US20080076644A1

US20080076644A1 - Exercise apparatus

Info

Publication number: US20080076644A1
Application number: US11/527,932
Authority: US
Inventors: Paul B. Rutherford
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-09-26
Filing date: 2006-09-26
Publication date: 2008-03-27

Abstract

An exercise device comprising a support bracket and affixed thereto a mounting plate with an aperture configured therein. A handle sized for grasping by the hand of a user is appended to a radial arm which is in turn appended to a shaft for passing through the aperture. The shaft is characterized as having a proximal end and a distal end, the shaft being appended to the radial arm at its proximal end and appended to an adjustable resistance device at its distal end whereupon the adjustable resistance device moves with movement of the radial arm. The resistance to motion of the radial arm being varied by varying the adjustable resistance device.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Health professionals have increasingly reported upon the benefits provided to the human physiology through exercise. Most people, as a consequence, try to include some form of exercise in their daily routines. Although many people limit their exercise to walking, jogging or bicycle riding, a large and growing segment of the population realize that there are many muscle groups within the body that cannot be worked simply by, for example, taking brisk walks. The generally accepted notion that some type of resistance exercise is beneficial is manifested by the popularity of gyms and health clubs which offer free weights and exercise machines to members.
Most exercise machines perform the same varieties of motion resistance, all variations of several common themes. In most instances, a bar or handle is appended to a weight of variable resistance enabling one to push or pull against this resistance to emulate exercises performed using free weights. For example, one lying in a prone position would push a barbell away from one's chest to engage in what is termed a bench press. The same exercise can be done by using a machine in which a bar follows a track and appended, through a pulley arrangement, to a stack of weights offering the user a variable resistance similar to a stack of plates supported on a free bar bell. Other machines enable one to, for example, perform a bicep curl, triceps press, shoulder or deltoid raise, lat extension and similar muscle group building exercises, again, generally emulating those exercises which have commonly been carried out using free weights.
For the sake of economy and space considerations, gymnasiums, health clubs and similar facilities have adopted the modern trend of acquiring exercise devices capable of multiple functions. For example, a machine holding a barbell on a track can be used to carry out bench presses as a pectoral building exercise and shoulder presses as a deltoid exercise. By doing so, not only are economies realized but facility operators are able to reduce dependence on free weights which tends to reduce injuries and thus liabilities.
Despite the tendency to replace free weight with multi-purpose exercise devices, none of these devices are capable of emulating certain motions and very few are capable of addressing multiple and diverse muscle group development. For example, if one was to swing a pick ax by holding the ax in one's hands and pulling the head of the ax over one's shoulder and then downward to strike an object at or near ground level, certain muscle groups are employed which cannot be developed using current exercise equipment. Further, no single device, to applicant's knowledge, is capable, if properly operated, of developing, bicep, triceps, deltoid, pectoral, abdominal and lateral muscle groups, among others, simply by manipulating the device in order to isolate such muscle groups to the benefit of the user.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a single exercise device capable of not only developing a wide range of muscle groups but also of emulating certain physical activity which, heretofore, has not been achievable.
This and further objects will be more readily apparent when considering the following disclosure and appended claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention deals with an exercise device comprising a support bracket and affixed thereto a mounting plate with an aperture configured therein. A handle sized for grasping by the hand of a user is provided and appended to a radial arm. A shaft for passing through the aperture is characterized as having a proximal end and distal end, the shaft being appended to the radial arm at its proximal end and appended to an adjustable resistance device at its distal end whereupon the adjustable resistance device moves with movement of said radial arm. The resistance to motion of the radial arm is variable by varying the adjustable resistance device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the back side of an embodiment of the exercise device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side plan view of the exercise device of the present invention focusing upon the variable resistance mechanism as a preferred embodiment thereof.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross section of the exercise device of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side plan view of a preferred embodiment of the exercise device of the present invention modified over that shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a side plan view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention showing not only the variable resistance portion but also the handle, radial arm and shaft portion constituting the resistance device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side plan view showing a modification of the iteration of the present invention shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a front plan view of an embodiment of the exercise device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a back plan view of yet a further embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a side plan view of the embodiment of the present invention depicted in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a side plan view of the exercise device, including an adjustable stand representing yet a further embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a side plan view showing the use of two exercise devices of the present invention enabling a user to exercise two limbs simultaneously.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning to the figures, a back side view of the exercise device of this invention is depicted in FIG. 1 to show one embodiment thereof. Exercise device 10 includes mounting plate 11 with aperture 9 (FIG. 3) configured therein. Handle 25 (FIGS. 5, 6 and 7) is sized for grasping by the hand of a user and is appended to radial arm 24 for supporting handle 25. Handle 25 can be of a multitude of configurations, such as a stirrup or spoke design for enhanced flexibility and comfort. Shaft 12 passes through aperture 9 and is provided with proximal end 12 a and distal end 12 b, the shaft being appended to radial arm 24 at proximal end 12 a and appended to an adjustable resistance device at distal end 12 b.
It is important in practicing the present invention to provide a resistance mechanism which is adjustable to enable a user to vary resistance imposed upon the user to movement. One could employ any one of a multiple of adjustable braking devices used in various unrelated fields. For example, a drum brake commonly employed on a go-cart could be configured onto distal end 12 b and used effectively herein. Electric, hydraulic, particle and magnetic brakes can be employed. However, the discussion which follows relates to the preferred embodiment of such an adjustable braking mechanism chosen for its simplicity and cost of implementation.
Reference is made herein to FIGS. 1-4. As a preferred embodiment, friction disk 14 which can be made of any well known materials such as felt, Kevlar or the like is placed in frictional contact to mounting plate 11. Friction disk 14 can ideally be held in position through the use of bell housing 13. To maintain a uniform frictional engagement between friction disk 14 and mounting plate 11, springs 17 can be applied to the inner surface of bell housing 13 (FIG. 3) which can be supported on suitable bushings (not shown).
Although there are various ways in which the contact pressure between friction disk 14 and mounting plate 11 can be varied thus varying the resistance to movement of shaft 12, a suitable way of achieving variability in resistance is depicted in FIGS. 2-4. In a first embodiment, shaft 18 containing threaded portion 20 supports activator arm 15 which is caused to pivot over support arm 8. Thus, as knob 19 is turned activator arm 15 is caused to move up and down along shaft 18 along threaded portion 20 which, in turn, varies the pressure applied by activator arm 15 to bell housing 13. Ideally, activator arm 15 contacts a stationary portion of throw out bearing 16 such that as knob 19 turns and thus changes the amount of pressure applied to throw out bearing 16 as activator arm 15 pivots on support 8, bell housing 13 is caused to apply varying degrees of pressure to friction disk 14.
In summary, movement of shaft 12 causes friction disk 14 and supporting bell housing 13 to move with respect to stationary mounting plate 11. By changing the pressure applied to bell housing 13 by virtue of changing the contact pressure induced by activator arm 15 upon throw out bearing 16, resistance to movement of handle 25 and radial arm 24 is varied to thus vary the amount of exertion required to engage in the sought after exercise routine.
It is noted that in order to provide a desired movement between shaft 12 and mounting plate 11, bearing 32 (FIG. 7) can be employed. In addition, T-joined 29 can simply act to join radial arm 24 with shaft 12. Alternatively, it can contain a standard ratchet mechanism so that resistance is provided to a user in only one direction of the arc of travel of handle 25.
In order to facilitate the appropriate uniform engagement between friction disk 14 and the back side of stationary mounting plate 11, springs 17 (FIG. 3) are stationed between the interior surface of bell housing 13 and the back side of friction disk 14. Spring 17 can be mounted upon suitable bushings (not shown), the nature of which would be well known to anyone skilled in this art. Although the use of suitably positioned springs 17 represents a preferred iteration of the present invention, such springs could be eliminated or a single spring placed proximate throw out bearing 16 while operating within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
As noted with reference to FIG. 2, pressure applied to throw out bearing 16 through the use of activator arm 15 can be adjusted by rotating knob 19 causing activator arm 15 to travel along threaded portion 20 of shaft 18 by pivoting over support arm 8. As noted with reference to FIG. 4, this adjustment can be positioned so that a user could vary the frictional pressure between friction disk 14 and stationary mounting plate 11 from the front of mounting plate 11 thus obviating the need for a user to reach behind mounting plate 11 to make the appropriate adjustment. In this instance, knob 22 is positioned on the front of stationary mounting plate 11 which can be turned thus causing activator arm 15 to move along shaft 21 over threaded portion 23.
Reference is next made to FIG. 5 illustrating radial arm 24 connecting handle 25 to shaft 12 over T-joint 29. As noted previously, T-joint 29 could have a ratchet embedded therein creating one-way resistance to movement. Typically, the ratchet could be reversible to enhance the flexibility of the invention. Further, it is noted that radial arm 24 can be provided with spaced openings 30. In use, pin 31 which could be merely insertable within T-joint 29 or spring biased therein. As such, as pin 31 is pulled away from radial arm 24, various openings 30 can be engaged to change the radial distance between handle 25 and shaft 12. In doing so, exercising various body parts can be facilitated.
In order to achieve additional flexibility in employing the exercise device of the present invention, the height of mounting plate 11 and its appended components should be variable. Not only will this enable users of varying heights to employ the present invention, but employing it at varying heights enables a user to exercise different muscle groups and to engage in different movements adding to the flexibility of this invention. For example, if one was to exercise one's triceps, the height of this device would be such that handle 25 would be positioned at approximately the shoulder level of a user enabling the user to then push downward on handle 25 while maintaining the user's upper arm in a fixed orientation while pivoting the user's lower arm at its elbow. An optional ratchet would provide frictional resistance during the downward thrust of handle 25 enabling handle 25 to be returned to its starting location without resistance. If, however, a user wished to engage in an exercise that began with an overhead motion, the exercise device could be elevated vertically.
The present invention contemplates any support which facilitates a vertical height adjustment. As a first embodiment, reference is made to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7.
In turning first to FIG. 5, it is noted that rail guides 23 and 26 are positioned on the front face of optional stationary support plate 50. Although guide holes 23 a and 26 a are depicted as being circular in cross section, they need not be. In turning to FIG. 7, it is noted that rails 1 and 2 pass through rail guides 23 and 23′, 26 and 26′ on the front face of support plate 50. If support plate 50 was to be eliminated, the rail guides could be positioned directly upon mounting plate 11. As noted by reference to FIG. 6, rail guides 27 and 28 could alternatively be placed on the back side of support plate 50 adjacent to stationary mounting plate 11. Such mounting would provide a more aesthetically clean appearance to a user although, functionally, the embodiments of FIGS. 5 and 6 are equivalent. Rails could be applied to a vertical wall via a rail box to enable one to apply the exercise device directly upon a wall.
Turning to FIG. 11, it is shown that as a preferred embodiment, exercise device 110 can be made of subparts 115 and 120 supported on vertically extending frames 116 and 117, respectively. The spacing of sub-assemblies 115 and 120 are such that a user located between the sub-assemblies can grasp handles 121 and 122 simultaneously to enable a user to exercise two limbs and his or her lateral muscle groups adding to the flexibility of the present invention. In this regard, it is noted that sub assemblies 115 and 120 can be independently adjusted in vertical elevation along rails 123 and 124, respectively, for even additional flexibility. Similarly, radial arms 125 and 126 can be repositioned along T- joints 127 and 128 respectively to further “fine tune” the device.
Although the exercise device of the present invention, to this point, has been discussed in terms of a vertical presentation of a stationary mounting plate, alone, or together with a support plate, this need not be the case. Although it was envisioned that quite often, presentation of the present exercise device to a user would be most common by providing a vertical orientation resulting in shaft 12 extending horizontally towards a user and, thus, handle 25 also presenting a horizontal orientation, there are times when a user may wish to focus on certain muscle groups and, as such, desirous of having shaft 12 and handle 25 fixed at an angle to horizontal. Although there are several ways in which this can be accomplished, FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 depict a preferred embodiment of this invention.
Specifically, stationary mounting plate 11 can include semi-circular brace 33 having a number of equally spaced openings 34 configured there along. Stand 36 would be fixedly connected to engagement plate 37 having spring loaded knob 35 positioned thereon. In use, one would pull knob 35 away from semi-circular brace 33 enabling semi-circular brace 33 to travel along the direction of arrow 39. When an appropriate angle is selected for stationary mounting plate 11, a user would release knob 35 upon alignment with a suitable opening 34 within semi-circular brace 33. Again, although the depiction of this embodiment in FIGS. 8 and 9 are quite suitable in practicing the present invention, anyone skilled in the art would appreciate other well known mechanical links to enable one to change the angular presentation of stationary mounting plate 11 as desired by a user.
The embodiment of FIGS. 8 and 9 is shown being supported by an alternative support in the form of the telescoping pole illustrated in FIG. 10. Telescoping pole 40 resides upon base 41 that is large and heavy enough to resist any tendency on the part of the exercise device to tip over as a result of torque induced upon shaft 12 by a user. Alternatively, the telescoping rod could be mounted upon a flat plate that a user could stand upon to prevent tipping of the device during use. This would eliminate the need for a heavy base. The telescoping pole can consist of subparts 42, 43 and 44 that can telescope to different lengths through the use of pins 45 and 46 thus enabling the exercise device to be presented to a user at different vertical heights and angular presentations. Finally, two telescopic poles could be employed each bearing an exercise device facing each other to enable a user to operate two limbs at one time as suggested with reference to FIG. 11, previously discussed.
In summary, the present invention presents an improved exercise device for a number of reasons. It is first recognized that the present device can exercise a number of different body parts and muscle groups thus obviating the need for a number of individual devices which can be costly and not be feasible for space considerations. More importantly, the present device enables one to exercise certain muscle groups which are certainly not capable of being stressed by existing exercise equipment. As an example, and as stated previously, one could emulate the stroke of a pick ax being lifted above a user's head proximate his or her shoulder area to be swung down towards ground level. Handle 25 mounted upon radial arm 24 can emulate this action. In fact, through the appropriate height and angular adjustments, there are few if any body parts or muscle groups which cannot be exercised using the present invention.

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31. An exercise device comprising a support bracket and affixed thereto a mounting plate with an aperture configured therein, a handle sized for grasping by the hand of a user, a radial arm for supporting said handle, a shaft for passing through said aperture and having a proximal end and a distal end, said shaft being appended to said radial arm at its proximal end and appended to an adjustable resistance device at its distal end whereupon said adjustable resistance device moves with movement of said radial arm, the resistance to motion of said radial arm being varied by varying said adjustable resistance device; and wherein said mounting disk is pivotally appended to said support bracket such that the orientation of said mounting disk can be altered by a user.

32. An exercise device comprising a support bracket and affixed thereto a mounting plate, said mounting plate having an aperture configured therein, a handle sized for grasping by the hand of a user, a radial arm for supporting said handle, a shaft extending through said aperture, a friction disk rotatable with respect to said mounting plate such that movement of said radial arm by hand movement of said handle causes rotational movement of said friction disk, the friction established between said friction disk and mounting plate being adjustable to vary resistance to movement of said radial arm, said support bracket providing vertical height adjustment to said exercise device; and wherein said mounting disk is pivotably appended to said support bracket such that the orientation of said mounting disk can be altered by a user.