US20140066270A1

US20140066270A1 - Structure of exercise cord

Info

Publication number: US20140066270A1
Application number: US13/596,080
Authority: US
Inventors: Chieh-Jen Lin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-08-28
Filing date: 2012-08-28
Publication date: 2014-03-06

Abstract

The present invention relates to a structure of exercise cord, which includes at least one elastic cord having two ends of which at least one is provided with a grip. The grip has two ends at top side extending between which is a handhold and a base seat is provided at the side opposite to the handhold. The base seat forms three retainer seats that extend through a bottom of the base seat. Each of the retainer seats has an upper end forming a circumferential recess and including therein a clamp extending to middle of the retainer seat. Three anchoring plugs are each provided with a retention rim at an upper end thereof and forming a cord extension hole in a lower end and also including a coupling section formed on a side thereof. The three anchoring plugs are respectively receivable in the thee retainer seats.

Description

(a) TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a structure of exercise cord, and more particularly to a structure of exercise cord that is an exercise equipment allowing of stretching exercise in which an elastic cord and a grip are fixedly connect to prevent the elastic cord from separating and thus incapable of maintaining the desired function thereof and also to allow of adjustment of the length and the magnitude of elastic force of the elastic cord to achieve the purposes of secure connection and easy adjustment.

(b) DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

An exercise cord is usually used to help stretching the body of a user, effecting resistance training and body building. The exercise cord is small and light weighted, making it easy to be carried and stored by a use. The most important part of the exercise cord that requires constant maintenance is an elastic cord. The elastic cord often undergoes elastic fatigue, damaging, and breaking after a long term use. In this condition, the damaged or aging elastic cord must be replaced by a new one. Further, users also desire to adjust the magnitude of the elastic force to accord to each individual's physical condition.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,398,698, 6,648,804, 6,837,835, 7,147,592, and 7,316,636 all disclose or show an exercise cord of which the elastic cord is fixed in a retainer seat of a grip by having an anchoring sphere fit into the retainer seat so that the elastic cord can be securely retained by the sphere fit in the retainer seat to thereby achieve the purposes of fixing. However, when no stretching exercise is taken or the equipment is not in use, if an external force is applied in a direction toward the grip, the elastic cord will cause the sphere to get out of the retainer seat. In the next time of use, if the user does not take a check carefully, the force that the user applies may cause the elastic cord and the sphere to move in opposite directions with high speeds. This may easily hurt the face or body of the user. Apparently, the conventional structure is poor is securely fixing and has poor safety. The users are not paying more attention to the adjustability and safety of the exercise cord and more improvement can be made in these respects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above discussed issues and problems, the present invention aims to provide a structure of exercise cord that meets the needs of the modern users.
An object of the present invention is to have an elastic cord received through a cord extension hole formed in a lower end of an anchoring plug whereby when the anchoring plug is set in a retainer seat, a coupling section formed on a side surface of the anchoring plug is in close engagement with a clamp formed inside the retainer seat so as to restrain the elastic cord in the space between the retainer seat and the anchoring plug.
Another object of the present invention is to have an elastic cord received in a cord extension hole in such a way that a leading end section of the elastic cord forms an upper folded section, while a tailing end section forms a lower folded section.
A further object of the present invention is to have an elastic cord received through an anchoring plug in such a way that the anchoring plug is only removable by simultaneously holding an upper folded section a the lower folded section to apply a force in a direction toward a handhold in order to allow a user to adjust magnitude of elastic force thereof.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a retainer seat having an upper end forming a circumferential recess and an anchoring plug forming a retention rim at an upper end thereof, whereby the retention rim is engageable with the circumferential recess when the anchoring plug is received in the retainer seat to enhance tight engagement therebetween.
The present invention provides a structure of exercise cord, which comprises at least one elastic cord having two ends of which at least one is provided with a grip. The grip has two ends at top side extending between which is a handhold and a base seat is provided at the side opposite to the handhold. The base seat forms three retainer seats that extend through a bottom of the base seat. Each of the retainer seats has an upper end forming a circumferential recess and comprising therein a clamp extending to middle of the retainer seat. Three anchoring plugs are each provided with a retention rim at an upper end thereof and forming a cord extension hole in a lower end and also comprising a coupling section formed on a side thereof. The three anchoring plugs are respectively receivable in the thee retainer seats. With the elastic cord received through one of the anchoring plugs, the anchoring plug is fit into and retained in a corresponding retainer seat so that the elastic cord is restrained in the space between the two, making it not possible to effect an adjustment by only pulling one side of the elastic cord. Adjustment can only be effected through simultaneously pulling both sides of the elastic cord. Thus, the purposes of secure connection and easy adjustment can be achieved.
The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the assembling of the structure of the present invention.

FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the structure of the present invention in an assembled form.

FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 4.

FIG. 4B is an enlarged view of a circled portion of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C of FIG. 4.

FIG. 4D is an enlarged view of a circled portion of FIG. 4C.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
A detailed description of the structure and function of the present invention will be given with reference to a preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings in order to better explain the inventive idea of the present invention. The present invention relates to a structure of exercise cord, which, as shown in FIGS. 1-4D, has a structure generally comprising a grip 1, a handhold 11, a base seat 12, retainer seats 2, anchoring plugs 3, and an elastic cord 4.
Referring to FIGS. 1-4D, the present invention is generally structured such that at least one of two ends of at least one elastic cord 4 is provided with a grip 1. The grip 1 has two ends at the top side extending between which is a handhold 11 and a base seat 12 is provided at the side opposite to the handhold 11. The base seat 12 forms three retainer seats 2 that extend through a bottom of the base seat. Each of the retainer seats 2 has an upper end forming a circumferential recess 21 and comprising therein a clamp 22 extending to the middle of the retainer seat. Three anchoring plugs 3 are each provided with a retention rim 31 at an upper end thereof and forming a cord extension hole 33 in a lower end and also comprising a coupling section 32 formed on a side thereof. The three anchoring plugs 3 are receivable in the thee retainer seats 2.
As shown in FIGS. 2-4, the exercise cord of the present invention is structured so that an elastic cord 4 is first arranged to have a leading end thereof received through one of the anchoring plugs 3 and then the anchoring plug 3 is downward and forcibly fit into the corresponding retainer seat 2. The leading end of the elastic cord 4 that extends through the anchoring plug 3 is folded to form an upper folded section 41, while a tailing end section of the cord that located rearward of the leading end section becomes a lower folded section 42. The clamp 22 formed inside the retainer seat 2 extends to a middle of the retainer seat but not completely extending through the base seat 12. Referring to FIGS. 4A-4D, the coupling section 32 of each anchoring plug 3 is in close engagement with the clamp 22 of the corresponding retainer seat 2, whereby the anchoring plug 3 is not caused to rotate either clockwise or counterclockwise when the elastic cord 4 is subjected to an external force applied thereto so as to damage the elastic property of the elastic cord 4. The retention rim 31 formed on an upper end circumference of the anchoring plug 3 is fit in the circumferential recess 21 of the retainer seat 2 so as to retain the anchoring plug 3 in the retainer seat 2 in such a way that the anchoring plug 3 is in tightly engagement with the retainer seat 2, whereby with the tight engagement between the anchoring plug 3 and the retainer seat 2, the upper folded section 41 and the lower folded section 42 of the elastic cord 4 are securely held by being clamped in the interior space of the retainer seat and the position of the elastic cord 4 can maintain unchanged even it is put in idle after use. In an attempt to adjust the magnitude of elastic force of the elastic cord 4, if only one of the upper folded section 41 and the lower folded section 42 is held and a force is applied in a direction toward the handhold 11, the force applied to the sections will be spread along the elastic cord 4, making it not possible to be withdrawn from the anchoring plug 3 for effecting adjustment. This structure is also effective in preventing the anchoring plug 3 from separating or springing off to cause accidental damage due to one of the upper folded section 41 and the lower folded section 42 being held. The anchoring plug 3 can only be entirely withdrawn from the retainer seat 2 by simultaneously holding the upper folded section 41 and the lower folded section 42 and applying a force in the direction toward the handhold 11 and then adjustment of the magnitude of elastic force can be effected. The base seat 12 comprises three retainer seats 2 and the three retainer seats 2 have the same structure, whereby the assembling described above can be expanded to at most three elastic cords 4 in order to provide an adjustable range of the magnitude of elastic force. In summary, the present invention can achieve both secure connection and easy adjustment.
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Claims

I claim:

1. A structure of exercise cord, comprising at least one elastic cord having two ends of which at least one is provided with a grip, the grip having two ends at top side extending between which is a handhold and a base seat being provided at the side opposite to the handhold, the base seat forming three retainer seats that extend through a bottom of the base seat, each of the retainer seats having an upper end forming a circumferential recess and comprising therein a clamp extending to middle of the retainer seat, three anchoring plugs being each provided with a retention rim at an upper end thereof and forming a cord extension hole in a lower end and also comprising a coupling section formed on a side thereof, the three anchoring plugs being respectively receivable in the thee retainer seats;

characterized in that the elastic cord is received through the lower end cord extension hole of one of the anchoring plugs whereby when the anchoring plug is set in the corresponding retainer seat, the side coupling section of the anchoring plug is in close engagement with the clamp of the retainer seat so as to restrain the elastic cord in the space between the retainer seat and the anchoring plug.

2. The structure of exercise cord according to claim 1, wherein the elastic cord is received in the cord extension hole in such a way that a leading end section of the elastic cord forms an upper folded section, while a tailing end section forms a lower folded section.

3. The structure of exercise cord according to claim 1, wherein the elastic cord is received through the anchoring plug in such a way that the anchoring plug is only removable by simultaneously holding the upper folded section and the lower folded section to apply a force in a direction toward the handhold in order to allow a user to adjust magnitude of elastic force thereof.

4. The structure of exercise cord according to claim 2, wherein the elastic cord is received through the anchoring plug in such a way that the anchoring plug is only removable by simultaneously holding the upper folded section and the lower folded section to apply a force in a direction toward the handhold in order to allow a user to adjust magnitude of elastic force thereof.

5. The structure of exercise cord according to claim 1, wherein each of the retainer seats has an upper end forming a circumferential recess and each of the anchoring plugs forms a retention rim at an upper end thereof, the retention rim being engageable with the circumferential recess when the anchoring plug is received in the retainer seat to enhance tight engagement therebetween.