EP0556586A1

EP0556586A1 - Exercise apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP0556586A1
Application number: EP93100951A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Ira C. Edell
Original assignee: Ovation Inc
Current assignee: Ovation Inc
Priority date: 1992-01-22
Filing date: 1993-01-22
Publication date: 1993-08-25

Abstract

An exercise device (10) of the type having a helical spring (11) with V-shaped arms (12,13) is improved by contouring the arms (12,13) to match the surfaces of a person's body through which forces are applied to the device (10). In a preferred embodiment a thigh exerciser (10) has its arms (12,13) bent back toward the spring (11) to define a loop-like platform (18,19), the platform (18,19) being curved or bent to match the contour of the inner thighs of a typical user of the device.

Description

The invention relates to an exercise device of the type comprising a helical spring with opposite ends extending away from the spring.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Technical Field:

The present invention pertains to improvements in exercise apparatus of the type wherein opposite ends of a helical spring extend as arms intended to be forced toward one another against the bias of the spring.

Discussion of the Prior Art:

The prior art is replete with exercise devices of the type wherein the ends of a helical spring extend to form a V configuration. Examples of such devices may be found in the following: U.S. Patent Nos. 1,026,215 (Korth); 4,623,141 (Salvino); 4,483,533 (Mangiapane); Des. 208,787 (Bennstrom-Prescott); Des. 264,737 (Cooper); Des. 322,827 (Bennstrom et al); Italian Patent No. 245,458 (Amedeo); and German Patent Disclosure 1,167,711 (Schmidt-Dincklage). In all of these devices the two arms are intended to be compressed or forced toward one another in opposition to the spring bias to thereby exercise various muscle groups. The spring and arms are typically formed as a single steel bar. In view of the fact that the arms of the bar themselves present too small a surface area to be comfortably engaged by hands, thighs, or other body parts through which force is applied, it is common to secure gripping or contact members on the arms to distribute the applied force over a larger area. Thus, for example, in the Bennstrom-Prescott patent, wide panels with padded ends are secured to the spring arms to facilitate application of force to the arms. The Mangiapane device has circular pads disposed at the ends of the arms for the same purpose. In the Cooper device, rubber sleeve grips encircle the spring arms. The exerciser disclosed by Amedeo includes arms that are bent back toward the spring to provide an elongated loop to which force may be applied. Amedeo also discloses wooden cylindrical handles as alternatives to the looped metal. The Bennstrom et al exerciser also has each arm bent back toward the spring but in a shorter loop having a J-configuration, the arm being surrounded with an elastomeric sleeve. This latter device serves to exercise a variety of muscle groups, including thigh muscles. The elongated loop in Amedeo and the planar J-configuration of the Bennstrom et al spring arms function to provide greater stability than is provided by straight arms when the arms are compressed toward one another between a person's thighs. Specifically, straight spring arms, when compressed between a person's thighs, tend to rotate out of the plane defined by the arms and become displaced, possibly springing out of position and causing injury to the user. Bending each arm back on itself effectively provides a platform comprised of the two bent sections of the arm. The platform stabilizes the arms against the undesired rotation and resulting displacement during use. Achieving such stabilization and increased force application area by merely bending the arms is very cost efficient since no additional parts are required to be secured to the arms. The elastomeric sleeve of Bennstrom et al functions to further distribute and cushion the force applied against the user's thighs or other body parts so as to reduce the pressure and render the device more comfortable. It should be noted that the bent arms also function as handles that are easily gripped when other muscle groups are exercised.
A version of the Bennstrom et al device that has been marketed under the THIGH MASTER trademark includes an efficiently fabricated plastic cover over the helical spring serving to prevent the spring from pinching the user's skin and/or pulling the user's body hair during use of the device. The particular cap design utilizes two cup-shaped sections of flexible plastic, each having a radially projecting hollow stem through which a respective spring arm extends and is caused to slide during assembly. The two cover sections are joined over the spring coil in partially overlapping relation without the need to perform cutting, gluing or other machine operations.
The operationally and economically functional features of the Bennstrom et al apparatus, as described above, are individually well known in the field of exercise devices. For example, and as noted above, enlarging the spring arm surface area for comfortable contact is desired in various patents. Bending the arms back toward the spring to facilitate use and provide comfort is disclosed by Amedeo. The desirability of an elastomeric sleeve surrounding a metal bar is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,296,924 (Anzaldua et at) for the purpose of providing padding against the user's arms, legs, etc.
In using the Bennstrom et al device for thigh exercises in the manner instructed by one manufacturer thereof, it has been found that the device tends to slip out of engagement with the user's thighs by moving within the plane of the V configuration. This is particularly true when the person using the device is wearing leotards, or the like, made of low friction material such as Lycra. It is desirable, therefore, that this disadvantage be eliminated from the device without adversely affecting any of its other desirable functional features.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to improve the Bennstrom et al exercise apperatus to prevent it from disengaging or slipping from between a person's thighs when the device is in use. This object must be attained without adverse effect on the desirable functions of the device as described above.
The aforesaid object is achieved by modifying the Bennstrom et al exerciser whereby the bent back arms are also curved out of plane to generally follow part of the circumferential contour of the thighs of a typical user of the exerciser. The curve is achieved by slightly bending both the main arm portion and the bent back portion at the same distal location (i.e., at the same distance from the helical spring axis). The slight bend in each spring arm is on the order of twenty degrees and in a direction to increase the divergence angle between the spring arms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and still further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of a specific embodiment thereof, particularly when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals in the various figures are utilized to designate like components, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective and partially exploded of the exercise device of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is an end view in elevation of the exercise device of Fig. 1 with its padded sleeves removed for purposes of illustrating the out of plane bend feature of the present invention;
Fig. 3 is a detailed view in partial section of the exercise device of Fig. 1 illustrating the manner in which the spring arms extend from the spring cap and into the padding sleeve; and
Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic illustration of one manner in which the exercise devise of the present invention can be utilized to exercise thigh muscles.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring specifically to the drawings, and Fig. 2 in particular, an exercise device 10 according to the present invention includes a steel rod bent to form a helical spring 11 having a plurality of windings and opposite ends extending as respective arms 12, 13. The windings or coils of spring 11 are disposed in successive abutting relation. Arms 12 and 13 diverge to define an angle therebetween that is preferably on the order of ninety degrees; however, it is to be understood that a considerably smaller angle (e.g., on the order of thirty-five to forty degrees) or a somewhat larger angle (e.g., on the order of one hundred twenty degrees) may be desirable for some applications.
Each arm 12, 13 takes the form of an elongated loop. Specifically, arm 12 includes; a first length section 12a extending from one end of spring 11; an arcuate section 12c extending from the distal end of section 12a and bending through slightly more than one hundred eighty degrees in a direction generally back toward spring 11; and a second length section 12b extending from the opposite end of arcuate section 12c toward the spring. Length section 12b in the illustrated embodiment extends to approximately eighty percent of the length of section 12a. It is within the scope of the present invention that section 12c have a length in the range of fifty to one hundred percent of the length of section 12a. Arm 13 has sections 13a, 13b and 13c substantially identical in shape and size to sections 12a, 12b and 12c, respectively. The bending of arcuate sections 12c and 13c through slightly more than one hundred eighty degrees (e.g., typically one hundred ninety degrees to two hundred degrees) results in sections 12b and 13b converging toward but never meeting sections 12a and 13a, respectively.
The length sections of each arm 12, 13 are also bent slightly proximate their arcuate sections to increase the divergence angle between the arms beyond those bends. In particular, arm sections 12a and 12b have slight bends 12d at a location approximately three-quarters of the distance from spring 11 to the distal portion of arcuate section 12c. Arm sections 13a and 13b have a substantially identical bend 13d. Bends 12d and 13d are on the order of twenty degrees and are in opposite directions (i.e., away from one another). The result is to cause the distal portion of arms 12 and 13 to diverge at a greater angle than the proximal portions. Bends 12d and 13d are optimally twenty degrees as stated; however, these bends may be anywhere within the range of approximately ten degrees to approximately thirty-five degrees. The precise location of bends 12d and 13d is not critical, but it is preferable that the bends be located within the distal one-third of the length of the respective arms. In a typical embodiment, wherein the arms extend eleven inches from spring windings 11, the bends 12d and 13d are located seven and three-quarter inches from the spring windings. Each steel arm 12, 13 is thus formed in two planes intersecting at respective bends 12d and 13d. One of the planes in arm 12 is defined by the major portions of co-planar arm lengths 12a and 12b; the other plane is defined by arcuate sections 12c and the smaller portions of arm lengths 12a and 12b disposed distally of bends 12d. Similarly, one plane in arm 13 is defined by the major portions of co-planar arm lengths 13a and 13b the other plane is defined by arcuate section 13c and the smaller portions of length sections 13a and 13b disposed distally of bends 13d.
As best illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, a cap is provided for spring 11 to prevent the coils from pinching a person's skin or hair when the device is in use. The cap includes two cup sections 14 and 15 made of semi-rigid plastic material. Cup sections 14, and 15 have respective hollow sleeves 16 and 17 extending a short distance tangentially therefrom. In assembling the cap on the metal spring 10, the free end of distal spring lengths 12a and 13a are inserted into respective cup sections 14 end 15 and forced out through respective stems 16 and 17. The cup sections must be distorted somewhat in performing this operation, hence the need for semi-rigid plastic as opposed to entirely rigid plastic material for the cup sections. With the spring arm extending through the stem, the cup suction is slid along the entire arm until the open end of the cup section overlies a corresponding end of spring 11. The axial lengths of cup sections 14 and 15 are greater than half the axial length of the spring, and one cup section is provided with a slightly larger diameter then the other. Accordingly, a portion of the smaller diameter cup section fits axially into a portion of the larger diameter cup section to assure an overlap that fully covers the spring 11. In this deployed position of the cup sections, a short length of the proximal ends of arm sections 12a and 13a reside in respective stems 16 and 17.
Once the cap is in place, the arms 12 and 13 are covered with respective padded sleeves 18 and 19 as best illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3. Sleeves 18 and 19 are suitable elastomeric plastic or rubber material conventionally employed for sleeve type handles in exercise equipment; for example, see U.S. Patent Nos. 4,861,022 (Boatcallie), 4,296,294 (Anzaldua et al) and Des. 332,827 (Bennstrom et al). The sleeves have a small axially centered bore extending their entire length to permit the sleeves to snugly fit on the steel arms 12 and 13. Insertion of the arms in the sleeve is achieved by forcing the free ends of arm sections 12c and 13c into the sleeve bores and sliding the sleeve along the entire lengths of the arms until the sleeves overlie stems 16 and 17 and abut the outside of cup sections 14 and 15. To facilitate insertion of the metal arms through the sleeves, the metal arms may be appropriately lubricated with grease, or the like. The sleeves thus conform to the bends in the spring arms 12 and 13; however, by virtue of the greater thickness of the sleeves, the various curves and bends in the arms appear more gradual. This is mostly evident at bends 12d and 13d which, when covered by the sleeves, appear as smoother and more gradual curves than is the case for the steel bar. The sleeves must be long enough to at least cover the entireties of arms 12 and 13. If the arm sections 12c and 13c do not extend all the way back to the spring 11, the sleeve may extend beyond the free ends of these sections to prevent inadvertent exposure of the ends of the steel arms during use of the device.
The bends 12d and 13d in the spring arms permit the arms to more closely follow the contours of a person's thighs when the device is used in the manner illustrated in Fig. 4. Specifically, the arms are placed adjacent the inner surfaces of respective thighs so that movement of the thighs together requires the user to exert force with muscles in both thighs. Such thigh exercises may be performed when the person is seated, as illustrated, or lying on his or her side. The device may be deployed with the coils and cover facing forward relative to the user (as illustrated) or rearward. Further, the arms of the device may contact the thighs at a location intermediate the knees and hips, as illustrated, to permit the diverging contours of the arms to optimally match the thigh surfaces; alternatively, the device may be placed right at the knees with sides of the knee bones substantially framed by the arcuate ends of the loops defining arms 12 and 13. In any of those deployments, the spring arms, by being bent toward the coils, define respective loops serving as platforms to distribute reactive forces over a wider surface area of the user's body. The bends 12d and 13d further enlarge the surface area of force application, particularly for thigh exercises.
In a preferred embodiment of exercise device 10 the spring is made of a steel bar having a one-quarter inch diameter; sleeves 18 and 19 have an outside diameter of one and five-eighth inch and an inner bore with a one-quarter inch diameter.
From the foregoing description it will be appreciated that the invention makes available a novel exercise device whereby spring-biased arms are arcuately contoured to match the contour of a person's body to increase the area of the device over which muscle forces are applied.
Having described a preferred embodiment of a new exercise device constructed in accordance with the present invention, it is believed that other modifications, variations and changes will be suggested to persons skilled in the art in view of the foregoing disclosure It is therefore to be understood that all such variations, modifications and changes are believed to fall within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

In an exercise device of the type comprising a helical spring with opposite ends extending away from the spring to form mutually divergent arms adopted to be forced toward one another against a bias force provided by the spring, the arms being bent back toward the spring to define respective platform loops, an improved configuration wherein said arms have further bends at corresponding sites along their lengths to increase the angle of divergence between the arms proximate their distal ends.
An exercise device according to claim 1 wherein said further bend in each arm defines an intersection for first and second planar arm sections.
An exercise device according to claim 1 wherein said further bend is on the order of twenty degrees.
An exercise device according to claim 1 further comprising elastomeric sleeves surrounding said arms and extending over the entire lengths of said arms.
An exercise device in the form of a spring having arms against which forces are exerted by portions of a person's body during prescribed exercises, and wherein said arms are contoured to match said portions of a person's body.