Patent Application
20060217238
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to fitness equipments, and more particularly to a horseback riding fitness machine that effectively simulates a horseback riding sport and the machine can be folded to an appropriate extent.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, working people usually cannot spare much time for outdoor activities and sports in their busy life, and thus they usually make use of their time during break, lunch, or after work to do some simple exercises or stretches of their body, or work out with related fitness equipments indoors to improve the metabolism of their bodies. Therefore, indoor equipments should have the basic functions for simulating related sports to meet the exerciser's requirements, and the indoor equipment should also be folded appropriately to save its storage space, when the equipment is not in use.
Indoor fitness equipments are designed preferably with a function of simulating outdoor sports such as boating and horseback riding, of which ordinary people can do regularly, so as to enhance the add-on value of the equipments and fulfill user's satisfaction with better fun. Among these equipments, the horseback riding machine has a smaller size, a simpler structure, and thus is extensively accepted by consumers. However, the conventional horseback riding fitness machine has a handle protruded from the front of the machine, and the protruded handle constitutes a hindrance to people walking around, when the machine is not in use.
The horseback riding fitness machine in accordance with the present invention comes with a seat installed on a base for a user to sit on it, an arm extended to a predetermined distance from the base at a position corresponding to the middle section of the seat, a swinging member pivotally coupled to the rear end of the arm, a handle disposed above the swinging member in a section corresponding to the pivotal connection point for a user to grab with both hands, and a pedal disposed in a section below the pivotal connection point for the user to step on.
At least one force balancing member is installed between the swinging member and the arm, such that when the user steps on the pedal with both feet and sits on the seat while grabbing the handle with both hands, the user has to drive the force balancing member by pulling both hands backward and pressing both legs forward to move the pedal. If the user releases both hands or both legs, or both hands push forward, the force balancing member as well as the pedal are pulled backward and get ready for the user to repeat the movement of pulling both hands backward and pressing both legs forward, so as to constitute a simulated horseback riding.
Particularly, a folding rod connects the handle and the swinging member, so that when the horseback riding fitness machine is not in use, the handle can be folded backward in a direction towards the seat to greatly reduce the hindrance to the people around and improve the convenience of its storage.
To make it easier for our examiner to understand the present invention, the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings of an embodiment are given for example, but such preferred embodiment is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
Referring to
The base 10 is the main mechanical structure of the whole horseback riding fitness machine, which is placed on a floor to maintain a basic stable gravitational effect. The base 10 has a joint pipe 11 disposed at the central position of the base and slanted backward for installing the seat 20, and a lock knob 12 disposed at a position where the joint pipe 11 and the seat 20 are installed for adjusting the height of the seat 20 as shown in
The arm 30 is installed on the base 10 at a position corresponding to a middle section of the seat 20. In this embodiment, a base section of the arm 30 is coupled to a side of the joint pipe 11, such that a rear end of the arm 30 is extended to a predetermined length towards the front end of the base 10. The swinging member 40 is pivotally coupled to the rear end of the arm 30, and the swinging member 40 has a handle 41 disposed at a section above its corresponding pivotal connection point for a user to grab with both hands and a pedal 42 disposed at a section below said pivotal connection point for the user to step on with both feet, and the force balancing member 50 is installed between the swinging member 40 and the arm 30.
In a practical application of this embodiment, the force balance member 50 is comprised of a resilient member, and an end of the force balancing member 50 is directly and pivotally coupled with the arm 30, and the other end is pivotally coupled with the swinging member 40 through a link rod 43, such that the handle 41 in front of the swinging member 40 is swung to the front of the base 10 under normal conditions. The swinging member 40 produces an effect of balancing the force applied by the user (which is regarded as an effect of slowing down the speed of the swinging member 40) while the swinging member 40 is swinging. Of course, both ends of the force balancing member 50 as shown in
Referring to
Further, the handle 41 provided for the user to grab by both hands is connected to the swinging member 40 through a folding rod 44, and the folding rod 44 and the swinging member 40 are pivotally coupled with a rear end of the arm 30 concurrently by a pivot 45, such that the folding rod 44 has an effect of being folded in a direction towards the seat 20 with the pivot 45 as the center (as shown in
On the other hand, if the horseback riding fitness machine is not in use, the user just needs to pull out the movable pin 46, so that the handle 41 can be folded in a direction towards the seat 20 as shown in
Similarly, the folding rod 44 can be in the form of a joint pipe as shown in
Referring to
In a practical application of this embodiment, the drag accessory 60 has a main body comprised of a drag wheel 61 linked to the swinging member 40, and the drag wheel 61 has a flexible binder 62 disposed around the periphery of the drag wheel 61. One end of the flexible binder 62 is fixed directly to the arm 30 and the other end is coupled with the arm 30 through a rigid slab 63. The rigid slab 63 has an adjusting bolt 64 disposed on the rigid slab 63 at a section proximate to the flexible binder 62 for adjusting the level of attachment between the rigid slab 63 and the arm 30 to drag the binding capability of the rigid slab 63 to the drag wheel 61. Thus, the invention achieves the effect of adjusting the level of applying force for exercises as well as enhancing the functions and add-on values of the whole horseback riding fitness machine.
In summation of the description above, the present invention provides an operable horseback riding fitness machine that complies with the patent application requirements. The description and its accompanied drawings are used for describing preferred embodiments of the present invention, and it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.
