Rotatable hand exerciser

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6773377
  • Patent Number
    6,773,377
  • Date Filed
    Monday, February 24, 2003
    21 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, August 10, 2004
    19 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Lucchesi; Nicholas D.
    • Hwang; Victor
    Agents
    • Kamrath; Alan D.
    • Nikolai & Mersereau, P.A.
Abstract
A hand exerciser includes a hollow sphere that has four openings and a cruciform member is supported in the sphere. Two handle disks and two massage disks are rotatably connected to four ends of the cruciform member and respectively engaged with the openings. A rod extends from a center of the cruciform member and a spring is mounted to the rod and a tube is rotatably mounted to the rod and biased by the spring. A weight is connected to a lateral rod extending from the tube. The eccentric force by the weight when the sphere is rotated applies a force to the hands holding the handle disks or the massage disks.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a hand exerciser that has a hollow sphere in which a cruciform member is connected and a weight is eccentrically connected. The sphere includes two handles and massage portions for hands to hold.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




Conventional exercising devices are bulky and heavy, and includes complicated structure which usually means a high cost. People usually cannot afford to buy the different types of exercising devices and there is no space for these exercising devices. For those people work in offices, it is important to exercise their hand muscles because of the long time of operating computers. Unfortunately, in the present market, no proper exercising device is provided for the exercise of hands.




The present invention intends to provide a hand exerciser that is a sphere and can be held by hand. A weight is eccentrically installed in the sphere so that when rotating the sphere the muscles of hands can be exercised.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided with a hand exerciser which comprises a hollow sphere with four openings for two handle disks and two massage disks being engaged therewith. A cruciform member is supported in the sphere and the handle disks and the two massage disks are rotatably connected to four ends of the cruciform member. A rod extends from a center of the cruciform member and a spring is mounted to the rod. A tube is rotatably mounted to the rod and biased by the spring. A weight is connected to a lateral rod extending from the tube.











The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.




BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is an exploded view to show the hand exerciser of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a perspective view to show the hand exerciser of the present invention;





FIG. 3

shows two hands holding the handle disks of the hand exerciser of the present invention;





FIG. 4

shows two palms pressing on the handle disks of the hand exerciser of the present invention;





FIG. 5

shows two hands pressing the massage disks of the hand exerciser of the present invention;





FIG. 6

shows the weight is adjusted at different positions, and





FIG. 7

shows the indication needle is rotated an angle when the positions of the weight are adjusted.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to

FIGS. 1 and 2

, the hand exerciser of the present invention comprises a hollow sphere


10


which is composed of two halves


11


,


12


. A plurality of support ridges


115


/


123


extend from an inside of each of the two halves


11


,


12


, and a cruciform member


20


is positioned between the support ridges


115


and


123


of the two halves


11


,


12


. Each half


11


/


12


includes four semi-circular recess


111


/


121


so as to define four openings when the two halves


11


,


12


are connected with each other. A plurality of positioning tubes


112


and


122


respectively extend from the inside of the two halves


11


,


12


and bolts extending through the two halves


11


,


12


and the aligned positioning tubes


112


,


122


to connect the two halves


11


,


12


. An aperture


113


is defined through a wall of the sphere


10


and a plurality of notches


114


are defined in a lower edge of periphery defining the aperture


113


. The notches


114


have different depths.




Two handle disks


50


are rotatably connected to two opposite ends of the cruciform member


20


and engaged with two openings of the sphere


10


. Two massage disks


40


having massage protrusions


401


are rotatably connected to the other two opposite ends of the cruciform member


20


and engaged with the other two openings of the sphere


10


. The handle disks


50


each include a concave surface


501


and a space is defined between the concave surface


501


and the handle


502


.




A rod


201


extends from a center of the cruciform member


20


and a spring


21


is mounted to the rod


201


. A tube


30


is rotatably mounted to the rod


201


and biased by the spring


21


. A weight


31


is connected to a lateral rod extending from the tube


30


. A flange


301


is located on a top of the tube


30


and a boss


303


extends from a top of the flange


301


. The boss


303


is engaged with one of the notches


114


. An indication needle


302


is connected to the top of the flange


301


so as to indicate the position of the weight


31


.




Referring to

FIGS. 3 and 4

, the hands of the user may hold the handles


502


to rotate in opposite direction to exercise the wrists. The palms may also to compress the concave surfaces


501


to rotate the handle disks


50


. Referring to

FIG. 5

, hands may also compress the massage disks


40


to rotate the massage disks


40


in opposite directions.




Referring to

FIGS. 6 and 7

, the indication needle


302


can be pushed downward to compress the spring


21


and disengage the boss


303


from the notch


114


. The indication needle


302


is then rotated an angle and to re-engage the boss


303


to another notch


114


with different depth. By this way, the position of the weight


31


to the cruciform member


20


is adjusted. When the sphere


10


is rotated, the rotation of the weight


31


generates an eccentric force which exercise the muscles of the hands.




While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.



Claims
  • 1. A hand exerciser comprising:a hollow sphere composed of two halves and a plurality of support ridges extending from an inside of each of the two halves, four openings defined through the hollow sphere, and a cruciform member supported in the sphere and being positioned between the support ridges of the two halves, two handle disks rotatably connected to two opposite ends of the cruciform member, two massage disks rotatably connected to the other two opposite ends of the cruciform member, the two handle disks and the two massage disks engaged with the four openings of the sphere.
  • 2. The hand exerciser as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a rod extending from a center of the cruciform member and a spring mounted to the rod, a tube rotatably mounted to the rod and biased by the spring, a weight connected to a lateral rod extending from the tube, an aperture defined through a wall of the sphere and a plurality of notches defined in a lower edge of periphery defining the aperture, the notches having different depths, a flange located on a top of the tube and a boss extending from a top of the flange, the boss engaged with one of the notches.
  • 3. The hand exerciser as claimed in claim 1 wherein the handle disks each include a concave surface and a space is defined between the concave surface and a handle connected to the handle disk.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Number Name Date Kind
2115926 Hatton May 1938 A
2546896 Kassuba Mar 1951 A
3672093 Meek, Sr. Jun 1972 A
4150580 Silkebakken et al. Apr 1979 A
4165070 Rice Aug 1979 A
5766112 Chuan Jun 1998 A
5941799 Bergdorf Aug 1999 A
6099444 Domenge Aug 2000 A
6629908 Hamady Oct 2003 B2