Rowing Machine Exercise-Assisting Device
The present invention relates to an exercise-assisting device, and more specifically to a seat able to move reciprocally automatically in the front-to-back direction, which is one of the constituent elements of a rowing machine constituting a remedial exercise device for physically disabled individuals, and particularly paraplegics, while also constituting a whole-body exercise device able to prevent heterotopic ossification.
The present invention relates to an exercise-assisting device, and more particularly, to a rowing machine exercise-assisting device that is provided with a seat capable of automatically moving reciprocally in forward and backward directions, which is one of the components of a rowing machine.
BACKGROUND ARTA rowing machine is a whole body exercise device configured to consume a substantial large amount of energy within a short period of time, which is manufactured by obtaining an idea from rowing operations carried out in rowing races on the water, so as to lively provide rowing rhythms and feelings to a user using the rowing machine indoors. The rowing machine has similar exercise strength to that of a stepper or a running machine focused to lower body exercises, but it is very effective in performing the whole body exercise. Further, since the user exercises while sitting in a seat mounted on the rowing machine, no harm is applied to his knee areas. In case where the rowing machine is provided with a monitor, the exercise results can be recorded and stored through the monitor and a storing device, while the exercise state is being monitored in real time. The rowing machine is well known in Europe, Australia, Japan and so on, and some rowing machine products are capable of performing on-line racing through the connection of Internet with other countries, thereby avoiding boring during the exercise. Also, since the rowing machine does not have any noise generated therefrom and is light in weight, it can be used indoors, without any trouble in installation areas.
The rowing machine is usually used for training athletes in many countries, and as mentioned above, since the exercise is performed while the user is sitting in the seat, no harm is applied to the user's body areas, so that the rowing machine is also used as a remedial exercise machine for a medical purpose.
Referring to
Through the repetition of the above-mentioned rowing operations, the muscles on the user's back, shoulder and low body are strengthened, and aerobic exercise for the user's whole body is performed, so that the rowing machine is used for the remedial purposes for disabled persons caused by unexpected accidents as well as for training purposes for professional athletes.
In addition to the above-mentioned purposes, especially, the rowing machine can be used for disabled persons who do not move their legs at all by the paralysis of the lower body. The paraplegic disabled person cannot bend his knees willingly, and thus, he lives in a state where his knees are stretched out. In this case, calcium accumulates on given joints like knees, and if a long period of time has passed in this state, the calcium is just hardened to cause the joints to be interfered in the movements. In severe cases, new bone pieces form at abnormal positions. This is called heterotopic ossification. The heterotopic ossification is the process by which bone tissue forms in connective tissues or soft tissues since oxygen supply to the tissues is insufficiently performed and minute injuries are caused on the tissues, and as mentioned above, the heterotopic ossification often occurs in the paraplegic disabled persons caused by the spine injury. Specifically, the heterotopic ossification most commonly occurs in hip joints, and it is generally found in knee joints. Therefore, the knees of the paraplegic disabled persons are forcedly bent and stretched out in hospitals and the like.
According to the seat attached on the conventional rowing machine, a user bends his knees and applies a given force to the footboards. Next, he stretches his knees and pulls the handle, thereby performing the rowing operations. Therefore, if the user uses the conventional rowing machine for remedial and medical purposes, he should apply a given force to the footboards by using his lower body so as to obtain good exercise effects therefrom.
The patient having the spine injury, especially, the paraplegic patient, makes use of the rowing machine in hospitals or houses for the remedial purposes, but since he cannot use his lower body, the handle of the rowing machine is repeatedly pulled and released by using only his upper body, especially his arms. In this case, therefore, the rowing operations are achieved by the upper body exercise, especially by the arm exercise, not by the whole body exercise, which does not have any difference in other arm exercise machines.
In this case, also, since the user repeats the simple arm exercises, he easily feels bored and does not have any fun, thereby making it difficult to keep exercising. More particularly, the user cannot take the active rowing motions of the rowing machine. Therefore, the paraplegic patient does not have excellent whole body exercise effects and the specific activities of the rowing machine.
Further, since the user performs the upper body exercise in the state where his lower body is fixed to the rowing machine, he does not have any advantage in the prevention of the heterotopic ossification commonly occurring to the paraplegic patients, and therefore, the user's knees should be forcedly bent or stretched by nurses or caregivers.
DISCLOSURE Technical ProblemAccordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a rowing machine exercise-assisting device that is configured to have a seat of a rowing machine adapted to be automatically moved reciprocally so as to provide whole body exercise effects and rowing activities even to patients having spine injury, especially paraplegic patients.
Technical SolutionTo accomplish the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a rowing machine exercise-assisting device including: a guide rail; a support part adapted to support the guide rail; a seat mounted on the guide rail in such a manner as to move reciprocally in forward and backward directions along the length direction of the guide rail, in which a user sits; a safety belt provided on the seat to prevent the user from being escaped from the seat; footboards disposed on left and right sides of the support part to place the user's feet thereon at the time when the user sits in the seat; a fixing belt provided on each of the footboards to prevent the user's foot from being escaped from the footboard; a bar-shaped handle taken by the both hands of the user; reciprocating exercise means having a servo motor and a controller controlling the rotation of the servo motor; and a control panel provided on the handle and connected to the controller to transmit commands to the controller such that the controller controls the rotating direction, the rotating speed and the number of rotation of the servo motor, the control panel having a switch adapted to control the start and stop of the reciprocating exercise of the seat, a switch adapted to adjust the speed of the reciprocating exercise of the seat and a switch adapted to adjust the reciprocating distance of the reciprocating exercise of the seat, whereby as the servo motor rotates forwardly and backwardly, the seat is automatically moved reciprocally in the forward and backward directions along the length direction of the guide rail.
According to the present invention, preferably, the reciprocating exercise means like a timing belt, a chain, or a rack gear and a pinion gear is provided in the interior of the support part of the rowing machine, and through the reciprocating exercise means, the seat moves reciprocally in forward and backward directions along the guide rail at a given speed. If a remedial patient pulls the handle of the rowing machine in accordance with the rhythms of the reciprocating movements, even the remedial patient, especially the paraplegic patient has the rowing feelings like general persons using their lower body.
For example, if the timing belt as the reciprocating exercise means is used, it is rotated in accordance with the rotation of the motor, and the seat fixed to the timing belt is moved forwardly and backwardly (in the direction parallel to the surface on which the rowing machine is placed). The moving direction of the seat is determined in accordance with the direction of the rotation of the motor. That is, if the direction of rotation of the motor is changed reversely, the seat is moved to the opposite direction thereto. Since the motor should repeat the forward and backward rotation for a relatively short period of time, it is generally used as the servo motor having the controller through which the rotating speed and the rotating direction are accurately controlled, and specifically, a BLDC (brushless direct current) motor is most desirably used as the motor of the reciprocating exercise means in the present invention in that the speed and torque can be easily adjusted just by varying the time (phase difference) of the current intermittence period of a basic driving circuit, no rectifier and brush giving bad influences in the life term by means of the abrasion caused by the mechanical friction is used, the life term is semi-permanently extended, and noise is generated a little therefrom.
On the other hand, the chain may be used as the reciprocating exercise means. If the chain is rotated in accordance with the rotation of the motor, the seat fixed to the chain is moved forwardly and backwardly. In the same manner as the above, the moving direction of the seat is determined in accordance with the direction of rotation of the motor.
Alternatively, the rack gear and the pinion gear adapted to be engaged cooperatively with each other are used as the reciprocating exercise means, thereby moving the seat forwardly and backwardly. That is, as the motor is rotated, the pinion gear connected to the shaft of the motor is rotated, and accordingly, the rack gear engaged with the pinion gear performs a linear motion. As a result, the seat fixed to the rack gear carries out the linear motion. In the same manner as the above, the moving direction of the seat is determined in accordance with the direction of rotation of the motor.
Through the above-mentioned reciprocating exercise means, the remedial patient can have the rowing activities like general persons, thereby avoiding the simple exercises using only his upper body, especially his arms.
Further, only if the remedial patient just places his feet on the footboards, his knees can be bent and stretched by means of the seat reciprocating a given distance in the forward and backward direction.
Advantageous EffectAccording to the present invention, as mentioned above, there is provided the rowing machine exercise-assisting device that is provided with the seat automatically moves reciprocally in the forward and backward directions, such that while a patient having spine injury, especially a paraplegic patient performs rowing exercises for remedial and treating purposes, he can enjoy rowing activities, thereby increasing his interest and fun and allowing him to keep exercising.
In addition to the upper body exercise, especially the arm exercise performed in the conventional rowing machine, the present invention can provide the lower body exercise to the paraplegic patient through the automatically reciprocating seat, thereby giving the whole body exercise to him. Further, his knees are automatically bent and stretched periodically, thereby preventing the heterotopic ossification by which the knee joints are hardened by the accumulation of the calcium on the knees.
Hereinafter, an explanation on a rowing machine exercise-assisting device according to preferred embodiments of the present invention will be in detail given with reference to the attached drawings. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same components as each other.
First,
However, even though the patient having spine injury, especially the paraplegic patient, makes use of the conventional rowing machine, he cannot move the seat backwardly by applying a force caused by his feet to the footboards and further cannot stretch his legs to pull the handle. Therefore, the user places his feet on the floor and pulls the handle by using only his both arms, as shown in
In order to solve these problems, as shown in
The footboards 12 on which the user's feet are placed have fixing belts (not shown) mounted on one surface thereof so as to firmly fix the user's feet thereto, thereby preventing the user's feet from being escaped therefrom during exercising.
The seat 20 is disposed on the guide rail 11 in such a manner as to be automatically moved reciprocally. Preferably, the seat 20 includes a moving part 21 adapted to be mounted on the guide rail 11, a plate-shaped seating part 22 in which the user sits, and a back support part 23 adapted to support the user's back when sitting. The seating part 22 and the back support part 23 are coupled to each other by means of elastic members 24 like springs so as to allow the back support part 23 to be bent backwardly by a given angle when he leans his back against the back support part 23. Preferably, the moving part 21 is brought into direct contact with the guide rail 11. Even though not shown in the drawings, the moving part 21 has an engagement part 25 (See
Generally, since the user of the rowing machine exercise-assisting device according to the present invention is a paraplegic patient, he may be fallen from the seat 20 by losing his body balance thereon during the reciprocating motions of the seat 20 in the forward and backward directions, which gives the risk of injuries to him. Thus, the seat 20 further has a safety belt (not shown) mounted thereon to prevent the user from being escaped from the rowing machine during the reciprocating motions of the seat 20.
According to the present invention, desirably, the rowing machine exercise-assisting device further includes a handle 30 to which a controller is attached to control the automatic reciprocal motions. The handle 30 has a generally linear or curved rod-like shape like the handle of the general rowing machine, and only if the handle 30 is taken by both hands of the user, it may have any shapes. First, the user takes the handle 30 by his both hands and pulls the handle 30 toward his chest. At this time, as mentioned above, since the rowing machine exercise-assisting device according to the present invention is provided with the automatically reciprocating seat 20, the seat 20 is moved forwardly and backwardly at a given speed along the guide rail 11. If the seat 20 moves in the forward direction with respect to the user in the state where the user's feet are placed on the footboards 12, his knees are naturally bent, and contrarily, if the seat 20 moves in the backward direction with respect to the user, his knees are naturally stretched out.
Therefore, the handle 30 is pulled by the user in accordance with the forward and backward movements of the seat 20, such that the user can have rowing activities and dynamic rhythms like general persons freely using their lower body. In addition to the upper body exercise, especially the arm exercise performed in the conventional rowing machine, the present invention can provide the lower body exercise to the paraplegic patient through the automatically reciprocating seat, thereby giving the whole body exercise to him. Further, his knees are automatically bent and stretched periodically, thereby preventing the heterotopic ossification by which the knee joints are hardened by the accumulation of the calcium on the knees.
Even the paraplegic user easily presses the switches 31 to 33 provided on the handle 30, so that the automatic reciprocating motions of the seat 20 of the rowing machine exercise-assisting device can be readily controlled.
Hereinafter, an explanation on the reciprocating exercise means 40, 50 and 60 allowing the seat 20 of the rowing machine exercise-assisting device to be automatically reciprocated will be given with reference to
So as to permit the timing belt 41 to be circulated by means of the motor 42, moreover, the rowing machine exercise-assisting device according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a pulley disposed at the opposite side to the motor 42 so as to send the timing belt 41 back to the motor 42. As a result, the timing belt 41 is rotated around the two shafts of the motor 42 and the pulley. The pulley does not have any limitation in the kind and shape, and only if it is rotated to be engaged with the timing belt 41, it may have any kind and shape.
Therefore, the moving directions of the moving part 21 and the engagement part 25 are determined in accordance with the direction of the rotation of the motor 42, and further, the moving direction of the seat 20 connected integrally with the moving part 21 is determined in accordance with the moving direction of the moving part 21. Also, the reciprocating speed and distance are determined in accordance with the rotating speed of the motor 42 and the moving distance of the timing belt 41.
That is, if the direction of the rotation of the motor 42 is changed reversely, the seat 20 is moved to the opposite direction thereto. Since the motor 42 should repeat the forward and backward rotation for a relatively short period of time, it is generally composed of the servo motor having the controller through which the rotating speed and the rotating direction are accurately controlled. Specifically, a BLDC motor is most desirably used as the motor 42 of the reciprocating exercise means 40 in the present invention in that the speed and torque can be easily adjusted just by varying the time (phase difference) of the current intermittence period of a basic driving circuit, no rectifier and brush giving bad influences in the life term by means of the abrasion caused by the mechanical friction is used, the life term is semi-permanently extended, and noise is generated a little therefrom.
As mentioned above, the motor 42 has the controller (not shown) mounted thereon, and preferably, the controller is connected to the switches 31 to 33 formed on the control panel of the handle 30 in such a manner as to receive electrical signals transmitted when the user presses the switches and to set the start/stop, the reciprocating speed, and the reciprocating distance in accordance with the received signals. As a result, the motor 42 is operated in accordance with the set values, thereby allowing the seat 20 to be moved reciprocally.
The chain 51 is rotated in accordance with the rotation of the motor 52, and as a result, the engagement part 25 of the moving part 21 of the seat 20, which are fixed to the chain 51, is moved forwardly or backwardly. Desirably, the engagement part 25 of the moving part 21 has protrusion-like chain insertion portions formed regularly on the underside surface thereof, as shown in
In the same manner as the first embodiment of the present invention, further, the moving direction, reciprocating speed and the reciprocating distance of the seat 20 are determined in accordance with the rotating direction (forward/backward rotation), the rotating speed, and the number of rotation of the motor 52.
The rack gear 61 is desirably provided on the underside surface of the moving part 21 of the seat 20, and alternatively, it may be provided directly on the underside surface of the seating part 22 of the seat 20. The rack gear 61 is provided on the underside surface of the engagement part 25 in
While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.
Claims
1. A rowing machine exercise-assisting device comprising:
- a guide rail;
- a support part adapted to support the guide rail;
- a seat mounted on the guide rail in such a manner as to move reciprocally in forward and backward directions along the length direction of the guide rail, in which a user sits;
- a safety belt provided on the seat to prevent the user from being escaped from the seat;
- footboards disposed on left and right sides of the support part to place the user's feet thereon at the time when the user sits in the seat;
- a fixing belt provided on each of the footboards to prevent the user's foot from being escaped from the footboard;
- a bar-shaped handle taken by the both hands of the user; reciprocating exercise means having a servo motor and a controller controlling the rotation of the servo motor; and
- a control panel provided on the handle and connected to the controller to transmit commands to the controller such that the controller controls the rotating direction, the rotating speed and the number of rotation of the servo motor, the control panel having a switch adapted to control the start and stop of the reciprocating exercise of the seat, a switch adapted to adjust the speed of the reciprocating exercise of the seat and a switch adapted to adjust the reciprocating distance of the reciprocating exercise of the seat,
- whereby as the servo motor rotates forwardly and backwardly, the seat is automatically moved reciprocally in the forward and backward directions along the length direction of the guide rail.
2. The rowing machine exercise-assisting device according to claim 1, wherein the reciprocating exercise means further comprises a band-shaped timing belt having concave and convex portions formed regularly thereon and a pulley adapted to be engaged with the timing belt to circulate the timing belt therealong, the timing belt being rotated in accordance with the rotation of the servo motor in the state of being engaged with the servo motor and the pulley, and the seat comprises an engagement part connected to the underside surface thereof and having concave and convex portions adapted to be engaged with the concave and convex portions formed on the timing belt, such that as the timing belt is rotated forwardly and backwardly, the seat is reciprocally moved in the forward and backward directions along the length direction of the guide rail.
3. The rowing machine exercise-assisting device according to claim 1, wherein the reciprocating exercise means further comprises a chain and a sprocket adapted to be engaged with the chain to circulate the chain therealong, the chain being rotated in accordance with the rotation of the servo motor in the state of being engaged with the servo motor and the sprocket, and the seat comprises an engagement part connected to the underside surface thereof and having protrusions regularly formed thereon in such a manner as to be insertedly engaged with the empty space portions regularly arranged along the chain, such that as the chain is rotated forwardly and backwardly, the seat is reciprocally moved in the forward and backward directions along the length direction of the guide rail.
4. The rowing machine exercise-assisting device according to claim 1, wherein the reciprocating exercise means further comprises a disc-shaped circular gear rotatingly connected to the servo motor and having protrusions regularly formed circumferentially along the outer periphery thereof and a linear gear having a shape of a linear band and having protrusions adapted to be engaged with the circular gear so as to convert a rotating motion of the circular gear into a linear motion, the linear gear being coupled to the underside surface of the seat in such a manner as to be disposed between the underside surface of the seat and the circular gear, such that as the circular gear is rotated forwardly and backwardly, the seat is reciprocally moved in the forward and backward directions along the length direction of the guide rail.
5. The rowing machine exercise-assisting device according to claim 2, wherein the reciprocating exercise means is disposed inside the support part.
6. The rowing machine exercise-assisting device according to claim 1, wherein the seat further comprises a back support part adapted to support the user's back, and the back support part has an elastic restoring force in such a manner as to be bent backwardly when a given force is applied thereto and to be returned to its original position when the given force is removed therefrom.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 4, 2010
Publication Date: Sep 6, 2012
Applicant: SNS Care Co., Ltd. (Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do)
Inventor: Jung Soo Lim (Seongnam-si)
Application Number: 13/254,211