Patents by Inventor Robert L. Rawls

Robert L. Rawls has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5499959
    Abstract: An upper body exercise apparatus to assist an exerciser to do chin-ups and dips. The apparatus includes a frame having a base, a support for the exerciser, and chin-up handles and dip handles extending from the frame. A motive device provides for movement of the support vertically between a lower position and an upper position. Angular displacement of the platform is prevented by coupling the platform to a guide device which constrains the support to travel along a predetermined path. The guide device can comprise a wheel and track system. Binding of the wheel and track system is avoided by providing a force to the wheel and track system which tends enhance tracking.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 1994
    Date of Patent: March 19, 1996
    Assignee: StairMaster Sports/Medical Products, Inc.
    Inventors: Fred H. Holmes, Robert L. Rawls, James A. Duncan
  • Patent number: 5348519
    Abstract: A horizontal support arm is mounted for upward and downward movement on a vertical support column. An interface unit having an actual mass value is disposed on a free end of the horizontal support arm and is adapted to be grasped and lifted by a human subject. A simulated mass value independent of said actual mass value may be set for the interface unit, and the amount of vertical force exerted by the human subject upon the interface unit is measured. An exercise control unit provides for controlled vertical movement of the interface unit as a function of the simulated mass value such that the interface unit responds to a lifting force by the human subject in a manner that simulates the inertia of an object having a mass value equal to the simulated mass value in a gravitational field.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 1992
    Date of Patent: September 20, 1994
    Assignee: Loredan Biomedical, Inc.
    Inventors: Jeffrey T. Prince, Robert L. Rawls, Philip T. Dempster, Jody Ono
  • Patent number: 5312313
    Abstract: An upper body exercise apparatus to assist an exerciser to do chin-ups and dips. The apparatus includes a frame having a base, a support for the exerciser, and chin-up handles and dip handles extending from the frame. A motive device provides for movement of the support vertically between a lower position and an upper position. Angular displacement of the platform is prevented by coupling the platform to a guide device which constrains the support to travel along a predetermined path. The guide device can comprise a wheel and track system. Binding of the wheel and track system is avoided by providing a force to the wheel and track system which tends enhance tracking.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 1992
    Date of Patent: May 17, 1994
    Assignee: Stairmaster Sports Medical Products, Inc.
    Inventors: Fred H. Holmes, Robert L. Rawls, James A. Duncan