Undertaking
Patent
1981-02-04
1983-12-20
Hafer, Robert A.
Undertaking
272133, 272143, A63B 6906
Patent
active
044213077
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to exercising equipment, and more particularly to exercising machines which allow a user to simulate the action of rowing a boat.
THE PRIOR ART
Various rowing-type exercising machines have already been proposed. However, these previously-proposed machines have suffered from various disadvantages. Many of the prior machines have used a handle which is not constrained to follow any particular path, but is merely connected to the front end of the frame of the machine by a cord or tension spring. This means that the line of action of the force against which the user must work is much lower than in real rowing, so that the machine does not allow the user to simulate accurately a rowing action. Also, the fact that the handle is only loosely connected to the frame of the machine may make the machine somewhat inconvenient to store.
Also, the previously-proposed machines incorporate a frame which is in general fairly long, and this contributes to the awkwardness of storing the machine.
The present invention is concerned with providing a rowing-type exercise machine which is reasonably convenient to store, and does not have a loose handle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, exercising equipment comprises an elongate frame, a foot rest mounted on the frame, a seat which is movable generally horizontally along the frame towards and away from the foot rest, and a handle mounted on the frame and arranged to be moved along a predetermined path by a user of the equipment, with at least a component of movement parallel to the direction of movement of the seat, and means arranged to oppose such movement of the handle, and the frame comprises front and rear portions which, in an operative position, lie generally in alignment and end to end, and, in a storage position, lie with their lengths at least approximately parallel, and at least partially overlapping.
The invention makes it possible to reduce the overall size of the exercising equipment for storage purposes.
Preferably, the two portions of the frame are interconnected by a hinge joint, so that the frame can be moved from its operative position to its storage position by a folding movement.
The means opposing movement of the handle is conveniently mounted entirely on the front portion of the frame, on which portion the foot rest is also mounted, while the rear portion of the frame provides a track for the movement of the seat.
The predetermined path along which the handle moves preferably lies well above the level of the seat, at least along part of the length of this path, in order that the exercise provided by the machine is a fairly close simulation of a rowing action. For example, the handle may comprise a bar which is pivoted at its lower end to the frame of the equipment, about a horizontal axis, and carrying a hand-grip at or near its upper end. Conveniently the pivot axis of the handle may coincide with the axis of the hinge joint connecting the two portions of the frame.
It may be possible so to arrange the lines of action of the various forces acting on the two portions of the frame that there is no tendency for relative movements to occur when the exercising equipment is in use. However, the preferred embodiment includes means arranged to prevent such relative movements of the two frame portions away from their operative position. It is also desirable that the frame portions of the equipment should be restrained from relative movements when in their storage position; in the case where the two frame portions are connected by a hinge joint, and the handle consists of a pivoted bar, the handle bar, in the storage position, may be restrained from movement by a hook arrangement connecting it to the rear frame portion, while the movement resisting means maintains a biassing force tending to move the handle bar relative to the front frame portion, which biassing force, on the one hand, keeps the hook arrangement under load, and, on the other hand, keeps the front frame portion pressed fi
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Cunnington Ian J.
Evans Harold R.
Hafer Robert A.
Kramer Arnold W.
Tekron Licensing BV
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