US20140162859A1

US20140162859A1 - Resistance regulating balance board

Info

Publication number: US20140162859A1
Application number: US14/098,985
Authority: US
Inventors: Chih-Hung Cheng
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-12-07
Filing date: 2013-12-06
Publication date: 2014-06-12
Also published as: TW201422282A; TWI500436B; DE202013009718U1; CN203577251U

Abstract

A resistance regulating balance board includes a disc body disposed onto a semispherical base. A resistance member is disposed inside the semispherical base. An elastic component and a locking member are disposed inside a containing chamber within the resistance member. A screw rod passes through the disc body, the semispherical base and the elastic component to engage with the locking member so that a user can rotate the screw rod to regulate a resistance value generated between the resistance member and the semispherical base to change the magnitude of motion resistance of the balance board, thereby achieving optimum exercise and balancing effects.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to exercise equipment, and more particularly to a balance board that allows a user to stand on the balance board to perform balance training exercises.
2. Description of the Related Art
Balance boards are exercise equipment that help with balance training. A conventional balance board 9, as shown in FIG. 8, is composed of a stepping disc 91, in which a central bottom portion thereof has a grounding base 92 with an arced spheroid shape. While in use, the ground base 92 can stand on the ground, and a periphery of the stepping disc 91 provides raised feature so that a user must continuously regulate the state of their body and legs to achieve balance while standing on the stepping disc 91.
However, the conventional balance board 9 still has the following problems during use: the ground base 92 is fixedly assembled or integrally formed at a bottom center position of the stepping disc 91, and rolling friction resistance only exists between the ground base 92 and the ground. Consequently, the conventional design is unable to regulate its magnitude of resistance, which may lead to inconvenience during use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, in view of the foregoing problems in the prior art, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a balance board capable of regulating the magnitude of motion resistance. It provides not only easy operation but also reduces abrasion to increase service life.
To achieve the foregoing objective, a resistance regulating balance board according to an embodiment of the invention comprises a disc body, wherein a top surface of the disc body has an upper concave cavity while a bottom surface of the disc body has a first lower arc cavity, and a through hole is disposed between the upper concave cavity and the first lower arc cavity. The balance board also includes a semispherical base, a top arc surface of which corresponds to the first lower arc cavity of the disc body. A bottom board outwardly protrudes from the bottom end of the semispherical base, and central region of the semispherical base includes a second lower arc cavity, with a through hole formed in the second lower arc cavity. The balance board further includes a regulating rotary lid, wherein a central inner edge of a lid body of the regulating rotary lid includes a lodging hole having hexagonal shape to accept a hexagonal head at one end of a screw rod. The regulating rotary lid, the upper concave cavity of the disc body and the through hole are in register with each other to provide an insertion structure. Finally, a resistance member is included, wherein the arc surface can be inserted with the second lower arc cavity of the semispherical base, and a containing chamber is disposed at central position. An elastic component is disposed in the containing chamber of the resistance member and passes by an end of the screw rod. A locking member is mounted in the containing chamber of the resistance member and spirally locked by an end of the screw rod. Accordingly, training balance equipment is provided having a simple structure, and a magnitude of the motion resistance of the balance board can be regulated by rotating the regulating rotary lid, thereby achieving an optimum exercise balance board.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed structure, operating principle and effects of the present invention will now be described in more details hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings that show various embodiments of the invention as follows.

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates use according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view along line a-a of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view according to a another embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a prior art balance board.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The technical content of the present invention will become apparent by the detailed description of the following embodiments and the illustrations of related drawings as follows.
With reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 7, a resistance regulating balance board according to a first embodiment of the invention comprises a disc body 1, a semispherical base 2, a regulating rotary lid 3, a resistance member 4, an elastic component 5 and a locking member 6. The disc body 1 has an upper concave cavity 11 thereon to accept the regulating rotary lid 3. A bottom surface of the disc body 1 includes a first lower arc cavity 12 for accepting the semispherical base 2. A through hole 13 is disposed between the upper concave cavity 11 and the first lower arc cavity 12. The through hole 13 is cross-shaped so that a lodging portion 421 of a hollow tube body 42 of the resistance member 4 can engage with the through hole 13. An upper surface of the disc body 1 includes a plurality of bumps 14 and grooves 15 to provide an anti-skid surface relative to the feet of a user. The lower surface of the disc body 1 includes a plurality of rib sheets 15. The disc body 1 thus has the same structural strength but uses fewer materials.
A top arc surface 211 along an upper surface of the semispherical base 2 can be exactly inserted into the first lower arc cavity 12 of the disc body 1. A bottom end of the semispherical base 2 includes a bottom board 22 that radially extends beyond the semispherical surface of top arc surface 211. An external diameter of the bottom board 22 is larger than the external diameter of the top arc surface 211 of the semispherical base 2 to provide the whole a steady and supportive effect for the embodiment balance board. A central region of the semispherical base 2 includes a second lower arc cavity 23 for accepting the resistance member 4, and a pivot hole 24 having a larger movable space (e.g., sufficient to allow desired angular movement of hollow tube body 42) extends through the second lower arc cavity 23. The pivot hole 24 is designed as an inverted cone, having a diameter that is greater at the top arc surface 211 than at the lower arc cavity 23. The top arc surface 211 of the semispherical base 2 includes a circular arrangement of several trenches 222 angularly spaced at equal intervals. Lubricant can be filled into the trenches 222 to provide a lubrication effect for the first lower arc cavity 12 of the disc body 1 and the top arc surface 211 of the semispherical base 2 when in use, thereby increasing the service life of the balance board according to an embodiment of the invention.
An inner surface of the central portion of a lid body 31 of the regulating rotary lid 3 includes a lodging hole 311 having hexagonal shape to accept a hexagonal head at one end of a screw rod 32 to combine and fit the screw rod 32 with the lid body 31. Of course, the screw rod 32 can also be integrally combined and fastened to the lodging hole 311 of the regulating rotary lid 3 by means of in-mold buried molding to allow the lid body 31 and the screw rod 32 to be permanently coupled together.
The resistance member 4 has a hollow tube body 42 extending from a top surface of a semispherical portion 41. A top of the hollow body 42 includes a lodging portion 421 to allow the hollow tube body 42 to pass through the pivot hole 24 of the semispherical base 2 such that the lodging portion 421 can be lodged into the through hole 13 using the cross shape of the disc body 1, while the arc surface 43 of the semispherical portion 42 and the second lower arc cavity 23 of the semispherical base 2 are set together as a correspondingly inserted structure. At the same time, the hole diameter of the pivot hole 24 is greater that the tube diameter of the hollow tube body 42 to allow the hollow tube body 42 to radially move within the pivot hole 24. The central region of the resistance member 4 includes a containing chamber 44 composed of a first chamber 441 and a second chamber 442. The first chamber 441 is disposed inside the hollow tube body 42 while the second chamber 442 is connected with and below the first chamber 441 to form a hexagonal structure for accepting a locking member 6 having a hexagonal shape so as to be fixed and incapable of rotation while the locking member 6 is disposed therein so that the locking member 6 and the screw rod 32 are incorporated to lock the disc body 1, the semispherical base 2 and the resistance member 4 together. In other words, one end of the screw rod 32 passes through the first chamber 441 from the through hole 13 of the disc body 1 to lock with the locking member 6 in the second chamber 442, thereby achieving the desired fastening purpose.
It should be noted that when locking the screw rod 32 with the locking member 6, the resistance member 4 is pressed by the second lower arc cavity 23 of the semispherical base 2 to generate different friction coefficients so as to create more or less motion resistance. Its resistance generation may have two modes. One type is that the resistance member 4 is made of a relatively softer material. When the screw rod 32 couples with the locking member 6 and fastens the resistance member 4 in the semispherical base 2, the screw rod 32 can be rotated by the regulating rotary lid 3 to regulate the degree of tightness. The friction coefficient between the resistance member 4 and the second lower arc cavity 23 is thus controlled to regulate the magnitude of the movement resistance force (as shown in FIG. 7).
The second mode is that an elastic component 5 is disposed in the second chamber 442, and the screw rod 32 passes through the elastic component 5. When the screw rod 32 is screwed into the locking member 6, the screw rod 32 is rotated by the regulating rotary lid 3 to drive the elastic component 5 to press the resistance member 4 so as to adjust the friction coefficient between the resistance member 4 and the second lower arc cavity 23, thereby regulating the magnitude of the resistance (as shown in FIG. 4).
With reference to FIG. 5, an embodiment of the invention uses the combination of components such as the regulating rotary lid 3, the disc body 1, the semispherical base 2 and the resistance member 4, and the magnitude of the friction force (i.e., the normal force) between the resistance member 4 and the second lower arc cavity 23 of the semispherical base 2 that is controlled by the screw rod 32 driven by the regulating rotary lid 3 to achieve the purpose of regulating torque so as to change and balance the magnitude of the movement resistance. Therefore, with the forces imposed by left and right legs, a user can stand on the disc body 1 of the balance board to make the disc body 1 capable of being tilted around 360 degrees or retained at the horizontal position so as to perform balance exercise training and fitness. The maximum angle of tilting the disc body 1 is a half of the inverted cone angle θ of the pivot hole 24. Normally, the inverted cone angle θ is preferably at 40 to 45 degrees.
While using an embodiment of the invention, the lodging portion 421 (as shown in FIG. 6) of the hollow tube body 42 of the resistance member 4 is lodged into the cross-shaped through hole 13 of the disc body 1, and the resistance member 4 and the elastic component 5 are locked and connected as a whole by using the locking member 6 and the screw rod 32. Therefore, the disc body 1 and the resistance member 4 are co-linked when the user tilts. Only the semispherical base 2 is retained on the ground without movement. Further, the regulating rotary lid 3 includes a plurality of circularly disposed holes 33 to facilitate extension of the fingers of the user for rotation purposes. Accordingly, the screw rod 32 can be driven 3 to vertically and spirally move by rotating the regulating rotary lid 3, thereby regulating the magnitude of the torque between the resistance member 4 and the second lower arc cavity 23.
While the means of specific embodiments in the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings, numerous other modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims. The modifications and variations should in no way be limited by the specification of the present invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A resistance regulating balance board comprising:

a disc body, a bottom surface of the disc body defining a first lower arc cavity, a central axis of the disc body having a through hole;

a base, a top semispherical surface of an upper portion of the base inserted into and corresponding to the first lower arc cavity of the disc body, a second lower arc cavity having a concave semispherical shape formed in a central portion of the base, a pivot hole formed in the second lower arc cavity;

a regulating rotary lid, a lodging hole formed in an inner central surface of a lid body of the regulating rotary lid, the lodging hole configured to combine with a screw rod;

a resistance member having a semispherical portion and a hollow tube body extending from an upper end of the resistance member, a surface of the semispherical portion corresponding to the second lower arc cavity of the base, a containing chamber formed inside a central portion of the resistance member, the hollow tube body passing through the pivot hole of the base when the semispherical portion is inserted into the second lower arc cavity; and

a locking member disposed in the containing chamber of the resistance member and accepting the screw rod, an end of the screw rod extending through the hollow tube body from the through hole of the disc body to engage with the locking member, thereby fastening together the disc body, the base and the resistance member.

2. The resistance regulating balance board of claim 1, wherein the lodging hole of the regulating rotary lid has a hexagonal shape configured to engage with a hexagonal head of the screw rod.

3. The resistance regulating balance board of claim 1, wherein the screw rod is molded into the lodging hole of the regulating rotary lid.

4. The resistance regulating balance board of claim 1, wherein the through hole of the disc body has a cross shape, and a top end of the hollow tube body of the resistance member includes a lodging portion having a structure corresponding to the cross shape to engage with the through hole.

5. The resistance regulating balance board of claim 1, wherein the resistance member comprises a flexible material, and when the screw rod engages with the locking member to fasten the resistance member with the base, a friction coefficient between the resistance member and the second lower arc cavity is controlled through rotation of the regulating rotary lid to adjust a fastening tightness degree of the screw rod so as to regulate a magnitude of motion resistance.

6. The resistance regulating balance board of claim 1, wherein the containing chamber of the base includes a first chamber and a second chamber, the first chamber disposed in the hollow tube body and the second chamber disposed below the first chamber, an elastic component is disposed in the second chamber, the screw rod extending past the elastic component, and when the screw rod engages with the locking member, the elastic component is driven to press the resistance member, and a magnitude of motion resistance is regulated by adjusting a friction coefficient between the resistance member and the second lower arc cavity by using the regulating rotary lid to rotate the screw rod.

7. The resistance regulating balance board of claim 1, wherein the semispherical surface of the base comprises a plurality of trenches to contain lubricant.

8. A resistance regulating balance board comprising:

a disc body, a bottom surface of the disc body comprising a first lower arc cavity, a central axis of the disc body having a through hole;

a base comprising a semispherical surface configured for corresponding insertion into the first lower arc cavity of the disc body, the base further comprising a second lower arc cavity having concave shape disposed in a central portion of the base, a pivot hole formed through the second lower arc cavity;

a resistance member having a semispherical portion and a hollow tube body is extending from the semispherical portion, an upper surface of the semispherical portion corresponding to the second lower arc cavity of the base, a containing chamber formed inside a central region of the resistance member, the hollow tube body passing through the pivot hole of the base when the semispherical portion is inserted in the second lower arc cavity; and

a locking member disposed in the containing chamber of the resistance member and engaging with a screw rod passing through the hollow tube body from the through hole of the disc body so as to fasten together the disc body, the base and the resistance member.

9. The resistance regulating balance board of claim 8, wherein the resistance member is a flexible material, and a friction coefficient between the resistance member and the second lower arc cavity is controlled via rotation of the regulating rotary lid controlling a tightness of the screw rod so as to regulate a magnitude of motion resistance.

10. The resistance regulating balance board of claim 8, wherein the containing chamber of the base comprises a first chamber and a second chamber, the first chamber disposed in the hollow tube body while the second chamber is disposed below the first chamber, an elastic component disposed in the second chamber, the screw rod extending past the elastic component the, and when the screw rod engages with the locking member, the elastic component is driven to press the resistance member, and rotation of the regulating rotary lid causes rotation of the screw rod, a magnitude of motion resistance being thereby regulated by controlling a friction coefficient between the resistance member and the second lower arc cavity.