CA3184624A1

CA3184624A1 - Tube functional trainer

Info

Publication number: CA3184624A1
Application number: CA3184624A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Francis Kelly
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2022-12-25
Filing date: 2022-12-25
Publication date: 2024-06-25

Abstract

The Tube Functional Trainer is like a functional trainer. The Tube Functional Trainer is an exercise machine that uses tubes(or other flexible material such as resistance bands or bungee cord), connected to form two or more circles or half cirles with cable circles paralell to them, through a plethora of pulleys, where the ends of each tube circle, the protruding ende(s), is to be pulled by the user, the rest of the tube is uninterupted and complete just like a functional trainer except the tube(ordinaraly a cable) is not connected to a resistance feature or element, because the tube is the resistance feature or element. The protruding ends (or if one is fixed such as at a pulley the other end is available to the user to be pulled or if one end is not fixed at the pulley then both ends) can be pulled by the user. The resistive element or feature is the tube and the tube(s) (or bands) stretches at a rate depending on its construction. The tubes do not have to form circles because the mount ends of the tubes are half circles paralell to, and the mount connected to a cable circle, the cable circle insures the tube(s) functions like a circle;
The pulley(s) are mounted on a carriage mounted on a linear guide such as a column or post which can(or other than) be vertical.
The pulleys can be pulleys or a "Winch Roller Fairlead Cable Guides" or similar mechanisms.

Description

Description:
[0001] This invention relates to exercise equipment, specifically resistance training machines.
Background

[0002] Resistance Training Machines are exercise machines that apply resistance to a user's movements. A Weightlifting Machine is a Resistance Training Machine in which the resistance arises from lifting a weight. Resistance training machines of various types are often found in gyms. The use of resistance training machines requires the proper form to avoid injuries. Proper form can be achieved through practice and technique, but it is also critical that the resistance training machine be properly sized for the user. Resistance training machines should be adjustable to accommodate individuals of different physical proportions. It can also be desirable to adjust resistance training machines for use in different types of exercise. It is desirable that resistance training machines be quickly and easily adjustable. This is especially important for resistance training machines in public gyms, as different people of different sizes may use the same resistance training machine in rotation.

[0003] There is therefore a general desire to have highly adjustable resistance training machines to accommodate individuals of different sizes. This would improve ergonomics for the users of resistance training machines.

[0004]The back end:
The pulley(s) are mounted on a carriage mounted on a linear guide such as a column or post which can(or other than) be vertical.
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-02-08 The pulleys can be pulleys or a "Winch Roller Fairlead Cable Guides" or similar mechanisms.
The other way this back end(the tube circle) works is, where the end of the circles furthest from the user are split apart and connected by a bar perpendicular to the direction of the cables and mirrors the path of the tube circle with a cable circle so the bar which moves and the pulley carriage stay at exactly the same distance apart with a number of pulleys between them to affect the size of the circles or half circles, while the tube protruding end(s)(one may be fixed of each circle) may be pulled by the user. So rather than the circle shrinks to exact a force upon a resistive element or feature, the tubes(or bands) stretch to be the resistive element or feature. The resistive element or feature is the tube and the tube(s) (or bands) stretches at a rate depending on its construction. The tubes do not have to form circles because the mount ends of the tubes are half circles parallel to and the mounted connected to a cable circle, the cable circle insures the tube(s) functions like a circle;
Also, the resistance flexible material can be, not a circle or half circle but is still connected to a configuration of carriages or a carriage and an anchor point to arrange the pulling of an elongated resistance flexible material where the length of the flexible material is maintained prior to the pulling force, maintaining the length (eg: length and height must be synchronized) mirrors the purpose of the functional trainer configuration and is possible because of being freed from a separate resistance feature or element;
The carriages and linear guides are the middle:
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-02-08 The carriage with the pulley or a "Winch Roller Fairlead Cable Guides" or similar mechanisms(such as multiple "Winch Roller Fairlead Cable Guides" working together) may have tubes aligned with the linear guide entering the top or bottom as the carriage that has a geometric shape to fit around the linear guide to allow the movement of the carriage aided by rollers or wheels or ball bearings along the linear guide,to exit the carriage through holes with pulleys or rollers to be pulled by the user or anchored so the carriage can be pulled by the user(multiple carriages may be used);
The Tube Functional Trainer is a functional trainer. The Tube Functional Trainer is an exercise machine that uses tubes(or other flexible material such as resistance bands or bungee cord), connected to form two or more circles or half circles with cable circles parallel to them, through a plethora of pulleys, where the ends of each tube circle, the protruding ende(s), is to be pulled by the user, the rest of the tube is uninterrupted and complete just like a functional trainer except the tube(ordinarily a cable) is not connected to a resistance feature or element, because the tube is the resistance feature or element. The protruding ends (or if one is fixed such as at a pulley the other end is available to the user to be pulled or if one end is not fixed at the pulley then both ends) can be pulled by the user. The resistive element or feature is the tube and the tube(s) (or bands) stretches at a rate depending on its construction. The tubes do not have to form circles because the mount ends of the tubes are half circles parallel to, and the mount connected to a cable circle, the cable circle insures the tube(s) functions like a circle;
The front end:
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-02-08 The user may pull these tubes through a variety of means:
usually with carabiners connected to the ends of the resistance flexible elements;
1.directly by handles or ropes or bands or straps or by bars, with the carriage anchored to the linear guide;
2.directly by a crossbar mounted(to a carriage) to a linear guide at a perpendicular angle, and slidable along the same column by way of a carriage and pin, to allow one or both or more tubes protruding from it to be pulled by the user. The pulling of the tubes is also the resistance feature or element. The crossbar has a slit from the ends to close to the center on each side. The bars' main feature is that the protruding tubes are separated into half the bar each and mirror each other in use. Each tube protruding is affixed with a stopper and then a carabiner. The stopper and carabiner are movable along the bar from close to the center to the end by means of a sliding mounted plate over the slit that has a hole for the tubes and rollers on the hole to protect the tubes. The sliding mounted plates are connected to the bar also by a pin and hole each and a series of holes along the top or bottom of the bar, which align for use at many points. The mounted carriage on the column which has a shape to surround or connect to the column(around the column) also has rollers to slide along the column and holes on the column and a hole and pin on the bar connected to the carriage to align to mount the column at many points.
All these tubes are portions of tube circles and simply extend the functional trainer circle for each tube with multiple tubes protruding from the sliding mounted plates;
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-02-08 3.directly using the other back end with the coupled cabled bar and a crossbar where the protruding tubes have sliding mounted plates where each tube connects to directly to, and not through the carriage entering the top or bottom of the crossbar sliding mounted plates or a pulley mounted to the front of the sliding mounted plates, this tube configuration is not circles, and the tubes may mirror each other in resistance strength;
4.by hooking the carabineers on to a plethora of anchor points created by holes in the linear guide to create a ladder of sorts and pulling/pushing the carriage;

5.by hooking the carabineers on to anchor points created by a modified jhook with a hook for the tube end which may be a carabiner or additional carriages which fix onto the linear guide through pins and pin holes, performing the same function as the modified jhooks and pulling/pushing the carriage;

6.these last two with the carriage having a bar connected to it or a platform or rope(s), strap(s), handle(s), or band(s);

7.with 6, by hooking the carabineers on to a plethora of anchor points created by holes in a linear guide parallel to the linear guide to create a ladder of sorts and pulling/pushing the carriage;

8. by hooking the carabineers on to a fixed mounted carriage usually by a pin and pin hole alignment, and then the tube connected to another carriage which moves along the linear guide and has a bar connected to it or a platform or rope(s), strap(s), handle(s), or band(s);
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-02-08

9. by hooking the carabineers on to a fixed mounted carriage usually by a pin and pin hole alignment, and then the tube connected to another carriage which moves along the parallel linear guide and has a bar connected to it or a platform or rope(s), strap(s), handle(s), or band(s);

10. any of 4 through 9 with two linear guides or sets of linear guides of each sharing a bar between the carriages on different linear guides;

11. two or two sets of linear guides with carriages that move slideably along linear guides with the carriage(s) having a bar or half bar connected to it;

12. any of 4 through 9 except 6 plus 10 and the bar ends having two safety catches with hooks for catches mounted on the linear guides having the carriages connected to the bar, to allow the rotation of the bar to use the safety catches to fix the bar to the spot it is at when the bar is rotated like a smith machine;

13. additionally, any of the bars may have pins or additional length to accommodate weight plates;
It is important to acknowledge the difference between a machine that uses a resistance flexible element (eg: resistance bands, resistance tubes, bungee cords) as a resistance element separate from and together with the flexible elements(cables)(such as a cable weight lifting machine) and a machine where the resistance flexible element (eg: resistance bands, resistance tubes, bungee cords as the resistance element become a resistive flexible element) is the flexible element(replacing both the resistance and flexible element as separate things). Although some of the threading is similar to other Date Recue/Date Received 2023-02-08 machines, the difference is a different classification of machine. The Tube Functional Trainer in any form is not a weight lifting or cable machine but is like both.
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-02-08

Claims

Cl...AIMS:

1. The Tube Functional Trainer is a resistance training machine, with at least one linear guide(eg: a column, or post) and at least one carriage, the carriage is a shape that surrounds the linear guide(eg: a cube) with openings for the linear guide to pass through(eg: top and bottom), if there are additional carriages, they may be on the same linear guide or on additional linear guide(s) or both;

2. A resistance training machine according to claim 1 wherein the flexible material (eg: resistance bands, resistance tubes, bungee cords), connected to form two or more circles, or, half cirles or sychronized lengths with cable circles paralell to them if half circles, connected to the end mounts(one end would be a mount for the tube end(s) and the cables ends and the other end would be a mount for the cables ends and the tube(s) end with a stopper and a carabineer), the flexible element may be threaded through a plethora of pulleys, where the ends of each tube circle, the protruding end(s), is to be pulled by the user, the rest of the tube is uninterupted and complete (or virtually so half circles) just like a functional trainer except the tube (ordinarily a cable) is not connected to a resistance feature or element, because the tube is the resistance feature or element. The protruding ends (or if one is fixed such as at a pulley the other end is available to the user to be pulled or if one end is not fixed at the pulley then both ends) can be pulled by the user, The resistive element or feature is the tube and the tube(s) (or bands) stretches at a rate depending on its construction, The tubes do not have to form circles because the mount ends of the tubes are half circles paralell to or sychronized lengths, and the mount connected to a cable circle, the cable circle insures the tube(s) functions like a circle, the circle(s) when threaded through the pulleys at (the top and bottom of) the linear guide enter the (top and bottom) of the carriage(s) to meet at Date Recue/Date Received 2023-02-08 one of the carriages and thread from inside to outside the carriage through holes with rollers to either connect to another carriage, or mount(on the linear guide) point, or are pulled by the user, the user may pull these tubes through a variety of means, usually with carabineers connected to the ends of the resistance flexible elements and, then, directly by handles or ropes or bands or straps or by bars;

3. A resistance training machine according to claim 2 wherein the pulley(s) are mounted on a carriage mounted on a linear guide which can be vertical, the pulleys can be pulleys or a "Winch Roller Fairlead Cable Guides" or combination of, or similar mechanisms of rollers, which can replace any other pulleys;

4. A resistance training machine according to claim 3 wherein the half(or virtual circles) are where the end of the circles furthest from the user are split apart and connected by a bar perpendicular to the direction of the cables (the bar may or may not have a pin and pinholes in the linear guide of the bar or the equivalent (eg: two guide bars mounted vertically)) that also travels vertically to maintain the circles dimensions and mirrors the path of the virtual tube circle with a cable circle so the bar which moves and the pulley carriage stay at exactly the same distance apart with a number of pulleys between them to affect the size of the circles or half circles, while the tube protruding end(s)(one may be fixed of each circle) may be pulled by the user. So rather than the circle shrinks to exact a force upon a resistive element or feature, the tubes(or bands) stretch (also a synchronized length) to be the resistive element or feature. The resistive element or feature is the tube and the tube(s) (or bands) stretches at a rate depending on its construction. The tubes do not have to form circles because the mount ends of the tubes are half Date Recue/Date Received 2023-02-08 circles parallel to, and the mounts connected to a cable circle, the cable circle insures the tube(s) functions like a circle;

5. A resistance training machine according to claim 4 wherein the resistance flexible material is not a circle or half circle but is still connected to a configuration of carriages or a carriage and an anchor point to arrange the pulling of an elongated resistance flexible material where the length of the flexible material is maintained prior to the pulling force, maintaining the length mirrors the purpose of the functional trainer configuration(a synchronized length) and is possible because of being freed from a separate resistance feature or element, usually by removing a permanently fixed end;

6. A resistance training machine according to claim 4 or claim 5 wherein one instance may be the user may pull these tubes through a variety of means, usually with carabiners connected to the ends of the cables and, then, directly by handles or ropes or bands or straps or by bars, with the carriage anchored to the linear guide, or, directly by a crossbar mounted(to a carriage) to a linear guide at a perpendicular angle, and slidable along the same column by way of a carriage with a pin to connect to pin holes on the linear guide, to allow one or both or more tubes protruding from it to be pulled by the user. The pulling of the tubes is also the resistance feature or element. The crossbar has a slit from the ends to close to the center on each side. The bars' main feature is that the protruding tubes are separated into half the bar each and mirror each other in use. Each tube protruding is affixed with a stopper and then a carabiner. The stopper and carabiner are movable along the bar from close to the center to the end by means of a sliding mounted plate over the slit and that has a hole for the tubes and rollers on the hole to protect the tubes. The sliding mounted plates are connected to the bar also by a pin and hole each and a Date Recue/Date Received 2023-02-08 series of holes along the top or bottom of the bar, which align for use at many points. The mounted carriage on the column which has a shape to surround or connect to the column(around the column) also has rollers to slide along the column and holes on the column and a hole and pin on the bar connected to the carriage and align to mount the column at many points. All these tubes are portions of tube circles (or synchronized lengths) and simply extend the functional trainer circle for each tube with multiple tubes protruding from the sliding mounted plates;

7. A resistance training machine according to claim 4 or claim 5 wherein one instance may be a crossbar where the protruding tubes have sliding mounted plates where each tube connects to directly to, and not through the carriage entering the top or bottom of the crossbar sliding mounted plates or a pulley mounted to the front of the sliding mounted plates, this tube configuration is not circles, and the tubes may mirror each other in resistance strength;

8. A resistance training machine according to claim 4 or claim 5 wherein one instance may be by hooking the carabineers on to a plethora of anchor points created by holes in the linear guide to create a ladder of sorts or a modified jhook with a hook for the tube end which may be a carabiner or additional carriages which fix onto the linear guide through pins and pin holes, performing the same function as the modified jhooks and pulling/pushing the carriage which may have a user interaction feature connected to it for this purpose (eg: a bar, a platform, a rope, a strap, a belt, padded joined bars);
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-02-08

9. A resistance training machine according to claim 4 and claim 8 or claim 5 wherein one instance may be by hooking the carabineers on to a plethora of anchor points created by a linear guide parallel to the linear guide and pulling/pushing the carriage on the linear guide without those anchor points which may have a user interaction feature connected to it for this purpose (eg: a bar, a platform, a rope, a strap, a belt, padded joined bars);

10. A resistance training machine according to claim 4 wherein or claim 5 wherein one instance may be by hooking the carabineers on to a fixed mounted carriage usually by a pin and pin hole alignment, and then the tube connected to another carriage which moves along the linear guide and has a bar connected to it or a platform or rope(s), strap(s), handle(s), or band(s);

11. A resistance training machine according to claim 4 or claim 5 wherein one instance may be by hooking the carabineers on to a fixed mounted carriage usually by a pin and pin hole alignment, and then the tube connected to another carriage which moves along the parallel linear guide and has a bar connected to it or a platform or rope(s), strap(s), handle(s), or band(s);

12. A resistance training machine according to claim 4 or claim 5 and any of claims 6 through 11, wherein one instances with two linear guides or sets of linear guides of each sharing a half bar on each of the carriages on different linear guides;

13. A resistance training machine according to claim 4 or claim 5 and any of claims 6 through 12 wherein some instances with two linear Date Recue/Date Received 2023-02-08 guides or sets of linear guides of each sharing a bar between the carriages on different linear guides;

14. A resistance training machine according to claim 4 or claim 5 and two or two sets of linear guides with carriages that move slideably along linear guides with the carriage(s) having a bar or half bar connected to it;

15. A resistance training machine according to claim 4 or claim 5 and claim 13 some instances may be the bar ends having two safety catches with hooks for catches mounted on the linear guides having the carriages connected to the bar, to allow the rotation of the bar to use the safety catches to fix the bar to the spot it is at when the bar is rotated like a smith machine;

16. A resistance training machine according to claim 4 or claim 5 and additionally in some instances may be , any of the bars may have pins or additional length to accommodate weight plates;

17. A resistance training machine according to claim 4 or claim 5 and it is important to acknowledge the difference between a machine that uses a resistance tube as a resistance element separate from the flexible elements(cables)(such as a cable weight lifting machine) and a machine where the resistance tube(resistance element) is the flexible element(replacing both the resistance and flexible element as separate things).
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-02-08

18. A resistance training machine according to claim 4 or claim 5 and any of claims 5 through 14 it is important to acknowledge the difference between a machine that uses a resistance tube as a resistance element separate from the flexible elements(cables)(such as a cable weight lifting machine) and a machine where the resistance tube(resistance element) is the flexible element(replacing both the resistance and flexible element as separate things).

19. A resistance training machine according to claim 14 wherein the end of the flexible element is connected to a carriage without a bar may be pulled by the user using a bar (eg: a tricep press v bar), rope(s), strap(s), handle(s), or band(s), while the other end on the other linear guide is connected to a half bar or one side of a bar;
Date Recue/Date Received 2023-02-08