US20150141220A1

US20150141220A1 - Exercise ball

Info

Publication number: US20150141220A1
Application number: US14/082,535
Authority: US
Inventors: David Wargo
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2013-11-18
Filing date: 2013-11-18
Publication date: 2015-05-21

Abstract

An exercise ball having a transparent water level indicating system is disclosed. The exercise ball has a liquid impermeable shell which creates an interior chamber and forms a covering surface for the exercise ball. The interior chamber is filled with a fluid such as water through a valve provided on the liquid impermeable shell. The valve includes an air tight closure which prevents the leakage of the fluid during exercise. A transparent portion provided on the liquid impermeable shell of the exercise ball indicates a level of the fluid filled within the interior chamber. The transparent portion includes a plurality of markings for providing direct indication of a weight of the exercise ball. A user can directly view the level of the fluid filled in the exercise ball and thereby can read a present weight of the exercise ball with the fluid.

Description

BACKGROUND

The present invention generally relates to an exercise ball and in particular the present invention relates to a fluid filled ball suitable for exercising.
Balls, exercise bags, and other small and medium weighted equipment have been conventionally utilized for sport, exercise and health purposes. Exercises involving throwing, lifting, rolling, kicking, and catching such objects, as well as aiming the objects towards goals or other people are known to increase exercising activities of a single muscle or different muscle groups involved in the process. Many exercising equipment and tools involving in such exercise activities are provided with rigid and heavy weights. Most such equipment and tools have been intended for use is poorly adapted for use with flexible body and weights. Those objects that are adapted for use with adjustable weights possess poor flexibility and are thus not capable of bouncing or deforming during exercise.
Certain balls have been adapted for use by filling in water. However, such balls typically have components that are water-impermeable and highly rigid. The use of such rigid components results in the balls with fixed amount of filled water, resulting in loss of weight control option of the ball. Additionally, water-impermeable and highly rigid components result in low deformability of the ball upon handling, which can result in the limited movement of the muscle groups during exercise. In some case the rigid outer layer of the ball may be painful upon impact while exercising. Moreover, the existing exercising balls do not have any means for adjusting the weight for a particular exercise. For example, for lifting exercises one need to use a heavy weight ball and for throwing and similar exercises the users need a more lightweight highly resilient ball that can bounce erratically and unpredictably off a solid surface thereby avoiding possible injury to the users. Furthermore, the watertight exercise balls available in the market do not have a feature to determine the exact weight of the ball with the filled in liquid. So the users cannot adjust the weight of the exercise ball as desired for different exercises as the total weight of the ball is unknown.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an exercise ball having a flexible water impermeable covering and having a means for adjusting the amount of water inside the cavity of the exercise ball.
A preferred object of this invention is to provide a safe, flexible and cheaper exercise ball that can easily be used by exercisers for small, medium and large weights.
It is another object of the present invention is the provisions for measuring the weight of the exercise ball during use without the need for any weight measuring equipment.
It is another object of the present invention is to easily increase and/or decrease the weight of the exercise ball as desired by the user.
It is yet another object of the present invention is to obtain an exercise ball having an erratic movement for the training of different muscle groups.
It is still another object of this invention to produce an exercise ball that is safe and provides an effective way of training different muscles in user's body.
These and other objects of this invention will become apparent by the description of the invention below.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides an exercise ball having an impermeable shell forming a covering surface and creating an interior chamber of the exercise ball. A fluid is filled within the interior chamber of the exercise ball through a small opening or valve provided on the impermeable shell of the exercise ball. The small opening or valve is provided with a tight closing means for tightly closing the small opening or valve and ensure the fluid to be sealed within the interior chamber of the exercise ball. A transparent portion in the form of a transparent strip made from transparent plastic is provided on the liquid impermeable shell of the exercise ball for indicating a level of the fluid filled within the interior chamber. The transparent portion includes a plurality of markings for providing direct indication of a weight of the exercise ball. The weight of the exercise ball depends upon the amount of fluid such as water filled inside the interior chamber of the exercise ball and a user can see the level of water filled within the interior chamber through the transparent portion or the transparent strip provided on the impermeable shell. The user can set the desired weight of the exercise ball suited for the particular exercise by draining extra amount of water from the chamber or filling in the exercise ball with water through the small opening or valve. The transparent portion with the plurality of markings provided on the liquid impermeable shell of the exercise ball enables the user to directly view the level of the at least one liquid filled in the exercise ball and to directly read the present weight of the exercise ball with water.
The advantages of the present invention include, without limitation, that it is cheaper and are safer than different exercising equipment available in the market and can effectively be utilized by the users to gain strength and fitness. The erratic movement of water inside the exercise ball enables a variety of muscle movements than the existing instruments. In addition, the erratic nature of the exercise ball require more concentration form the side of the user and this results in attaining good workouts for various muscle groups. The exercise ball is safe and provides an effective way of training different muscles in user's body.
The objects and advantages of the embodiments herein will become readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a front view of an exercise ball having a transparent portion with markings for indicating weight and level of a liquid filled within an interior portion the exercise ball according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of a method of using the exercise ball for practicing at least one exercise according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, a reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which the specific embodiments that may be practiced is shown by way of illustration. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and it is to be understood that the logical, mechanical and other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the embodiments. The following detailed description is therefore not to be taken in a limiting sense.
The present invention relates to liquid filled balls and in particular the present invention relates to an exercise ball suitable for exercising and sports. In broad embodiment, the present invention is an exercise ball for practicing at least one exercise or sport is disclosed. Referring to FIG. 1, a front view of the exercise ball 100 having a transparent portion 104 with markings for indicating weight and level of a liquid filled within an interior portion the exercise ball is disclosed. A liquid impermeable shell 102 forms at least one covering surface or an exterior surface of the exercise ball 100. The liquid impermeable shell 102 creates an interior chamber of the exercise ball 100. Liquid is filled within the interior chamber of the exercise ball 100 and the amount of liquid determines the weight of the exercise ball 100 for different exercises.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the liquid impermeable shell 102 of the exercise ball 100 is formed from a plastic material which is reinforced, liquid impermeable and having sufficient strength to hold the pressure and weight of the liquid inside the exercise ball 100 while doing a wide variety of exercises by a user. The liquid is fillable inside the liquid impermeable shell 102 of the exercise ball 100 through a small opening 106 provided on the reinforced plastic body of the exercise ball 100. After filling the liquid up to a desired level inside the interior cavity, the small opening 106 is closed tight. This prevents the liquid from leaking out of the exercise ball 100 while doing a variety of exercises by the user. The transparent portion 104 provided with the exercise ball 100 is used for checking the level of liquid inside the interior cavity. The transparent portion 104 is in the form of a small transparent strip made of transparent plastic. The transparent plastic window of the exercise ball 100 allows the user to see the level of liquid inside the interior cavity of the exercise ball. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the transparent portion 104 of the exercise ball 100 is provided with a plurality of markings. These marking are used for knowing the exact weight of the exercise ball 100 by the user at any point of exercise. The markings are includes weight of the ball represented in kilograms and by looking on to the level of liquid through the transparent strip or the transparent portion 104, the user can directly read the weight of the exercise ball 100. The exercise ball 100 needs to be held on the hand or on a plain surface to obtain a horizontal level of the liquid inside the interior cavity of the exercise ball 100. This horizontal level of the liquid is compared against the markings on the transparent portion 104 of the exercise ball 100 for obtaining the correct reading of the weight of the exercise ball 100. In one embodiment of the present invention, the liquid inside the interior cavity of the exercises ball 100 is water. Water is filled through the small opening 106 on the exercises ball 100 and is closed water tight using a closure means.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the liquid impermeable shell 102 of the exercise ball 100 is fabricated from any elastic rubber type material which is reinforced, liquid impermeable and having sufficient strength to hold the pressure and weight of the liquid inside the exercise ball 100 while doing a wide variety of exercises by the user. The flexible material of the liquid impermeable shell 102 allows the user to safely and easily perform different exercises for various body parts and associated muscles. The opening or valve 106 makes it very easy to fill and empty the exercise ball 100. The exercise ball 100 of the present invention allows the users to perform a variety of hardcore exercises which can only be accomplished using expensive exercising equipment. The exercise ball 100 is cheaper and is safer than different exercising equipment available in the market and can effectively be utilized by the user to gain strength and fitness. The water inside the exercise ball 100 allows them to move erratically and thus enables a variety of muscle movements than the existing instruments. In addition, the erratic nature of the exercise ball 100 require more concentration form the side of the user for obtaining good results from the workouts. Accidental falling of the exercise ball 100 on body parts such as legs, while doing exercise, do not hurt since the unbreakable and cushioned nature of the water filled exercise ball 100 protects the user. The exercise ball 100 is safe and provides an effective way of training every muscle in user's body.
The exercise ball 100 is available in different sizes such as small, medium and large for accommodating more water and thereby increasing the overall weight of the ball. The small size exercise ball 100 is available up to weights of 15 kg, whereas medium sized exercise ball 100 is available up to weights in the order of 25 kg and large size exercise ball 100 can carry up to 40 kg of weight by filling in the liquid such as water through the opening 106 provided on the liquid impermeable shell 102 of the exercise ball 100. Each of these different sized exercise balls 100 includes the transparent portion or strip 102 and are marked accordingly, based on the weight of the filled water. The users of the exercise ball 100 can perform different exercises including lifting and the exercise ball 100 can also be used as a regular gym ball. The exercise ball 100 improves the concentration of the users. The exercises using the exercise ball 100 requires more handling concentration for doing exercises since it moves erratically because of the filled water. The users can decide the amount of water to be filled with in the interior cavity of the exercise ball 100, the less water filled in the exercise ball 100 requires more concentration from the user's end for doing the exercise. The exercise ball 100 can be used by different types of users as the weight of the ball can be set according to each user's requirement and by checking through the transparent portion or strip 102 and the corresponding markings.
According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, the exercise ball 100 can be filled with air and can be used as a normal gym ball for acting as a support for different types of exercises. The exercise ball 100 is used for exercise by the user and works by the sloshing water acts as the resistance and creates a destabilizing force. The more water is filled inside the interior cavity of the exercise ball 100 it will be heavier, more stable and will be easy to handle. For doing concentrated muscle exercises, the exercise ball 100 is filled up to around half way capacity or up to ¾ of the total capacity of the exercise ball 100. This reduces the overall weight of the exercise ball but reduces the handling due to the strong destabilizing force. The exercise ball 100 is available in small, medium and large varieties. The small size exercise ball 100 is available up to weights of 15 kg, whereas medium sized exercise ball 100 is available up to weights in the order of 25 kg and large size exercise ball 100 can carry up to 40 kg. The small exercise ball 100 can be used like medicine balls and the large ones are more like sandbags or mini atlas stone and the medium sized exercise ball 100 can be used either way. The medium ball is also suitable for power and conditioning. The medium ball bridges the gap between the small and large, the majority of exercises that the user can do with both the large and small work well with the medium ball. With throwing/catching exercises the user may need to catch the ball with his/her whole body and absorb the force with a squat not with his/her arms. The large exercise ball 100 handling is harder than the medium or small balls due to the increased size and weight. The large ball goes up to 40 kg and is therefore useful for strength, power and strength endurance. The spherical shape of the exercise ball 100 enables the user to perform a wide range of exercise which cannot be performed with normal exercise tools.
FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of a method of using the exercise ball 100 for practicing at least one exercise according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The method of using an exercise ball 100 for practicing at least one exercise comprises the steps indicated in FIG. 2. The method starts by getting an exercise ball 100 in a deflated state as shown in block 110. For practicing at least one exercise the exercise ball 100 need to be filled up with a required volume of liquid such as water. As illustrated in block 112, water is filled inside the interior cavity of the exercise ball 100 through at least one small opening 106 provided on at least one liquid impermeable shell 102. The liquid impermeable shell 102 may also acts as a covering surface of the exercise ball 100. The weight of the exercise ball 100 is determined by the volume of the liquid filled inside the interior cavity of the impermeable shell 102. As depicted in block 114, the weight of the exercising ball 100 can be checked by seeing the level of the liquid through a transparent portion 104 provided on the liquid impermeable shell 102 of the exercise ball 100. The liquid level on the transparent portion 104 or the transparent strip is compared with the markings provided adjacent to the strip for determining the weight of the exercise ball 100. As the volume of liquid increases the level of liquid seen through the transparent portion 104 also rises, hence a user can directly read the weight of the exercise ball 100 in kilograms The liquid is filled through the small opening using a pumping means and after reaching the required amount of weight of the exercise ball 100, the user can close the at least one small opening 106 using a closure means provided with the opening, as described in block 116. The closure means seals the at least one small opening 106 very tight so that liquid may not leak out through the opening even after performing a variety of exercises by the user. Finally, after sealing the exercise ball 100 using the closure means, the exercise ball 100 can be employed for performing the plurality of exercises such as lifting, rolling etc by the user as shown in block 118.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the at least one liquid impermeable shell 102 of the exercise ball 100 includes at least one layer and/or a plurality of layers for providing sufficient strength to the exercise ball 100 for withstanding the weight of the liquid filled inside the interior chamber of the exercise ball 100. The at least one layer and/or a plurality of layers of the at least one liquid impermeable shell 102 is stacked together using at least one attaching means such as gluing, hot pressing and/or stitching without losing the liquid impermeability of the exercise ball 100. A liquid filling pump is used to fill the liquid such as water within the interior chamber of the exercise ball 100 through the least one small opening 106. The liquid is filled till the required weight of the exercise ball 100 is reached. The handling of the exercise ball 100 during exercise depends directly on the amount of liquid filled inside the exercise ball 100. The more liquid is filled inside the exercise ball 100 the better will be the handling. So the exercise ball 100 with less amount of liquid will require the user to put in more concentration while doing different exercises. This in turn will improve the muscle building or training capability of the exercise ball 100 and its exercising effectiveness.
The at least one transparent portion 104 includes a transparent strip made from preferably thin and flexible materials like plastic having a first end and a second end extending between a top portion to a bottom portion of the exercise ball 100. If a straight line is drawn connecting the first end and the second end of the transparent strip, the line form a diameter of the exercise ball 100, when it is kept in a spherical shape. In another embodiment of the present invention, the at least one transparent portion 104 includes the transparent strip formed from a transparent material selected from a group of materials including plastic, any transparent elastic and flexible material. The plurality of markings enables the user to directly read the weight of the exercise ball 100 by comparing the level of the liquid seen through the transparent strip against the plurality of markings provided on an outer surface of the at least one liquid impermeable shell 102. The volume of the liquid filled within the interior chamber of the exercise ball determines the weight of the exercise ball 100 for a plurality of exercises. In addition, the plurality of exercises can be performed with different weights by filling and/or draining the liquid through the small opening 106. According to yet another embodiment, the liquid filled within the interior chamber of the exercise ball 100 includes water, or any other liquid, that is colored to easily detect the level of the liquid through the at least one transparent portion 104. The liquid filled within the interior chamber of the exercise ball 100 enables an erratic movement of the exercise ball 100 during exercise and thereby allows exercising of a plurality of muscle groups of the user. The exercise ball 100 is made available in a plurality of sizes for performing different exercises. The plurality of sizes of the exercise ball 100 includes small, medium and large types for holding up to weights 15 kg, 20 kg and 40 kg respectively.
The exercise ball 100 is good for developing many different exercises and also works very well with exercising of muscle groups. The exercise ball 100 can be used for improving conditioning, stability, strength and even team building. Since the exercise ball 100 moves erratically, each exercise engages many muscle groups. The spherical shape of the exercise ball 100 allows for slightly more random movement of the water. The water can move freely because the open space in the exercise ball 100 is easier for the water to access. This makes the exercise ball 100 ideal for developing functional strength at lower reps and great for conditioning at higher reps. Because of its spherical shape, the water will always rush back to the lowest point of the exercise ball 100 i.e. the center of the bottom to level itself out using the effect of gravity. So during a quick straight up—straight down movement, water will part from the center in opposing directions then come crashing together when these ‘parts’ collide as they rush to compete for that lowest point, they create an erratic, unpredictable and unstable environment.
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit.
Although the embodiments herein are described with various specific embodiments, it will be obvious for a person skilled in the art to practice the invention with modifications.

Claims

1. An exercise ball for practicing at least one exercise comprising:

at least one liquid impermeable shell forming at least one covering surface of the exercise ball, the at least one liquid impermeable shell creating an interior chamber of the exercise ball;

at least one liquid filled within the interior chamber of the exercise ball for practicing at least one exercise;

at least one transparent portion provided on the at least one liquid impermeable shell of the exercise ball for indicating a level of the at least one liquid filled within the interior chamber, wherein the at least one transparent portion includes a plurality of markings for providing direct indication of a weight of the exercise ball;

at least one small opening provided on the at least one liquid impermeable shell for filling and/or draining the at least one liquid, the small opening is closed tight by means of a closure means;

whereby the at least one transparent portion with the plurality of markings provided on the at least one liquid impermeable shell of the exercise ball enables a user to directly view the level of the at least one liquid filled in the exercise ball and to read a present weight of the exercise ball with the at least one liquid.

2. The exercise ball of claim 1 wherein the at least one liquid impermeable shell includes at least one layer and/or a plurality of layers for providing sufficient strength to the exercise ball for withstanding the weight of the liquid filled inside the interior chamber of the exercise ball.

3. The exercise ball of claim 2 wherein the at least one layer and/or a plurality of layers of the at least one liquid impermeable shell is stacked together using at least one attaching means including gluing, hot pressing and/or stitching without losing the liquid impermeability.

4. The exercise ball of claim 1 wherein the at least one liquid is filled within the interior chamber of the exercise ball through the least one small opening using at least one filling pump.

5. The exercise ball of claim 1 wherein the at least one transparent portion includes a transparent strip having a first end and a second end extending between a top portion to a bottom portion of the exercise ball.

6. The exercise ball of claim 5 wherein the first end of the transparent strip is at a top portion of the exercise ball and a second end at a bottom portion of the exercise ball, a straight line connecting the first end and the second end of the transparent strip forms a diameter of the exercise ball kept in a spherical shape.

7. The exercise ball of claim 1 wherein the at least one transparent portion including the transparent strip is formed from a transparent material selected from a group of materials including plastic, any transparent elastic and flexible material.

8. The exercise ball of claim 1 wherein the plurality of markings are provided adjacent to the at least one transparent portion for providing direct indication of the weight of the exercise ball filled with the liquid.

9. The exercise ball of claim 1 wherein the plurality of markings provided adjacent to the at least one transparent portion of the exercise ball indicates the weight of the liquid filled exercise ball in kilograms

10. The exercise ball of claim 1 wherein the plurality of markings enables the user to directly read the weight of the exercise ball by comparing the level of the liquid seen through the transparent strip against the plurality of markings provided on an outer surface of the at least one liquid impermeable shell.

11. The exercise ball of claim 1 wherein a volume of the at least one liquid filled within the interior chamber of the exercise ball determines a weight of the exercise ball for a plurality of exercises, the plurality of exercises can be performed with different weights by filling and/or draining the liquid.

12. The exercise ball of claim 1 wherein the at least one liquid is filled within the interior chamber of the exercise ball through the at least one small opening and closed tight using the closure means.

13. The exercise ball of claim 1 wherein the at least one liquid filled within the interior chamber of the exercise ball includes water, the at least one liquid is colored to easily detect at least one level of the liquid through the at least one transparent portion.

14. A method of using an exercise ball for practicing at least one exercise comprising the steps of:

providing the exercise ball for practicing at least one exercise by filling in a liquid;

filling the exercise ball with a liquid through at least one small opening provided on at least one liquid impermeable shell forming at least one covering surface of the exercise ball;

checking the weight of the exercising ball through a transparent portion provided on the liquid impermeable shell of the exercise ball;

closing the at least one small opening using a closure means, the closure means seals the at least one small opening liquid tight; and

employing the exercise ball for performing a plurality of exercises by a user.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the liquid is filled through the at least one small opening provided on the at least one liquid impermeable shell using a pumping means, the at least one liquid impermeable shell forming the at least one covering surface of the exercise ball.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the at least one small opening provided on the at least one liquid impermeable shell is closed tight using the closure means to employ the exercise ball for performing a plurality of exercises, the plurality of exercises can be performed with different weights by filling and/or draining the liquid.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein the liquid is filled through the at least one small opening into an interior chamber defined by the at least one liquid impermeable shell, a volume of the liquid filled within the interior chamber of the exercise ball determines a weight of the exercise ball desired by the user for an exercise.

18. The method of claim 14 wherein a weight of the exercise ball is determined using the level of liquid filled within the interior chamber seeable through the transparent portion and reading the corresponding markings.

19. The method of claim 14 wherein the liquid filled within the interior chamber enables an erratic movement of the exercise ball thereby allowing exercising of a plurality of muscle groups of the user.

20. The method of claim 14 wherein the exercise ball is available in a plurality of sizes for performing different exercises, the plurality of sizes of the exercise ball includes small, medium and large for holding up to weights 15 kg, 20 kg and 40 kg respectively.