US20040157707A1

US20040157707A1 - Exercise stepper

Info

Publication number: US20040157707A1
Application number: US10/359,573
Authority: US
Inventors: Lien-Chuan Yang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-02-07
Filing date: 2003-02-07
Publication date: 2004-08-12
Also published as: FR2850876B3; FR2850876A3

Abstract

An exercise stepper has a bottom rack, two treadle bars, an inclined bar, a handle, a supporting rod and two oil pressure cylinders. Wherein the front ends of the two treadle bars are pivotally connected to two end spots of the front axle shaft. The treadle bars have on the front sections thereof connecting areas for connecting the two oil pressure cylinders; the rear ends of the treadle bars are extended rearwardly to form treadle pedals. The inclined bar is pivotally connected on the bottom end thereof with the rear end of the bottom rack, the front end thereof is extended frontwardly and upwardly, the upper end has a function display meter, a connecting area for the handle is provided on the upper end of the inclined bar being slip jointed with the handle. The supporting rod is horizontally extended through a neck portion of the inclined bar. The oil pressure cylinders are connected on the upper ends thereof to the supporting rod, and are connected on the lower ends thereof to the connecting areas for the oil pressure cylinders. Thereby, when a treadle pedal is trampled down, the other treadle pedal is relatively subjected to a force and is lifted, and vice versa, the exercise stepper thus is formed. The structure with the connecting areas for the oil pressure cylinders, for the handle and for the inclined bar etc. can have the components thereof collapsed onto the bottom rack.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is related to an exercise stepper, and especially to such an exercise stepper which can be collapsed into a small volume not occupying a too large space and suits sports equipments or the like.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In pursuance of the kinds of fields, sports can be divided into indoor and outdoor sports; outdoor sports are limited by weather situation, while indoor sports is not influenced by weather. However, the space of a normal family house is limited, it is limited unless it is an indoor specific field for sports.

Taking the usually seen indoor sports equipments—exercise steppers as an example, a base thereof is provided with an active wheel and a damping device, the base is provided in front thereof with a handle, and a belt is provided between the two. By a crank action of the active wheel, the damping device is rotated; the crank is provided on the rear end thereof with a slide wheel extended therethrough with a supporting rod, the base is provided on the two sides of a front transverse rod thereof with a “U” shaped connector, the “U” shaped connector can be pivotally connected with the front end of the supporting rod for fixing; the supporting rod is provided above the rear section thereof with treadle pedals, the supporting rod can exactly be slip jointed with the slide wheel; thereby, when the treadle pedals are trampled and pressed down to render the crank to rotate the active wheel through the slide wheel, the crank will make a circular motion following the active wheel, meantime, the slide wheel will slide to and fro along the supporting rod to change the rotating motion to a reciprocal rectilinear motion, so that the treadle pedals can simply do the up and down treading movement.

Although the exercise stepper can get the effect of sporting, when it is not in use, it has a large volume and is unable to be collapsed, thereby it occupies a larger space; if it is required to make it occupy a smaller space, it shall be dismantled and stacked for storage, and can be recombined for use; however, the components dismantled are subjected to inability of recombining into a complete exercise stepper again by virtue that the components are not well stored or discarded by someone not knowing the requirement, this is undesired conclusively.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above defects to be solved resided in the conventional exercise steppers, it is expected to provide an exercise stepper that can be simply collapsed after combination for storage with a smaller volume and without occupying a too large space, such an exercise stepper is suitable for use by users; and this is the motive of studying and development of the present invention.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide an exercise stepper, by designing the pivotal connections and slip joints of the main components, the components can be combined into a complete machine and can be collapsed into a smaller volume without occupying a too large space; the exercise stepper is suitable for use and storage within an indoor field having a limited space.

To get the above stated object, the exercise stepper of the present invention is comprised of a bottom rack, two treadle bars, an inclined bar, a handle, a supporting rod and two oil pressure cylinders, wherein: the bottom rack is provided with a front axle shaft, a rear bar and an intermediate bar connecting to the middles of the front axle shaft and the rear bar. The front ends of the two treadle bars are pivotally connected to a right and a left spot respectively aside of the middle of the front axle shaft, the rear ends of the treadle bars are extended rearwardly to form treadle pedals. The treadle bars can be rotated up or down in relation to the front axle shaft for an angle, and are provided on the front sections thereof with connecting areas for connecting with the two oil pressure cylinders. The inclined bar is pivotally connected on the bottom end thereof with a connecting area in the middle on the rear bar, the front end thereof is extended frontwardly and upwardly, the upper end is provided with a function display meter, a connecting area for the handle is provided on the rear side on the upper end of the inclined bar. The handle is slip jointed with the connecting area for the handle. The supporting rod is horizontally extended through a neck portion of the inclined bar. The two oil pressure cylinders are connected on the upper ends thereof to the supporting rod, and are connected on the lower ends thereof to the connecting areas for the two oil pressure cylinders. With the above stated structure, when a treadle pedal is trampled down, the other treadle pedal is relatively subjected to a force and is lifted, and vice versa, the exercise stepper thus is formed. The structure, in which the bottoms of the two oil pressure cylinders are pivotally connected with the connecting areas for the oil pressure cylinders in front of the two treadle bars, the handle is slip jointed with the connecting area for the handle, and the inclined bar is pivotally connected on the bottom end thereof with the connecting area of the rear bar, can have the components thereof collapsed onto the bottom rack thereof.

The present invention will be apparent in its features after reading the detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof in reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention; [0011]
FIGS. [0012] 2-4 are schematic side views showing the operation of collapsing of the embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of the embodiment of the present invention when in completion of the operation of collapsing; [0013]
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the embodiment of the present invention when in completion of the operation of collapsing.[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring firstly to FIG. 1, the exercise stepper of the present invention is comprised of a [0015] bottom rack 10, two treadle bars 11, an inclined bar 12, a handle 14, a supporting rod 15 and two oil pressure cylinders 16, wherein: the bottom rack 10 is provided with a front axle shaft 101, a rear bar 102 and an intermediate bar 103 connecting to the middle of the front axle shaft 101 and the rear bar 102. The bottom rack 10 is in the shape of “H”. The connecting area of the front axle shaft 101 with the intermediate bar 103 has a protruding cushion block 104. The rear bar 102 is provided on each end thereof with a roller 105; and a connecting spot of the rear bar 102 with the intermediate bar 103 forms a connecting area 106 for connecting the inclined bar 12; the inclined bar 12 extends frontwardly and upwardly. A neck portion of the inclined bar 12 allows the supporting rod 15 to horizontally extend therethrough. The upper end of the inclined bar 12 is provided with a function display meter 13, a connecting area 121 for connecting the handle 14 is provided on the rear side on the upper end of the inclined bar 12.
The front ends of the two [0016] treadle bars 11 are pivotally connected to a right and a left spot respectively aside of the middle of the front axle shaft 101 which is provided on the two ends thereof each with an annular fixing member 107. The treadle bars 11 are provided on the front sections thereof with connecting areas 111 for connecting with two oil pressure cylinders 16. The rear ends of the treadle bars 11 are extended rearwardly to form treadle pedals 112. The connecting areas 111 for connecting with the two oil pressure cylinders 16 are each pivotally connected to the corresponding bottom end of an oil pressure cylinder 16, the upper ends of the treadle bars 11 are connected with the supporting rod 15 to thereby complete assembling of the present invention.
When a [0017] treadle pedal 112 is trampled down by a user, the other treadle pedal 112 is relatively subjected to a force and is lifted, and vice versa, an effect of sporting thus is formed. The rear bar 102 of the bottom rack 10 of the “H” shape is in the shape of an elliptic bar making the bottom rack 10 stable, the handle 14 can be held by the user; by viewing the function display meter 13, the related sporting information can be known (such as the time of exercising, the amount of calories consumed etc.). The inclined bar 12 is a bar with irregular curvatures, the connecting area 106 for connecting the inclined bar 12 has an inclining angle to thereby be connected with the inclined bar 12 in this inclining angular position, so that the modeling of the entire exercise stepper can be more beautiful, and can meet the requirement of the human body engineering in design. And when in moving, the two ends of the rear bar 102 of the bottom rack 10 are provided each with a roller 105, thereby, it needs only to raise the front axle shaft 101 of the bottom rack 10 to render the rollers 105 to contact the ground, the exercise stepper can be moved to any desired spot at will taking advantage of rolling of the rollers 105.
When not in use, referring to FIG. 2, the connecting [0018] area 106 for connecting the inclined bar 12 is released in the first place, then the inclined bar 12 is directly pressed down to make rotation of the upper and the lower ends of the two oil pressure cylinders 16 (as well as the supporting rod 15 and the connecting areas 111 for connecting with the oil pressure cylinders 16 protruded from the treadle bars 11) therewith. The inclined bar 12 is continuously pressed down till the bottommost. As shown in FIG. 3, by virtue that the inclined bar 12 is a bar with irregular curvatures, it is generally concave on the upper portion and convex on the lower portion thereof, and the front axle shaft 101 of the bottom rack 10 is protrusively provided with the soft protruding cushion block 104, thereby, the inclined bar 12 is not subjected to having the concave upper portion damaged or having the lacquer on the concave upper portion peeled off by collision. The oil pressure cylinders 16 and the two treadle bars 11 are located between the inclined bar 12 and the intermediate bar 103 of the bottom rack 10 to largely reduce the volume of the entire exercise stepper such as is shown in FIG. 4. And more, a connecting area 121 of the handle 14 on the upper end of the inclined bar 12 is further released to allow the handle 14 to rotate reversely and lapped over the oil pressure cylinders 16, as shown in FIGS. 5, 6, in order that when the present invention is not in use, the connecting area 106 for connecting the inclined bar 12, the connecting areas 111 for connecting with the oil pressure cylinders 16 and the connecting area 121 of the handle 14 can be collapsed for storage of the exercise stepper conveniently.
Accordingly, the structure of the present invention has the following practical advantages: [0019]
1. The rear bar of the bottom rack is in the shape of an elliptic bar, so that when in use of the present invention, it is not subjected to sliding and provides an effect of stability for the bottom rack; the rear bar further is provided with rollers, no matter the exercise stepper is stretched out or collapsed, it needs only to raise the front axle shaft of the bottom rack to render the rollers to contact the ground, the exercise stepper can be moved conveniently. [0020]
2. The inclined bar has irregular curvatures, this makes the modeling of the entire exercise stepper more beautiful, and tidy in collapsing without oddity. [0021]
3. The front axle shaft of the bottom rack is protrusively provided in the middle thereof with the protruding cushion block, thereby, the inclined bar is not subjected to damaging or having the lacquer thereon peeled off by collision due to an overly large pressing-down force. [0022]
4. By collapsing of the connecting areas, the volume of the exercise stepper can be effectively reduced to not occupy a too large space, thereby the exercise stepper is convenient for storage for a small field. [0023]
In conclusion, according to the content disclosed above, the present invention can get the expected object thereof to provide a practicable exercise stepper. [0024]
The above stated is only for illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention and not for giving any limitation to the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various modifications or changes without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention shall also fall within the scope of the appended claims of this invention. [0025]

Claims

1. An exercise stepper comprises:

a bottom rack provided with a front axle shaft, a rear bar and an intermediate bar connecting to the middle of said front axle shaft and the middle of said rear bar;

two treadle bars, the front ends of said two treadle bars are pivotally connected to a right and a left spot respectively aside of said middle of said front axle shaft, the rear ends of said treadle bars are extended rearwardly to form treadle pedals; said treadle bars are adapted to rotating up or down in relation to said front axle shaft for an angle, and are provided on the front sections thereof with connecting areas for connecting with two oil pressure cylinders;

an inclined bar, being pivotally connected on the bottom end thereof with a connecting area in said middle of said rear bar, the front end thereof is extended frontwardly and upwardly, the upper end thereof is provided with a function display meter;

a handle slip jointed with a connecting area for said handle which is connected to the rear side on said upper end of said inclined bar;

a supporting rod horizontally extended through a neck portion of said inclined bar; and

two oil pressure cylinders, connected on the upper ends thereof to said supporting rod, and connected on the lower ends thereof to connecting areas for said two oil pressure cylinders respectively;

with the above stated structure, when one of said treadle pedals is trampled down, the other of said treadle pedals is relatively subjected to a force and is lifted, and vice versa, said exercise stepper thus is formed; said structure, in which the bottoms of said two oil pressure cylinders are pivotally connected with said connecting areas for said oil pressure cylinders in front of said two treadle bars, said handle is slip jointed with said connecting area for said handle, and said inclined bar is pivotally connected on the bottom end thereof with a connecting area of said rear bar, allows components thereof collapsed onto said bottom rack thereof.

2. The exercise stepper as in claim 1, wherein

said bottom rack is in the shape of “H”, said rear bar is in the shape of a stable elliptic bar not subjected to sliding, the two ends of said elliptic rear bar are provided each with a roller.

3. The exercise stepper as in claim 1, wherein

the front axle shaft of said bottom rack has in the middle thereof a cushion block.

4. The exercise stepper as in claim 1, wherein

said front axle shaft connected with the ends of said treadle bars are provided on the two ends thereof each with an annular fixing member.