GB2175511A - Exercise apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

For use with exercise apparatus that includes one or more rigid elongate members pivotally mounted at their lower ends (such as that disclosed in GB 2147212A) there is provided at attachment in the form of a belt (2, 4) to be worn by the user and provided with a pair of sockets (22) in which the upper ends of respective elongate members are located. One or more of the elongate members may be adapted to hold a detachable weight, to enable e.g. power building exercises to be performed. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Exercise apparatus This invention relates to apparatus for physical exercise.

In my Patent Application 83.265611 describe an exercise apparatus that includes at least one rigid elongate member provided with a mounting at its lower end that permits pivot movements about axes transverse to the longitudinal axis of the member, the user applying force to the upper end of said at least one member in order to perform physical exercise against the reaction of the mounting.

The present invention is concerned with further exercise apparatus of this form, and according to one aspect of the invention the apparatus is provided with a flexible attachment adapted to be worn on the body of the user, said attachment having at least one engagement for the upper end of said elongate member.

In a preferred form of the invention, there are two laterally spaced engagements for respective members, arranged to be disposed symmetrically when the attachment is worn. The engagements may be composed of sockets or spigots projecting from the body.

Such apparatus may be of a form particularly adapted for exercises simulating running, it being arranged that the user wears the attachment on his torso, preferably so that the engagements for the members lie approximately at the level of his centre of gravity-for which purpose the attachment can conveniently be in the form of a waist belt.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the elongate member or at least one of said elongate members of the apparatus has means for holding a detachable weight. In this form the apparatus can be used for so-called power building exercises, as practised by athletes such as weight lifters. A series of detachable weights can of course be provided, of different sizes, allowing graduated exercises to be performed. For power building exercises said means preferably allow the weight to be located adjacent a handle portion at said upper end of the member, but for other kinds of exercise it may be desired to locate the weight closer to the lower end mounting.

In one arrangement, the apparatus provided with a weight or weights is arranged to be used with a single said elongate member to the upper end of which a cross piece is attached, rotatable about an axis transverse to the member and comprising a pair of hand grips on opposite sides of the member.

Other arrangements are possible and if the weights are intended to be mounted close to the user's limbs, for example ifthe mounting is provided immediately below an oblique hand grip such as is described in my earlier patent application, the weights are preferably shaped to avoid obstruction and are held non-rotatably on the member.

The mounting may thus comprise a portion of non-circular cross-section and a collar fixed to said portion as a platform on which a weight or weights can rest. A detachable weight for use with such apparatus may comprise a shaped mass having a non-circular aperture through which it can be held non-rotatably on the mounting, and an external profile comprising at least one concave portion extending close to said aperture, so as to provide clearance in use.

Examples of the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a plan view of a flexible waist belt attachment according to one aspect of the invention, Fig. 2 is a front view of one of the mountings of the attachment, Fig. 3 is a partially sectioned frontview of a cross bar form of handle for apparatus according to a further aspect of the invention, Fig. 4 is a plan view of the central portion of the cross-bar, Fig. 5 illustrates a spigot-like adaptor which can be used with the cross-bar as a holder for weights, and Figs. 6 and 7 are plan and sectional views of a weight intended to be used with the adaptor of Fig.

5.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the belt attachment shown there comprises a flexible belt made up from two lengths of webbing 2, 4, the first with terminal loops 2a, 2b, through which the other length of webbing 4 is run to leave ends 4a, 4b free. A bearing frame 8 is attached between these free ends 4a, 4b.

The frame comprises two socket mountings 10 jointed by a resilient strap 12 having its ends turned over to engage the mountings loosely. Each webbing end 4a, 4b is doubled back through a slot 16 in its mounting and is held frictionally buy a ring 18, so that the webbing 4 can be adjusted in length between the rings 18 to vary the belt girth in orderto grip the waist of the user firmly.

The mountings each comprise a socket 22 set obliquely to the plane containing the end connections of the mounting. An angle of 45" is shown, but thiss can be varied. The illustrated mountings have a fabricated metal construction, with the socket mounted on a base formed by a plate 24 having two short U-shaped rods 26, 28 mounted to it to provide the end connections to the webbing and the strap 12, and a further U-shaped rod 30 projecting from the plate to reinforce the attachment of the socket to the plate. It is also possible to form the mounting as a cast or moulded unit in metal or plastics.

It should be noted that when the belt is worn, the mountings 10 are able to pivot independently of each other. Because of the flexibility of the webbing and the relatively large curvature of the turned over ends of the strap 12, pivoting is possible not only about axes perpendicular to the plane of Fig. 1, but also about axes in that plane.

The belt attachment is intended for use with the elongate rods and base bracket described in my earlier Patent Application 83.26561, the lower ends of the rods having ball-joint connections with the base brackets described there, and the ends of the rods being inserted in the sockets 10 instead of receiving hand grips. (It will be understood that spigots can be provided instead as male mountings for the rods.) The sockets on the attachment are more widely spaced than those in the base bracket, for example, having a 230 mm spread as compared with a 150 mm spread between the sockets from the base bracket.

In use, a variety of exercises can be performed during which the wea rer's weight is thrown onto the rods to a greater or lesser extent. In particular, running exercises can be performed with the body inclined forwards in the natural manner with the rods resisting any forwards movement. Because of the pivoting freedom of the rods at both ends, the vertical and sideways displacements that occur in running can be accommodated without disturbance, particularly since the reaction from the rods is applied close to the centre of gravity of the wearer.

The divergence of the rods due to the wider spacing of the sockets 22 has a stabilising influence when lateral displacements occur. The attachment can also be worn reversed, i.e. to allow the wearer to perform exercises in which his weight is thrown backwards onto the rods.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate a cross-bar handle to be used with a single elongate rod held by a ball-joint connection in a base bracket as described in my earlier patent application. The handle comprises a circular cross-section tube 42 through which a tubular handle bar 44 extends, with hand grips 46 on its opposite ends projecting from the tube. Flange plates 48 depend on opposite sides of the central region of the tube to hold between them a squaresection tubular piece 50 in which a circular socket 52 is secured by spacer pads 54. The handle bar is mounted in nylon bushes 56 held in the ends of the central tube by fixing screws 58 and is located axially by distance pieces 60 fixed to the bar 44 and positioned at a small clearance from the inner ends of the nylon bushes. The span of the handle bar is some 700 mm.

It will be noted that, in use, the unit has full pivoting freedom on the balljoint at the lower end of the rod connecting it to the base bracket, and also the handle bar can rotate on its own axis.

A spigot-like adaptor 62 that can be used with the cross-bar of Figs. 3 and 4 is shown in Fig. 5. It is intended to be interposed between the cross-bar and the elongate rod and comprises a circular crosssection tube 64 the lower end of which can be pushfitted onto the swaged upper end of the rod, while the upper end 66 of the tube is similarly swaged so as to have a push fit in the socket 52 of the cross-bar.

Embracing the circular cross-section tube 64 and rigidly fixed to it is a square cross-section tube 68, terminating at a disc-like collar 70 near its lower end.

Below the collar a reinforcing sleeve 68a is fixed to the tube 68.

The purpose of the adaptor is to provide a mounting for one or more weights to allow the apparatus to be used for so-called power training. A weight 72 intended for this purpose is illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 and comprises a central boss 74 with a square cross section hole 76 that fits freely onto the square tube of the adaptor so that the weight rests on the collar and cannot rotate on the adaptor.

The profile of the weight is composed of two parallel sides 78 and two opposite concave sides 80.

Thus, when the apparatus is not in use and the handle has been lowered the weight can rest on the floor without rolling and with a relatively low intensity of loading imposed on the floor surface.

Even if laid down with a concave side downwards, the load on the floor is shared between the two ends of the concave face so that there would be less damage from impact by the weight than from an, e.g., circular profile weight of the same mass.

The adaptor 62 and weights 72 can also be used with other attachments, such as the oblique hand grips of my earlier Patent Application 83. 26561 the adaptors being similarly interposed with push fit connections between a rod and its hand grip. The assembly is made so that the weights have one of their concave sides facing the user. In this way, although the hand grip lies close to any weights that are supported on the collar, the concave edge of the profile minimises any obstruction to the wrist or arm of the user. Since the non-circular spigot-like adaptor holding the weights prevents their rotation relative to the hand grip, this alignment is maintained while exercising.

Claims (16)

1. Exercise apparatus including at least one rigid elongate member provided with a mounting at its lower end that permits pivoting movements about axes transverse to the longitudinal axis of the member, and provided with a flexible attachment adapted to be worn on the body of a user and having at least one engagement for the upper end of said elongate member.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the or each engagement projects obliquely from a base member arranged to be held against the body of the user.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the attachment has two laterally spaced engagements for a pair of said members, said engagements arranged to be disposed side by side when the attachment is worn.

4. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein there are two said engagements spaced apart by a substantially rigid connecting member relative to which mutually adjacent ends of the two engagements are pivoted.

5. Apparatus according to any oneof the preceding claims wherein the attachment is in the form of a waist belt.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4 together with claim 5 wherein the belt comprises a flexible strap secured to mutually remote ends of said engagements and the strap is adjustable in length to draw the engagements against the body of the user.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein a further flexible strap is arranged to be disposed between the body of the user and the engagements and their connecting member.

8. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the or each engagement comprises a socket or spigot that projects away from the body of the user.

9. Aflexible attachment for use with exercise apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims.

10. A flexible attachment for use with exercise apparatus, the attachment being comprising a belt to be worn around the waist of the user and a pair of laterally spaced engagements on said belt each comprising a base element and an engagement element projecting obliquely from the base element, and spacer means between and fiexibly connected to the base elements.

11. Exercise apparatus including at least one rigid elongate member provided with a mounting at its lower end that permits pivot movements about axes transverse to the longitudinal axis of the member, a tubular handle attachable to the upper end of said elongate member, the tubular handle having extending through it and rotatably held by it a comprising a pair of hand grips on opposite sides of the handle.

12. Exercise apparatus including at least one rigid elongate member provided with a mounting at its lower end that permits pivot movements about axes transverse to the longitudinal axis of the member, and having mounting means at its upper end for supporting a weight or weights on the member in the region of said end.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12 wherein the mounting means for the weights comprises a portion of non-circular cross-section for retaining the weights against rotation, and a collar fixed to said portion to provide a platform on which the weights can rest.

14. Apparatus according to claim 12 or claim 13 wherein the mounting means comprises means for detachably securing a handle portion to its upper end above the weights.

15. For use with exercise apparatus that includes at least one rigid elorigate member provided with a mounting at its lower end permitting pivot movements about axes transverse to the longitudinal axis of the member and a hand grip at its upper end, a detachable weight having a noncircular aperture by which it can be held nonrotatably on a complementary mounting on the elongate member, and an external profile comprising at least one concave portion extending close to aperture, so as to provide clearance adjacent the hand grip of the member in use.

16. Exercise apparatus constructed and arranged for use substantially as described herein with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 orto Figs. 3 and 4 alone or together with Fig. 5, or to Figs. 6 and 7 alone or together with Fig. 5.