Weight Lifting Sandals
A weight lifting system consisting of thin light-weight sandals to be strapped to a person's shod feet, the sandals having additional parts that are designed to attach to and detach from corresponding hardware on weights and weight holding devices. The sandals are designed and built so they will not interfere with walking or other exercises. The hardware works quickly and easily and a plurality of different weights is preferred with the net result being that the user can quickly and easily pick up and put down weights with their feet, change the amount of weight, and change weights from foot to foot and, hence, can easily move from one exercise to another, and there is no need to remove the sandals when performing other exercises.
This application claims the benefit of Provisional Patent Application No. 61/400,463 for Weight lifting sandals and their weights filed on Jul. 27, 2010 by Thomas Jay Zeek
This application claims an invention that is shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/583,854 filed on Aug. 26, 2009 for “Weight Lifting Shoes” from Thomas Jay Zeek, and uses much of the same hardware that is shown and claimed in that application. The invention claimed herein first appeared in Provisional Application for Patent No. 61/191,171 filed on Sep. 4, 2008 for “Weight lifting shoes and their weights” from Thomas Jay Zeek.
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable.
SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAMNot Applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention pertains to weight lifting, specifically to a device that improves the quality and number of exercises that a person can do with their legs. It is a pair of sandals that enable the user to easily pick up and put down weights with their feet and to change weights quickly and they do not interfere with the user's ability to walk or to do other exercises.
While exercises for the upper body have always been easy to do and plentiful, exercises for the legs have been fewer and much more difficult to coordinate. One of the reasons for this discrepancy is the simple ability of a person to pick up and put down weights with their hands, while no such ability exists for leg exercises.
This problem is normally addressed by the use of large expensive weight lifting machines. Machines called leg curl or leg extension machines take up a lot of room in the user's house and are only good for a couple of exercises. Other weight lifting machines such as donkey kick machines are more expensive and for most people require a gym membership.
Many devices have been invented for attaching weights to the user's ankles or feet to increase the number of exercises that can be done. Weighted shoes have been invented which don't hurt the ankles like ankle weights but they make changing and removing weights difficult, and they hamper walking and other exercises because they remain heavy. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,517,928 to Shanahan; 3,785,646 to Ruskin; and 6,052,924 to Sabat are examples of such shoes. Methods of adding weights to normal shoes include weights that tie into shoelaces U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,709 to Walsh and a sort of sock that fits over the shoe U.S. Pat. No. 5,728,032 to Glass. In both of those inventions changing weights is time consuming and difficult. All of these inventions are hampered by the limited amount of weight they can employ.
Closer to the mark have been devices that attach to shoes and which in turn receive various amounts of weight, as in my current invention. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,114,790 to Venables; 2,849,237 to Simithis; 3,343,836 to James; and 6,196,950 to Emick are all examples of such devices. All of these devices are excellent while the user is actually doing the exercise. They all accommodate heavy weight and in one case the ease of changing weights rivals my own invention, but all have the same drawback, namely that they interfere with walking and doing other exercises.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,114,790 and 3,343,836 both use a very thick sole plate through which a dumbbell passes to add weight. The thickness of the sole plates makes walking awkward and makes other exercises awkward and dangerous as the user could easily “fall off their heels.” They would have to be removed when the user is switching between upper body and lower body exercises. U.S. Pat. No. 2,849,237 uses a thick sole plate as the actual weight and carries with it the same problems as above. U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,950 uses a thin sole plate but changing weights requires the user to fumble with individual weight plates instead of trading out the entire dumbbell. The sole plate is very rigid and flat and not at all conducive to walking.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,927 to Catanzano describes a similar device in which the sole plate is made up of a plurality of weights which can be thin but it is rigid and still awkward and is limited in the amount of weight it can incorporate. U.S. Pat. No. 2,214,052 to Good refers to an exercising boot “preferably made by casting suitable metal in a shaping form or mold.” It is intended to be worn in place of shoes and not over shoes and therefore will be difficult to fit properly. Its rigid design again makes walking and other exercises difficult and dangerous.
The best inventions heretofore that are suitable for heavy weights, allow quick and easy changing of weights, and consider the user's ability to walk and to perform other exercises as well as the user's safety are my own weight lifting shoes claimed in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/583,854 which uses much of the same hardware as the current invention, and U.S. Pat. No. 757,983 to Vaile, which discloses a shoe of substantially normal fit and construction with some parts added to accommodate the addition and quick removal of weights, even heavy weights. The mostly normal construction of both inventions provides comfort, safety, and convenience because they can be worn throughout the user's workout and walking and performing other exercises is still possible, and they provide a solid dependable base for a person who is standing on one foot while exercising with the other foot.
Both inventions however still carry with them some drawbacks that need to be addressed.
The first drawback of Vaile's invention as well as my own weight lifting shoes is that the shoes must be replaced as often as a person's shoe size changes, which can be very expensive for a person whose feet are still growing.
Vaile's design also has the drawback of having the weight over the toes of the user's foot. This weight forward design forces the user to exercise their ankle and lower leg muscles and upper leg muscles at the same time. During lateral leg raises for instance the weight will put a twisting force on the user's ankle. Being forced to exercise too many muscles at the same time reduces the effectiveness on the target muscles because the user will get tired before the target muscles have been fully worked. The weights will also have a tendency to hit the floor when the user is doing donkey kick exercises.
Vaile's shoe and my own weight lifting shoes will also be more difficult to fit than the weight lifting sandals of this current invention. They would have to be offered in a variety of odd widths which few retail stores would want to stock, and they still wouldn't offer a proper fit for everyone. Many people require special shoes because of bone deformities in their feet, or need one shoe sole thicker than the other, etc.
Consequently there remains a need for, and it is the object of the current invention to provide a means for a person to quickly and easily pick up and put down heavy weights with their feet that is safe, does not hurt, does not hamper walking or other exercises, is inexpensive, and easy to fit properly.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe current invention is a pair of thin, substantially flat, rigid but flexible platforms in the shape of a shoeprint further consisting of a heel yoke and straps to secure it to a normally shod foot. They may be curved to fit the bottom of a normal shoe and they have additional hardware that attaches to corresponding hardware on weights and weight holding devices.
One embodiment of the sandal of the present invention is shown in
The sandal 40a consists of a thin, rigid but flexible and substantially flat main body 2 and has hardware that attaches to corresponding hardware on weights and weight holding devices. The sandal is made so that the hardware protrudes at the sides when the sandal is strapped to a normally shod foot. The hardware in
The sandal has a thin rubber sole 30 on the bottom and a non-slip upper surface 28 that can be created by adding a layer of a tough sand paper type material of the kind normally found on the upper surface of skateboards. It has toe clamps 26 toward the front end, with each said clamp having a toe strap 16 with a toe buckle 14. The sandal also has a main strap 8 and has a main buckle 10 to accept and hold the main strap 8. The main buckle 10 is permanently attached to the main buckle strap 12. The sandal also has a heel cup 4 which has two crossing straps 18 permanently attached on either side, which work in conjunction with the toe buckles 14. The main strap 8 and the crossing straps 18 are hook and loop straps that stick back to themselves after passing through the buckles. The main body 2 has a front curve 3 to make it fit the bottom of a normal shoe. It is desirable for the toe clamps 26 to be adjustable for the width of a shoe, which can be done in the same way as the heel yoke anchors 160 shown in
The best material for the main body 2 including the integral tab assembly 116 is polycarbonate, but a wide variety of materials can be used including several kinds of metal, plastic, fiberglass, or plywood, provided that the material isn't brittle and can be glued securely, or a variety of differing materials can be used. All of the sandals shown in
If the open backed heel yoke 5 or the preferred adjustable heel yoke 150 is used then the heel area can be made of flexible rubber and can also be curved to prevent the heel from hitting the floor too soon when the user is walking. The open backed heel yoke 5 is shown in
Advantages of the full footprint design of the weight lifting sandals shown in
In the preferred embodiment the distance between the notches 24 in the tab assembly 116 would remain constant over several shoe sizes so that the distance between the posts 64 or 90 on the weights 100 and the weight holding devices 61a, 61b can remain constant. This would enable different members of a single household to share weights and weight holding devices or a single person to use the same weights while their feet grow and their shoe size changes, and retailers would not have to stock the weights in a large variety of sizes. About four sizes of tab assembly 116 should be plenty even if the main body 114 of the tab assembly changes with every shoe size.
The tab assembly 116 and the peg assembly 117 are claimed in patent application Ser. No. 12/583,854 filed on Aug. 26, 2009 by Thomas Jay Zeek (me).
The bar 62 is of a standard diameter for accepting normal barbell weights 68 that are available at most sporting goods stores.
The sandals and weights of this invention work by the user wearing the sandals as shown in
After performing the desired number of repetitions of a given exercise the user can quickly and easily remove the weight by loosening the wing nuts 66 and sliding their foot back off of the platform 60. The user can then attach the weight to their other foot or attach a different weight to the same foot and continue exercising, or they can leave the weights off and do some upper body exercises with no weights attached to their feet. The sandals will not interfere with pushups, sit ups, walking, or almost any other exercise. The wing nuts 66 never need to be removed from the threaded posts 64, only loosened enough to provide clearance for the washers 20.
The locking clamps 94 work in the same way as Visegrjp® locking pliers and use most of the same components. With the locking clamps open as is shown in
The locking clamps 94 can be adjusted by means of the threaded rod 84. With the locking clamps 94 open as in
The hole 96 has to be deep enough to keep the smooth post 90 from hitting the top of the hole 96 because that would prevent the plunger 82 from fully descending into the concavity 22. There should always be some air space above the smooth post 90 when the locking clamp 94 is closed.
The short sandal 40c is made by leaving off the front curve 3 of the full sandal completely, allowing the ball of the user's foot to contact the floor normally, and the sandal tapers to a very thin front edge to ease the transition from sandal to floor when the user is walking or performing other exercises. The front clamps 168 shown in these drawings are not adjustable because the sandal is too thin at the front to have room for any kind of mechanical devices, but they could be made out of thin steel which would allow them to bend around wider shoes. In these drawings they are part of the same piece of polycarbonate as the rest of the body 180 and are formed by being bent into the desired position. The front clamps 168 could also be left off entirely and the short straps could be attached directly to the flat part of the sandal's body.
The front clamps 168 each have a short strap 170 with a buckle 158 to receive the long strap 154 which works by weaving back and forth across the user's foot through the buckles 158. The long strap 154 is a hook and loop strap and sticks back to itself after passing through the buckle 158 on the heel buckle strap 156.
The long strap 154 and the heel buckle strap 156 are attached to the heel yoke 150 with a circular shaped grommet 152 to allow adjustment of the angle of the straps. The grommets 152 should be loose enough to allow the straps to be adjusted but not to move freely. The same means can be used to attach the short straps 170 to the front clamps 158 or to attach the toe straps 16 to the toe clamps 26 on the full footprint sandal.
The heel yoke 150 is made of a single piece of polycarbonate 1.2″ wide and 0.1″ thick. It is made from an arc with a radius of 4″ bent into the horseshoe shape that is shown. The open back design of the heel yoke allows it to fit a variety of different shoes, whereas a solid heel cup might contact the shoe at some low point and leave a gap at the top. The heel yoke 150 is held to the heel yoke anchors 160 with holding screws 162 which pass through the vertical slots 153. The vertical slots 153 allow the heel yoke 150 to be adjusted for height.
The heel yoke anchors 160 are made of polycarbonate 0.1″ thick and have a horizontal slot 163 that the holding screws 162 pass through. The horizontal slot allows the holding screw 162 and hence the heel yoke 150 to slide forward and backward and the heel yoke 150 can be tilted forward and backward so that along with the height adjustment enabled by the vertical slot 153 it is fully adjustable and can fit any shoe within the sandal's size range. The holding screws 162 should not have a circular head as shown because that will leave dents in the heel yoke anchor 160 which impede adjusting the heel yoke's position, or the heel yoke anchors can be made of steel.
The holding screws 162 are held by the holding wing nut 164 which can be loosened to allow adjustment of the heel yoke and then tightened to hold the heel yoke in the proper position. A more aesthetic holding nut is preferred to the holding wing nut 164, and a rubber washer can be added between the heel yoke and the heel yoke anchor to improve the hold. The heel yoke is held in place mostly by the straps. The screw and wing nut only keep the bottom end of the heel yoke from moving.
The heel yoke anchors 160 fit into the deep recesses 174 in the body 180. The anchor adjustment screws 166 pass through the slots 167 in the bottom of the yoke anchors 160 and they fit into the threaded holes 175. When the short sandal 40c is fully assembled the heel yoke anchors 160 can be adjusted for a shoe's width by loosening the anchor adjustment screws 166 about a half of a turn and then sliding the heel yoke anchors 160 into the desired position and then tightening the screws. In the preferred embodiment a steel T nut would be used to avoid damaging the threads in the threaded holes 175, and the body 180 of the sandal 40c might be about 2 mm thicker to provide more threads for the anchor adjustment screws.
The covering plates 178 fit over the heel yoke anchors 160 and are glued into the shallow recesses 176 to create a flat surface for the rough surface 172 to be applied to. The depth of the deep recesses 174 is exactly equal to the thickness of the heel yoke anchors 160 so that the covering plates 178 will be in contact with the heel yoke anchors instead of all of the stress being born by the anchor adjustment screw 166.
The screw 166 does not hold the covering plate 178 because the adjustment screw hole 179 is bigger than the head of the screw.
The concavities 22 are created by drilling directly into the tabs 7R and 7L.
Accordingly the reader will see that the sandals and weights and the various hardware of this invention will provide a method of lower body exercises that is effective, safe, easy to operate, low cost, and can be used and kept easily in a small room or apartment.
Although the description above contains many specificities, exact descriptions of the sandals, of how they are secured to the user's foot, and the hardware used to attach the weights to the sandals may be innumerable, and examples shown should not be construed as limiting the scope of this invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments.
REFERENCE NUMERALS USED IN DRAWINGS
Claims
1. a sandal with a thin main body and a means of being secured to a person's normally shod foot further consisting of parts that are designed to attach to and detach from corresponding hardware that has been added to weights and weight holding devices, said sandal having been designed and built to facilitate walking when no weight or weight holding device is present.
2. the sandal of claim one being curved to fit the bottom of a normal shoe
3. the sandal of claim one wherein its main body is flexible.
4. the sandal of claim one wherein said parts protrude from the sides of the sandal.
5. the sandal of claim two wherein its main body is flexible.
6. the sandal of claim two wherein said parts protrude from the sides of the sandal.
7. the sandal of claim three wherein said parts protrude from the sides of the sandal.
8. the sandal of claim five wherein said parts protrude from the sides of the sandal.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 18, 2011
Publication Date: Feb 2, 2012
Inventor: Thomas Jay Zeek (North Hollywood, CA)
Application Number: 13/184,580
International Classification: A63B 21/065 (20060101);
