Abstract:
A damping adjusting mechanism for exercise machines comprise&#39;s a mount to be connected to an exercise machine, a locking unit mounted on top of the mount having a vertical slot, an adjusting unit inserted into a longitudinal through hole within the locking unit, and a press-on member partly embedded within the vertical slot, wherein it is pivotally attached. The press-on member further includes a plurality of uniformly distributed tooth sections for the engagement with the mount. Thereby, a user can presses the press-on member to drive a pull string that adjusts the spacing between a damping wheel and a magnet belt, achieving damping of various magnitudes.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to damping adjustment for exercise machines, more particularly to a damping adjusting mechanism for exercise machines installed on a handle. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Many exercise machines are equipped with damping mechanisms for producing resistant effect. However, to achieve resistant effects of various degrees, a damping adjusting mechanism is necessary so that a user can twist the string for varying the spacing a set of magnetic plates and the surface of magnetic suction on a damping wheel. Thereby, the magnitude of the resistance when the machine is stepped on can be adjusted to achieve different work strengths. 
         [0003]    Although the damping adjusting mechanisms of the prior art is convenient to a user, there is a lack in multi-step locking mechanism, which may cause a change in the resistance of the stepping is too wild. The sudden change in resistance may cause anomalous and harmful shock to the user&#39;s knees. Further, it is necessary to exert larger force to twist the conventional dial-type damping adjusting mechanism, which may cause an obstacle to users with smaller waist strength. It is therefore necessary to invent a damping adjusting mechanism with a resistance locking function and which is easy to adjust at the same time. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a damping adjusting mechanism for exercise machines by which the damping effect can be adjusted easily. 
         [0005]    The secondary objective of the present invention is to provide a damping adjusting mechanism for exercise machines having a push-type device for adjusting damping. 
         [0006]    To achieve above object, the present invention provides a damping adjusting mechanism for exercise machines, comprising: a mount attached to an exercise machine; a press-on member partly embedded and pivotally mounted within the mount, a bottom face of the press-on member further including a plurality of uniformly distributed tooth sections for engaging the mount, the press-on member further comprising a lateral indication panel so that a user can see through a view window on a corresponding sidewall of the mount to monitor damping condition; and a locking unit mounted on top of the mount having a vertical slot, the locking unit further comprising an adjusting unit inserted into a longitudinal through hole therein and a retaining piece consisting of a rod part and an expanded end, the retaining piece thus being a T-shaped body that can be locked with a retaining tooth, the retaining piece in cooperation with a recoil unit achieving multi-sectional adjustment of damping; whereby the user can presses the press-on member to drive a pull string that adjusts the spacing between a damping wheel and a magnet belt for achieving damping of various degrees. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a damping adjusting mechanism for exercise machines of the present invention. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the damping adjusting mechanism for; exercise machines in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a lateral cross-sectional view of the damping adjusting mechanism for exercise machines in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  shows the configuration of least damped damping adjusting mechanism in  FIG. 3 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  shows the configuration of moderately damped damping adjusting mechanism in  FIG. 3 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the damped damping adjusting mechanism attached to an exercise machine. 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  shows another preferred embodiment of the mount associated with the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 8  is an exploded perspective view of the damped damping adjusting mechanism attached to an exercise machine. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0015]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , a damping adjusting mechanism for exercise machines according to the present invention is mounted on a rod-like handle  2  of an exercise machine  1 , which is a damping adjusting mechanism  3  controlling the spacing between a magnetic belt (not shown) and a damping wheel  5  by a string  4 . Thereby, the damping coefficient of the damping wheel  5  can be freely adjusted to provide a user with exercises of different strength. 
         [0016]    The present invention is an improved damping adjusting mechanism  3  mounted on the handle  2  of the exercise machine  1  comprising a mount  30 , a press-on member  40  and a locking unit. 
         [0017]    The bottom end of the mount  30  is provided with an engagement surface  31  taking the curved shape. The engagement surface  31  is provided with a through hole  32 , and the mount  30  is provided with a slot  33  in a longitudinal direction perpendicular to the through hole  32 . Further, the bottom end of the mount  30  adjacent to the slot  33  is provided with a square locking hole  34  passing through the mount  30  and perpendicularly connected to the through hole  32 . The end of the slot  33  opposite to the mount  30  is further provided with a string hole  35  connected to the slot  33  for the passage of the string  4 . One end of the string  4  is connected to the magnet belt adjacent to the damping wheel  5 , and the other end thereof passing thorugh the slot  33  is connected to the press-on member  40  for a user to control the spacing between the magnet belt and the damping wheel. Thereby, a variety of resistant effects can be provided. 
         [0018]    The press-on member  40  includes an insertion portion  41  contained in the slot  33  and a press-on handle  42  extended out of the slot  33 . There are eight tooth sections  411  distributed along the upper face of the through hole  32 , which correspond to the insertion portion  41  in the slot  33 . Each of the tooth sections  411  consists of a slope a and a vertical face b. A lateral side of the insertion portion  41  is further provided with a indication panel  412  showing a range of eight damping coefficients. There is a view window  36  on the lateral side of the mount  30  corresponding to the indication panel  412 , thereby a user can view the precise damping effect. On the opposite side of the indication panel  412  of the insertion portion  41  there is a pivot hole  413  connected to the locking hole  34  for facilitating the penetration of a pin  100 , whereby the press-on member  40  can be pushed downward to engage the mount  30 . The restoring of the press-on member  40  is realized by a torsion spring  43  inserted between the pivot hole  413  and the locking hole  34 . The bottom of the pivot hole  413  facing forward is obliquely extended with a locking piece  414  that will settle into the V-shaped space  331  within the slot  33  when the press-on member  40  is located at the section of least damping. Thereby, the locking piece  414  can prevent unwanted departure of the press-on member  40  from the mount  30 . 
         [0019]    The locking unit further comprises an adjusting unit  51  and a retaining piece  52 . The adjusting unit  51  further includes a round head  511  disposed on top of the through hole  32  and handle part  512  extended from one end of the round head  511 . The round head  511  further includes a longitudinal receptacle  513  on a flat bottom thereof toward the through hole  32  and a transverse through hole  514  perpendicular to the longitudinal receptacle  513 . 
         [0020]    The retaining piece  52  is T-shaped part consisting of an expanded end  521  and a rod part  522 . The retaining piece  52  further comprises a retaining tooth  5211  capable of being engaged with the tooth sections  411 . The rod part  522  is encircled by a recoil part  53  and has a through hole  5221  aligned with the transverse through hole  514 . The retaining piece  52  will be inserted into the through hole  32  and stopped within the longitudinal receptacle  513  of the round head  511 . A pin  100  is inserted into the transverse through hole  514  and the through hole  5221 , whereby the locking unit will be stably mounted on the upper opening of the through hole  32 . 
         [0021]    To use the damping adjusting mechanism  3  and show its effects, please refer to  FIGS. 3 to 5 . 
         [0022]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , the retaining tooth  5211  of the locking unit are in a position corresponding to a tooth section  411  marked by  1 ; at this moment, the magnet belt and the damping wheel are closest, and therefore the damping effect is maximized. A user needs to exert a strong stepping force to drive the damping wheel. To lower the damping effect to a moderate value, the user does not have to stepping; all he or she has to do is to hold the press-on handle  42  of the press-on member  40  tight, and the press-on member  40  will rotate about the pivotal point, pushing the slopes a of the tooth sections  411  forward over the retaining tooth  5211  till the retaining tooth  5211  falls into a tooth section  411  marked by  6 . Thus, the damping adjusting mechanism is easy to operate, and the user can monitor the status of damping through the view window. 
         [0023]    It is a further safety measure that when the press-on member  46  is accidentally pushed by the user and the retaining tooth  5211  slides to the tooth section  411  of minimal damping marked by  8 , the locking piece  414  will be stopped in the V-shaped space  331  in the slot  33 , preventing a departure of the retaining tooth  5211  from the tooth sections  411 . Further, when a user wants to change the magnitude of damping from the minimum to the maximum, the retaining tooth  5211  will be blocked by the vertical faces b in the tooth sections  411  unless the twisted torsion spring  43  is activated by the recoil part  53  driven by the handle part  512  of the adjusting unit  51 . Therefore, the adjustment of damping can recoil and secure the adjustment quickly. 
         [0024]    The vertical faces b in the tooth sections  411  of the present invention provide the retaining tooth  5211  a locking mechanism for preventing a departure of the retaining tooth  5211  from the tooth sections  411  and falling into the tooth section  411  of maximal damping, which will cause a sudden rise of damping resistance that may hurt the user. 
         [0025]    More than that, the damping adjusting mechanism  3  of the present invention is different form the devices of the prior art in that the damping is adjusted by a press-on means, which is easy to operate; the press-on member  40  controls the suction force between the damping wheel and the magnet belt through the recoil spring  43  can achieve step-be step damping adjustment. 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , except for the connecting mechanism between the engagement surface  31 of the mount  30  and the handle  2  by either soldering or screwing, the curved retaining plate  31 a taking the shape of hollow cylinder can be applied to provide a connecting mechanism between the mount  30  and the handle  2 . 
         [0027]    Referring to  FIG. 8 , the tooth sections  411  of the damping adjusting mechanism  3  are transformed into a left groove and a right groove, whereby the retaining tooth  5211  will recoil for a single step when the adjusting unit  51  is pressed, which can prevent a sudden surge of damping resistance due to improper operation. 
         [0028]    The present invention is thus described, and it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.