Patent Application
20190118024
The pace of modern life makes it difficult for individuals to find the time necessary to get the recommended amount of exercise. This problem is exacerbated when exercising entails a trip to a gym to find proper exercise equipment, especially when a suitable gym is not located nearby. One solution to this problem is to create a home gym that allows one to exercise without travelling to a gym.
Creating a home gym leads to several new problems, one of which is finding the space to store the appropriate exercise equipment. This problem is especially present when the desired exercise is strength-training of all of the major muscle groups of the body. As opposed to a single stationary bike, or a treadmill, whole-body strength training traditionally requires multiple sets of weights, benches, seats, and other pieces of supporting equipment. All of this equipment takes up space, and is inherently heavy and difficult to move. Even when an appropriate space is found in one's home, it can be difficult to move the various pieces of equipment and weights necessary to facilitate a proper exercise routine. The same issues of space and portability arise when one wishes to exercise at the office. The ability to exercise at work saves time travelling to a gym, but the limited space of a typical office makes storage and portability of exercise equipment equally important at the office as in the home.
Therefore, there exists a need for an exercise device that can properly exercise the major muscle groups without requiring the space and difficulty of a full set of traditional weights and supporting equipment. The exercise device should also be simple to use, light enough to easily maneuver, and able to be stored in a limited amount of space.
An exercise chair comprising a rear frame; a seat frame, pivotably connected to the rear frame; a seat, pivotably connected to the rear frame and to the seat frame; a back connected to the rear frame; a base connected to one of the rear frame and the seat frame; a cross beam connected to the rear frame; and four pair of resistance bands; one pair connected to the cross beam; and the other three pair connected to the base.
An embodiment of an exercise chair 10 is shown generally in
Back frames 12 are connected to a front base 26 at ends opposite ends 36. Seat frames 14 are connected to a rear base 28 at ends 38. Front base 26 and rear base 28 extend beyond frames 12 and 14 to stabilize exercise chair 10 when it is being used without the need for excessive weight being present on exercise chair 10. A cross beam 20 is connected to back frames 12 near ends 36. Cross beam 20 is positioned such that it is parallel to the floor and would be at approximately shoulder height of an average height adult person sitting in exercise chair 10. The horizontal distance cross beam 20 extends to either side of exercise chair 10 is sufficient to allow for a range of upper body exercises as described below. In an alternative embodiment cross beam 20 may be adjustably attached to back frames 12 such that the vertical position of cross beam 20 may be adjusted to match the shoulder height of different users.
Exercise chair 10 also includes a number of resistance bands 30 connected at one end to various parts of exercise chair 10. Resistance bands 30 may have handles 32 connected to an end of resistance bands 30 that is opposite the end connected to exercise chair 10. Handles 32 may be sized to function either through gripping by hand or by slipping over a foot or lower leg. Resistance bands 30 may be made of an appropriate elastic material that requires increasing force to deform beyond a relaxed state, such as a rubber or other flexible elastic material typically used for exercise bands. It should be noted that the resistive force created by resistance bands 30 as they are stretched may be tailored by material selection and design of the resistance bands 30, and thus exercise chair 10 may be provided with a variety of resistance bands 30 that require increasing force to stretch beyond the relaxed state.
In an alternative embodiment, ends of resistance bands 30 may connect to exercise chair 10 at connection points 34 in a releasable manner. These releasable connections may be accomplished in any manner which can withstand the forces put on the resistance bands 30 during exercise, for example through hooks disposed on the end of resistance bands 30 which hook into appropriate holes found on exercise chair 10.
Resistance bands 30 may be attached to exercise chair 10 in a variety of configurations designed to facilitate different exercise routines. In one embodiment, there may be four pair of resistance bands 30 attached to exercise chair 10. A pair of resistance bands 30 may be attached one per side on cross beam 20 an equal distance from a centerline of back 16 to facilitate various seated press and shoulder press exercises. Another pair of resistance bands 30 may be attached to front base 26 outside of the connection point between back frames 12 and front base 26 in such a way to allow for bicep curls and similar arm exercises. A third pair of resistance bands 30 may be attached to rear base 28 near the connection point between seat frames 14 and rear base 28 in order to allow for leg extensions and similar exercises while seated. A fourth pair of resistance bands 30 may be attached in a symmetrical fashion to rear base 28 to enable a series of seated exercises such as a seated chest fly, and also to enable standing exercises such as lateral leg raises. The design of front base 26 and rear base 28 ensure the stability of exercise chair 10 when standing exercises are performed with only a minimal amount of force being placed on exercise chair 10 by the user, such as with their free hand. The preceding discussion of the placement of resistance bands 30 and exercises that may be performed should be taken as non-limiting examples designed to aid in comprehension of the embodiment described here. Numerous other options exist for both placement of resistance bands 30 and exercises that may be performed on exercise chair 10.
In another embodiment of exercise chair 10, there are a total of sixteen resistance bands 30. One pair of resistance bands may be attached to cross beam 20 in a symmetrical fashion in order to allow for exercises like a seated chest press. Multiple pairs of resistance bands 30 may be attached to front base 26 in a symmetrical fashion in order to allow various exercises to be performed, including bicep curls and similar exercises. Multiple pairs of resistance bands 30 may also be attached to rear base 28 in a symmetrical fashion to allow for exercises such as a seated chest fly and leg extensions.
Back frames 12, seat frames 14, cross beam 20, front base 26, and rear base 28 may be made of any appropriate material that can bear the full weight of an adult person and withstand the forces experienced by exercise chair 10 while various exercises occur. Examples of such materials include aluminum, steel, plastics, and composite materials. Back 16 and seat 18 may be made of any appropriate material or combinations of materials that can withstand the forces described above and provide a level of comfort to an adult person using exercise chair 10. Example materials include plastics, metals, and combinations of plastics and metals covered with foam padding or fabric. The connections described in this disclosure may be accomplished by any means known in the art, including adhesive fastening, welding, riveting, and mechanical fastening using screws. The pivotable connections may employ any appropriate means known in the art, for example a pivot pin, and may include a locking feature.
A method for use of exercise chair 10 may be as follows. First, a user removes the folded exercise chair 10 from its storage location, such as from under a bed. Next, the user unfolds exercise chair 10 and places it in a location with sufficient space surrounding exercise chair 10 in order to safely perform the desired exercises. If the handles of resistance bands 30 have been looped around the crossbar 20 and bases 26 and 28 as shown in
It is to be appreciated that the Detailed Description section, and not the Summary and Abstract sections, is intended to be used to interpret the claims. The Summary and Abstract sections may set forth one or more but not all exemplary embodiments of the present invention as contemplated by the inventor(s), and thus, are not intended to limit the present invention and the appended claims in any way.
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applying knowledge within the skill of the art, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments, without undue experimentation, without departing from the general concept of the present invention. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications are intended to be within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments, based on the teaching and guidance presented herein. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, such that the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is to be interpreted by the skilled artisan in light of the teachings and guidance.
The breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62577080 | Oct 2017 | US |
