Patent Application
20240009538
The present disclosure relates generally to exercise apparatus, and more particularly, to an exercise apparatus for swimmers that can be configured for learning or practicing the freestyle stroke and the breast stroke without being in the water.
Exercise machines of various types have been in use for many years directed to accomplishing many types of fitness results. Typically, exercise machines include many types of exercise devices that perform either a single exercise or multiple exercises using different muscle groups and movements. The devices generally utilize weights, springs, resistance devices or pulleys, and sometimes enable the user to create motion against the gravity effect on the user's body weight.
Swimming is often taught to beginners in a pool or other swimming location by having the beginner lying prone in the water while being supported by a parent or instructor supporting the beginner as the beginner learns the arm strokes, leg kicks, and coordinated movements for breathing while swimming. There is no apparatus available for teaching the coordinated movements involved on dry land while simulating the buoyant forces experienced swimming in water,
From time to time, swimmers may not be able to swim in the usual swimming facility due to illnesses or medical conditions, such as dermatological impairments or infections. In addition, swimmers sometimes may need to go through a period of recuperation from an orthopedic impairment and may desire exercising on dry land to rebuild muscle strength before returning to swimming in water. Current exercise apparatus for swimmers are either designed for use in the water or for exercising specific muscle groups individually, without simulating the coordinated movements required by particular swimming strokes.
Thus, an exercise apparatus for swimmers solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The exercise apparatus for swimmers has a ground-engaging base frame supporting a front section supporting the chest and arms, a central section supporting the torso, and a rear section supporting the legs. The base frame is made of square tubing and includes a forward portion on which the front section is slidably mounted and a rear portion on which the central and rear sections are mounted, the forward and rear portions being connected by a screw drive to adjust axial length of the apparatus. The front chest support section includes a resilient telescoping post having chest pads mounted thereon and a cross member having adjustable lateral arm posts. The central torso support section includes a resilient telescoping post having torso pads mounted thereon. The rear section includes a post on which leg supports are mounted. The apparatus may be configured for freestyle strokes or breast strokes.
When configured for freestyle stroke exercises, the front chest support section has hand holsters attached to the lateral arm posts resiliently biased to move 180° out of phase vertically to simulate hand positions during the freestyle stroke and the rear leg support section has a plate extending transversely through the top of the post, the plate having leg pads mounted at opposite ends and being resiliently biased to offer resistance to leg kicking movement. The hand grips and leg plate are connected by a pulley system to synchronize pivoting of the leg plate with the position of the hand holsters.
When configured for breast stroke exercises, the front chest support section has a chest pad pivotally mounted on the upper section of the telescoping post to simulate the up and down motion of the chest while doing the breast stroke. The upper section of the telescoping post also has two rigid arm-mounting brackets extending laterally and obliquely forward, and two resilient hand holsters arms pivotally mounted on swivels at the ends of the arm-mounting brackets to simulate hand and arm positions during the breast stroke. The rear leg support section has two rigid leg-mounting brackets extending laterally and obliquely rearward, and two resilient foot pads/holsters pivotally mounted on swivels at the ends of the leg-mounting brackets to simulate leg kicks while doing the breast stroke.
These and other features of the present subject matter will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
The exercise apparatus for swimmers has a ground-engaging base frame supporting a front section supporting the chest and arms, a central section supporting the torso, and a rear section supporting the legs. The base frame is made of square tubing and includes a forward portion on which the front section is slidably mounted and a rear portion on which the central and rear sections are mounted, the forward and rear portions being connected by a screw drive to adjust axial length of the apparatus. The front chest support section includes a resilient telescoping post having chest pads mounted thereon and a cross member having adjustable lateral arm posts. The central torso support section includes a resilient telescoping post having torso pads mounted thereon. The rear section includes a slidably mounted post connected by a screw drive to adjust the axial length of the legs on which leg supports are mounted. The apparatus may be configured for freestyle strokes or breast strokes.
When configured for freestyle stroke exercises, the front chest support section has hand holsters attached to the lateral arm posts resiliently biased to move 180° out of phase vertically to simulate hand positions during the freestyle stroke and the rear leg support section has a plate extending transversely through the top of the post, the plate having leg pads mounted at opposite ends and being resiliently biased to offer resistance to leg kicking movement. The hand holsters and leg plate are connected by a pulley system to synchronize pivoting of the leg plate with the position of the hand holsters.
When configured for breast stroke exercises, the front chest support section has a chest pad pivotally mounted on the upper section of the telescoping post to simulate the up and down motion of the chest while doing the breast stroke. The upper section of the telescoping post also has two rigid arm-mounting brackets extending laterally and obliquely forward, and two resilient hand holster arms pivotally mounted on swivels at the ends of the arm-mounting brackets to simulate hand and arm positions during the breast stroke. The rear leg support section has two rigid leg-mounting brackets extending laterally and obliquely rearward, and two resilient foot pads pivotally mounted on swivels at the ends of the leg-mounting brackets to simulate leg kicks while doing the breast stroke.
As shown in
At the top of the posts 12r, 12l, telescoping arms 17r, 17l are pivotally attached at 17a and 17b, the arms 17r, 17l being made from metal tubes of a predetermined size such that one tube slidably fits inside another and are connected together with a compression spring of predetermined strength, allowing the two parts to resiliently move telescopically. The two-tube spring configuration can also be replaced with hydraulic arms or gas struts, so that it allows for the extension of the arms 17r, 17l to simulate the person's arms being extended forward in water and to retract as the elbows bend when the arm is being pulled back and out of the water behind the swimmer. Each arm 17r, 17l is connected to a grip or holster 18a, 18b where the swimmer's hand fits, and to a pulley 14r, 14l through a shaft or a stud 17a, 17b. A belt 13r, 13l will then connect the respective pulley 14r, 14l with a smaller pulley 15a, 15c, respectively. The smaller pulley 15a connects to a shaft 15b which is connected to the other small pulley 15c at the other side of this section.
Pulley 14r is connected through a shaft or a stud 17b to the other telescopic arm 17r, on the other side, for the user's other hand. The arms 17r, 17l are positioned at 180° from each other (opposite each other), so that as one arm goes down (enters the water) the other arm goes up (exits the water). Belt 131 is tensioned by rollers 19a, 19b and belt 13r is tensioned by rollers 19c, 19d, the rollers 19a-19d being mounted on brackets welded to the corresponding posts 121, 12r, respectively. The tensioners are auto adjustable by a spring mechanism.
As shown in
Posts 12l, 12r are made, again, from box metal (square tubing) of a certain length placed perpendicularly on cross members 11l, 11r and running inside channels, which are welded on cross members 11l, 11r. Cross members 11l, 11r give the front of the base frame its stability, and are made from square tubing too. Center post 24 is made from a certain length of square tubing welded perpendicularly on section 35, and supports upper telescoping post or tube 25, with an internal compression spring joining center post 24 and upper tube 25. The spring is placed inside post 24 at the bottom and mimics the feeling of buoyancy to the chest of the user. At the top of upper tube 25, a T-plate is welded, which has two chest pads or a bolster of foam or high density sponge placed on it, which gives support and comfort to the user's chest. The chest pads 27, 29 are placed on wood planks held to the T-plate with bolts and toothed nuts, which are embedded in the top side of the wood planks.
An L-shape bracket 51 is welded to the front of upper tube 25. A metal plate 22 having two small plates welded to its top front, forming a V-shaped head support 23, is pivotally attached to the bracket 51. Inside the V-shaped head support 23, two small pads, molded on top of wooden plates, are held in place with bolts and toothed nuts (which are embedded on the top side of the wooden plank, similar to padded blocks 27, 29). Plate 22 has two holes, one at the bottom center and the other hole is at the extreme side to it, connected through a metal rod 21 to pulley 20, which, in turn, is connected to another pulley 38a through a belt 28. Pulley 38a is connected to shaft 15b. Plate 22 is connected to bracket 51 with a bolt and nut. Tensioner 19 is used to adjust the tension of belt 28 to prevent slippage between pulleys 38a, 20. Shaft 15b feeds through pulleys 15a, 38a, 38b, 15c. This arrangement replicates the user's head rotation with the arms movement to cater for the breathing techniques. Note; head out of the water at the same time as the arm is out of the water)
As shown in
Upper tube 46 has a rectangular plate 46a welded transversely to its top, which has padding 48 molded on a wooden plank. The wooden plank has two toothed nuts embedded in the plank at the top of each side, where a bolt is used to affix the padding 48 on the plate 46a to provide comfort to the user's stomach.
As shown in
A spring 47 connected between one side of the pivoted plate 45a and the corresponding side of upper tube 45x keeps the pivoted plate 45a horizontal at all times, and also provides resistance to the legs when kicking up and down. The other side of the pivot plate 45a is connected to a long rod 45h, which is connected to a pulley 38c at the base of post 45, which is connected to another pulley 38b mounted on bracket 15d of the front chest support section 35 with a belt. A tensioner 38e is mounted on a bracket which is welded on top of the corresponding side of cross members 37l, 37r. This arrangement is for the purpose of coordinating the legs with the arm and head movements, since they are being rotated by shaft 15b, which rotates the arms, head, and legs, as a swimmer would do, for the purpose of learning the techniques. The arrangement can be removed when the apparatus is used by a person who has perfected the techniques. Post 45 runs inside channels 36c, 36d welded on the top of section 36b. A nut is welded to the rear side of post 45 and has a threaded shaft 40 going through it, so that when the shaft 40 is rotated using handle 40a, the post 45 would move forward and backward, allowing section 36b to cater for the different height of users.
An L-shaped metal bracket 42a is welded on the rear end of section 36a immediately in front of cross members 37l, 37r, and bracket 42b is welded to the rear end of section 36b. These two brackets hold threaded shaft 40 in place with two double nuts 41a, 41b at each end of the threaded shaft. A nut is welded to the rear side of post 45 where the threaded shaft 40 goes through it, so that when shaft 40 is turned using cam handle 40a, shaft 40 acts as the lead screw in a screw drive-type linear slide mechanism and post 45 will move forward and backward, along the axis of shaft 40 to cater for the user height of the body (user leg length).
As shown in
In use, a person using the exercise apparatus for swimmers of
Upper tube 45x can be replaced with upper tube 60, which telescopes onto post 45, as shown in
Various resistance mechanisms can be integrated to provide resistance to all moving parts, such as the arms and the legs.
Alternately, the exercise apparatus for swimmers may be configured for practicing the breaststroke. The purpose of this configuration is to enable a person to replicate swimming motion of a breaststroke without the need for water (pool or sea). It could be used for teaching purposes, improvement, or rehabilitation, and also for people with dermatological conditions, where sea or pool water could aggravate their condition.
As seen in
The assembly of upper post member 70 includes a section of square tubing that telescopes onto post 24. Welded at a close proximity to its top are brackets 71r, 71l that extend laterally and obliquely forward at such an angle that arms 90r, 90l can rotate without colliding with one another. Spindle assembly 72r and 72l (mounted at the extremities of 71r and 71l respectively) are each a cylinder that houses a spindle held rotatably in place by two bearings at the top and bottom of the cylinder, which allows arms 90r, 90l connected to the top of the spindles to rotate freely (refer to
The bottom ends of spindles 72r & 72l are connected to cams, which are connected to linkages 73r, 73l, respectively, and which are connected at the other end to a cam, which is connected to the spindle of the assembly cylinder 72c, where linkage 73l is connected to it's top end cam (88) and 73r is connected to its bottom end cam (109) (mounted on the extremity of bracket 71c extending forward from upper post 70) in such a way as to synchronize the movements of the arms 90r, 90l with the rise of the user's chest. Assembly 72c is mounted on the extremity of bracket 71c. The cam/spindle assembly also has a tensioner 74, which varies the load to the arms 90r, 90l in order to vary the strength required by the user as they rotate the arms.
At the top of assembly 72c, a cam is connected to a rod 73c (as explained in the above), which is connected to the bottom plate 77a of chest pad 77, where the forward and backward movements of that linkage 73c will cause the chest pad's front end to go up and down, pushing the user's chest up and down. As a result, the appropriate motion is carried out by the user in the breaststroke with regards to replicating the breathing techniques. Pad 77 is held in place through a bolt 70b and nut 70c configuration (clevis pin) through a bottom fin welded to the bottom of plate 77a, which is placed inside the clevis 70a, which is welded at such an angle to the top end of post 70 so that the connected chest pad 77 pivots freely to replicate the breathing techniques.
The arms assembly 90r and 90l could each be a hydraulic or a spring-tensioned mechanism, where the front segment is allowed to move away from the rear segment forcefully, to facilitate the arm movements in a breaststroke motion. Hand holster attachments 79r, 79l are where the user inserts his hand and rotates the arms and are connected to a cylinder assembly's 83r & 83l top end where the bottom end of the cylinder assembly 83r & 83l is connected to the far end of the front segment of the arms 90r & 90l (the left side has a cylinder assembly similar to 83r, which is hidden by hand grip 79l in
The top of spindles 83r, 83l are connected to arms 85r, 85l, similar to the ones used for the arm movements in
The other end of arms 85r, 85l are connected to the bottom of spindles 86r, 86l, respectively, while the top of each spindle 86r, 86l is connected to a corresponding foot holster 87r, 87l. Each foot holster 87r, 87l swivels up and down along its axis and horizontally around each corresponding spindle 86r, 86l to replicate the appropriate foot action as the user kicks back when stretching the legs while performing the breaststroke.
All spindles are threaded at the top and bottom and bolts are used to hold the connecting components to it. An alternative configuration allows for the spindle top and bottom to be slotted at its top or bottom or both depending on whether the connecting component is required to move solidly or freely with respect to the spindle. The connected moving components will have slots or cut outs (as per the alternative configuration) to fit the spindle perfectly and stop the components from becoming dislodged, as shown in
Various resistance mechanisms can be integrated to provide resistance to all moving parts, such as, the arms and the legs, throughout the apparatus.
It is to be understood that the exercise apparatus for swimmers is not limited to the specific embodiments described above but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the generic language of the following claims enabled by the embodiments described herein, or otherwise shown in the drawings or described above in terms sufficient to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the claimed subject matter.
