Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
ENDLESS BRLT EXERCISER
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to new and useful improve-
ments in conveyor type exercising machines and although the
description and drawings refer to an exerciser, neverthe-
less it will be appreciated that the support principle of
the conveyor can be used in a plurality of locations other
than exercisers.
Conventional exercisers normally include end rol-
lers around which the belt extends with a plurality of
transversely extending rollers situated in spaced and pa-
rallel relationship therebetween so that, when in use, all
of the rollers are being rotated, it being understood that
the belt upon the rollers provides the entire support for
the person using the exerciser or treadmill assembly.
This provides a device which although being free-
running, nevertheless suffers from severe frictional dis-
advantages apart from providing a relatively rough feeling
on the feet of the user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present device overcomes these disadvantages
and one aspect of the invention is to provide a conveyor
assembly for use with exercisers and the like comprising
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in combination a support frame, belt engaging rollers
journalled for rotation adjacent each end of said support
frame, a plurality of relatively small diameter idler rol-
lers supported for rotation within said frame and between
said belt rollers, a plurality of longitudinally extending
support bars supported in said frame and separating said
idler rollers and means to support said idler rollers bet-
ween adjacent support bars, and an endless belt extending
around said belt engaging rollers including an upper run
engaging at least upon said idler rollers.
Another advantage of the invention is the fact
that when in use, only a small number of very light plas-
tic rollers are in motion at any one time and then only
those rollers in the vicinity of the foot engaging the
belt thus reducing the energy requirements considerably.
When used with the preferred relatively thin syn-
thetic plastic belt, the feel upon the foot of the user is
as if one is stepping on a plane surface thereby elimina-
ting the rough feeling on the feet often encountered on a
conventional treadmill with solid wooden rollers or the
like.
Yet another advantage of the invention, in the
preferred embodiment, is easy assembly and maintenance
as will become apparent.
B
A further advantage of the device is to provide
a conveyor assembly which is simple in construction, eco-
nomical in manufacture and otherwise well suited to the
purpose for which it is designed.
With the foregoing in view, and other advantages
as will become apparent to those skilled in the art to
which this invention relates as this specification proceeds,
the invention is herein described by reference to the ac-
companying drawings forming a part hereof, which includes
a description of the preferred typical embodiment of the
principles of the present invention, in which:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device.
Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof.
Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of one
of the support bars showing the relationship of the idler
rollers and belt thereto.
Figure 4 is a fragmentary partially schematic view
showing the source of power for the conveyor.
Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view
showing an alternative arrangement of idler rollers.
In the drawings like characters of reference indi-
cate corresponding parts in the different figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Proceeding therefore to describe the invention
in detail, same comprises a support frame generally desig-
nated by reference character 10 and comprising two spaced
and parallel longitudinally extending side plates 11, base
cross members 12 and cross member supports 13, all of which
form the general supporting framework.
A belt engaging roller 14 is situated adjacent
each end of the support frame 10 and extends transversely
between the side members 11 being journalled for rotation
upon spindles 15 extending through the side frame members,
it being understood that conventional bearing assemblies
(not illustrated) may be provided. An endless belt 16 pre-
ferably formed from relatively thin flexible synthetic plas-
tic, extends around the belt engaging rollers 1~ with the
upper run 16A of the belt being adjacent the upper sides
17 of the support frame. Conventional belt tightener as-
semblies 18 extend between the side plates 11 and the spin-
dles 15 of at least one of the belt engaging rollers 14 so
that the tension of belt 16 may be adjusted.
Means are provided to support the upper run 16A
of the belt, between the belt engaging rollers 14, said
means taking the form of a plurality of spaced and parallel
longitudinally extending support bars 19 situated within
the support frame 10 and extending between the side plates
11 thereof. These are supported upon the transverse sup-
ports 13 of the support frame and extend upwardly there-
from.
A plurality of transverse slots 20 are formed in
the upper sides l9A of the support members and open out
onto said upper side edge l9A.
Spindles or shafts 21, preferably made of steel,
are dropped within the slots 20 and span the frame trans-
versely in spaced and parallel relationship, extending
between the side plates 11 thereof and each of these shafts
supports a plurality of synthetic plastic rollers 22 en-
gaged for free rotation upon the shaft 21. Although these
rollers are preferably formed from synthetic plastic, it
will be appreciated that other materials such as wood, me-
tal or the like can be used in fabrication thereof.
The rollers freely engage the shaft 21 and are
positioned so that, in the principal embodiment, a roller
22 is situated between adjacent longitudinally extending
support bars 19 with very little clearance being provided
between the sides 22A of the rollers and the sides l9B of
the bars 19.
It will also be noted that although the diameter
of the rollers 22 is relatively small, a relatively small
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clearance 23 is provided between the peripheries of adja-
cent rollers thus supplying a relatively continuous sup-
port surface for the upper run 16A of the belt 16.
The upper runs 22B of the idler rollers 22 extend
just above the upper sides l9A of the support bars 19 so
that when the belt is positioned around the belt engaging
rollers 14, the upper run 16A is supported upon the upper
runs 22B of the idler rollers, running just clear of the
upper surfaces l9A of the support bars. However, when a
weight or pressure is applied to a portion of the upper run
16A as would occur with a person exercising thereon, the
upper run 16A of the belt engages the upper sides l9A of
the support bars only in the area of this pressure or
weight and because of the relatively low friction existing
between the belt 16 and the bars 19, very little resistance
is noted so that a self-driven exerciser or treadmill is
provided needing very little effort to self-drive same as
in a jogging exercise.
In this connection, a U-shaped handle assembly 24
extends upwardly from either side plate 11 with a cross
bar 25 extending therebetween, said handle assembly being
adjacent one end of the support frame so that a runner may,
if desired, support himself by the handle assembly.
Figure 5 shows a slightly alternate arrangement
of the idler rollers 22 in which pairs of idler rollers
22C are mounted for free rotation upon the shafts 21 and
between adjacent support bars 19.
If desired, the treadmlll may be driven by means
of a source of power such as an electric motor 26 mounted
upon a cross plate 27 within the support frame 10 and be-
ing connected to a source of power in the usual way. This
motor may be either a two-speed motor or may be adjustable
in speed. It drives a sprocket and chain assembly 28 one
end of which is supported upon a cross shaft 29 extending
between the side plates 11, from which a belt 30 extends
from a belt pulley 31 secured to the sprocket assembly on
shaft 29. This drive belt 30 engages around one of the
belt engaging rollers 14 in which an annular groove 31 is
formed so that the periphery of the portion of the belt
extending around the roller 14 is situated below the peri-
phery of the roller thereby not interfering with the end-
less belt 16 passing therearound. Once again, the low
friction characteristics of the device reduce the power
requirements of the motor 26 to a minimum.
With the relatively thin (1/16 of an inch) syn-
thetic plastic belt 16, the rough feeling on the feet is
eliminated as compared to a conventional treadmill with
solid wood rollers. Due to the fact that only a small
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amount or number of the very light ~dler rollers 22 is
set in motion where the exerciser steps, at any given
time, the energy requirements to drive it whether self-
driven or motor-driven, are considerably less than the
energy requirements of a treadmill having solid rollers
extending clear across same.
With the vertical slots 20 formed in the support
bars, easy assembly and maintenance is provided.
Since various modifications can be made in my in-
vention as hereinabove described, and many apparently wi-
dely different embodiments of same made within the spirit
and scope of the claims without departing from such spirit
and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the
accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illus-
trative only and not in a limiting sense.
