Friction Type Exercising Device With Separate Handgrip Exerciser

Abstract

An exercise apparatus includes a platform adapted to be mounted by a person and rotate responsove to a twisting motion executed by such person. An arm extends generally upward relative to the platform and is disposed for being grasped by the person on the platform. The platform and the arm undergo coordinated counterrotating motion in response to the twisting motion, thus providing muscle toning and exercise to a user. A latching device is provided to latch the platform after it has reached its limit of rotational excursion and to unlatch it in response to a manually supplied force whereby to obtain additional exercise for hand and arm muscles. A valve is provided to control the amount of fluid passing from a resilient fluid type hand exerciser on the arm. The apparatus has a structure for limiting the rotation of the arm and the platform. The resilient hand exerciser may have a spring substituted for the resilient fluid type hand exerciser, to require the user to exert a larger twisting force to rotate the platform against a friction brake.

Description

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention refers to an exercise apparatus which is particularly adapted for use by golfers, baseball pitchers and other persons who wish to exercise their main body muscles and also their arm and hand muscles. It has been recently stated by many authorities that the most desirable exercise apparatus is one in which many muscles of a person are in motion and are stressed for extended periods of time. Typical of a preferred apparatus of this type is, of course, the bicycle type exercising device which may be an actual bicycle operated over a road or the stationary type bicycle apparatus used in the home or in an exercise studio. The bicycle type apparatus provides primarily exercise to the leg muscles of an operator and while stimulating, on account of such exercise, the heart muscle to produce increased blood flow, there are other muscles in the human body which are not to any measurable extent in use with this type of device.

The present exercise apparatus is one which provides a different type of exercise by requiring a person to execute a twisting motion, such as is required during pitching a ball or playing golf. To this end, the apparatus disclosed hereafer comprises a platform adapted to undergo limited rotational excursion in response to a person disposed on the platform executing a twisting motion. An arm extending forwardly from the platform is grasped by the person and responsive to the motion of the platform, the arm is urged into counterrotation, thus providing an exercise which sould greatly contribute to the loosening of body muscles and subjecting the body and arm of the user to a rapid and forceful motion inherent in the aforementioned sports. Furthermore, the present apparatus is designed with a means for strengthening the hand and arm muscles of the user by providing a hand grip to be squeezed cyclically during such exercise.

The above described features and objectives are obtained in a very simple and expedient manner. There is no requirement for electric motors or driven parts. In this manner the present invention discloses a most versatile and useful exercise apparatus which has wide application not only among persons interested in physical fitness, but also among persons engaging in various sports such as golf, baseball, basketball and the like. The broad principle of the present invention together with a preferred embodiment thereof will be more clearly apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the exercise apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view along line 3--3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view similar to FIG. 2 with the platform removed;

FIG. 5 is a plan view similar to FIG. 4 with top support plate removed;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6--6 in FIG. 3, but with arm displaced from the position shown in FIG. 3 to reveal certain details;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7--7 in FIG. 2, and

FIG. 8 is a partial view of a modification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the figures and FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 in particular, the exercise apparatus is designed so that a person standing or in knee bent position on the rotatably mounted platform 10 grasps with one or both hands the handle bar 12 or the vertical extension 14 of an arm 15. Responsive to the person executing a body twisting motion, the platform is caused to rotate in one direction, such as is indicated by the arrow A, FIG. 1, while the arm 15 is caused to undergo a coordinated counterrotation, see arrow B. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the arm 15 is in its central position, but it will be understood from the description hereinafter that the platform 10 and arm 15 are adapted to undergo bidirectional motion from this central position. The rotational excursion of the platform and arm is limited, typically being 30 degrees for the platform in either direction from the central position, but this value shall in no way be interpreted as limiting since, quite obviously, the rotational excursion may be made greater or smaller to suit the conditions desired.

Referring now also to the other figures, the handle bar 12 is mounted upon the vertical extension 14 of the arm 15 which is constructed with a lower horizontal section 16 extending from beneath the platform 10. The horizontal section 16 of the arm 15 is sufficiently long to cause the vertical extension 14 to clear the peripheral surface of the platform 10 and the underlying support structure.

The exercise apparatus is supported upon a floor by a set of feet 18, FIG. 3, which depend from a horizontal base plate 20. The arm 15 is pivotally anchored by a pin 22, extending vertically through the arm section 16 into the base plate 20 at its lower end and into a top support plate 24 at its upper end. The top plate 24 and base plate 20 are secured in fixed spaced relation by a set of posts 26, and these parts in combination form the stationary support for the movable platform and arm. A pair of tubular spacers 28 encircling the pin 22 retain the horizontal section 16 of the arm 15 in predetermined horizontal position between the plates 20 and 24. The pivot pin 22 is situated adjacent the free end of the arm 15 and toward the rear of the exercise apparatus. In order to stabilize the other end of the arm 15, a cross bar 30 is mounted upon the horizontal section 16, FIG. 5, forward of the pin 22. A pair of spaced rollers 32 journalled in the cross bar and adapted to roll on the top surface of the plate 20 provide the stability for the arm while permitting angular excursion of the arm 15.

A yoke 34 is slidably mounted upon the horizontal section 16. A pin 36 depends from the platform 10 and engages an aperture 37 in the yoke 34. As the platform 10 rotates, the pin 36 via yoke 34 pivots the arm section 16 about the pin 22. The yoke reciprocates along the arm section 16 as the platform is rotated from its central position to an angular displacement and returned. Angular displacement .theta. of the arm is increased by moving the pin 36 toward the pivot pin 22 and is decreased by moving the pin toward the center of rotation of the platform 10. Upon going beyond the center of rotation of the platform, the arm will no longer counterrotate, but undergo an angular excursion in the same direction as the platform.

The platform 10 is mounted upon a ball bearing 40 which is nested in the top plate 24, FIG. 3. A circular aperture 42 in the top plate 24 guides the platform 10 in a circular path by virtue of three depending rollers 44 fastened to the platform 10 and cooperating with the vertical edge of the aperture 42, FIGS. 3 and 4. A lower flange 45, which is an integral part of each roller 44, projects beneath the top plate 24 to prevent lifting of the platform 10.

With the particular arrangement for instance, the arm rotates about pin 22 by an angle .theta. either side from the central position when the platform counterrotates about its center by the larger angle .theta.'. A latch pin 50, FIG. 6, is provided to latch the rotated arm 15 and platform 10 in either extreme position. The pin 50 is secured to a leaf spring 52 which allows the pin to run up a ramp 54 as the arm section 16 approaches and drop into an aperture 56 of the arm section 16 to lock the arm in position. For unlatching, the person performing the exercise squeezes the appropriate hand grip 58, left or right on the handle bar 12, which when squeezed to the predetermined extent raises through a flexible cable 60 the lever 64 (FIG. 3) in the direction of arrow 65 to lift the leaf 52 and consequently the pin 50 out of the aperture 56. The lever 64 is pivotally fastened at 66. If the latching feature is not desired, it can be disabled by rotating the respective handle 72 from position C to position D, FIG. 6, thus rotating an eccentric cam 70 about pivot 71 to raise the leaf 52 and pin 50 to the dotted position indicated by arrow 74.

The hand grip 58 includes resilient means, such as an air bulb 76 or spring means 76A, FIG. 8, to restore the lever and cable to its normal non-actuated position. The latching and hand grip means are designed primarily to provide exercise for the hand and arm muscles of the person using the exercise apparatus. For requiring the use of a predetermined amount of force, the bulb 76 may include an adjustable vent valve which acts differentially, i.e., fluid is expelled from the bulb slowly requiring increased force, but admitted to the bulb rapidly, see for instance my copending application for U.S. Letters Patent Ser. No. 189,354 filed Oct. 14, 1971. Alternatively, a compression spring 76A with or without force adjusting means may be used, see FIG. 8. Still further, the purchaser of the apparatus may be provided with a set of springs to enable him to substitute increasingly forceful springs as the exercise progresses.

A further feature of the present apparatus resides in the provision of means for varying the resistance or "drag" of the platform to rotational displacement. To this end, a friction shoe 80, FIG. 7, is positioned for being urged into frictional contact with the underside of the platform 10. The shoe is mounted to an arm 82 which extends through an aperture 83 in the top plate 24. The arm 82 is secured to a lever 84 which is supported by a centrally located pivot 85. The opposite end of the lever 84 is constructed to receive a helical spring 88 which is adapted to be compressed beneath a washer 90 fastened to the lower end of an adjusting screw 92 threaded into the plate 24. By rotating the screw 92 the shoe 80 is urged into variable frictional contact with the underside of the platform 10, thus requiring the expenditure of a greater or smaller twisting effort to cause the desired rotational excursion of the platform 10.

For providing vertical adjustment of the arm 15 as is required for persons of different height, a slot 100 (FIG. 3) forms a bifurcated lower end of the tube 102 which mounts the handle bar. The tube 102 is secured within the vertical extension 14 of the arm 15. Upon tightening a nut 104 which draws a threaded wedge 106 into the tube 102, the bifurcated end is expanded against the inside of vertical extension 14 to obtain a locking action.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that while two latching arrangements are shown, one left and one right, the apparatus may readily be redesigned to include only a single latch with the manual gripping means located centrally.

When the latching arrangement is disabled the angular excursion of the platform and arm still remains limited. As illustrated, the edges 96, FIGS. 1 and 2, of the wrap around enclosure 98 limit the motion of the arm. In order to prevent a sudden stop of the motion of the platform and arm, padding may be used to soften the impact or, alternatively, friction means are used to retard the motion of the platform and arm as the limit of their angular excursions is reached.

A further feature of the present apparatus will comprise a counting means for counting the quantity of rotational motions imparted to the platform. This may include a single counter for all motions or separate counters for left and right rotation. The counter can be coupled to the hand grip device 58 to separate or combine the number of unlatching operations.

Instead of the yoke 34 and pin 36 mechanism described and illustrated hereinabove, it will be apparent that other mechanisms can be used to achieve coordinated counterrotation between the arm 15 and platform 10. Typical of such an alternative embodiment is the use of two meshed gears in which case the platform is coupled to one gear and the arm is pivotally fastened and rotated responsive to the motion of the second gear. In this latter case, if desired, it is possible to shorten the distance from the center of rotation of the platform to the arm 15 as the arm undergoes its angular rotation.

It will be apparent that the foregoing exercise apparatus constitutes a most versatile and effective exercise and training apparatus, useful for general fitness exercises, but also for imparting the desired exercises to golfers and other and similar sports enthusiasts. The striking simplicity of the present apparatus renders it ideally suited for installation in the home, office and professional establishments.

Claims

I claim:

1. An exercise apparatus comprising:

a user support means rotatably mounted in a horizontal plane on the apparatus and adapted to support a person and be rotated in response to a twisting motion executed by such person disposed on said user support means;

an arm means extending generally upward relative to said user support means and disposed for pivotal movement in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the support means while being grasped by the person when on said support means, and

means coupling said arm means and said support means to one another for permitting said last two mentioned means to undergo separate and coordinated counterrotating motions with respect to each other due to the twisting action of a user, and said support means including a platform.

2. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 1, and means disposed for limiting the angular excursion of said support means and said arm means.

3. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 1, said arm means extending upward from a location beyond the peripheral surface of said support means.

4. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 1, said means coupling said arm means and said support means and being adjustable to permit the angular excursion of said arm means to be less than that of said support means.

5. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 1 and resilient means adapted to be squeezed manually mounted to said arm means.

6. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 5, said resilient means including force resisting means which opposes the force exerted when squeezing.

7. An exercise apparatus comprising:

stationary support means for providing a base support;

a user support means rotatably mounted in a horizontal plane on the apparatus and supported by said stationary support means and adapted to be rotated in response to a twisting motion by a person;

means coupled between said stationary support means and said inner support means for permitting said user support means to be rotated relative to said stationary support means;

an arm means extending generally upward relative to said user support means and being disposed for pivotal movement in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the user support means while being grasped by a person disposed on said user support means, and

further means coupled to said stationary support means, said user support means and said arm means for permitting said user support means and arm means to undergo separate and coordinated counterrotating motions with respect to each other in response to a twisting motion executed by a person on said user support means.

8. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 7, said further means including a pivot member securing one end of said arm means to said stationary support means, and a motion transmitting element coupled between said user support means and said arm means near said pivot member for permitting said user support means and arm means to undergo coordinated counterrotation relative to each other.

9. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 8, said motion transmitting element including a pin and a yoke coupled to said arm means, and stabilizing means coupled to said arm means and engaging said stationary support means for stabilizing the arm means during its movement.

10. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 8, and means disposed for limiting the bidirectional angular excursion of said user support means and and arm means from a central position.

11. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 7, and including latching means for latching said user support means and said arm means when predetermined excursions are attained, resilient means adapted to be squeezed manually, said resilient means being mounted for operation by a person on said platform, and means coupling said resilient means to said latching means for unlatching said latching means responsive to said resilient means being squeezed to a predetermined extent.

12. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 11 and means for adjusting the force with which said resilient means must be squeezed to reach said predetermined extent.

13. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 11, said means coupling said resilient means to said latching means comprising a flexible cable.

14. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 11, said resilient means including fluid responsive means for restoring the cable to its non-actuated position.

15. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 14, said fluid responsive means including a differential valve means for permitting a flow of fluid.

16. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 11, said resilient means comprising a spring.

17. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 7, and means for adjusting the height of said arm means relative to said user support means.

18. An exercise apparatus comprising:

stationary support means for providing a base support;

a user support means rotatably mounted in a horizontal plane on the apparatus and supported by said support means and adapted to be rotated by a person;

means coupled between said stationary support means and said user support means for permitting said user support means to be rotatable relative to said stationary support means;

an arm means extending upward from the level of said user support means and being disposed for pivotal movement in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the user support means while being grasped by a person standing on said user support means;

further means coupled to said stationary support means, said user support means and said arm means for permitting said user support means and arm arm to undergo separate and coordinated counterrotating motion with respect to each other in response to a twisting motion executed by a person on said user support means, and

additional means for adjusting the force required to cause rotation of said user support means relative to said stationary support means.

19. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 18, said additional means comprising firctional means coupled between said stationary support means and user support means.

20. An exercise apparatus as set forth in claim 18 and latching means selectively settable to be operative to latch said user support means and said arm means in their rotated position relative to said stationary support means when a predetermined angular excursion of said user support means and said arm means has been reached, and means disposed for being operative by a person and coupled to said latching means for disengaging said latching means responsive to a predetermined force.