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Folding mechanism for treadmills

Folding mechanism for treadmills description/claims

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a folding mechanism, in particular, a folding mechanism that allows for easy folding.

2. Description of the Related Art

People have become more and more health-conscious nowadays and have tried to do exercise after work. Many people like to jog. Since jogging requires a large space, however, people have to jog outdoors. Outdoor activity often is subject to poor weather conditions, air pollution, and may pose unforeseeable danger to the jogger. To overcome these problems, sports equipment manufactures and suppliers have introduced treadmills to the market, in an attempt to allow people to do exercise at anytime they like and avoid the adverse environmental factors. Since treadmills tend to take up much space, their applicability is restricted. As a result, people are more inclined to purchase foldable treadmills for the sake of storage and space saving.

The pivot structure of a typical foldable treadmill usually consists of a linkage device that connects the base and the treadmill body. Through the transmission of kinetic energy to the linkage device, the treadmill body pursuant to the principle of linkage will swing close to the base until the treadmill body is perpendicular to the base, having the treadmill folded. Treadmills with a linkage device to connect or to engage pivotably both the base and the treadmill body have been well known and disclosed, for instance, by U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,273,843, 6,746,374 and 6,746,376. Thus, it a technical feature for the treadmill body to swing close to the base and to fold up.

Even so, the component structures of the conventional linkage device are rather complicated. Therefore, the present invention intends to provide a folding mechanism for treadmills that is easy for storage and folding.

One objective of the present invention is to provide a folding mechanism for a treadmill that is easy for storage and folding.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a folding mechanism for a treadmill with simple structures.

According to the above objectives, the present invention provides a folding mechanism for the treadmill comprises: (1) a first support frame with two protruding portions mounted respectively at opposite ends of one side, each of the protruding portions having a first pivot point; (2) a second support frame with two connector interfaces mounted respectively at opposite edges of two side frames, each of the connector interfaces corresponding respectively to the protruding portions and having a second pivot point and a third pivot point; (3) a pair of sliding bars having at least one sliding element at one end of each of the pair of sliding bars and a fourth pivot point at the opposite end of each of the pair of sliding bars, the forth pivot points connecting pivotably to the third pivot points positioned at the connector interfaces; (4) a pair of stationary bars, each of which having two fifth pivot points positioned respectively at each of its two ends for connecting pivotably one end to the first pivot point at the protruding portion and the other end to the second pivot point at the connector interface; (5) a pair of guide tracks mounted respectively in the interiors of two side walls of the first support frame, allowing the sliding elements to move along the guide tracks.

The treadmill includes a base with symmetrical handgrips on both sides and a control device mounted above the base; a treadmill body is mounted on the base, with a rotating device consisting of a rolling belt and a set of cylinders. Particularly, the first support frame of the treadmill is used to frame the base whereas the second support frame of the treadmill is used to frame the treadmill body. Additionally, the end of the sliding bar, which has the sliding element, further includes a roller, and the sliding element and the roller are both connected to the sliding bar through a rod.

The folding mechanism further comprises a locking device for locking the treadmill body when the treadmill is folded. The locking device has a hook and a foot pedal, the hook being used to fasten the rod when the second support frame is folded to the upright position so as to prevent the sliding bar from moving by way of the roller; the foot pedal is used to disengage the rod when intending to use the treadmill.

A roller is mounted at the front end of each of the two side walls of the first support frame, whereas a pad is mounted at the rear end of each of the two side walls of the first support frame. Alternatively, a pad can be mounted at the front end of each of the two side walls of the first support frame, whereas a roller can be mounted at the rear end of each of the two side walls of the first support frame. A roller can also be mounted respectively at both the front and rear ends of each of the two side walls of the first support frame.

A transverse bar is mounted between the pair of sliding bars, and a lifting motor is mounted between the transverse bar and the second support frame serving as a fixed linkage between the second support frame and the sliding bars.

The guide track assumes an angular shape with one section at the higher level than the other, and takes a straight form.

A cross-section of the guide track is either H-shaped or U-shaped, and at least one groove is formed in the H-shaped or U-shaped guide track so as to allow the sliding element to move along the guide track. The sliding element contains rolling members, and a cross-section of the guide track is either round-shaped or square-shaped.

The first, second, third, fourth, and fifth pivot points all take the form of holes and jointly lock to each other through a fastening element.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a treadmill of the present invention;

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• Utility Patent

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