US20050233867A1

US20050233867A1 - Fitness equipment

Info

Publication number: US20050233867A1
Application number: US11/088,822
Authority: US
Inventors: Jeeng-Neng Fan
Original assignee: Hsin Lung Accessories Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hsin Lung Accessories Co Ltd
Priority date: 2004-04-15
Filing date: 2005-03-25
Publication date: 2005-10-20
Also published as: TWM255041U; DE202005001930U1; JP3110244U

Abstract

The present invention discloses a fitness equipment having a base, a swing rod pivotally installed on the base, a guide wheel axially disposed on an appropriate position of the swing rod, and a driving device and an adjusting device disposed on the base at an end proximate to the swing rod to constitute a fitness equipment assembly, such that when an exerciser steps both feet on the driving device, the exerciser can exercise both legs, or the swing rod swings or vibrates by using the base as a pivot to produce a vibratory effect to the hands and upper body of the exerciser and thus giving a massaging effect.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved assembly of indoor fitness equipment that provides exercises to strengthen the fitness of both legs or massages both legs of an exerciser according to actual needs
2. Description of the Related Art
As people are facing heavy work load every day and often have to work overtime at odd hours, not only disturbing the rhythm of our work and daily life, but also causing our body exhausted and even an imbalanced sleep, rest or reduced leisure time. With the factors of excessive smoking and drinking, changes of diet habits, negligence of medical treatments and unhappy families, people are fatigued and the aforementioned factors easily give rise to acute cardiopulmonary diseases or even threaten people with Karoshi (which is a death from overwork).
Further, cardiopulmonary fitness can be improved by having appropriate and effective exercises constantly. Positive impacts of exercises to our body include strengthening our musculatures, retarding osteoporoses, improving heart/lung capacity, enhancing body immunity, slowing down arterioscleroses and intelligence degeneration, and lowering blood pressure, heartbeat and blood sugar level, etc.
In general, people do not have their own facilities or time for continuous exercises, and thus there are various kinds of indoor fitness equipments (sports equipments) provided for doing exercises. However, most conventional fitness equipments are products that simulate the movements of jogging or bicycling, not only monotonous and boring, but also giving a single sport function only. The exercise effects are limited to strengthening a certain part of muscle and lack of stepping up a good circulation for the whole body of the exerciser.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the description above, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience of the manufacture and design of sport equipments to conduct extensive research and development to overcome the foregoing shortcomings and look for a feasible solution for the improvement, and finally invented a fitness equipment in accordance with the present invention.
Therefore, it is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a fitness equipment, comprising a swing rod, a guide wheel axially disposed at an appropriate position of the swing rod, a driving device and an adjusting devices disposed on a base at an and proximate to the swing rod, such that when an exerciser treads on the driving device by both feet, a fitness exercise for both legs, or the swing rod swings or vibrates with the base as a pivot, such that the hands and upper part of the body are vibrated for giving a massage effect to the exerciser.
The driving device comprises a core axle, a pedal axially disposed on the core axle, a polygonal driving wheel driven by the pedal and disposed at an end of the core axle, and the circumferential surface of the driving wheel precisely corresponds and contacts with the guide wheel. When the adjusting device drives the guide wheel to contact with the driving wheel, the driving wheel continuously presses the guide wheel during its rotation. In the meantime, the swing rod swings or vibrates with the base as a pivot. On the other hand, if the guide wheel is suspended in the air without touching the driving wheel, then an exerciser can step on the pedals for exercising both legs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawing.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the structure of a fitness equipment in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of part of a fitness equipment in accordance with the present invention;
FIGS. 3A and 3B are enlarged views of adjusting devices of a fitness equipment in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of using the fitness equipment in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a driving wheel pressing a guide wheel in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 6 is another schematic view of using the fitness equipment in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the structure of a resistance device in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a fitness equipment in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of the structure of an adjusting device in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the basic structural assembly of a fitness equipment 1 in accordance with the present invention is illustrated. The fitness equipment 1 comprises:

- a base 10, being the primary mechanical assembly body of the fitness equipment 1 for retaining each related component of the fitness equipment 1;
- a swing rod 20, being pivotally coupled to the base 10, and the bottom of the swing rod 20 is movably and pivotally mounted onto a front end of the base 10 through a pivotal base 21, and the top of the swing rod 20 has a handle rod 22, and a quick release 50 is installed at an appropriate position of the swing rod 20 for adjusting the height of the handle rod 22, and a guide wheel 23 is axially installed at an appropriate position of said swing rod 20;
- a driving device 30, being mounted on the base 10 at a side proximate to the swing rod 20 by a vertical rod 31, and the vertical rod 31 at its top has a core axle 32 and a pedal 33 is installed on the core axle 32, and the core axle 32 at one end has a polygonal driving wheel 34 driven by the pedal 33, and a circumferential surface of the driving wheel 34 precisely corresponds or contacts the guide wheel 23; and
- an adjusting device 40, being installed between the driving device 30 and the swing rod 20 for adjusting the guide wheel 23 to be suspended in the air or in contact with the driving wheel 34;
- wherein the driving wheel 23 according to this embodiment is installed at the top of the core axle 32 of the vertical rod 31 by a fastening plate 41 and comprised of a push member 43 pressed by a screw rod 42, and the push member 43 is in contact with the swing rod 20, and the screw rod 42 is screwed onto the fastening plate 41, and the fastening plate has a slot 411 for passing through a guide rod 44, and the guide rod 44 has a resilient device 45 (which is a spring used in this embodiment) protruded from a side of the fastening plate 41, so that the screw rod 42 is screwed from one side into the swing rod 20 to drive the push member 43 to push the swing rod 20 away from the driving device 30 as shown in FIG. 3A and drive the guide wheel 23 to be suspended in the air without contacting the driving wheel 34; and on the other hand, if the screw rod 42 is screwed out from another side of the swing rod so as to drive the swing rod 20 to press the push member 43 towards the driving device 30 as shown in FIG. 3B, and the guide wheel 23 will be in contact with the driving wheel 34.

Therefore, an exerciser can sit on an externally installed seat 60 as shown in FIG. 4, and the driving wheel 34 can be rotated by an exerciser's stepping both feet on the pedals 33. When the screw rod 42 is screwed out towards another side of the swing rod 20 and the guide wheel 23 is in contact with the driving wheel 34, the driving wheel 34 rotates to drive each edge 341 and each corner 342 at different heights to press against the guide wheel 23 as shown in FIG. 5, while the swing rod 20 is swinging or vibrating with the pivotal base 21 of the base 20 as a pivot. Therefore, the exerciser not only achieves the effect of exercising both legs by stepping the pedals 33, but also has a massaging effect on both hands and an upper part of the body by the vibration so produced.
If the screw rod 42 is screwed into a side of the swing rod 20 to drive the guide wheel 23 to be suspended in the air without touching the driving wheel 34 as shown in FIG. 3A, the exerciser can have an exercise on both legs by stepping on the pedals 33. With the adjustment of the adjusting device 40, the rotating driving wheel 34 is in contact with a range of the guide wheel 23 to achieve the adjustment. In other words, the closer the swing rod 20 to the vertical rod 31, the larger and the more is the range of the guide wheel 23 to be contacted with the circumferential surface of the polygonal driving wheel 34. On the other hand, the farther the swing rod 20 from the vertical rod 31, the smaller and the less is the range of the guide wheel 23 to be contacted with the circumferential surface of the polygonal driving wheel 34. Thus, an exerciser can adjust the adjusting device 40 as needed to control the amplitude of vibration of the swing rod 20 to change the amplitude of vibration or shaking of the hands and upper body and thus giving the best exercising effects.
Further, a fixed rod 70 is disposed at an appropriate position of the base 10, and the fixed rod 70 has a saddle 71 at its top as shown in FIG. 6 for seating an exerciser, such that the exerciser can exercise while sitting on the saddle 71, and a quick release 50 is installed at an appropriate position of the fixed rod 70 for adjusting the height of the saddle 71.
Of course, the driving device 30 could come with a resistance device 80 as shown in FIG. 7, and the resistance device 80 is comprised of a resistance wheel 81 disposed on the core axle 32 corresponding to a side of the driving wheel 34 and a fender 82. A brake plate 83 is installed between the fender 82 and the resistance wheel 81, and a force is applied to the fender 82 by an adjusting rod 84 for adjusting the resistance of the resistance wheel 81, such that when the adjusting rod 84 is screwed inwardly to increase the friction of the resistance wheel 81, it also increases the resistance of stepping the pedals 33.
Further, a connecting rod 72 can be installed on the fixed rod 70 as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, and a guide wheel 73 is installed at an end of its extended section 722, and a push rod 74 is installed on a side of the extended section 722, such that when an adjusting board 75 disposed on the fastening plate 41 is pushed downward, the push rod 74 and the guide wheel 73 disposed at the extended section 722 are pushed away from the driving wheel 34 without being linked. On the other hand, if the adjusting board 75 on the fastening plate 41 is pushed upward, the resilient device 721 installed between the connecting rod 72 and the base 10 drives the connecting rod 72 to push upward and drives the guide wheel 73 towards the driving wheel 34. When the fitness equipment is in use, the fixed rod 70 and the saddle 71 are swung or vibrated, so that the exerciser not only can exercise both legs by stepping on the pedals, but also can have a massage on the hips and the waist. Therefore, the present invention can provide a massage effect as well.
In summation of the description above, the invention provides a better feasible indoor aerobic fitness equipment assembly, and further enhances the performance over the conventional structure and device, and thus complies with the patent application requirements.
While the invention has been described by way of examples and in terms of preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.

Claims

1. A fitness equipment, having a fitness device comprising:

a base, being a primary mechanical assembly body for retaining each related component of said fitness equipment;

a swing rod, being pivotally coupled to said base, and the bottom of said swing rod is movably and pivotally coupled to a front end of said base, and the top of said swing rod has a handle rod, and a guide wheel is axially installed at an appropriate position of said swing rod;

a driving device, being mounted on said base at a side proximate to said swing rod by a vertical rod, and said vertical rod at its top has a core axle and a pedal axially installed on said core axle, and said core axle at one end has a polygonal driving wheel driven by said pedal, and a circumferential surface of said driving wheel precisely corresponds or contacts with said guide wheel; and

an adjusting device, being installed between said driving device and said swing rod for adjusting said guide wheel to be suspended in the air or in contact with said driving wheel;

thereby said driving wheel can be rotated by an exerciser's stepping both feet on said pedals, and when said adjusting device drives said guide wheel to be in contact with said driving wheel, said driving wheel rotates to press said guide wheel, while said swing rod swings or vibrates with said base as a pivot; on the other hand, when said guide wheel is suspended in the air without touching said driving wheel, a user can have an exercise on both legs.

2. The fitness equipment of claim 1, wherein said swing rod is movably and pivotally mounted on said base by a pivotal base, and a quick release is disposed at an appropriate position of said swing rod for adjusting the height of said handle rod.

3. The fitness equipment of claim 1, wherein said adjusting device is installed at the top of said core axle of said vertical rod through a fastening plate and comprised of a push member which is pressed by a screw rod, and said push member is in contact with said swing rod, and said screw rod is fixed onto said fastening plate, such that said screw rod is screwed into said swing rod from a side, so as to drive said push member to press said swing rod and make said guide wheel to be suspended in the air without touching said driving wheel.

4. The fitness equipment of claim 1, wherein said adjusting device is installed at the top of said core axle of said vertical rod by a fastening plate, and comprised of a push member being pressed by a screw rod, and said push member is in contact with said swing rod, and said screw rod is installed on said fastening plate, and said fastening plate has a slot for passing through a guide rod, and said guide rod has a resilient device protruded from a side of said fastening plate.

5. The fitness equipment of claim 1, wherein said driving device comprises a resistance device on one side, and said resistance device is comprised of a resistance wheel and a fender disposed on said core axle on a side corresponding to said driving wheel, and a brake plate is installed between said fender and said resistance wheel, sand a force is applied to said fender by an adjusting rod for adjusting the resistance of said resistance wheel.

6. The fitness equipment of claim 1, wherein said base comprises a fixed rod disposed at an appropriate position of said base, and said fixed rod at its top has a saddle for seating said user.

7. The fitness equipment of claim 6, wherein said fixed rod comprises a quick release disposed at an appropriate position of said fixed rod for adjusting the height of said saddle.

8. The fitness equipment of claim 1, wherein said fixed rod comprises a connecting rod, a guide wheel disposed at an end of an extended section of said connecting rod, a push rod disposed on an edge of said extended section, and an adjusting rod disposed on said fastening plate for controlling and selectively driving said guide wheel to vibrate said saddle.