WO2020026279A1

WO2020026279A1 - An apparatus for isoinertial training

Info

Publication number: WO2020026279A1
Application number: PCT/IT2019/050153
Authority: WO
Inventors: Filippo DOLCI
Original assignee: DOLCI, Virginia
Priority date: 2018-08-01
Filing date: 2019-06-25
Publication date: 2020-02-06
Also published as: IT201800007730A1

Abstract

An isoinertial training apparatus that comprises a flywheel (20) provided with a shaft (21), a flexible traction member (2), connectable to and wrappable around a second shaft (22), a supporting structure (1) and a motion transmission device (10) interposed between the shaft (21) of the flywheel (20) and the shaft (22) of the traction member (2), capable of varying the angular velocity of the flywheel (20) relative to the angular velocity of the shaft (22) of the traction member (2) by means of the user-operated actuation of the traction member (2).

Description

AN APPARATUS FOR ISOINERTIAL TRAINING

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an apparatus for "isoinertial training", also often known as "flywheel training”.

This training method is now well established and widespread in physical exercise and has shown itself to be useful in training for various sporting disciplines, as well as in physical rehabilitation and injury prevention, thanks to its capacity to induce physiological and neuromuscular adaptations.

Growing interest in physical activity and training, including at amateur level, has accelerated research and development in the field, thus contributing to developing new working methods, new machinery and equipment and dedicated software for the performance of exercises that are more specific and more innovative than traditional exercises.

Background Art

The technology of the isoinertial machines introduced above essentially relates to a system whereby the inertial mass of a flywheel produces resistance during both the concentric and eccentric phases of the exercise of the operator. This clearly distinguishes it from other ergometric devices (such as exercise bikes and rowing machines), in which the flywheel only exerts resistance during the concentric phase. Specifically, an isoinertial machine is commonly provided with a flywheel and a flexible traction member, generally a belt or a rope, which is unwound and rewound over the shaft of the flywheel itself in alternate directions. At the beginning of exercise, the traction member is wound partially or fully around this shaft. During the concentric phase of the exercise, the operator pulls the traction member, which begins to unwind from the shaft, causing the shaft itself and the connected flywheel to rotate. At the end of the concentric motion, once the flexible traction member has completely unwound, the flywheel mass continues to rotate in the same direction, due to its inertia, rewinding the flexible traction member around the same shaft, albeit in the opposite direction. During this (eccentric) phase, the operator performs exercises by trying to slow down or halt the rewinding of the traction member in order to interrupt the exercise or start a new concentric phase whereby the traction member begins to unwind from the shaft once more.

Apparatuses for isoinertial training of this type are described in the following prior documents: US 1,783,376, US 3,841,627, WO 90/10475 and US 6,283,899.

The drawbacks of this equipment type essentially derive from the fact that the resistance to the muscular effort exerted by the operator, both in the concentric and in the eccentric phase, depends on the flywheel’s inertia, which is determined by the mass, the diameter and the distribution of the mass along the diameter of the flywheel itself. Therefore, with the common isoinertial technology, also flywheel sets weighing more than lOkg may be required to offer optimal resistance to various operators. Such a flywheel set, added to the isoinertial equipment’s supporting base structure, which comprises the shaft to which the traction member and the various flywheels may be fixed, makes this machinery considerably bulky and impractical to transport. This is a particularly limiting factor for the use of this equipment by individuals and athletes who travel frequently and who must keep fit and train constantly even when they are away from home and without access to areas specifically fitted with such equipment. Besides being impractical to transport, the size and weight of this equipment also makes it costly to transport, as loading costs are calculated proportionally to weight.

The limited portability of these machines is not only burdensome for individuals and athletes who travel frequently for competitions or work, but also for professionals in the rehabilitation sector for whom it may be necessary to use these machines at the patient’s home, and for individuals who enjoy exercising in open spaces such as parks rather than centres specifically designated for that purpose, such as gymnasiums.

Besides their limited portability, a further disadvantage of this equipment concerns the impracticality of varying the resistance of exercise. Indeed, varying the resistance in most isoinertial equipment requires changing the dimensions of the flywheel, using several flywheels together or applying masses at different points along the flywheel surface to change its inertia. This requires users to carry several flywheels or masses with them and to spend time applying them.

Disclosure of the Invention

The aim of the present invention is therefore to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks, in particular to reduce the dimensions of the flywheel while maintaining a high resistance during the performance of exercise, or, conversely, to vary the resistance of exercise without necessarily having to change the dimensions of the flywheel.

The invention, as characterised in the claims, achieves this aim by using a specific motion transmission system connecting the flywheel to the shaft of the traction member, which therefore no longer coincides with the shaft of the flywheel. The main advantage achieved by the present invention is essentially that using a specific motion transmission system to increase the rotational velocity of the flywheel relative to the speed of the shaft to which the flexible traction member is fixed can produce high resistances both in the concentric and eccentric phases without necessarily having to increase the inertia or, therefore, the dimensions of the flywheel itself, which can therefore be smaller and lighter. This is achieved thanks to the modification of the flywheel’s kinetic energy, which is directly proportional both to its inertia and to the square of the angular velocity at which it rotates.

The smaller size of the apparatus thus makes it more transportable and placeable for use, including in environments not specifically designated for training, while at the same time allowing a similar performance to bulkier isoinertial machines. Another significant advantage of the invention is that it offers the possibility to vary the resistance of the exercises to be performed. Possible variations to the resistance include variation of the flywheel’s mass and dimensions, which is the best known and most commonly used variation, and variation of the transmission ratio by replacing the elements that make up the transmission system, thus altering the velocity of the flywheel shaft and of the flywheel itself relative to the velocity of the shaft to which the traction member is fixed. Alternatively, the dimensions of the traction member shaft can be modified or a combination of the above operations can be used. This offers the advantage of making it easier and quicker to vary the resistance of exercises.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Further advantages and features of the invention will become more apparent from the detailed description below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show a non-limiting embodiment, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of the invention according to one of its embodiments;

Figure 2 is a front view of the invention according to the embodiment shown in Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a side view of the invention according to one possible variant;

Figure 4 is a side view of the invention according to a further variant; Figure 5 is a front view of the invention according to the variant shown in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a side view of the invention according to a further variant; Figure 7 is a side view of the invention according to a further variant deriving from that shown in Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a side view of the invention according a further variant applicable to all variants shown above;

Figure 9 shows a detail for the variant shown in Figure 8.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiment of the Invention

As shown in the figures, the present invention concerns an isoinertial training apparatus, comprising a supporting structure (1), a flywheel (20) provided with a shaft (21), a flexible traction member (2) connected to a second shaft (22) over which it can be wound and unwound and a motion transmission device (10) which is interposed between the shaft (21) of the flywheel (20) and the shaft (22) of the traction member (2) and capable of varying the angular velocity of the shaft (21) of the flywheel (20) relative to the angular velocity of the shaft (22) of the traction member (2). The motion transmission device (10) can be made in several functionally equivalent ways; in Figures 1 to 5, the shafts (21, 22) of the flywheel (20) and of the traction member (2) are parallel, while in Figures 6 to 8 they are perpendicular.

Figure 6 shows that the motion transmission device (10) comprises a single gear wheel (22a) which is keyed onto the shaft (22) of the traction member (2) and freely rotatable in both directions, and which directly engages with the flywheel (20) by friction or by teeth.

In this solution, the shafts (21, 22) of the traction member (2) and of the flywheel (20) are inclined, and preferably perpendicular, to each other and constrained to the supporting structure (1), which is provided with a hole (3b) for the traction member (2) to travel and a user- supporting platform (3a). The unwinding of the traction member (2) sets the flywheel (20) in motion, imparting on it a velocity (and, therefore, a resistance) inversely proportional to the distance between the point of contact between the gear wheel (22a) and the flywheel (20) and the shaft (21) of the flywheel (20) itself.

In Figure 7, the gear wheel (22a) does not engage directly with the flywheel (20), but does so with a second gear wheel (2 la), keyed onto the shaft (21) of the flywheel (20), whose shape complements that of the first gear wheel (22a); for instance, both wheels (2 la, 22a) can have a truncated conical shape and be provided with complementing teeth.

In Figures 1, 2, in which the shafts (21, 22) are parallel, the motion transmission device (10) comprises a first pair of toothed or friction-activated gear wheels (2 la, 22a), respectively keyed onto the free ends (21, 22) of the shafts (21, 22) of the flywheel (20) and of the traction member (2), which are capable of transmitting the rotational motion from the shaft (21) of the flywheel (20) to the shaft (22) of the traction member (2) and vice versa, so that the user of the apparatus (100) can increase the velocity of the flywheel (20) compared to when the traction member (2) is directly connected to the shaft (21) of the flywheel (20).

Indeed, with the characteristics of the flywheel unchanged (essentially weight and dimensions), the presence of the gear wheels (2 la, 22a), and of the motion transmission device (10) generally leads to a higher (or lower) velocity of the flywheel (20), thus increasing (or decreasing) the resistance that must be overcome when performing the exercise; in this way, to perform an exercise with determinate requirements, a smaller and/or lighter flywheel (20) will be sufficient than is necessary in other isoinertial equipment reproducing the same resistance.

In general, the greater the acceleration applied to the flywheel (20), the greater the resistance provided; in the same way, the higher the ratio between the radius of the wheel (22a) keyed onto the shaft (22) of the traction member (2) and the radius of the wheel (2 la) keyed onto the shaft (21) of the flywheel (20), the greater still the resistance provided by the flywheel (20).

One possible embodiment of the invention, shown in Figure 3, features a third shaft (31) and a second pair of gear wheels (3 la, 3 lb), keyed onto the ends of the third shaft (31) and respectively coupled with the first pair of gear wheels (2 la, 22a), to transmit the rotation motion from the shaft (21) of the flywheel (20) to the shaft (22) of the traction member (2) and vice versa, thus causing a further modification in the velocity of the flywheel (20) by the user of the apparatus (100).

In general, the greater the number of the gear wheel pairs (3 la, 3 lb) and related shafts (31) used to increase the angular velocity of the flywheel (20) relative to the angular velocity of the shaft (22) of the traction member (2), the smaller the mass of the flywheel (20) required to perform an exercise of a predetermined level, i.e. capable of providing a predetermined resistance.

In a further embodiment, the motion transmission device (10) may be formed by at least one pulley wheel couple (41, 42) and a connecting belt (43) wound over the pulleys (41, 42), as shown in Figures 4 and 5. The pulleys (41, 42) are respectively keyed onto the shafts (21, 22) so as to transmit the rotation motion from the shaft (21) of the flywheel (20) to the shaft (22) of the traction member (2) and vice versa.

In Figures 1 to 5, a user-supporting platform (3a), possibly foldable, allows the apparatus (100) to be used out of context.

A further way of varying the resistance of the apparatus, which is also usable in traditional machines where the shaft (21) of the flywheel (20) coincides with the shaft (22) of the traction member (2), without having to change the mass and/or dimensions of the flywheel (20), involves employing one or more sleeves (4) of differing radii and slidable along the shaft (22) of the traction member (2) so as to vary the effective diameter of the shaft (22) itself and, therefore, the length of the circumference along which the traction member (2) ravels and unravels.

Naturally, this solution, shown here for the case of perpendicular shafts (21, 22), can also be used for cases in which the shafts (21, 22) are parallel.

Each sleeve (4) has a slot (4a) into which the traction member (2) is made to travel and, preferably, although not indispensably, means for fastening (4b) to an end- stop plate (22b) built into the shaft (22) of the traction member (2) to ensure that the sleeve (4) rotates integrally with this shaft (22).

In the example shown, the fastening means (4b) comprise shaped grooves complementing radial rods (22c) fastened to the end-stop plate (22b).

Claims

1. Isoinertial training apparatus, comprising a flywheel (20) provided with a shaft (21), a flexible traction member (2) and a supporting structure (1), characterised in that it comprises a second shaft (22) of the traction member (2) and a motion transmission device (10), interposed between the shaft (21) of the flywheel (20) and the shaft (22) of the traction member (2), capable of varying the angular velocity of the shaft (21) of the flywheel (20) relative to the angular velocity of the shaft (22) of the traction member (2).

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterised in that the motion transmission device comprises at least one first gear wheel (22a) keyed onto the shaft (22) of the traction member (2) and directly engaging with the flywheel (20).

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterised in that the motion transmission device (10) comprises at least a first pair of mutually engaging gear wheels (2la, 22a) keyed onto said shafts (21, 22) and capable of transmitting the rotational motion from the shaft (21) of the flywheel (20) to the shaft (22) of the traction member (2) and vice versa.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the shafts (21,

22) of the flywheel (20) and of the traction member (2) are arranged perpendicularly to one another.

5. Apparatus according to claim 3, characterised in that the shafts (21, 22) of the flywheel (20) and of the traction member (2) are arranged parallel to one another.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, characterised in that the motion transmission device (10) comprises at least one further shaft (31) and at least one further pair of mutually engaging gear wheels (3 la, 3 lb) keyed onto the further shaft (31) and respectively coupled with said first pair of gear wheels (2 la, 22a) so as to transmit the rotational motion from the shaft (21) of the flywheel (20) to the shaft (22) of the traction member (2) and vice versa, thus further modifying the velocity of the flywheel (20).

7. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterised in that the motion transmission device (10) comprises at least one pulley pair (41, 42) and a connecting belt (43) wound over the pulleys (41, 42), wherein the pulleys (41, 42) are respectively keyed onto said shafts (21, 22) so as to transmit the rotation motion from the shaft (21) of the flywheel (20) to the shaft (22) of the traction member (2) and vice versa.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterised in that the supporting structure (1) comprises a user-supporting platform (3a).

9. Apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the shaft (22) of the flexible traction member (2) comprises at least one sleeve (4) slidable along the shaft (22) of the traction member (2) so as to vary the effective diameter of the shaft (22) of the traction member (2).

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, characterised in that it comprises a plurality of sleeves (4) of various radii so as to vary the resistance of the exercise.

11. Apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, characterised in that the sleeve (4) has a slot (4a) into which the traction member (2) is made to travel.

12. Apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, characterised in that the sleeve (4) has means of fastening (4b) to the shaft (22) of the traction member (2).

13. Apparatus according to claim 12, characterised in that the fastening means (4b) comprise shaped grooves, which complement radial rods (22c) fastened to an end- stop plate (22b) integral with the shaft (22) of the traction member (2).