Continue to Site

Eng-Tips is the largest engineering community on the Internet

Intelligent Work Forums for Engineering Professionals

Register Log in
  • Congratulations pierreick on being selected by the Eng-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!

Peloton treadmill's 5

Status
Not open for further replies.
Alistair_Heaton

Alistair_Heaton

Mechanical
Nov 4, 2018
9,651
Anyone got one?


How can kids and pets get injured with it?

Or is it just lacking safety screens from moving bits?
 
Replies continue below

Recommended for you

Sort by date Sort by votes
Idiot proofing should be investigated for feasibility.
Child proofing is required. Otherwise at least a warning to treat it like what it is and lock it in the gym when not in use by responsible adult would be appropriate, especially given my 20-20 hindsight.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
That's a design failure alright.

Blaming the users works for one or two occasions, but this is just an accident waiting to happen.

A cursory look around other treadmills shows some are as exposed as the peleton ones, so not sure why this one is being singled out? Can it start by itself or much easier than other ones?

In the video it looks like the roller is going with only small children around so how?

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
They have touch knobs on the bars to increase and slow down speed and angle.
But kids to day learn so fast so ones or twice they see how it's done starting it at the panel, they have got it.
So if the power isn't looked and turned of, they would not have a problem turned on.
If it does not have a screensaver with password it should have, or even better "fingerprint"

BR A

“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.“
Albert Einstein
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
It should have a cover over the area where the roller wraps around. The leading edge has to fit very closely to avoid being a finger-trap point.

Key switch for operation doesn't cut it. The key will stay in the switch.

Foreseeable mis-use has to be considered, especially when it is to be used by untrained people, even more so with children around.

Ideally, it should only start with weight on it and stop after a short time with no weight on it, and a safety switch to detect something jammed against the leading edge of the above mentioned roller guard to stop it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I was hit up by their HR about work. They said that the treadmill had 300 moving parts. I hope the HR guy had it wrong and that was counting all parts and fasteners which still seems like a lot for a treadmill and web client. I said 'This is remote, right' 'No how much of a move would it be?' '400 miles, 3x cost of living.'
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I was in error earlier thinking that this was neglect on the part of the parent or overprotection. I've done several Pre-start health and Safety Review (PSR) reports (Ontario safety requirement) for equipment used in factories and this would clearly be included.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
All these things have the kill switches which you're supposed to pin to yourself to stop it if you fall off. After the initial induction I've NEVER seen anyone at the gym connect it...

A bit like the kill switches for motor boats which one a few years ago started going round in circles by itself and killed most of the occupants who had fallen out.

But how in gods name can a treadmill cost $4,300??

I think the issue with the tread plus is that it is a slatted belt and hence thicker bed which runs the slats underneath without a cover. Most others are fabric and have a cover so even if you get somehow under it it won't suck you under. It is also quite high off the ground at the back giving room to get small people underneath.

YOu would have thought a simple plastic guide would avoid this.

Peleton tread and many others

image_pa3t2q.png


Peleton tread plus

image_vi6y6n.png


image_kbfwva.png



Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Pull string on a key ignition won't stop kids or dogs. Needs a bumper/kill switch in front of the gap. Maybe even a tilt switch would work. They came up with nothing.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You could use a prox sensor- IR, ultrasound and so on. If Tesla's any indication, I would no go with their choice of operator detection.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Picking on a single model is rather poor form on their part.

The simple fact is that none of them are very safe and especially not kid safe. Thousands of injuries end up at the ER each year due to them.

A internet picture search shows a bunch of models with no protection at the back where the belt wraps around.

As another example look at ellipticals. There is a wheel and two sets of arms that move together and they cross each other. If a kid sticks their arm between those while it's spinning it'd be bad news for their arm. The wheels are heavy on the good ones and store lots of limb breaking inertia.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
An official familiar with the CPSC’s concerns said the agency was alarmed by reports of victims being pulled under the machines and suffering injuries that included broken bones and head trauma.

“This doesn’t happen with other treadmills,” said the official. “It is a different hazard pattern than is typically seen.”
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Well one thing that sticks out on this one is that the belt is very high friction, looks like it's made/chosen for a very good grip, compared to a smooth one piece band.

Best Regards A

“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.“
Albert Einstein
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Exactly. Its nearly a caterpillar tread, not a belt at all.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
The slatted-chain type has another nasty pinch / entanglement point ... the place underneath where the slats resume straight-alignment with each other, closing up the gap that opens up as they pass around the roller on the end. This is even more reason for having a cover over the end of it with a very close-fitting leading edge to avoid that being a finger-trap. The slotted-chain type needs that cover on both ends, because the slats have that gap-closing action on both ends ... on the leading end at the top, and on the trailing end on the bottom.

Be interesting to see what their FMEA / risk assessment looks like.

Be interesting to see if one exists at all.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
It's just a different hazard. A powered rubber belt machine will burn the hell out of skin if you get caught stuck against the belt.

I believe that track is for free-running meaning the track is very easy to turn and you mostly power the track running on it. If you watch the video, it's stopping and starting as he shove the ball under it and gets caught. A rubber belt machine doesn't stop that easily and would have kept running.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Well that might be true wouldn't know our rubber belts are full with hydraulic oil so..
Still I think someone would not as easily be pulled in buy a smooth belt, as with that one.
And I don't think the video shows the kid that died either, there is no mentioning of that.
Not that it really matters. :-( there have been 39 cases.
But it's seems the treadmill is very "light"

As can be seen in this video.
Here are two other cases one with a child the other with a grown up.


Best regards A


“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.“
Albert Einstein
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
If you watch the video, it's stopping and starting as he shove the ball under it and gets caught.
Click to expand...

Yes, but at 0:35, the kid gets sucked under the Peleton, by the track, so it was not in free-run mode, and it's got lots of torque

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I haven't used their treadmill, however the execs at a former employer had a couple of the Peloton bikes installed in our gym and I must say that they were a revelation compared to the standard bikes seen in most gyms today. Normally I climb aboard and get immersed in either television or an audiobook, but Peloton's bikes are more like a high end arcade game played/raced live against others around the world. Needless to say, they held my attention 30+ mins daily for over a year while working there, and I'd own one if I could justify the cost as a non-bicyclist.

As to the treadmill design, I dont see anything mechanically different in theirs vs many others. The track being open in back is common. I suspect this is simply another instance of an enormously popular/wealthy company being targeted by lawyers. Personally I have fallen several times on treadmills at the gym so can attest that it hurts and there is indeed a lot of potential for harm, but that's workout equipment in general. Small kids arent allowed in gyms for that exact reason, so no way in hell should a responsible adult allow them around it at home. Locking out a treadmill is easy, pull the magnetic switch and kids cant start it - 1/2 second's effort toward safety.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
cwb1... that was my original idea and lack of care by the adult, but the hazard is latent and I can see how a kid or a cat could get 'sucked' in by the traction belt... they have a good gripping surface. cats OK, kids not so good...

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Status
Not open for further replies.

Part and Inventory Search

Sponsor

Back
Top Bottom