Patent Publication Number: US-6213919-B1

Title: Anti-toppling device for treadmill&#39;s frame

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an anti-toppling device for treadmill&#39;s frame, and more particularly, to a device through which the treadmill won&#39;t be toppled over when it is placed in an upright folded state and hit by any unexpected factors. Therefore, the toppling event can be avoided and the safety of people and objects can also be protected. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     All of treadmill of the prior art can be raised upwards to a proper angle to be in a upright folded state in order to reduce the occupied space and to facilitate the position movement. However, when the frame is raised, it is supported by ad pneumatic cylinder disposed at one side of the bottom of the frame to achieve the anti-toppling effect. This prior art is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,676,624, 5,868,648, 5,833,577, etc. 
     Nevertheless, the treadmill isn&#39;t light so that the frame thereof is easily toppled over by unexpected external factors (e.g. incidentally hit by persons or objects or shaken due to earthquake or falling of heavy objects onto the ground). This will seriously endanger the safety of persons and objects. Certainly, it will also cause malfunction of the device. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is a main object of the present invention to provide an anti-toppling device for treadmill&#39;s frame through which the treadmill won&#39;t be toppled over when it is placed in an upright folded state and hit by any unexpected factors. Therefore, the toppling event can be avoided and the safety of people and objects can also be protected. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The drawings disclose illustrative an embodiment of the present invention which serves to exemplify the various advantages and objects hereof, and are as follows: 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an anti-toppling device in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of the present invention after assembly in a supporting state; 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing illustrating how the supporting effect in accordance with the present invention is removed; and 
     FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of the present invention illustrating the position thereof in a flat ready-to-use state. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     First of all, referring to FIG. 1, the anti-toppling device for treadmill&#39;s frame in accordance with the present invention is fitted to one side of the frame&#39;s bottom of the conventional treadmill, and the treadmill  10  includes a front supporting lever  20 , a handgrip frame  30 , a frame  40 , a running belt  50  and a rear supporting lever  60 , wherein the bottom end of one side of the frame  40  of the treadmill is fitted with a pneumatic cylinder  41  on which an auxiliary supporting element  70  and a turning spring  80  are mounted, and wherein a mounting member  72  on one side of the auxiliary supporting element  70  and a locating hole  82  of the turning spring  80  together with a pivoting member  43  of an application rod  42  of the pneumatic cylinder  41  are pivoted on the same locating shaft  46  of the frame  40 . 
     The auxiliary supporting element  70  is hollow-shaped through which the pneumatic cylinder  41  can be plugged, wherein one end thereof is provided with the mounting member  72  with mounting holes  71 , and wherein the middle bottom end thereof is fitted with engaging member  74  made of soft material, and wherein another end thereof is formed to be a foot pedal  76 . 
     One foot  84  of the turning spring  80  is hooked at the bottom end of the supporting element  70  while another foot  86  is supported at a corner of the inner side of the frame  40  so that the supporting element  70  can be permanently pushed toward the pneumatic cylinder  41  through the effect of the turning spring  80 . 
     Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2, when the frame  40  is raised in an upright folded state, the supporting element  70  will be shifted upwards with the position of the locating shaft  46  while the application rod  42  of the pneumatic cylinder  41  is in a synchronically protruding state until the engaging member  74  at the bottom end of the middle section of the supporting element  70  is supported at the side edge  45  of a main body  44  of the pneumatic cylinder  41  so that the desired anti-toppling effect can be achieved. 
     Furthermore, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, in removing the supporting effect of the supporting element  70 , the user has to tread on the foot pedal  76  of the supporting element  70  so that the supporting element  70  is shifted downwards around the locating shaft  46 . At that time, the engaging member  74  of the supporting element  70  won&#39;t be supported at the side edge  45  of the main body  44  of the pneumatic cylinder  41  any more so that the frame  40  can be moved downwards. Moreover, the application rod  42  of the pneumatic cylinder  41  is gradually moved into the main body  44  of the pneumatic cylinder  41  with the position change of the locating shaft  46  until the frame  40  is flat placed on the ground  90 . 
     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 claims.