US20060148624A1

US20060148624A1 - Bench press

Info

Publication number: US20060148624A1
Application number: US11/068,352
Authority: US
Inventors: Sang-Wook Bae
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-01-03
Filing date: 2005-02-28
Publication date: 2006-07-06
Also published as: KR200380503Y1

Abstract

The bench press allows the user to control the increase and decrease of weights without assistance, so as to achieve maximal physical effect and can safely exercise. The bench press includes a frame having a bench on which the user lies and a support for supporting a barbell, a first cable having an end that is connected to the barbell and hanging the barbell through a first pulley that is rotatably installed in the frame, a second pulley, to which the other end of the first cable is connected, rotatably installed in the frame, a cam-shaped pulley rotated together the second pulley, a second cable having an end connected to the cam-shaped pulley, and a foothold, to which the other end of the second cable is connected, provided in the frame so that the user moves the foothold to pull the second cable.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 20-2005-0000021 filed Jan. 3, 2005, the technical disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bench press used to strengthen the chest and arm muscles, and more particularly to a bench press in which a user can control the increase and decrease of weight without assistance, so as to achieve maximal physical effect, and which allows one to safely exercise.
2. Description of the Related Art
A bench press is a type of sports equipment, which is used to strengthen the chest and arm muscles. The bench press is operated by lying on a bench, positioning the arms at predetermined intervals, so as to grasp a barbell supported on supports, and then raising and lowering the barbell repeatedly.
In conventional bench presses, if the user is unable to support the barbell due to exhaustion, resulting from extended lowering and raising of the barbell, injury to the face, chest, or neck frequently occurs, as the user is unable to return the barbell to the supports and drops the barbell.
As a bench press designed to prevent injury, a bench press in which a protector is provided on a bench to prevent the barbell from being dropped on the face, neck, or chest, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,421.
Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,662 discloses a bench press in which a barbell is suspended from one end of a rope or a chain, the weight is suspended from the other end of the rope or chain, and a clutch is disposed at the intermediate portion of the rope or the chain such that the user manipulates the clutch to stop the movement of the rope or the chain.
However, according to the above conventional bench presses, though injury to the user can be prevented, the exercise effect cannot be enhanced without assistance.
In order to strengthen the muscles using the bench press, contraction and relaxation of the muscles must be repeated a certain number of times. Particularly, in order to strengthen the muscles with maximum effectiveness, it is preferable to change the weights during the repetition of contracting and relaxing the muscles. Thus, assistance is required to adjust the weight applied to the barbell when the user exercises to strengthen the muscles using the conventional bench presses.
However, since assistance is not always available, the conventional bench press is deficient in its ability to maximize exercise effects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above and/or other problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a bench press that a user can adjust the weight of a barbell without assistance so as to achieve effective exercise and to prevent accidents.
In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a bench press for strengthening chest and arm muscles, including a frame including a bench on which a user lies and a support for supporting a barbell, a first cable having an end that is connected to the barbell and suspending the barbell through a first pulley rotatably installed in the frame, a second pulley, to which the other end of the first cable is connected, rotatably installed in the frame, a cam-shaped pulley rotated together with the second pulley, a second cable having an end connected to the cam-shaped pulley, and a foothold, to which the other end of the second cable is connected, provided in the frame so that the user moves the foothold to pull the second cable.
In the bench press claimed in claim 2, the foothold includes a guide member installed in the frame at an angle, a sliding member slid along the guide member by the user, and a spring for maintaining the tension of the second cable when the second cable is pulled by the sliding member to which the other end of the second cable is connected.
In the bench press claimed in claim 3, the guide member of the foothold comprises a stopper for restricting the movement of the sliding member and for preventing the barbell connected to the sliding member from being fallen on the user.
In the bench press claimed in claim 4, the height and tilt angle of the bench are freely adjustable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a bench press according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating the bench press according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a bench press according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a bench press according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, with some components being omitted for clear viewing, and FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating the bench press according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bench press according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a frame 10 having a bench 11 (depicted as a hidden line in FIG. 1) on which a user lies. The bench 11 supports the upper half of the body and head of the user.
The frame 10 includes a pair of supports 12 for supporting a barbell 13. The supports 12 serve to hold the barbell 13 when the user does not exercise.
The frame 10 includes a first pulley 14 rotatably installed at the upper side of the frame 10 and a second pulley 15 rotatably installed to a rotating shaft 17 at the lower side thereof.
One end of a first cable 20 is connected to the barbell 13 and the other end of the first cable 20 is connected to the second pulley 15. The barbell 13 can be hung on the frame 10 by the cable 20 extended through the first pulley 15. The first cable 20 is preferably made of a material, such as rope, chain, or the like, with minimal elasticity, so that it is not elongated when load is applied.
In the frame 10, a first roller 18 for maintaining tension in the cable is installed between the first pulley 14 and the second pulley 15.
The second pulley 15 to which the other end of the first cable 20 is connected is rotatably installed to the lower side of the frame 10. A cam-shaped pulley 16 is installed to the rotating shaft 17 of the second pulley 15. Namely, the second pulley 15 and the cam-shaped pulley 16 have a common rotating shaft 17.
One end of a second cable 30 is connected to the cam-shaped pulley 16 and the other end of the second cable 30 is connected to a foothold 40. The second cable 30 is preferably made of a material, such as rope, chain, or the like, with minimal elasticity, so that it is not elongated when load is applied, like the first cable 20.
In the frame 10, a second roller 19 for maintaining the tension of the second cable 30 is installed between the cam-shaped pulley 16 and the foothold 40.
The foothold 40 to which the other end of the second cable 30 is connected is provided at the position of the frame 10 on which the user's feet are placed. In other words, the foothold 40 is disposed at the left end portion of the frame 10 as seen in FIG. 2.
The foothold 40 includes a guide member 41 installed to the frame 10 at a predetermined angle, and a sliding member 42 sliding along the guide member 41.
The other end of the second cable 30 is connected to the sliding member 42 of the foothold 40. The sliding member 42 is pressed in the direction in which the second cable 20 is pulled by a spring 43 such that constant tension is applied to the second cable 20.
A pair of steps 44, on which the user can place his/her feet, is attached to the sliding member 42 so that the user strengthens his/her feet so as to press the steps 44 and then the sliding member 42 can move along the guide member 41.
The sliding member 42 is connected to the barbell 13 via the second cable 30, the cam-shaped pulley 16, the rotating shaft 17, the second pulley 19, and the first pulley 20. As such, the user presses and moves the sliding member 42 so as to lift the barbell 13, and, conversely, the user can lift and lower the barbell 13 to move the sliding member 42.
It is preferred that a stopper (not shown) for restricting the movement of the sliding member 42 is provided to the guide member 41 of the foothold 40. The stopper restricts the movement of the sliding member 41 so that the barbell 13 connected to the sliding member 42 is prevented from falling on the face, neck, or chest, as described above.
The bench press constructed as describe above is operated in the following manner.
First the user lies on the bench 11 and lifts the barbell 13 supported by the supports 11. When the barbell 13 is moved upward, the sliding member 42 of the foothold 40 connected to the barbell 13 via the first cable 20, the second pulley 15, the rotating shaft 17, the cam-shaped pulley 16, and the second cable 30 can be moved by the resilient force of the spring 43 regardless the user strengthens his/her feet to press the sliding member 42 of the foothold 40.
As seen in FIG. 2, if assuming the left direction as a withdrawing direction and the right direction as an advancing direction when the sliding member 42 moves along the guide member 41, the sliding member 42 is moved in the withdrawing direction by the spring 43 when the user lifts the barbell 13 as described above, and is moved in the advancing direction when the user lowers the barbell 13.
As such, since a proper tensile force is maintained in the first and second cables 20 and 30 by the spring 43 while repeating the actions of lifting and lowering the barbell 13, the first and second cables 20 and 30 can be prevented from being separated from the first and second pulleys 14 and 15, the cam-shaped pulley 16, or the first and second rollers 18 and 19.
Since the user does not need to use the foothold 40 in the initial state of the exercise (that is, before the muscles become severely fatigued), the user does not have to place his/her feet on the steps 44. However, the user may exercise in a state of placing the feet on the steps 44 even in the initial state.
When the user repeats the actions of lifting and lowering the barbell 13 and the user's muscles become fatigued to the extent that the user can no longer lift the barbell 13, the user places his/her feet on the foothold 40 and presses the foothold 40 so as to withdraw the sliding member 42 to lift the barbell 13.
As such, by using the muscles of the arms, chest, and feet simultaneously, it is possible to obtain the same effect as decreasing the weight of the barbell 13. In other words, the strength of the user's arms required to lift the barbell 13 is decreased in correspondence to the strength of the user's feet required to lower the sliding member 42.
Thus, the user can continue to exercise in a state that the weight of the barbell 13 is decreased as much as a predetermined weight so that the strength of the chest and arm muscles can be maximized.
Moreover, since the force with which the user withdraws the sliding member 42 is transmitted to the barbell 13 via the cam-shaped pulley 16, it is possible to achieve physical effect better than that achieved when the force is transmitted to the barbell 13 via the conventional circular pulley. The shape of the cam-shaped pulley 16 is not limited to the shape depicted in the drawings, but the shape of the cam-shaped pulley 16 is preferably determined to maximize the physical effect.
Even when the user exercises using the barbell 13 or accidentally drops the barbell 13, due to fatigue, during placing the barbell 13 on the supports 12 after the exercise, the user can restrict the movement of the sliding member 42 using the feet so as to prevent the damage due to the falling barbell 13.
Further, as described above, if the stopper for restricting the movement of the sliding member 42 is provided to the guide member 41, the user can be prevented from injury due to the falling barbell 13 even when the user does not restrict the movement of the sliding member 42 of the foothold 40 by his/her feet.
In the preferred embodiment, although the drawings show that the bench 11 is firmly fixed by the frame 10 and the second roller 19 is attached to the lower surface of the bench 11, a supporting structure for supporting the bench 11 may be constructed to freely change the height and a tilt angle of the bench 11. At this time, the second roller 19 is preferably attached to a fixed portion of the frame 10, instead of attaching the second roller 19 to the lower surface of the bench 11.
As described above, according to the present invention, a bench press that a user adjusts the weight of a barbell without assistance and that maximal physical effect can be achieved and injury to the user is prevented is provided.
According to the present invention, since the user puts his/her feet on and presses the steps 44 of the foothold 40 so as to withdraw the sliding member 42 and to lift the barbell 13, the user decreases the weight of the barbell 13 without assistance for the final repeat of lifting and lowering the barbell 13 as a key factor for strengthening muscles by two or three times and continues to exercise, so that the strength of the chest and arm muscles can be maximized and the user can achieve the maximal physical effect.
Further, according to the present invention, even when the user fails to do the final repeat or accidentally drops the barbell 13, the user can restrict the movement of the sliding member 42 of the foothold 40 by foot so as to prevent the user from being injured due to the falling barbell 13.
Moreover, according to the present invention, in the case that the stopper for restricting the movement of the sliding member 42 is provided to the guide member 41, the user is surely prevented from injury due to the falling barbell 13 even when the sliding member 42 of the foothold 40 is not restricted by the user's feet.
As described above, when exercising using the bench press according to the present invention, since the user can lift the barbell 13 using leg muscles even when the user cannot lift the barbell 13 using the chest and arm muscles further, the user can keep exercising without fear of injury.
Further, according to the present invention, since the force with which the user withdraws the sliding member 42 is transmitted to the barbell 13 via the cam-shaped pulley 16, the user can achieve the physical effect much better than when the force is transmitted to the barbell 13 via a conventional circular pulley.
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A bench press for strengthening chest and arm muscles, comprising:

a frame including a bench on which a user lies and a support for supporting a barbell;

a first cable having an end that is connected to the barbell and suspending the barbell through a first pulley rotatably installed in the frame;

a second pulley, to which the other end of the first cable is connected, rotatably installed in the frame;

a cam-shaped pulley rotated together with the second pulley;

a second cable having an end connected to the cam-shaped pulley; and

a foothold, to which the other end of the second cable is connected, provided in the frame so that the user moves the foothold to pull the second cable.

2. The bench press as set forth in claim 1, wherein the foothold comprises:

a guide member installed in the frame at an angle;

a sliding member slid along the guide member by the user; and

a spring for maintaining the tension of the second cable when the second cable is pulled by the sliding member to which the other end of the second cable is connected.

3. The bench press as set forth in claim 2, wherein the guide member of the foothold comprises a stopper for restricting the movement of the sliding member and for preventing the barbell connected to the sliding member from being fallen on the user.

4. The bench press as set forth in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the height and tilt angle of the bench are freely adjustable.