US20030069110A1

US20030069110A1 - Exercise bike

Info

Publication number: US20030069110A1
Application number: US09/969,608
Authority: US
Inventors: Chung-Yhi Chang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-10-04
Filing date: 2001-10-04
Publication date: 2003-04-10

Abstract

An exercise bike for users to exercise in a face-upward manner comprises a pedal section, a connecting tube and a base section. The pedal section locates at the highest point of the exercise bike and has a counting stopwatch and two pedals that can be adjusted to change the resistance of stamping. The base can be placed on a plane and has a pad for lying down and two flexible handles. The connecting tube locates between and connects the pedal section and the base section. Some fasteners are installed on the connecting tube to fasten the connecting tube for fixing the pedal section. When opening the fasteners, the connecting tube and the pedal section can be folded to a small unit for storage to conserve the space.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an exercise bike, especially to an exercise bike with a special structure and a compact style for face-upward stamping exercise that meets the criteria of originality, practicability and ergonomics.

Indoor exercise devices, such as treadmill, bike and boat rowing device, provide the opportunity for sport fans to exercise in clean and quite rooms without the anxiety of being affected by weather or the limitation of sports grounds. The indoor exercise devices are more and more popular in the market.

Although the conventional indoor exercise devices may have some advantages, there are difficulties emerge in their practical use. For example, discordant sound is produced when using some exercise devices due to the collision of their mechanical members. Some exercises devices are hard to dismantled after installation and occupy a lot of indoor spaces due to their big sizes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide an exercise bike with new designs, especially an innovated exercise bike with which users can exercise fully in a face-upward manner. The exercise bike of the invention meets the criteria of originality, practicability and ergonomics and is also suitable for both ordinary users and the people who cannot exercise in a standing manner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an exercise bike with a special design for the connection of its basic members so that the exercise bike is not only easily used by users, but also folded easily and rapidly to a small unit for storage to conserve the space.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings of the present invention, in which, [0006]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the exercise bike of the present invention. [0007]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the exercise bike of the present invention with the pad removed [0008]
FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the pedal elements of the present invention [0009]
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the pedal of the present invention [0010]
FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the base elements of the present invention [0011]
FIG. 6 is a side view of the present invention in which the fasteners of the connecting tube have fasten the second U-shape tube. [0012]
FIG. 7 is similar to FIG. 6 in which the fasteners of the connecting tube was opened. [0013]
FIG. 8 is a side view of the present invention in which the connecting tube and pedals are folded to a small unit for storage.[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the exercise bike of the present invention comprises a [0015] pedal section 10, a connecting tube 20 and a base 30 and is used for exercising in a face-upward manner.
FIGS. 3 and 4 show the structure of the [0016] pedal section 10. The pedal section 10 comprises a wheel seat 11, a free wheel 12 within the wheel seat 11, a housing 14 surrounding and covering the wheel seat 11, and a wheel axle 13 piercing through the housing 14, wheel seat 11 and free wheel 12. Each end of the wheel axle 13 has a rotating arm 18 and a pedal 19 with which users can stamp the pedal 19 with their feet to drive the free wheel 12 rotating. A brake plate 15 and an adjusting button 16 are installed on the upper part of the wheel seat11. Rotating the adjusting button 16 can push the brake plate 15 downward to touch the free wheel 12 and change the resistance of stamping the pedal 19. A stopwatch 17 is installed at the front of the housing 14 to sensor the rotation of the free wheel 12 and show the time, distance and other data of the stamping.
FIGS. 1, 3 and [0017] 5 show the structure of the connecting tube 20. The connecting tube 20 comprises a horizontal tube 21 fixed on the tube body with a bolt, so that the horizontal tube 21 can be positioned laterally or adjusted to be vertical when folding the exercise bike. The connecting tube 20 also comprises a press board 22 fixed on the connecting tube 20 at the bottom of the horizontal tube 21 with a bolt. An arc cover 23 is installed on the upper part of the pressboard 22 and presses a frame fastener 24, so that the frame fastener 24 can rotate around the arc axis of the arc cover 23 as its axis. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a screwing button 25 is installed in the middle of the end of the frame fastener 24 and can screws on the second U-shape base 33 of the base section 30 to position the connecting tube 20. The upper part of the connecting tube 20 is integrated and connected to the pedal section 10 and the lower part of the connecting tube 20 is installed with a pivot 26 installed on the positioning tube 34 of the base section 30 described below. The connecting tube 20 is positioned vertically and supports the pedal section 10 to its highest position (FIG. 1) or folded together with the pedal section 10 to form a small unit for storage (as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 8).
As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and [0018] 5, the base section 30 can be placed on a plane. The base section 30 has a set of parallel base tubes 31 with a first U-shape tube 32 at the front and a positioning tube 34 in the middle. A second U-shape tube 33 is installed between the first U-shape tube 32 and the positioning tube 34. A fixed plate 35 is installed in the middle of the bottom of the second U-shape tube 33 and has a threaded opening 36 for the screwing button 25 to screw through. A U-shape trough 37 is arranged in the middle at the rear end of the second U-shape tube 33 with a backward opening to accommodate the connecting tube 20. A U-shape through 38 is arranged in the middle of the positioning tube 34 with a forward opening to accommodate the pivot 26 at the lower part of the connecting tube 20. The rear part of the base tube 31 is designed as two detachable sets with two pads 39 being placed on the rear part of the base tube 31 for users to lie down. Each one spring 41 and handle 40 connected with a connecting ring 42 is installed on each side of the base tube 31 respectively as an auxiliary device for users to hold with hands to increase the stability when exerting force with the waists.
FIG. 1 shows the exercise bike after the combination. When operating the exercise bike, the user lies down on the [0019] pad 39 of the base section 30 with each foot on each one pedal 19 of the left and right side of the pedal section 10. The user can pillow the head on the hands or hold both handles 40 on each side of the base section 30 to increase the stability. The user can adjust the adjusting button 16 at the upper part of the pedal section 10 to change the resistance of stamping for better exercising effect.
The user can also place the knees on the [0020] horizontal tube 21, hook the first U-shape tube 32 with the ankles and pillow the head on the hands or hold the handles 40 to change the posture for other sit-ups.
After the exercising, the user can fold the invented exercise bike to a small unit for easy storage or unscrew related bolts to dismantle the whole exercise bike to individual members for easy packaging and transport, as shown in the FIG. 8. [0021]
The exercise bike of the invention can be changed to a certain extent in fabrication. For example, in addition to the round shape shown in the preferred embodiment, the sectional shape of the tube members of the invented exercise bike can be flat and round, elongated round, square or rectangular or any combinations of the shapes without any adverse effect on its functions. [0022]
The designed structure of the invented exercise bike is not complicated, on the contrary, it is easy for operation, creates multiple exercising effects and can be folded to a small unit for easy storage. Especially, the present invention provides an opportunity for exercising in a face-upward manner and, therefore, the exercise bike is suitable not only for ordinary users, but also for the people who cannot exercise in a standing manner due to the wounds or other handicaps in their bodies. [0023]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A exercise bike comprising a pedal section, a connecting tube, and a base section, wherein:

the pedal section includes a wheel seat, a free wheel within the wheel seat, a housing surrounding and covering the wheel seat, a wheel axle piercing through the housing, wheel seat and free wheel; each end of the wheel axle having a rotating arm and a pedal with which users can stamp the pedal with their feet to drive the free wheel rotating; a brake plate and a adjusting button is installed on the upper part of the wheel seat; rotating the adjusting button to push the brake plate downward to touch the free wheel and change the resistance of stamping the pedal; a stopwatch is installed at the front of the housing to sensor the rotation of the free wheel and showing the time, distance and other data of the stamping;

the connecting tube has a horizontal tube fixed on the tube body with a bolt and a press board fixed on the connecting tube at the bottom of the horizontal tube with a bolt; an arc cover is installed on the upper part of the press board and pressing a frame fastener so that the frame fastener can rotate around the arc axis of the arc cover as its axis; a screwing button is installed in the middle at the end of the frame fastener and screwing on the second U-shape base of the base section to position the connecting tube; the upper part of the connecting tube is integrated and connected to the pedal section and the lower part of the connecting tube being installed with a pivot on the positioning tube of the base section; and

the base section is place on a plane and has a set of parallel base tubes with a first U-shape tube at the front and a positioning tube in the middle; a second U-shape tube is installed between the first U-shape tube and the positioning tube; a fixed plate is installed in the middle of the bottom of the second U-shape tube and has a threaded opening for the screwing button to screw through; a U-shape trough is designed in the middle at the rear end of the second U-shape tube with a backward opening to accommodate the above-mentioned connecting tube; a U-shape through is designed in the middle of the positioning tube with a forward opening to accommodate the pivot at the lower part of the connecting tube; the rear part of the base tube is designed as two detachable sets with two pads being placed on the rear part of the base tube for users to lie down; each one spring and handle connected with a connecting ring is installed on each side of the base tube respectively as an auxiliary device for users to hold with hands.

2. The exercise bike as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sectional shape of the tube members of the exercise bike is flat and round, elongated round, square, rectangular and the combination of said shapes.