This non-provisional application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. ยง119(a) to Patent Application No. 102211914 filed in Taiwan, Republic of China on Jun. 25, 2013, Patent Application No. 102122613 filed in Taiwan, Republic of China on Jun. 25, 2013, Patent Application No. 102212548 filed in Taiwan, Republic of China on Jul. 3, 2013, Patent Application No. 102123892 filed in Taiwan, Republic of China on Jul. 3, 2013, Patent Application No. 201320372306.0 filed in the People's Republic of China on Jun. 26, 2013, and Patent Application No. 201310260181.7 filed in the People's Republic of China on Jun. 26, 2013. The disclosures of each of the aforementioned patent documents are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety in the disclosure of this patent application.
This patent document relates to a wrist exerciser having a gyroscope.
A wrist exerciser can be designed as an article to be held in a user's palm and rotated with the user's wrist. Some wrist exercisers utilize the principle of a gyroscope to create a resistance to the user's wrist motion for exercise. Such wrist exercisers may only need a starting force and/or torque to initiate rotating of the gyroscope. For example, a user can initiate spinning the gyroscope, e.g., such as by using a rope or a pin that is initially set in the gyroscope and pulled by the user, and/or auto-start the gyroscope by generating an initial auxiliary starting force (e.g., such as by using an auxiliary starting force mechanism, like that described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,381,155). After the gyroscope starts spinning, the user can accelerate spinning with forces applied by the wrist, thereby exercising related muscles. Depending on the applied forces, the wrist exerciser can generate a high rotation speed, e.g., greater than 10,000 revolutions per minute (rpm). The higher the rotation speed is, the stronger resistance would be created, which contributes to strengthening the user's wrist and arm.
In one aspect, a wrist exerciser includes a housing and a gyroscope member. The housing includes a protective part, in which the protective part includes a rail and a buffer portion, where the position of the buffer portion corresponds to the rail. The gyroscopic member is moveably disposed on the rail, in which the gyroscope member is structured to include a ring configured inside the housing, in which the ring being slidably disposed at the rail, and a rotor including a ball and a shaft, in which the ball is configured inside the housing and the shaft penetrates the ball, the two opposite ends of the shaft being connected to the two opposite sides of the ring for the shaft to rotate relatively to the ring.
In another aspect, a wrist exerciser includes a housing and a gyroscope member. The housing includes a protective part, in which the protective part includes a rail and two buffer portions, where the rail is positioned between the buffer portions. The gyroscopic member is moveably disposed on the rail, in which the gyroscope member is structured to include a ring configured inside the housing, in which the ring being slidably disposed at the rail, and a rotor including a ball and a shaft, in which the ball is configured inside the housing and the shaft penetrates the ball, the two opposite ends of the shaft being connected to the two opposite sides of the ring for the shaft to rotate relatively to the ring.
In another aspect, a housing of a wrist exerciser includes a first shell and a second shell. The first shell includes a first cover, a first buffer portion, and a first rail connected to each other, in which the first buffer portion is between the first cover and the first rail. The second shell includes a second cover, a second buffer portion, and a second rail connected to each other, in which the second buffer portion is between the second cover and the second rail. The second shell and the first shell are attachable to each other so as to form an interior space that can accommodate a gyroscope. The first rail and the second rail, when the first shell and the second shell are attached, form a rail that supports the gyroscope and protects the gyroscope from damage.
In another aspect, a wrist exerciser includes a deformable housing and a gyroscope member. The deformable housing is structured to include a casing structure, a rail, and one or more channels along a direction of the casing structure, in which the channels penetrate through the casing structure forming an empty space. The gyroscopic member is configured to be moveably disposed on the rail, and includes a ring and a rotor. The ring is configured inside the deformable housing, and configured to be slidably disposed at the rail. The rotor includes a ball and a shaft, in which the ball is configured inside the deformable housing, the shaft penetrates the ball, and the two opposite ends of the shaft are connected to the two opposite sides of the ring for the shaft to rotate relatively to the ring. The deformable housing is structured to absorb mechanical force to protect the structure and functionality of the wrist exerciser.
In some implementations of the wrist exerciser, the protective part is not formed integrally with the housing but is a separate part. By way of example, the protective part is disposed within the outside housing and is made of flexible, compressible, and/or shock absorbent materials such as silicone which can absorb shocks and vibrations. The buffer portions as well as the rail are formed integrally within the protective part. The outside housing can be preferably made of metallic and/or alloy materials and can include a first shell and a second shell.
Those and other aspects and associated implementations and features of disclosed wrist exerciser designs are described in greater detail in the drawings, the description and the claims.
The disclosed wrist exerciser designs will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below along with the accompanying drawings which are for illustration only, thus are not limitative of the disclosed wrist exerciser designs.
Like reference symbols and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.
The basic structure of a wrist exerciser generally includes a housing, a ring, and a gyroscope. The ring is slidably disposed on a rail formed around the inner circumference of the housing. In some designs, the gyroscope includes a shaft formed in alignment with the axis of the gyroscope. Each end of the shaft connects to the ring, allowing the gyroscope to rotate along the rail. Some examples of wrist exercisers depicting the structure and corresponding technical functions of these components and the overall wrist exerciser are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,449,436, 7,846,066, 5,800,311, and 6,186,914, of which the entire disclosure of these aforementioned US patents are incorporated by reference as part of the disclosure of this patent document; and in U.S. Design Pat. No. D464,687, as well as Taiwan Patent No. 364,383.
In such designs, because the entire weight of the gyroscope is supported by the shaft at its two ends, the shaft is prone to fracture or distortion that may be caused by motions or forces due to external impacts or other actions or events. For example, one cause may include a user's accidental dropping of the wrist exerciser on the ground or other solid surfaces. If the shaft is distorted, the units (including, e.g., the housing, shaft and ring) of the wrist exerciser would be moved off their original positions, thus causing noise and vibration during use. And if the shaft is fractured, the wrist exerciser may not function at all. Therefore, a wrist exerciser of an improved structure is needed that prevents the shaft from various external impacts.
Disclosed are wrist exerciser designs having housing or casing structures that protect the components of the wrist exerciser from being impacted by external forces. The disclosed housing and/or casing structures of the wrist exercisers remedy deficiencies of various other wrist exercisers.
In one aspect of the disclosed wrist exerciser designs, a wrist exerciser includes a housing, a gyroscope, and a ring, in which the housing is structured to include a casing structure that protects the shaft from being impacted by external forces. The housing includes a protective assembly, which includes a rail and a buffer portion. The position of the buffer portion corresponds to that of the rail.
The gyroscopic member is placed inside the housing and includes a rotor and a ring. The rotor includes a shaft formed in alignment with the axis of the rotor. The two opposite ends of the shaft are rotatably connected to the ring, thereby allowing the rotor to rotate about the shaft. The ring is movably disposed at the rail that is formed around the inner circumference of the housing. Such structure allows the rotor and the ring to rotate about the axis of the ring when moving around at the rail.
In some embodiments, the buffer portion includes a first buffer portion and a second buffer portion. The rail is located between the first buffer portion and the second buffer portion. As the shaft of the rotor is disposed at the rail, the shaft is protected by the first buffer portion and the second buffer portion from external impacts. For example, an abrupt force (that may be caused by the wrist exerciser dropping on the ground) can be absorbed by the buffer zone, thereby minimizing the impact to the shaft. In reality, the outside force exerted to the housing of the wrist exerciser may be in various directions. The elasticity of the buffer portions can shield the shaft from being directly contacted or impacted by the outside force exerted to the housing and thus reduce the adverse effect of the outside force.
In some embodiments, the housing of the wrist exerciser includes a first shell and a second shell. The first shell comprises a first cover, a first buffer portion, and a first rail that are integrally formed as one piece. The first buffer portion is located between the first cover and the first rail. The second shell comprises a second cover, a second buffer portion, and a second rail that are integrally formed as one piece. The second buffer portion is located between the second cover and the second rail. The second shell is combined with the first shell to form the housing of the wrist exerciser. The first rail and the second rail are combined to form the entire rail of the wrist exerciser.
In this exemplary embodiment shown in
In some embodiments, the first buffer portion 112 is between the first cover 111 and the first rail 113. Whereas, in some embodiments, the first cover 111 is between the buffer portion 112 and the first rail 113. The structure of the second shell 120 can be configured to be similar to the first shell 110. The second shell 120 includes a second cover 121, a second buffer portion 122, and a second rail 123. In some embodiments, the second buffer portion 122 is between the second cover 121 and the second rail 123. The second rail 123 can be coupled to the first rail 113 so that a protective assembly 105 of the housing 100 is formed by the first buffer portion 112, a rail 140 and the second buffer portion 122.
The gyroscopic member 190 is movably disposed in the housing 100, where at least one portion of the gyroscope member 190 is coupled to the rail 140 such that the gyroscope member 190 is permitted to move along the rail 140.
In some embodiments of the buffer portions, for example, the first buffer portion 112 has two rows of buffer parts 112a that are arranged side by side to each other in its surface and are parallel to the first rail 113. In this exemplary embodiment, each of the buffer parts 112a surrounds the gyroscopic member 190 and has a plurality of slot sections 112b and a plurality of isthmuses 112c, and the two adjacent slot sections 112b are spaced by one isthmus 112c. One of the buffer parts 112a is offset with respect to the other buffer parts 112a such that each of the isthmuses 112c of the buffer parts 112a is aligned with (corresponds to) each of the slot sections 112b of the other buffer parts 112a respectively. Thus, the horizontal plane projection (e.g. latitude direction) of the isthmuses 112c of one of the two buffer parts 112a is level with the horizontal plane projection of at least one slot sections 112b of the other buffer part 112a.
Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment of the first buffer portion 112, as shown in
In some embodiments, for example, the first rail 113 includes a first supporting groove 113a and a first supporting ring 113b. The first supporting ring 113b is detachably disposed on the first supporting groove 113a to form the first rail 113.
As shown in the exemplary embodiment of the housing 100 in
In some embodiments, for example, the second rail 123 includes a second supporting groove 123a and a second supporting ring 123b. The second supporting ring 123b is detachably disposed on the second supporting groove 123a to form the second rail 123.
The second shell 120 and the first shell 110 can attach together so that the second shell 120 and the first shell 110 form an accommodating space 130 together. For example, the first rail 113 and the second rail 123 can form an annular groove 142 of the rail 140 between the first buffer portion 112 and the second buffer portion 122. The rail 140 has an inner surface 141 which faces the accommodating space 130, and the annular groove 142 is formed on the inner surface 141.
For example, the first rail 113 and the second rail 123 are combined with each other. Therefore, when the annular groove 142 is damaged due to being rubbed or impacted by the shaft 320 (of the rotor 300 of the gyroscope member 190), the user may only need to replace the damaged first rail 113 and the damaged second rail 123 with a new first supporting ring 113b and a new second rail portion 123. Thus, it is more convenient to maintain the annular groove 142 of the wrist exerciser 10.
In this and some embodiments, for example, the exemplary slot sections 112b are oriented so that the long axes of the slot sections 112b are parallel to that of the annular groove 142. The long axis of the exemplary slot section 112b is the direction parallel to the long side of the slot section 112b. In some other embodiments, for example, the long axes of the slot sections 112b are perpendicular to that of the annular groove 142. And in some other embodiments, for example, the long axes of the slot sections 112b and the annular groove 142 have an acute angle there between.
In the exemplary embodiment of the wrist exerciser 10 shown in
In the exemplary embodiment of the wrist exerciser 10 shown in
As shown in the exemplary embodiment of the wrist exerciser 10 in
The protective assembly 105 has an initial deforming point/strength which is a property of the protective assembly. When a force is greater than the initial deforming point/strength, the force is exerted to the damping element 105, and the deformation of the damping element 105 occurs. The initial deforming point/strength of the protective assembly 105 should be greater than the weight of the rotor 300. Therefore, the rotor 300 does not generate unnecessary motion during its rotation, so that the rotor 300 can spin smoothly.
For example, when the initial deforming point/strength to the protective assembly 105 is 5 kilograms, the behavior of protective assembly 105 may be what is described below. When the housing 100 is impacted and an external force of slightly greater than 5 kilograms is exerted to the protective assembly, the protective assembly 105 starts to become deformed. When the housing 100 is impacted and an external force greater than 21 kilograms is exerted to the protective assembly 105, the displacement of the buffer assembly 105 caused by the deformation is equal to the maximum distance between the ball 310 and the housing 100.
The structural assembly of the wrist exerciser 10 is precisely designed in the contacting position and contacting area where the shaft 320 contacts the annular groove 142 to avoid the wrist exerciser 10 from generating unexpected noise to affect the user's training. However, when the shaft 320 is bent, the relative position between the shaft 320 and the annular groove 142 changes, resulting in the wrist exerciser 10 generating unwanted vibration and noise. Therefore, preventing the shaft 320 from being bent is an important consideration. The following describes how to decrease the bending extent of the shaft 320 or to prevent the shaft 320 from being bent by the protective assembly 105 when the wrist exerciser 10 is impacted, in reference to
As shown in
Movement processes of the wrist exerciser 10 caused by an impact is described below, in two exemplary stages. At the first stage, for example, the ball 310 does not contact with the housing 100. The shaft 320 and the ball 310 are pushed toward the second cover 121 accompanied with the deformation (e.g., such as plastic deformation) of the second buffer portion 122. Accordingly, the deformation of the second buffer portion 122 prevents the impact force F from concentrating at the position where the extending portion 322 connects to the supporting portion 321. Therefore, the force which the shaft 320 receives is lowered due to the deformation of the second buffer portion 122, so as to prevent shaft 320 from bending or reduce the extent to which it is bent. During the second stage, for example, the ball 310 contacts with the housing 100. At this stage, part of the weight of the ball 310 is supported by the housing 100 to lessen the force received by the shaft 320, thereby avoiding damage to the shaft 320.
Exemplary implementations of an exemplary embodiment of the wrist exerciser 10 were conducted, including subjecting the wrist exerciser 10 to impact forces, to demonstrate the effects of how the protective assembly 105 protects the wrist exerciser 10 from damaging. In one example, the weight of this exemplary embodiment of the wrist exerciser 10 was 0.3 kilograms. The wrist exerciser 10 was dropped from one meter high to the ground. Because the protective bodies 112 and buffer portion 122 lowered the rigidity of the housing 100, the time the wrist exerciser 10 was being impacted was extended (from 6.5 milliseconds to 8.5 milliseconds). Therefore, the impact force F was lowered from 204.46 kilograms/meter (kg/m) to 156.35 kilograms/meter (kg/m).
Since the impact force F (156.35 kilograms/meter) was greater than the minimum deforming force (21 kilograms/meter) of the second buffer portion 122, the impact force F received by the shaft 320 was lowered by the deformation of the second buffer portion 122. Therefore, the second buffer portion 122 prevented the shaft 320 from breaking or bending.
Although the impact point in the above examples was at the second cover 121 of the second shell 120, the location of the impact point could be elsewhere. For example, the impact point can be at the first cover 111 of the first shell 110. When the impact point is at the first cover 111 of the first shell 110, the impact to the wrist exerciser 10 is similar to what is described above where the impact point is at the second cover 121 of the second shell 120. When the impact point is at a location where the first shell 110 connects with the second shell 120, for example, the following may occur. As the middle section of the housing 100 has the buffer parts 112a and 122a, the housing 100 is more flexible and shows a better deforming ability as compared with the rest of the housing without the buffer parts 112a and 122a. In other words, the housing 100 with the buffer parts 112a and 112b can sufficiently deform to press the ball 310 against the housing 100. As such, the housing 100 can buffer the impact force that would otherwise directly apply to the shaft 320 to prevent it from bending or breaking.
In addition, the first rail 113 and the second rail 123 can be connected with each other. Thus, if the annular groove 142 (formed by the first rail 113 and the second rail 123) is abraded by the shaft 320, for example, the user only needs to replace the abraded first rail 113 and the abraded second rail 123 with a new first rail 113 and a new second rail 123. Therefore, the user does not need to purchase a new wrist exerciser just because the annular groove 142 is abraded.
In some embodiments such as those described above, the first buffer portion 112 and the second buffer portion 122 have two rows of buffer parts 112a and two rows of buffer parts 122a, respectively. Yet, in some embodiments, for example, the first buffer portion 112 may only include one buffer part 112a; whereas in some other embodiments, for example, the first buffer portion 112 can include more than three buffer parts 112a.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
In some embodiments, for example, the first buffer portion 112 and the second buffer portion 122 can be made from materials having a buffer property (e.g., soft materials so that the protective bodies can absorb the impact).
For example, flexible materials or relatively rigid materials can be utilized in the protective assembly 105 because of the structural design of the protective assembly 105 that enables the protective assembly 105 to resist or at least increase resistance to impact force(s) that may be exerted upon the wrist exerciser 10 (e.g., such as dropping the wrist exerciser), in which the resistance to such impact force(s) is provided by the slots or channels built into the housing structure of the wrist exerciser, thereby providing an overall deformable structure of the housing to protect the gyroscope member from damage due to the impact force(s).
As previously described, for example, the amount of the slot sections 112b and 122b, and isthmuses 112c and 122c, of the first buffer portion 112 and the second buffer portion 122 can include, for example, three, but is not limited thereto.
In addition, for example, the width of the isthmuses can be configured to gradually decrease from the outer surface of the first shell to the inner surface of the first shell along the radial direction, but is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, for example, the width of the isthmuses is constant (the two side surfaces of the isthmuses remain parallel to each other). In some other embodiments, the width of the isthmuses can be configured to gradually increase from the outer surface of the first shell to the inner surface of the first shell along the radial direction.
For example, in some embodiments, the first supporting groove 113a and the first supporting ring 113b are combined with each other. Yet, in some embodiments, for example, the first supporting groove 113a and the first supporting ring 113b can be integrally formed into one piece.
In addition, in some embodiments of the wrist exerciser 10, the wrist exerciser 10 further includes a protective ring 400, which is detachably disposed on the protective assembly 105 of the housing 100 so that the user may use the wrist exerciser 10 more comfortably.
In some embodiments, the first rail 113 further includes a first supporting groove 113a and a first supporting ring 113b. The first supporting ring 113b is detachably disposed on the first supporting groove 113a to form the first rail 113. The rail forces the ball and the shaft to move together when the buffer portions deforms plastically. The concentration of the impacting force at the combined position, where the extending portion combines with the supporting portion, is avoided. Therefore, the buffer portions share the impact force received by the shaft by the plastic deformation of the buffer portions to avoid the shaft from becoming bent or broken due to heavy impact. In addition, when the ball contacts the housing, the housing is capable of supporting the weight of the ball to decrease the impacting force received by the shaft. Therefore, the housing shares the impacting force which the shaft receives with the buffer portion of the housing. Furthermore, since the first rail and the second rail are combined with each other, when the annular groove formed by the first rail and the second rail is broken, the user only needs to replace the broken first rail and the abraded second rail with a new first rail and a new second rail. Therefore, the user does not need to purchase a new wrist exerciser just because the annular groove is abraded.
Referring to
In some embodiments, for example, the protective assembly 105 is not formed integrally with the housing 100 but is a separate part, as illustrated in
In some embodiments, the buffer portions 112 and 122 as well as the rail 140 are formed integrally within the protective assembly 105, as shown in
While this patent document contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any invention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions. Certain features that are described in this patent document in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described in this patent document should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments.
Only a few implementations and examples are described, and other implementations, enhancements and variations can be made based on what is described and illustrated in this patent document.
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