U.S. patent number 3,731,921 [Application Number 05/128,736] was granted by the patent office on 1973-05-08 for bench for simulating and developing swimming movements.
Invention is credited to Clarence W. Andrews, Jr..
United States Patent |
3,731,921 |
Andrews, Jr. |
May 8, 1973 |
BENCH FOR SIMULATING AND DEVELOPING SWIMMING MOVEMENTS
Abstract
A horizontally disposed elongated but short bench including an
extension support projecting outwardly from a first forward end
thereof and having a pair of opposite side crank arms supported
therefrom for swinging about a horizontal transverse axis. The
bench is to be laid upon by a person in horizontal chest downward
position with the chest resting upon the bench and the crank arms
engaged by the hands. A rearwardly displaced portion of the bench
includes opposite side vertically reciprocal foot receiving
portions and the person laying upon the bench may exercise in a
manner simulating various swimming strokes, the crank arms being
adjustable in effective length and adjustable angularly relative to
each other about their axis of rotation. Further, the
foot-receiving portions may be supported either for equal inverse
reciprocation or simultaneous reciprocation.
Inventors: |
Andrews, Jr.; Clarence W.
(Russellville, KY) |
Family
ID: |
22436724 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/128,736 |
Filed: |
March 29, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
482/56; 482/62;
482/115 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B
69/10 (20130101); A63B 21/154 (20130101); A63B
21/4029 (20151001) |
Current International
Class: |
A63B
69/10 (20060101); A63B 21/00 (20060101); A63b
069/10 () |
Field of
Search: |
;272/71,73,79R,80 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Pinkham; Richard C.
Assistant Examiner: Stouffer; R. T.
Claims
What is claimed as new is as follows:
1. An apparatus for exercising by simulating swimming strokes, said
apparatus including a horizontal support having front and rear ends
upon which a person may lie in face-downward position with his
mid-torso portion resting upon the support, a forward mounting
portion disposed outwardly of the forward end of the support, a
pair of opposite side crank arms supported from said forward
portion for swinging about a horizontal axis extending transversely
of said support, a rear mounting portion disposed outwardly of the
rear end of said support, a pair of foot engageable members
supported from said rear mounting portion for guided vertical
movement, said rear mounting portion comprising an upright standard
assembly, a pair of vertically spaced pulley wheels journaled from
said standard assembly for rotation about an axis extending
longitudinally of said horizontal support, an endless flexible
member trained about said pulley wheels, said foot engageable
members being mounted on the reaches of said endless flexible
member whereby they are supported for inverse vertical
reciprocation.
2. The combination of claim 1, wherein said horizontal support
comprises a bench-type support member mounted atop a legged base
assembly, said forward mounting portion being carried by an arm
assembly supported from an upper portion of said base assembly and
projecting forwardly therefrom, said arm assembly including means
for adjustably positioning the axis of rotation of said crank arms
toward and away from the forward end of said horizontal
support.
3. The combination of claim 1 including means operably connected to
and extending between said standard assembly and said horizontal
support for adjustably positioning said standard assembly toward
and away from the rear end of said horizontal support.
4. The combination of claim 1, wherein said foot engageable members
include means for support from only one of the reaches of said
endless flexible member extending between said pulley wheels
whereby said foot engageable members may be vertically reciprocated
together.
5. The combination of claim 1, wherein said standard assembly
includes means supporting said pulley wheels therefrom for vertical
adjustment along whereby the heighth of said pulley wheels and thus
said endless flexible member and the foot engageable members
supported therefrom may be varied relative to the elevation of the
horizontal support.
6. The combination of claim 1, wherein said apparatus includes
variably adjustable friction brake means operatively associated
with said crank arms for applying varying frictional resistance to
rotation of said crank arms.
Description
Heretofore various types of exercising equipment has been designed
for simulating swimming movements. However, this previous
exercising equipment has not enjoyed the capability of being able
to simulate both the crawl stroke and the butterfly stroke. Those
strokes, other than the backstroke, are the most popular strokes
and although the exercising apparatus of the instant invention has
not been specifically designed to simulate the backstroke, at least
a major portion of the body movements utilized in the crawl stroke
are utilized in the backstroke and thus the exercising apparatus of
the instant invention is at least helpful in some degree in also
simulating the backstroke movements.
The main object of this invention is to provide an exercising
apparatus which will be capable of reasonably accurately simulating
a plurality of swimming strokes.
Another object of this invention is to provide an exercising
apparatus including means whereby the resistance to arm movements
by a person utilizing the exercising device may be varied as
desired.
A still further object of this invention is to provide an
exercising apparatus including portions thereof for simulating leg
movements which may not only be utilized to simulate the flutter
kick but also the dolphin kick.
A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated
herein is to provide an exercising apparatus which will conform to
conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction and
easy to use so as to provide a device that will be economically
feasible, long lasting and relatively trouble free in
operation.
These together with other objects and advantages which will become
subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and
operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed,
reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part
hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and
in which:
FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the exercising apparatus;
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the exercising apparatus;
FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of the exercising apparatus;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical sectional
view, taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section
line 4--4 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical sectional view, taken
substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 5--5 of
FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the structure by which
the arm movements simulating cranks are journaled for swinging
about a horizontal transverse axis;
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view illustrating the
manner in which one of the foot receiving supports is mounted;
FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional
view, taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section
line 8--8 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 9 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view, taken
substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 9--9 of
FIG. 8;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the exercising and swimming
movement simulating apparatus of the instant invention with an
alternate position of one of the arm or hand cranks illustrated in
phantom lines; and
FIG. 11 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a modified
mounting of the foot receiving supports.
Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10
generally designates the exercising apparatus of the instant
invention and includes a forward bench assembly referred to in
general by the reference numeral 12. The bench assembly 12 includes
a pair of side by side front to rear extending and downwardly
opening inverted U-shaped frames 14. Each of the frames 14 includes
front and rear legs 16 and 18 interconnected by means of an upper
horizontal and longitudinally extending bight portion 20. Front and
rear transverse braces 22 and 24 extend between and are secured to
the front and rear legs 16 and 18. In addition, the central
portions of the transverse braces 22 and 24 include enlarged
portions 26 having aligned bores 28 formed therethrough and the
forward end portion of an elongated, horizontally disposed and
longitudinally extending connecting bar 30 is received through the
bores 28, each of the enlarged portions 26 including a setscrew 32
by which the connecting bar 30 may be releasably secured in
adjusted longitudinally shifted position relative to the transverse
braces 22.
The bight portions 20 are spaced slightly apart and receive
therebetween a pair of side by side support arms 34 and a plurality
of fasteners 36 are secured to the bight portions 20 and the rear
ends of the support arms 34 for support of the latter from the
upper end of the frame 14. In addition, a cushioned elongated,
longitudinally extending and horizontally disposed bench defining
member 38 overlies the bight portions 20 and the rear ends of the
support arms 34 and is secured to the latter by means of suitable
fasteners 40.
An oval sleeve 42 is telescoped over the forward ends of the
support arms 34 rearward of the forward ends thereof and is secured
in adjusted shifted position along the support arms 34 by means of
a cooperating setscrew 44 carried by the sleeve 42. The upper
portion of the sleeve 42 includes a mounting boss 46 having a
threaded blind bore 48 formed therein and a rearwardly and upwardly
opening chin receiving cup 50 provided with a threaded depending
shank portion 52 threadedly engaged in the bore 48.
A second oval sleeve 54 is telescoped over the forward ends of the
support arms 34 forwardly of the sleeve 42 and is secured in
longitudinally shifted position along the support arms 34 by means
of a setscrew 56. In addition, the sleeve 54 includes a transverse
horizontally disposed journaled portion 58 through which a support
shaft 60 extends and in which the shaft 60 is rotatably
journaled.
The journal 58 includes an internal friction braking mechanism (not
shown) engaged with the central portion of the shaft 60 and the
braking mechanism includes an adjusting screw 62 which projects
upwardly of the center portion of the journal 58 and may be turned
to increase or decrease the friction drag opposing rotation of the
shaft 60 through the journal portion 58.
The shaft 60 has a non-circular bore 61 formed therethrough and the
opposite end portions of the bore 61 have non-circular stub shafts
64 slidingly disposed therein and secured in adjusted position by
means of setscrews 63. On each stub shaft 64 a plurality of spacing
sleeves 66 are mounted for rotation therewith and secured in
adjusted position therealong by means of setscrews 68. In addition,
a pair of crank arms 70 are provided and include non-circular
openings (not shown) in one pair of corresponding ends thereof
which may be secured over the portions of the shafts 64 projecting
beyond the sleeves 66 and each of the crank arms 70 includes a pair
of opposite end sections 72 and 74 secured together in adjusted
overlapped position by means of suitable fasteners 76 secured
through selected registered apertures 78 formed through the
sections 72 and 74. The free ends of the sections 74 remote from
the shaft 60 include oppositely laterally outwardly directed
cylindrical handgrip portions 80 which are journaled from the free
ends of the section 74 in any convenient manner.
A rear support standard assembly referred to in general by the
reference numeral 82 is provided and includes an upright 84 from
whose lower end a horizontal transverse base 86 is supported
including downturned opposite end portions 88 which defines support
legs for the standard assembly 82. The central portion of the
transverse member 86 includes a horizontal bore 90 through which
the rear end of the connecting bar 30 is slidingly received and the
central portion of the transverse member 86 includes a setscrew 92
whereby the connecting bar 30 may be secured in adjusted
longitudinally shifted position relative to the transverse member
86.
The upright 84 includes a pair of vertically spaced and elongated
front to rear extending slots 94 through which fasteners 96 are
secured and each of the fasteners 96 rotatably journals a pulley
wheel 98, there being an endless belt 100 trained about the pulleys
98.
Each reach of the belt 100 has a forwardly opening and foot
receiving socket defining member 102 mounted thereon by means of
suitable fasteners 104. Each of the members 102 includes a
generally inverted U-shaped body 106 having a transverse lower
bottom wall 108 secured between the lower ends of the legs of the
body and the front and rear ends of each of the members 102 are
open for receiving the feet of the user of the apparatus therein.
The fasteners 104 are secured through apertures 110 formed through
adjacent side walls of the members 102 and apertures 112 formed in
each reach of the belt 100.
In operation, and assuming that a person using the apparatus 10
wishes to exercise by simulating the crawl stroke, he may initially
longitudinally shift the sleeves 42 and 54 along the support arms
34 and secure the sleeves 42 and 54 in adjusted shifted position so
that when he lies upon the bench defining member 38 with his chest
resting thereon, his chin will be received in the cup 50 and his
hands will be able to grasp the handgrips 80 when the crank arms 72
are disposed horizontally with their free ends forwardmost. In
addition, the standard assembly 82 may be adjustably shifted along
the connecting bar 30 or the latter may be adjustably shifted
longitudinally relative to the frame 14 in order to place the
standard assembly 82 at a position rearward of the bench assembly
38 such that the feet of the user, when his legs are at least
substantially straight, may have his feet received in the members
102. Then, with the crank arms 72 adjusted relative to each other
as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the user of the
apparatus 10 may use his hands to swing the handgrip 80 about the
axis of rotation of the shaft 60 while simultaneously inversely
reciprocating his feet up and down. On the other hand, should the
user of the apparatus 10 wish to simulate the butterfly stroke with
the dolphin kick, the crank arms 72 may be repositioned in the
manner illustrated in FIG. 10 of the drawings and the members 102
may be supported from the same reach of the belt 100, see FIG. 11,
whereby they may be reciprocated together as opposed to
inversely.
The adjusting screw 62 may be tightened and loosened to increase
and decrease the frictional drag on the shaft 60. In addition, the
length of the crank arms 70 may be adjusted as desired according to
the length of the arms of the user of the apparatus and the spacing
sleeves 66 may be utilized to vary the spacing between the base
ends of the crank arms 70. Still further, the elevation of the
limited vertical movement of the members 102 may be adjusted by
loosening, vertically shifting and re-tightening the fasteners 96,
and tightening and slightly loosening the fasteners 96 will also
vary the friction drag on the pulleys 98, the latter having
friction washers 99 operatively associated therewith.
Accordingly, the apparatus 10 may be readily adjusted to suit the
size and physique of the individual user and also adjusted to
simulate not only the crawl stroke but also the butterfly stroke
utilizing the dolphin kick. Further, when a person utilizing the
apparatus simulates the crawl stroke, he is also simulating a major
portion of the body movements utilized in the backstroke.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles
of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes
will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired
to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation
shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and
equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the
invention.
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