Exercise apparatus
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.
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.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONHealth 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 INVENTIONThe 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.
Turning to the figures, a back side view of the exercise device of this invention is depicted in
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 12b 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
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
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 (
In order to facilitate the appropriate uniform engagement between friction disk 14 and the back side of stationary mounting plate 11, springs 17 (
As noted with reference to
Reference is next made to
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
In turning first to
Turning to
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,
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
The embodiment of
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.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 26, 2006
Publication Date: Mar 27, 2008
Inventor: Paul B. Rutherford (Sonoma, CA)
Application Number: 11/527,932
International Classification: A63B 21/012 (20060101); A63B 21/015 (20060101);