AU623081B2 - Exercise bar and attachment - Google Patents

Description

62308 1 71 i i I OPI DATE 29/11/89 AOJP DATE 04/'1/90 APPLN- ID 19378 88 PCT NUMBER PCT/US88/01420 INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION PUBLISHED UNDER THE PATENT COOPERATION TREATY (PCT) (51) International Patent Classification 4 (11) International Publication Number: WO 89/10773 A63B 21/02 Al (43) International Publication Date: 16 November 1989 (16.11.89) (21) International Application Number: PCT/US88/01420 Published With international search report.

(22) International Filing Date: 2 May 1988 (02.05.88) (71)72) Applicant and Inventor: ASBURY, Dennis [US/US]; 22476 Aliso Park, El Toro, CA 92630 (US).

(74)Agent: HOLZ, Arthur, Charmasson Holz, 4550 Kearny Villa Road, Suite 202, San Diego, CA 92123

(US).

(81) Designated States: AT (European patent), AU, BE (European patent), CH (European patent), DE (European patent), FI, FR (European patent), GB (European patent), IT (European patent), JP, LU (European patent), NL (European patent), SE (European patent), US.

(54)Title: EXERCISE BAR AND ATTACHMENT (57) Abstract A versatile baton to perform a variety of muscle-developing exercises. A tubular elastomeric band with an elastomeric plug (15) inserted within its opposite ends, expanding their tubular cross-oection, is translated into an elastomeric insert (16) which bears against the inside wall of the tubular exercise baton. The combination of elastomeric plug and insert materials bearing against the elastomeric band avoids sharp edges, stress concentrations and the need for specially formed mating surfaces in the baton, and allows speedy assembly. The exercise baton can be a set of bar sections 5, capable of several assemblies, allowing uses of the equipment for different exercises.

WO 89/10773 PCT/US88/01420 -1- EXERCISE BAR AND ATTACHMENT This inventi n relates to exercise devices, more specific ly to exercising equipment utilizing resilient orce-resisters.

Sqitground of tha IlrxvenLinI Exercise equipment for in-home use should be small, light weight, rugged construction, pleasing in appearance and low in cost. However, at the same time, the exercise equipment must have a high reliability and be able to safely perform a variety of exercise functions within the limitations of an in-home environment.

Typical in-home exercise equipment currently employs resilient bands or metal springs which must be stretched by the user. However, the user does not grip the bands or springs directly, but grips a solid handle or other portion of the equipment, as I shown in Figure 4 of U.S. Patent No. 4,257,591.

Metal springs are sturdy and can be easily attached to the handle or other parts of the exercise equipment, but can be misused, can allow clothing

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WO 89/10773 i it Ii r 7 r, r PC/US88/01420 or other objects to get caught between coils, are subject to corrosion, tend to be heavy, and may interfere with other sets of coils.

Resilient elastomeric bands are light weight, do not tend to capture objects (between coils), and can be very tolerant of many types of misuse.

However, they are susceptible to abrasion, and cutting failures, especially at the attachment point to the handle or other equipment. This type of failure can be very damaging to the user, even if safety chords are used to restrain motion of bands. Various approaches to minimize the danger of abrasion and cutting failures have been applied to exercise equipment.

The simplest approaches generally depend upon a knotting of the elastomeric band. The knot may bear against a bare hole in the equipment or the knot may form a loop allowing bearing around a bar (as shown in Figure 10 of U.S. Patent No.

4,059,265), or the knot may bear against a pair of rings attached to the handle (as shown in Figure 11 of U.S. Patent No. 3,256,015). A modification of this approach is to preform an expanded portion of the elastomeric band which can substitute for a WO 89/10773 PCT/US88/01420 -3knot (as shown in Figure 12 of U.S. Patent No.

4,059,265).

Another approach is to attach the elastomeric band by friction (as shown in Figures 7 and 8 of U.S. Patent No. 3,256,015) or friction assisted by compressing and inserting the elastomeric material into a preformed element of the handle (as shown in figure 5-9 of U.S. Patent No. 4,059,265).

These prior approaches have many limitations.

These include: additional cost and weight of attachment equipment (rings, preformed elements, knots, etc.), careful deburring, chamfering and/or rounding of interface surfaces, and added assembly time and costs for the added equipment and interfaces.

Su-mary of th. lamniftin- Thehprincipal and secondary objects of the invention are: to provide a simple exercise bar capable of a variety of exercise uses; to provide a simple and reliable means of attaching an elastomeric band to exercise equipment; a -4to provide an attachment means capable of resisting abrasion and cutting during a variety of exercise functions; and to provide an attachment means which may be quickly assembled.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an exercise baton comprising: an elongated bar element having a centre element and two end elements, the end elements and centre element having complementary mating means for temporarily attaching said end elements to both ends of said centre element and to enable said end elements to be alternatively used independently of said centre element, or to be attached to another mating component of an exercise system having complementary mating means; said end elements having a hand grip disposed thereon; and a flexible elastic band coupled to and falling freely away from said end elements at a point intermediate the ends thereof such that a user of the exercise baton may grip the elongated bar element by grasping the hand grips on said end elements outwardly of A where said flexible elastic band is coupled to and falls freely away from said end elements.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying S" •drawings in which:- 00 ee.

920224,gjnda056,19378.cop,4 -4a- Figure 1 shows a front perspective view of an exercise bar; Figure 2 shows a back exploded view thereof; 0 0 0

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00 *0 0 0 0 0 0000 0* 0 0 00 0 *0S0@0 a 0 000000 0 0000 0* 00 0 00 0 0* 00 00 00 0 0000 00 0 00 0 @0 910222,gjnspe.007,kyl9378&s,-,6 WO 89/10773 PCT/US88/01420 Figure 3 is a perspective view of a bearing element; Figure 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the flexible band attachment; and Figure 5 shows a use of the exercise bar.

D orip n of tho Preferre-d Kmbcdiment of tho Inv-t Figure 1 shows a front perspective view of an exercise baton or bar. Left and right handle surfaces 2 and 3 covered by a fabric or synthetic padding allow a user to grip the bar sections 4 and with each hand. The bar sections 4 and 5 are removably attached to center bar section 6, which is partially covered with an alternate center handle padding 7. A flexible and resiliently extensible band 8 is attached to the left and right bar sections 4 and 5 passing through left and right handles 2 and 3. The user may use both hands to grip the left and right handles while portions of band 8 are restrained (by the user's feet in one configuration), or he may use one or both hands to grip the center handle 7. In this embodiment, the bar sections 4, 5 and 6 are hollow tubular members, made from metal, however, the members may be other WO 89/10773 PC/US88/01420 -6than circular and may be made from plastics, wood or other structural material.

Left and right handles 2 and 3 include portions of left and right bar sections 4 and which are attached to center bar section 6 Left and right handles have respective ports through which the flexible band 8 passes. In the embodiment shown, the ports do not extend through both sides of the handles. Alternate configurations could allow the flexible band to pass entirely through a rigid element of exercise equipment.

Figure 2 shows a front exploded view of the i bar sections. Bar sections 4 and 5 are hollow tubular elements with dimpled internal protrusions 11 and 12. Dimples 11 and 12 mate with grooves 13 and 14 in the center bar section 6. This allows the left and right bar sections 4 and 5 to be used independently, with the center section 6, or with another mating component of an exercise system. A section of flexible band 8 shows the hollow construction of the band. The band can be made from a stretchable rubber or plastic material, which may also be reinforced with cords for _I WO 89/10773 PCr/US88/01420 -7additional strength and safety.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a bearing element 16 which is inserted into each handle to retain opposite ends of the band 8.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of each of the attachments of the flexible band ends to the bar sections. The stretchable and flexible band 8 enters port 10 in right handle 3 of right bar section 5. The port 10 has a diameter larger than the flexible band 8. The larger, port accommodates the beaded rim 20 of the bearing element 16 preventing contact of the band with the edge of the port to minimize abrasion. A cylindrical plug has been inserted into the hollow end portion of band 8, expanding the cross-sectional dimensions (diameter) proximate to the plug. The plug is made from elastomeric materials such as plastic or rubber. Alternate embodiments could be a sphere or other shape with an outside dimension larger than the internal diameter of band 8. Insertion of the plug 15 can be accomplished outside or separate from, bar section 5 and band 8 pulled until the plug is proximate to the bearing element 16. The bearing element 16 has a bore 17 through which also WO 89/10773 PCTr/US88/01420 -8passes band 8, a beveled band bearing surface 18 which mates with and supports the expanded portion of band 8 proximate to plug 15, and a rigid bar bearing surface. The bore 16 in this embodiment is dimensioned to be in sliding contact with the external surface of band 8, allowing the band to be pulled while the bearing element is restrained, or to allow the bearing element to translate along the length of the band. The bearing element also has a lower bearing surface 19 which distributes the forces stretching the band 8 over the peripheral area of the port inside the bar section Although bar section 5 is shown as a hollow tubular member, a bored solid bar sections could be used, especially if the bore or port is expanded near the surface of the bar to rest the plug 15 and the bearing element 16. The bearing element or insert 16 is made from an elastomeric material such as rubber or plastic to provide smooth, non-abrasive bearing surfaces. The central gussets 21 on either side of bore 17 strengthen the rigidity of the bearing element.

The dimensions of the components are critical to the function. Band 8 must be tough enough to WO 89/10773 PCT/US88/01420 -9withstand a variety of exercise forces to be within the large cycle life fatigue limits of the material. The hollow design gives maximum bending strengh and flexibility with minimum weight, and the hollow dimensions selected to achieve the strength/flexibility performance r~quirements.

Experimentation with this design has indicated that a stretchable rubber tube with an outside diameter of approximately 1.3 cm (0.2 inch) and an inside diameter of approximately 0.5 cm (0.2 inch) satisfy the performance requirements. The diameter of the bearing element port 17 is slightly smaller than the 1.3 cm (0.5 inch) outside diameter of band 8.

The optimal outside diameter of the solid rubber plug 15 is approximately 1 cm (0.4 inch). Larger plugs present difficulties in inserting into the hollow band, while smaller plugs do not provide sufficient surface area to transfer the stretching forces to the plastic bearing element. The band bearing surface 18 has been found to function well using a bell-shaped surface with a maximum diameter of from 1.5 to 1.9 cm (0.6 to 0.75 inches) Figure 5 shows a use of the exercise bar.

User 22 is pulling up on the center handle 7,

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WO 89/10773 PCT/US88/01420 stretching the band 8 which is restrained by user's feet. The handles in this embodiment are covered with a deformable foam material, which allows the handles to be comfortably grasped, or pressed against other part of the body.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims with departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims (2)

1. 6. intermediate the ends thereof such that a user of the prec exercise baton may grip the elongated bar element by grip I jgrasping the hand grips on said end elements outwardly of ii:!!i where said flexible elastic band is coupled to and falls
2. 7. freely away from said end elements. desc I 2. An exercise baton according to Claim 1, wherein said flexible elastic band comprises a hollow flexible and I resiliently extensible band. 3 DATE e sDenn 3. An exercise baton according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, By H wherein said end elements have a port therein for DAVI receiving an end of said band and wherein said flexible elastic band is coupled to said end elements by coupling means disposed within said end elements adjacent said ports. 4. An exercise baton according to Claim 3, wherein said coupling means includes a plug inserted within an interior of said flexible elastic band and a bearing element engaged in said end elements adjacent said port, s R said bearing element having a circular bore which aligns 3 A920224,gjndLt 56,19378.cop, 11 -12- with the port in the end element in which it is installed, said bore having a diameter generally equal to a diameter of said band, said plug when inserted within the interior of said band causing an end portion of said band to expand to a larger diameter, said bearing element having a band bearing surface dimensioned to mate with and restrain the expanded diameter of said band formed by said plug whereby said flexible elastic band is thereby restrained within the interior of each of said end elements. An exercise baton according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said bar elements are made from hollow metal tubes. 6. An exercise baton according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said centre element has a hand grip disposed thereon. 7. An exercise baton substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 24th day of February 1992 *Dennis Asbury By His Patent Attorneys DAVIES COLLISON CAVE 920224,gjndat.O56,19378.cop, 12