Pedal assembly with an enlarged oval movement travel for a stepping exerciser

Abstract

A pedal assembly has a base, a rail, a slider, a pedal and a transmission assembly. The base has a pivotal bracket mounted on the top at the front end. The rail is securely attached to the top of the base. The slider is slidably mounted on the rail. The pedal is securely mounted on the slider. The transmission assembly is mounted between the base and the slider to move the slider with the pedal along an enlarged oval movement travel and has a driven rod, a connecting rod, a lever and a connecting member. The driven rod is rotatably mounted on the base. The connecting rod is rotatably mounted on the base and is connected to the driven rod with a transmission device. The lever is pivotally connected to the driven rod. The connecting member is connected pivotally between the lever and the slider.

1 . A pedal assembly for a stepping exerciser comprising:
 a base having
 a top; 
 a front end; 
 a rear end; and 
 a pivotal bracket mounted on the top at the front end; 
   a rail securely attached to the top of the base;   a slider slidably mounted on the rail;   a pedal securely mounted on the slider; and   a transmission assembly mounted between the base and the slider to move the slider with the pedal along an enlarged oval movement travel and comprising
 a driven rod rotatably mounted on the base; 
 a connecting rod rotatably mounted on the base and connected to the driven rod with a transmission device; 
 a lever pivotally connected to the driven rod; and 
 a connecting member connected pivotally between the lever and the slider. 
   
   
   
       2 . The pedal assembly as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the base comprises
 a connecting rod hole defined through the base near the rear end;   a driven rod hole defined in the top of the base near the rear end; and   two sleeves mounted respectively in the connecting rod hole and the driven rod hole; and   the connecting rod and the driven rod are rotatably and respectively mounted in the sleeves on the base.   
   
   
       3 . The pedal assembly as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein
 the transmission assembly further comprises an idle rod rotatably mounted on the base; and   the transmission device comprises
 a driven gear securely mounted on the driven rod; 
 a connecting gear securely mounted on the connecting rod; 
 an idle gear securely mounted on the idle rod; and 
 a belt mounted around the driven gear, the connecting gear and the idle gear in a manner of making a rotation direction of the driven gear same as that of the idle gear but opposite to that of the connecting gear. 
   
   
   
       4 . The pedal assembly as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein the driven gear has multiple teeth with an amount;
 the connecting gear has multiple teeth with an amount; and   the idle gear has multiple teeth with an amount, wherein   the amounts of the teeth on the driven gear, the connecting gear and the idle gear are the same.   
   
   
       5 . The pedal assembly as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein
 the rail comprises
 a top board having a bottom and two sides; 
 two rail plates extending from the bottom of the top board and defining a channel between the rail plates to hold the base inside and each rail plate having a bottom flange extending outward from the rail plate and opposite to each other; 
 two side walls extending from the bottom of the top board respectively at two sides of the top board and corresponding respectively to the rail plates to define two rail spaces between the side walls and the corresponding rail plates, and each side wall having a rail flange extending inward from the side wall, facing to each other and corresponding to the bottom flange on a corresponding one of the rail plates; and 
 two securing tabs attached to bottom flanges to keep the base from escaping from the channel; and 
   the slider comprises
 a top panel having a bottom and two sides; 
 two side frames extending from the top panel respectively at the sides of the top panel and each side frame having a wheel mount formed on the side frame, corresponding to one of the side walls on the rail and extending into a corresponding one of the rail spaces between the corresponding side wall and a corresponding rail plate of the rail; and 
 multiple wheels rotatably and respectively attached to the wheel mounts of the side frames, held respectively inside the rail spaces in the rail and abutting respectively with the rail flanges on the side walls of the rail. 
   
   
   
       6 . The pedal assembly as claimed in  claim 5 , wherein each rail flange on the rail has a curved cross section. 
   
   
       7 . The pedal assembly as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein
 the transmission assembly further comprises an idle rod rotatably mounted on the base; and   the transmission device comprises
 a driven gear securely mounted on the driven rod; 
 a connecting gear securely mounted on the connecting rod; 
 an idle gear securely mounted on the idle rod; and 
 a belt mounted around the driven gear, the connecting gear and the idle gear in a manner of making a rotation direction of the driven gear same as that of the idle gear but opposite to that of the connecting gear. 
   
   
   
       8 . The pedal assembly as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein the driven gear has multiple teeth with an amount;
 the connecting gear has multiple teeth with an amount; and   the idle gear has multiple teeth with an amount, wherein   the amounts of the teeth on the driven gear, the connecting gear and the idle gear are the same.   
   
   
       9 . The pedal assembly as claimed in  claim 8 , wherein
 the rail comprises
 a top board having a bottom and two sides; 
 two rail plates extending from the bottom of the top board and defining a channel between the rail plates to hold the base inside and each rail plate having a bottom flange extending outward from the rail plate and opposite to each other; 
 two side walls extending from the bottom of the top board respectively at two sides of the top board and corresponding respectively to the rail plates to define two rail spaces between the side walls and the corresponding rail plates, and each side wall having a rail flange extending inward from the side wall, facing to each other and corresponding to the bottom flange on a corresponding one of the rail plates; and 
 two securing tabs attached to bottom flanges to keep the base from escaping from the channel; and 
   the slider comprises
 a top panel having a bottom and two sides; 
 two side frames extending from the top panel respectively at the sides of the top panel and each side frame having a wheel mount formed on the side frame, corresponding to one of the side walls on the rail and extending into a corresponding one of the rail spaces between the corresponding side wall and a corresponding rail plate of the rail; and 
 multiple wheels rotatably and respectively attached to the wheel mounts of the side frames, held respectively inside the rail spaces in the rail and abutting respectively with the rail flanges on the side walls of the rail. 
   
   
   
       10 . The pedal assembly as claimed in  claim 9 , wherein each rail flange on the rail has a curved cross section. 
   
   
       11 . The pedal assembly as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein
 the rail comprises
 a top board having a bottom and two sides; 
 two rail plates extending from the bottom of the top board and defining a channel between the rail plates to hold the base inside and each rail plate having a bottom flange extending outward from the rail plate and opposite to each other; 
 two side walls extending from the bottom of the top board respectively at two sides of the top board and corresponding respectively to the rail plates to define two rail spaces between the side walls and the corresponding rail plates, and each side wall having a rail flange extending inward from the side wall, facing to each other and corresponding to the bottom flange on a corresponding one of the rail plates; and 
 two securing tabs attached to bottom flanges to keep the base from escaping from the channel; and 
   the slider comprises
 a top panel having a bottom and two sides; 
 two side frames extending from the top panel respectively at the sides of the top panel and each side frame having a wheel mount formed on the side frame, corresponding to one of the side walls on the rail and extending into a corresponding one of the rail spaces between the corresponding side wall and a corresponding rail plate of the rail; and 
 multiple wheels rotatably and respectively attached to the wheel mounts of the side frames, held respectively inside the rail spaces in the rail and abutting respectively with the rail flanges on the side walls of the rail. 
   
   
   
       12 . The pedal assembly as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein each rail flange on the rail has a curved cross section.