US759296A - Exercising-machine. - Google Patents

Description

No. 759,296. PATENTED MAY 10, 1904.

J. 'MORAIRTY.

EX'ERCISING MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 20, 1904.

no MODEL.

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UNIT D STATES Patented May 10, 1904.

JAMES MORAIRTY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

EXERCISING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 759,296, dated May 10, 1904.

To all w/tmrt it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES MORAIRTY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Exercising-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to exercising devices, and more especially to that class thereof which are employed for the purpose of strengthening the muscles of the legs; and it has for one of its objects the provision of a device of this character in which the runway or walking plane may be adjusted to various inclinations, thus regulating the speed with which a person must walk in order to remain at a certain location relative to the fixed frame of the machine.

My invention has, furthermore, for its object the combination, with a runway of the device, of a mechanism whereby the inclination thereof may be varied by the person using the machine and while exercising thereon, so that the exercise need not be interrupted to make such variation, and in View of this circumstance the rapidity of walking may be easily controlled,

Further objects of the invention will be found in the particular construction and organization of some of the components of my improved machine, as will be hereinafter-described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar characters denote similar parts, Figure 1 is a top view of an exercising-machine embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 is aside view thereof.

The framework of the machine comprises a pair of side bars 10, which may be properly distanced by tie-rods 11 and also by a brace 12, disposed at the front ends of said bars 10. Each of these bars has at its rearward end a foot 13, the resting-surface 13 of which is curved to serve as a rocker for supporting that end of the frame, while the front end brace 12 is provided intermediate its ends Application filed February 20, 1904. Serial No. 194,466. (No model.)

with a hub 14;, adapted to receive a screw-rod 15 in threaded engagement therewith and having its lower end formed spherical, as indicated by the numeral 16, to fit into asimilar recess 17 of a foot-plate 18.

The side bars 10 are preferably provided with notches 19 to serve as bearings for a series of rollers 20, and near their front ends said bars carry a drum 21, the shaft 22 of which is preferably journaled in a roller-bearing 23 to decrease the friction to a minimum. Likewise at their rear ends the bars 10 support a drum 24, the shaft 25 of which is journaled in roller-bearings 26, carried in blocks 27, organized for longitudinal movement in said bars, which are bifurcated (see Fig. 2) and each of which has a cap 28, on the outer side of which a hand-nut 29 is in engagement with a screw-rod 30, projecting from the block 27.

An endless belt 31 passes over the drums 21 and 24 and rests upon the rollers 20, and it will be understood that proper tension may be given to the belt 31 by the hand-nuts 29 described. This endless belt 31 constitutes the runway on which the exercising person walks, as it gravitates according to the inclination of the side bars 10.

Projecting sidewise from the bars 10 are lugs 35 for supporting uprights 36, which carry side hand-rails37 and also a front rail 38, the handrails being adapted for vertical adjustment to persons of different heights-as, for instance, by nuts 39 4:0 in engagement with the uprights 36 and on opposite sides of the lugs 35.

The front rail 38 carries a bracket 41, in which is journaled a sleeve 42, having a handwheel 43 and having a spline connection with the screw-rod 15, above mentioned, so that the position of the hand-wheel relative to the front rail may remain constant, no matter what the inclination of the side bars 10 may be, and the exercising person is hence enabled to vary such inclination without being obliged to step off the runway to make the desired adjustment.

It should also be noted that speed and distance measuring devices-such as odometers, cyclometers, or other analogous instruments may be used in connection with my improved machine, which will inthat case constitute a complete training apparatus. I

Many changes may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination, with a runway comprising a pair of side bars, rollers supported therein and a belt resting on said rollers; of a drum for said belt, longitudinally-movable boxes for supporting said drum, and hand-nuts for shifting said boxes and to tighten said belt.

2. The combination, with a runway comprising a pair of side bars; of hand-rails carried by said side bars, and means for varying the height of said hand-rails.

3. The combination with a runway comprising a pair of side bars having lateral projections; of uprights held in said projections; and nuts for varying the height of said uprights relative to the runway.

4. The combination, with a runway comprising a pair of sidebars, and a front bar connecting said side bars; of a vertically-disposed screw-rod for varying the inclination thereof.

5. The combination, with a runway comprising a pair of side bars, and a front rail supported on said side barspof a verticallydisposed screw-rod for varying the inclination thereof, a hand-wheel for operating said screwrod, and movable with the hand-rail.

6. The combination, with a runway comprising a pair of side bars, and a front bar connecting said side bars; of a vertically-disposed screw-rod for varying the inclination thereof and having a spherical step end; and a foot-plate for supporting said rod.

JAMES MORAIRTY.

Vi tnesses O. W. SroNsnL, DANIEL WEs'rxN.

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