Patent ID: 6093024
Filing Date: 2000-07-25
Classification: A47D,A61H

Abstract:
A suspended motor-skill training apparatus for receiving and retaining a motor-skill challenged human trainee and to permit said human trainee to learn gross motor skills, said apparatus comprising:a substantially solid and weighty main body member having a front end and a back end, and defining in horizontally surrounding relation a hollow central region open for vertical passage therethrough and sized to permit the legs and pelvis of a trainee to pass therethrough, said main body member having left and right forwardly disposed attachment points and at least one rearwardly disposed attachment point, said attachment points being spaced apart and defining a geometric centre disposed within said hollow central region;wherein said main body member has its centre of gravity disposed substantially centrally between and rearwardly of said left and right forwardly disposed attachment points;at least three strap members having lower and upper ends and being connected at their respective lower ends one to each of said at least three spaced apart attachment points and operatively connected at their respective upper ends to a suspension means, mounted on an elevated support structure, whereby said suspended motor-skill training apparatus may be suspended by said suspension means from said elevated support structure;seating means operatively mounted on said substantially solid and weighty main body member in depending relation therefrom such that the pelvic area of a trainee is received by said seating means below said substantially solid and weighty main body member and such that the centre of gravity of said trainee is at an elevation adjacent or below said main body member, with the legs of said trainee extending below said seating means and said trainee facing forwardly in a substantially upright position;wherein, when said trainee leans outwardly over a portion of said main body member, said trainee is physically precluded from falling out of said suspended motor-skill training apparatus by said main body member; and wherein the combined centre of gravity of said trainee and said main body member remains within the triangle defined by said attachment points on said main body member due to the weight of said main body member and the weight of the trainee, and remains at an elevation adjacent or below said main body member, thus precluding said suspended motor-skill training apparatus from tipping more than a minor amount;whereby a motor-skill challenged human trainee seated in said suspended motor-skill training apparatus can learn gross motor skills through repetitive motion, with the risks of injury and falling out being precluded.