The invention relates generally to strength training exercise equipment, and more specifically, to an exercise machine with leverage arm for strength training (or exercise machines).
The physiology of human muscles enables them to function in three different ways. The first is a positive or concentric function in which the muscles contract under a load that is less than the muscle strength.
The second is a static or isometric function in which the muscle attempts to contract against a load that is greater than the muscle strength.
The third is a negative or eccentric function in which an external load is large enough to overcome the muscle strength and force the muscle to elongate in spite of an attempt by the person to contract the muscle.
It is well known that muscles perform much more efficiently during eccentric functions than during concentric or isometric functions. The same muscle can exert a greater force during eccentric functions than it can during either concentric or isometric functions. In addition, the energy expended, and the associated electrical activities or pulses of the muscle nervous system, are greater during concentric and isometric functions compared to eccentric functions when overcoming the same load.
Various types of prior art equipment have been developed to assist persons exercise their muscles. The equipment ranges from simple hand-held barbells to complicated and expensive hydraulically controlled machines. Many machines are very specialized in that they are designed to exercise only one or a very limited set of muscles.
With only very few exceptions, prior art exercise machines have not taken advantage of the muscle physiology related to the differences in efficiency between concentric and eccentric functions. Prior art machines impose a single load that the person must overcome during both concentric and eccentric muscle functions. A few prior exercise machines were capable of imposing different loads for concentric and eccentric muscle functions, but those machines invariably included very expensive and complicated hydraulic systems.
Examples of prior mechanical exercise machines are plentiful. The Powertec Direct Company of Milford, Pa., markets a wide variety of equipment for exercising many of the body's muscles such as legs, back, chest, thigh, and arms. The Hammer Strength Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Promaxima Manufacturing Limited of Houston, Texas also market respective lines of mechanical exercising equipment.
Many of the commercially available prior art exercise machines utilize one or more pivoting beams. One end of the beam is pivoted to a frame. The beam supports one or more weights. The exercising person oscillates the beam and weights by alternately performing concentric and eccentric functions by the appropriate muscles. The beam and weight design of prior equipment imposes the same load for both the concentric and eccentric muscle functions.
Through experience and observation, several problems within the strength training machines were observed. One of the biggest issues that hinder people from purchasing at-home strength training equipment is the lack of space for storing the equipment and challenges to move the equipment easily from one location to another. For example, the typical footprint for a full-cage power rack is approximately 4-ft×4-ft with a height of 8 ft, a weight of 300 lbs. and no easy means to move the rack without either disassembly or lifting the entire rack system. Moving a typical power rack is very challenging as most are designed to be locked into a specific location and can require significant time to break down and move. The present invention comprises a more portable and storable product.
Another major issue was observed with existing lever-based equipment. Most machines (e.g. Smith Machines) only provided up/down movement but if a way could be found to add left/right movement plus front/back movement into a workout, this would provide a more complete muscle workout while allowing for additional exercises to be done on one machine.
A typical example of prior equipment is the bench press, such as is marketed by the Powertec Direct Company. Somewhat similar equipment is shown in PCT patent WO89/01805. Other examples of beam and weight type exercising machines may be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,050,873; 5,066,003; 5,125,881; 5,135,449; 5,135,456; 5,171,198; 5,180,354; 5,181,896; 5,273,504; 5,273,505; and Des 321.391. None of the prior art machines teach that different loads can be overcome by the person during concentric and eccentric functions of his muscles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,155 shows equipment that takes into account the inherent ability of human muscles to perform differently during concentric and eccentric functions. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,155 shows a harness that is worn by an exercising person. A spotter operates a rope that is tied to the harness through a block and tackle in order to assist the person to raise weights during concentric muscle functions. During the eccentric muscle functions, the spotter allows an increased load to be imposed on the exercising person.
Despite the widespread availability of numerous different kinds of lever-arm exercise machines, they suffer from a number of drawbacks:
Thus, a need exists for a portable strength training equipment with variable lever system that substantially or completely eliminates the problem of the prior art.
The present invention utilizes a Variable Lever System (VLS), which uses a universal ball joint to provide a more complete muscle workout relative to existing lever systems. In addition, most strength training machines can only start in the “lower” position (with the weight in a retracted position). The VLS can be vertically repositioned to various heights allowing the user to start movements in the “upper”, “mid” or “lower” range of motion positions as opposed to only a “lower position” that is common in the prior art. Depending on the movement, the user adjusts for height and then lifts the weight bar out of the adjustable resting position (e.g. sitting on j-hooks), which is housed on the forward frame. Advantages relative to similar equipment are enhanced muscle training that moves muscles in a more realistic multi-dimensional manner related to everyday life or sports, increased workout capabilities, convenient storage and portability, and safety. Note: when the safety mechanism aka spotter bars are properly installed and adjusted for movement and user height, it is not possible for the VLS to drop lower than the dual safety spotter bars (barring product abuse, improper installment, product defect, or fatigue). Many current safety arms on a half-cage can miss a falling weight bar if the bar falls further out than the safety arms, but since the VLS is attached to the machine, it was designed so as to not have the ability to extend beyond the spotter bars.
Throughout this disclosure, various quantities, such as amounts, sizes, dimensions, proportions and the like, are presented in a range format; the foregoing can and will deviate without departing from the scope of the intended invention. It should be understood that the description of a quantity in range format is merely for convenience and brevity and should not be construed as an inflexible limitation on the scope of any embodiment. Accordingly, the description of a range should be considered to have specifically disclosed all the possible subranges as well as all individual numerical values within that range unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. For example, description of a range such as from 1 to 6 should be considered to have specifically disclosed subranges such as from 1 to 3, from 1 to 4, from 1 to 5, from 2 to 4, from 2 to 6, from 3 to 6 etc., as well as individual values within that range, for example, 1.1, 2, 2.3, 4.6, 2, 5, and 5.9. This applies regardless of the breadth of the range. The upper and lower limits of these intervening ranges may independently be included in the smaller ranges, and are also encompassed within the disclosure, subject to any specifically excluded limit in the stated range. Where the stated range includes one or both of the limits, ranges excluding either or both of those included limits are also included in the disclosure, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of any embodiment. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “includes,” “comprises,” “including” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Additionally, it should be appreciated that items included in a list in the form of “at least one of A, B, and C” can mean (A); (B); (C); (A and B); (B and C); (A and C); or (A, B, and C). Similarly, items listed in the form of “at least one of A, B, or C” can mean (A); (B); (C); (A and B); (B and C); (A and C); or (A, B, and C).
Unless specifically stated or obvious from context, as used herein, the term “about” in reference to a number or range of numbers is understood to mean the stated number and numbers +/−10% thereof, or 10% below the lower listed limit and 10% above the higher listed limit for the values listed for a range.
The embodiments of the present disclosure described below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described in an exemplary manner so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of the present disclosure.
In the Figures, a multi-purposed, machine 10 is shown that provides for strength and overall wellness training with a focus on free range of muscle motion, and includes a system for VLS movements, novel relative to existing strength training equipment. VLS allows the user to use one or two arms (or legs) to perform muscle strengthening functions with a fuller range of motion due to the utilization of a universal ball joint as the fulcrum, that allows a starting position of movements in an extended or upper position, middle position or lower position (as opposed just to the lower or bottom position typical of existing strength training machines) by means of an extending and retracting sliding tube and portability due to a handcart (dolly) design element. Portability allows users to, for example, move the machine to exercise outside on nice days, or from room to room in a building or house, or to easily store it out of the way when not in use.
The machine is primarily comprised of a base structure (superstructure, frame), a the VLS) with a universal ball joint, sliding tube for leverage, connection (fixed) tube, an upper extension off the rear stanchion that allows the attachment of cable pulleys, heavy bags and other workout accessories and pneumatic wheels for portability. Unlike existing lever systems that typically only allow bi-directional movement (up and down), within the VLS system, the ball joint can move about the point 360 degrees radially at a max 10-degree variance. In addition, it can move in the y-axis direction about 50″ in total travel. This movement allows for continuity of clockwise/counter-clockwise, side-to-side and up/down movement, (front/back movement is primarily accomplished via the sliding tube moving across rollers in the VLS roller box).
The machine will consist of the following components:
The connecting (fixed) tube runs parallel to a sliding tube to which the lifting bar (forward frame) is attached. Both these tubes are made of 2″ square tube. Four 2-inch heavy-duty rollers in a protective 3/16″ thick steel case provide the front and back motion of the sliding bar. A fixed pin at the back of the sliding bar prevents it from over extending beyond the rollers while tensioning screw help limit side-to-side motion of the sliding bar within the protective case.
Adjustable safety spotter bars one on each side of the forward stanchion, are made of 2×3 steel tube, and are approximately 24″ long each is attached to the front stanchion via the 1- 1/16″ holes onto a J-hook. When used properly, this helps prevent the VLS from lowering further than desired.
The lifting bar swivels to allow a fuller ranger of motion. To execute one-arm or leg movements, the user grips the lifting bar in the middle to better balance the weight load.
Olympic-style weight plates with a 2″ center hole (sold separately or already owned by user) will provide the additional resistance (weight) when performing many of the exercise movements that can be accomplished using the Mantis™ Portable Gym. As the VLS allows side-to-side movement, two-weight retention device (weight collars, one for each side) will be provided to keep weight from shifting or sliding off the weight post. All attachments of the VLS that are outside of 30″ will be removable to allow the machine to be no wider than 30″ to allow navigation through a standard ADA doorway.
The tie frame 20 secures the top of the forward frame 12 and the top of the rear frame 14 (also referred to as the front and back stanchions respectively). The triangle bracket 38 joins the forward frame 12 and the tie frame 20 with bolts. The tie frame 20 is secured to the rear frame with two additional triangle brackets 38. A removable J-hook bracket 18 sits on the rear side of the tie frame 20. This accommodates a removable 18″ high “high point” fixture with a swivel pulley 19 that allows for accessory attachments (e.g. cable pulleys or a heavy workout bag), which is welded to the J-hook bracket 18. The accessories can include a cable with one end secured to the weights on the handle 34 and the other end secured to a pull down bar. The forward frame 12 has a series of 1- 1/16″ holes 21 on both forward stanchions (on the front and back) which can accommodate the J-Hook weight bar rest 22 or safety spotter bars 23.
The machine 10 is mobile as mentioned above. The machine 10 includes two pneumatic wheels 36 that are secured to the rear stanchion 14 and base 16 with brackets. Handles 34 are mounted toward the top of the rear frame 14. The high position of the handles 34 provides leverage to tilt the machine 10 backward, allowing the wheels 36 to contact the ground and the machine 10 to be wheeled from place to place. When the machine 10 is level it rests on rubber feet 68 located on the ends of the base 16, and the wheels 36 are no longer operatively engaged with the ground, helping to prevent the machine 10 from moving.
A key component of the machine 10 is the Variable Lever System, or VLS, which allows for much of the machine's 10 simulation of movements similar to free weights. The VLS includes, but is not limited to, a front frame 76 with weight bar 44, weight pegs 54, sliding tube 24, fixed tube 25, protective housing box 27 with tensioning screws 29 and heavy-duty rollers 28 (internal—see
The front frame 76 is welded to the sliding tube 24. The sliding tube 24 and fixed tube 25 run parallel to each other. One end of the fixed bar 25 is secured to a universal ball joint 26 while a mid-point of the fixed bar 25 is attached to a protective housing box 27 that contains four steel (2-in. wide×2-in. diameter) heavy-duty rollers 28 that allow the sliding bar 24 to move forward and backward as it passes over the fixed tube 25, and four tensioning screws 29 that reduce side-to-side movement within the protective case. The sliding bar 24 is “locked” into place by the upper two rollers allowing it to “roll” over the rollers to provide front/back system movement. A mechanism prevents the sliding tube from traveling too far forward and coming apart. The position of the sliding tube 24 and the housing box 27 can be adjusted by securing the tensioning screws 29 into the desired holes in the sliding tube 24.
The fixed tube 25 secures to a universal ball joint 26. The universal ball joint 26 is attached to a bracket 30 with a cotter pin 32. This acts as the base of the VLS. The bracket 30 is in turn secured to the adjustable VLS housing 31 by a hitch pin 37. The position of this mechanism can be moved up and down by virtue of the holes in the rear frame 14.
Two weight handles are provided on the rear frame 14 just above the wheels 36. Weights can be added to the handles as needed to counter the weights added to the weight pegs 54 to stabilize the machine 10 and prevent it from tipping during use. The weight handles secures to the holes in the rear frame 14 and are therefore adjustable relative thereto.
The present application claims priority to and incorporates by reference U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/385,243 filed on Nov. 29, 2022.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63385243 | Nov 2022 | US |