving circuit for receiving the radio frequency signal transmitted from the radio frequency signal transmitter.  
       [0011] Preferably, the exercising hula-hoop is composed of a plurality of arched sections, at least one of the arched sections being mounted with the depressible switch, the switch contact assembly, and the radio frequency signal transmitter. The remote receiver unit is preferably equipped with an audio synthesizer for generating an audio signal and a plurality of switches for setting. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0012] The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:  
     [0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exercising hula-hoop assembly in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0014]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the triggering section of the exercising hula-hoop of FIG. 1;  
     [0015]FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the triggering section of FIG. 2;  
     [0016]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line  4 - 4  of FIG. 2.  
     [0017]FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the remote receiver unit in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0018]FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing the display unit of the remote receiver unit of FIG. 5;  
     [0019]FIG. 7 is a functional circuit diagram of the radio frequency signal transmitter of the present invention;  
     [0020]FIG. 8 is a functional circuit diagram of the radio frequency signal receiver of the present invention; and  
     [0021]FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 4 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
     [0022] With reference to FIG. 1, it is a perspective view of an exercising hula-hoop assembly in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The exercising hula-hoop  1  of the present invention is mainly composed of a plurality of arched sections  11  and a plurality of connecting rings  12  coupled therebetween to form a substantially circular structure. One of the arched sections  11  servers as a triggering section  2  provided with a triggering switch  21  which is mounted on an interior surface of the triggering section  2  of the exercising hula-hoop  1 . Further, a remote receiver unit  3  is located on a place at a proper distance from the exercising hula-hoop  1 .  
     [0023]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the triggering section  2  of the exercising hula-hoop  1  of FIG. 1. An inner space is defined in the triggering section  2 . A radio frequency signal transmitter (described below) which can be actuated by the triggering switch  21  is installed within the inner space of the triggering section  2  of the exercising hula-hoop  1 . So, each time the user shakes the exercising hula-hoop  1 , the triggering switch  21  is actuated and then a radio frequency signal is transmitted by the transmitter. The transmitted signal will be received by the remote receiver unit  3 .  
     [0024]FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the triggering section  2  of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line  4 - 4  of FIG. 2. The triggering section  2  is composed of an interior casing  2   a  and an exterior casing  2   b  fastened by means of a plurality of fastening elements  213 . The triggering switch  21  includes a depressible switch  211  which is mounted on a concave portion  212  formed on the interior surface of the interior casing  2   a  of the triggering section  2 . A pair of elastic members  214  are further inserted between the depressible switch  211  and the concave portion  212  of the interior casing  2   a . A contact plate  215  made of metal material is arranged in the inner space formed between the interior casing  2   a  and the exterior casing  2   b  and fixed onto the inner side of the depressible switch  211  by two fastening elements  216 . So, when the depressible switch  211  is depressed by a force applied from the interior surface thereof toward the interior casing  2   a , the contact plate  215  is moved toward the interior surface of the exterior casing  2   b.    
     [0025] A printed circuit board  217  with a radio frequency signal transmitter thereon is mounted within the inner space of the exercising hula-hoop  1 . A pair of separated contact pads  218  electrically connected to the printed circuit board  217  are fixedly located on the interior surface of the exterior casing  2   b  in correspondence to the contact plate  215 . In such arrangement, when the depressible switch  211  is depressed, the contact plate  215  is moved and contacts with the contact pads  218 , so that a triggering signal is applied to the radio frequency signal transmitter arranged on the printed circuit board  217 . A battery retainer with a battery cover  219  is formed on the exterior surface of the exterior casing  2   b . At least one battery  220  is retained in the battery retainer for supplying electric power to the radio frequency signal transmitter of the present invention.  
     [0026]FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the remote receiver unit  3  in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing the display unit  31  of the remote receiver unit  3  of FIG. 5. As shown, the remote receiver unit  3  is provided with a display unit  31  for displaying various operational statuses of the excising hula-hoop. A depressible check/stop button  32  is arranged on the top end of the receiver  3 . A hoop/clock button  33 , a data setting button  34 , and a mode selection switch  35  are further arranged on the front panel of the remote receiver unit  3  for setting.  
     [0027] Referring to FIG. 7, it is a functional circuit diagram of the radio frequency signal transmitter  100  installed within the exercising hula-hoop  1  of the present invention. The radio frequency signal transmitter  100  is arranged on the printed circuit board  217 , with reference to FIG. 4, and includes an encoder  101 , a frequency modulator  102 , an amplifier  103 , and an antenna  104 . Each time the triggering switch  21  is depressed, a triggering signal S 1  is generated and supplied to the encoder  101 . An encoded triggering signal is then generated by the encoder  101  and supplied to the frequency modulator  102  which modulates the encoded triggering signal and forwards it to the amplifier  103  for signal amplification. Finally, the amplified signal is transmitted through the antenna  104 . In this manner, the radio frequency signal transmitter  100  responds to the triggering signal S 1  actuated by the triggering switch  21 . That is, each time the triggering switch  21  touches the user&#39;s body, the radio frequency signal transmitter  100  transmits a radio frequency signal to the remote receiver unit  3 .  
     [0028] More than one triggering switch  21  may be mounted on the interior surface of the exercising hula-hoop  1  at different positions, and the radio frequency signal transmitter  100  responds to each triggering switch  21 . Namely, each time the user&#39;s body depresses one of the triggering switches, the radio frequency signal transmitter  100  will emit a radio frequency signal corresponding to the depression of the triggering switches. In this manner, signals corresponding to user&#39;s body contacting the exercising hula-hoop at different points can be generated. This embodiment can be accomplished by modifying the circuitry of the radio frequency signal transmitter  10 , such that each triggering switch  21  should have a respective wire electrically connected to the encoder  101 . This modification can be easily accomplished by those who are skilled in this art.  
     [0029] Referring to FIG. 8, it is a functional circuit diagram of the remote receiver unit  300  of the present invention. The remote receiver unit  300  includes an antenna  301 , a frequency demodulator  302 , a filter-amplifier  303 , a decoder  304 , a counting circuit  305 , a microprocessor  306 , an audio synthesizer  307 , and a display  31 . In addition, a number of switches are connected to the microprocessor  306 , including a check/stop button  32 , a hoop/clock button  33 , a data setting button  34 , and a mode selection switch  35 .  
     [0030] Radio frequency signals transmitted from the exercising hula-hoop  1  are received by the antenna  301  and then demodulated by the frequency demodulator  302 . The demodulated radio frequency signal is then filtered and amplified by the filter-amplifier  303  before decoded by the decoder  304 . The decoder  304  is capable of generating a series of counting signals S 2  in accordance with the received radio frequency signal from the radio frequency signal transmitter  100  shown in FIG. 7, to the counting circuit  305  for counting. Then, the count number outputted from the counting circuit  305  is supplied to the microprocessor  306 , and displayed on the display unit  31  when operating in hula operation mode.  
     [0031] The audio synthesizer  307  can generate an audio signal through a speaker  308  under control of the microprocessor  306  during the excising hula-hoop is used. Preferably, the audio synthesizer  307  is capable of generating the audio signal in different voices in response to the exercising hula-hoop mode or alarm-clock mode.  
     [0032] The display unit  31  receives digitized information from the microprocessor  306 , which contains the aforementioned information under the exercising hula-hoop mode and digitized information of time/date under the alarm-clock mode.  
     [0033] In addition, the microprocessor  306  can receive various signals for setting the conditions of using the exercising hula-hoop via the check/stop button  32 , the hoop/clock button  33 , the data setting button  34 , and the mode selection switch  35 .  
     [0034] The check/stop push button  32  is used to check workout time, calorie consumption and total number of rotations of the hula-hoop. In addition, the check/stop button  32  is also used to turn off alarm and music during playing. The hoop/clock button  33  is used to display hoop time/clock time by pressing/releasing operation. The data setting button  34  is used to set and adjust time, alarm and other hoop setting functions. The mode selection switch  35  is used to select the excising hula-hoop of the present invention either operated in clock mode or hoop mode. In clock mode, the weekday, hour, minute and alarm time can be set. In hoop mode, the workout time, number of rotations, calories consumed, mute function button, music selection, and weight setting can be set.  
     [0035]FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 4 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, most components and structures are similar to that of the previous embodiment shown in FIG. 4. So, the same reference numbers used in the previous drawing will be used to refer to the same or like parts.  
     [0036] Similarly, a printed circuit board  217  with a radio frequency signal transmitter thereon is mounted within the exercising hula-hoop  1 . The triggering switch  21   a  includes a pair of separated contact pads  218  electrically connected to the printed circuit board  217  and fixedly located within the exercising hula-hoop  1 . An opening  221  is formed on the interior surface of the exercising hula-hoop  1 . A conductive member  222  is arranged in the opening  221 , facing the contact pads  218  with a suitable distance. Further, a waterproof layer  223  covers on the opening  221  of the exercising hula-hoop  1  and attached with the conductive member  222 .  
     [0037] When the conductive member  222  is depressed by a force applied from the interior surface of the exercising hula-hoop  1 , the conductive member  222  is moved toward and contact the contact pads  218 , so that a triggering signal is applied to the radio frequency signal transmitter on the printed circuit board  217 .  
     [0038] Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.