Patent Application
20060046900
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a wrist exerciser that is held by a palm of a user and having an internal rotor that is caused to rotate by the user exercising his or her wrist muscles, and in particular to a wrist exerciser having a rotor structure that allows for exchange with other rotors having different weights.
2. The Related Art
Wrist exercisers are widely known in exercising and training wrist-related muscles, especially for rehabilitation and therapy purposes. An example of the wrist exercisers is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,311, which provides a device that allows a user to exercise his or her wrist by simply rotating the wrist exerciser with the wrist.
In order to maintain proper rotation and induce force on the wrist of the user, the rotor A1 must be of a substantial weight. This is usually done by embedding a metal block or metal plate inside the rotor A1, which complicates the manufacturing process of the rotor A1 and increases manufacturing costs. In addition, such a rotor A1 has a fixed weight that cannot be readily changed to accommodate players of different strength. For example, an adult and a child may require rotors of different weight in order to avoid under-training or over-training.
Other known techniques provide rotors made by metal casting. To provide rotors of different weights, different molds are required. This apparently increases the manufacturing costs of the wriest exerciser. In addition, due to the conductivity of the metal rotors, the metal rotors do not allow directly mounting illuminating electronics that gives off light when rotating. Further, adding sensor for counting the turns of rotation to the metal rotors raises another problems for additional machining is needed.
Thus, it is desired to provide a wrist exerciser having a rotor that overcomes the above deficiencies of the conventional wrist exercisers.
Thus, a primary objective of the present invention is to provide a wrist exerciser comprising a rotor that is constituted by a plurality of separable parts whereby by replacing the parts with counterparts of different weights, the wrist exerciser may accommodate rotors of different weights for different users.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a wrist exerciser comprising a rotor made of insulation materials whereby illuminating/sounding electronics may be directly attached thereto for giving off light and/or sound during the rotation of the rotor.
To achieve the above objectives, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a rotor for a wrist exerciser. The rotor comprises a spherical body rotatably received in a casing of the wrist exerciser. The rotor body defines a bore in which an inner flange is formed. First and second weight members are received in the bore on opposite sides of the flange. The weight members have inner end portions releasably attached to opposite surfaces of the flange. Through holes are defined in the first and second weight members to receive an axle of which ends project beyond opposite ends of the body to rotatably engage a support ring of the casing.
The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
With reference to the drawings and in particular to
An inner flange 111 is formed inside the bore 11 and extends along an inner circumference of the bore 11. Releasable securing means is provided between the flange 111 and the weight members 20, 30 to fix the weight members 20, 30 inside the bore 11. The securing means comprises first parts 111A that are mounted to opposite surfaces of the inner flange 111 and second parts 211, 311 respectively formed on the weight members 20, 30. The first parts 111A are engageable with the second parts 211, 311 of the first and second weight members 20, 30 and thus securing the weight members 20, 30 inside the bore 11 of the body 10. Examples of the securing means include Velcro fastener and adhesive tapes (especially double-sided adhesive tapes).
The first and second weight members 20, 30, each having a predetermined weight, are sized to fit, preferably snugly, in the bore 11 of the body 10 from opposite ends of the body 10 and thus located on opposite sides of the flange 111. The first and second weight members 20, 30 each have an inner end portion 21, 31 forming a surface opposing the flange 111. The second parts 211, 311 of the securing means are provided on the surfaces of the end portions 21, 31 in correspondence to the first parts 111A of the securing means. Thus, once the first and second weight members 20, 30 are put into the bore 11 of the body 10 with the second parts 211, 311 of the securing means engaging the first parts 111A, the first and second weight members 20, 30 are fixed inside the bore 11.
Each of the first and second weight members 20, 30 also has an outer end portion forming sideway pawls or projections 24, 33 that extend in radial directions and are receivable inside recesses 121 defined in opposite ends of a side wall 12 of the body 10 for properly positioning the first and second weight members 20, 30 inside the bore 11 of the body 10.
The first weight member 20 defines a first through hole 23 through which the axle 40 extends. Preferably, a cylindrical projection 22 extends from the inner end portion 21 of the first weight member 20 toward the second weight member 30. The hole 23 extends completely through the cylindrical projection 22. The second weight member 30 forms a through holes 32 axially aligning with and receiving the cylindrical projection 22 thereby allowing the axle 40 to extend through the second weight member 30. However, it is apparent to those having ordinary skills to omit the cylindrical projection 22 and directly fit the axle 40 into the hole 32 of the second weight member 30 (with the dimension of the axle 40 modified to snugly fit in the hole 32). The axle 40 is of such a length that opposite ends of the axle 40 extend beyond the opposite ends of the body 10.
By means of the releasable engagement between the first parts 111A and the second parts 211, 311 of the securing means, the first and second weight members 21, 31 can be removed from the body 10 for replacement or exchange with a counterpart having a different weight. This allows for change of the overall weight of the rotor 100.
Also referring to
An inner flange 111 is formed in the bore 11 and extends along an inner circumference of the bore 11. A plurality of holes 111B is defined in the flange 111. First and second weight members 20, 30 are received in the bore 11 and fixed on opposite sides of the flange 111. The first and second weight members 20, 30 each have an inner end portion 21, 31. Through holes 212 are defined in the end portion 21 of the first weight member 20. Each hole 212 receives and fixes a nut or an inner-threaded member 214. Also, positioning pins 213 extend from a surface of the end portion 21 in a direction toward the second weight member 30. The holes 212 and the pins 213 are located in correspondence to the holes 111B defined in the flange 111.
The inner end portion 31 of the second weight member 30 also defines through holes 312, which correspond to the holes 212 and the pins 213 of the first weight member 20. In fitting the first and second weight members 20, 30 in the bore 11 of the body 10, the pins 213 of the first weight members 20 extend through corresponding holes 111B of the flange 111 and the corresponding holes 312 of the second weight member 30 for positioning the first and second weight members 20, 30 in the bore 11. Bolts 313 extend through the remaining ones of the holes 312 of the second weight member 30 and engage the nut 214 that are fixed in the holes 212 of the first weight member 20 to releasably fix the first and second weight members 20, 30 in the bore 11.
The first weight member 20 forms a cylindrical projection 22 and a hole 23 is defined through the first weight member 20 and the projection 22 to receive an axle 40 therein. The second weight member 30 also defines a through hole 32 to receive the projection 22 of the first weight member 20 whereby the axle 40 extends beyond opposite ends of the body 10.
By loosening the bolt-nut pairs 313, 214, the first and second weight members 20, 30 can be removed from the bore 11 and replacement or exchange with counterparts having different weights can be performed readily.
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The electronics may be selectively mounted to either one of the weight members 20, 30. In the embodiment illustrated in
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.
