JP2009183615A - Passive exercise device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stop right and left footboards in an almost equally tilted state in a passive exercise device performing a stepping exercise or simultaneously performing the stepping exercise and a lower back twisting exercise. <P>SOLUTION: The passive exercise device includes a unit part 30 provided with a pair of right and left footboards 33 and 34 so as to be tilted, a drive part 80 for alternately tilting the footboards, and a control means 40 for controlling the operation of the drive part. The unit part is provided with a detection means 42 which is electrically connected to the control means and detects the tilted state of the footboards. The control means performs control so as to stop the drive part at such a position that the tilted states of the right and left footboards detected by the detection means become almost equal when stopping the drive part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a passive exerciser that can perform a stepping exercise or a stepping exercise and a hip twisting exercise at the same time.

  There is known a passive exerciser that can perform a stepping motion by placing a user's foot on a pair of left and right footboards and alternately tilting the footboards with a motor (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-358058 A

However, in the conventional passive exerciser, when the power supply to the motor is interrupted by the user's operation or program control, the treadle stops at an arbitrary position. Specifically, it may stop in a state where one of the treads is raised and the other tread is lowered.
Thus, when the treadle stops at an arbitrary position, for example, it is difficult to move up and down from the treadle stopped on the upper side. In particular, users who are concerned about their dominant foot may feel inconvenience. Also, the appearance is not good due to the imbalance between the left and right footboards.
In addition, even if the left and right footboards are stopped in a state where the left and right footboards are aligned, when the user moves up and down from the passive exerciser, if the full load is placed on either of the left and right footboards, one of the footboards will sink. As a result, the left and right footboards may become uneven.

An object of the present invention is to stop the left and right footboards in a substantially equal tilt state in a passive exerciser capable of performing a stepping exercise or a stepping exercise and a hip twisting exercise at the same time.
Furthermore, it is to prevent the left and right footboards stopped in a substantially equal tilt state from moving when the user moves up and down.

In order to solve the above problems, the passive exerciser of the present invention is
A unit part that can be tilted with a pair of left and right footboards;
A drive unit that alternately tilts the footboard; and
Control means for controlling the operation of the drive unit;
A passive exercise device comprising
The unit portion is electrically connected to the control means, and includes detection means for detecting the tilting state of the footboard,
When stopping the drive unit, the control unit controls the drive unit to stop at a position where the tilting states of the left and right footboards detected by the detection unit become substantially equal.

The unit part is rotatably arranged on the base part placed on the floor surface,
The drive unit tilts the footboard and rotates the unit unit,
The detection means may detect the tilted state of the left and right footboards based on the rotation angle of the unit portion with respect to the base portion.

Furthermore, the passive exerciser of the present invention is
A unit part that can be tilted with a pair of left and right footboards;
A drive unit with a motor that tilts the treadle alternately;
Control means for controlling the operation of the drive unit;
A passive exercise device comprising
The control means controls the brake to be applied to the motor when the drive unit is not operating.

According to the passive exerciser of the present invention, the tilting state of the left and right footboards is detected by the detection means, and the control means can stop the drive unit at a position where the tilting states of the left and right footboards are substantially equal. Therefore, it can be lifted and lowered in the same way from either of the left and right footboards.
Moreover, since it stops in the state in which the left and right footboards are aligned, the appearance is good.

Even when the unit portion is configured to be rotatable with respect to the base portion, the detecting means detects the tilting state of the left and right footboards based on the rotation angle of the unit portion, and the control means is the driving portion. Can be stopped. Therefore, it can be lifted and lowered in the same way from either of the left and right footboards.
Moreover, since it stops in the state in which the left and right footboards are aligned, the appearance is good.

  Furthermore, by applying a brake to the motor when the drive unit is not in operation, the footboard does not move when moving up and down from the passive exerciser, and can get on and off stably.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a passive exerciser (10) that can simultaneously perform not only stepping motion but also hip twisting motion will be described, but the present invention is passive that can perform only stepping motion. Of course, it can also be applied to exercise machines.

The outline of the passive exerciser (10) of the present invention will be described. The passive exerciser (10) includes a base part (20) placed on the floor surface, and a drive disposed in the base part (20). A unit part (30) supported so as to be rotatable by a predetermined angle to the left and right with respect to the base part (20) via the part (80) (see FIGS. 7 to 9), and the base part (20 ) And a handle portion (50) formed upward at the front end.
Here, the direction of the user's line of sight in the usage state is the front (the direction in which the handle (50) is located), and the opposite side is the rear.

The unit part (30) includes a rotating plate (31) supported so as to be integrally rotatable with a driving part (80) described later, and a pair of left and right elongated holes penetrating through the top surface of the rotating plate (31). Provided with treads (33) and (34) protruding from the openings (37) and (37) having a shape.
The footboards (33) and (34) are supported by the drive unit (80) so as to be tilted alternately left and right. On the upper surface of the footboards (33) and (34), a surface on which a user puts his / her foot is formed, and this surface is provided with cushions (35) and (35) such as rubber for cushioning and anti-slip purposes. Has been.

  Further, the handle portion (50) is tilted backward from the handle post (60) in a standing position (see FIGS. 1 to 3) on the handle base (51) protruding upward from the front end of the base portion (20). (See FIGS. 4 to 6) so as to be tiltable. The upper end of the handle post (60) includes an operation display unit (90) described later. In addition, a handle (70) that can be gripped by the user or placed on the elbow is rotatably supported near the upper end of the handle post (60).

Hereinafter, each configuration will be described in detail.
The base part (20) is formed of a substantially elliptical resin case that is long in the front-rear direction, and a handle base (51) projects from the front end side. In addition, on the rear side of the handle base (51), the unit portion (30) is rotatably supported, and a drive portion (80) is provided therein.
The drive unit (80) is formed on a unit frame (81) supported rotatably with respect to the base unit (20), and the unit frame (81) is configured to rotate the unit unit (30). It is covered with a plate (31) and can rotate integrally with the rotating plate (31).

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the drive unit (80) is disposed in a space formed by the base plate (20) and the rotating plate (31) of the unit unit (30).
The drive unit (80) has one motor (82) mounted on the unit frame (81) rotatably supported by the base unit (20), and the motor (82) is placed inside the worm gear (83). ) Is connected to the main shaft (85) via a speed reduction mechanism (84) including The unit frame (81) can be rotated by pivotally supporting a vertical shaft (81a) at substantially the center thereof on the base portion (20). In FIG. 7, only the upper gear case (84a) of the speed reduction mechanism (84) is shown, and the lower gear case is omitted.
The main shaft (85) extends in the left-right direction of the unit frame (81), and a pulley (86) with eccentric angles shifted from each other by 180 ° is attached to the left and right positions sandwiching the speed reduction mechanism (84). .

  The unit frame (81) is provided with a pair of left and right support bases (81b), and both ends of the main shaft (85) are pivotally supported on the rear side of the support base (81b). An outer ring body (86a) is pivotally supported on the outer circumferences of the left and right pulleys (86) via bearings, and a cylindrical portion (86b) is fixed to the upper part of the outer ring body (86a). Reference numeral (89) is a pair of left and right oscillating bodies, which are composed of a front part (89a) and a rear part (89b) joined by a front part (89a) and a pipe (89d), and the front part (89a) is a oscillating body. (89) is pivotally supported by a support shaft (89c) so as to swing up and down with respect to the unit frame (81). One end of the support shaft (89c) is supported on the front side of the support base (81b), and the other end is supported by a bearing portion (81c) provided between the motor (82). A swing shaft (89e) extending in the front-rear direction is attached between the front portion (89a) and the rear portion (89b) of the swing body (89). The rear side of the swing shaft (89e) is inserted into the cylindrical portion (86b) at the upper part of the outer ring body (86a) so as to be freely inserted and removed. Left and right footboards (33) and (34) are mounted on the left and right rocking bodies (89), respectively.

  The side surface on the motor (82) side of the oscillating body front portion (89a) and the base portion (20) are connected by a twist link (87). Both ends of the twist link (87) are connected to the side surface of the rocking body front part (89a) and the base part (20) via universal joints (88) and (88), respectively.

  The on / off of the motor (82) of the drive unit (80) and the control of the rotation speed are performed by the control means (40) (see FIG. 10) arranged at an appropriate location near the drive unit (80).

However, when the motor (82) is rotated, the main shaft (85) rotates, and the left and right pulleys (86) rotate eccentrically with a phase shifted by 180 °, and this eccentric rotation causes the outer ring body (86a), cylinder It is transmitted to the oscillating body (89) via the portion (86b) and the oscillating shaft (89e), and the oscillating body (89) is oscillated up and down around the support shaft (89c). As a result, the left and right footboards (33) and (34) are tilted up and down so that they are in opposite phases.
By the tilting motion of the rocking body (89), the twist link (87) (87) connected to the rocking body (89) pushes and pulls the base part (20), so that the unit frame (81) is Rotate left and right by a predetermined angle with respect to (20). Thereby, the rotation plate (31) attached to the unit frame (81) rotates left and right.
In this embodiment, based on the rotation of the pulley (86), the left twist link (87) and the rocking body (89), and the right twist link (87) and the rocking body (89) cooperate, respectively. Therefore, there is a correlation between the tilt angle of the footboards (33) and (34) and the rotation angle of the rotation plate (31). Therefore, the tilting state of the footboards (33) and (34) can be detected by detecting the rotation angle of the rotation plate (31) by the following detection means (42).

  As shown in FIG. 7, the unit frame (81) includes detection means (42) for detecting the rotation angle of the unit frame (81). Examples of the detection means (42) include a combination of a magnet (43) and a Hall element (44). In the illustrated embodiment, the magnet (43) is disposed on the unit frame (81), the tread plates (33) and (34) have substantially the same tilt angle, and the tread plates (33) and (34) are In order to detect the magnet (43) at a symmetrical position (hereinafter referred to as `` parallel position ''), the Hall element (44) is arranged on the base part (20) on the fixed side. Yes. The hall element (44) is electrically connected to the control means (40) described later.

The detection means (42) is not limited to the combination of the magnet (43) and the Hall element (44), and an optical element, an infrared element, a piezoelectric element, a proximity switch, or the like can be used.
Of course, instead of detecting the rotation angle of the unit frame (81) or the rotation plate (31), the tilt angle of the footboard (33) and / or the footboard (34) is directly measured by a detecting means such as a potentiometer. It is good also as a structure.

  The handle portion (50) includes a handle base (51) protruding upward from the front end of the base portion (20), and brackets (52) (52) are formed on the left and right of the upper end of the handle base (51). Has been. A handle post (60) is pivotally supported between the brackets (52) and (52). The handle post (60) is tilted with respect to the handle base (51) from a standing state as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 to a folded state as shown in FIGS. It is possible. In the standing state, the handle post (60) can be fixed to the handle base (51) by screwing the post fixing screw (64) shown in FIG. 3 into the handle base (51). In FIG. 8, the bracket frame forming the skeleton of the bracket (52) is denoted by reference numeral (52).

  A handle (70) is attached to the upper end of the handle post (60) as shown in FIG. The handle (70) is rotatably supported by the handle post (60) by a handle shaft portion (71) penetrating the handle post (60) from side to side. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the handle (70) has a handle shaft portion (71) protruding from the handle post (60) to the left and right, and an upwardly bent arm portion (72) (72). And the distal ends of the arm portions (72) and (72) are bent inward to form the grip portion (73). The grip portions (73) and (73) face each other with a predetermined interval. The grip part (73) is a part where the user holds or places the elbow. The reason why the gap is provided between the grip portions (73) and (73) is to make it easier for the user to visually recognize the operation display portion (90) during use. The handle (70) can be rotated with respect to the handle post (60) and can be positioned by a handle fixing screw (75).

  The operation display section (90) is formed at the upper end of the handle post (60). The operation display section (90) displays various buttons (not shown) operated by the user, the state of the passive exerciser (10), exercise time, calories consumed, METs (metabolic equivalents), etc. (92) with. In addition, METs are the exercise | movement intensity | strength which converts and shows how many times the user's metabolic rate in passive exercise is equivalent to the metabolic rate at rest.

  FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of the passive exerciser (10) of the present invention. The passive exerciser (10) is controlled by the control means (40) .The control means (40) includes the motor (82) of the drive unit (80), the operation display unit (90), and the display unit (92). ) And detection means (42) for detecting the tilt angle of the footboards (33) and (34) are electrically connected. The control means (40) drives the motor (82) on the basis of the operation command from the operation display section (90) and performs various displays on the display section (92). Further, as shown below, the detection means Based on the signal from (42), the motor (82) is stopped.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the user holds the handle post (60) upright and holds the handle (70) and puts the left and right feet on the footboards (33) and (34), respectively. When the desired speed, time, and other programs are set by operating the operation display section (90), the motor (82) rotates at the set speed, and the rotating plate (31) of the unit section (30) And the footboards (33) and (34) alternately tilt up and down.
By the above, the user can receive a stepping exercise and a waist twisting exercise.

  In the stepping motion and the hip twisting motion, each time the rotating plate (31) rotates left and right and the magnet (43) passes in the vicinity of the Hall element (44) serving as the detecting means (42), the detecting means (42 ) Transmits a signal to the control means (40). Therefore, using this signal, the number of reciprocations of the rotating plate (31), that is, the number of tilts of the stepping plates (33) and (34) that operate in cooperation (the number of steps of the user) is counted, and the display unit It can also be displayed in (92).

When stopping the driving of the motor (82) by the operation of the operation display unit (90) by the user, a timer, other programs, etc., the control means (40) instantly uses the motor (82 In order to stop the stepping plates (33) and (34) in a parallel position instead of stopping the power supply to the motor), when the Hall element (44) as the detection means (42) detects the magnet (43), the motor Stop supplying power to (82). Thereby, the footboards (33) and (34) have substantially the same tilt angle, and the directions of the footboards (33) and (34) are also aligned.
That is, since it is not in a stopped state in which one of the treads is raised and the other tread is lowered, it is easy to get off any of the treads (33) (34) and any tread (33) (34) at the next use. It is easy to rise from. Moreover, the user who is worried about the dominant hand does not feel inconvenience. Furthermore, since the footboards (33) and (34) are aligned left and right, the appearance is good.

  When the passive exerciser (10) is stored after completion of the exercise (including the initial packaged state), the handle (70) is rotated to the position shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 to store the handle (70). To do. Next, the post fixing screw (64) is loosened, and the handle post (60) is tilted backward as shown in FIGS.

  When the handle post (60) is tilted backward to the position shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the handle post (60) may come into contact with the treads (33) (34). ) (34) are aligned, the handle post (60) hits only one of the treads, and the handle post (60) can be stored stably without wobbling.

  In addition, the left and right footboards (33) and (34) are aligned when retracted, so even if the grip (73) of the handle (70) hits the footboards (33) and (34), 73) hits the treads (33) and (34) evenly, and the load is not concentrated only on one grip part (73), so that the handle (70) can be protected.

  If the power supply to the motor (82) of the drive unit (80) is stopped immediately, the user may feel uncomfortable. Further, the footboards (33) (34) and the rotating plate (31) may not stop immediately due to inertia or the like. In order to eliminate such problems, the control means (40) may stop power supply to the motor (82) before the left and right footboards (33) (34) reach the parallel position (power supply stop position). it can. As a result, the footboards (33), (34) and the rotating plate (31) move at low speed and stop due to inertia, so that the left and right footboards (33), (34) can be stopped at the parallel position. Specifically, the time for the revolving plate (31) to make one reciprocation is calculated according to the speed of the motor (82), and the detecting means (42) detects that the tread plates (33) (34) are substantially aligned. And the time required to reach the power supply stop position may be calculated.

Furthermore, since the footboards (33) and (34) may not stop at the parallel position, the control means (40) temporarily operates the motor (82) at a low speed before stopping the power supply to the motor (82). The power supply to the motor (82) may be stopped when the detection means (42) detects that the footboards (33) (34) are in the parallel position. For example, when the motor (82) is driven by PWM control, the normal operation is performed at DUTY 5 to 95%, and when the motor (82) is stopped, the DUTY is decelerated to about 15% to detect the detection means. When (42) detects the parallel position of the footboards (33) and (34), power supply to the motor (82) may be stopped.
Since it is detected after the motor (82) has been slowed down, it can be stopped when the treads (33) (34) are almost aligned, and it does not stop suddenly from high speed. People do not feel uncomfortable.

  When the motor (82) is operated at a low speed, for example, when the weight is biased to one of the footboards (33) or (34), the footboards (33) (34) are always aligned. Therefore, there is a possibility that the motor (82) is in a state equal to the locked state due to the load. Therefore, the time for operating the motor (82) at a low speed is limited to a predetermined time (for example, 10 to 30 seconds), It is desirable to stop power supply to the motor (82) when the detection means (42) cannot detect the parallel position of the footboards (33) and (34) even after a lapse of time.

According to the above, before and after the use of the passive exerciser (10), the treads (33) and (34) have substantially equal tilt angles on the left and right sides, so that there is no sense of incongruity in raising and lowering the user. However, when the user moves up and down from the passive exerciser (10), if the entire weight rests on either the left or right footboard (33) (34), one footboard (33) or (34) will sink. As a result, the left and right footboards (33) and (34) become uneven.
In order to prevent such a phenomenon, the control means (40) causes the brake (82a) to act on the motor (82) in a state where the power supply to the motor (82) is stopped, and the footboards (33) (34 ) Is preferably prevented (see FIG. 10). Examples of the brake (82a) include those using mechanical braking, electromagnetic brakes, and those using the power generation braking of the motor (82).

FIG. 11 shows a circuit for braking by power generation braking. FIG. 11 shows a state in which the operation switch (82c) is opened and the motor (82) is stopped, and the brake switch (82b) is closed and dynamic braking is applied. The user rides on the treads (33) and (34) to gain weight. Even if the hanging motor (82) tries to rotate, the dynamic braking is not applied. Therefore, the footboard does not move and can ride safely.
When the user tries to start exercise by operating the operation display section (90), the operation switch (82c) is closed and the brake switch (82b) is opened by a command from the control means (40). Therefore, the dynamic braking is released and the motor (82) is driven.
When the operation display section (90) is operated to stop the operation, the operation switch (82c) is opened by the instruction from the control means (40), the energization to the motor (82) is stopped, and the brake switch (82b) is Close and apply dynamic braking to stop the motor. After the stop, since the power generation braking can be applied, the footboards (33) and (34) do not move carelessly.
By applying a brake to the motor (82), it is possible to prevent an unexpected tilting of the footboards (33) and (34) in a non-energized state.

Further, in the passive exerciser (10), the user performs the tilting of the footboards (33) and (34) and the rotation of the rotating plate (31) while the user is correctly placed on the footboards (33) and (34). It is hoped that This includes not only the start of use but also the case where the user gets off the passive exerciser (10) during use.
In this way, when the user is not correctly placed on the tread board (33) (34), it is necessary to stop the power supply to the motor (82) and prevent the operation of the unnecessary passive exerciser (10). .

Therefore, a detection means (46) (see FIG. 10) for detecting the presence or absence of a user is provided, and the control means (40) controls the operation of the motor (82) based on a signal from the detection means (46). An embodiment to be described will be described.
As the detection means (46), a weight detection sensor or the like can be provided on the footboard (33) and / or the footboard (34), or a pressure-sensitive sensor can be provided on the grip (73) of the handle (70). Further, instead of these sensors, an infrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, other sensors and switches can be used.
In the above, the detection means (46) transmits the presence / absence of the user to the control means (40), and it is determined by the detection means (46) that the user is not correctly placed on the footboards (33) (34). Then, the control means (40) may be controlled to stop the power supply to the motor (82).

Since the current value of the motor (82) varies depending on the presence / absence of the user, the presence / absence of the user can be detected by monitoring the current of the motor (82) in the control means (40).
As a specific example, the control means (40) always reads the current of the motor (82) as an analog value every 10 ms (since the current is unstable when the motor is started, the current is read for 500 ms after the start, for example. For example, the average value of the current value during the predetermined time (for example, the average value of the latest 8 readings), for example, the maximum value among the 8 times the moving average every 1 s. And the minimum value is stored. Next, the maximum value and the minimum value during the next 1 s are measured in the same manner, and when the change between the two values is zero or extremely small for a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds), the user is not placed. Judgment can be made.
Of course, it is not limited to the above.

  As described above, it is possible to prevent the passive exerciser (10) from performing unnecessary operations by detecting the presence or absence of the user by the detection means (46).

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful as a passive exerciser that can perform a stepping exercise or a stepping exercise and a hip twisting exercise simultaneously.

It is a perspective view which shows the use condition of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is a front view which shows the use condition of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is a right view which shows the use condition of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the retracted state of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is a front view which shows the retracted state of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is a right view which shows the retracted state of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is arrow sectional drawing which follows the line AA of FIG. 2 of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the drive part of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is a top view which shows the drive part of the passive exerciser of this invention. It is a block diagram of a control means. It is a circuit diagram which shows the dynamic braking at the time of the stop of the passive exerciser of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

(10) Passive exercise device
(20) Base part
(30) Unit section
(31) Rotating plate
(33) Footboard
(34) Footboard
(40) Control means
(42) Detection means
(80) Drive unit

Claims (9)

A unit part that can be tilted with a pair of left and right footboards;
A drive unit that alternately tilts the footboard; and
Control means for controlling the operation of the drive unit;
A passive exercise device comprising
The unit portion is electrically connected to the control means, and includes detection means for detecting the tilting state of the footboard,
The control unit is a passive exerciser that controls to stop the drive unit at a position where the tilting states of the left and right footboards detected by the detection unit become substantially equal when the drive unit is stopped. The unit part is rotatably arranged on the base part placed on the floor surface,
The drive unit tilts the footboard and rotates the unit unit,
The passive exerciser according to claim 1, wherein the detection means is arranged to detect a tilting state of the left and right footboards based on a rotation angle of the unit portion with respect to the base portion.   When stopping the drive unit, the control unit stops power supply to the drive unit before the tilting states of the left and right step plates detected by the detection unit become substantially equal, and stops the movement by moving the step plate at a low speed due to inertia. Accordingly, the passive exerciser according to claim 1 or 2 that controls to stop the tilting of the treads at a position where the tilting states of the left and right treads are substantially equal.   When stopping the drive unit, the control unit controls the drive unit to stop at a position where the tilting states of the left and right footboards detected by the detection unit are substantially equal by temporarily operating the drive unit at a low speed. The passive exerciser according to claim 1 or 2.   5. The control unit according to claim 4, wherein the control unit stops power feeding to the drive unit when the tilting states of the left and right footboards detected by the detection unit are not substantially equal even if the drive unit is operated at a low speed for a predetermined time. Passive exerciser. A unit part that can be tilted with a pair of left and right footboards;
A drive unit with a motor that tilts the treadle alternately;
Control means for controlling the operation of the drive unit;
A passive exercise device comprising
The passive exerciser, wherein the control means controls the motor to be braked when the drive unit is not operating.   The passive exerciser according to claim 6, wherein the motor brake is used as a motor brake. A unit part that can be tilted with a pair of left and right footboards;
A drive unit that alternately tilts the footboard; and
Control means for controlling the operation of the drive unit;
A passive exercise device comprising
The control means has detection means for detecting whether or not the user is placed on the tread board, and allows the power supply to the drive unit only when the user is placed on the tread board by the detection means. A passive exerciser characterized by controlling as follows.   The passive exerciser according to claim 8, wherein the detection means determines whether or not the user is on the tread based on a load of the motor current.

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