Treadmill with cushioned surface, automatic speed control and interface to external devices

Abstract

A treadmill includes a running deck in a running area and rollers. An endless transportation belt is stretched over and guided around the rollers for moving the transportation belt in a certain direction in the running area. A cushioning layer is disposed on the running deck and a glide layer with segments covers the cushioning layer. Both of these layers are underneath the transportation belt. Another embodiment of the invention is a treadmill including rollers and an endless transportation belt stretched over and guided around the rollers. A control unit is connected to a belt drive which drives the rollers for controlling the speed of the transportation belt. A position sensor is disposed in the vicinity of the transportation belt to recognize the position of a person on the transportation belt. The position sensor is also connected to the control unit which automatically adjusts the speed of the transportation belt by sending a position signal to the control unit. An additional embodiment of the invention is a configuration for conducting a treadmill race. A further embodiment of the invention is a configuration for displaying a virtual reality in combination with a treadmill.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.