The U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/278,450 of Gordon L. Brown, Jr. filed Oct. 23, 2002 for an Abdominal Exercise Routine Using A Flexible Elongated Device discloses exercise routines for which this invention is particularly useful.
The disclosed invention relates to an apparatus designed to perform exercises intended to firm, strengthen and tone a person's abdominal muscles, arm muscles and other muscles of the body when the apparatus is bent, which creates a resistance for the targeted muscles. The disclosed apparatus defines a flexible elongated device which is easy for an individual to handle in that it bends in any direction in response to the forces applied to the ends of the device, or to the center of the device with the hands holding the ends, or to the ends of the device with the hand or hands positioned at or near the center of the apparatus. Also, as the apparatus bends the external shape of the apparatus changes slightly to an oval shape such that as the flat part of the oval contacts a body component, such as the thigh, a greater degree of comfort will be felt by the user.
It is a principal object of this invention to provide an elongated variable resistant flexible exercise device that is easy to assemble and which bends in any direction when performing exercises, the exercise device preferably includes a flexible tube having rounded interior in which an elongated rod with a rectangular cross section is inserted. When the exercise device is held by the user's hands at or near the ends of the device or positioned on a modified piece of exercise equipment, such as an ‘ParaBody 900 ST abdominal contractor’, and a force is applied to the ends of the device, or to the center of the device, the device will readily bend in the intended direction as increased resistance is provided, as the distance between the ends of the device is reduced, with a resulting enhancement of the strengthening, conditioning and toning of the targeted muscles.
It is an additional objective to provide for a greater degree of comfort to the user by having the exterior of the flexible elongated device deform slightly to an oval shape when bent such that the flat part of the oval shape spreads the resistance forces over a wider area of contact with the user's body producing a more comfortable feeling. This feature is due to the use of a flexible extruded thermoplastic tube having an essentially round section cavity into which the pultruded rod loosely fits such that when the thermoplastic tube bends its shape is altered to an oval.
A preferred embodiment features an extruded thermoplastic tubular component such as extruded PVC or a thermoplastic rubber tube that has a round or nearly round section cavity. The thermoplastic tube has a durometer such that the exercise device feels comfortable when placed onto the surface of a person's body such as the front of the person's thigh. It should not be too hard but can be somewhat hard given the fact that the thermoplastic tubular device will deform to an approximate oval cross sectional shape when bent. Into the cavity of the tube there is inserted a pultruded rod having, preferably, a consistent rectangular cross-section shape extending substantially the length of the extruded thermoplastic round tube. The rod fits easily into the cavity of the extruded thermoplastic round tube and is able to rotate freely about its longitudinal axis when inside the cavity of the straight extruded thermoplastic tube. End caps are placed on each end of the tube. When the tube is bent the rectangular section rod will automatically orient itself to bend about its major cross section axis.
The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:
The invention is hereinafter described in detail by reference to the accompanying drawings. The invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments described; rather, this detailed description is included to enable any person skilled in the art to produce a flexible elongated exercise device which will bend in any direction when each end is grasped by the user at or near each end with a force applied to each end of the device; or with the hands grasping each end and applying a force to each end with the center of the device pressed against a part of the body such as the thigh(s); or with the hand or hands positioned at or near the center of the device and the hands applying a force at or near the center of the device with the ends of the device positioned in contact with each of the thighs slightly above the knee.
A preferred embodiment of the flexible exercise device 11, shown in
If an exercise device requiring greater bending force is desired an additional rod 14 may be inserted in the tube 13 as shown in
An alternative exercise device 31, shown in
When the complete device is bent by the hands applying a force at or near each end of the device, the extruded PVC thermoplastic tube 13, 32 or 48 deforms as shown in
Prior to insertion of the pultruded composite rod into the cavity of the tube, the rod may have a wax, such as carnauba wax, applied to its surface which allows the rod to move easier inside the cavity of the tube as the rod orients itself so it can bend around its major axis as the tube is bent by the application of forces at or near each end of the exercise device. Further, a lubricant spray, such as WD-40, may be sprayed into the cavity of the tube, instead of applying the carnauba wax to the pultruded rod, prior to or after insertion of the rod in the cavity and before the application of the end caps to permit the pultruded bar to move easier inside the cavity of the tube as the rod orients itself so it can bend around its major axis upon the application of bending forces to the exercise device.
The pultruded rectangular cross section rods 14 and 34 will automatically orient themselves in the tube by bending about their major cross sectional axes during the initial bending of the exercise device. The extruded flexible tube's material density and surface hardness can be varied as long as the extruded tubular shape does not kink when bent at least into the shape of a semi-circle or interfere with the pultruded rod's natural tendency to orient itself to bend around it's major cross sectional axis. Even when multiple rods are used, as shown in
There are additional advantages flowing from use of a plurality of relatively thin rectangular cross section rods. A thin rectangular cross section rod has a longer service life than a thick rectangular cross section rod and the use of a plurality of thin rectangular cross section rods make it easy to select the number of rods to match the stiffness desired or to change the stiffness for any reason during use.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20050079962 A1 | Apr 2005 | US |