LEG-POWERED TREADMILL

摘要

A motor-less leg-powered curved treadmill produced that allows people to walk, jog, run, and sprint without making any adjustments to the treadmill other than shifting the user's center of gravity forward and backwards. A closed loop treadmill belt running between front and rear pulley rollers is formed with a low friction running surface of transverse wooden, plastic or rubber slats attached to each other in a resilient fashion, wherein each transverse slat has at least one continuous fin descending downward therefrom.

主权项

1. A motor-less, leg-powered curved treadmill comprising:
a treadmill frame; a set of respective front and rear pulley rollers for rotation, said front and rear pulleys supporting a closed loop treadmill belt; said closed loop treadmill belt comprising a plurality of parallel transverse slats oriented perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said belt, said parallel transverse slats attached to each other in a resilient running surface; each said parallel transverse slat having at least one continuous fin extending side to side across each said parallel transverse slat, said at least one continuous fin extending downward from each said transverse parallel slat; said closed loop treadmill running surface having a top concave surface, said treadmill running surface being of such a length as compared to the length of said treadmill frame to permit it to assume a required concave upper contour; a means for slackening the upper portion while simultaneously keeping the lower portion taut, preventing said lower portion from drooping down during rotation and exertion of walking or running force upon said upper concave portion of said closed loop treadmill belt; wherein said means for slackening the upper portion while simultaneously keeping the lower portion taut, preventing said lower portion from drooping down during rotation and exertion of walking or running force upon said upper concave portion of said closed loop treadmill belt comprises at least a pair of linear arrays of bearings extending along and located at opposite peripheral edges of said treadmill frame, each said array of peripheral edge bearings physically supporting said lower section of said closed loop treadmill belt in a taut non-drooping configuration.