Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1142-7 2113122
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ARM LEVER FOR AN EXERCISE BICYCLE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an exercise bicycle, more
particularly to an improved arm lever construction for
an exercise bicycle.
SUMMARY OF TH E I NV ENT I ON
Therefore, the objective of the present invention is
to provide an improved arm lever construction for an
exercise bicycle which can permit ad~ustments in the
range of pivoting movement of the same so as to suit
the physique of a user.
Accordingly, the arm lever of the present invention
is to be used in an exercise bicycle which includes a
frame, a drive shaft mounted rotatably on a rear end
portion of the frame, and a crank arm with a first end
connected eccentrically to one end of the drive shaft
and a second end. The arm lever has a top end, a bottom
end and an intermediate pivot portion between the top
and bottom ends. The pivot portion is to be mounted
pivotally on a front end portion of the frame. The
bottom end of the arm lever is to be connected to the
second end of the crank arm and is provided with a
locking plate. The locking plate has a forked extension
with a distal bottom end and an upright slit which
opens from the distal bottom end. The forked extension
is further formed with a plurality of spaced locking
holes which extend through the slit and which are
arranged along a curved line. The slit permits the
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extension of the second end of the crank arm therein.
The forked extension is connected to the second end of
the crank arm at a selected one of the locking holes to
vary the distance of the second end of the crank arm
from the pivot porti~n and v~ry correspondingly the
range of pivoti~g movement of the arm lever.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the
invention,
Figure 1 is a side view of a conventional exercise
bicycle;
Figure 2 illustrates the conventional exercise
bicycle when arm levers of the same are operated;
Figure 3 is a side view of an exercise bicycle which
incorporates an arm lever according to a first
preferred embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the first
preferred embodiment;
Figure 5 illustrates how the range of pivoting
movement of the arm lever of the first preferred
embodiment is adjusted;
Figure 6 illustrates the difference in the range of
pivoting movement of the arm lever of the first
preferred embodiment when the latter is adjusted; and
Figure 7 is a perspective view of the second
preferred embodiment of an arm lever in accordance with
the present invention.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Referring to Figure 1, a conventional exercise
bicycle 10 is shown to comprise a frame 11, a foot
pedal assembly 12, a reciprocating arm assembly 13, a
resistance wheel 14, and a transmission system 15.
The transmission system 15 includes a drive shaft
121 mounted rotatably on a rear end portion of the
frame 11, and a pair of eccentric arms 122 mounted
securely on two ends of the drive shaft 121 (only one
eccentric arm 122 is shown). The foot pedal assembly 12
includes a pair of foot pedal cranks 123 mounted on a
distal end of a respective one of the eccentric arms
122 (only one foot pedal crank 123 is shown). The
reciprocating arm assembly 13 includes a pair of
reciprocating arm levers 131 mounted pivotally on a
front end portion of the frame 11 on two sides of the
latter, and a pair of crank arms 132 (only one of the
arm levers 131 and the crank arms 132 is shown). Each
of the crank arms 132 has a first end connected to the
distal end of a respective one of the eccentric arms
122 and a second end connected pivotally to a lower end
of a respective one of the arm levers 131. Thus,
operation of the foot pedal cranks 123 results in
forward and rearward movement of the crank arms 132 to
produce reciprocating movement of the arm levers 131.
The resistance wheel 14 is mounted rotatably on the
front end portion of the frame 11 between the arm
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levers 131. The transmission system 15 is used to link
the foot pedal cranks 123 to the resistance wheel 14,
thus permitting the rotation of the resistance wheel 14
when the foot pedal cranks 123 are operated. When the
arm levers 131 are oscillated, the crank arms 132 cause
the drive shaft 121 to rotate, thereby similarly
driving the transmission system 15 to rotate the
resistance wheel 14. The conventional exercise bicycle
can thus be used to exercise the upper and lower parts
of the body.
Referring to Figure 2, the range of pivoting
movement of the arm levers 131 is fixed and cannot be
varied so as to suit the physique of the user. For
example, if the user has long arms, it is quite
lS possible that the arms of the user are not fully
stretched when the arm levers 131 reach the front limit
of the pivoting range. This often results in fatigue,
poor exercise results and can affect the user's
interest in using the conventional exercise bicycle 10.
If the user has short arms, it is possible that the
user has to lean forward in order to move the arm
levers 131 to the front limit of the pivoting range.
This can also cause the user to tire easily.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Figure 3 illustrates an exercise bicycle which
incorporates a pair of arm levers 30 (only one arm
lever 30 is shown) according to a f-irst preferred
embodiment of the present invention. The exercise
bicycle comprises a frame 20 and a reciprocating arm
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~ assembly, which includes the arm levers 30 and a pair
of crank arms 40, mounted on the frame 20. A drive
shaft 21 is mounted rotatably on a rear end portion of
the frame 20, and a pair of eccentric arms 22 are
mounted securely on two ends of the drive shaft 21
(only one eccentric arm 22 is shown). Each of the crank
arms 40 has a first end connected to a distal end of a
respective one of the eccentric arms 22 and a second
end connected to a bottom end of a respective one of
1~ the arm levers 30. The arm levers 30 are disposed on
two sides of a front end portion of the frame 20.
Referring to Figure 4, the bottom end of the arm
lever 30 is provided with a locking plate 31. In this
embodiment, the locking plate 31 has a forked extension
l~ 311 which curves rearwardly. The forked extension 311
has an upright slit 32 which opens from a distal bottom
end thereof. The forked extension 311 is further formed
with a plurality of spaced locking holes 33 which
extend through the slit 32 and whlch are disposed along
- a curved line. In this embodiment, there are two
locking holes 331, 332. The arm lever 30 further has a
top end which is formed with a hand grip portion 34.
Referring once more to Figure 3, the second end of
each crank arm 40 extends into the slit 32 of the
forked extension 311 of the respective arm lever 30. A
locking pin 41 is inserted into a selected one of the
locking holes 331, 332 so as to connect pivotally the
crank arm 40 to the respective arm lever 30.
The phantom lines of Figure 5 illustrate one of the
crank arms 40 when connected to the respective arm
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lever 30 at the upper locking hole 331. When it is
desired to connect the crank arm 40 to the respective
arm lever 30 at the lower locking hole 332, it is
preferable to pivot the arm lever 30 to the rear limit
of the pivoting range before removing the locking pin
41. The crank arm 40 is movable within the slit 32 when
the respective locking pin 41 is removed. At this
stage, since the locking holes 331, 332 lie along the
path of movement of the second end of the crank arm 40,
the crank arm 40 can be easily connected to the arm
lever 30 at the lower locking hole 332.
Each arm lever 30 has an intermediate pivot portion
35 disposed between the hand grip portion 34 and the
locking plate 31 for mounting pivotally the arm lever
30 on the front end portion of the frame 20. When the
arm lever 30 is oscillated, forward and rearward
movement of the respective crank arm 40 occurs so as to
cause rotation of the drive shaft 21. Since linear
movement of the crank arm 40 is limited by the
displacement of the first end of the crank arm 40 from
the drive shaft 21, the range of pivoting movement of
the hand grip portion 34 of the arm lever 30 is also
affected thereby.
Referring to Figure 6, when the second end of the
crank arm 40 is connected to the lower locking hole
332, a smaller range of pivoting movement by the arm
lever 30 is permitted because the second end of the
crank arm 40 is disposed farther from the pivot portion
3 5. Whereas, when the second end of the crank arm 40 is
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connected to the upper locking hole 331, a larger range
of pivoting movement by the arm lever 30 is permitted
because the second end of the crank arm 30 is disposed
closer to the pivot portion 35 (as shown by the phantom
lines).
Before using an exercise bicycle which incorporates
the arm lever 30 of the present invention, it is
necessary to adjust the connection between the arm
levers 30 and the crank arms 40 in order to suit the
lô length of one's arms. If the user's arms are short, the
crank arms 40 are connected to the arm levers 30 at the
lower locking hole 332 in order to reduce the range of
pivoting movement by the arm levers 30, thereby
obviating the need for the user to lean forward when
moving the arm levers 30 to the front limit of the
pivoting range. If the user's arms are long, the crank
arms 40 are connected to the arm levers 30 at the upper
locking hole 331 in order to increase the range of
pivoting movement by the arm levers 30, thereby
ensuring that the arms of the user can be stretched
fully when the arm levers 30 are oscillated.
Figure 7 illustrates the second preferred embodiment
of an arm lever 50 for an exercise bicycle in
accordance with the present invention. The arm lever 50
also has a bottom end which is provided with a locking
plate 51. In this embodiment, the locking plate 51 has
a forked extension 511 which is L-shaped
and which has an upright slit 52 that opens
from a distal bottom end thereof. The forked extension
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,
511 is further formed with three spaced locking holes
53 which extend through the slit 52 and which are
arranged along a curved line. As with the previous
embodiment, one end of a crank arm (not shown) extends
into the slit 52 of the forked extension 511 and can be
connected pivotally to the arm lever 50 at a selected
one of the locking holes 53.
It has thus been shown that the shape of the forked
extension can v~r~ as long as a plurality of
locking holes may be formed therethrough in a curved
line arrangement.
While the present invention has been described in
connection with what is considered the most practical
and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this
invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments
but is intended to cover various arrangements included
within the spirit and scope of the broadest
interpretation so as to encompass all such
modifications and equivalent arrangements.
