US20080119334A1

US20080119334A1 - Exercise cycle

Info

Publication number: US20080119334A1
Application number: US11/600,214
Authority: US
Inventors: Huan-Yau Peng
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-11-16
Filing date: 2006-11-16
Publication date: 2008-05-22

Abstract

An exercise cycle is disclosed as having a base member that anchors and supports a vertical frame, a transmission mechanism, a cam mechanism, a seat and seat support, and pedals. The vertical frame includes a vertical supporting member mounted to the base member, and a vertical support extending upwardly from the vertical supporting member. The cam mechanism has two sides and one pedal is connected to each side. When a user pushes on the pedals, the cam mechanism rotates. The cam rotation surface conveys the motion to a standing support pulley and yoke pulley causing it to rotate. The yoke in turn conveys the motion to the seat support causing the seat to move up and down. The cam mechanism serves to provide an overall coordination and balance of the exercise cycle.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiment of the invention pertains to an exercise cycle, particularly pertaining to a cycling exercise fitness equipment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Fitness apparatuses are steadily gaining momentum in usage and practicality amid improved quality of living, reduced leisure time and limited access to nature. Consequently, more urbanites are turning to gyms to exercise and are using fitness devices to get their exercise. Most fitness devices have been designed along the principle of imitating the mechanical movement principle and combining it with the basic elements of certain exercise routines. However they fail to take into account the actual scenarios of outdoor exercising.
For example, conventional fitness devices that are designed to imitate the bicycling sport often focus on exercising the leg muscles but do not take into account body coordination and balance. Under the treacherous conditions of bicycling these prior art devices are unable to coordinate other body parts to exercise concurrently other parts of the human body.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the invention is to provide an exercise cycle that has an additional element of a cam mechanism, which not only offers tangible cycling functions to help achieve a body-wide exercising yield, but also provides training of the leg and waist muscles for coordinating the balance of all body parts and achieving a body-wide exercise yield.
The present invention offers a body-wide exercise yield that not only provides the user with adequate exercise but also helps to achieve an overall bodily coordination and balance.
In addressing the need for achieving a maximum body-wide exercise result, the invention aims to provide a fitness device that bears a close facsimile to bicycling to satisfy the need of a body-wide exercise.
The objective of the invention serves to devise an exercise cycle, in which said exercise cycle attempts to reconfigure the existing fitness devices by adding a cam mechanism, which not only offers tangible cycling functions to help achieve a body-wide exercising yield, but also provides training the leg and waist muscles for coordinating the balance of all body parts.
The characteristics of the preferred embodiment the invention proposes lies in that the exercise cycle's cam mechanism is supported by the supporting member extended upward from the base, with pedals connected to the two sides, where the pedals convey the cam mechanism to rotate, and convey also the vertical support and the seat in an up-down motion; with a pulley extended downward from the lower part of the vertical support, the pulley is made to contact the cam mechanism's cam rotation surface to rotate alongside the cam rotation surface, which in turn drives the vertical support to a up-down motion. At the same time, the cam rotation surface is made to contact the yoke pulley, which is located at the tip of the yoke, with the yoke anchored by the supporting member extended from the base member, and the other side of the yoke anchors the inner coupling support. While the inner coupling support anchors the seat above, the cam mechanism's rotation conveys the yoke to move, propelling the seat to move up and down.
The invention operates on the premises of reconfiguring the basic structure of a simulated cycling motion that not only providing leg muscle exercising yield, but also combining the actual state of cycling motions in instilling the exercise cycle to offer up-down motions for achieving waist muscle and body-wide exercising yield, as well as bodily coordination and balancing yield.
The preferred embodiment the invention proposes is not only easy to manufacture, requiring no complicated pars, but also conserves the production cost, and highly maneuverable by the user.
As an alternative, a resistance sheet may be added to the transmission mechanism's flywheel to increase the exercise resistance, where the resistance sheet is connected to the adjusting device, which serves to control the flywheel's propensity to achieve a varied degree of resistance increase yield, or other forms of resistance may also be added. In short, the configuration of the foresaid resistance sheet can be coordinated to a fully magnetized or semi-magnetized electromechanical system, wherein the configuration of the foresaid resistance sheet serves to provide the user with the choice of a number of exercising volumes, particularly for adjusting it at will when a user desires to increase the exercise volume in order to achieve a desired exercising volume, with options to adjust through the sensor for monitoring the exercising speed and resistance, as well as tabulating the amount of exercise and prompting the same on the display panel to inform the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side and rear perspective view of an exercise cycle according to the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a partially exploded side and rear perspective view of the exercise cycle of FIG. 1, with some parts removed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As depicted in FIG. 1, the preferred embodiment the invention pertains to an exercise cycle, which is comprised of the components of a base member 6, vertical support 1, cam mechanism 55, seat 21, and pedal 31, wherein the supporting member 61, 62 extended upward from the base member 6 serve to anchor and brace the transmission mechanism 55, vertical support 1, cam mechanism 3 and yoke 4.
The main structure of the exercise cycle serves to reconfigure the pedals 31 connected to two sides of the cam mechanism 3, where the pedals 31 convey the cam mechanism 3 to rotate, and that the rotation of the cam mechanism 3 in turn conveys the vertical support 1 and seat 21, which allows the exercise cycle to train the leg muscles and provides physical up-down motions to train the user's waist muscles, coordination and balance.
Tangibly put, with the vertical support 1 divided into two parts, the lower part of the vertical support pertains to the supporting support 51, and the upper part of the vertical support 14 is inserted into the supporting support 51, and made to connect with the pulley 15, where when the pulley is extended downward and conveyed by the pedals, the cam rotation surface 32 on the came mechanism 3 where the pulley 15 comes to contact will rotate alongside the same to propel the vertical support 1 in up-down motions; a cross piece 16 is configured to the side of the pulley 15, and a spring 17 is configured to the front of the cross piece 16, with the other end of the spring 17 connected to the spring mount 52 extended from the side of the supporting member 62, where as the pulley ascends as propelled by the cam would revert to its previous position as pulled by the spring 17 to maintain a steady contact with the cam.
With the seat up-down motions driven by the yoke 4, an inner coupling support 2 is configured on the lower part of the seat 221, wherein the seat 21 and the inner coupling support 2 can be adjusted through the adjustment bolt 22 and position pin 23 to determine the height of the seat 21, and the inner coupling support 2 is inserted into the outer coupling support 54; the outer coupling support 54 is mounted onto the base member 6, with strip opening 56 is configured on top of which, while the lower part of the inner coupling support 2 is connected to the base mount pulley 24, which when extended laterally through the outer coupling support 54's opening 56 serves to regulate the up-down movements along the direction of the opening.
The yoke 4 is configured on the base member 6's supporting member 63, with one end containing the yoke pulley 41, which when driven by the pedal, the yoke pulley 41 makes contact with the cam mechanism 3's cam rotation surface, and the center of the yoke 4 is anchored onto the supporting member 63 with the position pin inserted through the position pin hole 53. And the other end of the yoke 4 is configured with a supporting elements 42, which is used to anchor the inner coupling support 2's base mount pulley 42, which when in motion, the cam pulley 3 rotates to convey the yoke 4, propelling the seat 21 to move in an up-down motion.
Two openings 56 on the outer coupling support 54 are configured to the corresponding two sides of the outer coupling support 54 to intercept with the two base mount cams 24, which are extended through the two openings 56. As depicted in FIG. 2, the yoke 4 's supporting element 42 is in a forked configuration, where the fork is made to anchor two base mount pulleys 24 to achieve a stable supporting yield.
To increase the stability of the exercise cycle's anchoring structure, particularly the stability of the vertical support 1 and seat, a connecting piece 5 is configured between the supporting support 512 and outer coupling support 54, and two ends of the connecting piece 5 are anchored onto the supporting support 51 and outer coupling support 54, respectively.
With a handle bar 11 and display panel 12 configured on top of the vertical support, the handle bar 11 provides grip to the user when exercising, and the display panel 12 is connected to a sensor for detecting and tabulating the exercise speed and magnitude of resistance, and prompting the figures through the display screen to remind the user to moderate an adequate amount of exercise.
With position pin 13 and matching pin hole configured between the upper vertical support 14 and supporting support 51, when the pulley 15 located in the lower part of the upper vertical support is lifted to detach from the cam, the cam 15 will surpass the upper vertical support 14 and supporting support 51 the position pin 13 anchors. Concurrently, with position pin 23 and matching pin hole also configured between the inner coupling support 2 and outer coupling support 54, when the base mount cam 24 located in the lower part of the inner coupling support 2 is lifted to detach from the yoke 4, the base mount cam 24 will surpass the outer coupling support 54 and inner coupling support 2 anchored by the position pin 23, which serve to disengage the up-down motions conveyed by the cam, allowing the exercise cycle to provide what conventional fitness devices do for exercising the leg muscles.
As an alternative in design, resistant sheet serving to increase exercise resistance can be incorporated in the flywheel of the transmission mechanism 55, where the resistant sheet is connected to the adjustment device, which controls the flywheel's propensity to achieve increasing a varied degree of resistance, or resistance sheet of a different structural mode can be configured. In short, by coordinating the foresaid resistance device containing resistance sheet with a fully magnetized or semi-magnetized system, the foresaid resistance device serves to provide the user with chose of a number of exercise volumes, particularly in providing adjustment according to circumstances when a user's desiring to increase the exercise volume to achieve a desired exercising yield.
When operating the movement cycle the invention proposes, the user rides on the seat 21, with feet inserted into the pedals 31, and forcefully exert force onto the pedals 31 to convey the cam to rotate, where the cam rotation surface 32 engages the pulley 15 and yoke pulley 41 to drive the vertical support 1 and seat 21 in a up-down motion, allowing the exercise cycle to not only train the leg muscles but also offer body-wide exercising yield. At the same time, it also allows the user to achieve physical coordination and anatomical balance. To undo the up-down motion, simply disengage the vertical support and the seat from the transmission mechanism and the came respectively to obtain a lateral cycling effect.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a particular embodiment, it will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also that various presently unforeseen and unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims. Although the invention has been described with reference to specific preferred embodiments, it is not intended to be limited thereto, rather those having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that variations and modifications may be made therein which are within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An exercise cycle, which is comprised of a base member, a vertical support, a seat mounted on the vertical support, a transmission member, and at least one pedal, of which the vertical support extends upwardly from the base member and is anchored thereto and braced by a yoke; and

a cam mechanism having two sides and supported by a supporting member extending upwardly from the base member, with the pedal extending outwardly from a corresponding side of said cam mechanism, said cam member being operationally connected by the transmission mechanism to said vertical support such that a rotation of the pedal causes the cam mechanism to rotate, and the cam mechanism in turn conveys motion to the vertical support and seat to cause the seat to move up and down.

2. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vertical support and cam mechanism are connected through a pulley extended down from the vertical support, which contacts with a cam rotation surface of the cam mechanism.

3. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 2, wherein with the vertical support is divided into two parts, a lower part of the vertical support is mounted to the base member, and the upper part of the vertical support is inserted into the supporting support and makes contact with the pulley.

4. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 3, wherein with a position pin and pin hole configured between the upper vertical support and the base member, the position pin anchors the vertical support and supporting support through the pin hole and also configured between the inner coupling support and outer coupling support, the position pin anchors the outer coupling support and inner coupling support through the pin hole.

5. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 2, wherein a connecting piece is configured to the side of the pulley, the front of the connecting piece is connected to a spring, and the other end of the spring is connected to a spring mount extended from the side of the supporting member.

6. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 5, wherein the height of the seat can be adjusted through an adjustment bolt and position pin located between the seat and the inner coupling support.

7. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 5, wherein with the inner coupling support inserted into the outer coupling support, the outer coupling support is mounted onto the base member, on which there is strip-configured opening; and the lower part of the inner coupling support is connected to the base mount pulley, where the base mount pulley extends laterally through the opening of the outer coupling support to carry out the up-down motions along the direction of the hole opening.

8. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 7, wherein there are two openings on the outer coupling support which are located on two sides corresponding to the outer coupling support, and two base mount pulleys, which are extended through the two openings of the outer coupling support, while the yoke's supporting element, a forked structure, has the fork extended to anchor the two base mount pulleys.

9. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 7, wherein with position pin and pin hole configured between the upper vertical support and the base member, the position pin anchors the vertical support and base member through the pin hole; at the same time, with position pin and pin hole also configured between the inner coupling support and outer coupling support, the position pin anchors the outer coupling support and inner coupling support through the pin hole.

10. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 9, wherein a connecting piece is configured between the base member and other telescoping support, with its two ends anchoring separately onto the supporting support and outer telescoping support.

11. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vertical support contains a handle bar and display panel. Said display panel is connected to a sensor.

12. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein a resistance sheet serving to increase the exercise resistance can be added to the transmission mechanism's flywheel, in which the resistance sheet is connected to an adjustment device, where the adjustment device serves to control the resistance of the flywheel to achieve a varied degree in the resistance yield, or a resistance device in other types of configuration mode can also be configured.

13. The exercise cycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cam mechanism's cam rotation surface is made to contact the yoke pulley, which is configured to the tip of the yoke, a supporting element on the other end of the yoke is made to anchor the inner coupling support, and the top part of the inner coupling support is connected to the seat.