GB2562759A - Adjustable dumbbell - Google Patents

Abstract

An adjustable dumbbell 10 comprises an internally threaded tubular dumbbell handle 20, a pair of retainer pins 42 each having a stop plate 50 mounted perpendicularly on a narrow shaft 46 with the other end of narrow shaft 46 concentrically adjoining an externally threaded wide shaft 48, a pair of collars 28 having a central hole 36 and two apertures 38 & 40, and a plurality of weight plates 54 each having a slot 58 and a central aperture 56. The shaft 44 passes through the central hole 36 to screw into the tubular dumbbell handle 20 at each end. The stop plate 50 couples one of the apertures on the collar to either expose or conceal the narrow shaft 46. The narrow shaft 46 is exposed to mount/dismount the slotted weight plates 54 and concealed within the collar 28 in order to secure the weight plates 54 between the collar 28 and tubular dumbbell handle 20.

Description

(71) Applicant(s):

Perdip Singh Dosanjh

Wisteria Way, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, CV10 7SS, United Kingdom (72) Inventor(s):

Perdip Singh Dosanjh (74) Agent and/or Address for Service:

Perdip Singh Dosanjh

Wisteria Way, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, CV10 7SS, United Kingdom (51) INT CL:

A63B 21/072 (2006.01) (56) Documents Cited:

US 4529197 A (58) Field of Search:

INT CL A63B

Other: WPI, EPODOC, INTERNET (54) Title of the Invention: Adjustable dumbbell

Abstract Title: Adjustable weight Dumbbell with threaded locking means (57) An adjustable dumbbell 10 comprises an internally threaded tubular dumbbell handle 20, a pair of retainer pins 42 each having a stop plate 50 mounted perpendicularly on a narrow shaft 46 with the other end of narrow shaft 46 concentrically adjoining an externally threaded wide shaft 48, a pair of collars 28 having a central hole 36 and two apertures 38 & 40, and a plurality of weight plates 54 each having a slot 58 and a central aperture 56. The shaft 44 passes through the central hole 36 to screw into the tubular dumbbell handle 20 at each end. The stop plate 50 couples one of the apertures on the collar to either expose or conceal the narrow shaft 46. The narrow shaft 46 is exposed to mount/dismount the slotted weight plates 54 and concealed within the collar 28 in order to secure the weight plates 54 between the collar 28 and tubular dumbbell handle 20.

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Adjustable Dumbbell

This invention relates to an adjustable dumbbell.

A dumbbell is a weighted piece of equipment that is used in exercising the body for the purposes of fitness and strength training. A dumbbell can be used individually in one hand or as a pair, with one in each hand to perform a variety of exercises that can target almost every part of the body. Exercises include bicep curls, triceps extensions, shoulder presses, chest flyes, lunges and squats. Dumbbells in one form or another have been around for a very long time, dating as far back as ancient Greece. The simplicity and effectiveness of dumbbells make them one of the most popular pieces of fitness apparatus available today. For many years now the most common adjustable dumbbell has consisted of a cylindrical bar which is approximately twelve inches long and one inch in diameter. There is a centrally placed gripping area with a space either side of three to four inches in which weight plates with a central aperture can be mounted. The weight plates are then held in place by a retaining collar, one at each end. The majority of retaining collars used are types which slide onto the ends of the bar and then tightened to secure the weight plates in place. These types of retaining collars are held in place by the friction created between the retaining collar and the bar. One popular type of a friction held retaining collar is the spring clip collar which is constructed from a cylindrical metal rod that is approximately 3mm in diameter, which is coiled three to four times before branching off into two prongs. Squeezing the prongs together loosen the coil enough, allowing it to slide onto bar up to the mounted weight plates. Releasing the prongs tightens the coil around the bar to keep the weight plates in place. Another common type of friction held retaining collar is a metal ring which slides onto the bar and has a set bolt screwed through the metal ring that can be tightened against the bar. The methods for tightening depend on the set bolt used and include tightening by hand or by using a tool such as a wrench or an l-shaped tool referred to as an alien key or hex key. Other types of retaining collars are also available that work on the principle of friction being used to hold the collar in place. The retaining collar needs to be reliable as dumbbells will be used in actions that require swinging, lowering and raising at various speeds and sometimes in a vigorous fashion.

There is a safety issue associated with friction held retaining collars especially in positions where a dumbbell is held with the bar perpendicular to the floor in order to do a specific exercise. During such exercises a downward force is created on the retaining collar which can cause it to slip off and separate from the bar which will result in weight plates detaching from the bar and falling in unpredictable directions. Serious injury can occur to the user and also people around them. There is always an element of risk involved when using these type of retaining collars. It is quite often the case that the retaining collars are simply not adequate for the amount of weight that they have to contain regardless of the care and attention used to secure them. Also the user whilst exercising with dumbbells may subconsciously be aware of the possibility a collar slipping which prevents them from training correctly with complete confidence and to their full potential.

Another annoyance with these types of dumbbell is the bar protruding out at the ends, this added with the irregular shape of retaining collars makes certain exercises awkward, for instance some exercises require the user to be in a seated starting position with the dumbbells placed vertically on the tops of their thighs. With the protruding bar ends the user may start in a position that is not ideal or comfortable resulting in the exercise being performed incorrectly leading to a possible injury.

Another annoyance is the number of steps involved in mounting and dismounting the weight plates. The retaining collars have to be fully removed from the bar ends, sometimes requiring a tool, placed down and then relocated and replaced after adjusting the weight plates.

To overcome the problem regarding safety concerns with friction held retaining collars becoming detached from the dumbbell whilst in use, the present invention proposes using retaining collars which are more secure and inseparable.

The present invention will also overcome the problems of the protruding bar ends and the problem of fully removing the collars whilst mounting and dismounting the weight plates which can be a hindrance especially if a tool is required to do so.

This invention is directed towards an adjustable dumbbell comprising a tubular dumbbell handle having a central holding portion and an external flange at each end of the central holding portion. The tubular dumbbell handle is internally threaded from one end to the other end.

A pair of retainer pins are provided each having a shaft mounted perpendicularly and preferably concentrically onto a preferably rectangular stop plate. The shaft has two portions, a narrow shaft portion and a wide shaft portion. The narrow shaft has a first end and a second end. First end of the narrow shaft adjoining the stop plate and the second end concentrically adjoining the wide shaft. The wide shaft has an exterior thread.

A pair of collars are provided which are preferably cylindrically shaped and have a surface texture to aid convenient grasping. Each collar has an outer face opposite to an inner face and in between these two faces is a gripping face. The collars have a central hole which extends concentrically from the surface of the inner face towards the outer face and which is dimensioned to allow the insertion of the shaft. Two apertures extend preferably perpendicularly from the surface of the outer face towards the inner face.

One is a shallow aperture and the other having greater depth is a deep aperture. Both apertures are dimensioned to allow a coupling interaction with the stop plate on the retainer pin. Only one of the apertures can be coupled with the stop plate at any given time. The tubular dumbbell handle, retainer pin and collar are assembled in an operable combination where the shaft end of the retainer pin passes through the central hole of the collar, in the direction of outer face to inner face, the exterior thread on the wide shaft cooperates with the internal thread of the tubular dumbbell handle to screw into the tubular dumbbell handle, one retainer pin and one collar for each end of the tubular dumbbell handle. The stop plate at the end of the retainer pin physically blocks the collars from being detached from the dumbbell.

In this assembled combination the collar can be engaged so that either the shallow aperture or deep aperture is coupled with stop plate on the retainer pin. Engaging the shallow aperture with the stop plate totally conceals the narrow shaft within the collar. Engaging the deep aperture with the stop plate and sliding the collar outwards exposes the narrow shaft.

A plurality of weight plates are provided. The weight plates are preferably circular in shape and uniform in diameter, have a slot extending from their outer edge to a central aperture. The slot is dimensioned so that the weight plate can be inserted by its slot over the narrow shaft on the retainer pin and the central aperture is dimensioned to allow the weight plate to be inserted over the wide shaft of the retainer pin.

To mount, dismount and secure the weight plates the adjustable dumbbell must firstly be assembled in the operable combination described earlier. Mounting and dismounting the weight plates is only possible when the narrow shaft is exposed and securing the weight plates can only happen when the narrow shaft is safely concealed within the collar.

The weight plates are mounted by inserting them by their slot over the narrow shaft all the way to the weight plate's central aperture. The weight plates are then inserted by their central aperture over the wide shaft of the retainer pin.

To secure the weight plates in place at each end of the tubular dumbbell handle the shallow aperture on the collar is coupled with the stop plate on the retainer pin to totally conceal the narrow shaft safely within the collar. In this coupled combination the collar's gripping face is grasped and continually rotated clockwise, screwing the wide shaft of the retainer pin into the tubular dumbbell handle until the weight plates are tightly secured between the inner face of the collar and the flanged stop end of the tubular dumbbell handle.

For users requiring heavier dumbbells preferably a second set of retainer pins will be provided where the length of the wide shaft is extended to allow more weight plates to be mounted onto the dumbbell. With the narrow shaft safely concealed within the collar there is no danger of the mounted weight plates slipping out along their slot.

This arrangement totally eliminates the risk associated with friction held retaining collars becoming detached from the dumbbell whilst in use, allowing the user to exercise in complete confidence.

The present invention also overcomes the problem of protruding bar ends. The adjustable dumbbell adjusts in length accordingly with the number of weight plates mounted, the collars being the only part of the adjustable dumbbell that protrude past the weight plates at each end. The collars preferably have smoothed edges and are user friendly compared to the protruding bar ends and irregularly shaped collars of the prior art.

The problem of fully removing the collars whilst mounting and dismounting the weight plates, which can be a persistent annoyance especially if a tool is required in order to do so, is also overcome. The stop plates on the end of the retainer pins physically prevents the collars from being completely detached from the adjustable dumbbell making the collars readily available for mounting, dismounting and securing the weight plates in place.

The invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the assembled adjustable dumbbell,

Figure 2 shows an exploded view of the adjustable dumbbell,

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the tubular dumbbell handle,

Figure 4 shows a cross sectional view of the tubular dumbbell handle,

Figure 5 shows a perspective view of the retainer pin,

Figure 6 shows a perspective view of the weight plate,

Figure 7 shows a perspective view of the collar displaying the outer face,

Figure 8 shows a perspective view of the collar displaying the inner face,

Figure 9 shows a cross sectional view of the dumbbell with the narrow shaft shown in exposed and concealed positions,

Figure 10 shows a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the collar.

In Figure 1, a perspective view of an assembled adjustable dumbbell 10 is shown and in Figure 2 an exploded view of the adjustable dumbbell is shown. Figure 1 is shown with three weight plates 54 on each side and Figure 2 shows one weight plate 54 on each side. A tubular dumbbell handle 20 is shown and to better advantage in Figures 3 and 4, having a central holding portion 22 which is used to grip the dumbbell and a flanged stop end 24 mounted perpendicularly and concentrically at each end of the tubular dumbbell handle 20. An internal thread 26 extends from one end of the tubular dumbbell handle 20 to the other end.

In Figures 2 and 9 and better advantage in Figure 5 a retainer pin 42 is shown. The retainer pin 42 having a shaft 44 and a stop plate 50. The shaft 44 comprising of a narrow shaft 46 and a wide shaft 48. One end of the narrow shaft 46 concentrically adjoins the wide shaft 48 and the other end adjoins the stop plate 50. The stop plate 50 is mounted concentrically and perpendicularly onto the narrow shaft 46. The wide shaft 48 has an exterior thread 52 which is dimensioned to fit the internal thread 26 of the tubular dumbbell handle 20 allowing a retainer pin 42 to be screwed into the tubular dumbbell handle 20, one retainer pin 42 for each end.

Figures 1, 2 and 9 and to better advantage in Figures 7 and 8 a collar 28 is shown. The collar 28 is shown having three surfaces, an outer face 30, a gripping face 32 and an inner face 34. The collar 28 has a central hole 36 which is concentrically positioned and travels perpendicularly from the surface of the inner face 34 towards the direction of the outer face 30 and which is dimensioned to allow the insertion of the shaft 44. The outer face 30 is shown to best advantage in Figure 7 and the inner face is shown to best advantage in Figure 8. Extending from the surface of the outer face 30 towards the direction of the inner face 34 two apertures are shown, a shallow aperture 38 and a deep aperture 40. Both apertures are dimensioned to allow a coupling action with the stop plate 50 of the retainer pin 42. Each central hole 36 has an outer edge 35 and an inner edge 37. The distance between the outer edge 35 and inner edge 37 is variable depending on factors such as the dimensions of the stop plate 50, shallow aperture 38 and deep aperture 40. For example in Figures 7 and 10 two different embodiments of the collar 28 are shown, Figure 7 shows the preferred embodiment and Figure 10 shows an alternative embodiment for the collar 28. In Figure 7 the shallow aperture 38 and deep aperture 40 are dimensioned to couple a stop plate 50 which is rectangular and crosses the central hole 36 and Figure 10 shows a shallow aperture 38 and deep aperture 40 which are located to one side of the central hole 36 and dimensioned to couple a smaller rectangular stop plate 50. It can clearly be seen that the depth of the central hole 36, that is the distance between the inner edge 37 and outer edge 35, is greater in Figure 10 than in Figure 7.

Figure 2 shows how the retainer pin 42 and collar 28 will be arranged in an operable combination with the tubular dumbbell handle 20. The retainer pin's shaft 44 will pass through the central hole 36 of the collar 28 in the direction of outer face 30 to inner face 34 and screw into the tubular dumbbell handle 20. One retainer pin 42 and one collar 28 for each end of the tubular dumbbell handle 20. The stop plate 50 on the retainer pin 42 will prevent the collar from becoming detached from the retainer pin 42. The stop plate 50 is dimensioned so it can be coupled with both the shallow aperture 38 and the deep aperture 40 but with only one of the apertures at any given time. To couple the collar 28, it is held by its gripping face 32 and rotated so that the required aperture aligns and then engages with the stop plate 50. When the stop plate 50 is coupled with the shallow aperture 38 the narrow shaft 46 of the retainer pin 42 is concealed within the collar 28. When the stop plate 50 is coupled with the deep aperture 40 the collar 28 can slide outwards, that is, in the direction away from the tubular dumbbell handle 20 until the stop plate 50 prevents the collar 28 from moving any further, to expose the narrow shaft 46.

Figure 9 shows a cross sectional view of the dumbbell 10 showing the exposed and concealed positions of the narrow shaft 46. On the left hand side the stop plate 50 is coupled with the shallow aperture 38 of the collar 28 and the right hand side shows the stop plate 50 coupled with the deep aperture 40 of the collar 28. To gain a better viewing advantage the stop plates 50 are shown positioned in a vertical orientation. On the left hand side of the tubular dumbbell handle 20 the stop plate 50 is shown coupled with the shallow aperture 38 with the retainer pin 42 tightly screwed into the tubular dumbbell handle 20 concealing the narrow shaft 46 within the collar 28. The right hand side shows the retainer pin 42 as being partially unscrewed and the stop plate 50 coupled with the deep aperture 40 to expose the narrow shaft 46.

Screwing and unscrewing actions between the retainer pin 42 and tubular dumbbell handle 20 can take place by grasping the gripping face 32 of the collar 28 and rotating clockwise or anticlockwise whilst the stop plate 50 on the retainer pin 42 is engaged with either of the apertures.

Exposing and concealing the narrow shaft 46 plays a vital role when mounting, dismounting and securing the weight plates 54, shown in Figures 1, 2 and 9 and to better advantage in Figure 6. The weight plates 54 are preferably circular in shape and have a central aperture 56. A slot 58 extends from the weight plate's 54 outer edge to the central aperture 56. The slot 58 is dimensioned to allow the weight plate 54 to be inserted over the narrow shaft 46 of the retainer pin 42 and the central aperture 56 is dimensioned to allow the weight plate 54 to be inserted over the wide shaft 48 of the retainer pin 42. In order to mount or dismount the slotted weight plates 54 the narrow shaft 46 must be exposed.

In describing the process for exposing the narrow shaft 46 in order to mount or dismount the weight plates 54 it will be assumed that the stop plate 50 of the retainer pin 42 is coupled with the shallow aperture 38 concealing the narrow shaft 46 within the collar 28 and the wide shaft 48 of the retainer pin 42 is screwed into the tubular dumbbell handle 20, as shown on the left hand side in Figure 9. From this position the shaft 44 is unscrewed by grasping the gripping face 32 of the collar 28 and rotating anti-clockwise until enough space has been made available on the wide shaft 48 to accommodate the required weight plates 54 to be mounted. Unscrew further to create an additional space on the wide shaft 44 which is just greater than the depth of the stop plate 50. This additional space will create a clearance between the collar 28 and the stop plate 50 to allow switching between the exposed and concealed coupling positions. To expose the narrow shaft 46, which is required in order to mount the weight plates, the collar 28 is pushed inwards towards the tubular dumbbell handle 20 until the outer face 30 of the collar 28 clears the stop plate 50 of the retainer pin 42. The collar 28 is rotated to align the stop plate 50 with the deep aperture 40 and then pulled outwards until the stop plate 50 travels as far as possible within the deep aperture 40 exposing the narrow shaft 46. The right hand side of the tubular dumbbell handle 20 in Figure 9 shows an exposed narrow shaft 46.

To mount a weight plate 54, the weight plate 54 is aligned by its slot 58 and inserted over the narrow shaft 46 all the way to the central aperture 56 on the weight plate 54. The weight plate 54 is then inserted by its central aperture 56 over the space created earlier on wide shaft 48. The mounting process is repeated until the required number of weight plates 54 have been loaded.

To safely secure the weight plates 54 in place the stop plate 50 needs to be coupled with the shallow aperture 38 on the collar 28. This is done by sliding the collar 28 inwards towards the tubular dumbbell handle 20 until the outer face 30 of the collar 28 clears the stop plate 50, rotating the collar 28 so that the stop plate 50 is aligned with the shallow aperture 38 and then pulling the collar 28 outwards couples the stop plate 50 with the shallow aperture 38, which totally conceals the narrow shaft 46 within the collar 28. In this coupled position the collar 28 is grasped by its gripping face 32 and continually rotated clockwise which screws the wide shaft 48 into the tubular dumbbell handle 20 until the weight plates 54 are tightly secured between the inner face 34 of the collar 28 and the flanged stop end 24 on the tubular dumbbell handle 20. Figure 1 shows an assembled adjustable dumbbell with the slots 58 of all three weight plates 54 aligned. In reality this will not necessarily be the case. Having a process in place to align the weight plates 54 will provide no overall advantage, the opposite can be said as the unaligned mounted weight plates 54 will actually provide a better weight distribution over the adjustable dumbbell 10.

While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of a preferred embodiment it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims (4)

Claims

1. An adjustable dumbbell which comprises:

a tubular dumbbell handle having a first end and an opposite end, the tubular dumbbell handle having a central holding portion with a flanged stop end mounted perpendicularly at each end of the central holding portion, the tubular dumbbell handle having an internal thread extending from the first end to the opposite end;

a pair of collars, one collar for the first end of the tubular dumbbell handle and one collarforthe opposite end of the tubular dumbbell handle, each collar having an inner face, gripping face and an outer face, each collar having a concentrically located central hole, each collar having a shallow aperture extending from surface of the outer face towards the direction of the inner face, each collar having a deep aperture extending from surface of the outer face towards the direction of the inner face, the deep aperture having greater depth than the shallow aperture;

a pair of retainer pins, one retainer pin for the first end of the tubular dumbbell handle and one retainer pin for the opposite end of the tubular dumbbell handle, each retainer pin having a shaft and a stop plate, each shaft having a narrow shaft and a wide shaft, the narrow shaft having a first end and a second end, the first end of the narrow shaft concentrically adjoins one end of the wide shaft, the stop plate is mounted perpendicularly onto the second end of the narrow shaft, the wide shaft having an exterior thread, the exterior thread extends either partially or fully along the length of the wide shaft, each shaft dimensioned to allow it to be inserted through the central hole of the collar, each wide shaft dimensioned to allow the exterior thread of the wide shaft to be compatible with the internal thread of the tubular dumbbell handle, each retainer pin dimensioned to allow the stop plate to couple either the shallow aperture or the deep aperture on the collar, coupling the stop plate with shallow aperture conceals the narrow shaft within the collar, coupling the stop plate with the deep aperture exposes the narrow shaft;

and a plurality of weight plates, each weight plate having a central aperture, each weight plate having a slot extending from the outer edge of the weight plate to the central aperture, the slot is dimensioned to allow the weight plate to be inserted over the narrow shaft of the retainer pin, the central aperture is dimensioned to allow the weight plate to be inserted over the wide shaft of the retainer pin;

the retainer pins, collars and tubular dumbbell handle are assembled in an operable combination for the purpose of mounting, dismounting and securing the weight plates where the retainer pin is inserted, wide shaft end first, through the central hole of the collar from direction of outer face to inner face and screwed into the tubular dumbbell handle, one retainer pin and one collar for the first end of the tubular dumbbell handle and one retainer pin and collar for the opposite end of the tubular dumbbell handle, the stop plate prevents the collar from becoming fully detached from the retainer pin, to mount a weight plate the narrow shaft is firstly exposed by coupling the stop plate of the retainer pin with the deep aperture on the collar, the weight plates are inserted by their slot over the exposed narrow shaft, after which the weight plate is inserted by its central aperture over the wide shaft of the retainer pin, to safely secure the weight plates in place the stop plate is coupled with the shallow aperture on the collar to conceal the narrow shaft within the collar, in this coupled combination the collar is grasped by its gripping face and continually rotated clockwise to screw the coupled shaft into the tubular dumbbell handle until the weight plates are tightly secured between the flanged stop end of the tubular dumbbell handle and the innerface of the collar.

2. A dumbbell according to claim 1, in which the weight plates are uniform in diameter.

3. A dumbbell according to claim 1, in which the central holding portion of the tubular dumbbell handle is dimensioned to aid gripping.

4. A dumbbell according to claim 1, in which the collar is dimensioned for convenient gripping and rotating actions.

Application No: GB1708313.0 Examiner: Gareth Jones