Adaptive treadmill

A motor-driven treadmill comprising:

• a continuously movable tread;
• position determining means for continually determining the position of the body of a person on the tread;
• means coupled to the position determining means, means for determining the rate of change of said distance, and responsive to the rate of change of said position for reducing the speed of movement of the tread when said position changes in the direction of movement of the tread, and increasing the speed of movement of the tread when said position changes in the opposite direction;
• target performance setting means for generating target performance data indicative of the desired performance of a person using the treadmill;
• and
• relative performance display means for displaying to the user of the treadmill, on a real time basis, relative performance parameter data indicative of the extent to which the user is falling short of or exceeding a performance level corresponding to the target performance data.

An adaptive treadmill comprising:

• a movable tread capable of supporting a person;
• motor means for moving the tread in accordance with at least one exercise parameter;
• control means responsive to a control signal and coupled to said motor means for varying said at least one exercise parameter of the tread;
• and
• detecting means for determining the position of a person on said tread relative to a reference position and generating said control signal to change said at least one exercise parameter when the position of said person bears a predetermined relationship to said reference position,
• said control means stopping the movement of the tread when said detecting means determines that no one is on the tread.

An adaptive treadmill comprising:

• a movable tread capable of supporting a person;
• motor means for moving the tread at a speed which may be varied;
• control means responsive to a control signal and coupled to said motor means for varying the speed of the tread;
• and
• detecting means for determining the position of a person on said tread relative to a reference position and generating said control signal to change the speed of the tread when the position of said person bears a predetermined relationship to said reference position,
• said control means stopping the movement of the tread when said detecting means determines that no one is on the tread.

An adaptive treadmill comprising:

• a movable tread capable of supporting a person;
• motor means for moving the tread in accordance with at least one exercise parameter;
• control means responsive to a control signal and coupled to said motor means for varying said at least one exercise parameter of the tread;
• and
• detecting means for determining the position of a person on said tread relative to a reference position and generating said control signal to change said at least one exercise parameter when the position of said person bears a predetermined relationship to said reference position;
• wherein said control means includes stop signal generating means for providing a stop signal when no object is within a predetermined range of positions on the treadmill;
• and
• shutdown means responsive to said stop signal for halting the movement of the tread.

An adaptive treadmill comprising:

• a movable tread capable of supporting a person;
• motor means for moving the tread at a speed which may be varied;
• control means responsive to a control signal and coupled to said motor means for varying the speed of the tread;
• and
• detecting means for determining the position of a person on said tread relative to a reference position and generating said control signal to change the speed of the tread when the position of said person bears a predetermined relationship to said reference position;
• wherein said control means include stop signal generating means for providing a stop signal when no object is within a predetermined range of positions on the treadmill;
• and
• shutdown means responsive to said stop signal for halting the movement of the tread.

A motor-driven treadmill having a continuously movable tread and including:

• a stationary range finder for continuously measuring the distance from the range finder to part of the body of a person walking or running on the tread;
• and
• control means coupled to the range finder for reducing the speed of movement of the tread when said distance increases above an upper distance limit and increasing the speed of movement of the tread when said distance decreases below a lower distance limit;
• wherein said control means includes stop signal generating means for providing a stop signal when no object is within a predetermined range of positions on the treadmill;
• and
• shutdown means responsive to said stop signal for halting the movement of the tread.

A motor-driven treadmill having a continuously movable tread and including:

• a position determining means for continually determining the position of the body of a person on the tread;
• and
• control means coupled to the position determining means for reducing the speed of movement of the tread when said position changes in the direction of movement of the tread, and increasing the speed of movement of the tread when said position changes in the opposite direction;
• wherein said control means includes stop signal generating means for providing a stop signal when no object is within a predetermined range of positions on the treadmill;
• and
• shutdown means responsive to said stop signal for halting the movement of the tread.

An adaptive treadmill comprising:

• a movable tread capable of supporting a person;
• motor means for moving the tread at a speed which may be varied;
• motor control means responsive to a control signal and coupled to said motor means for varying the speed of the tread in accordance with said control signal;
• detecting means for determining the position of a person on said tread relative to a reference position;
• and
• signal processing means coupled to said detecting means for generating said control signal, said signal processing means comprising
• rate determining means for determining the rate of change of said position,
• zone determining means for determining when the position of said person is in a front control zone corresponding to a predetermined forward portion of said tread, and when said position is in a rear control zone corresponding to a predetermined rear portion of said tread, and
• speed control means for modifying said control signal when said person is in said front control zone, to cause said motor control means to increase the speed of the tread at a rate proportional to both the distance said person has intruded into the front control zone and the rate of change at which said person is moving forward in the front control zone.

An adaptive treadmill comprising:

• a movable tread capable of supporting a person;
• motor means for moving the tread at a speed which may be varied;
• motor control means responsive to a control signal and coupled to said motor means for varying the speed of the tread in accordance with said control signal;
• detecting means for determining the position of a person on said tread relative to a reference position;
• and
• signal processing means coupled to said detecting means for generating said control signal, said signal processing means comprising
• rate determining means for determining the rate of change of said position,
• zone determining means for determining when the position of said person is in a front control zone corresponding to a predetermined forward portion of said tread, and when said position is in a rear control zone corresponding to a predetermined rear portion of said tread, and
• speed control means for modifying said control signal (i) when said person is in said front control zone, to cause said motor control means to increase the speed of the tread at a rate dependent upon both the distance said person has intruded into the front control zone and the rate at which said person is moving forward relative to said reference position in the front control zone, and (ii) when said person is in said rear control zone, to cause said motor control means to decrease the speed of the tread at a rate dependent upon both the distance said person has intruded into the rear control zone and the rate at which said person is moving backward relative to said reference position in said rear control zone.