Patent ID: 8398501
Filing Date: 2013-03-19
Classification: A63B

Abstract:
1. A muscle trainer for exercising at least a non-dominating muscle of two opposing muscles typically used by a person when attempting to move an implement in an ideal movement path during performance of a useful or recreational function, where the non-dominating muscle applies a non-dominating force to the implement in a non-dominating force direction, and a dominating muscle of the two opposing muscles applies a dominating force to the implement in a dominating force direction, where the dominating force direction is substantially opposite the non-dominating force direction, and the dominating force exceeds the non-dominating force, wherein if the two opposing muscles were of appropriate strength, the two opposing muscles would desirably apply opposing forces to the implement at appropriate levels to maintain the implement in the ideal movement path as the implement is moved by the person, the muscle trainer for training the opposing muscles to consistently maintain the implement in or near the ideal movement path during the movement, the muscle trainer comprising: a muscle trainer body that may be gripped and moved by the person through a movement path; one or more sensors mounted on the muscle trainer body for generating signals indicative of a plurality of positions of the muscle trainer during a movement; a processor for calculating, based on the signals generated by the one or more sensors, a difference between the movement path and the ideal movement path, where the difference indicates the dominating force direction, the processor further for generating error signals indicative of the difference between the movement path and the ideal movement path; a controller for receiving the error signals generated by the processor and for controlling at least one force generator based on the error signals; and the at least one force generator for applying at least one external force to the muscle trainer under control of the controller, the at least one external force for further urging the muscle trainer in the dominating force direction, whereby the person can urge the muscle trainer against the at least one external force to exercise the non-dominating muscle.