Exercise apparatus and method which simulate stair climbing
First Claim
1. An exercise apparatus which simulates stair climbing by allowing user effort to lift the user'"'"'s weight at a desired speed of climbing, comprising;
- two user-operated pedals which are separately movable back and forth between upper and lower positions;
each pedal being individually moved downwardly by user climbing effort as the user'"'"'s weight is lifted into the pedal in its upper position;
means for returning each pedal into its upper position after the user'"'"'s weight has been removed from its;
a rotating member whose speed of motion is proportional to the speed of climbing by the user;
a friction brake cooperating with the rotating member to maintain the speed of the rotating member at a value representing a preselected climbing rate;
an actuator which exerts force to cause motion in one direction to increase the friction of the brake, and motion in another direction to decrease the friction of the brake;
speed sensing means for providing a value indicating the actual speed of motion attained by the rotating member;
means for providing command speed of motion of the rotating member, representing the user'"'"'s desired climbing speed;
means for determining whether the actual speed or the command speed is greater than the other; and
means for controlling the direction of motion caused by the actuator in response to the speed determining means.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An exercise apparatus is disclosed which simulates a stair climber, and which determines the amount of user exercise by the speed of rotation of a flywheel. The speed of the flywheel is controlled to maintain the desired speed of stair climbing by a friction belt engaging the flywheel. A rotary electrical motor is moved in one direction to tighten the belt on the flywheel and in the opposite direction to loosen the belt on the flywheel. A slack sensor determines whether the motor has been moved to a limit in the belt-loosening direction. Incremental changes of motor energy are used to gradually reduce an error signal between command speed and actual speed. Pulse width modulation is used to vary the motor energy in accordance with the size of the error signal.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. An exercise apparatus which simulates stair climbing by allowing user effort to lift the user'"'"'s weight at a desired speed of climbing, comprising;
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two user-operated pedals which are separately movable back and forth between upper and lower positions; each pedal being individually moved downwardly by user climbing effort as the user'"'"'s weight is lifted into the pedal in its upper position; means for returning each pedal into its upper position after the user'"'"'s weight has been removed from its; a rotating member whose speed of motion is proportional to the speed of climbing by the user; a friction brake cooperating with the rotating member to maintain the speed of the rotating member at a value representing a preselected climbing rate; an actuator which exerts force to cause motion in one direction to increase the friction of the brake, and motion in another direction to decrease the friction of the brake; speed sensing means for providing a value indicating the actual speed of motion attained by the rotating member; means for providing command speed of motion of the rotating member, representing the user'"'"'s desired climbing speed; means for determining whether the actual speed or the command speed is greater than the other; and means for controlling the direction of motion caused by the actuator in response to the speed determining means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A user effort controlling system for an exercise apparatus having two user-operated pedals each movable from an upper to a lower position by the user'"'"'s weight, a flywheel adapted to be driven in a single direction of rotation by the user'"'"'s weight on either pedal, and means for causing the user'"'"'s weight on either pedal to exert driving force on the flywheel only when that pedal is moving from its upper to its lower position, the user-effort controlling system comprising:
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an anchored friction belt adapted to engage the flywheel to control its speed of rotation, an electrical motor connected to the friction belt for causing tightening or loosening of the belt on the flywheel; speed sensing means for indicating the actual speed of motion of the flywheel; speed command means for indicating the user desired flywheel speed; means for comparing the actual and desired flywheel speeds to determine an error value; means for causing the motor to tighten the belt on the flywheel when the error value indicates that the actual flywheel speed exceeds the desired speed; and means for causing the motor to loosen the belt on the flywheel when the error value indicates that the desired flywheel speed exceeds the actual speed. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for obtaining a desired user effort level for an exercise apparatus having two user-operated pedals each movable from an upper to a lower position by the user'"'"'s weight, a flywheel adapted to be driven in a single direction of rotation by the user'"'"'s weight on either pedal, and means for causing the user'"'"'s weight on either pedal to exert driving force on the flywheel only when that pedal is moving from its upper to its lower position, the method for obtaining a desired user effort level, comprising:
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applying friction to the flywheel to control the speed of the flywheel; sensing the actual speed of the flywheel; establishing a user-desired flywheel command speed; comparing the actual flywheel speed to the desired flywheel speed in order to derive an error value; and varying the friction exerted on the flywheel in order to reduce the error value. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A user effort controlling system for an exercise apparatus which simulates stair-climbing and has (a) user-operated pedals each movable from an upper to a lower position by the user'"'"'s weight at the climbing speed of the user, and (b) a movable member whose speed of motion varies with the climbing speed of the user, the user-effort controlling system comprising:
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mechanical friction means for applying friction to the movable member in order to vary its speed of motion; speed measuring means for establishing the actual speed of motion of the movable member; user-controlled means for establishing a command speed representing the climbing speed desired by the user; error-value-determining means for indicating the instantaneous difference between the actual speed established by the speed-measuring means and the command speed established by the user-controlled means; and force-exerting mechanical means which is adapted to (1) exert a force tending to cause a friction increase, in order to slow own the movable member when the error-value-determining means indicates that the actual speed exceeds the command speed, and (2) exert a force tending to cause a friction decrease, in order to speed up the movable member when the error value indicates that command speed exceeds actual speed. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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23. The exercise apparatus controlling system 22 which also comprises:
means for sending variable width electrical driving pulses to the force-exerting mechanical means to vary the amount of force exerted on the mechanical friction means.
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24. A user-effort controlling system for an exercise apparatus which simulates stair-climbing and has (a) user-operated pedals each movable from an upper to a lower position by the user'"'"'s weight at the climbing speed of the user, and (b) a movable member whose speed of ;
- motion varies with the climbing speed of the user, the user-effort controlling system comprising;
mechanical friction means for applying friction to the movable member in order to vary its speed of motion; speed measuring means for establishing the actual speed of motion of the movable member; user-controlled means for establishing a command speed representing the climbing speed desired by the user; error-value-determining means for indicating the instantaneous difference between the actual speed established by the speed-measuring means and the command speed established by the user-controlled means; and an actuator which tends to cause a friction increase when an error value from the error-value-determining means indicates that the actual speed exceeds the command speed, and a friction decrease when the error value indicates that the command speed exceeds the actual speed. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
- motion varies with the climbing speed of the user, the user-effort controlling system comprising;
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33. A user effort controlling method an exercise apparatus which simulates stair-climbing and has (a) user-operated pedals each movable from an upper to a lower position by the user'"'"'s weight at the climbing speed of the user, and (b) a movable member whose speed of motion varies with the climbing speed of the user, the user-effort controlling method comprising:
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measuring the actual speed of motion of the movable member; establishing a command speed as the climbing speed desired by the user; establishing a control speed independent of the actual speed and of the command speed; comparing the control speed to the actual speed; comparing the control speed to the command speed in order to maintain the user-desired climbing speed; limiting the rate of change of the control speed in response to the rate of change of the actual speed; and varying resistance to motion of the movable member as a function of the relation between the control speed and the actual speed.
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34. A user-effort controlling method for an exercise apparatus which simulates stair-climbing and has (a) user-operated pedals each movable from an upper to a lower position by the user'"'"'s weight at the climbing speed of the user, and (b) a movable member whose speed of motion varies with the climbing speed of the user, the user-effort controlling method comprising:
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measuring the actual speed of motion of the movable member; establishing a command speed as the climbing speed desired by the user; establishing a control speed independent of the actual speed and of the command speed; determining an acceleration-related value by comparing successive measurements of the actual speed; determining an error-related value by comparing the actual speed to the control speed; causing an increase in the acceleration-related value to tend to increase resistance to motion of the movable member when the actual speed exceeds the control speed; and causing an increase in the error-related value to tend to increase resistance to motion of the movable member when the actual speed exceeds the control speed.
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35. A user-effort controlling method for an exercise apparatus which simulates stair-climbing and has (a) user-operated pedals each movable from an upper to a lower position by the user'"'"'s weight at the climbing speed of the user, and (b) a movable member whose speed of motion varies with the climbing speed of the user, the user-effort controlling method comprising:
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measuring the actual speed of motion of the movable member; establishing a command speed as the climbing speed desired by the user; determining an acceleration-related value by comparing successive measurements of the actual speed; determining an error-related value by comparing the actual speed to the command speed; calculating an electrical pulse duty cycle value by adding the error-related value to the acceleration related value; and using the electrical pulse duty cycle value to vary the resistance to motion of the movable member.
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Specification