Exercise devices – For foot or ankle
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-15
2002-12-17
Donnelly, Jerome W. (Department: 3764)
Exercise devices
For foot or ankle
C482S051000, C482S054000, C482S070000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06494816
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a foot, leg and lower body exercise system and more particularly pertains to a system to safely and efficiently provide exercise for a user's feet and legs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of other known means and apparatuses for the exercise of a user's legs, feet and lower body is known in the prior art. More specifically, other known means and apparatuses for the exercise of a user's legs, feet and lower body previously devised and utilized for the purpose of providing exercise for the user's legs, feet and lower body are known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,212 to Nelson discloses a leg exerciser for use under a desk. U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,668 to McIlvain et al discloses an apparatus for the rehabilitation of an ankle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,667 to Watterson discloses a multipurpose exerciser. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,434,981 to Norton discloses a cross country skiing simulating exerciser.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe foot, leg and lower body exercise system that allows for safely and efficiently providing exercise for a user's feet, legs and lower body.
In this respect, the foot, leg and lower body exercise system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of safely and efficiently providing exercise for a user's feet, legs and lower body.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved foot, leg and lower body exercise system which can be used for safely and efficiently providing exercise for a user's feet, legs and lower body. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of other known means and apparatuses now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved foot, leg and lower body exercise system. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved foot, leg and lower body exercise system and method which has all the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a foot, leg and lower body exercise system for safely and efficiently providing exercise for a user's feet, legs and lower body. The system comprises, in combination, several components. First there is provided a housing. The housing has an upper plate with an inside and an outside, and a lower plate with an inside and an outside. There are also provided two end plates and two side plates there between. The end plates and side plates are oriented perpendicular to the plane of the upper and lower plates. The end and side plates are coupled to the edges of the upper and lower plates thereby forming a generally rectilinear configuration. The length of the housing is greater than the width of the housing. The width to height ratio of the housing is about 7:1. The lower plate has an adjustment aperture located to one side of the lower plate. The upper plate has two equally configured rectangularly shaped openings. Each of the rectangularly shaped openings are equally spaced from the side edges of the upper plate. Each of the openings has a recess along each of the long edges of the rectangularly shaped openings. There is next provided a pair of like configured foot slides. Each slide has a rigid portion comprising a foot rest and a base plate. The base plate has an upper face and a lower face. The base plate has a flat rectangular configuration with forward and rearward edges, as well as side edges there between. Slots are provided adjacent to the rearward edge of each base plate. The side edges of the base plate are configured to be slidably mated to the recesses of the openings of the upper plate so as to provide positive tracking along the recesses in a forward and rearward movement. Each base plate has a plurality of rectangular apertures on the upper face. These apertures are located adjacent to the forward edge. Also provided are a plurality of upstanding protuberances located on the upper face of the base plate across the midline. The foot rest has an upper end and a lower end with two side edges there between. The foot rest is configured in a generally “Z” shaped form. There are provided two wide prongs extending from the lower end of the foot rest to be receivably loosely mated with the slots of the base plate. The foot rest also has a downwardly extending locking arm which is rotatably coupled to the underside of the foot rest and is capable of being securely retained by any one of the protuberances of the base plate. This allows for the foot rest to be maintained in any of a plurality of angles. There is next provided a collapsible portion of the foot slides. The collapsible portion is operatively coupled to each foot slide and also coupled to the base plate at the side ends of the base plate. The peripheral edges of the collapsible portion are coupled to the inside of the housing top thereby closing off the openings during reciprocation of the foot rests and base plates. There is next provided a reciprocating mechanism comprising a flexible pulley cable, a plurality of pulleys, a plurality of mounting brackets and a plurality of housing brackets. The pulleys are oriented in a rectangular configuration within the confines of the housing. The axes of the pulleys are located along the first and second quarter dividing line of the long axis of the lower plate and the third and fourth quarter dividing line of the long axis of the lower plate. The pulleys are rotatably coupled to, and mounted on, the fixed mounting brackets. The mounting brackets in turn are coupled to the inside of the lower plate. The mounting brackets also couple the flexible pulley cable to the lower face of the base plate of the foot slides. This coupling between the foot slides through the cable and pulleys allows the foot slides to reciprocate forwardly and rearwardly. This allows for a reciprocating motion of the foot slides. Lastly there is provided an adjustment turnbuckle which is coupled to the pulley cable to form a continuous loop. The adjustment turnbuckle is located within the housing. The turnbuckle is accessible through the adjustment aperture of the lower plate to thereby vary the tension of the cable during operation and use.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other struct
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