FITNESS AND ENTERTAINMENT DEVICE BY USE OF GYROSCOPIC PRECESSION EFFECT OF FLYWHEEL TO GENERATE AUTONOMOUS YAWING MOTION

Abstract

A fitness and entertainment device by use of gyroscopic precession effect of a flywheel to generate autonomous yawing motion including a rotatable base for stably supporting all components, an upright frame fixed on the rear side of the rotatable base, a suspended frame pivotally connected to the top of the upright frame. The suspended frame includes a pivotal shaft, a seat cushion, a pair of grip handles, a pair of pedal cranks, an arc-shaped wing and a flywheel driven by a chain drive system. The upright frame is provided with a stopper composed of several pulleys at the place corresponding to the arc-shaped wing. A ground-attaching support shaft is disposed at the rotational center of the rotatable base 10. After the user continues to step on the pedal cranks to make the flywheel rotate until the appropriate physical inertia and the stable angular momentum are obtained, the torsional deflection may be applied to the angular momentum direction located at the rotation axis of the flywheel by pressing on the grip handles or shifting the user's own center of gravity at any time. At this time, the suspended frame immediately carries out the gyroscopic precession effect in the expected direction to which the pressure is applied. Meanwhile, the suspended frame together with the rotatable base starts to rotate around the ground-attaching support shaft in the expected direction; and when the user wants to stop the suspended frame or to rotate it in another direction, he only needs to put his body's center of gravity or exert force on the grip handles to make the suspended frame tilt back or lean to the other side, thereby obtaining the desired yawing motion effect.

Claims

1. A fitness and entertainment device by use of gyroscopic precession effect of a flywheel to generate autonomous yawing motion, comprising: a rotatable base provided for firmly supporting all components and having a ground-attaching support shaft at the center of rotation; an upright frame fixed at the rear side of the rotatable base and having an arc-shaped shell at the top thereof, a stopper composed of a number of pulleys being positioned at the bottom of the upright frame; and a suspended frame pivotally joined at the top of the upright frame and having a pivotal shaft, a seat cushion, a pair of grip handles, a pair of pedal cranks, an arc-shaped wing and a flywheel driven by a chain drive system, wherein the pivotal shaft of the suspended frame is pivotally joined to the top of the upright frame, and wherein the height position of the center point of the rotation axis of the flywheel is close to or aligned with the extension axis of the pivotal shaft 31 of the suspended frame; wherein, after the user continues to step on the pedal cranks to make the flywheel rotate until the appropriate physical inertia and the stable angular momentum are obtained, the torsional deflection may be applied to the angular momentum direction located at the rotation axis of the flywheel by pressing on the grip handles or shifting the user's own center of gravity at any time; at this time, the suspended frame immediately carries out the gyroscopic precession effect in the expected direction to which the pressure is applied; at the same time, the suspended frame together with the rotatable base starts to rotate around the ground-attaching support shaft in the expected direction; and when the user wants to stop the suspended frame or to rotate it in another direction, he only needs to put his body's center of gravity or exert force on the grip handles to make the suspended frame tilt back or lean to the other side, thereby obtaining the desired yawing motion effect.

2. A fitness and entertainment device by use of gyroscopic precession effect of a flywheel to generate autonomous yawing motion, comprising: a rotatable base provided for firmly supporting all components and having a rotation-assisting wheel on each end edge, a ground-attaching support shaft being disposed at the center of rotation; an upright frame fixed at the rear side of the rotatable base and having an arc-shaped shell at the top thereof, a cross tube and a hollow sleeve being fitted to the arc-shaped shell, a stopper composed of a number of pulleys being positioned at the bottom of the upright frame; and a suspended frame pivotally attached to the arc-shaped shell at the top of the upright frame and having a pivotal shaft, a seat cushion, a pair of grip handles, a pair of pedal cranks, an arc-shaped wing and a flywheel driven by a chain drive system, wherein the pivotal shaft is fitted into the cross tube and the hollow sleeve to create a pivotal connection in the arc-shaped shell; wherein, after the user continues to step on the pedal cranks to make the flywheel rotate until the appropriate physical inertia and the stable angular momentum are obtained, the torsional deflection may be applied to the angular momentum direction located at the rotation axis of the flywheel by pressing on the grip handles or shifting the user's own center of gravity at any time; at this time, the suspended frame immediately carries out the gyroscopic precession effect in the expected direction to which the pressure is applied; at the same time, the suspended frame together with the rotatable base starts to rotate around the ground-attaching support shaft in the expected direction; and when the user wants to stop the suspended frame or to rotate it in another direction, he only needs to put his body's center of gravity or exert force on the grip handles to make the suspended frame tilt back or lean to the other side, thereby obtaining the desired yawing motion effect.

3. The fitness and entertainment device by use of gyroscopic precession effect of a flywheel to generate autonomous yawing motion as recited in claim 2, wherein a stopper element is disposed on the pivotal shaft of the suspended frame, and wherein the stopper element is matched to a stopping recess at a corresponding part of the cross tube and used for limiting the inclination angle of the suspended frame after being stressed.

4. The fitness and entertainment device by use of gyroscopic precession effect of a flywheel to generate autonomous yawing motion as recited in claim 2, wherein the height position of the center point of the rotation axis of the flywheel is close to or aligned with the extension axis of the pivotal shaft of the suspended frame.

5. The fitness and entertainment device by use of gyroscopic precession effect of a flywheel to generate autonomous yawing motion as recited in claim 2, wherein a braking mechanism is preferably provided at the place where the suspended frame is adjacent to the flywheel.

6. A fitness and entertainment device by use of gyroscopic precession effect of a flywheel to generate autonomous yawing motion, comprising: a rotatable base provided for firmly supporting all components, a support shaft being disposed at the center of rotation; an upright frame fixed at the rear side of the rotatable base and having an arc-shaped shell at the top thereof, a cross tube and a hollow sleeve being fitted to the arc-shaped shell, a stopper composed of a number of pulleys being positioned at the bottom of the upright frame; a suspended frame pivotally attached to the arc-shaped shell at the top of the upright frame and having a pivotal shaft, a seat cushion, a pair of grip handles, a pair of pedal cranks, an arc-shaped wing and a flywheel driven by a chain drive system, wherein the pivotal shaft is fitted into the cross tube and the hollow sleeve to create a pivotal connection in the arc-shaped shell; a rigid support on which all components can be placed and on which the desired movement of the gyroscopic precession effect can be carried out; wherein, after the user continues to step on the pedal cranks to make the flywheel rotate until the appropriate physical inertia and the stable angular momentum are obtained, the torsional deflection may be applied to the angular momentum direction located at the rotation axis of the flywheel by pressing on the grip handles or shifting the user's own center of gravity at any time; at this time, the suspended frame immediately carries out the gyroscopic precession effect in the expected direction to which the pressure is applied; at the same time, the suspended frame together with the rotatable base starts to rotate around the ground-attaching support shaft in the expected direction; and when the user wants to stop the suspended frame or to rotate it in another direction, he only needs to put his body's center of gravity or exert force on the grip handles to make the suspended frame tilt back or lean to the other side, thereby obtaining the desired yawing motion effect.

7. The fitness and entertainment device by use of gyroscopic precession effect of a flywheel to generate autonomous yawing motion as recited in claim 6, wherein a stopper element is disposed on the pivotal shaft of the suspended frame, and wherein the stopper element is matched to a stopping recess at a corresponding part of the cross tube and used for limiting the inclination angle of the suspended frame after being stressed.

8. The fitness and entertainment device by use of gyroscopic precession effect of a flywheel to generate autonomous yawing motion as recited in claim 6, wherein the height position of the center point of the rotation axis of the flywheel is close to or aligned with the extension axis of the pivotal shaft of the suspended frame.

9. The fitness and entertainment device by use of gyroscopic precession effect of a flywheel to generate autonomous yawing motion as recited in claim 6, wherein a braking mechanism is preferably provided at the place where the suspended frame is adjacent to the flywheel.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention,

[0013] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the preferred embodiment shown in the FIG. 1;

[0014] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment according to the FIG. 1 with the chain drive system covered with a safety cover;

[0015] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view between the suspended frame and the upright frame according to the preferred embodiment in FIG. 3;

[0016] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the cross tube of the present invention seen from another side;

[0017] FIG. 6 is the left-side view according to FIG. 3;

[0018] FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the operation according to FIG. 6;

[0019] FIG. 8 is a top view according to FIG. 7;

[0020] FIG. 9 is a schematic view of another operation according to FIG. 6;

[0021] FIG. 10 is a top view according to FIG. 9;

[0022] FIG. 11 is an assembly perspective view of another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] FIG. 12 is a plan view of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 11;

[0024] FIG. 13 is a plan view of a further preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

[0025] FIG. 14 is the right-side view of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 13.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0026] Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4, a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a rotatable base 10, a upright frame 20, and a suspended frame 30.

[0027] The rotatable base 10 is provided for firmly supporting all components and includes a rotation-assisting wheel 11 on each end edge. A ground-attaching support shaft 12 is disposed at the center of rotation.

[0028] The upright frame 20 is fixed at the rear side of the rotatable base 10 and includes an arc-shaped shell 21 at the top thereof. A cross tube 22 and a hollow sleeve 23 is fitted to the arc-shaped shell 21. A stopper 25 composed of a number of pulleys 24 is positioned at the bottom of the upright frame 20.

[0029] The suspended frame 30 is pivotally attached to the arc-shaped shell 21 at the top of the upright frame 20 and includes a pivotal shaft 31, a seat cushion 32, a pair of grip handles 33, a pair of pedal cranks 34, an arc-shaped wing 35 and a flywheel 36. The pivotal shaft 31 is fitted into the cross tube 22 and the hollow sleeve 23 to create a pivotal connection in the arc-shaped shell 21. The arc-shaped wing 35 of the suspended frame 30 is disposed at a position corresponding to the stopper 25 composed of the pulleys 24. The flywheel 36 is driven by a chain drive system 40.

[0030] The composition of the above-mentioned components is shown in FIGS. 6 through 10. After the user continues to step on the pedal cranks 34 to make the flywheel 36 rotate until the appropriate physical inertia and the stable angular momentum are obtained, the torsional deflection may be applied to the angular momentum direction located at the rotation axis of the flywheel 36 by pressing on the grip handles 33 or shifting the user's own center of gravity at any time. At this time, the suspended frame 30 will immediately carry out the gyroscopic precession effect in the expected direction to which the pressure is applied. At the same time, the suspended frame 30 together with the rotatable base 10 starts to rotate around the ground-attaching support shaft 12 in the expected direction. When the user wants to stop the suspended frame 30 or to rotate it in another direction, he only needs to put his body's center of gravity or exert force on the grip handles 33 to make the suspended frame 30 tilt back or lean to the other side. In this way, the desired yawing motion effect can be obtained.

[0031] The above-mentioned chain drive system 40 includes a number of related components such as the pedal cranks 34, a large chainring 41, a transmission chain belt 42, a small driven chainring 43, etc., so that the flywheel 36 can be driven to rotate rapidly according to the expected driving direction. In addition, in order to prevent the chain drive system 40 from the dangerous situations during operation, it is usually provided with a safety cover 50 to cover the chain drive system 40. Since all these components belong to the basic structure, no further details will be given hereinafter.

[0032] Referring to FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, a stopper element 311 is disposed on the pivotal shaft 31 of the suspended frame 30. The stopper element 311 is matched to a stopping recess 222 at a corresponding part of the cross tube 22 and used for limiting the inclination angle of the suspended frame 30 after being stressed, so as to prevent its excessive inclination from endangering the user's safety.

[0033] Furthermore, the suspended frame 30 abuts against the corresponding stopper 25 of the upright frame 20 only via the arc-shaped wings 35. Therefore, with the assistance of the pulleys 24, the suspended frame 30 can freely slide left and right, so that the frame set 30 is in a deflectable state. In addition, the shear stress at the pivotal shaft 31 of the suspended frame 30 can also be naturally counteracted. In particular, the curved wings 35 can be used for counterweight during assembly. More specifically, by adding a counterweight (not shown) on an appropriate side, the suspended frame 30 can be kept in a static hanging state in which the left and right sides of the suspended frame 30 are balanced after assembly.

[0034] In fact, when the flywheel 36 begins to spin in place, the physical angular momentum also begins to be generated. When a certain speed is reached, the suspended frame 30 will stably straighten due to the corresponding angular momentum. It should be noted that the angular momentum required for the stable straightening of the frame set 30 is positively related to the weight of the user. As the flywheel 36 continues to spin rapidly, the user's action for deflecting the center of gravity to the left or right will apply a moment deflection to the angular momentum direction. Therefore, the overall device will immediately perform the gyroscopic precession effect in the deflected direction. At the same time, the existing angular momentum will also resist the deflection external force at any time, thereby pushing the suspended frame 30 back to the righting direction. In this way, the user may use the force of the core muscles to constantly fight against the angular momentum. In particular, the faster the rotation speed of the flywheel 36, the greater the reaction force, such that the user can obtain excellent exercise effect and control pleasure.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 2, in practical applications, the height position of the center point A of the rotating shaft should be as close to or aligned with the extension axis B of the pivotal shaft 31 of the suspended frame 30 as possible. In this way, the present invention can exhibit the expected gyroscopic precession effect to the greatest extent. In other words, this is also an important reason why the conventional REALRYDER exercise bike fails to obtain the same function as the gyroscopic precession effect of the present invention.

[0036] In order to allow the user to quickly slow down or stop the operation of the flywheel 36 under any necessary conditions, a braking mechanism 60 according to the preferred embodiment of the invention is provided between the two grip handles 33 of the suspended frame 30 (that is, adjacent to the top of the flywheel 36), thereby ensuring that the user's safety is taken into account. Since the braking mechanism 60 and its related components are necessary and common configurations of flywheel spinning bikes in the market, the relevant details are not detailed hereinafter. It should be noted that in order to avoid confusion caused by too many numbers in the drawings, some drawings are only marked with corresponding reference signs for specific key points. In this way, it is easy to clearly understand the specific contents of the certain parts in the description.

[0037] The main function of the rotation-assisting wheels 11 on the end edges of the base 10 in the above-mentioned embodiment is to reduce the frictional force with the ground so that the whole device can rotate in place. In order to overcome any potential unevenness of the ground itself, the overall device according to another embodiment in FIGS. 11 and 12 can be assembled on a rigid support 70. In this way, the rigid support 70 is smoothly attached to the ground. Meanwhile, the overall device can also carry out the expected movement on the rigid support 70 by use of the ground-attaching support shaft 12 as the rotation axis. Accordingly, the rotation-assisting wheels 11 are no longer required to be installed.

[0038] As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 of the present invention, the arc-shaped wing 35 of the frame set 30 can also be mounted on the side close to the flywheel 36. At the same time, the stopper 25 with the pulleys 24 is fixed at the corresponding position of the rotatable base 10. In this way, the suspended frame 30 can also be supported as described above and can have the advantage of sliding left and right.

[0039] Many changes and modifications in the above-described embodiments of the invention can, of course, be carried out without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science and the useful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.