Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Adjustable Hand Grip for Exercise Machine
The present application claims priority to U.S. provisional application Serial
No.
60/575,676 filed on May 28, 2004.
Field of the Invention
[0001] The present invention relates to exercising devices, and particularly
to an adjustable
hand grip system adapted for use with treadmills.
Background of the Invention
[0002] Treadmill exercising machines are well known and basically consist of
an endless belt
mounted in a base. By walking or running on this belt, one may obtain an
aerobic level of
exercise. Treadmill machines come in wide variety of configurations with most
modern models
now being powered by electric motors and providing a variety of controls to
set the speed and
perhaps incline of the belt at a desired position for exercise. Less expensive
models have fewer
features and may even be manually powered. The general objective of treadmill
devices is to
provide the cardiopulmonary benefits of walking, jogging or running. The
walking, jogging or
running exercise on a treadmill works the large gludimous maximus and deltoid
muscle groups,
thereby providing aerobic level exercise and corresponding cardio-vascular
benefits.
100031 While it is possible to exercise on a treadmill machine without
utilizing hand grips,
hand grips are usually provided for exercisers who prefer or require such
grips. Perhaps the most
common grip position is that of a horizontal crossbar located directly in
front of the exerciser
toward the forward end of the treadmill as typified by bars shown in Lynch,
U.S. Patent No.
5,000,440, and in Fisher, et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,110,117 in phantom. A
common alternative
ynch, and the final common option is a
position is a side grip such as that shown Figure 2 of L
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pivoting exercise enhancing grip such as shown in Fisher, et al. that allows
the exerciser to also
work upper body muscle groups.
[0004] While the aforementioned grip configurations have proved suitable for
most treadmill
users, there remain inadequacies for the use of treadmills in cardiac
rehabilitation. After open
heart surgery, the recovering patients are instructed to engage in light
exercise as a part of their
cardiac rehabilitation, and treadmill exercise devices are well suited for
this purpose. However,
patients are instructed to tuck their arms close to their body with hands
positioned directly
against the frontal lower chest wall directly beneath their pectoral muscles.
When utilizing a
horizontal crossbar, the exerciser's hands are necessarily rotated to a
horizontal position and in
the best case, hands extend somewhat forward from the exerciser's abdomen.
Obviously, the use
of side grips or pivoting grips moves the exerciser's hands even further away
from the desired
position, and also causes the arms to be moved away from the sides of the
body.
[0005] Accordingly, it is a general object of the invention to provide a hand
grip assembly that
may be adapted for use by exercisers engaged in cardiac rehabilitation, or who
need or desire aid
with stability and balance while exercising.
[0006] It is another object of the invention to provide a hand grip assembly
suitable for use in
cardiac rehabilitation that when not needed for such purpose may be easily
moved out of the way
so that traditional grip locations are available.
[0007] It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a hand
rail that supplies
vertical grips that may be positioned immediately forward of the exerciser's
lower chest wall and
that also provides grips in the location of a horizontal crossbar.
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Summary of the Invention
[0008] The above recited objects of the invention and others which will become
apparent upon
a reading of the following specification and claims are achieved by the
present invention which
provides for two pivotably mounted hand rails that are rotatable into
position, such that each
hand rail provides both a horizontal section and a vertical section for
gripping immediately
forward of the exerciser and that may be adjusted vertically to the desired
height for a particular
individual. When not in use, the hand rails may be pivoted out of position so
that the treadmill
may be utilized with its ordinary hand rail configuration.
Description of the Drawings
[0009] The invention may be described with greater clarity and particularity
by refer.ence to the
accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals are used to indicate
like parts in the
various views.
[00010] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a treadmill equipped with hand rails
according to the
present invention.
[00011] Figure 2 is a side plan view of a single hand rail according to the
present invention
located in retracted position.
[00012] Figure 3 is an end view of a left hand rail according to the present
invention located in
extended position for use.
[00013] Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the rib and hand rail
assembly of the
present invention.
[00014] Figure 5 is a rear perspective view of hand rails of the present
invention located in
extended position for use.
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Detailed Description of the Invention
[00015] Referring now to the drawings in more detail, a treadmill exercise
device 10 is
illustrated comprised generally of base 11 in which an endless belt 12 is
supported longitudinally
and upon which the exerciser 17 jogs or walks. Also shown is a display 15 set
at the top of
display support 14 extending upward from base 11. The display 15 typically
provides user
controls to adjust speed and incline of the belt 12 and may also provide
visual readouts of
elapsed time, estimated caloric consumption, heart rate and other information.
The features of
treadmills vary widely, and the present invention is not restricted to use on
any particular model
or features other than as set forth in the claims. Of principal interest in
the present invention is
the support frame, in the illustrated embodiment of Figure 1 comprised of left
frame 21 and right
frame 31 on either side of the endless belt 12. Left and right frames 21, 31
are each respectively
comprised of front leg sections 22, 32, horizontal bar sections 23, 33, and
rear leg sections 24,
....
34. On each of the left and right frames 21, 31 is a mounting bracket such as
channeled rib 25
which receives a hand rail assembly such as S-bar 40 that provides an
adjustable grip in the form
of a vertical section 48 that may be positioned against the exerciser's 17
front lower chest wall.
[00016] Figure 2 is a fragmentary side view of right side rail 31 with rib 25
and S-bar 40
shown in its retracted position. Bracket 25 may be permanently welded to
horizontal section 33
of side rail 31 or may have a removable mounting section such as horizontal
tube 28, the channel
of which is securely but removably mounted to horizontal section 33. Bracket
25 preferably has
a vertical tubular section 26 with pairs of apertures 27 extending through the
tube wall. The S-
bar 40 has a mount such as lower section 41, that in the use of the
illustrated tubular
embodiments may be overfitting or interfitting as shown with the bracket
provided having
vertical tubular section 26, to permit pivoting movement. Illustrated lower
section 41 also has
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apertures 42 at predetermined increments to form a part of an adjusting and
locking assembly. In
order to set the height of the S-bar 40 and thereby set the height of the
vertical section 48 above
the endless belt of the treadmill, a set of desired lower section apertures 42
is aligned with a pair
of vertical tube apertures 27 and a mounting pin 36 extended therethrough.
From lower section
41, S-bar 40 of the illustrated hand rail assembly proceeds to corner 44
making a right angle, a
lateral extension such as horizontal section 45, a second corner 47 also
making a right angle,
vertical section 48 and end cap 50. Horizontal section 45 and vertical section
48 each preferably
have padded grip sections 46, 49 which may be formed from hard foam rubber, or
similar
suitable materials, to provide a softer gripping area and to minimize the
chance of injury if
bumped against. The two right angled corners 44, 47 cause the lower section 41
and the vertical
section 48 to be substantially parallel, but offset by the distance
attributable to the lateral
extension.
[00017] Figure 3 is an end view of side member 23 of the left frame 21 having
upstanding
tubular section 26 with S-bar 40 rotated into its extended position for use.
Mounting pin 36 is
shown with head 37 and distal end 38 so that the post section of pin 36
extends through apertures
27 in tubular section 26 and apertures 42 in lower section 41 of S-bar 40. In
this fashion, the pin
36 fixes the position of the lower section 41 and indeed the entire handrail
assembly of S-bar 40,
relative to the tubular section 26. It will be seen that flange 43 just above
lower section 41
prevents corner 44 of S-bar 40 from entering tubular section 26 and becoming
wedged in that
position.
[000181 As better shown in Figure 4, it can also be seen that rather than
simply having pairs of
apertures 27 extending on opposite sides of vertical tube 26, the lower
section 41 of S-bar 40 has
sets of four apertures 42 evenly spaced about the circumference of the lower
section 41 at each
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predetermined increment so that the S-bar 40 may be rotated in 90 increments
with respect to
tubular section 26. This enables the S-bar 40 to be positioned in both
retracted and extended
positions at each height.
[00019] Figure 5 illustrates a rear perspective view of the central horizontal
sections 23, 33 of
left and right side rails 21, 31. S-bars 40 are shown in their extended
positions with vertical
sections 48 positioned over the forward portion of the endless belt. Arrows A
and B show how S-
bars 40 may be rotated 90 to retracted positions to position central
horizontal sections 45
generally above and parallel to left and right horizontal sections 23, 33. It
will also be seen in
Figure 5 that S-bars 40 present both vertical grip sections 48 with grips 49
that may be easily
positioned against the front lower chest wall of an exerciser, and horizontal
sections 45 providing
grips in the positions with padding 46 in the fashion of the customary
horizontal crossbars. Thus
the S-bars 40 of the present invention provide the ability to convert the
support frame of a
treadmill machine to both a horizontal crossbar grip and to a vertical cardiac
rehabilitation
friendly grip configuration.
[00020] It will be understood that there are numerous methods that may be
utilized to provide
mounting brackets on the frame of a treadmill and to pivotably attach a hand
rail assembly to
such mounting points, and similarly that there are many alternatives for
lockingly engaging a
hand rail assembly in a selected vertical and rotational position.
[00021] Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been
disclosed in detail
herein, it will be understood that various substitutions and modifications may
be made to the
disclosed embodiment described herein without departing from the scope and
spirit of the
present invention as recited in the appended claims.
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