U.S. patent application number 14/308097 was filed with the patent office on 2015-12-24 for fat cell destroying exercise device.
The applicant listed for this patent is Tung Q. Truong. Invention is credited to Tung Q. Truong.
Application Number | 20150367171 14/308097 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 54868735 |
Filed Date | 2015-12-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150367171 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Truong; Tung Q. |
December 24, 2015 |
Fat Cell Destroying Exercise Device
Abstract
A motorized belt and roller device utilizes pressure-applying
rollers to facilitate weight loss. The belt is arranged to
reciprocate over an extended distance, and to apply sufficient
pressure via the rollers to cause breakdown of fat cells in the
abdominal region. The belt and roller device, including a moving
mechanism, may be mounted on a treadmill.
Inventors: |
Truong; Tung Q.;
(Springfield, VA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Truong; Tung Q. |
Springfield |
VA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
54868735 |
Appl. No.: |
14/308097 |
Filed: |
June 18, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
482/4 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61H 11/02 20130101;
A61H 2201/1215 20130101; A61H 2201/149 20130101; A63B 21/4009
20151001; A63B 22/02 20130101; A61H 2015/005 20130101; A61H 2207/00
20130101; A63B 21/0414 20130101; A61H 2201/1669 20130101; A61H
15/00 20130101; A61H 2205/083 20130101; A63B 23/0205 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A63B 23/02 20060101
A63B023/02; A63B 22/02 20060101 A63B022/02 |
Claims
1. Exercise equipment for breaking down abdominal or visceral fat
cells, comprising: a moving mechanism; and a belt having first and
second ends connected to the moving mechanism, said belt being
arranged to extend around a front and sides of a user's body part
during operation of the exercise machine, wherein the belt includes
a plurality of rotating members that engage the user's abdominal
region during said operation of the exercise equipment, wherein the
moving mechanism causes the belt to carry out extended
reciprocating movement and apply sufficient pressure, via said
rotating members, to the front of the user's body in the user's
abdominal region to cause destruction of the abdominal or visceral
fat cells in the user's abdominal region, wherein said moving
mechanism is positioned at a rear side of the exercise equipment
such that, during said operation of the exercise equipment, the
user faces away from the moving mechanism, towards the rotating
members, and towards a front side of the exercise equipment,
whereby a pressure of the belt on the user's body part depends in
part on a speed at which the user walks or runs on the
treadmill.
2. Exercise equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said extended
distance is at least four inches.
3. Exercise equipment as claimed in claim 2, wherein said extended
distance is at least six inches.
4. Exercise equipment as claimed in claim 3, wherein said force is
at least 10 pounds.
5. Exercise equipment as claimed in claim 2, wherein said force is
at least 10 pounds.
6. Exercise equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said force is
at least 10 pounds.
7. Exercise equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rotating
members are spherical.
8. Exercise equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rotating
members are arranged in multiple rows formed by multiple cords or
wires to which the rollers are rotatably mounted.
9. Exercise equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said moving
mechanism and belt are included in a treadmill assembly having a
display/control unit at the front side, the user facing the
display/control unit and away from the moving mechanism while
walking or running on the treadmill, whereby a pressure of the belt
on the user's body part depends in part on a speed at which the
user walks or runs on the treadmill.
10. Exercise equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said moving
mechanism includes a rack and pinion and a rotary motor, opposite
ends of the rack being coupled to ends of the belt.
11. Exercise equipment as claimed in claim 10, wherein at least one
end of the belt is removably coupled to the rack by a clip.
12. Exercise equipment as claimed in claim 11, wherein a second end
of the belt is fixed to the rack.
13. Exercise equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said moving
mechanism is positioned in a housing mounted on a pedestal or
stand, and wherein a height of said pedestal or stand is
adjustable.
14. Exercise equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said moving
mechanism and belt are included in a treadmill assembly, whereby a
pressure of the belt on the user's body part depends in part on a
speed at which the user walks or runs on the treadmill.
15. Exercise equipment as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a
control panel for enabling manual adjustment of belt reciprocating
frequency.
16. Exercise equipment as claimed in claim 15, wherein said
frequency is greater than one cycle every two seconds.
17. Exercise equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein a frequency
at which the belt reciprocates is variable.
18. An exercise method that breaks down abdominal or visceral fat
cells, comprising the steps of extending a belt or strap around the
abdominal area of a user such that rotating members contact the
front and sides of the user, and causing the belt to reciprocate
over an extended distance while exerting, by walking on a treadmill
or standing while facing toward a display/control unit and the
rotating members and away from a belt reciprocating mechanism, a
force on said rotating members and the abdominal area contacted by
said rotating members that is sufficient to break down, the fat
cells over which the rotating member is moved.
19. An exercise equipment as claimed in claim 18, wherein said
extended distance is at least four inches.
20. An exercise equipment as claimed in claim 19, wherein said
force is at least 10 pounds.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates to an exercise device, and in
particular to a motorized belt and roller device that utilizes
pressure-applying rollers to break down fat cells in a user's
abdominal region.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] Numerous vibration or massage-type devices have been
proposed to assist in weight loss. Such arrangements have
conventionally utilized a vibrating strap to massage tissues in
areas contacted by the vibrating strap.
[0005] An example of such an arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat.
No. 8,038,587, which is said to reduce pockets of fat known as
"cellulite" that are typically found on a person's buttocks or
thighs by (a) providing resistance to a pulling force exerted by
the user, thereby serving as an exercise device to assist in
overall fat loss, and (b) vibrating to provide a "massaging" effect
that is said to reduce the amount of cellulite. Both the resistance
and massaging effects are accomplished by providing a strap that is
looped around a body part of the user, the user pulling against the
strap to provide the resistance effect, and the strap being coupled
to a motor that vibrates the strap to provide the massaging effect.
In one embodiment, the strap is provided with rollers or wheels 120
arranged to "press into the tissue adjacent the contact surface for
greater contact" (col. 7, lines 17-19 of U.S. Pat. No. 8,038,587).
In addition, a swivel arm can be provided to increase the
resistance force provided by the strap "to provide a deeper
massaging effect and better reduce cellulite" (col. 7, lines
32-36).
[0006] Although it is possible that the massaging effect described
in U.S. Pat. No. 8,038,587 might be useful for reducing "cellulite"
of the type found on a person's buttocks or thighs, i.e., fat that
has collected immediately adjacent the person's skin and therefore
is clearly visible, massage or vibrations are much less effective,
if at all, for reducing the type of abdominal or "visceral" fat
that extends throughout a person's abdominal region, including
between organs, and that is visible as bulges in a person's stomach
and sides rather than in the person's buttocks and thighs. This
type of fat is far more dangerous than cellulite, and much more
difficult to reduce.
[0007] Other conventional vibration or massaging arrangements are
disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,416,519; 6,443,876; 3,945,637;
3,915,158; 3,899,115; 3,727,608; 3,495,637; and 781,683. These
devices share the concept of using a vibrating belt to achieve a
messaging effect, either through friction or through rotating
elements on the belt, and include devices designed to massage
abdominal regions as well as devices that concentrate on the user's
buttocks or thighs. For example, in the device disclosed in U.S.
Pat. No. 3,495,637, vibration of the strap is achieved by linkage
to pedals of a stationary bicycle, while U.S. Pat. No. 781,683
discloses a device in which a belt with rotating balls is moved
back and forth by a manual, alternating pulley arrangement. Like
the device disclose in U.S. Pat. No. 8,038,587, discussed above,
each of these devices is intended to provide a massaging effect
through the use of vibrations, but none is intended to actually
break down fat cells. Instead, the prior device simply provide a
massaging effect that vibrates the fat cells, without stressing
them sufficiently to cause their break down or disintegration, and
subsequent absorption by the human body.
[0008] The present invention, in contrast, utilizes mechanisms
similar to those disclosed in the patents listed above, but in a
way that actually does lead to the destruction of fat cells, and in
particular the abdominal or visceral fat cells now understood to be
responsible for, or contribute to, a wide variety of ailments or
diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and various types of
cancer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] It is accordingly an objective of the invention to provide
an exercise arrangement that causes sufficient movement to actually
break down abdominal or visceral fat cells, as opposed to merely
causing the fat cells to vibrate in place.
[0010] This objective is achieved, in accordance with the
principles of a preferred embodiment of the invention, by providing
an exercise apparatus that includes a belt or strap that extends
from behind the user and around the user's front and sides, the
belt or strap including rotating members that engage the user's
front and sides, and the belt or strap being coupled to a moving
mechanism that provides extended reciprocating movement of the belt
or strap such that the rotating members apply substantial
inwardly-directed forces over the entire front and side section of
the user's body around which the belt or strap extends.
[0011] By "extended reciprocating movement" is meant a range of
movement that exceeds four inches, and is preferably six to ten
inches or greater, such that the rotating members do not merely
vibrate in place, but rather travel a correspondingly extended
distance over the user's body, and such that the reciprocating
movement from the rear of the user's body exerts at least 10 pounds
of force, and preferably 12 to 15 pounds or greater on the moving
pressure points of contact between the rotating members and the
user's body.
[0012] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the amount of
pressure applied by the rotating members, i.e., at least 10 pounds
of force, will be sufficient to cause discomfort to most users, but
that the discomfort will motivate rather than deter the user
because it is reminder that the exercise is working by breaking
down the fat cells to which the pressure is applied.
[0013] Furthermore, in a preferred arrangement, the belt or strap
may be mounted on a treadmill, such that the amount of pressure is
in part determined by the speed of the treadmill.
[0014] Still further, according to a preferred embodiment, the belt
or strap is arranged to extend around the user's midsection and has
a width of several inches, and preferably at least four inches, to
extend over a substantial portion of the midsection and thereby
target the area where abdominal or visceral fat is most prevalent,
the belt or strap of this embodiment preferably including multiple
rows of rotating members.
[0015] According to a further aspect of the preferred embodiment,
the rotating members may be in the form of rotating spheres,
although it is also within the scope of the invention to substitute
rollers or other rotating elements.
[0016] The moving mechanism for the belt or strap may be, by way of
example and not limitation, a rack and pinion driven by a rotary
motor, a gear/belt arrangement connected to the motor of an
exercise machine such as a treadmill, a linear drive, and any other
arrangement capable of reciprocating motion over an extended
distance as defined above.
[0017] According to a fat cell breaking exercise method of the
invention, the belt or strap is caused to extend around the
abdominal area of a user such that the rotating members contact the
front and sides of the user, and the belt is reciprocated over an
extended distance, as defined above, while exerting a force of at
least ten pounds, in order to not only vibrate, but actually break
down, the fat cells over which the rotating member is moved.
[0018] These and other features of the invention will become
apparent based on the accompanying drawings and detailed
description presented below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an exercise apparatus
constructed in accordance with the principles of a preferred
embodiment of the invention.
[0020] FIG. 2 is a side view of the exercise apparatus of FIG.
1.
[0021] FIG. 3 is a top, partially cut-away, view of the exercise
apparatus of FIG. 1.
[0022] FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a belt or strap moving
mechanism that may be used with the exercise apparatus of FIG.
1.
[0023] FIG. 5 is a front view of a belt or strap that may be used
with the exercise apparatus of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0024] Throughout the following description and drawings, like
reference numbers/characters refer to like elements. It should be
understood that, although specific exemplary embodiments are
discussed herein there is no intent to limit the scope of present
invention to such embodiments. To the contrary, it should be
understood that the exemplary embodiments discussed herein are for
illustrative purposes, and that modified and alternative
embodiments may be implemented without departing from the scope of
the present invention.
[0025] As shown in FIGS. 1-3, a preferred exercise apparatus
includes a moving mechanism housing 1 containing a moving mechanism
2 attached to belt or strap 3. The moving mechanism housing 1 is
situated on an adjustable pedestal or stand 4. Pedestal or stand 4
is arranged to be adjustably positioned with respect to a base 5 in
order to enable the height of the moving mechanism and strap to be
adjusted so that the belt or strap 3 extends around the abdominal
area or waist of a user 8. The relative vertical position of stand
4 and base 5 may, by way of example and not limitation, be
adjustably fixed by inserting a pin or key 6 into one of a
plurality of apertures 7 in a manner that is well-known to those
skilled in the art of exercise equipment.
[0026] The moving mechanism 2, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, is
removably attached to ends of the belt or strap 3. As illustrated,
the moving mechanism includes a rack 10 and pinion 11 coupled by a
shaft 12 to a motor 13. The motor 13, or a transmission (not shown)
between the motor 13 and the pinion 11, causes the pinion to rotate
in two directions and the rack 10 to move linearly back-and-forth
over an extended distance, thereby causing the belt or strap 3 to
move by a corresponding amount. The extended distance needs to
exceed four inches, and is preferably six to ten inches or greater,
so that the belt or strap 3 does not merely vibrate in place but
rather travels a correspondingly extended distance over the user's
body.
[0027] The belt or strap 3 is provided with rotating members 15,
illustrated as spherical, but which may also be in the form of
cylindrical rollers or rollers having other shapes, including
rollers with irregular shapes or protrusions. The rotating members
15 engage and exert pressure on the user's midsection as the belt
or strap 3 reciprocates back and forth over an extended distance in
response to movement of the rack 10 and pinion 11. The
reciprocation not only causes the rotating members 15 to travel
along the surface of the user's body, but also is sufficiently fast
that the belt or strap 3 applies pressure substantial pressure on
the user's body, and therefore on abdominal or visceral fat cells
that are well below the surface of the user's skin. In order to
break down the fat cells, the reciprocating movement should be fast
enough that the reciprocating members exert at least 10 pounds of
force, and preferably 12 to 15 pounds or greater, on the moving
pressure points of contact between the rotating members 15 and the
user's body. This can be achieved by causing the strap to complete
a back and forth cycle at least once every two seconds, although
this number is variable depending on how much pressure the user
applies by pushing on the strap, and the length over which the belt
or strap 3 travels. In addition, it will be appreciated that since
the preferred pressure can cause substantial discomfort, the
reciprocation frequency should be variable and include lower
frequencies that cause less discomfort and allow the user to
gradually get used to the pressure before applying sufficient
pressure to start to affect fat cells.
[0028] Although a rack and pinion mechanism is illustrated, those
skilled in the art will appreciate that the moving mechanism 2 may
take the form of a gear/belt arrangement connected to the motor of
an exercise machine such as a treadmill, a linear drive, and any
other arrangement capable of reciprocating motion over an extended
distance as defined above.
[0029] Details of a preferred embodiment of the strap or belt 3 are
shown in FIG. 5. As illustrated, the belt or strap 3 is made up of
a relatively wide front section 20 that extends around the sides
and front of the user's body, and to which the rotating members 15
are mounted. Front section 20 including a plurality of cords or
wires 21 having openings into which are fitted axles 26 extending
from the rotating members 15 in a direction transverse to the
direction of the cords or wires 21, so that the rotating members 15
are free to rotate in the longitudinal direction of the cords or
wires 21, which is the direction of movement of the belt or strap
3. It will be appreciated that the material and construction of the
front section 20 may be varied without departing from the scope of
the invention, as may the width of the front section, although the
width should preferably be sufficient to cover a significant
portion of the area of the user's body in which abdominal fat is
present. It is possible to provide belts or straps 3 of different
sizes and/or constructions for different users, including
variations for adult men, adult women, and children, and/or
additional variations for person's of different weight and/or
height.
[0030] Extending from two sides of the front section 20 are cords
22 that couple the front section to the moving mechanism 2. At
least one, and optionally both, of the cords should include a clasp
or clip 23 that enables the respective cord 22 to be removably
attached to, for example, a ring 24 extending from rack 10 of the
moving mechanism 2. One of the cords 22 may also optionally be
fixedly attached to ring 24 on the opposite side of the rack 10,
for example by a mating ring 25. It will be appreciated that the
illustrated fastening arrangements or fasteners are exemplary only
and may be varied without departing from the scope of the
invention.
[0031] Returning to FIGS. 1-3, the fat-destroying exercise device
of the invention may optionally be combined with another exercise
device such as a treadmill to allow the user to more easily control
and vary the pressure exerted by the belt or strap 3 based on the
speed of the movement on the treadmill. As illustrated, the
treadmill includes a frame 30 and a moving belt 31, both of which
are conventional, as well as a display/control unit 32. The display
unit may include controls (not shown), in the form of buttons or a
touchscreen that provides start/stop functions for the moving
mechanism 2 and/or main treadmill motor, speed control for the
moving mechanism 2 and/or main treadmill motor, treadmill tilt
control, and optional other functions such as programmable speed
variations, heart rate monitoring, mp3 player or smartphone
docking, videos, a fan, and so forth. Numerous such functions will
occur to those skilled in the art and may be included in the
display/control unit 32.
[0032] Finally, the invention provides a fat-destroying exercise
method that utilizes the apparatus described above, and involves
the steps of securing a belt or strap to a moving mechanism, the
strap extending around the front side of the user's body, and
reciprocally moving the strap over an extended distance, as defined
above, while applying sufficient pressure, also as defined above,
to break down abdominal or visceral fat cells in the user's
body.
* * * * *