CA3078131A1

CA3078131A1 - Adjustable dumbbell

Info

Publication number: CA3078131A1
Application number: CA3078131A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Joal Y. Ollivier
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2020-04-17
Filing date: 2020-04-17
Publication date: 2021-10-17
Also published as: WO2021217278A3; EP4135860A2; WO2021217278A8; CA3170033A1; WO2021217278A9; US20230149764A1; WO2021217278A2

Abstract

An adjustable dumbbell which may comprise a bar assembly with hand grip which may retain onto itself a plurality of weight elements, the quantity of which may be user-selectable by actuation of sliding locking tabs, and a base for supporting the bar assembly and weights while not in use or any weights not in use while the bar assembly is used. The weight elements may be of such a design that they can be produced from profile-cut steel plate stock, though other materials and processing methods typical to production of exercise equipment may be used.
Weight plates may include a large notch into which the bar assembly can be slid, tabs, notches, or other features for lengthwise restraint on the bar assembly, and a small notch through which a locking tab may slide for retaining the tabs to corresponding notches on the bar assembly. The bar assembly may possess notches into which the tabs of the weight plates may fit to retain weight plates in the lengthwise direction, and user-slideable tabs integral to the bar assembly which restrain selected plates to the notches by passing through the small notch and preventing transverse relative movement. With weight elements seated in the stand, and the bar assembly seated in an arrangement of weight plates, a user can select the number of weight plates connected to the bar assembly by extending or retracting the sliding lock tabs. The user may then lift the dumbbell from the stand, carrying along with it the desired number of plates, leaving the remaining plates in the stand.

Description

ADJUSTABLE DUMBBELL
I, Joal 011ivier (the Applicant and Inventor) of 315 Gordon Road, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, do hereby declare the invention described as follows, and pray that a patent be granted to me by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. My intent is for this application to serve as a "first application" as defined at https://www.ic.qc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/encilwr03683.html as it appeared on the 17th day of April, 2020 in order to establish a filing date; and for a "second application" or modification to this application to follow in order to fulfill requirements for a complete patent application.
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present disclosure relates generally to an adjustable dumbbell system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Dumbbells are ubiquitous devices used for weight-training exercises. The strength of dumbbell users varies, and for a given user, the most effective amount of weight for an exercise varies from exercise to exercise, or from one point in time to another. As such, users typically desire a plurality of conventional fixed-weight dumbbells, or a dumbbell system which enables removal and replacement of a variety of weights. In a home or a small gym, it may be inconvenient or impractical to store a plurality of dumbbells, and it is inconvenient and time-consuming to remove and replace weights in dumbbells that enable it.
In response to these issues, adjustable dumbbells have been developed which allow users to rapidly change the weight. In many adjustable dumbbell systems, a change to the weight of the dumbbell is performed by placing the dumbbell in a dedicated base and manipulating a selector, which connects or disconnects weight elements from the dumbbell as necessary to achieve the desired weight. Many of these adjustable dumbbells are bulkier than their traditional counterparts due to their complex or delicate mechanisms, do not allow small increments of weight adjustment, or compromise on ergonomics.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention, an adjustable dumbbell system, may comprise a dumbbell with a bar assembly and weight elements (plates) that may be selectably connected to the bar assembly, and a stand which may support the dumbbell or any idle weight elements in a ready position. The

2 Date Recue/Date Received 2020-04-17 weight elements may be defined by only a thickness and a profile shape and may have no gaps between them when either mounted to the bar assembly or supported idle on the stand.
The bar assembly may comprise a hand-grip and a mechanism to selectably connect weight elements to the bar assembly. Actuation of the selection mechanism may be enacted by rotating the hand-grip about the bar assembly's long axis to actuate sliding lock tabs which may selectably engage notches in individual weight elements, allowing the user to increase or decrease the quantity of weight elements locked to the bar assembly. The bar assembly may have a pattern of notches which may engage features of the weight elements to lock weight elements to the bar assembly in the direction of the long axis of the bar assembly.
In preferred embodiments, weight elements may be profile-cut steel plate, the bar assembly may be four pieces of profile-cut steel plate bolted or welded together and may have a molded-plastic hand-grip and a plastic gap-filler between the hand-grip and the steel components of the bar assembly, and the stand may be profile-cut and bent steel plate.
A detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention is given in the following. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be construed as being limited to this exact embodiment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an example of the disclosure and, together with the foregoing general description and the following detailed description, delineate the principles of these examples.
Figure 1 is an isometric view of an adjustable dumbbell system in accordance with an example of the present disclosure;
Figure 2 is a proximal isometric view of the bar assembly of FIG. 1;
Figure 3 is an isometric view of the weight element of FIG. 1;
Figure 4 is an isometric view of the handle of FIG. 2;
Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the handle of FIG. 2 taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;
Figure 6 is an isometric view of a sliding lock tab of FIG. 2;

3 Date Recue/Date Received 2020-04-17 Figure 7 is a top plan view of the bar assembly of FIG. 2 with the sliding lock tabs half extended;
Figure 8 is a side view of the bar assembly of FIG. 2 with the sliding lock tabs half extended;
Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of the bar assembly of FIG. 2 taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 8 with the sliding lock tabs half extended;
Figure 10 is an isometric view of the adjustable dumbbell system of FIG. 1 showing the dumbbell raised from the stand, dumbbell having approximately two-thirds of the weight elements connected to the bar assembly;
Figure 11 is an end view of the adjustable dumbbell system as portrayed in FIG. 10;
Figure 12 is a cross-sectional view of the adjustable dumbbell system as portrayed in FIG. 10 taken along line 12-12 of FIG. 11;
Figure 13 is a cross-sectional view of the adjustable dumbbell system as portrayed in FIG. 10 taken along line 13-13 of FIG. 11;
Figure 14 is a cross-sectional view of the adjustable dumbbell system as portrayed in FIG. 10 taken along line 14-14 of FIG. 11;
The drawings are not necessarily to scale. The claimed subject matter is not necessarily limited to the examples or arrangements illustrated herein. In some instances, elements not necessary for understanding the disclosure may not be illustrated in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
Throughout the following description, specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding to persons skilled in the art. However, some well-known elements are not shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the disclosure. The following description of the invention is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form of any exemplary embodiment. Accordingly, the description and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative, rather than a restrictive, sense.
The present invention is directed to an adjustable dumbbell system for weight training exercises.

4 Date Recue/Date Received 2020-04-17 Referring to FIG. 1, an adjustable dumbbell system 100 is illustrated, which may comprise a dumbbell 101, a bar assembly 102, two stacks 103 of weight elements 104, and a stand 105 to hold the dumbbell 101 while it is not in use, or any un-selected weight elements 104 while the dumbbell 101 is in use. The weight elements 104 comprising each stack 103 may not have gaps between them except where the dumbbell 101 is separated from weight elements left idle on the stand 105.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the bar assembly 102 may have two ends 106, onto which a selectable quantity of weight elements 104 may be locked, which may start with the innermost weight elements 104, progressively adding to the stacks 103 outward as the selected weight quantity is increased. Weight elements 104 may be restrained from moving distally along the long axis of the bar assembly 102 by pluralities of notches 108 at each end 106, arranged so that the tab 113 on each weight element 104 has a notch 108 to be restrained by, said tabs 113 may be laterally alternated from one weight element 104 to the next in the stack 103. Weight elements 104 may be restrained from rotating or moving proximally along the long axis of the bar assembly 102 by flat surfaces 111 on the bar assembly which contact the innermost weight element 104; any portion of the stack 103 of weight elements 104 that may be locked to the bar assembly 102 may also benefit from this restraint as there may not be gaps between weight elements 104. The weight elements 104 may be selectably locked to the bar assembly 102 with the bottom 115 of the big notch 114 being held up to the bottom side of the bar assembly 102 by virtue of sliding lock tabs 109 which may be positionable along the long axis of the bar assembly 102 and otherwise restrained to the bar assembly 102 by the guideway 110, and may bear against small notches 116 when the are extended to pass through said notches, serving to restrain weight elements 104 such that the notches 108 remain engaged to the tabs 113. The position of the sliding lock tabs 109 along the guideway 110 may dictate the quantity of weight elements 104 locked to the bar assembly 102.
Referring to FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, the hand grip 107, which may be rotatably connected to the bar assembly 102, may have internal threads 118 at each end, which may be of opposite hand on each end, which may engage partial external threads 120 on the lock tabs 109.
Referring to FIG.
7, rotation of the hand grip 107 by the user may impart linear motion to the lock tabs 109 by virtue of the internal threads 118 of the handle meshing with the partial external threads 120 on the lock tabs 109. Referring to FIG. 8, the hand grip 107 may be equipped with a device to restrain rotation while the dumbbell is in use to prevent the tabs 109 from being retracted, which may ensure weight elements 104 are prevented from falling off; said device may be a removable Date Recue/Date Received 2020-04-17 pin inserted through hole 112 which may pass through the hand grip 107 and the bar assembly 102.
Referring again to FIG. 1, at rest, the weight elements 104 may be arranged in the stand 105 with the bar assembly 102 placed down in the slot in the stacks 103 formed collectively by the big notches 114 in the weight elements 104.
Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, when the bar assembly 102 is lifted from the stand 105, a quantity of weight elements 104 are pulled out with the bar assembly 102, said quantity may be dependent upon the position of the lock tabs 109 as set by the user; any remaining weight elements 104 may be held in a ready position in the stand 105 by virtue of notches 121 in the stand 105 matching the notches 117 of the weight elements 104 in the remaining stack, in a manner similar to that of the notches 108 in the bar assembly 102 matching the tabs 113 in the weight elements 104.
Referring to FIGS. 12, 13, and 14, the adjustable dumbbell system 100 as arranged as in FIGS.
and 11 is shown in several cross-sectional views in order to describe the system for selectably locking the weight elements 104 to the bar assembly 102 with further clarity.
Referring to FIG. 12, the sliding lock tab 109 on one end 106 of the bar assembly 102 which may be confined by the guideway 116 is shown deployed in a position such that it passes through the small notches 116 of several weight elements 104, ensuring the bottoms 115 of the large notches 114 remain engaged with the notches 108 of the bar assembly 102.
Referring to FIG. 13, the notches 108 on the near side of the bar assembly 102 as cut by section line 13-13 in FIG. 11 may restrain the tabs 113 on every second weight element 104 in the direction of the bar assembly's 102 long axis; and referring to FIG. 14, the notches 108 on the far side of the bar assembly 102 as cut by section line 14-14 in FIG. 11 may restrain the tabs 113 on the remaining weight elements 104 in the direction of the bar assembly's 102 long axis.
In other embodiments of the invention, the notches 108 may be identical from one to the next, and the large notch 114 and bottom of the large notch 115 in each weight element 114 may be shaped to engage the bar assembly's 102 notches 108. In still other embodiments, notches 108 may be substituted with tabs or some other protrusion and may require a gap between weight elements or additional processing to accommodate said tabs or protrusions. In still other embodiments, the arrangements of notches 108 may be on opposite faces of the bar assembly Date Recue/Date Received 2020-04-17 102 rather than on the 'bottom' of it.
As will be clear to those skilled in the art, embodiments according to the present invention may present numerous advantages over prior art:
= The design of the weight elements permits, but is not limited to, fabrication by inexpensive profile-cutting of steel plate, or stamp-and-die cutting;
= The V-arrangement of the weight elements allows the dumbbell to self-guide into the stand (which may contain idle weights), and allows a tightly packed arrangement of weight elements; and = The tightly packed arrangement of the weight elements prevents weight elements from clattering when in use, and results in overall compactness of the dumbbell.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the present invention. The scope of any claims should not be limited by the exemplary embodiments set forth in the foregoing but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the specification as a whole.

Date Recue/Date Received 2020-04-17

Claims

Claims:

1. An adjustable weight lifting system comprising:
a.two spaced-apart sets of weight members placed to permit placement of an extendable bar assembly therebetween, each of the weight members including an opening configured to receive and engage an extendable engagement member of a bar assembly; and b.an extendable bar assembly comprising an elongate bar having a long axis and two extendable engagement members contained within and extendable from opposite distal ends of the bar along the long axis whereby:
i. upon positioning the extendable bar assembly in a contracted position with the extendable engagement members retracted within the elongate bar, when the engagement members are extended from the distal ends of the bar assembly they can each extend through and engage the opening of one or more of the weight members in series resulting in a selectively weighted dumbbell for use; and Date Recue/Date Received 2021-06-11 ii. upon retraction of the extendable engagement members into the elongate bar, when serially engaging one or more of the weight members, the extendable bar assembly will disengage from set weight members.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein:
a.the elongate bar further comprises a rotatable actuator rotatable about the long axis and comprises internal threading;
b.the extendable engagement members are provided with external threading configured to mesh with the internal threading of the rotatable actuator;
whereupon rotation of the rotatable actuator in a first direction imparts a first linear directional movement to distally extend the extendable engagement members from the distal ends of the elongate bar, and rotation of the rotatable actuator in a second direction imparts a second and opposite linear directional movement to retract the extendable engagement members;

Date Recue/Date Received 2021-06-11 wherein when the rotatable actuator is rotated in the first direction, the extendable engagement members distally extend and pass through the opening of one or more of the weight members in series, thus engaging the one or more of the weight members; and wherein when the rotatable actuator is rotated in the second direction, the extendable engagement members retract back out of the opening of the one or more of the weight members in series to disengage from the one or more of the weight members.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the rotatable actuator comprises a cylindrical hand grip disposed around a central portion of the bar assembly and rotatable about the long axis of the bar assembly.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the bar assembly comprises notched ends disposed at opposite ends of the bar assembly and provided with guideways, each extendable engagement member slidably disposed in one of the guideways.

Date Recue/Date Received 2021-06-11

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the opening in each weight member comprises:
a.a vertical notch from an upper edge of the weight member to a centre of the weight member configured for receipt of one of the notched ends of the bar assembly;
and b.a tab at a bottom thereof such that when the notched end of the bar assembly is received in the vertical notch, a corresponding notch of the notched end of said bar assembly engages the tab to restrain distal movement of the weight member relative to the bar assembly.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the opening of each weight member further comprises a horizontal notch configured for receipt of the extendable engagement member, positioned at the bottom of the vertical notch;

Date Recue/Date Received 2021-06-11 wherein when a notched end of the bar assembly is received in the vertical notch and the hand grip is rotated in the first direction, the extendable engagement members move in the first linear direction passing through the horizontal notch of the one or more of the weight members in series, such that lifting of the bar assembly will cause the extendable engagement members to press up against the horizontal notch and lift the one or more weight members;
and wherein when the notched end of the bar assembly is received in the vertical notch and the hand grip is rotated in the second direction, the extendable engagement members move in the second and opposite linear direction passing back out of the horizontal notch of the one or more of the weight members in series to disengage from the one or more weight members.

7. The system of claim 1 further comprising a stand for supporting the two spaced-apart sets of weight members in resting positions for engagement by the extension of the bar assembly, said stand comprising slots for receiving the weight members and supporting the weight members in an Date Recue/Date Received 2021-06-11 orientation allowing the extendable engagement members to pass through the openings.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the weight members are supported in a generally vertical orientation.

9. The system of claim 7 wherein the weight members are supported in an orientation angled off of vertical.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the bar assembly further comprises a surface configured to engage an innermost of the weight members to prevent movement of the weight members along the long axis once engaged.

11. The system of claim 2 further comprising a pin configured to prevent further rotation of the rotatable actuator relative to the extendable engagement members thereby securing the engagement of the extendable engagement members with the one or more of the weight members.

Date Recue/Date Received 2021-06-11