Background Art Until now, personal exercise ability measurements and exercise prescription are carried out using various measurement apparatus. However, such measurements and exercise prescription have disadvantages that the measurement apparatus are expensive, take up much space, and are complex, thereby necessitating exercise prescription specialists. Particularly, various measurement apparatus are separated from one another, thereby making expenses higher and taking up much space.

In order to solve the above problems, it is necessary to develop special apparatus for the exercise ability measurements and exercise prescription which are proper to the domestic situation. People's physical strength and export to advanced 5 nations can be promoted by the development of compact and special f. apparatus which can measure various physiology variables necessary to evaluation of physical strength synthetically and at the same time, and can automatically prescribe for exercise proper to the personal characteristic.

10 Disclosure of Invention Accordingly, the present invention is made in order to solve the above problems, and one object of the present invention is to provide a handle structure for health exercise apparatus, which can automatically measure physical health information about 15 muscular power, muscular endurance power, an electrocardiogram and body fat, while a user is exercising in one single system.

Such a handle structure for health exercise apparatus to enable measurement of physical health information can facilitate development of an exercise prescription system of an intelligence 20 type for enabling measurement of personal basic physical strength and exercise capability, synthetical analysis of them and exercise prescription proper to a user's state in a single apparatus, or an exercise treatment system for improving a user's physical strength using bio-feedback, and also can be constructed in one compact 5 body, thereby being able to be inexpensive and to be used even in a narrow space.

To accomplish such objects of this invention, a handle structure for an exercise apparatus like a health biKe is provided in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, in which a 10 user exercises with taking hold of the handle during exercise, said handle structure comprising: a support member to be fastened to a handle frame of the exercise apparatus; a load cell which is arranged opposite to the support member so that power to take hold of the handle (grasping power) can operate while the user is 15 exercising with taking hold of the handle and which is connected to a muscular power measurement module so as to enable calculation of muscular power and muscular endurance power with the grasping power; two electrodes per each one of the left and right sides of the exercise apparatus, which come into separate contact with the 20 user's hand taking hold of the handle and which are connected to a body fat measurement module and an electrocardiogram measurement module so as to enable measurement of an electrocardiogram and body fat.

In this case, the handle structure for the exercise 5 apparatus may further comprises a lower cover and an upper cover to be installed outside each of the load cell and the support member, the two electrodes being installed at the exterior surface thereof; a handle-fastening member to which the support member is fastened at the upper one side thereof, on which a plurality of 10 load cell adjustment holes are formed for installing the load cell in a cantilever type and adjustably with respect to the support member according to the size of the user's hand, and which is fastened to the handle frame of the exercise apparatus at the other side thereof.

15 Also, it is preferred that the muscular power measurement module receives an electric signal converted from a strain gauge of the load cell, differentially amplifies the signal of the load cell, notch-filters the signal and converts the signal into a digital signal, which is inputted to a computer. Preferably, the 20 body fat measurement module comprises an alternating current generator means and an electric current source for generating a sine wave (for example, 50kHz) in order to generate a test signal (a constant current source) to be applied for measurement of body fat, a differential amplification means for differentially 5 amplifying a measured analog alternating signal, an AC-DC converter means for converting the alternating current into a direct current, an offset-adjustment and amplification means for adjusting an offset of, and amplifying, the-signal, and an A/D converter for converting the amplified signal into a digital 10 signal. And, the electrocardiogram measurement module preferably comprises a differential amplification means for differentially amplifying a measured analog signal by means of three electrodes located at the handle for measuring an electrocardiogram, a low/high band pass filter and a notch filter for removing a noise 15 comprised in the analog signal, and a microprocessor for converting the analog signal into a digital signal, which is transmitted to the computer, thereby the signal being analyzed and heart rate and its change being calculated.

Brief Description of Drawings 20 Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a handle structure for health exercise apparatus to enable measurement of physical health information during exercise in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates a side view of the handle structure of 5 Fig 1.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a system for measuring physical strength and health information related to the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic side view for explaining concrete 10 construction and operation of a muscular power (muscular endurance power) measurement means.

Fig. 5 is a schematic side view for explaining concrete construction and operation of a body fat measurement means.

Fig. 4 is a schematic side view for explaining concrete 15 construction and operation of an electrocardiogram measurement means.

Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention Now, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

20 A handle structure for health exercise apparatus to enable measurement of physical health information during exercise in accordance with the present invention can be installed into an exercise prescription system or an exercise treatment system, is limited to apparatus having the user's hand take hold of the 5 handle during exercise like a health bike. Prior to the measurement or exercise, various inquiries like sex, age, weight, height, etc., may be carried out.

The handle structure is configured so that muscular power, muscular endurance power, body fat and an electrocardiogram may be 10 measured using a load cell (lla ; lib) and four electrodes, and that measurements may be performed according to various physiological variable measurement algorithms or physical strength evaluation algorithms in the exercise prescription system, thereby evaluation about the measurements being performed.

15 As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a handle (10) for health exercise apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a pair of which are provided for the health exercise apparatus at the left and right sides, comprises a support member (12a; 12b), a load cell (lla ; lib) and one pair of 20 electrodes (15a, 15b; 15c, 15d). Preferably, an upper cover (14) and a

lower cover (13) are comprised therein.

The support member (12a ; 12b) is fastened to a handle frame (1) of the exercise apparatus, which can be directly fastened or can be fastened by means of a handle-fastening member (16) as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The load cell (lla ; lib) is arranged opposite to the support member (12a; 12b) so that power to take hold of the handle (grasping power) can operate while a user is exercising with taking hold of the handle (10). As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the load cell (lla ; lib) is installed in fixed relation to the support member (12a; 12b) and the handle frame (1) of the exercise apparatus by detachably fastening one end of the load cell (lla ; llb) to the handle-fastening member (16) using load cell adjustment holes (17) <BR> <BR> and pins etc. , and grasping power can operate on the support member (12a; 12b) in a cantilever type. Additionally, the load cell adjustment holes (17) can be provided up and down so that a relative position of the load cell (lla ; lib) can be adjusted with respect to the support member (12a; 12b) according to the size of the user's hand, which does not limites the present invention. The load cell (lla ; lib) can be directly fastened to the handle

frame (1) of the exercise apparatus or can be provided with a lever being rotated with respect to the support member (12a; 12b) by means of a hinge, etc. , so that an electric signal can be obtained when grasping power operates on the lever. As shown in Fig. 3, the load cell (lla ; lib) is connected to a muscular power measurement module (21) and a computer (20) so that a grasping signal for calculating muscular power and muscular endurance power with the grasping power is inputted to the computer (20) through the muscular power measurement module (21).

Said each pair of electrodes (15a, 15b; 15c, 15d) are installed in the left and right handles (10) so that they come into separate contact with the user s hand to take hold of the handle so as to enable measurement of an electrocardiogram and body fat, said pair of electrodes (15a, 15b; 15c, 15d) being connected to a body fat measurement module (22) and an electrocardiogram measurement module (23) to be connected to the computer (20) as shown in Fig. 3. In Fig. 1 and 2, each pair of electrodes (15a, 15b; 15c, 15d) are installed on the upper cover (14) with being electrically separated, but can be installed directly on support member (12a; 12b) regardless of the upper cover (14) by

means of an insulator.

Furthermore, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as one embodiment of the present invention, the upper cover (14) and the lower cover (13) are installed on each exterior surface of the load cell (lla : llb) and the support member (12a; 12b). The upper cover (14) and the lower cover (13) are installed so as to cover the support member (12a; 12b) and the load cell (11a ; lib) with electrical insulation as material like synthetic resin, rubber, etc. When the load cell (lla ; lib) is adjustably installed, the lower cover (13) is also adjustably installed together with the load cell (lla ; llb).

As shown in Fig. 4, measurement of muscular power and muscular endurance power can be performed by measuring grasping power when the hand takes hold of the handle (10) and for example its change quantity while the hand takes hold of the handle (10) for a predetermined time like ten minutes. When the hand graspes the handle (10), the bending moment operates on the lower cover (13) and the load cell (lla ; llb), which causes the load cell (lla ; lib) of a cantilever type to be deflected. Such deflection or bending is converted into an electric signal by a strain gage in the interior of the load cell (lla ; llb), the signal being used for performing measurement of muscular power. The muscular power measurement module (21) is configured similarly to the electrocardiogram measurement module (23) as described later. That 5 is, the muscular power measurement module (21) receives an electric signal converted from a strain gauge of the load cell (lla ; llb), differentially amplifies the signal of the load cell, notch-filters the signal and converts the signal into a digital signal, which is inputted to a computer (20).

10 The body fat measurement module (22) uses four contact method, and as shown in Fig. 5 as one embodiment, comprises an alternating current generator means (51) and an electric current source (52) for generating a test signal, a differential amplification means (53) for a measured signal, an AC-DC converter 15 means (54), an offset-adjustment and amplification means (55), and an A/D converter (56). The alternating current generator means (51) and an electric current source (52) generates a sine wave (for example, 50KHz) in order to generate the test signal (a constant current source) to be applied for measurement of body fat, the 20 differential amplification means (53) differentially amplifies the measured analog alternating signal, and the AC-DC converter means (54) converts the alternating current into a direct current.

The offset-adjustment and amplification means (55) adjustes an offset of, and amplifies, the signal, and the A/D converter (56) 5 converts the amplified signal into a digital signal, which is transmitted to the computer (20), thereby body fat, being analyzed by the computer (20).

As shown in Fig. 6 as one example, the electrocardiogram measurement module (23) comprises a differential amplification 10 means (62), a low/high band pass filter (63) and a notch filter (64), and a microprocessor (65). The differential amplification means (62) differentially amplifies a measured analog signal by means of three electrodes located at the handle for measuring an electrocardiogram, and the low/high band pass filter (63) and a 15 notch filter (64) removes a noise comprised in the analog signal.

The analog signal is converted into a digital signal in the microprocessor (65), said digital signal being transmitted to the computer (20) and being analyzed, and thus heart rate and its change being calculated.

20 By virtue of the configuration and acting of the handle

structure for health exercise apparatus to enable measurement of physical health information during exercise in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention described above, physical health information about muscular power, muscular endurance power, an electrocardiogram and body fat can be automatically measured, while a user is exercising taking hold of the handle (10), and it can be constructed in one compact body, thereby being able to be inexpensive and to be used even in a narrow space. Further, an exercise prescription system of an intelligence type for enabling measurement of personal basic physical strength and exercise capability, synthetical analysis of them and exercise prescription proper to a user's state in a single apparatus, or an exercise treatment system for improving a user s physical strength using bio-feedback can be easily developed.