Grip structure of exercise device

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6652420
  • Patent Number
    6,652,420
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, August 8, 2001
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, November 25, 2003
    20 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Lucchesi; Nicholas D.
    • Hwang; Victor
    Agents
    • Browdy and Neimark, P.L.L.C.
Abstract
A grip structure is designed for use in an exercise device and is formed of a main body, a grip rod, and two slide blocks disposed at two ends of the grip rod. The main body is of a ring-shaped construction and is provided with a groove. The main body is fastened with a predetermined portion of the operation rod of the exercise device. The slide blocks are slidably received in the groove of the main body. The grip rod can be adjusted 360 degrees in relation to the main body, thereby enabling a change in direction in which the grip rod is held fast by an exerciser.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates generally to an exercise device, and more particularly to a grip structure of the exercise device.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




There are a variety of exercise devices calling for the use of both hands of an exerciser for building the body muscles. The grip portion is intended to be held by hand of the exerciser and is generally fixed at a position of the handle such that the grip portion can not be adjusted in position to facilitate the training of the upper half body of the exerciser. As a result, the exerciser must resort to an improper posture which works against the mechanics of the human body. This inventor of the present invention discloses a grip structure comprising a grip portion changeable in direction in which the grip portion is disposed. The grip portion is adapted to be held in various ways for building the muscles of various parts of an exerciser's body. However, this grip structure is complicated in construction and is not cost-effective.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an exercise device with a grip structure which is simple in construction and is provided with a grip portion which can be changed in direction in which a force is exerted for the purpose of building muscles of various parts of a human body.




The present invention comprises a main body and a grip member. The main body is disposed in a predetermined portion of an operation rod of an exercise device and is of a ring-shaped construction. The main body has an outer ring portion, an inner ring portion, and a groove extending along the inner ring portion. The grip member comprises a grip rod and two slide blocks which are disposed at two ends of the grip rod. The grip rod is intended for holding fast with hand. The slide blocks move along the groove. The grip rod can be adjusted in the range of 360 degrees in the main body, thereby resulting in a change in direction in which the grip rod is held fast.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

shows an exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 2

shows a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 3

shows a schematic plan view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in combination.





FIG. 4

shows a sectional schematic view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in combination.





FIG. 5

shows a schematic view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in use.





FIG. 6

shows another schematic view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in use.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




As shown in

FIGS. 1-4

, a grip structure


20


embodied in the present invention is disposed on an application portion of operation rod of an exercise device and is formed of a main body


30


and a grip member


40


.




The main body


30


is of a ring-shaped construction having a predetermined diameter. The main body


30


has an outer ring portion


31


and an inner ring portion


32


. A groove


33


of a predetermined depth is disposed along the inner ring portion


32


such that the groove


33


is in communication with a through hole


34


extending from the outer ring portion


31


through the inner ring portion


32


.




The grip member


40


comprises a grip rod


41


and two slide blocks


42


and


43


, which are disposed at two ends of the grip rod


41


.




The grip rod


41


is of a columnar construction and has two ends smaller in diameter and having respectively an inner threaded hole


411


,


412


.




The slide blocks


42


and


43


are of an inverted T-shaped construction and are provided respectively with a circular stop portion


421


,


431


, and a slide portion


422


,


432


. The circular stop portions


421


and


431


are circular disk bodies with a diameter greater than the width of the groove


33


of the main body


30


and corresponding in radian to the inner ring portion


32


. The circular stop portion


421


,


431


is provided in the bottom with an inner recess hole


423


,


433


with a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the end of the grip rod


41


for connecting the grip rod


41


.




The slide portion


422


,


432


is a round columnar body extending from the center of the circular stop portion


421


,


431


and having a diameter corresponding to the width of the groove


33


of the main body


30


for inserting slidably into the groove


33


. The slide blocks


42


and


43


are provided at the center with a threaded hole


424


,


434


corresponding to the inner threaded hole


411


,


412


for engaging two bolt elements


44


and


45


to connect the slide blocks


42


and


43


with the grip rod


41


. The bolt elements


44


and


45


are preferably sunken screws. The threaded holes


424


and


434


are preferably sunk holes to prevent the bolt elements


44


and


45


from jutting out of the slide portions


42


and


43


to affect the sliding of the slide portions


42


and


43


.




As shown in

FIGS. 3 and 4

, two ends of the grip rod


41


are first inserted into the inner recess holes


423


and


433


of the slide blocks


42


and


43


such that the slide portions


422


and


432


of the slide blocks


42


and


43


are inserted into the groove


33


of the main body


30


, and that the circular stop portions


421


and


431


of the slide blocks


42


and


43


are stopped on the groove


33


and are attached to the inner ring portion


32


of the main body


30


. The inner threaded hole


424


of the slide block


42


is aligned with the through hole


34


of the main body


30


. A bolt element


44


is inserted into the through hole


34


to engage the threaded hole


424


of the slide block


42


and the inner threaded hole


411


of the grip rod


41


. Thereafter, the grip rod


41


is turned such that the inner threaded hole


434


of the slide block


43


is aligned with the through hole


34


of the main body


30


. Similarly, a bolt element


45


is put into the through hole


34


to complete the fastening of the grip rod


41


.




The grip structure


20


of the present invention is applicable to a variety of exercise devices, as shown in FIG.


5


. The grip structure


20


is disposed on a multifunctional exercise device


50


such that the main body


30


is fastened with the ends of two operation rods


511


and


512


of the push-lift mechanism


51


, and that the through hole


34


of the main body


30


is located under or in the inner side of the main body


30


for receiving the bolt elements


44


and


45


. The grip member


40


located in the groove


33


of the main body


30


can be rotated for an angle of 360 degrees in relation to the main body


30


. As a result, the grip rod


41


can be so rotated that the grip rod


41


is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the operation rod


51


, and that the grip rod


41


is in a horizontal state. The user may hold horizontally the grip rod


41


such that palms of both hands face outwards, and that both fists are opposite to each other, thereby enabling the user to push the operation rods


511


and


512


up and down. In addition, the grip rod


41


may be so rotated that the grip rod


41


is in a vertical state, thereby enabling the user to push the operation rods


511


and


512


up and down, with palms of both hands of the user being opposite to each other, and with fists facing rearwards. As a result, muscles of various parts of the user's body are trained.




As shown in

FIG. 6

, the grip structure


20


of the present invention is disposed on a butterfly machine


60


such that the main body


30


is fastened with two opposite inner sides of two operation rods


61


and


62


. The grip member


40


is adjusted 360 degrees in relation to the main body


30


, so as to enable the user to change the direction in which the grip rod


41


is held fast. The user can choose a desired manner to grip the grip rod


41


to engage in an exercise. The exercise machine can be used in various manners to train the muscles of various parts of the user's body.



Claims
  • 1. A grip structure adapted for connection to an operation rod of an exercise device, said grip structure comprising:a main body being of a ring-shaped construction and having an outer ring portion, an inner ring portion, and a groove extending along said inner ring portion; and a grip member comprising a grip rod and two slide blocks disposed at two ends of said grip rod, said grip rod being held fast by an exerciser, said slide blocks being slidably received in said groove of said main body, wherein each of said slide blocks has a circular stop portion, said stop portion having a greater diameter than the width of said groove and corresponding in radian to said inner ring portion of said main body; said grip member capable of being adjusted 360 degrees in said main body to facilitate the gripping of said grip rod by an exerciser in an optimal manner.
  • 2. The grip structure as defined in claim 1, wherein said main body has a through hole extending from said outer ring portion to be in communication with said groove via said inner ring portion; wherein said grip rod is provided at two ends thereof with an inner threaded hole; wherein said two slide blocks are provided with a threaded hole; wherein said two slide blocks are fastened with said grip rod by two bolt elements which are engaged with said threaded holes of said slide blocks and said inner threaded holes of said grip rod via said through hole.
  • 3. The grip structure as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said slide blocks is of an inverted T-shaped body and, said stop portion being a round disk body, said slide portion being a round columnar body extending from the center of said stop portion and having a diameter corresponding to the width of said groove of said main body, thereby enabling said slide portion to be slidably received in said groove.
  • 4. The grip structure as defined in claim 3, wherein each of said slide blocks is provided in the bottom of said circular stop portion thereof with an inner recess hole having a diameter which is corresponding to the diameter of said grip rod for connecting said grip rod.
US Referenced Citations (13)
Number Name Date Kind
1333005 Warner Mar 1920 A
2172121 Buchanan Sep 1939 A
3384370 Bailey et al. May 1968 A
4585229 Brasher Apr 1986 A
4618143 Twardosz Oct 1986 A
4690400 Metz Sep 1987 A
4770409 Wallisch Sep 1988 A
4822035 Jennings et al. Apr 1989 A
5344374 Telle Sep 1994 A
5407405 Oren Apr 1995 A
5718654 Kennedy Feb 1998 A
6244999 Alessandri Jun 2001 B1
6264589 Chen Jul 2001 B1