Exercise devices – Having specific electrical feature – Monitors exercise parameter
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-11
2003-10-21
Richman, Glenn E. (Department: 3764)
Exercise devices
Having specific electrical feature
Monitors exercise parameter
C482S001000, C482S900000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06634992
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a training machine used for the purpose of fitness and aerobics by which to improve the heart-lung related function and to burn fat, a training machine used for supporting or accelerating his/her exercise in the course of rehabilitation such as medical training for the body and mental state, or a training machine for use as his/her entertainment and leisure and so on. It particularly relates to a training machine for displaying images for the exerciser. Moreover, the present invention relates to an image output processing device and an image output processing method for displaying the image for the exerciser. Moreover, the present invention relates to a recording medium which stores the image outputting program for displaying the image for the exerciser.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, training apparatus provides one with an exercise for enhancing healthiness, medical training, or certain entertainment and leisure. For example, as a training machine, there are known a bike machine reproducing the exercise by stepping on the pedal of a bicycle, a treadmill reproducing the running, a chest press and a shoulder press improving the muscle force of the chest and shoulder, or a rowing machine reproducing the exercise of rowing a boat, and so on.
In these training machines, the exercise itself provided by the training machines is oftentimes mechanical and boring, and one usually gets bored within a short period of time unless one has to do the exercise in order to recover from illness or out of necessity. For example, when exercising by pedaling the bike machine, the exerciser often tries to kill time by looking at a magazine or television.
Moreover, in general, the exercisers often do not know about which training machine to use and how much exercise using such a machine will be effective. Moreover, there are many occasions where the exerciser thinks and misunderstands that the best way to obtain the maximum effect is to continue exercising under painful conditions. Thus, there are occasions where the exercisers perform unnecessarily severe exercise.
Moreover, in the conventional training machines, some have a mechanism generating a load for the exercise, output a load level by a lamp for the types of load generation, and display an image. Though in this training machine the load level is indicated to the exerciser by the lamp, it is difficult to let the exerciser know whether it is a proper exercise by providing only this load level information.
The U.S. Techtricks, Inc. is developing a bike machine where graphics move relative to the pedal. Though in this bike machine the boredom of the exerciser can be prevented by the graphics, the exerciser would not know whether it is an appropriate exercise or not.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. S61-45726, a health information apparatus is disclosed in which a pulse rate serving as a body's physiological information is converted to an electric signal by a sensor, said electric signal is input to an arithmetic circuit so as to select an address of the audio data memory, the digital data of said selected address is converted to an audio analog signal by an audio synthesis circuit, and said analog signal is output from a speaker as an audio sound via a power amplifier. However, in this health information apparatus, there are problems where the boredom in the exercise cannot be prevented and moreover the information will be lost if the exerciser misses hearing the audio sound since the information is given to the exerciser by the audio sound.
As described above, in the conventional training machines, whether the exercise is appropriate cannot be easily and properly grasped by the exerciser.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a training machine, image output processing device, image output processing method and recording medium storing image output program capable of letting the exerciser know whether the exercise is appropriate or not. Moreover, it is another object of the present invention to provide a training machine, image output processing device, image output processing method and recording medium storing image output program capable of outputting an effective image for the exercise. This object is achieved by combinations described in the independent claims. The dependent claims define further advantageous and exemplary combinations of the present invention.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a training machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention, equipped with an exercising portion that provides an exerciser with a predetermined exercise and a display unit that displays an image of activity associated with the exercise, the training machine comprising: an image storing unit which stores plural types of images; a sensor which detects body information of the exerciser changing with the exercise; a reference range storing unit which stores a reference range of the body information of the exerciser in the exercise; a state detection unit which detects whether the body information detected by the sensor belongs to the reference range, for plural times within a predetermined time duration, so as to detect whether an exercising state of the exerciser is proper based on detection results carried out for plural times; and an image display control unit which extracts the image associated with either the proper state or the improper state of the exercising state detected by the state detection unit, from the image storing unit, so as to be displayed by the display unit.
The body information of the exerciser may be the heart rate (pulse rate) of the exerciser. The image displaying control unit may cause an image indicative of the relationship between the heart rate detected by the sensor and the reference range, to be displayed on the display unit.
The state detection unit may detect as a proper state, the event that the heart rate still consecutively belongs to the reference range during the predetermined time duration, while the state detection unit may detect as an improper state in the event that the heart rate continues to be out of the reference range beyond a predetermined extension time, in the predetermined time duration.
A training machine may further comprise an extension time setting unit, which sets a predetermined extension time.
The reference range may lie in a range of less than or equal to a predetermined heart rate and greater or equal to a predetermined heart rate. Moreover, a training machine may further comprise a reference range setting unit which sets the reference range.
The reference range storing unit may store a plurality of the reference ranges in association with each time from a predetermined point, and wherein the state detection unit may detect whether an exercising state of the exerciser is a proper state or an improper sate, based on the reference range associated with time from the predetermined point and the heart rate. The time from the predetermined point may be time from a point where a warm-up of the exercise ends or time during which a cool-down of the exercise ends from a point where a warm-up of the exercise starts. A training machine may further comprise a reference time setting unit which sets time corresponding to the reference range. Moreover, the reference range storing unit may store a plurality of the reference ranges corresponding to respective exercise modes of the exercise, and further comprising an exercise mode selection unit which selects a single exercise mode from a plurality of the exercise modes, the state detection unit detecting whether an exercising state of the exerciser is proper, based on the reference range corresponding to the selected exercise mode.
A training machine may further comprise a perception data outputting unit which outputs perception data when the heart rate is close to a boundary of the reference rage. The perception data outputting unit may
CSK Corporation
Pillsbury & Winthrop LLP
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