Computer controlled exercise system

• US 4,934,694 A
• Filed: 03/09/1988
• Issued: 06/19/1990
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/1985
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: James L. Mcintosh
• Original Assignee: James L. Mcintosh
• Inventors: McIntosh, James L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Apley, Richard J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cheng, Joe H.
• Application Number:
  US07/166,031
• Time in Patent Office: 832 Days
• Field of Search: 272/129, 272/73, 272/96, 272/130, 272/DIG. 5, 272/DIG. 6, 272/125, 128/25 R
• US Class Current: 482/9
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0012 Comparing movements or motion sequences with a registered reference
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0068 Comparison to target or threshold, previous performance or not real time comparison to other individuals
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0093 the load of the exercise apparatus being controlled by performance parameters, e.g. distance or speed
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0072 Limiting the applied force, torque, movement or speed
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0081 Stopping the operation of the apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/065 Visualisation of specific exercise parameters
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 21/00178 for active exercising, the apparatus being also usable for passive exercising
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 21/0058 using motors
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 21/0059 using a frequency controlled AC motor
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 21/154 using special pulley-assemblies
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 21/4049 Rotational movement
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/13 Relative positions
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/16 Angular positions
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/30 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/51 Force
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/54 Torque
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/09 Adjustable dimensions
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 23/03508 For a single arm or leg, A63B21/0726 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 23/0494 primarily by articulating the knee joints A63B23/0405, A63B23/0476 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/00 Electric or electronic controls for exercising apparatus of preceding groups; Controlling or monitoring of exercises, sportive games, training or athletic performances
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0087 : Electric or electronic controls for exercising apparatus of groups A63B21/00 - A63B23/00, e.g. controlling load
• CPC Class Codes: B23P 19/066 : by electrical means
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/237 : with a combination of feedback covered by G05B19/232 - G05B19/235
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4142 : characterised by the use of a microprocessor G05B19/4141 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/37297 : Two measurements, on driving motor and on slide or on both sides of motor
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/37388 : Acceleration or deceleration, inertial measurement
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/37391 : Null, initial load, no load torque detection or other parameter at no load
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/37612 : Transfer function, kinematic identification, parameter estimation, response
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/37621 : Inertia, mass of rotating, moving tool, workpiece, element
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/41023 : Large pd gain initially switched to smaller pd gain afterwards
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/42152 : Learn, self, auto tuning, calibrating, environment adaptation, repetition
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/42168 : Measuring of needed force for servo
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 482/90 : Ergometer with feedback to load or with feedback comparison
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 482/901 : having computer circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 482/902 : Employing specific graphic or video display
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 601/22 : Applicator having computer motion control

Abstract

A DC motor is connected to a driveshaft the rotation of which is directly coupled to movement of an exercise member. The DC motor is operated in the current control mode wherein current direction and value through the winding of the motor determines its torque. An encoder is connected to the shaft of the motor to monitor its angular position. A program controlled processor monitors the angular position of the shaft and controls the current to the motor to vary the torque thereof and, thus, the force of resistance or assistance to the exercise member in accordance with preprogrammed values and as a function of angular position. A plurality of encoder/motor assemblies control exercise about a plurality of axes of bodily movement.

Claims

1. A system for providing program controlled force in an exercise apparatus, comprising:

a driveshaft having an exercise arm extending radially therefrom and adapted for engagement by a user to perform muscular exercise by moving said arm arcuately about said driveshaft;

a direct current electric motor having a rotor connected to said driveshaft, said motor being operable in the current mode to control the torque thereof by varying the current through the windings of said motor;

means mounted to said exercise arm for movement therewith for providing a continuous output signal indicative of the arcuate position of said exercise arm; and

program controlled processor means responsive to said continuous output signal and to the current through the windings of said motor for varying said current to provide a preprogrammed variation in the torque exerted by said motor and, thereby, the force exerted by said exercise arm against the user;

wherein said processor means includes;

a process control microcomputer;

means for monitoring the current flow direction and the value through the windings of said electric motor;

latch means responsive to said microcomputer for storing a desired value of current flow direction and value through said motor windings;

a supply of electric power; and

a current mode control forward converter connected to said power supply and to said current flow monitoring means and responsive to the desired value stored in said latch means for changing the current flow direction and value in said motor winding.

2. A system for providing program controlled force in an exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 1, which also includes:

means mounted to motor housing for providing first and second angular position limit signals indicative, respectively, of the selected clockwise and counterclockwise limits of permissible arcuate movement of said exercise arm; and

wherein said processor means is also responsive to said angular position limit signals in preprogrammed variation.

3. A system for providing program controlled force in an exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 2, which also includes:

means mounted to said exercise arm for providing a limit reached signal to said processor means in a response to said exercise arm reaching the limit of said permissible arcuate movement.

4. A system for providing program controlled force in an exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 3 which also includes:

electromechanical brake means for preventing rotation of the rotor of said electric motor;

means responsive to said limit reached signal provided when said exercise arm reaches the limit of said permissible arcuate movement for actuating said brake means to prevent further arcuate movement of said exercise arm; and

switch means actuated by the user for releasing said brake means to allow further arcuate movement of said exercise arm.

5. A system for providing program controlled force in an exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said continuous output signal providing means includes:

disc means mounted to the rotor of said electric motor for rotation therewith;

means responsive to rotation of said disc for producing a train of output pulse patterns; and

a counter means connected to said output pulse pattern producing means for maintaining a value indicative of the angular position of said exercise arm.

6. A system for providing program controlled force in an exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said current flow direction and value monitoring means include an opto-isolator.

7. A system for providing program controlled force in an exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 1, which also includes:

a safety relay having normally open contacts;

means for directing the current flow path for the windings of the electric motor through the contacts of said safety relay; and

switch means responsive to continuous actuation by the user for operating said safety relay to enable the flow of current to the windings of said electric motor.

8. A system for providing program controlled force in an exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 7, which also includes:

electromechanical brake means for preventing rotation of the rotor of said electric motor; and

means for actuating said brake means in response to a lack of actuation of said switch means by said user.

9. A system for providing program controlled force in an exercise apparatus, comprising:

a driveshaft having an exercise arm extending radially therefrom and adapted for engagement by a user to perform muscular exercise by moving said arm arcuately about said driveshaft;

a direct current electric motor having a rotor connected to said driveshaft, said motor being operable in the current mode to control the torque thereof by varying the current through the windings of said motor;

means mounted to said exercise arm for movement therewith for providing continuous output signal indicative of the arcuate position of said exercise arm;

program controlled processor means responsive to said continuous output signal and to the current through the windings of said motor for varying said current to provide a preprogrammed variation in the torque exerted by said motor and, thereby, the force exerted by said exercise arm against the user; and

means mounted to the motor housing for providing first and second angular position limit signals indicative, respectively, of the selected clockwise and counterclockwise limits of permissible arcuate movement of said exercise arm, wherein said processor means is also responsive to said angular position limit signals in said preprogrammed variation;

wherein said means for providing said angular position limit signals comprises;

a circular plate mounted to said motor housing having a central clearance opening through which said driveshaft extends;

an switch array extending circularly around the periphery of said plate, said switch array including a plurality of separate closure means spaced at periodic intervals one from another along the switch array and each of said separate closure means being selectively connected to a respective one of the plurality of signal lines to provide a distinctive output signal in response to the closure of each separate closure means; and

means attachable at a selected angular position around the periphery of said circular plate for closing one of the separate closure means of said switch array to provide said distinctive output signal to said processor indicative of said selected angular location of said limits of permissible arcuate movement of said exercise arm.

10. A system for providing program controlled force in an exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 9, wherein:

said circular plate includes an outer ring of circumferentially spaced apertures, each apertures being spaced from the other by an equal arcuate distance;

said switch array includes a flexible insulative housing and each separate closure means is located within said housing and positioned on said plate oriented with respect to one of said apertures; and

said closing one of the separate closure means includes a position limit block having a pair of pins extending from one face thereof and spaced apart the same distance as that between a selected pair of adjacent apertures on said plate so that upon insertion therein, said block bears upon and flexes said housing of said switch array to effect actuation of said separate closure means associated with said selected apertures.

11. A system for providing program controlled force in an exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 10, wherein said switch array is a pair of semicircular switches positioned in a mirror image of one another on said plate and said plurality of signal lines are four signal leads for providing a different digital arcuate position indicative said distinctive output signal.

12. An improved variable force exercise system of the type which includes an exercise member adapted for engagement with and movement by a user to effect exercise of the user'"'"'s muscles and a DC motor in which the torque thereof is controlled by the current through the windings of said DC motor, said DC motor being connected to a driveshaft for rotation therewith, wherein the improvement comprises:

a current mode power supply connected to the windings of the DC motor, said current mode power supply having means for controlling the positive and negative current produced thereby to change the direction and the value of the current flow through the motor windings of said DC motor and vary the torque thereof and thereby change the force of resistance on the exercise member, said current mode power supply including means for electrically isolating the controlled current produced thereby from the AC line voltage source;

means for monitoring the angular position of said driveshaft with respect to a reference position and producing an output signal indicative thereof;

a program controlled processor responsive to said angular position output signals and a stored program for controlling the current produced by said current mode power supply; and

opto-isolator means for controlling the peak value of the output voltage produced by said current mode power supply across the windings of said DC motor.

13. An improved variable force exercise system as set forth in claim 12 wherein:

said means for electrically isolating the current mode power supply is a transformer.

14. An improved variable force exercise system as set forth in claim 13 wherein:

said transformer is a forward convertor.

15. An improved variable force exercise system as set forth in claim 13 wherein:

said forward convertor includes means for producing bidirectional current flow through the windings of the DC motor.

16. An improved variable force exercise system as set forth in claim 15 wherein said forward convertor further includes:

transistor means for varying the current flow produced thereby; and

a regenerative drive circuit for switching said transistor means on and off in response to current flow through the windings of said motor.

17. An improved variable force exercise system as set forth in claim 13, which also includes:

means for controlling said output signal to said processor and enabling the program controlled current through windings of said DC motor in response to the position of the exercise member being moved by the user.

18. An improved variable force exercise system as set forth in claim 17, which also includes:

means for producing first and second limit signals to said processor in response to the exercise member reaching each extreme of a selectively permissible range of movement.

19. An improved variable force exercise system as set forth in claim 12 which also includes:

safety relay means having a normally open circuit path connected in the current flow path between said current mode power supply and the windings of said DC motor; and

means responsive to a continuous signal from the user for closing the circuit path of said safety relay means and supplying operating power to said DC motor.

27. A system for providing program controlled force in an exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 19 wherein:

at least two of said DC motors are physically mounted to the driveshaft of the other one of said DC motors in a chain and to allow natural movement of the joints of the user.

20. An improved variable force exercise system of the type which includes an exercise member adapted for engagement with and movement by a user to effect exercise of the user'"'"'s muscles and a DC motor in which the torque thereof is controlled by the current through the windings of said DC motor, said DC motor being connected to a driveshaft for rotation therewith, wherein the improvement comprises:

a current mode power supply connected to the windings of the DC motor, said current mode power supply having means for controlling the positive and negative current produced thereby to change the direction and the value of the current flow through the motor windings of said DC motor and vary the torque thereof and thereby change the force of resistance on the exercise member, said current mode power supply including;

a current sense transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding, said secondary winding of said current sense transformer being connected in series with a diode and a variable burden resistance;

a power transformer having a primary winding connected to a source of DC voltage and in series with a power switch and the primary winding of said current sense transformer;

means for interrupting the current through said power switch; and

means for varying the value of said burden resistance, wherein the current through the power switch is interrupted and the peak output current through the primary winding of said power transformer is controlled;

means for monitoring the angular position of the driveshaft; and

a program controlled processor responsive to said angular position from said monitoring means and a stored program for controlling the current produced by said current mode power supply.

21. The improvement as set forth in claim 20, wherein said burden resistance varying means comprises:

a parallel resistance network including a plurality of series connected resistors and field-effect transistors; and

wherein the resistance value of said network is varied by selectively turn on one of the field-effect transistors.

22. The improvement as set forth in claim 21, wherein the resistance value of each of said series connected resistors is different from the others.

23. A system for providing program controlled force in an exercise apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of driveshafts, each of said driveshafts having an exercise arm extending radially therefrom and adapted for engagement with the body of a user to perform muscular exercise by moving said exercise arm arcuately about said driveshafts, each of said driveshaft being positioned for arcuate movement of the associated exercise arm in a plane parallel to that of the bodily movement about a joint of said user;

a plurality of direct current electric motor, each of said DC motor having a rotor connected to an associated one of said driveshafts, each motor being operable in response to the current mode to control the torque thereof by varying the current through the windings of said DC motor;

means mounted to each of said exercise arms for movement therewith for providing a continuous output signal indicative of the arcuate position of each of said exercise arm;

program controlled processor means responsive to said plurality of continuous output signals and to the current through the windings of each of said DC motors for varying said currents to provide a preprogrammed variation in the torque exerted by each DC motor and, thereby, the force exerted by each of said exercise arms against said bodily movement about said joints of said user.

24. A system for providing program controlled, force in an exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 23, which also includes:

means mounted to the housing of each of said motors for providing first and second angular position limit signals indicative, respectively, of the selected clockwise and counterclockwise limits of permissible arcuate movement of each of said exercise arms; and

wherein said processor means is also responsive to each of said angular position limit signals in said preprogrammed variations in motor currents.

25. A system for providing program controlled force in an exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 24, which also includes:

means mounted to each of said exercise arms for providing a limit reached signal to said processor means in response to each of said exercise arms reaching the limit of its permissible arcuate movement.

26. A system for providing program controlled force in an exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 25, wherein said continuous output signal providing means includes:

disc means mounted to the rotor of each of said electric motors for rotation therewith;

means responsive to rotation of each of said disc means for producing a train of output pulse patterns; and

counter means connected to each of said output pulse pattern producing means for maintaining a value indicative of the angular position of each of said exercise arms.