PROGRAMMED BICYCLE EXERCISER
First Claim
1. Exercise apparatus for use by a human being comprising, pedal means adapted for rotation by said human being, means for loading said pedal means with a torque load including a servo-motor to consume said human being'"'"''"'"'s energy, means for controlling said loading means to automatically provide at least three different successive torque loads of sequentially increasing magnitude, such controlling means forming a control loop and including electrical bridge means having two legs, one leg having first potentiometer means programmed to provide three reference voltages corresponding to said torque loads, the other leg having second potentiometer means coupled to said loading means and responsive to said torque load to produce a feedback voltage proportional thereto, said bridge combining said feed-back and reference voltages to produce an error signal, means for coupling said error signal to said servo-motor whereby said torque load on said pedal means is automatically controlled;
- and means included in said first leg for varying said reference voltage for concurrently varying said three torque loads by the same proportion.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Exercise apparatus in the form of a stationary bicycle in which the torque load on the pedals is adjusted through a predetermined cycle of operation by a servo motor applying a friction load to a flywheel driven by the pedals. A control loop includes a bridge circuit, coupled to the servo motor, sensitive to the amount of torque presently being applied by the servo motor and the control loop adjusts torque to a reference setting provided by a programming device. This device includes series connected resistors which are scanned by a moving contact coupled to a clock motor to provide for variation of torque load on the pedals.
121 Citations
6 Claims
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1. Exercise apparatus for use by a human being comprising, pedal means adapted for rotation by said human being, means for loading said pedal means with a torque load including a servo-motor to consume said human being'"'"''"'"'s energy, means for controlling said loading means to automatically provide at least three different successive torque loads of sequentially increasing magnitude, such controlling means forming a control loop and including electrical bridge means having two legs, one leg having first potentiometer means programmed to provide three reference voltages corresponding to said torque loads, the other leg having second potentiometer means coupled to said loading means and responsive to said torque load to produce a feedback voltage proportional thereto, said bridge combining said feed-back and reference voltages to produce an error signal, means for coupling said error signal to said servo-motor whereby said torque load on said pedal means is automatically controlled;
- and means included in said first leg for varying said reference voltage for concurrently varying said three torque loads by the same proportion.
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2. Exercise apparatus for use by a human being comprising, pedal means adapted for rotation by said human being, means for loading said pedal means with a torque load to consume said human being'"'"''"'"'s energy, means for controlling said loading means to automatically provide at least three different successive torque loads of sequentially increasing magnitude, said means for controlling said loading means including an electrical bridge having two legs one leg having first potentiometer means having a first output terminal with a predetermined voltage thereon and the other leg having second potentiometer means having a second output terminal with a voltage thereon determined by said torque load, said first potentiometer means including a series string of resistors coupled to segmented contacts to provide said different loads and in which said first output terminal is a moving contact scanning said segmented contacts to vary said torque load.
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3. Exercise apparatus as in claim 2 together with means for concurrently varying said three torque loads by the same proportion, such means including potentiometer means in series with said string of resistors.
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4. Exercise apparatus as in claim 2 in which said segmented contacts are arranged in a circular configuration to provide cyclical operation of said means for controlling said loading means.
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5. Exercise apparatus as in claim 2 in which said segmented contacts are in the form of parallelogramS so that said moving contact is in simultaneous contact with adjacent segmented contacts during movement between contacts.
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6. Exercise apparatus for use by a human being comprising, pedal means adapted for rotation by said human being, means for loading said pedal means with a torque load to consume said human being'"'"''"'"'s energy, means for controlling said loading means to automatically provide at least three different successive torque loads of sequentially increasing magnitude, and for providing a fourth torque load at a predetermined time after said three loads of a magnitude lower than any of said three loads, means for sensing the rotary speed of said pedal means, means for indicating such rotary speed whereby said pedal means may be rotated at a first constant speed with said three different torque loads, indicating means responsive to said means for controlling said loading means for indicating a desired change to a higher second constant speed when said fourth torque load is provided.
Specification