Safety harness on/off switch assembly for treadmills

Claim 1

A safety harness on/off switch assembly for a motorized treadmill comprising a support means positioned over the treadmill; a safety harness including a pair of spaced laterally interconnected straps, at their upper ends flexibly and yieldably suspended from said support means and at their lower ends including a pair of loops to loosely receive portions of the body of a user upon the treadmill; an electrical circuit connected to the treadmill and adapted to be connected to a power source; a normally closed safety switch means mounted upon said support means and interconnected in said circuit and including a movable member; control means connected to at least one of the straps, on downward movement adapted to retract said movable member, whereby when a user falls, trips, faints or is injured the body of the user rests upon said loops extending said straps and retracting said movable member thereby opening said switch means and deactivating the treadmill; said support means including a tubular support adapted for connection to a ceiling; a pair of laterally spaced tubular extensions depending from said tubular support; a transverse support bolt extending through each extension and connected thereto; the upper ends of said straps extending into said extensions respectively; and means nested within each extension flexibly interconnecting said straps with said support bolts; said switch means being secured to and depending from said tubular support.