EXERCISING BALL

Abstract

An exercising ball includes an inflatable ball body made of an elastic material and defining a chamber, and a moving element disposed movably in the chamber. The inflatable ball body has a passage hole that permits the moving element to enter the chamber, and an inflation valve fitted sealingly and removably in the passage hole.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an exercising ball, more particularly to an exercising ball that can be used for a variety of exercises.

2. Description of the Related Art

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional exercising ball 1, which is hollow and spherical, allows a user 2 to perform different kinds of exercises on the ground. For example, the user 2 may rest his/her back 21 on the exercising ball 1 and to bend his/her upper body, thereby training his/her abdominal muscles 22. As another example, referring to FIG. 2, the user 2 may rest his/her hip 23 on the exercising ball 1 with his/her face facing downward and with his/her two feet 25 leaving the ground, while supporting himself/herself with his/her two hands 24, after which the user 2 may crawl forward and backward to train his/her arms muscles.

Although the exercising ball 1 can achieve its intended purpose, it still has the following drawbacks:

1. The exercising ball 1 is suitable only for exercises on the ground, and is too light in weight, such that when the exercising ball 1 is lifted off the ground to do lifting exercises or to do throwing exercises, it is very difficult to achieve an exercising effect. Hence, only a very few limited exercises may be performed with the exercising ball 1.

2. These exercises on the ground are very monotonous which may lead to boredom.

3. During use of the exercising ball 1, when the attention of the user 2 is distracted or when the user 2 changes his/her position, the exercising ball 1 rolls away easily and quickly, so that the user 2 has to chase it and pick it up so as to continue his/her exercise.

4. Since the exercising ball 1 rolls away easily, the user 2 is likely to fall off the exercising ball 1 during use of the same, which may cause injury to the user 2. Hence, the exercising ball 1 is not safe to use.

FIG. 3 illustrates a conventional weighted exercising ball 3, which has a spherical hollow ball body 31 that is filled with sand (not shown). The user 2 grips the weighted exercising ball 3 with his/her one hand 21 to do different moving or lifting exercises. Although the weighted exercising ball 3 can be used to perform many exercises, the exercises using the weighted exercising ball 3 are still monotonous and boring.

FIG. 4 illustrates a conventional arm exerciser 4, which has a hard ring-shaped tube 41, and a plurality of steel balls 42 disposed rollably in the tube 41. The user (not shown) grips the tube 41, and moves the arm exerciser 4 along a circular track so that the steel balls 42 roll around the tube 41. Since the arm exerciser 4 cannot be used for non-circular track exercises, the arm exerciser 4 is similarly monotonous and boring.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide an exercising ball that is capable of overcoming the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art. According to this invention, an exercising ball comprises an inflatable ball body made of an elastic material and defining a chamber, and a moving element disposed movably in the chamber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view, illustrating one type of exercise performed using a conventional exercising ball;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but illustrating another type of exercise performed using the conventional exercising ball;

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view, illustrating an exercise performed using a conventional weighted exercising ball;

FIG. 4 is a partly sectional view of a conventional arm exerciser;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an exercising ball according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exercise performed by a user using the exercising ball of the present invention, where the exercising ball is shaken upwardly and downwardly;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 5, but illustrating a plurality of moving elements bouncing irregularly in a chamber of a ball body of the exercising ball of the present invention when the exercising ball is shaken as shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a schematic top view, illustrating another exercise performed by the user, where the exercising ball of the present invention is moved along a horizontal circular track;

FIG. 9 illustrates how the moving elements are held closely to the ball body while undergoing rotation when the user performs the exercise as shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 illustrates still another exercise performed by the user, where the exercising ball of the present invention is thrown upwardly;

FIG. 11 illustrates yet another exercise performed by the user, where the exercising ball of the present invention is thrown horizontally;

FIG. 12 illustrates a further exercise performed by the user, where the exercising ball of the present invention is thrown downwardly on the ground;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of an exercising ball according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of an exercising ball according to the third preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of an alternative form of a moving element of the exercising ball of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it should be noted that the same reference numerals have been used to denote like elements throughout the specification.

Referring to FIG. 5, an exercising ball 100 according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown to comprise an inflatable ball body 5, twelve moving elements 6, and a valve plug 8.

The inflatable ball body 5 is made of an elastic material, has a spherical shape, and defines a chamber 51 that is fillable with air. Preferably, the ball body 5 is transparent. The ball body 5 has a rounded wall 50 that is adapted to permit a user to sit or to lie down, and to press, roll, shake, or throw the exercising ball 100. The ball body 5 further has a tubular protrusion 9 that extends into the chamber 51 from the rounded wall 50 and that defines a passage hole 52, and an inflation valve 7 fitted sealingly and removably in the passage hole 52. The inflation valve 7 has an inflation hole 71 that communicates fluidly with the chamber 51 and with the air external to the ball body 5 (“external air”).

The twelve moving elements 6 are configured as spherical steel balls that can enter the chamber 51 through the passage hole 52 so as to be disposed movably in the chamber 51. Preferably, the moving elements 6 are luminous balls.

The valve plug 8 is inserted removably into the inflation hole 71 so as to interrupt communication between the chamber 51 and the external air.

In use, referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the exercising ball 100 is lifted by a user 2, after which the user 2 shakes the exercising ball 100 upwardly and downwardly, so that the moving elements 6 bounce irregularly inside the chamber 51, thereby producing a dazzling visual effect. Further, when the moving elements 6 bump against an inner face of the rounded wall 50 of the ball body 5, an interesting sound can be heard by the user 2.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, the user 2 may also move the exercising ball 100 along a horizontal circular track (L1). A sufficient movement frequency of the ball 100 and a sufficient size of the track (L1) of movement results in the moving elements 6 being securely held to the inner face of the rounded wall 50 of the ball body 5 while rolling horizontally relative to the ball body 5. Training of the muscles of the user's arms and waist portion is achieved.

Referring to FIGS. 10, 11, and 12, when the user 2 throws the exercising ball 100 upwardly, forwardly and horizontally, or downwardly on the floor so as to bounce, because the moving elements 6 cause the center of gravity of the ball 100 to be displaced, the thrown ball 100 will not travel along a straight path, and instead, will move or bounce along an irregular flying track (L2). The exercising ball 100 can thus be manipulated to undergo many different kinds of movements and may be used for various different types of play. For example, moving the ball 100 in a vertical direction or in a slanting direction can also force the moving elements 6 to be securely held to the inner face of the rounded wall 50 of the ball body 5 and to roll vertically or slantingly relative to the ball body 5. The different uses of the ball 100 can be freely invented and changed.

From the aforementioned description, the exercising ball 100 not only allows the user 2 to perform the fitness exercises and the exercises on the ground that may be performed using the conventional exercising hall 1 (see FIG. 1), the exercising ball 100 can also provide the following effects:

1. The moving elements 6 increase the entire weight of the exercising ball 100. Hence, when the exercising ball 100 is raised or lifted from the ground by the user 2 to do upward exercises or throwing exercises, training of the muscles of the user's arms can be achieved.

2. The exercising ball 100 provides a dazzling visual effect through random movement of the moving elements 6 inside the chamber 51 during exercise, and produces an interesting sound through bumping of the moving elements 6 against the inner face of the rounded wall 50 of the ball body 5. As such, the user 2 is entertained, and will not get bored.

3. The moving elements 6 can dampen the rolling speed of the exercising ball 100, so that when the exercising ball 100 rolls away from the user 2 during exercise, the user 2 only has to move a short distance to pick-up the ball 100 and continue exercising again.

4. Since the exercising ball 100 rolls slowly due to the increased weight added by the moving elements 6, the exercising ball 100 is not likely to roll away from the user 2, so that the user 2 will not easily fall off the ball 100 during exercise. Hence, injury to the user is minimized.

5. During the throwing exercise, the user 2 must be quick and attentive in order to catch the exercising ball 100 (since the exercising ball 100 does not move in a straight line). Hence, the effect of training the user's agility and ability to concentrate is achieved.

Referring to FIG. 13, an exercising ball 100′ according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown to be similar to the first preferred embodiment. However, in this embodiment, only one moving element 6 is disposed in the chamber 51 of the ball body 5. When the user (not shown) shakes the ball body 5 leftwardly and rightwardly, the moving element 6 rolls higher and higher. This is another form of play that can be performed with the exercising ball 100′. The advantages of the first preferred embodiment are similarly achieved using the second preferred embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 14, an exercising ball 100″ according to the third preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown to be similar to the second preferred embodiment. However, in this embodiment, the moving element 6″ has a soft pouch 601, and a filler 602 filled in the pouch 601 and selected from the group consisting of sand, water, and pellets. The manufacturing procedure includes filling the pouch 601 with the filler 602, after which the pouch 601 is passed through the passage hole 52 so as to be disposed in the chamber 51 of the ball body 5. If the pouch 601 is to be completely filled with the filler 602, the pouch 601 is first disposed in the chamber 51 of the ball body 5, after which the filler 602 is filled into the pouch 601. The inflation valve 7 is then inserted into the passage hole 52, the ball body 5 is inflated, and the valve plug 8 is finally inserted into the inflation hole 71. In a stationary state, a bottom portion of the pouch 601 is in tight contact with the inner face of the rounded wall 50 of the ball body 5, and the top face of the pouch 601 has an irregular shape. The advantages of the second preferred embodiment are similarly achieved using the third preferred embodiment.

It should be noted that the moving element 6, 6″ may be any shape as long as it cannot pierce through the ball body 5. For example, as shown in FIG. 15, the moving element 6 may include four faces, four rounded corners 61, and six curved sides 62 interconnecting the rounded corners 61. The moving element 6 may also be a ball that may illuminate. The advantages of the first to third preferred embodiments can be similarly achieved.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretations and equivalent arrangements.

Claims

1. An exercising ball comprising:

an inflatable ball body made of an elastic material and defining a chamber; and

a moving element disposed movably in said chamber.

2. The exercising ball of claim 1, wherein said inflatable ball body has a passage hole that permits said moving element to enter said chamber, and an inflation valve fitted sealingly and removably in said passage hole.

3. The exercising ball of claim 2, wherein said inflatable ball body further has a rounded wall, and a tubular protrusion that extends into said chamber from said rounded wall and that defines said passage hole.

4. The exercising ball of claim 2, further comprising a valve plug, said inflation valve having an inflation hole, said valve plug being inserted into said inflation hole.

5. The exercising ball of claim 1, wherein said moving element has a circular cross section.

6. The exercising ball of claim 1, wherein said moving element is multi-faced, and includes a plurality of corners, and a plurality of curved sides interconnecting said corners.

7. The exercising ball of claim 4, wherein said moving element is configured as a spherical ball.

8. The exercising ball of claim 1, wherein said moving element is made of a soft material.

9. The exercising ball of claim 1, wherein said moving element is made of a hard material.

10. The exercising ball of claim 1, wherein said moving element has a pouch, and a filler filled in said pouch and selected from the group consisting of sand, water, and pellets.