Patent ID: 7780573

Claim:
A track assembly for an omni-directional treadmill comprising: a plurality of transverse endless belts, transverse supports for the transverse endless belts and wherein the endless belts are located in adjacent side-by-side positions, said plurality of transverse endless belts having a combined user surface for supporting a user walking or running thereon, drive couplings connecting adjacent transverse endless belts whereby all of the transverse belts are simultaneously moved in the same selective transverse direction which is transverse to a longitudinal direction of the track assembly, a first drive mechanism operable to selectively move all of the transverse belts in the same transverse direction, said first drive mechanism includes a plurality of omni-wheels located in driving engagement with the transverse belts operable to move all the transverse belts in selective transverse directions, and a drive device for rotating the omni-wheels about a longitudinal axis thereby moving the transverse belts in the selected transverse direction, endless longitudinal loop members connected to the transverse supports for the transverse endless belts, longitudinal rails supporting the endless longitudinal loop members and transverse supports for movement in selective longitudinal directions, a second drive mechanism operable to move the loop members in selective longitudinal directions, and a control responsive to the user on the user surface to control the operation of the first and second drive mechanisms thereby controlling the omni-directional user movement to conform with the directional orientation of the user on the user surface.