초록 ▼

A treadmill includes a frame, a deck assembly, at least one deck deflection sensor, and a control system. The deck assembly is supported by the frame. The deck assembly includes a longitudinally extending deck, at least first and second rollers, and a belt positioned about the deck and the first and

A treadmill includes a frame, a deck assembly, at least one deck deflection sensor, and a control system. The deck assembly is supported by the frame. The deck assembly includes a longitudinally extending deck, at least first and second rollers, and a belt positioned about the deck and the first and second rollers. The deck deflection sensor is coupled to the deck. The deck deflection sensor is a contactless displacement sensor including an electrical intermediate device and an aerial. The control system is operably coupled to the at least one deck deflection sensor.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A treadmill, comprising: a frame: a deck assembly supported by the frame, the deck assembly including a longitudinally extending deck, at least first and second rollers, and a belt positioned about the deck and the first and second rollers; at least one deck deflection sensor

What is claimed is: 1. A treadmill, comprising: a frame: a deck assembly supported by the frame, the deck assembly including a longitudinally extending deck, at least first and second rollers, and a belt positioned about the deck and the first and second rollers; at least one deck deflection sensor coupled to the deck, the deck deflection sensor being a contactless displacement sensor including an electrical intermediate device and a non-cylindrical arrangement of transmit and receive windings; a control system operably coupled to the at least one deck deflection sensor, wherein at least one deck deflection sensor is a plurality of spaced apart deck deflection sensors, wherein each deck deflection sensor produces a signal representative of the deflection of a separate region of the deck, and wherein the control stem is configured to process the signals from the deck sensors and to differentiate between the deck sensors, wherein the control system is configured to determine specific operating characteristics of a user of the treadmill based upon the signals from the deck deflection sensors from the separate regions of the deck; and a drive assembly coupled to one of the rollers and the control system, wherein the control system sends a speed signal to the drive assembly to adjust the speed of the belt based upon at least one operating characteristic of the user. 2. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein the at least one deck deflection sensor is at least four deck deflection sensors positioned in a spaced-apart locations about the deck. 3. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein the at least one deck deflection sensor is at least six deck deflection sensors positioned in a spaced-apart locations about the deck. 4. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein the electrical intermediate device is selected from the group consisting of: a passive resonant electrical circuit, a powered resonant electrical circuit, a resonant LC circuit, a conductive metal slug, and a conductive ferrite slug. 5. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein the non-cylindrical arrangement of transmit and receive windings is planar. 6. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein the non-cylindrical arrangement of transmit and receive windings is an aerial, and wherein the shape of the aerial is selected from the group consisting of a curved shape forming part of a cylinder, a hemi-spherical shape and an arcuate shape. 7. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein the electrical intermediate device includes a resonant LC circuit, and wherein the distance separating the device and the arrangement of transmit and receive windings is within the range of 0.1 to 100 mm. 8. The treadmill of claim 7, wherein the separation between the electrical intermediate device and the aerial is measured along a first direction, and wherein as the electrical intermediate device moves with respect to the aerial in a second direction, different from the first direction, the accuracy of the deck deflection sensor is not significantly negatively affected by variations in the separation distance range between 0.1 to 100 mm. 9. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein control system is configured to automatically shutdown the treadmill if the signal produced by the deck deflection sensor drops below a predetermined value for a predetermined amount of time. 10. The treadmill of claim 9, wherein the predetermined value of the signal produced by the deck deflection sensor corresponds to a non-zero weight of less than 70 pounds. 11. The treadmill of claim 9, wherein the predetermined value of the signal produced by the deck deflection sensor corresponds to a non-zero weight of less than 60 pounds. 12. The treadmill of claim 9, wherein the predetermined value of the signal produced by the deck deflection sensor corresponds to a non-zero weight of less than 50 pounds. 13. The treadmill of claim 9, wherein the predetermined amount of time is less than or equal to five seconds. 14. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein the operating characteristics are selected from the group consisting of stride length, user's speed, user's deck impact pattern, stride diagnostics, user's lateral position, user's longitudinal position and combinations thereof. 15. The treadmill of claim 1 wherein the control system automatically calculates the weight of the user based upon the deflection of the at least one deflection sensor. 16. The treadmill of claim 1,wherein the control system is configured to prevent the treadmill from operating until a signal received from the at least one deck deflection sensor exceeds a predetermined magnitude. 17. The treadmill of claim 16, wherein the predetermined magnitude of signal corresponds to a weight of at least 30 pounds. 18. The treadmill of claim 16,wherein the predetermined magnitude of signal corresponds to a weight of at least 40 pounds. 19. The treadmill of claim 16, wherein the predetermined magnitude of signal corresponds to a weight of at least 50 pounds. 20. The treadmill of claim 16,wherein the at least one deck deflection sensor is at least two deck deflection sensors positioned in a spaced-apart locations about the deck. 21. The treadmill of claim 16, wherein the at least one deck deflection sensor is at least four deck deflection sensors positioned in a spaced-apart locations about the deck. 22. The treadmill of claim 16, wherein the at least one deck deflection sensor is at least six deck deflection sensors positioned in a spaced-apart locations about the deck. 23. The treadmill of claim 16, wherein the deck deflection sensor is a contactless displacement sensor including an electrical intermediate device and an aerial. 24. The treadmill of claim 23, wherein the electrical intermediate device is selected from the group consisting of a passive resonant electrical circuit, a powered resonant electrical circuit, a resonant LC circuit, a conductive metal slug, and a conductive ferrite slug. 25. The treadmill of claim 23, wherein the aerial includes a transmit winding and a receive winding. 26. The treadmill of claim 23, wherein the shape of the aerial is selected from the group consisting of a substantially planar shape, a curved shape forming part of a cylinder, a hemi-spherical shape, and an arcuate shape. 27. The treadmill of claim 23, wherein the electrical intermediate device includes a resonant LC circuit, and wherein the distance separating the device and the aerial is within the range of 0.1 to 100 mm. 28. The treadmill of claim 27, wherein the separation between the electrical intermediate device and the aerial is measured along a first direction, and wherein as the electrical intermediate device moves with respect to the aerial in a second direction, different from the first direction, the accuracy of the deck deflection sensor is not significantly negatively affected by variations in the separation distance range between 0.1 to 100 mm. 29. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein the treadmill is configured to detect a user's weight and wherein the at least one deck deflection sensor is coupled to the deck such that application of a user's weight to the deck assembly produces a change in mutual inductance between the transmit and receive windings. 30. The treadmill of claim 29, wherein the at least one deck deflection sensor is at least four deck deflection sensors positioned in a spaced-apart locations about the deck. 31. The treadmill of claim 29, wherein the at least one deck deflection sensor is at least six deck deflection sensors positioned in a spaced-apart locations about the deck. 32. The treadmill of claim 29, wherein the at least one deck deflection sensor further includes an electrical intermediate device selected from the group consisting of: a passive resonant electrical circuit, an active resonant electrical circuit, a resonant LC circuit, a conductive metal slug, and a conductive ferrite slug. 33. The treadmill of claim 29, wherein the transmit and receive windings of the deck deflection sensor are formed into an aerial, and wherein the shape of the aerial is selected from the group consisting of a substantially planar shape and a curved shape forming part of a cylinder. 34. The treadmill of claim 29, wherein the electrical intermediate device includes a passive resonant electrical circuit, and wherein the distance separating the device and the aerial is within the range of 0.1 to 100 mm. 35. The treadmill of claim 34, wherein the separation between the electrical intermediate device and the aerial is measured along a first direction, and wherein as the electrical intermediate device moves with respect to the aerial in a second direction, different from the first direction, the accuracy of the deck deflection sensor is not significantly negatively affected by variations in the separation distance range between 0.1 to 100 mm. 36. The treadmill of claim 29, wherein control system is configured to automatically shutdown the treadmill if the deck displacement measurement produced by the deck deflection sensor drops below a first predetermined value for a predetermined amount of time. 37. The treadmill of claim 36, wherein the first predetermined value corresponds to a non-zero weight of less than 70 pounds. 38. The treadmill of claim 36, wherein the first predetermined value corresponds to a non-zero weight of less than 50 pounds. 39. The treadmill of claim 36, wherein the predetermined amount of time is less than or equal to five seconds. 40. The treadmill of claim 29, wherein control system is configured to prevent the treadmill from operating until the deck displacement measurement produced by the deck deflection sensor exceeds a second predetermined value. 41. The treadmill of claim one and 1, wherein the second predetermined value correlates a weight of at least 30 pounds. 42. The treadmill of claim 40, wherein the second predetermined value correlates a weight of at least 50 pounds. 43. The treadmill of claim 29, wherein the transmit and receive windings are formed onto a printed circuit board. 44. The treadmill of claim 43, wherein the transmit windings include a pair of electrically separate circuits formed in an arrangement selected from the group consisting of a generally sinusoidal and generally cosinusoidal arrangement, an intersecting arrangement, and combinations thereof. 45. The treadmill of claim 44, wherein the receive windings form a generally closed loop about the transmit windings, and wherein the shape of the loop is selected from the group consisting of rectangular, oval, circular, polygonal, and irregular. 46. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein the control system is configured to supply an alternating electrical signal to the transmit windings; and wherein the treadmill further includes first and second electrical intermediate devices secured to the right and left legs of the user, respectively, each intermediate device configured to produce a variation in the mutual inductance existing between the transmit and receive windings in response to a change in the relative position of the intermediate device to the windings. 47. The treadmill of claim 46, wherein the at least one aerial is mounted directly to the deck. 48. The treadmill of claim 46, wherein the at least one aerial is positioned within the deck. 49. The treadmill of claim 46, wherein each of the first and second electrical intermediate devices are secured to the user at a location selected from the group consisting of the user's shoe, the user's ankle, the user's lower leg and the user's ankle. 50. The treadmill of claim 46, wherein the at least one aerial is at least four aerials positioned in spaced-apart locations about the deck 51. The treadmill of claim 46, wherein the first and second electrical intermediate devices are selected from the group consisting of: a passive resonant electrical circuit, a powered resonant electrical circuit, a resonant LC circuit, a conductive metal slug, and a conductive ferrite slug. 52. The treadmill of claim 46, wherein the control system is configured to determine the impact locations of the user's legs on the deck based upon the variation in the mutual inductance existing between the transmit and receive windings in response to a change in the relative position of the intermediate device to the windings. 53. The treadmill of claim 52, further comprising a lift assembly and a drive assembly wherein each of the lift assembly and the drive assembly are operably coupled to the control system. 54. The treadmill of claim 53, wherein the control system is configured to cause a variation in the speed of the treadmill based upon the position of the user on the treadmill. 55. The treadmill of claim 53, wherein the control system is configured to cause a variation in the incline of the treadmill based upon the position of the user on the treadmill. 56. The treadmill of claim 52, wherein the control system is configured to produce at least one audible warning signal based upon the position of the user on the treadmill. 57. The treadmill of claim 46, wherein the transmit windings include a pair of electrically separate circuits formed in an arrangement selected from the group consisting of a generally sinusoidal and generally cosinusoidal arrangement, an intersecting arrangement, and combinations thereof. 58. The treadmill of claim 1, further comprising: a drive assembly coupled to one of the first and second rollers, the drive assembly including a plurality of components configured to rotate about a common axis during use; at least one aerial coupled to the frame and positioned adjacent to at least one of the components of the drive assembly, the aerial including a second non-cylindrical arrangement of transmit and receive windings, wherein the control system is configured to produce a variation in the mutual inductance of the transmit and receive windings during use as the components moves relative to the at least one aerial, the variation in mutual induction produced by the relative movement of the component to the at least one aerial correlating to the speed of the treadmill. 59. The treadmill of claim 58, wherein the components of the drive assembly are selected from the group consisting of a rotor, an output shaft, a flywheel, and combinations thereof. 60. The treadmill of claim 59, wherein the flywheel includes at least one outwardly projection constellation, and wherein the at least one constellation is an electrical intermediate device configured to produce the variation in mutual inductance of the arrangement of transmit and receive windings. 61. The treadmill of claim 58, wherein the shape of the non-cylindrical arrangement of transmit and receive windings is selected from the group consisting of a substantially planar shape, a curved shape forming part of a cylinder, a hemi-spherical shape and an arcuate shape. 62. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein the deck assembly has a forward end and at least first and second rollers, wherein the treadmill further includes a lift assembly coupled to the frame, the lift assembly comprising: an incline actuator and an actuating arm, the actuating arm coupled to the forward end of the deck assembly; at least one aerial positioned proximate the forward end of the deck, the aerial including second transmit and receive windings, wherein the control system is configured to supply an alternating electrical signal to the second transmit and receive windings; and a second electrical intermediate device coupled to the forward end of the deck, the intermediate device configured to produce a variation in mutual inductance existing between the transmit and receive windings in response to a change in the relative position of the intermediate device to the windings. 63. The treadmill of claim 62, wherein the second electrical intermediate device is selected from the group consisting of: a passive resonant electrical circuit, a powered resonant electrical circuit, a resonant LC circuit, a conductive metal slug, and a conductive ferrite slug. 64. A treadmill, comprising: a frame; a deck assembly supported by the frame, the deck assembly including a longitudinally extending deck, at least first and second rollers, and a belt positioned about the deck and the first and second rollers; at least one deck deflection sensor coupled to the deck, the deck deflection sensor being a contactless displacement sensor including an electrical intermediate device and a non-cylindrical arrangement of transmit and receive windings; and a control system operably coupled to the at least one deck deflection sensor, wherein control system is configured to automatically shutdown the treadmill if the signal produced by the deck deflection sensor drops below a predetermined value for a predetermined amount of time and wherein the predetermined value of the signal produced by the deck deflection sensor corresponds to a non-zero weight of less than 70 pounds. 65. A treadmill, comprising: a frame; a deck assembly supported by the frame, the deck assembly including a longitudinally extending deck, at least first and second rollers, and a belt positioned about the deck and the first and second rollers; at least one deck deflection sensor coupled to the deck, the deck deflection sensor being a contactless displacement sensor including an electrical intermediate device and a non-cylindrical arrangement of transmit and receive windings; and a control system operably coupled to the at least one deck deflection sensor, wherein at least one deck deflection sensor is a plurality of spaced apart deck deflection sensors, wherein each deck deflection sensor produces a signal representative of the deflection of a separate region of the deck and, and wherein the control system is configured to process the signals from the deck sensors and to differentiate between the deck sensors, wherein the control system is configured to determine specific operating characteristics of a user of the treadmill based upon the signals from the deck deflection sensors from the separate regions of the deck and, wherein the operating characteristics are selected from the group consisting of stride length, user's speed, user's deck impact pattern, stride diagnostics, user's lateral position, user's longitudinal position and combinations thereof. 66. A treadmill, comprising: a frame; a deck assembly supported by the frame, the deck assembly including a longitudinally extending deck, at least first and second rollers, and a belt positioned about the deck and the first and second rollers; at least one deck deflection sensor coupled to the deck, the deck deflection sensor being a contactless displacement sensor including an electrical intermediate device and a non-cylindrical arrangement of transmit and receive windings; and a control system operably coupled to the at least one deck deflection sensor, wherein the control system is configured to prevent the treadmill from operating until a signal received from the at least one deck deflection sensor exceeds a predetermined magnitude. 67. A treadmill, comprising: a frame; a deck assembly supported by the frame, the deck assembly including a longitudinally extending deck, at least first and second rollers, and a belt positioned about the deck and the first and second rollers; at least one deck deflection sensor coupled to the deck, the deck deflection sensor being a contactless displacement sensor including an electrical intermediate device and a non-cylindrical arrangement of transmit and receive windings; and a control system operably coupled to the at least one deck deflection sensor, wherein the control system is configured to supply an alternating electrical signal to the transmit windings; and wherein the treadmill further includes first and second electrical intermediate devices secured to the right and left legs of the user, respectively, each intermediate device configured to produce a variation in the mutual inductance existing between the transmit and receive windings in response to a change in the relative position of the intermediate device to the windings. 68. A treadmill, comprising: a frame; a deck assembly supported by the frame, the deck assembly including a longitudinally extending deck, at least first and second rollers, and a belt positioned about the deck and the first and second rollers; at least one deck deflection sensor coupled to the deck, the deck deflection sensor being a contactless displacement sensor including an electrical intermediate device and a non-cylindrical arrangement of transmit and receive windings; and a control system operably coupled to the at least one deck deflection sensor; a drive assembly coupled to one of the first and second rollers, the drive assembly including a plurality of components configured to rotate about a common axis during use; and at least one aerial coupled to the frame and positioned adjacent to at least one of the components of the drive assembly, the aerial including a second non-cylindrical arrangement of transmit and receive windings, wherein the control system is configured to produce a variation in the mutual inductance of the transmit and receive windings during use as the components moves relative to the at least one aerial, the variation in mutual induction produced by the relative movement of the component to the at least one aerial correlating to the speed of the treadmill. 69. A treadmill, comprising: a frame; a deck assembly supported by the frame, the deck assembly including a longitudinally extending deck, at least first and second rollers, and a belt positioned about the deck and the first and second rollers; at least one deck deflection sensor coupled to the deck, the deck deflection sensor being a contactless displacement sensor including an electrical intermediate device and a non-cylindrical arrangement of transmit and receive windings; and a control system operably coupled to the at least one deck deflection sensor, wherein the deck assembly has a forward end and at least first and second rollers,; wherein the treadmill further includes a lift assembly coupled to the frame, the lift assembly comprising: an incline actuator and an actuating arm, the actuating arm coupled to the forward end of the deck assembly; at least one aerial positioned proximate the forward end of the deck, the aerial including second transmit and receive windings, wherein the control system is configured to supply an alternating electrical signal to the second transmit and receive windings; and a second electrical intermediate device coupled to the forward end of the deck, the intermediate device configured to produce a variation in mutual inductance existing between the transmit and receive windings in response to a change in the relative position of the intermediate device to the windings. 70. A treadmill, comprising: a frame; a deck assembly supported by the frame, the deck assembly including a longitudinally extending deck, at least first and second rollers, and a belt positioned about the deck and the first and second rollers; at least one deck deflection sensor coupled to the deck, the deck deflection sensor being a contactless displacement sensor including a set of transmit winding and a set of receive windings, the transmit winding configured to move independently of the receive windings upon deflection of the deck assembly, wherein the at least one deck deflection sensor is at least four deck deflection sensors positioned in spaced-apart locations about the deck; and a control system operably coupled to the at least one deck deflection sensor. 71. The treadmill of claim 70, wherein at least one of the transmit winding and the receive windings are planar. 72. The treadmill of claim 70, wherein control system is configured to automatically shutdown the treadmill if the signal produced by the deck deflection sensor drops below a predetermined value for a predetermined amount of time. 73. The treadmill of claim 72, wherein the predetermined value of the signal produced by the deck deflection sensor corresponds to a non-zero weight of less than 70 pounds. 74. The treadmill of claim 72, wherein the predetermined value of the signal produced by the deck deflection sensor corresponds to a non-zero weight of less than 60 pounds. 75. The treadmill of claim 72, wherein the predetermined value of the signal produced by the deck deflection sensor corresponds to a non-zero weight of less than 50 pounds. 76. The treadmill of claim 72, wherein the predetermined amount of time is less than or equal to five seconds.