Method and device to enable and assist the elderly and females to exercise their abdominal and lower back muscles

Abstract

This multi-abdominal exercise machine is comprised of at least one foot-bar arranged to move up and down a vertical angular path for exercising the abdominal muscles otherwise known as the rectus abdominis. It is used in the sitting position. A controlled weight resistance mechanism is connected to the said foot-bar for providing adjustable resistance to movement. A seat that tilts up and down during the exercising movements together with and on the same axis as the foot-bar. At least one adjustable hand bar is positioned to aid entry to and exit from the machine and to stabilize the user while exercising. A dynamic back support is positioned to provide a contra, massage and stability while exercising. A method for using the abdominal exerciser is comprised of sitting on the dynamic seat, putting one's feet onto the foot-bar and lifting the knees towards the stomach. The said lifting causes the abdominal muscles to exercise, which effect is enhanced as the said seat moves.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is in the field of exercise resistance machines for improvement of general health, especially strengthening the abdominal muscles known in Latin as rectus abdominis. These muscles control the tilt of the pelvis to improve the mechanical positioning of the spine. The exercising provides physiotherapeutic effects to strengthen, build and rebuild muscles and bone mass and prevents muscle and bone mass deterioration while avoiding any pressure on the lower back and the unique massage roller simultaneously promotes back muscle relaxation. This patent relates to and caters for the special needs of the elderly, those convalescing from injury or surgery and females.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The use of machines for exercising the body is well known in the art. For many decades it has been considered beneficial for a person's health to exercise regularly. The benefits are many and probably some that we are not yet aware. A few of the better known benefits are to the functioning of the heart, the blood vessels, the blood cells, the muscles, the bone structure, the functioning of the brain, the levels of cholesterol and blood sugars, and the general feeling of well-being. There was a time when it was felt to be not so beneficial for the elderly to exercise but now it is considered also very beneficial. Obviously, the degree of stress on the body and length of time of such exercise varies from person to person depending on age, general health and any specific disabilities endured.

One of the factors that make it difficult for the elderly is their lack of agility. They often have pain when moving their various limbs. This discourages them from starting to exercise even though when they have exercised, usually they feel better than beforehand. If they avoid exercising then they do not enjoy the many side benefits of exercising and a vicious cycle is sometimes created whereby their health deteriorates generally. Most prior art exercise machines do not take into account the special needs of the elderly and therefore help to create this barrier. The machines are often cumbersome, sometimes complicated to operate, without easily understandable instructions, without handles to aid entering and exiting and without taking into account the sometimes frail and painful limbs of the elderly. They are basically designed for the young and middle aged.

The elderly either currently suffer from ailments that are best assisted by controlled exercise or are likely to suffer from such ailments if they do not exercise, for example, heart disease, weight control, walking stability, osteoporosis or lower back pains.

Daily activities, that a younger person performs automatically without realizing how many muscles and joints are involved, can be a major cause of pain and other discomforts throughout the day for the elderly or disabled.

Examples of such daily activities are bending to tie shoes, getting in and out of the car or bath, walking up stairs or a hill, pushing a shopping cart, carrying groceries and simply stretching to reach items. These are but a few of the hundreds of activities that an elderly person has to do daily and without regular exercising and muscle strengthening these everyday activities become more difficult as the person ages.

Women are more prone than men to a bone disease called osteoporosis, usually from the age of menopause and older. One of the major recommended preventative measures for osteoporosis is regular exercising of the weight bearing kind in order to increase the bone mass. Furthermore, females more than males, require special features in exercise machines to cater for their more delicate body structures Therefore, it would be preferable for the elderly, those convalescing and females, to use exercise machines that are purpose built and user friendly for their specific needs. The apparatus of this invention is specifically and professionally designed for the special needs of this group of users. The innovation of this invention includes and/or takes into account amongst others, the following factors:

• • the user's general lack of agility and possibility of various pains when moving into position to start exercising, during the exercising and when exiting,
  • to give as much as possible clutter free access and a minimum of overhead apparatus to ease entry/exit and to avoid accidental injury to the user or a helper of the user,
  • to have a dynamic seat.
  • to have a choice of foot-bars at different heights to suit different sized people,
  • the need for a back-rest to give the user a feeling of comfort, massage and stability,
  • the need for smaller gradations of weights so that resistance and muscle stress can be more gradually increased,
  • the proper placing of handles and bars to aid entering and leaving the machines and stabilizing handles to optionally hold while exercising,
  • notices and instructions written in clear language and large print,
    and many other features for the benefit of the infirm as are herein described in greater detail.

Prior art has addressed some aspects of the needs of older people. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,302 issued to Miller reveals a moveable exercise machine that can be brought to a chair ridden person to exercise. The novelty is more in the portability features than the use of the machine itself. US Patent Application No. 20040220019 issued to Maser reveal a special feature for older people namely that in a pedal machine both pedals can start at their lowest level instead of one up and one down. The Japanese Patent No. 2004016577 issued to Shigeo et al. reveals an exercise machine where the user can exercise in a recumbent position but the range of movements of the arms and legs is limited with no possibility of increasing or decreasing the stress to the arms or legs. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,419 issued to Rota showing how beneficial the rebounding type of exercise is for all aged users especially the elderly. The uniqueness of this invention is the combination of all its various features into one device as are herein described. After years of research the innovators of this invention have found solutions to the above mentioned problems generally and to the specific problems and needs of the elderly and infirm. The result is incorporated in the apparatus of this invention as hereinafter described. The result is a user friendly machine that the infirm will want to use because it answers their special needs. It will help them overcome that so important initial step of starting to exercise. The commercial potential for such machines is great. Firstly the purchaser could be an end user of the exercise machine of this invention or an exercise club that also wishes to cater for the elderly, infirm or those recuperating from injury. Such exercise clubs will be able to attract more members and from a wider range of population. Exercise clubs for women only, will be able to offer machines user friendly for females. Old-age homes are likely purchasers of these machines, to improve the overall health of their members, to usefully occupy their time and to attract new members by showing quality facilities. Hotels often have exercise rooms and will want to provide quality facilities for their elderly customers. Hospitals or homes for rehabilitation after medical operations or accidents are another likely customer for such machines. Most of the features designed for older people will also assist people recouping from illness or operations. They will recover faster, reduce the number of visits to the physiotherapist and be happy that they are helping themselves to become independent and return to their normal routine. The manufacturers of this invention will be catering for a market that is expanding rapidly both by the greater percentage of people living to older ages and the increasing awareness amongst all sectors of the population that regular exercising is a key to improved health. Health funds have already recognized how many millions of dollars they save each year when their members maintain a better standard of health. As a result these health funds often subsidize for their members, the membership fees of exercise clubs. All these factors will contribute to the commercial success of this invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description present embodiments of the invention, and are intended to provide an overview, or framework, for understanding the nature and character of the invention as it is claimed. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate various embodiments of the invention and, together with the description serve to explain the principles and operations of the invention.

An object of this invention is to provide a machine to exercise and thereby strengthen the abdominal muscles as well as maintain bone mass of the infirm. This muscle strengthening and bone mass maintenance will in turn help to improve balance, improve posture, increase ability to sit from lying down and stand from the sitting position, increase pelvic suspension and reduce incidence of falls. Another object of the invention is to strengthen the muscles called rectus abdominis.

Another object of the invention is to help to tilt forward the pelvis to improve the positioning and flexibility of the spine. Another object of the invention is to have a dynamic seat to enhance the exercising effect on the abdominal muscles. Another object of the invention is to have an upholstered and adjustable back and lumbar support pad that is dynamic on its longitudinal axis to support and massage the user's back as a result of the user's movements during exercising.

Another object of this invention is to enhance a person's ability to balance.

Another object of this invention is for the said exercise machine to be stably resting on the ground when in use and optionally moveable when so desired.

Another object of this invention is to ease the access to and exit from the exercise machine where for example, there is no overhanging apparatus potentially capable of causing head or other injury and without sharp edges protruding from the apparatus.

Another object of the invention is to have at least one static hand support bar to increase the user's stability while using machine and/or while entering or exiting.

Another object of this invention is to have adjustable static handles to optionally hold onto while exercising.

Another object of the invention is to make instructions for the user simple to understand and written in large print in a color that contrasts with its background. It is also an object to make the said instructions readable while the user is in position on the exercise machine.

Another object of the invention is to have a picture on the body of the apparatus in a clearly visible position and color, illustrating an everyday task. This task the infirm often find difficult to carry out and is made easier by strengthening the specific muscles that the machine of this invention helps to strengthen. State of art exercise machines often mention on the machine the name of the muscles that will be strengthened by the machine or sometimes they have a picture of those muscles in a picture of a body. The user of an exercise machine will be able to relate much easier to a picture of the everyday task that will be enhanced by using the machine. It will give the user a greater incentive to work diligently at the said exercises.

One of the everyday tasks that is associated with this invention is carrying of objects by holding them in ones arms opposite the stomach and/or chest.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain, by way of example only, the principles of the invention:

Fig A is a side sectional diagram of the essential parts of the exercise machine of this invention.

Fig B is a back sectional diagram of the essential parts of the exercise machine of this invention.

Fig C is a top sectional diagram of the essential parts of the exercise machine of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As will be appreciated the present invention is capable of other and different embodiments than those discussed above and described in more detail below, and its several details are capable of modifications in various aspects, all without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description of the embodiments set forth below are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.

Fig A shows the side view of this invention. The machine can be referred to as a multi-abdominal exercise machine 100. The user can use the overhead adjustable static handles 104 to assist maneuvering himself into position on the dynamic seat 106, to begin to exercise. Once in position on the seat 106 the user may wish to hold onto the handles 104 to stabilize himself while exercising. The handles 104 are adjustable on the axle 102 which said adjustment uses a numbered disc, each number representing a different hole in the disc, where a spring loaded pin fits in the desired hole thereby fixing the handles 102 at the desired height. The said user then puts both his feet onto the foot-bar 110 or 112, whichever is more comfortable for his height, and lifts up his knees as the said foot-bar 110 or 112 supports the upward and downward push movement of the feet.

The effect of so lifting and lowering the knees and foot-bar 110 or 112 is two-fold, namely, firstly, it lifts at the same time the bar 116. Foot-bars 110 and 112 are joined by bar 114 which in turn is joined in a fixed position to bar 116. Bar 116 is joined to bar 118 at the pivotal axis 120. The resistance cable 130 is attached to bar 116 at point 122 so that when bar 116 is raised the resistance cable 130 is pulled thereby lifting weights 136 in the weight stack housing 134. The cable 130 is attached at its one end to bar 116 at point 122 and passes over pulleys 124, 126 and 128 and at its other end it is attached to a bored pin-rod 133 and hence to the weights 136 as described in more detail below. The pulleys 124, 126 and 128 change the direction of the pulling force in cable 130 with minimum friction. The second effect of lifting the knees and foot-bars 110 and 112 is that the front of seat 106 that is joined in a fixed position to bar 116 rises and lowers tilting in tandem with bar 116 as it also tilts the pelvis of the user.

As the user raises his knees, gravitational force pulls the buttocks of the user downward and conversely as he pushes downwards with his feet the seat 106 angles upwards. This seesaw movement has the effect of increasing the exercise effect on the abdominal muscles.

The seat 106 is attached to the body of the exercise machine 100 via bar 118 by the double bearing pivot 107.

The user can adjust the degree of resistance the abdominal muscles will have to overcome to tilt the pelvis upwards while simultaneously raising the foot-bars 110 and 112. The resistance is usually adjusted conveniently using weights as is well known in the art. The weights 136 are housed in the weight housing 134 and are stacked vertically. The cable 130 is attached to a bored pin-rod 133. The cable 130 can be, alternatively, a belt or a chain. The bored pin-rod 133 has at least one hole corresponding to the number of weights 136. The weights 136 each have a hole in them passing horizontally from front to back. The pin 132 is inserted through a certain weight and into one of the holes in the bored pin-rod 133. When the user lifts his feet under the foot-bar 110 or 112 the resistance cable 130 will cause the weights 136 to rise. The amount of weights 136 to rise is the one with the pin 132 through it and any weights above it. The lower the pin 132 is placed in the stack of weights 136, the more weights 136 will be lifted and hence the greater the resistance on the user's abdominal muscles as he raises his knees and tilts his pelvis upwards.

Another innovative feature of this multi-abdominal exercise machine 100 is its upholstered dynamic back rest 140. This back rest 140 helps to support, provide contra and massage the back of the exerciser as he raises and lowers his feet which in turn causes him to move upwards and downwards on the dynamic seat 106. As the seat 106 is at an angle relative to the floor level, when the exerciser seesaws up and down his height will go up and down relative to the static body of the exercise machine 100. The back rest 140 is therefore circular in shape, revolving around axis 142, to accommodate the said movements of the exerciser's back.

Fig B is the front view of the multi-abdominal exercise machine 100. The foot-bars 110 and 112 can be seen along their length and their joining bar 114. The seat 106 is pivotally attached to the body of the exercise machine 100 at the bearing 107. The -back rest 140 is at the back of and slightly above seat 106 and the full length of the axis 142 is marked with an intermittent line. The steadying handles 104 are attached to the body of the exercise machine 100 together with its height adjustment discs 102. The weight stack housing 134 is seen from its closed side. The open side faces the exerciser as seen in Fig A.

Fig C shows the multi-abdominal exercise machine 100 from the top view. The parts visible in this figure are the dynamic seat 106 and the dynamic back rest 140 and the weight stack housing 134. The steadying handles 104 and their adjustment discs 102. The foot-bars 110 and 112 are attached to the body of the exercise machine 100.

Claims

1. An exercise machine comprising

a frame,

a foot-bar for placing the feet onto using the knees

to press in an upward direction while said foot-bar supports rising feet,

a means to apply resistance to the said foot-bar,

a dynamic seat,

a dynamic back-support pad,

at least one steadying and stabilization handle,

whereby people generally and especially the elderly,

infirm and females can exercise their abdominal muscles.

2. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said resistance is adjustable.

3. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 2 wherein the said adjustability is in increments of at most one kilogram.

4. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 3 where the extent of the resistance is chosen by means of inserting a pin in a horizontal hole passing through the width of a chosen weight and into a bored pin-rod that is attached to a cable joining the said bored pin-rod to the said foot-bar whereby that weight and all the weights above it are lifted by the said cable when the seat tilts upwards by the abdominal muscles contracting and tilting the pelvis upwards

5. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said weights are attached by means of a cable and pulleys to a pivotal link connecting the said tilting seat and connected foot-bar.

6. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 5 wherein the stack of weights and the said pin are easily reachable by the user prior to exercising.

7. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a numbered dial with a means to adjust the position of the said steadying handles.

8. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 7 wherein the said adjustment is effected with a spring-loaded pin entering synchronized holes in two parallel adjacent discs, one disc being attached to the stationary frame of the said exercise machine and the other disc being attached to the connecting bar of the said steadying handles.

9. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 8 wherein the said adjustment is graded by numbers on a disc

10. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said dynamic seat moves on a pivot in tandem with the foot-bar.

11. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 10 wherein the said dynamism is represented by the said seat seesawing up and down as the knees are raised and lowered during exercising.

12. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said back-support is dynamic in a circular motion.

13. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 12 wherein the said circular motion is a rotation around its central horizontal axis.

14. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 1 further comprising at least three wheels for transporting the machine where at least one wheel mechanism lifts the said exercise machine off the ground causing the weight of the said exercising machine to rest on the said wheel and of which at least one wheel is lockable thereby enabling the said exercise machine to rest firmly on the ground or optionally, be moved on the said wheels.

15. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the access to the said exercise machine is open and uncluttered thereby easing the entry to and exit from the said exercising machine by the elderly or infirm and easing the work of a helper of the said elderly or infirm.

16. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said stabilization is during entry to and exit from the said exercising machine as well as during the action of exercising.

17. An exercise machine comprising

a frame,

a foot-bar for placing the feet onto that supports the feet when knees are raised and then returns to starting position,

a dynamic seat,

a dynamic back-support pad,

at least one steadying and stabilization handle,

instructions for use of the said exercising machine, at least one picture of an everyday task that is enhanced by the use of the said exercising machine,

whereby people generally and especially the elderly,

infirm and females can exercise their abdominal muscles.

18. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 17 wherein the said instructions are in large clear print well contrasted with the background of the said print being visible and readable by the user of the said exercise machine from the position of the user when ready to exercise.

19. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 17 wherein the said picture of an everyday task is affixed to the body of the said exercise machine in a position easily visible and designed to be easily understandable which task is being represented.

20. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 19 wherein the said everyday task is the carrying of objects by holding them in ones arms opposite the stomach and/or chest.

21. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said cable is substituted by a belt or chain.