Representative of a user's interaction with a surface of physical exercise of a treadmill and treadmill thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12582869-B2
Application number	US-202418581477-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 20, 2024
Priority date	Feb 20, 2023
Publication date	Mar 24, 2026
Grant date	Mar 24, 2026

Abstract

A method for determining information representative of a user's interaction with a surface of physical exercise of a treadmill is provided. The method, for each sampling time instants t i , with 1<i<N, of a plurality of subsequent sampling time instants t 1 , t 2 , . . . , t N , with positive integer N, involves detecting, by each load cell of a plurality of load cells, data representative of a respective local force vector value along a direction orthogonal to a portion of a surface of physical exercise of the treadmill at the load cell due to the user's interaction with the surface of physical exercise, and determining, by a data processing unit of the treadmill, information representative of a resulting force vector based on the data representative of the local force vectors detected by the plurality of load cells.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for determining information representative of a user's interaction with a surface of physical exercise of a treadmill, the treadmill including:
a base extending along a respective direction of longitudinal development, the base including a first rotating element and a second rotating element adapted to rotate around respective axes of rotation transverse to the direction of longitudinal development of the base of the treadmill, the base including a surface of physical exercise operatively connected to the first rotating element and to the second rotating element, the surface of physical exercise having a respective portion of the surface of physical exercise facing towards a user during the user's interaction with the surface of physical exercise; a plurality of load cells arranged below the portion of the surface of physical exercise in such a way as to detect data representative of local force vectors due to the user's interaction with the portion of the surface of physical exercise along a direction orthogonal to the portion of the surface of physical exercise, the plurality of load cells including a first pair of load cells, a second pair of load cells and a third pair of load cells arranged in series along the direction of longitudinal development of the base of the treadmill, the first pair of load cells and the second pair of load cells being adapted to define a first force plate, the second pair of load cells and the third pair of load cells being adapted to define a second force plate, the first force plate and the second force plate sharing the second pair of load cells; a data processing unit operatively connected to the plurality of load cells, the method, for each sampling time instants t i , with 1<i<N, of a plurality of subsequent sampling time instants t 1 , t 2 , . . . , t N , with positive integer N, comprising steps of:
detecting, by each load cell of said plurality of load cells, data representative of a respective local force vector along the direction orthogonal to the portion of the surface of physical exercise in correspondence of the load cell due to the user's interaction with the portion of the surface of physical exercise; and
determining, by the data processing unit, information representative of a resulting force vector due to the user's interaction with the surface of physical exercise of the treadmill based on the data representative of the local force vectors detected by the plurality of load cells.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said information representative of the resulting force vector comprises at least one coordinate x of the resulting force vector in a reference coordinate system, wherein the coordinate x lies on an axis x of the reference coordinate system parallel to the direction of longitudinal development of the base of the treadmill, and wherein the coordinate x lies on the portion of the surface of physical exercise, the step of determining the information representative of the resulting force vector based on the data representative of the local force vectors detected by the plurality of load cells comprising a step of determining, by the data processing unit, the coordinate x of the resulting force vector, the coordinate x of the resulting force vector representing a position of a point of application of the resulting force vector on the portion of the exercise surface along the direction of longitudinal development of the base of the treadmill.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the coordinate x of the resulting force vector is determined, by the data processing unit, based on the data representative of the local force vectors detected by the first force plate determined by processing only respective electrical signals generated by the first pair of load cells and by the second pair of load cells or based on the data representative of the local force vectors detected by the second force plate determined by processing respective electrical signals generated by the second pair of load cells and by the third pair of load cells.

4 . The method of claim 2 , comprising a step of selecting, by the data processing unit, the first force plate determined by processing only respective electrical signals generated by the first pair of load cells and by the second pair of load cells or the second force plate determined by processing respective electrical signals generated by the second pair of load cells and by the third pair of load cells in order to determine the coordinate x of the resulting force vector, based on a first orientation or on a second orientation, opposite to the first orientation, of the local force vectors detected by the first pair of load cells and/or by the third pair of load cells along the direction orthogonal to the portion of the surface of physical exercise.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein, when the selection is executable based on the data representative of the local force vectors detected by the first pair of load cells alone:
in the case in which the first pair of load cells detects local force vectors in the first orientation, the data processing unit selects the second force plate; and in the case in which the first pair of load cells detects local force vectors in the second orientation, opposite to the first orientation, the data processing unit selects the first force plate.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein, when the selection is executable based on the data representative of the local force vectors detected by the third pair of load cells alone:
in the case in which the third pair of load cells detects local force vectors in the second orientation, the data processing unit selects the second force plate; and in the case in which the third pair of load cells detects local force vectors in the first orientation, the data processing unit selects the first force plate.

7 . The method of claim 4 , wherein, when the selection is executable based on the data representative of the local force vectors detected by the first pair of load cells and by the third pair of load cells:
in the case in which the first pair of load cells detects local force vectors in the second orientation and the third pair of load cells detects local force vectors in the first orientation, the data processing unit selects the first force plate; in the case in which the first pair of load cells detects local force vectors in the first orientation and the third pair of load cells detects local force vectors in the second orientation, the data processing unit selects the second force plate; and in the case in which the first pair of load cells detects local force vectors in the second orientation and the third pair of load cells detects local force vectors in the second orientation, the data processing unit does not select any of the first force plate and the second force plate.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said information representative of the resulting force vector comprises at least one coordinate y of the resulting force vector in a reference coordinate system, wherein the coordinate y lies on an axis y of the reference coordinate system transverse to the direction of longitudinal development of the base of the treadmill, and wherein the coordinate y lies on the portion of the surface of physical exercise, the step of determining the information representative of the resulting force vector) based on the data representative of the local force vectors detected by the plurality of load cells comprising a step of determining, by the data processing unit, the coordinate y of the resulting force vector, the coordinate y of the resulting force vector representing a position of a point of application of the resulting force vector on the portion of the exercise

Assignees

• Technogym Spa

Inventors

• Vannoni Enrico
• Bandini Luca
• Zoffoli Luca
• Del Monaco Alessandro

Classifications

• A63B2220/833

  Sensors arranged on the exercise apparatus or sports implement · CPC title

• A63B2220/51

  Force · CPC title

• A63B2220/30

  Speed · CPC title

• A63B22/02 Primary

  with movable endless bands {, e.g. treadmills (other training appliances for running on the spot A63B69/0028)} · CPC title

• A61B5/11

  Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor or mobility of a limb {(A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721)} · CPC title