Treadmill with safety monitoring function and safety monitoring method for treadmil

Abstract

A treadmill with a safety warning function includes a miming unit, a driving unit, a detection unit and a control unit. The running unit includes a driving roller and a running belt provided for a runner to stand thereon. The detection unit includes a camera arranged at a predefined height range on top of the running belt for photographing images. The control unit determines a height of the runner based on the images photographed. The safety monitoring method for the treadmill includes obtaining an image above the running belt and determining whether the height of the runner is greater than the predefined height. By determining whether the height of the runner is greater than the predefined height, it is able to determine whether the driving roller can be driven by the driving unit to rotate, thereby preventing the hazard of accidental activation by a child of insufficient height.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A treadmill with a safety monitoring function, capable of allowing a runner to stand thereon, the treadmill with a safety monitoring function comprising:
 a running unit comprising a base, two side rails arranged spaced apart from each other and extending rearward from the base, a driving roller and a driven roller pivotally installed between the side rails, and a running belt arranged between the side rails and mounted on the driving roller and the driven roller and provided for the runner to stand thereon, a front-rear direction defined along an extension direction of each one of the side rails;   a driving unit arranged on the base and configured to drive the driving roller to rotate in order to drive the running belt to rotate around the driving roller and the driven roller, thereby allowing the runner to run forward along the front-rear direction on the running belt;   a detection unit comprising a camera, the camera arranged at a predefined height range above the running belt for photographing and configured to photograph an image of the runner; and   a control unit electrically connected to the driving unit and the detection unit for transmitting signals, the control unit configured to determine a height of the runner based on the image photographed by the camera, such that when the height of the runner is greater than a predefined height, the control unit controls the driving roller to be driven by the driving unit.   
     
     
         2 . The treadmill with a safety monitoring function according to  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to determine a head position of the runner based on the image photographed by the camera and to determine the height of the runner based on the head position of the runner. 
     
     
         3 . The treadmill with a safety monitoring function according to  claim 2 , wherein the control unit is configured to continuously analyze a change of the height of the runner based on the image photographed by the camera, and to control the driving unit and to control a rotational speed of the driving roller when a maximum height change of the runner within a predefined time is greater than a predefined height difference. 
     
     
         4 . The treadmill with a safety monitoring function according to  claim 1 , wherein the running unit further comprises two handrails extending upward from the side rails, and a front base connected between the handrails and located on top of a front end of the running belt; and wherein the camera of the detection unit is arranged at the front base and configured to photograph rearward in order to photograph the image of the runner. 
     
     
         5 . A safety monitoring method for a treadmill, applicable to a treadmill and a runner standing on the treadmill, and the treadmill having a running belt, the safety monitoring method for a treadmill comprising:
 an image photographing step for obtaining an image of a predefined height range on top of the running belt of the treadmill; and   an activation analysis step for determining whether the image obtained at the image photographing step containing the runner, and determining whether a height of the runner is greater than a predefined height, and generating a first monitoring output when the height of the runner is greater than the predefined height.   
     
     
         6 . The safety monitoring function for a treadmill according to  claim 5 , wherein the activation analysis step is to determine a head position of the runner first, and then determine the height of the runner based on the head position of the runner. 
     
     
         7 . The safety monitoring function for a treadmill according to  claim 6 , further comprising a falling analysis step, the falling analysis step configured to continuously analyze a height change of the runner based on the image obtained in the image photographing step, and generating a second monitoring output when a maximum height change of the runner within a predefined time is greater than a predefined height difference.