The subject matter of the present application is in the field of handheld exercise and physical therapy devices using elastic bands.
Devices for complementing the use of elastic cords and bands for exercises and physical therapy are known.
One example is shown in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US2017/0274239 to Barella. Barella shows an exercise bar or tube with slotted ends for inserting the knotted ends of an elastic stretch band. The bar is useful for exercises while holding the bar with two hands and anchoring the band underfoot.
Another example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,402,668 to Harker. Harker shows a rigid bar or tube with slotted ends. Handles attached to the ends of a tubular, cord-like elastic member in a stirrup configuration include portions insertable into the ends of the bar, with portions of the stirrup configuration fed into the corresponding slots. The bar may be rolled to entwine a portion of the elastic member onto the bar, to shorten the length of the elastic member and increase its resistance.
Neither Barella nor Harker allows a flat elastic exercise band to be adjusted relative to the handlebar with good uniformity or consistency, which is critical to the proper and balanced use of such bands for physical therapy exercises. Nor do these prior devices appear to allow an efficient and uniform adjustment of an elastic exercise band attached to a handlebar “on the fly”, or while in use. The connections of the prior art bars to their elastic members also appear to place unnecessary localized strain on their respective elastic members, which would result in them wearing out faster.
Further, the prior art connections of the bars to their elastic members require unnecessarily complicated structures or manipulation to attach and detach the elastic members to the bars, making the changing of elastic members for different exercises slower and more cumbersome.
The present invention comprises an exercise band handlebar device in which the ends of a wide, flat, elastic exercise or therapy band can be quickly, easily, and uniformly secured to the ends of the bar, and further which allows rapid, uniform adjustments of the band as to length and resistance while in use.
In a first form, the exercise band handlebar device comprises an elongated handlebar with open tubular ends, each open tubular end having a longitudinal slot through the associated sidewall portion. Each end of a wide, flat exercise band is secured in flat, full-width fashion to a rigid spreader insert rod or tube (hereafter “tube”) whose diameter is less than the inner diameter of the open tubular ends of the handlebar. The spreader insert tubes are removably inserted lengthwise into the open tubular ends of the handlebar, with the flat, full-width ends of the exercise band extending through the longitudinal slots.
The inserted spreader insert tubes rest in eccentric fashion against inner sidewall portions of their respective tubular ends of the handlebar, with the friction of the flat ends of the exercise bands extending across the spreader insert tubes securing the spreader insert tubes in place in the tubular ends, especially during exercises when the band is stretched and even more so when the band ends are partially or fully wound one or more times in flat, full-width fashion around the ends of the handlebar.
The friction of the flat, full-width, spread exercise band ends in the slots and on the outer faces of the tubular handlebar ends also allows the band to be rolled up very quickly and very uniformly by the person holding the handlebar, while in use and without any need for adjustment or manipulation of the band or any intervening structure.
In a further form, the connection of the ends of the exercise band to the spreader insert tubes is formed with a full-length stiffening member at each end of the band, for example a rod permanently attached to each end of the band and then inserted into a hollow interior of the spreader insert tube and secured therein in an eccentric manner, with a longitudinal slot in the spreader insert tube accommodating the exercise band.
The exercise band with the spreader insert tubes secured at each end may be used independently of the handlebar, if desired, with the spreader insert tubes providing individual hand grips. Multiple sets of exercise bands equipped with spreader insert tubes secured to their ends may be provided and quickly swapped in and out of the handlebar.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description below, in light of the accompanying drawings.
Referring first to
While handlebar 20 is illustrated in the example of
Exercise band 30 is a wide flat elastic band of rubber-like material of known type, and may come in different colors and elastic strengths, as is known in the art. The width and overall length of band 30 may also vary, although a width of approximately 4-6″ (inches) is typical along with a length of several feet, trimmed to size per user (and therapist) preference. In use, the ends 32 of the band are capable of being wrapped in flat, even, full-width fashion partially or fully one or more times around the ends 24 of handlebar 20.
Referring to
Referring to
With the innermost ends 32a of the exercise band 30 essentially permanently secured in spreader insert tubes 40, spreader insert tubes 40 can be quickly and easily inserted into the open tubular ends 24a of handlebar 20 with the respective ends 32 of the exercise band 30 extending in flat, full-width fashion from the corresponding-length slots 22, as best shown in
No additional structure is needed to keep spreader insert tubes 40 and the ends 32 of the exercise band 30 securely attached to handlebar 20 for normal handling and exercise, as the friction of the flat, full-width, spread exercise band ends 32 against the edges of the slots 22 and on and around the outer surfaces of the handlebar 20 at ends 24 is sufficient to hold the spreader insert tubes 40 in place without longitudinal slippage. This effect is increased by the off-center bias location of the smaller diameter spreader insert tubes 40 relative to the axis of the tubular ends of the handlebar, as the spreader tubes 40 rest against or are tensioned against the nearest inner sidewall surface of the handlebar ends 24. Yet, when it is desired to remove a first exercise band 30 from handlebar 20 for storage, travel, or to replace it with a band of different resistance, spreader tubes 40 and the ends 32 of band 30 in their relaxed, untensioned state, with the band ends 32 unwound from around the ends of the handlebar and relaxed or un-stretched, are easily slid out of the ends 24a of the handlebar.
Handlebar 20 is illustrated as a unitary tube, but it will be understood that handlebar 20 could be manufactured in joinable sections that can be assembled for exercise and disassembled for storage or travel. Also, handlebar 20 may be provided in a fixed length, and the tubular ends 24 then shortened by cutting or sawing in order to customize the overall length of the handlebar 20. Further, tubular ends 24 could be supplied as separate pieces, joinable to the ends of the intermediate portion 21 of handlebar 20 by sliding or telescoping them over the handlebar with a close fit and then securing them at a desired position with mechanical fasteners or connections and/or adhesive to customize the overall length of the handlebar.
Description of Operation
In operation, the exercise device 10 illustrated above can be used for many different exercises, some of which are shown in
More importantly, the nature of the connection of the ends 32 of exercise band 30 to the ends 24 of handlebar 20, with a full-width, flat presentation from the off-center position inside the tubular ends 24a of the handlebar out through the slots 22, allows a very fast, very uniform, very balanced rolling and unrolling of the protruding ends 32 of the exercise band 30 onto and off the outer surface of the ends 24 of the handlebar, while the handlebar is being held in both hands by the user. This is possible even during an exercise routine when it might be difficult for the user to change position or engagement with the handlebar and exercise band, especially if limited in motion due to a physical injury that is being treated by the exercise. Further, by being rolled in flat, full-width fashion at least partially and preferably one or more times around the outer ends 24 of the handlebar relative to the point where they exit the slots in handlebar ends 24, the ends 32 of the band 30 are evenly tensioned during use, and are rarely stressed at the same point from user to user or from exercise to exercise. Also, a single length of band 30 can be quickly adapted not only to multiple exercises but to multiple users of different height or strength by simply rolling or unrolling the ends 32 of the band 30 from handlebar ends 24 a different amount via a desired number of revolutions or partial revolutions of the handlebar.
It will finally be understood that the disclosed embodiments represent presently preferred examples of how to make and use the invention, but are intended to enable rather than limit the invention. Variations and modifications of the illustrated examples in the foregoing written specification and drawings may be possible without departing from the scope of the invention. It should further be understood that to the extent the term “invention” is used in the written specification, it is not to be construed as a limiting term as to number of claimed or disclosed inventions or discoveries or the scope of any such invention or discovery, but as a term which has long been used to describe new and useful improvements in science and the useful arts. The scope of the invention supported by the above disclosure should accordingly be construed within the scope of what it teaches and suggests to those skilled in the art, and within the scope of any claims that the above disclosure supports in this application or in any other application claiming priority to this application.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/965,223, filed Jan. 24, 2020 by the same inventor (Clarke), the entirety of which provisional application is hereby incorporated by reference.
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62965223 | Jan 2020 | US |