Arcuate Treadmill Belt Guide Using Flexible Rails and Conic Rollers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional treadmills with arcuate walking boards experience belt deviation and noise due to the curved profile, leading to gaps and noise during belt rotation.
Innovation Solution
The treadmill incorporates two arcuate side racks, an arcuate walking board, a walking belt, guiding rollers with concave portions, and flexible guide rails with convex portions, which guide and restrict the belt's movement, reducing noise and ensuring proper fitment to the curved board.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If an arcuate walking board with curved profile is used, then the treadmill provides a more natural walking motion, but the walking belt easily produces translation along the arcuate walking board during long-term utilization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces flexible guide rails as intermediary elements between the walking belt and the frame. These guide rails abut against the walking belt and are constrained by guiding rollers, serving as a mediator that guides the belt along the curved path while preventing lateral translation, thus resolving the contradiction between natural curved motion and belt position stability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state of the guide rails from rigid to flexible. The flexible guide rails can deform and adapt to the curved profile of the walking board while still providing guiding constraints, allowing the system to maintain both the curved motion path and belt position stability
2Ease of operation
If an arcuate walking board with curved profile is used, then the treadmill provides a more natural walking motion, but the walking belt cannot fit the arcuate walking board exactly, thereby producing gaps and noise during rotation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs flexible guide rails that can conform to the curved profile of the walking board. These flexible rails maintain continuous contact with the walking belt, ensuring the belt fits exactly to the curved surface throughout rotation, thereby eliminating gaps and the associated noise while preserving the natural curved walking motion
3Reliability
If guiding rollers are mounted on arcuate side racks, then the walking belt is guided along the curved path, but the rigid structure produces noise during rotation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state of the guide rails from rigid to flexible. The flexible guide rails absorb impact and friction noises during belt rotation while maintaining effective guidance, thus resolving the contradiction between reliable belt guidance and noise reduction
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite construction with flexible guide rails that combine guiding functionality with noise absorption. The flexible material properties allow the rails to provide mechanical guidance while dampening noise, creating a composite solution that addresses both guidance reliability and noise reduction
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration prevents belt deviation, reduces noise, and ensures smooth operation by facilitating rotation and alignment of the walking belt with the arcuate walking board, minimizing gaps and noise.
Implementation Method 1
the guiding rollers rolling on the two flexible guide rails
Implementation Method 2
the concave portion of each of the guiding rollers rests on the convex portion of one of the two flexible guide rails
Implementation Method 3
each of the two flexible guide rails has a flexible feature, so that when the walking belt is rotated, the guiding rollers rest on the two flexible guide rails and will not produce noise during rotation
Data Source
AI summary
A treadmill includes a frame having two arcuate side racks, an arcuate walking board secured on the frame and arranged between the two arcuate side racks, a walking belt surrounding the arcuate walking board and arranged between the two arcuate side racks, a plurality of guiding rollers mounted on each of the two arcuate side racks, and two flexible guide rails mounted on two sides of the walking belt respectively and abutting the guiding rollers, with the guiding rollers rolling on the two flexible guide rails. Each of the two flexible guide rails is provided with a convex portion, and each of the guiding rollers is provided with a concave portion abutting the convex portion of one of the two flexible guide rails.