Treadmill belt

Abstract

An endless treadmill belt includes a bottom-ply fabric that at least partially forms a bottom surface of the belt, and bottom surface of the belt is for sliding across a treadmill deck. The bottom-ply fabric includes textured synthetic yarns that at least partially form the bottom surface of the belt. The bottom-ply fabric has warp yarns for at least partially forming the bottom surface of the belt, and it is preferred for at least a majority of, or all of, the warp yarns to be textured synthetic fibers. It is most preferred for all of the warp and weft yarns of the bottom-ply fabric to be textured synthetic fibers.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An endless treadmill belt for extending in a longitudinal direction around and traveling relative to a deck, the belt comprising: 
 a fabric that at least partially forms a bottom surface of the belt and is for sliding across the deck, with the fabric including a plurality of textured synthetic yarns that at least partially form the bottom surface of the belt and are for sliding across the deck.    
     
     
         2 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 1 , wherein the belt is in combination with and extends around the deck, and the combination further comprises: 
 a frame to which the deck is mounted;    a pulley rotatably mounted to the frame and around which the belt extends, with the pulley carrying the belt; and    a motor mounted to the frame and operative for causing the belt to travel relative to the deck, so that the bottom surface of the belt slides across an upper surface of the deck.    
     
     
         3 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 1 , wherein the fabric is a first ply, and the belt further comprises a second ply that is laminated to an upper surface of the first ply, with the first ply having a lower modulus of elasticity than the second ply.  
     
     
         4 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 1 , wherein the fabric has a plurality of weft yarns extending in a lateral direction that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and a plurality of warp yarns extending in the longitudinal direction for at least partially forming the bottom surface of the belt and slidingly engaging the deck, wherein at least a majority of the warp yarns are textured synthetic fibers.  
     
     
         5 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 4 , wherein at least a majority of the weft yarns are textured synthetic fibers.  
     
     
         6 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 4 , wherein the fabric has approximately 83×30 yarns per inch.  
     
     
         7 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 4 , wherein the fabric has approximately 74×40 yarns per inch.  
     
     
         8 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 4 , wherein the warp yarns are 150 denier 2 ply yarns.  
     
     
         9 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 4 , wherein the weft yarns are 300 denier 2 ply yarns.  
     
     
         10 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 1 , wherein the fabric is a 2/1 twill weave.  
     
     
         11 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 4 , wherein the fabric has a total denier in the warp direction between 20,000 and 35,000 per inch.  
     
     
         12 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 4 , wherein the fabric has a total denier in the weft direction between 16,000 and 26,000 per inch.  
     
     
         13 . An endless treadmill belt for extending in a longitudinal direction around and traveling relative to a deck, the belt comprising: 
 a fabric having a first ply that is a plain weave and a second ply that is laminated to an upper surface of the first ply, wherein the first ply has a lower modulus of elasticity than the second ply, and wherein the second ply includes a plurality of textured synthetic yarns that at least partially form the bottom surface of the belt and are for sliding across the deck.    
     
     
         14 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 12 , wherein the belt is in combination with and extends around the deck, and the combination further comprises: 
 a frame to which the deck is mounted;    a pulley rotatably mounted to the frame and around which the belt extends, with the pulley carrying the belt; and    a motor mounted to the frame and operative for causing the belt to travel relative to the deck, so that the bottom surface of the belt slides across an upper surface of the deck.    
     
     
         15 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 13 , wherein the second ply has a plurality of weft yarns extending in a lateral direction that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and a plurality of warp yarns extending in the longitudinal direction for at least partially forming the bottom surface of the belt and slidingly engaging the deck, wherein at least a majority of the warp yarns are textured synthetic fibers.  
     
     
         16 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 15 , wherein at least a majority of the weft yarns are textured synthetic fibers.  
     
     
         17 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 15 , wherein the fabric has approximately 83×30 yarns per inch.  
     
     
         18 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 15 , wherein the fabric has approximately 74×40 yarns per inch.  
     
     
         19 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 15 , wherein the warp yarns are 150 denier yarns.  
     
     
         20 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 15 , wherein the weft yarns are 300 denier yarns.  
     
     
         21 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 15 , wherein the fabric has a total denier in the warp direction between 20,000 and 35,000 per inch.  
     
     
         22 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 15 , wherein the fabric has a total denier in the weft direction between 16,000 and 26,000 per inch.  
     
     
         23 . An endless treadmill belt according to  claim 13 , wherein the fabric is a 2/1 twill weave.