1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gymnastic machine equipped with a load group comprising at least one implement connected to a flexible member. In particular, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine equipped with a load group comprising at least one implement freely or rigidly connected to a flexible member. In more detail, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine equipped a load group comprising at least one implement connected to a flexible member and a locking device for at least one respective implement.
2. Description of the State of the Art
As is well-known, one of the reasons which has led to the success of gymnastic machines is their rigidity of operation which allows to focus on a particular muscle group. These characteristics allow the less athletically prepared user to train with a reasonable certainty of protecting his own wellbeing, and therefore in total safety. However, the very fact of imposing the execution of particular movements is considered excessively restricting by users who, for reasons of work or inclination, prefer that training with weights should require absolute concentration on handling free loads possibly assembled through equalizers, in order also to actively stimulate their own respective proprioception. In any case, the use of equalizers or free weights requires considerable space, both for the execution of the training exercises and for accommodating the weights and accessories, among them the equalizers themselves. To satisfy the requirements of these more demanding users, and to overcome the disadvantages mentioned above, some manufacturers of gymnastic machines have set out to modify the basic concept of gymnastic machines, and therefore the relative classical structure, in such a way as to make the execution of training exercises freer, with implements connected to cables connected to more or less finely adjustable load groups. In this connection it is as well to recall the machine designated “Ercolina” by the applicant, the inventive concepts of the inventor Roy Simonson, among them U.S. Pat. No. 6,458,061, and Patent Application no. RA2002A000017 by the applicant, which was internationalised by Application no. EP 03022187, all examples of how it is possible to make so-called functional gymnastic machines.
With particular reference to Application no. RA2002A000017, on a machine in which the interface between the load and the implements consists of cables, several load stations are made available, each presenting a respective handle, connected in freely sliding manner or rigidly to a cable between pulley-blocks comprising pulleys. In this way, each handle is grippable in any position on the respective run of cable. This facilitates the use of the machine by users of differing build, and also the execution of exercises devised by each individual user to recruit particular muscle areas in a personalised way. In fact, each handle can be made to run freely along the cable run between two pulley-blocks as far as the desired position if coupled freely to the cable itself, or can be located in a position definable at will between the two pulley-blocks at the end of the exercise, if of the type rigidly connected to the cable. Once the execution of a movement has started, the handle will maintain its reference position along the respective cable run simply because of the fact that, in use, the handle separates two distinct portions on the respective cable run, inclined to each other at a particular angle, which depends on the position in which the handle is gripped and the type of trajectory over which, moment by moment, the handle happens to be moved by the user. It will be noted that, by virtue of what has been said, the handles of the load stations currently not being used are left free to oscillate together with the respective run of cable, which inevitably will be subjected to alternating loads of variable value.
Naturally, this situation makes the use of the machine more annoying the lighter the load selected, and the mass of the oscillating handle is important. Furthermore, these oscillations make these machines potentially dangerous, given that the implements not in use could in particular conditions strike the head or another bodily area of the user without warning. In addition, these machines are noisy because of the continual banging of the handles not in use which are dragged against the pulley-blocks which delimit the respective cable runs during the execution of training.
What has been described above renders such machines less interesting for the market of more advanced users, who consider the disadvantage of the noisiness and the oscillation of the handles not in use discordant with the technical level of these types of machines. The problem, therefore, of the availability of functional gymnastic machines with implements usable over free trajectories which are both mechanically safe and silent is currently unresolved, and represents an interesting challenge for the applicant, who has decided to tackle and resolve it, as will be described below, in order to exploit it economically.
In view of the situation described above, it would be desirable to have available a gymnastic machine provided with a load group which, besides enabling the disadvantages, typical of the state of the known art set forth above, to be limited and if possible overcome, could define a new standard in this sector of the market. Consequently, such a gymnastic machine would prove to be indicated for installation in either a biomedical, or a sporting, or a domestic environment, and therefore in any environment in which gymnastic machines have applications.
The present invention relates to a gymnastic machine equipped with a load group comprising at least one implement connected to a flexible member. In particular, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine equipped with a load group comprising at least one implement freely or rigidly connected to a flexible member. In more detail, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine equipped a load group comprising at least one implement connected to a flexible member and a locking device for at least one respective implement.
The object of the present invention is to create a gymnastic machine which will permit the resolution of the disadvantages set forth above, and which will be capable of satisfying a series of requirements to which in the present state of affairs there is no answer (which will be presented in the description which follows) and will therefore be capable of representing a new and original source of economic advantage, able to alter the current market in implements for physical training and rehabilitation.
According to the present invention a gymnastic machine is created, whose principal characteristics will be described in at least one of the claims which follow.
An object of the present invention is also to provide a method for simply and cheaply restoring a gymnastic machine to the condition it was in before use.
According to the present invention a method is also provided for restoring a gymnastic machine to the condition it was in before its respective use, and this method will be described in at least one of the claims which follow.
Further characteristics and advantages of the gymnastic machine according to the present invention will appear more clearly from the following description, explained by reference to the attached drawings which illustrate some non-limiting examples of embodiment, in which identical or corresponding parts of the device itself are identified by the same reference numbers. In particular:
In
Naturally, what is described above has valid application both in the case in which at least one implement 20 is coupled in sliding manner to cable 40 in such a way as to leave free all relative longitudinal movement between implement 20 and cable 40 itself, and in the event that at least one implement 20 is coupled rigidly to cable 40 itself, in such a way as to permanently bind implement 20 and cable 40 itself. In this case, it will be possible to vary the rest position of implement 20 between the two corresponding pulley-blocks 50, located on opposite sides of implement 20, by acting on implement 20 itself or on the respective cable 40, because of the rigid connection between the two elements.
In accordance with
Pair 70 can be kept assembled by means of a joint of any kind, for example but without limiting effect, by a screw coupling, or a snap connection, or through a magnetic coupling, depending on the design specifications. In
Still with reference to
In any event, it is as well to specify that, for reasons of practicality, and without limiting the content of the present description, end 21 of implement 20 is provided with a small annular plate 90 of magnetic type which is housed rigidly in an end position on implement 20 in the direction facing towards the pulley-block 50. The purpose of this plate 90 is thus to hold each implement 20 in the position DP described above. By virtue of what has been said, the uniqueness of the position of implement 20 with respect to pulley-block 50 allows the automatic alignment of the corresponding implement 20 with respect to frame 10, and in particular with respect to the ideal line defined by cable run 42 adjacent to the relative pulley-block 50 with cable 40 maintained in traction in use, at least in the respective gripping station 80.
In addition, this facilitates the return to position of implement 20 on the resumption of training on the same machine 1. By virtue of what has been described above, each implement 20 provided with a respective plate 90 is moved by the friction which occurs in use between the respective tube 24 and the respective run 42 of cable 40, to the respective pulley-block 50, without the manual intervention of a user, but through the simple pull exercised by the user him/herself on cable 40 by means of any other implement 20 located in a different gripping station 80. Naturally, such circumstances can occur both during the continuation of the training session on the same machine 1, and at its conclusion.
It is as well to specify that the decision to construct portion 21 and the relative housing formed in pulley-block 50 is a circumstance which was deliberately chosen for practicality, given that the employment even of a single magnetic plate in association with an implement 20, or of a magnetically sensitive pulley-block 50, would be sufficient to cause mutual attraction and the possibility of orienting implement 20 coaxially with pulley-block 50 and/or the relative run 42 of cable 40, and therefore to create a pair 70 effective from the point of view of the present invention. In addition, at least one of the members which make up pair 70, and in particular portion 21 and pulley-block 50, must present a coupling element or an element which is magnetically sensitive, or physically similar in relation to forces of magnetic interaction. Naturally, the manufacture of portion 21 of implement 20 and/or of the respective pulley-block 50 in magnetic material would also have enabled the achievement of the chosen objectives.
By virtue of what has been described above, each run 42 of cable 40 can be interpreted as an actuating member connected to the respective gripping station (80) and capable, in use, of causing the displacement of the respective implement 20 itself into position DP.
This particular capability is certainly useful in the situation in which a user is engaged in the execution of a considerable number of repetitions of an exercise on the same machine 1, and also for facilitating the use of machine 1 by a visually impaired user. In addition, the presence of magnetically sensitive parts allows the elimination, right from the start, of the problem of having implements 20 which weigh on cable 40 itself, and are subject to banging against the structural limits of each gripping station 80, and disturb the user during training as well as contributing, over time, to the acceleration of the natural deterioration of machine 1 in its entirety.
The method of use of the present machine 1 is easily comprehensible in the light of what has been described above, and does not require further explanation.
In any event, by virtue of what has been described above, each assembly comprising an implement 20 and the respective plate 90 and a pulley-block 50 provided with the respective conical surfaces 22 and 58 identifies a centering device 95, and therefore a silencer, for functional machines with gripping stations 80 provided with implements 20 sliding freely on the cable 40. In addition, the same assembly can be interpreted as a device 96 for automatic restoration of a particular configuration of machine 1, a device which is operable for pulling implement 20 itself, and could be capable of cooperating directly with a particular portion of frame 10, rather than acting indirectly on frame 10 through the medium of pulley-block 50.
Finally, it is clear that modifications and variations may be made to the present gymnastic machine 1 without for this reason departing from the protective compass of the present invention.
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