US3460392A - Physical exerciser - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 12, 1969 G. F. KOLBEL PHYSICAL EXERCISER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 15, 1966 7 3 3 1 H1--- m m I, 9 n W6 M n v 1|] 9 0 m DI; 5 u 3 1 al v C a 4 n; m WW 5 m o i ,W W i V W W 4 M w h I H. 6 -7 m F INVENTOR. I 66/?7' FR/fDR/CH KOLBEL 1969 G. F. KOLBEL 3,460,392

PHYSICAL EXERCISER Filed Nov. 15, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N VENTOR. GERT FRIEDRICH KOLBE 1.

Aug. 12, 1969 G. F. KOLBEL.

PHYSICAL EXERCISER 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 15. 1966 INVENTOR. GERT FRIEDRICH K01. BEL

Unite atent ice 3,460,392 PHYSICAL EXERCISER Gert Friedrich Kolbel, Kornstrasse 19-21, Hannover, Germany Filed Nov. 15, 1966, Ser. No. 594,499 Claims priority, application Germany, Feb. 12, 1966,

rm. (:1. cen /06 US. Cl. 73-379 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to a physical exerciser, and more particularly to a physical exercising device which includes a rope to which two handles are connected which are movable in opposite directions.

'It is an important object of the invention to provide a physical exerciser of this type which is of light weight and of simple construction, is operated by frictional force and may be used anywhere, including places of limited space.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus by which the frictional resistance to be mastered by the user can be varied from one exercise to another.

A further object of the invention is providing a device in which the frictional resistance which is to be overcome by the user remains unvaried in the course of the particular exercise, i.e. while the handles are being moved.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus with a device by which the performance reached in the exercise is indicated in such a manner that the user can simultaneously with the exercise notice the intensity of it.

'It is also an object of the invention to make available an exerciser operating with the frictional resistance of a rope which allows a large number of different exercises for training and strengthening the entire muscular system of the human body.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view of the front portion of the exercising device according to the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a view of the rear portion of the exercising device of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the exercising device without its casing,

FIGURE 4 is a View of a detail of the exercising device,

FIGURE 5 is a view of a handle of the device.

In accordance with the present invention, a rope which is at either end provided with a handle in a variable number of windings embraces an axle which is not rotatably enclosed in a housing of the exerciser. The force needed to move the rope is proportionate with the grip angle of the rope on the axle and the frictional resistance of the rope to be mastered by the user is constant over the whole distance of motion of the handles.

It is advantageous to arrange the rope of this apparatus as a bifilar winding around the axle so that a twist of the axle relative to the casing of the apparatus is suflicient to alter the grip angle of the rope windings.

In the middle portion of the axle may be arranged a projection in the shape of a button around which the rope is wound like a semi circle. Of the two rope portions which are formed and limited by the projection on the axle, preferably one is wound around the axle in clockwise and the other in counterclockwise direction.

The number of windings may be altered by turning the axle relative to the adjoining rope ends. The force necessary for pulling the rope is in linear dependence of the turning angle of the axle. The axle may be mounted in a box shaped casing one longitudinal side of which is provided with outlet apertures for the rope ends and the other side is shaped into a handle. On one front end of this casing a clickstop device may be installed by which the position of the axle can be changed.

According to a preferred feature of the invention the clickstop device is combined with an indicator which makes the particular position of the axle and the number of rope windings around it recognizable from the outside. For control purposes and additional direct recognition of the number of rope windings on the axle an oblong window extending in axial direction may be provided in a lateral surface of the casing. The number of parallel winding sections visible through the window depends on the position of the axle.

By a special shape of the handles the length of rope may easily be adapted to individual requirements in that not required rope portions may be wound to and fro in the form of an eight as is customary in shipping, round a reel secured to the respective handle.

When the apparatus is put into service the user has to master the frictional force caused by the rope windings on the axle, the force required to move the rope being proportionate with the angle of grip of its windings on the axle. In the course of the exercise the device is heated by the rope friction and the frictional heat is transmitted to the casing which is heated accordingly. As the casing and the axle can absorb a certain heat quantity this provides for an integrating effect with the result that after a certain time of exercise the rise in temperature of the device corresponds to the performance developed in the course of the exercise.

The temperature of this heat may be taken as a measurement of the performance delivered by the user to indicate the intensity of the training. A feature of the invention resides in providing a thermometer which is in heat-conductive connection with the casing of the apparatus. The scale of the thermometer is preferably made up in percentage figures starting from zero. It is recommendable to provide a turning scale which can be set to zero at the point indicated by the pointer at the beginning of the exercise whichever actual temperature this may be. The scale ends at hundred percent which equals a maximum exercise performance. The thermometer thus enables the user to assess his performance at any stage of the exercise.

If the muscles of the user are to be animated he has to bring at least one third of his maximum force into action. Should after an exercise of a certain duration, for instance ten minutes, the user notice the thermometer to indicate only of the possible performance he will have to carry on for some more minutes to comply With his daily target. This not only applies to a forceful exercise with few repetitions against high frictional resistance but also to exercises for developing heart and circulation involving many repetitions against small resistance because in both cases like total performance causes like final temperature owing to the integrating effect of the heat capacity of the device.

For developing arm and abdomen muscles a foot piece may be inserted into the handle of the casing to support the users foot while the handles of the two rope ends are held by his hands. By means of a hole within the handle of the casing or by the handle itself the device may be put into firm suspension and exercises can in the same manner he performed in other positions of the body. For instance, the device may be suspended above an exercising person who is in a laid down position so that the handles of the ropes are held by his hands or feet and are moved in opposite directions. This exercise is particularly recommendable for persons who are laid down for some length of time.

The invention shall now be more specifically described with reference to the drawings.

The exerciser consists of a box shaped casing 1 which is made of a rigid plastic material, of light metal or similar material and is at its front side closed by a cover plate 2. At the upper side of the casing 1 are located two brackets 3 extending parallel to each other and being interconnected by a handle piece 4 which is parallel with the upper surface of casing 1. The handle piece 4 is sufficiently spaced from casing 1 to allow accommodation of the users foot. A plurality of cavities 5 is evenly distributed over the surface of: handle piece 4 to provide a firm support for the fingers of the users hand. On both its ends the handle piece 4 has a recess 6 each for engagement of a holding attachment e.g. a notch hook or a foot support.

The casing 1 encloses a non-rotatable metallic axle 7 which is illustrated in FIGURE 3 and which consists of two conic portions 8a, 8b tapering towards a central cylindrical portion 9 of the axle 7. These portions are shown in FIGURE 4. Referring to FIGURE 3, the cylindrical portion 9 is provided with a projection 10 around which a rope 11 is wound in such a manner that it grips around the conic part 8a of axle 7 in counterclockwise direction and on the other side of the projection 10, which is used as a reversing pole, grips around part 8b in clockwise direction, seen from the viewpoint implied by FIG- URE 3. The top surface of projection 10 has a convex curvature and is adjacent to the inside of two rings 40 and 41 which are concentric with axle 7 and are inserted into the wall of casing 1. The rings 40, 4 1 form an additional guidance for rope 11 and prevent it from skidding over the top of the projection 10. In FIGURE 3 ring 41 is shown shifted to the right, ring 41 is adjacent to projection 10 in the same manner as ring 40.

At the end which in FIGURES 1 and 4 is the right hand one shaft 7 is in the shape of a square head 12 on which a notched disc 13 is arranged. The disc 13 has a plurality of (for instance twelve) grid holes 14 cooperating with corresponding notch-pins 15 mounted on an adjustable disc 16. The pins 15 are parallel to axle 7. Disc 16 has a knob 17 which can be turned around and which surrounds a coil spring 18 by which it is moved into its operative position shown in FIGURE 2, in which the disc 16 is adjacent to the lateral face of casing 1, 2. The outer surface of disc 16 is provided with a figure scale 19 which is divided into the numerals zero to eleven and co-operates with an indicator, for instance an arrow 20, of casing 1, as is best seen in FIGURE 2 of the drawings.

Referring to FIGURE 4, either end of axle 7 has a cylindrical bearing surface 21, 22 respectively by which the axle 7 is rotatably mounted in a corresponding hearing of easing 1. At its far end of square head 12 axle 7 has an excavation 23 which together with an opening 24 of casing 1 forms an outlet for the heat caused in the exercise by the friction of rope 11 on axle '7.

On the lower side of casing 1 two holes 25 and 26 respectively are arranged, forming a passage to the outside for the respective ends of rope 11. An oblong viewing window 27 showing the portion of rope 11 which grips around part 8a of axle 7 is arranged in the rear Wall of easing 1 and extends parallel with axle 7.

As apparent from FIGURE 2, the Window 27 forms part of a figure table 42 which has twelve vertical columns corresponding with the numerals Zero to eleven of the figure scale 19 of disc 16 and four horizontal lines corresponding with the number of rope windings. From the numeral adjusted in scale 19 combined with the numeral equalling the number of rope windings visible through window 27 results the resistance of the apparatus, expressed in kilograms, which may be read from table 42. If maximal three rope windings are possible and figure scale 19 of disc 16 has eleven numerals there are altogether forty-four different grades of resistance of the apparatus, ranging from 0.05 to 240 kilograms.

The rope or cable 11 preferably is made of wear-resistant manifold twisted nylon threads with impregnated surface. The heat caused by the friction of rope or cable 11 on axle 7 is transmitted to a thermometer 29 by means of a strip or band 28 which may consist of copper or similar metal of good thermal conductivity and is via a feeler 32 in heat-conductive contact with the metallic axle 7. The thermometer 29 is provided with a bimetallic strip and has a pointer 30, which co-operates with a thermometric scale 31 (see FIGURE 1) arranged on a base plate 33 and having a range from 0% to By indicating the heat developed in the apparatus in the course of an exercise the scale 31 enables a registration of the respective training performance. Base plate 33 is adjustably mounted on the cover plate 2 so that at the beginning of the exercise the pointer 30 may indicate 0% on scale 31.

The ends of rope or cable 11 which are guided through the holes 25 and 26 are each attached to a handle 34 which is shown in FIGURE 5. The handles 34 are in the shape of a stirrup having a straight gripping piece 35 with the same cavities 36 as in handle piece 4 of the apparatus. Through the bent part of the stirrup two holes 37 are provided through which the rope 11 may be pulled. Its surplus length may be wound around the two projections 38 of handle 34. In this manner the usable length of rope 11 may easily be varied according to the individual exercise intended.

The cover plate 2 of the apparatus is detachably secured to casing 1 by three screws 39' (see FIGURE 2).

The device operates in the following manner:

In order to carry out an exercise the user holds handle piece 4 by his foot or gives it a firm support somewhere convenient. By his hands he seizes the two handles 3-4, each of which is alternately pulled against the resistance of rope 11 on axle 7, the degree of which depends on the number of rope windings on the axle 7. The heat generated by this resistance is indicated by the bimetallic thermometer 29, which is operating as a thermical eye, and may be directly read from the scale 31. The force to be applied in an exercise may be regulated by adjusting disc 16 accordingly and the performance achieved by the user may be read from table 42.

The user also can seize the handle piece 4 with one hand and put one foot into one of the two handles 34, so that one can at the same time make exercises of the arms and legs. For other exercises both feet are put into handles 34 and the handle piece is seized with both hands whereby especially the dorsal and body muscles are trained. Also numerous other exercises can be made with the same apparatus which may be used for training all muscles of the human body.

The apparatus also may be used for many exercises relating to sport.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment it is to be noted that the invention is not limited to the details set out in the above specification and that various modifications are possible and fully rest within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A physical exercising device, comprising a casing having an upper side, a lower side, two lateral sides and two front sides, a handle piece spaced from and connected to the upper side of said casing, a stationary axle mounted within said casing and having a centrally located projection, a rope wound around said projection in the shape of a semicircle, the lower side of said casing having two openings formed therein, said openings guiding the ends of said rope radially outside of said casing, a separate handle attached to each end of said rope, means for adjusting and indicating the number of windings of said rope around said axle, whereby energy is consumed by the frictional effect of said rope upon said axle, and a thermometer in heat conductive connection wtih said axle and located on a lateral side of said casing.

2. A device in accordance with claim 1, in which the thermometer is provided with a percentage scale reaching from zero to hundred, the point hundred equalling a maximum exercise performance.

3. A device in accordance with claim 2, in which the thermometric scale is adjustable against a pointer of the thermometer.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1881 Bennett 272-79 7/1965 Holkesvick et al. 272-79 OTHER REFERENCES JAMES J. GILL, Primary Examiner ROBERT S. SALZMAN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 272-79

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