FITNESS BIKE WITH A GEAR SHIFT UNIT FOR SIMULATING THE GEAR RATIO OF A BICYCLE

Abstract

A fitness bike with a gear shift unit for simulating the gear ratio of a bicycle comprising a base, a saddle post, and a front support. At lease one gear shift unit is positioned on the handlebar. The gear shift unit has an acceleration button and a deceleration button. When one of these buttons is activated, a corresponding electronic signal will be transmitted to the electronic console. Meanwhile, the control software program built in the electronic console conducts the expected adjustment simulating the gear shift in riding a bicycle. In this way, the exercise resistance applied by the resistance supply unit to the inertia flywheel can be slightly adjusted.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Fields of the Invention

The invention relates to a fitness bike with a gear shift unit for simulating the gear ratio of a bicycle, and more particularly, to a fitness bike which can simulate the real state of bike riding in an uphill road (under a greater exercise resistance). The exercise resistance can be slightly adjusted by activating the acceleration/deceleration button to meet the physical state of the operator for a smooth continuous riding exercise.

2. Description of the Related Art

The so-called fitness bike relates to an indoor exercise apparatus simulating the riding effect of a usual bicycle. In other words, the outdoor bicycle can be replaced by the in-place fitness bike when people can't ride a bicycle outside. The conventional fitness bike is normally provided with a resistance unit which applies a proper exercise resistance to an inertia flywheel. The resistance can be divided into many resistance levels in order to simulate the gear shift of the actual bike for the flat, uphill or downhill environment.

It is common in the uphill road that the biker will operate on the gear shift unit mounted on the handle to adjust to his physical state. The gear shift unit will move the gear chain mounted on the gear sprockets on the pedal shaft and/or on the rear wheel shaft to achieve a proper transmission gear ratio for overcoming the uphill road. The riding in the uphill road can be called as exercise essence because it often makes fun for those who are willing to accept the challenge.

The conventional fitness bike has the resistance unit which applies different levels of exercise resistance to the inertia flywheel. However, the fitness bike can not produce the “true” feelings equal or similar to riding a bicycle. The reason for that lies in as follows. The resistance levels created by the fitness bike correspond to the different exercise resistance levels arising from the roads having different slopes. The greater resistance means the steeper slope. When the user feels that he is not physically enough for the exercise, he can adjust the exercise resistance to a certain level to meet his physical capacity. The resistance adjustment is the same to the adjustment of the road slope. However, there is no real road environment in which the slope can be changed as desired. Therefore, the conventional fitness bike has never been able to provide a true feel of riding a bicycle. Of course, the user can not truly experience the real essence and the fun in riding the fitness bike.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a fitness bike with a gear shift unit for simulating the gear ratio of a bicycle, wherein the fitness bike still retains the function of adjusting the resistance levels (different slopes). Meanwhile, the fitness bike includes a gear shift unit 30 on the handlebar 14 for simulating the gear ratio of a bicycle. In this way, the operator can experience the simulated gear ratio mode to take the challenge of the load at a certain resistance level. At the same time, the control software program built in the electronic console will record all the exercise performance data of the operator and use them as a reference for the future training. Therefore, the bicycle-riding exercise can be fully simulated.

According to the invention, at lease one gear shift unit is positioned on the handlebar. The gear shift unit has an acceleration button and a deceleration button. When one of these buttons is activated, a corresponding electronic signal will be transmitted to the electronic console. Meanwhile, the control software program built in the electronic console conducts the expected adjustment simulating the gear shift in riding a bicycle. In this way, the exercise resistance applied by the resistance supply unit to the inertia flywheel can be slightly adjusted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accomplishment of this and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description and its accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the invention according to FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing of the electronic speed-adjusting unit of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention will now be described in more detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings that show various embodiments of the invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a fitness bike 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention has a base 11, a saddle post 12, and a front support 13. The front support 13 includes a handlebar 14 and an electronic console 15. A control software program is built in the electronic console 15 and used to control a resistance supply unit 20 in such a way that the resistance supply unit 20 applies a certain resistance to an inertia flywheel 22. The saddle post 12 has a saddle 16 on the top thereof. A pedal assembly 18 is provided on a lateral tube 17 near the bottom of the saddle post 12. The pedal assembly 18 imparts a rotation to a transmission sprocket 19. The inertia flywheel 22 is mounted on a rear support 21 near the tail of the base 11 and driven via a transmission chain 23 mounted the transmission sprocket 19. The resistance supply unit 20 is interposed between the base 11 and the inertia flywheel 22 for applying an exercise resistance to the inertia flywheel 22.

At lease one gear shift unit 30 is positioned on the handlebar 14. The gear shift unit 30 has an acceleration button 31 and a deceleration button 32. When one of these buttons is activated, a corresponding electronic signal will be transmitted to the electronic console 15. Meanwhile, the control software program built in the electronic console 15 conducts the expected adjustment simulating the gear shift in riding a bicycle. In this way, the exercise resistance applied by the resistance supply unit 20 to the inertia flywheel 22 can be slightly adjusted.

The control software program does not belong to the invention so that no further descriptions thereto are given hereinafter.

Actually, it is possible to choose the basic resistance level (or the slope level) through the control software program built in the electronic console 15. When an operator chooses one of the resistance levels (or the slope level) and walks thereon, he can slightly adjust the exercise resistance to a proper level according to his actual need by pulling the acceleration button 31 or the deceleration button 32 of the gear shift unit 30. In brief, the control software program will control the resistance supply unit 20 to slightly increase or decrease the resistance acting on the inertia flywheel. The magnitude of this slight increase or the slightly decrease of the resistance relies on the preset value in the control software program. Thereafter, the control software program will record all the exercise performance data of the operator and use them as a reference for the future training.

As shown in FIG. 3, the gear shift unit 30 can be replaced by an electronic speed-adjusting unit 40. The electronic speed-adjusting unit 40 also includes an acceleration key 41 and a deceleration key 42. In this way, the same effect can be achieved.

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.

Claims

1. A fitness bike with a gear shift unit for simulating the gear ratio of a bicycle, the fitness bike comprising a base, a saddle post, and a front support, the front support having a handlebar and an electronic console, a control software program being built in the electronic console to control a resistance supply unit in such a way that the resistance supply unit applies a certain resistance to an inertia flywheel, the saddle post having a saddle on the top thereof, a pedal assembly being provided on a lateral tube near the bottom of the saddle post, the pedal assembly imparting a rotation to a transmission sprocket, the inertia flywheel being mounted on a rear support near the tail of the base and driven via a transmission chain mounted the transmission sprocket, the resistance supply unit being interposed between the base 11 and the inertia flywheel for applying an exercise resistance to the inertia flywheel,

wherein at lease one gear shift unit is positioned on the handlebar and includes an acceleration button and a deceleration button, and wherein, when one of these buttons is activated, a corresponding electronic signal will be transmitted to the electronic console; meanwhile, the control software program built in the electronic console conducts the expected adjustment for simulating the gear shift in riding a bicycle so that the exercise resistance applied by the resistance supply unit to the inertia flywheel is slightly adjusted.

2. The fitness bike with a gear shift unit for simulating the gear ratio of a bicycle as recited in claim 1, wherein the gear shift unit is replaced by an electronic speed-adjusting unit.