Dual-Tread Exerciser

There are many types of exercisers for both arms and legs. Most of these are of the rope and pulley variety, with weights and/or springs to establish the load on the various limbs. This provides motion and tension of the muscles, but does not, accurately, imitate the process of walking, or provide real therapy in this area. Other exercisers are of the treadmill variety to give the function of walking without moving from a given location. This is often necessary or desirable where there is no convenient place to run or walk; or the weather is inclement; or the individual needs a controlled situation.

However, all of the treadmills have a single tread for both legs, and while they can be controlled in many ways, such as by raising the forward end of the treadmill, to provide a slope to climb against; or by friction mechanism that may provide a variable drag against the progress of the treadmill. Meters and other attachments may be provided to record the speed and the force utilized in the operation of the treadmill. However, none of the available treadmills can vary the load on either of the legs individually--or on the arms of the exerciser.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a treadmill having a separate, articulated tread for each of the legs of the user.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a dual treadmill wherein each of the treads can be controlled separately. The treads may, in fact, be controlled by separate motor-generators that may provide a supplemental force to either legs when energy is applied, or provide a given drag to either leg, when a load is applied for therapeutic purposes.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an exercise device that includes separate arm devices as well as separate leg devices that may all be individually controlled to supplement or attenuate the motions of both arms and legs.

Dual treadmills are provided in an exerciser to provide a separate control on the function of the separate legs of the user. The separate treadmills may provide a separate degree of drag, depending on the need for exercise of the separate legs, or may even be motor driven to reduce the work required of a given leg. Arm braces are also provided to support the user on the treadmills and may be coordinated to permit or require arm motion in conjunction with the leg motion.

FIG. 1 shows an oblique view of the overall device;

FIG. 2 shows an end view of a similar species of the device;

FIG. 3 shows a side view of another species of the device;

FIG. 4 shows an end view of the device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows a side view of still another species of this device; and

FIG. 6 shows an end view of the device of FIG. 5.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1, an oblique view is seen of the device 10 having two treads 11L and 11R to separately accommodate the two feed of an individual. The treads are continuous and extend around rollers 12L and 12R at the rear end, and 13L and 13R at the front end. The upper surfaces of the treads are supported by the roller bearings 14L and 14R respectively. The rearmost rollers 12L and 12R are supported at ground level, but the foremost rollers 13L and 13R are elevated on the frame poles 15L and 15R through axels through any of a series of holes such as 151R.

FIG. 2 shows an end view of a similar device 20 with treadmill treads 21L and 21R on rollers 22L and 22R respectively. In this species, motors 27L and 27R are shown connected to the axles of the corresponding rollers for providing individual control of the drive or drag of the corresponding treads.

FIG. 3 shows a side view of another variation of this device, similar to the device of FIG. 1, and with similar elements similarly numbered, but with the addition of braces 38L and 38R, with handles 382L and 382R respectively, for arm support and exercise. These braces are coupled to rear supports 312L and 312R respectively by pivots 313L and 313R respectively. The fore ends of the braces are coupled to supports 332L and 332R by pivots 333L and 333R respectively. The rear supports 312L and 312R are coupled to the toe roller 32R by ratchets 322R and pawls 324R. The foremost rollers axles are set into one of the elevating sockets 351R.

FIG. 4 shows a front view of the device of FIG. 3 with similar elements similarly numbered. The device 40 has the foremost supports 432L and 432R supporting the hand braces 48L and 48R respectively.

FIG. 5 shows another variation of this device with similar elements again similarly numbered. In this species a central post 59R is seen with sockets 591R supporting pivot arms 592R with pivot arm sockets 593R supporting handles 594.

FIG. 6 shows a front view of the device of FIG. 5 with similar elements again similarly numbered. This figure shows more clearly the foremost supports 69L and 69R with pivot arms 692L and 692R supporting handles 694L and 694R respectively.

In operation, the individual stands with one foot on each of the separate treadmills, which may be adjusted to a normal walking resistance. This may be done by a combination of the height of the foremost end--to determine the angle of the slope of the treads--and by the drag or assistance applied to each of the treads. Such drag or assistance may be provided by the motor generators 27L and 27R of FIg. 2, and may be controlled at hand level by controls such as 16L and 16R for applying energy to the motors for assistance, or applying a load to the generators for drag in a well known manner.

The hand braces of FIG. 1 are stationary, and may steady the body while the feet and legs are exercising. However, the species of FIGS. 3 through 6 show variations wherein the arms support the body on moveable handles that may be coordinated with the motion of the corresponding treads to provide--or require--a normal swing of the arms in coordination with the movement of the legs on the treads.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show parallel bars or braces 38 that can move backward and forward. These may be locked in a central position if no motion of the arms is needed or desired, or they may be coupled, through the various supports, to gears the ratchets of well known types of supplement or coordinate the motion of the arms with that of the legs and feet along the treads.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show another arm-bracing mechanism with handles that may be locked in a central position or may move back and forth in a normal motion to simulate walking. Mechanism, not shown, may be provided here to couple the motion of the pivot arms and the rollers to couple the arm motion to the treads.

The essential feature of this invention is that each treadmill is separate, and can be separately regulated. A uniform treadmill motion can be provided by any of the prior art devices, and would be redundant here. This device performs the unique functon of providing separate control of the motion and the work or exercise allotted to each leg, from almost nil to the maximum. This is invaluable for a myriad of problems of individual requiring therapeutic treatment. For example, the effort of one leg can be a negligible amount at the beginning of therapy, and gradually increased to an amount equal to or greater than that of the other leg at the conclusion of the therapy.

The arms may not be used if this is not indicated, or they may be exercised to the extent that they need therapy, from a negligible amount to an exaggerated wing, and this may be coordinating with the motion of the treads. Continuous handrails could be provided and controlled in the same manner as that of the treads, but the simpler, reciprocal mechanism, as shown here, would serve the same purpose.

In any case, both the arm movement and the leg movement can be controlled separately in this device, in any manner or pattern that therapy may suggest, and these movements can be changed or varied at a moments notice to accommodate another individual with entirely different problems.

It is to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.