U.S. patent number 3,920,240 [Application Number 05/477,159] was granted by the patent office on 1975-11-18 for inclined portable exercise frame.
Invention is credited to Cecil J. Ross.
United States Patent |
3,920,240 |
Ross |
November 18, 1975 |
Inclined portable exercise frame
Abstract
An exercise frame adapted to be stood on a floor and leaned
against a wall and be supported thereby, which frame includes
laterally offset side rails adapted to be gripped by a person
exercising on the frame. A foot support board near a lower end of
the frame is secured to the side rails to provide a surface upon
which the person exercising with the frame may stand, and a
crossbrace is connected to the side rails near the upper end of the
frame to add strength and rigidity thereto. The space circumscribed
by the side rails, foot support board and cross brace is free of
obstructions to permit freedom of movement of one exercising on the
frame.
Inventors: |
Ross; Cecil J. (El Paso,
TX) |
Family
ID: |
23894769 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/477,159 |
Filed: |
June 6, 1974 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
482/142; 403/234;
182/108; 482/148; 182/228.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16B
7/18 (20130101); A63B 21/00047 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A63B
23/00 (20060101); A63B 017/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;272/57R,6R,63
;182/106,108,150,206,220,228 ;248/247,248 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Pinkham; Richard C.
Assistant Examiner: Taylor; Joseph R.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Jones; William W.
Claims
Having thus described my invention, I claim:
1. An inclined portable exercise frame designed to engage and be
supported by a floor surface with the upper end of said exercise
frame to be leaned against and braced by a wall such that said
exercise frame forms the hypotenuse of a right triangle with said
floor and wall forming the right-angled sides, said portable
exercise frame comprising:
A. a pair of inclined spaced apart tubular side grip rails with
each of said side rails having
1. a straight lower side rail section with its bottom end adapted
to engage and be supported by a floor surface, and
2. a stand-off strut support at the upper terminal end of each said
side rail formed by bending forward at an obtuse angle a portion of
each of said side rails equal to approximately one-tenth to
one-fifth of the length of said side rails with the upper terminal
end of each of said stand-off strut extensions of the side rails
being provided with friction means of engaging a wall for support
without marring the wall;
B. a single flat oblong foot support board transversely mounted
between said spaced apart side rails at an intermediate point near
the lower end of said side rails, and so positioned with respect to
the inclined side rails when the exercise frame is leaned in
operative position against a support wall, that the top surface of
said foot support board is in substantially a horizontal parallel
position with respect to the floor on which the exercise frame is
standing;
C. an upper transverse cross-brace connected between the
spaced-apart side rails at an intermediate point from the upper end
of each of said spaced apart side rails at a point near the obtuse
bend that forms the stand-off strut supports in each of said side
rails to impart strength and rigidness to said exercise frame;
and
D. said foot support, said cross-brace, and said tubular side grip
rails enclosing a space which is free of obstructions whereby a
user, when standing on said foot support and gripping said rails,
may exercise freely and unconstrained, within said space.
2. The inclined portable exercise frame described in claim 1 with a
lower transverse cross-brace connected between the spaced-apart
side rails of said exercise frame at an intermediate point from the
lower end of each of said spaced-apart side rails just underneath
the oblong foot support board in such position and manner as to
brace the foot support board and also to increase the strength and
rigidness of the lower part of said exercise frame.
3. The inclined portable exercise frame described in claim 1 in
which the oblong foot support board is provided with semi-circular
cut-out notches and a metal half-tubular anti-twist brace at each
end of the foot support board where said foot support board
connects to the left and right side rails to further brace and
prevent said foot support board from twisting with respect to said
left and right side rails when weight and stress are applied to the
foot support board.
4. The portable inclined exercise frame described in claim 1 except
that the horizontal foot support board is transversely mounted
between the spaced apart side rails by means of a pair of hanger
support brackets, with each of said hanger support brackets
having:
A. a half tubular sleeve-clamp adapted to fit over and be attached
to said inclined tubular side grip rails at an intermediate point
near the lower end of each of said side rails;
B. a generally triangular shaped depending spacer plate extending
downward from one side of said half tubular sleeve clamp;
C. a horizontal foot board mounting and supporting flange on the
inwardly facing side of said triangular shaped depending spacer
plate; and
D. suitable fastening means for securing said flat oblong foot
support board to said horizontal foot board mounting and supporting
flange in a fixed relationship to said uniformly spaced apart
inclined tubular side rails and to hold said flat oblong foot
support board in a secure elevated position substantially
horizontal and parallel to the floor surface that supports the
lower ends of said inclined tubular side rails.
Description
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to physical exercise frames and
relates more particularly to simple portable exercise frames that
can be easily set up in an inclined position against any available
wall for the performance of multiple exercises.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Over a considerable period of time military calisthenic type
exercises in which the free standing body was exercised by moving
parts of the body from one position to another have constituted the
predominate form of exercises employed in physical culture
programs. These have required minimum equipment and space and have
been very satisfactory forms of physical culture exercise for young
people and military personnel who were already in good physical
condition and needed little more than a physical maintenance
program. With the recent concern over increase in hypertensions,
heart attacks and chronic illnesses associated with obesity and
neglect of body conditioning there has been an upsurge in public
concern and interest in bicycling, running and exercise programs as
a means of restoring some measure of physical fitness among mature
adults.
This alerted awareness and concern with physical health programs
has spawned an abundance of sophisticated exercise machines and
gymnastic apparatus for those with access to a gymnasium or a
physical culture salon and for those who have the financial
resources and abundant space to provide their homes with a
plurality of such exercise machines. Most of the alerted adults
will, however, not have the time, space or financial resources to
secure the ownership or use of such professional physical
development equipment in their homes or in a professional health
establishment. These people usually resort to some self-prescribed
program combining running or bicycling with a few calisthenic
exercises remembered from their experience with military
calisthenics or physical education from their high school or
college days. These activities are constructive but they need to be
supplemented by the conventional basic military forms of exercise.
As a person becomes older and more obese these exercises involving
increased strain on the knees and shoulders can produce physical
injury rather than help. It is therefore desirable that obese and
older persons should perform military calisthenic type exercises on
some kind of exercise frame that enables the user to divide the
strain of lifting excessive body weight between the arms and legs
as the person performing the exercise raises and lowers his body
with the aid of the exercise frame.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
A major object of this invention is to provide an exercise frame
which may be used for a variety of active exercises involving many
muscles at one time but which does not impose excessive weight
strain on the shoulders or the knees.
A material object of the invention is to provide an exercise frame
that allows the participant to perform a greater plurality of
exercises involving coordination of more muscles with less danger
of excessive strain or risk than can be achieved by the unaided
efforts of a free standing exerciser.
Another object is to provide an exercise frame device that can be
conveniently and readily used anywhere around a building without
requiring special adaptation to the existing surroundings for its
full use.
Another object is to provide an exercise rail frame that has no
moving parts and that is so simple in construction as to cause
minimum trouble during set up and usage of the device.
A further object of the invention is to provide an exercise frame
device that occupies minimum space, that is easily portable and
storable because of its simplicity, light weight, and shape.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an exercise
device the use of which can be mastered quickly by persons of all
ages.
Another object of the exercise frame is that it is readily
adaptable to fabrication in knock-down kit form of sufficient
simplicity for the average person to be able to assemble the
exercise frame for use in a matter of a few minutes.
These and other objects and advantages of this invention will
become apparent through consideration of the following description
and appended claims in conjunction with the attached drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS IN THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective pictorial view of the inclined portable
exercise frame being used in a wall-leaning work-out position by an
exerciser.
FIG. 2 is a perspective pictorial view of an exerciser in a
knee-bend half-squat position on the inclined portable exercise
frame in a wall-leaning position.
FIG. 3 is a perspective pictorial view of the inclined portable
exercise frame in a wall-leaning work-out position at a more acute
angle with respect to the floor surface than shown in FIGS. 1 and
2, along with an exerciser using the exercise frame to do a push-up
tip-toe exercise.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the inclined portable exercise
frame showing an unobstructed view of the foot support board.
FIG. 5 is a perspective exploded view of the inclined portable
exercise frame as it might be fabricated from a plurality of
detachable-attachable interfitting parts that could be assembled or
disassembled quickly and simply.
FIG. 6 is a perspective partially assembled detail view of the
exercise frame showing variation of the means of mounting the foot
support board utilizing a half-sleeve anti-twist brace at each end
of the foot support board to prevent the transversely positioned
foot support board from twisting when a user rhythmically exercises
on the frame.
FIG. 7 is a perspective exploded detail view of another variation
of the inclined portable exercise frame in which the ends of the
left and right spaced apart side rails fit into the left and right
side rail sleeves of a fixed unitary foot-base support
assembly.
FIG. 8 is a partial perspective exploded detail view of another
variation of the inclined portable exercise frame where each of the
tubular side rails consist of two insertable-removable sections and
the foot support board is held in place by means of a pair of
hanger support brackets.
In describing one selected form or preferred embodiment of this
invention as shown in the drawings and described in this
specification, specific terms and components are used for clarity.
However, it is not intended to limit the claimed invention to the
specific form, components or construction shown as it is to be
understood that the specific terms used in this illustration of the
invention are intended to include all technical equivalents which
operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF INVENTION
Referring to the specific embodiment of the invention selected for
illustration in the accompanying drawings, the number 11 refers to
the overall inclined portable exercise frame disclosed and claimed
herein as shown from a perspective viewpoint in FIG. 4. The
exercise frame 11 is principally composed of a pair of inclined
spaced apart tubular side grip rails 12--12 which are held in a
parallel spaced apart relationship by an upper cross-brace 15
transversely positioned between the side rails 12--12 at an
intermediate point equally near the upper ends of said side grip
rails 12--12, and by a flat, oblong foot support board 16
transversely positioned and located near the lower ends of said
side grip rails 12--12. The side grip rails 12--12 and the upper
cross-brace 15 and foot support board 16 forms a unitary
rectangular configuration that roughly "frames" the body of a
person who uses the exercise frame 11 by leaning the exercise frame
against a wall and standing on foot support board 16 while holding
onto said side grip rails 12--12 as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 of
the drawings. FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show how the portable exercise frame
11 forms the hypotenuse of a right triangle where the floor and
wall surfaces make up the other two perpendicular sides of the
triangle.
The side grip rails 12--12 are composed of straight lower side rail
sections 13--13 which form the major longer section parts of the
side grip rails 12--12, and shorter stand-off strut supports 14--14
which are about one-fifth to one-tenth as long as the lower side
rail sections 13--13 and which bend forward at an obtuse angle from
the top ends of said lower side rail sections 13--13 away from the
user to support the exercise frame 11 at a distance from the wall
that said exercise frame is leaning against.
The raw ends of the spaced apart tubular side rails 12--12 are
fitted with non-marring friction capping ends 17--17 so that the
side rails 12--12 will not mar, scratch or slip on the engaged wall
and floor surfaces, even though the inclined exercise frame 11 is
placed at a variety of different angles corresponding to exercises
of different kinds and difficulties shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.
The plane of the flat foot support board 16 is at an angle to the
said side grip rails 12--12 so that when exercise frame 11 is
leaned against the wall to be used for exercising, the plane of the
top surface of the flat foot support board 16 is generally
horizontal and parallel to the floor on which the exercise frame is
resting. The foot support board 16 would be in a generally
horizontal position when the exercise frame is leaning against a
wall and is at about a 60.degree. angle to the floor surface as
shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. This position of the exercise frame 11 is
less strenuous on the muscles of the user than a position where the
exercise frame 11 is at a more acute angle to the floor nearer the
horizontal such as at 45.degree. as shown in FIG. 3. A more acute
position of the exercise frame forces the body to work more against
gravity as well as changes the angle of the flat foot support board
16 to force the muscles of the feet to work harder than they would
otherwise with the feet support board 16 in a near horizontal
position demonstrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.
An alternate specific embodiment of the invention utilizes a
straight tubular rigid lower transverse cross brace 23 connected
between the tubular side rails 12--12 at intermediate points
equally from the lower ends of the side rails 12--12 directly
beneath the flat oblong foot support board 16 as shown in FIGS. 5
and 6 to aid in bracing and supporting said foot support board to
better enable it to carry the weight of an exerciser-user. The
lower transverse cross brace 23 also further assists in securing
together and holding side grip rails 12--12 in a parallel spaced
apart relationship and to relieve the foot support board 16 from
the function of holding the lower end of the exercise frame
strongly and rigidly together.
Another alternate form of the invention reduces the stress and
twisting imparted to the flat oblong foot support board 16 by the
exerciser-user by modifying said foot support board 16 with a
semi-circular cut-out notch 30 in each end of the foot support
board 16, shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Each semi-circular notch 30 may
be fitted with a metal half-tubular anti-twist brace 31 that fits
around and firmly cradles and fastens to the lower ends of the left
and right side rails to further brace the foot support board 16 and
to prevent it from twisting and rotating with respect to the side
grip rails 12--12 since the extra length of the half-tubular
anti-twist braces 31--31 firmly joins with more of the surface area
of the side grip rails 12--12 than the joining surface area
provided by the transverse foot support board only. Since active
rhythmic exercises are to be performed on the inclined exercise
frame which are certain to produce quick motions of the feet in
shifting the weight of the exerciser rapidly over the oblong foot
support board 16, the extra stability provided by half-tubular
anti-twist braces 31--31 to keep the foot support board from
twisting back and forth may be necessary to prevent the threat of
possible foot injury due to improper wobbling of foot support board
16.
Another alternate means of preventing flat oblong foot support
board 16 from twisting back and forth is by use of hanger support
brackets 36--36 as illustrated in FIG. 8 of the drawings. One of
the hanger support brackets 36--36 is used to support one end of
the oblong foot support board 16 in a fixed relationship between
the lower ends of the spaced apart tubular side rails 12--12. Each
of the hanger support brackets 36--36 has a half tubular
sleeve-clamp 37 which firmly fits and attaches to the inclined
tubular side grip rails 12--12 at an intermediate point near the
lower end of said side rails 12--12. Depending from one side of the
half tubular sleeve clamp is a generally triangularly shaped spacer
plate 38 which sets the angle of the foot support board 16 with
respect to the inclined side rails so that the foot support board
would result in being generally horizontal and parallel to the
floor surface when the exercise frame 11 is leaned against a wall
for an exercising session. Out from the bottom edge of said
triangular spacer plate 38 opposite the side of the half tubular
sleeve-clamp 37 extends a horizontal foot board mounting and
supporting flange 39 which is at a right angle to the triangular
depending spacer plate 38. Said horizontal foot board supporting
flange 39 provides a surface ledge upon which an end of the flat
oblong foot support board 16 may be fixedly mounted by means of
suitable fastening means 40, which, as suggested by the
representations in the drawings, could be a pair of conventional
bolts. The use of the hanger support brackets 36--36 to hold the
foot support board 16 in a firm perpendicular relationship with the
side grip rails 12--12 and parallel relationship to the engaged
floor surface, would eliminate the tendency of the foot support
board 16 to twist and turn back and forth as the exerciser went
through a work-out on the exercise frame. The use of the hanger
support brackets 36--36 would also greatly reduce side-to-side
collapsing and folding tendencies of the bottom section of exercise
frame 11 if the side rails 12--12 and oblong foot support board 16
are subjected to uneven stress due to imbalanced exercising on the
exercise frame.
The inclined portable exercise frame is of such simple design and
construction that an alternate specific embodiment of the invention
may be a portable exercise frame assembly 21 that can be readily
put together and taken apart from a plurality of
detachable-attachable interfitting parts as shown in exploded FIG.
5, to enable the user to disassemble the inclined portable exercise
frame assembly and pack it in a smaller volume for greater
portability than can be had when the portable exercise frame is in
its fully assembled state. The basic parts of the first embodiment
of the invention shown in FIG. 4 are present in the alternate
exercise frame assembly 21 with changes designed to provide
detachability yet retain the rigidity and strength required for a
durable exercise frame. As shown in FIG. 5, the exercise frame
assembly 21 has two parallel inclined spaced apart side rails
12--12 that have straight lower side rail sections 13--13 to engage
the floor surface with their lower ends and straight stand-off
strut supports 14--14 to engage a wall surface with their upper
ends. The raw ends of said tubular side rails 12--12 are covered
and protected from marring and slipping on the floor and wall
surfaces by non-marring friction side rail capping ends 17--17. The
lower ends of the side grip rails 12--12 are held in a rigid spaced
apart relationship by a lower removable-attachable spacer-bar
cross-brace assembly 22. The lower removable-attachable spacer-bar
cross-brace assembly 22 is composed of a straight tubular rigid
lower transverse cross-brace 23 and two rigid yoke side rail and
transverse spacer-bar cross-brace joining brackets 24--24 which are
force fitted into each open end of the hollow tubular lower
transverse cross-brace 23. The yoke side rail and cross brace
joining brackets 24--24 have side rail meeting and gripping
surfaces that engage and hold the tubular side grip rails 12--12 in
a perpendicular relationship with the tubular lower transverse
cross-brace 23 by utilizing suitable fastening means 26--26 through
transverse cross-brace fastening holes 25--25 near the lower ends
of the side grip rails 12--12 to rigidly secure the lower
transverse cross-brace 23, the side grip rails 12--12 and the yoke
joining brackets 24--24 in a temporary and releasable fixed
relationship which may be taken apart and disassembled when the
exercise frame assembly 21 is to be transported after use.
Above and resting upon the lower spacer-bar cross-brace assembly 22
is positioned a flat oblong attachable-removable foot support board
29 to support the feet of the exerciser-user while he is
exercising. The attachable-removable foot support board 29 is held
in position between said side grip rails 12--12 by means of
inclined semi-circular side rail cut-out slots 30--30 which engage
the tubular side rails 12--12 at an incline such as to hold the top
surface of the attachable-removable foot support board 29 in a
substantially horizontal and parallel relationship with respect to
the floor surface on which the exercise frame 21 is to be used.
Although inclined cut-out slots 30--30 firmly fit over the sides of
the side hand grip rails 12--12, the side grip rails are
principally held into place in the inclined cut-out slots 30--30 by
the connecting and holding force of the lower removable-attachable
cross-brace assembly 22 which also supports most of the body weight
of the exerciser-user on the attachable-removable foot support
board 29 since it is attached more firmly through the side rails
12--12 by means of transverse cross-brace fastening holes
25--25.
The upper ends of the side grip rails 12--12 are held in a rigid
parallel spaced apart relationship by an upper rigid strength
transverse spacer-bar cross-brace assembly 27 which utilizes a
straight tubular rigid upper transverse cross-brace 28 fitted with
a yoke side rail and transverse space-bar cross-brace joining
bracket 24 in either end. The joining brackets 24--24 hold the
tubular side grip rails 12--12 in a perpendicular relationship
using fastening means 26--26 identical to the construction of the
lower spacer-bar cross-brace assembly 22 with the exception that
the transverse cross-brace fastening holes 25--25 are located
equally near the upper ends of the inclined spaced apart tubular
side rails 12--12.
The inclined portable exercise frame assembly 21 constructed from a
plurality of attachable-detachable interfitting parts may also have
an oblong attachable-removable foot support board 29 provided with
a metal half-sleeve anti-twist brace 31 rigidly fixed mounted in
each semi-circular cut-out notch 30 as shown in FIG. 6. Each of the
half-sleeve anti-twist braces 31--31 are of a sufficient size to
fit closely around a short length of one of the side grip rails
12--12. The anti-twist braces 31--31 are securely and rigidly
connected to the left and right side grip rails 12--12 by an
attachable-releasable means which will further brace and prevent
the transversely positioned foot board 29 from twisting and
rotating with respect to the side grip rails when uneven weight and
stress are applied to said foot support board 29.
Still another means of giving rigid strength to the lower end of
the exercise frame assembly 21 is to construct the lower end of the
exercise frame 21 as one unitary structural part designated as a
fixed foot-base support assembly 32 in FIG. 7 of the drawings. In
this variation of the invention the lower ends of left and right
side rails 12--12 do not engage the floor surface but rather
terminate at their lower ends in shaped insert nipples 33--33 that
fit into the sleeve openings 35--35 of left and right spaced apart
tubular side rail foot extensions 34--34. The side rail foot
extensions 34--34 engage the floor with their lower ends and are
protected from marring and slipping on the floor by two non-marring
friction capping ends 17--17. The side rail foot entensions 34--34
are held together in a permanent, parallel spaced apart
relationship by being welded perpendicularly on either end of a
lower tubular spacer-bar cross-brace 23. A flat oblong foot support
board 29 is permanently and securely welded between the left and
right side rail foot extensions 34--34 on top of the welded lower
transverse cross-brace 23 so that the entire fixed foot base
assembly 32 constitutes a rigid unitary structure of appropriate
size and compactness to be stored and transported by a
traveler-user in a suitcase to enable him to carry, assemble and
disassemble the plurality of parts into an exercise frame assembly
21 whenever desired.
Each of the side grip rails 12--12 may be divided into two parts,
one part terminating in a shaped insert nipple 33 and the other
beginning in a sleeve opening 34 that insert nipple 33 may fit
into. This division may occur further up on the side rails 12--12
as shown in FIG. 8 rather than near the lower ends of the side
rails 12--12 illustrated in FIG. 7 so that the longest parts of the
exercise frame assembly 21 may be shortened to a more compact
length.
The inclined portable exercise frame assembly 21 as shown in FIG. 8
may also make utility of the hanger support bracket method of
supporting the attachable-removable foot support board 29. The
hanger support brackets 36--36 may be placed by the exerciser-user
on the lower ends of side rails 12--12 by means of half tubular
sleeve clamps 37--37 at equal distances from the lower
terminations. The user may then quickly and easily attach the ends
of attachable-removable foot support board 29 to the horizontal
foot board mounting and support brackets 39--39 by suitable
fastening 40--40 to hold the flat oblong foot support board 29 in a
secure elevated position substantially horizontal and parallel to
the floor surface supporting the lower ends of left and right
spaced apart tubular side rail foot extensions 34--34.
The variations of the inclined portable exercise frame illustrated
in FIGS. 5 through 8 of the drawings and described herein show that
the portable exercise frame assembly 21 may be constructed so as to
permit the exercise frame to be disassembled, packed into a compact
shape and easily transported to and quickly assembled at another
appropriate exercise site, which need only consist of a flat floor
and wall positioned at right angles to each other.
OPERATION
In operation, the inclined portable wall leaning exercise frame is
leaned against any sturdy wall surface that is substantially at a
right angle to the adjoining floor surface so that the stand-off
strut supports 14--14 of the exercise frame rest against the wall
surface. The general range of lean for the exercise frame runs from
about a 45.degree. to 60.degree. angle between the exercise frame
and the floor surface, although the frame could be at angle more
obtuse than 60.degree. to the floor; however, if the frame was at
angle more acute than 45.degree., it would have a tendency to
collapse and fall since the major portion of the weight of the
exerciser-user would no longer be carried by the wall surface.
The exerciser-user begins the usual work-out on the exercise frame
by stepping on the flat oblong foot support board 16 with his feet
parallel and slightly apart while holding onto the side grip rails
12--12 up near the point where the side rails bend at the elbow
joint of lower side rail sections 13--13 and stand-off strut
supports 14--14. The exerciser-user should by this time have his
body in a leaning position parallel to the exercise frame 11 as
shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 2 shows an exerciser-user doing a squat deep-knee bend
exercise on the exercise frame illustrating how the exerciser may
use his hands and arms to pull up his body weight, a task which is
normally performed only with the legs and knees. In this way can
the frame be used to assist people with knee and leg deficiencies
who cannot do a conventional deep-knee bend to use their arms in
assisting in limited exercise of the weak muscles either with the
goal of making them stronger or maintaining the present muscle
tone.
The push-up type of exercise shown in FIG. 3 is a kind of "vertical
push-up" or "push-out" which is easier for weak arm muscles to do
than the conventional "horizontal push-up." The exerciser shown in
FIG. 3 is also using the foot support board 16 to do a tip-toe
exercise which can be done by the exerciser-user when the
exerciser-user places his toes just short of the far edge of the
foot support board 16. Both of the exercises shown in FIG. 3 may be
made easier by adjusting the angle of the exercise frame to the
floor surface to be more obtuse--that is move like the 60.degree.
angle shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Many more exercises than illustrated
may be performed on the exercise frame and the exerciser-user may
very likely be able to devise some of his own while certainly being
able to adjust the difficulty of the exercises merely by adjusting
the angle of the exercise frame to the floor. After exercising, the
frame need only be picked up and carried to its storage place.
The inclined portable exercise frame assembly 21 composed of a
plurality of interfitting parts shown in FIGS. 5 through 8 need
only be taken apart in a few places before it is ready for
transport. The lower and upper spacer-bar cross-brace assemblies 22
and 27, as well as attachable-removable foot support board, need
only be detached from tubular side grip rails 12--12 before the
portable exercise frame assembly 21 is ready for packing and
transport.
In the variations of the exercise frame assembly 21 shown in FIGS.
7 and 8 there is the additional step of removing the upper sections
of the side grip rails 12--12 terminating in the shaped insert
nipples 33--33 from the sleeve openings 35--35 of left and right
spaced apart tubular side rail foot extensions 34--34. Though the
various drawing Figures show variations in construction, all of the
versions are simple and quick to put together and disassemble into
a more compact, more transportable package than the original
assembled inclined exercise frame. pg,23
ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
A major advantage of this invention is that is provides an exercise
frame which may be used for a variety of active exercises involving
many muscles at one time but which permits control and limitation
of the stress applied to the muscles exercised without imposing
excessive weight strain on the shoulders or the knees of the person
exercising.
A material advantage of the invention is that it provides an
exercise frame that allows the participant to perform a greater
plurality of exercises involving coordination of more muscles with
less danger of excessive strain or risk than can be achieved by the
unaided efforts of a free standing exerciser-user.
A significant advantage of the invention resides in the described
combination with provision for quick and easy adjustment of the
angle of inclination of the exercise frame with respect to the wall
such as to permit simple adjustment of the rigorousness of the
exercises merely by altering the angle of incline between the
exercise frame and the wall against which the frame leans.
Another advantage of the invention is that it provides an exercise
frame device that can be conveniently and readily used anywhere
around a home or building without requiring special adaptation to
the existing surroundings for its full use.
Another advantage of the invention is that it provides an exercise
rail frame that has no moving parts and that is so simple in
construction as to require minimum trouble during set up and usage
of the device.
A further advantage of the invention is that it provides an
exercise frame device that occupies minimum space, that is easily
portable and storable because of its simplicity, light weight and
shape.
Still another advantage of the invention is that it provides an
exercise device the use of which can be mastered quickly by persons
of all ages.
Another advantage of the exercise frame is that it can be
constructed with a plurality of parts of limited size such that the
component parts for the exercise frame can be readily fitted into a
suitcase for easy portability by a traveler and still be readily
adaptable to fabrication in knock-down kit form of sufficient
simplicity for the average person to be able to assembly the
exercise frame for use in a hotel room in a matter of a few
minutes.
Although this specification describes only a few embodiments of the
invention with certain applications thereof, it should be
understood that structural or material rearrangements of adequate
or equivalent parts, substitutions of equivalent functional
elements and other modification in structure can be made and other
applications devised without departing from the spirit and scope of
my invention. I therefore desire that the description and drawings
herein be regarded as only an illustration of my invention and that
the invention be regarded as limited only as set forth in the
following claims, or as required by the prior art.
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