Abstract:
A gymnastic machine having a frame ( 10 ) supporting a load group ( 30 ), and at least one gripping station ( 80 ) presenting a respective implement ( 20 ) for the execution of a physical exercise, with the load group (30) connected to each implement ( 20 ) by at least one flexible member ( 40 ) supported by the frame ( 10 ) through a plurality of pulley-blocks ( 50 ) along a route (P), at least one implement ( 20 ) connected to flexible member ( 40 ) at the respective gripping station ( 80 ), and a return device ( 90 ) being connected to each implement ( 20 ) to restrain the implement ( 20 ) itself along the route (P) in at least one uniquely determinate position (DP) with respect to frame ( 10 ) in a indefinitely repeatable manner.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a gymnastic machine equipped with a load group comprising at least one implement connected to a flexible member. In particular, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine equipped with a load group comprising at least one implement freely or rigidly connected to a flexible member. In more detail, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine equipped a load group comprising at least one implement connected to a flexible member and a locking device for at least one respective implement. 
   2. Description of the State of the Art 
   As is well-known, one of the reasons which has led to the success of gymnastic machines is their rigidity of operation which allows to focus on a particular muscle group. These characteristics allow the less athletically prepared user to train with a reasonable certainty of protecting his own wellbeing, and therefore in total safety. However, the very fact of imposing the execution of particular movements is considered excessively restricting by users who, for reasons of work or inclination, prefer that training with weights should require absolute concentration on handling free loads possibly assembled through equalizers, in order also to actively stimulate their own respective proprioception. In any case, the use of equalizers or free weights requires considerable space, both for the execution of the training exercises and for accommodating the weights and accessories, among them the equalizers themselves. To satisfy the requirements of these more demanding users, and to overcome the disadvantages mentioned above, some manufacturers of gymnastic machines have set out to modify the basic concept of gymnastic machines, and therefore the relative classical structure, in such a way as to make the execution of training exercises freer, with implements connected to cables connected to more or less finely adjustable load groups. In this connection it is as well to recall the machine designated “Ercolina” by the applicant, the inventive concepts of the inventor Roy Simonson, among them U.S. Pat. No. 6,458,061, and Patent Application no. RA2002A000017 by the applicant, which was internationalised by Application no. EP 03022187, all examples of how it is possible to make so-called functional gymnastic machines. 
   With particular reference to Application no. RA2002A000017, on a machine in which the interface between the load and the implements consists of cables, several load stations are made available, each presenting a respective handle, connected in freely sliding manner or rigidly to a cable between pulley-blocks comprising pulleys. In this way, each handle is grippable in any position on the respective run of cable. This facilitates the use of the machine by users of differing build, and also the execution of exercises devised by each individual user to recruit particular muscle areas in a personalised way. In fact, each handle can be made to run freely along the cable run between two pulley-blocks as far as the desired position if coupled freely to the cable itself, or can be located in a position definable at will between the two pulley-blocks at the end of the exercise, if of the type rigidly connected to the cable. Once the execution of a movement has started, the handle will maintain its reference position along the respective cable run simply because of the fact that, in use, the handle separates two distinct portions on the respective cable run, inclined to each other at a particular angle, which depends on the position in which the handle is gripped and the type of trajectory over which, moment by moment, the handle happens to be moved by the user. It will be noted that, by virtue of what has been said, the handles of the load stations currently not being used are left free to oscillate together with the respective run of cable, which inevitably will be subjected to alternating loads of variable value. 
   Naturally, this situation makes the use of the machine more annoying the lighter the load selected, and the mass of the oscillating handle is important. Furthermore, these oscillations make these machines potentially dangerous, given that the implements not in use could in particular conditions strike the head or another bodily area of the user without warning. In addition, these machines are noisy because of the continual banging of the handles not in use which are dragged against the pulley-blocks which delimit the respective cable runs during the execution of training. 
   What has been described above renders such machines less interesting for the market of more advanced users, who consider the disadvantage of the noisiness and the oscillation of the handles not in use discordant with the technical level of these types of machines. The problem, therefore, of the availability of functional gymnastic machines with implements usable over free trajectories which are both mechanically safe and silent is currently unresolved, and represents an interesting challenge for the applicant, who has decided to tackle and resolve it, as will be described below, in order to exploit it economically. 
   In view of the situation described above, it would be desirable to have available a gymnastic machine provided with a load group which, besides enabling the disadvantages, typical of the state of the known art set forth above, to be limited and if possible overcome, could define a new standard in this sector of the market. Consequently, such a gymnastic machine would prove to be indicated for installation in either a biomedical, or a sporting, or a domestic environment, and therefore in any environment in which gymnastic machines have applications. 
   SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to a gymnastic machine equipped with a load group comprising at least one implement connected to a flexible member. In particular, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine equipped with a load group comprising at least one implement freely or rigidly connected to a flexible member. In more detail, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine equipped a load group comprising at least one implement connected to a flexible member and a locking device for at least one respective implement. 
   The object of the present invention is to create a gymnastic machine which will permit the resolution of the disadvantages set forth above, and which will be capable of satisfying a series of requirements to which in the present state of affairs there is no answer (which will be presented in the description which follows) and will therefore be capable of representing a new and original source of economic advantage, able to alter the current market in implements for physical training and rehabilitation. 
   According to the present invention a gymnastic machine is created, whose principal characteristics will be described in at least one of the claims which follow. 
   An object of the present invention is also to provide a method for simply and cheaply restoring a gymnastic machine to the condition it was in before use. 
   According to the present invention a method is also provided for restoring a gymnastic machine to the condition it was in before its respective use, and this method will be described in at least one of the claims which follow. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Further characteristics and advantages of the gymnastic machine according to the present invention will appear more clearly from the following description, explained by reference to the attached drawings which illustrate some non-limiting examples of embodiment, in which identical or corresponding parts of the device itself are identified by the same reference numbers. In particular: 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic view in lateral elevation of a first preferred embodiment of a gymnastic machine according to the present invention; and 
       FIG. 2  is a view in lateral elevation, on an enlarged scale, of a detail taken from  FIG. 1 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   In  FIG. 1 , no. 1 indicates, in its entirety, a gymnastic machine comprising a frame  10  which supports a load group  30  to provide a load resisting a plurality of implements  20 , at least one of them located in a respective load station  80 . The load group  30 , of any kind, is connected to the implements  20  by at least one flexible member, normally a cable  40  made of metal fibres or braided textile fibres. Cable  40  is supported by frame  10  through a plurality of pulley-blocks  50  along a route P, and each implement  20  is coupled to cable  40  and, in particular, to a respective cable run  42  delimited by two of these pulley-blocks  60  consecutive to each other, in a particular way. These pulley-blocks  50  can be identical to each other, of fixed type or of jointed type, as they are represented for simplicity in  FIG. 2 . In this case, each pulley-block  50  comprises a body with a forked profile  51  which is connectable to frame  10  via an articulated joint  52  rotatable around a determinate axis  53 , normally but without limiting effect horizontal or vertical, depending on the design specifications. Each pulley-block  50  also carries, inside the respective fork-shaped body, a pair of pulleys  54 , which define a conduit  55  formed in a connecting shank  56 , capable of linking pulley-block  50  to frame  10  in freely rotatable manner through the interposition of an anti-friction ring  57 . 
   Naturally, what is described above has valid application both in the case in which at least one implement  20  is coupled in sliding manner to cable  40  in such a way as to leave free all relative longitudinal movement between implement  20  and cable  40  itself, and in the event that at least one implement  20  is coupled rigidly to cable  40  itself, in such a way as to permanently bind implement  20  and cable  40  itself. In this case, it will be possible to vary the rest position of implement  20  between the two corresponding pulley-blocks  50 , located on opposite sides of implement  20 , by acting on implement  20  itself or on the respective cable  40 , because of the rigid connection between the two elements. 
   In accordance with  FIG. 2 , at least one implement  20  is designed to be connected stably with at least one pulley-block  50  or, in the case of an implement  20  coupled to a cable run  42  delimited by a pair of pulley-blocks  50 , with one of the two pulley-blocks  50  themselves which delimit the corresponding cable run  42  in the relative gripping station  80 . For this reason, at least one cable run  42  of a gripping station  80  presents a corresponding fastening pair  70  comprising both a particular end portion  21  of the implement  20  (visible for simplicity only in  FIG. 2 ), which is located on the side from which, in use, the traction force T applied by a user is exerted, and the pulley-block  50  facing towards portion  21  itself. The two components making up pair  70 , once placed in mutual contact according to particular modalities which will be specified below, allow implement  20  to be constrained in neutral conditions for run  42  of cable  40  even when the latter is subjected to alternating traction. It should be noted that each user can selectively bring the implement  20  in question and the corresponding pulley-block  50  closer to each other manually, or bring about their coupling, by applying traction force on cable  40 , acting on any run of the latter available to a user. 
   Pair  70  can be kept assembled by means of a joint of any kind, for example but without limiting effect, by a screw coupling, or a snap connection, or through a magnetic coupling, depending on the design specifications. In  FIG. 2 , without wishing to cause a limitation to the content of the present description, a pair  70  is illustrated in which it has been decided to combine a conical coupling and a magnetic attraction force, in order to maintain portion  21  and the respective pulley-block  50  in stable connection. This force, as is well-known, acts when the two elements making up the pair are placed at a very close distance and the coupling thus takes place spontaneously. 
   Still with reference to  FIG. 2 , it will be noted that the two components making up pair  70  are provided with respective coupling surfaces  22  and  58  which are axially symmetrical and shaped in conjugate manner. In the case in question, without for this reason detracting from the generality of the present description, surfaces  22  and  58  are conical and coaxial with each other and with the tube  24  which passes through implement  20  longitudinally, and with conduit  55 , in such a way as to bring about a spontaneous alignment of implement  20  and shank  56  of pulley-block  50  each time pair  70  is brought back together. For convenience of description here and in what follows, position DP will be used to indicate the position of implement  20  with the respective conical surface  22  housed coaxially inside surface  58  of pulley-block  50 . 
   In any event, it is as well to specify that, for reasons of practicality, and without limiting the content of the present description, end  21  of implement  20  is provided with a small annular plate  90  of magnetic type which is housed rigidly in an end position on implement  20  in the direction facing towards the pulley-block  50 . The purpose of this plate  90  is thus to hold each implement  20  in the position DP described above. By virtue of what has been said, the uniqueness of the position of implement  20  with respect to pulley-block  50  allows the automatic alignment of the corresponding implement  20  with respect to frame  10 , and in particular with respect to the ideal line defined by cable run  42  adjacent to the relative pulley-block  50  with cable  40  maintained in traction in use, at least in the respective gripping station  80 . 
   In addition, this facilitates the return to position of implement  20  on the resumption of training on the same machine  1 . By virtue of what has been described above, each implement  20  provided with a respective plate  90  is moved by the friction which occurs in use between the respective tube  24  and the respective run  42  of cable  40 , to the respective pulley-block  50 , without the manual intervention of a user, but through the simple pull exercised by the user him/herself on cable  40  by means of any other implement  20  located in a different gripping station  80 . Naturally, such circumstances can occur both during the continuation of the training session on the same machine  1 , and at its conclusion. 
   It is as well to specify that the decision to construct portion  21  and the relative housing formed in pulley-block  50  is a circumstance which was deliberately chosen for practicality, given that the employment even of a single magnetic plate in association with an implement  20 , or of a magnetically sensitive pulley-block  50 , would be sufficient to cause mutual attraction and the possibility of orienting implement  20  coaxially with pulley-block  50  and/or the relative run  42  of cable  40 , and therefore to create a pair  70  effective from the point of view of the present invention. In addition, at least one of the members which make up pair  70 , and in particular portion  21  and pulley-block  50 , must present a coupling element or an element which is magnetically sensitive, or physically similar in relation to forces of magnetic interaction. Naturally, the manufacture of portion  21  of implement  20  and/or of the respective pulley-block  50  in magnetic material would also have enabled the achievement of the chosen objectives. 
   By virtue of what has been described above, each run  42  of cable  40  can be interpreted as an actuating member connected to the respective gripping station ( 80 ) and capable, in use, of causing the displacement of the respective implement  20  itself into position DP. 
   This particular capability is certainly useful in the situation in which a user is engaged in the execution of a considerable number of repetitions of an exercise on the same machine  1 , and also for facilitating the use of machine  1  by a visually impaired user. In addition, the presence of magnetically sensitive parts allows the elimination, right from the start, of the problem of having implements  20  which weigh on cable  40  itself, and are subject to banging against the structural limits of each gripping station  80 , and disturb the user during training as well as contributing, over time, to the acceleration of the natural deterioration of machine  1  in its entirety. 
   The method of use of the present machine  1  is easily comprehensible in the light of what has been described above, and does not require further explanation. 
   In any event, by virtue of what has been described above, each assembly comprising an implement  20  and the respective plate  90  and a pulley-block  50  provided with the respective conical surfaces  22  and  58  identifies a centering device  95 , and therefore a silencer, for functional machines with gripping stations  80  provided with implements  20  sliding freely on the cable  40 . In addition, the same assembly can be interpreted as a device  96  for automatic restoration of a particular configuration of machine  1 , a device which is operable for pulling implement  20  itself, and could be capable of cooperating directly with a particular portion of frame  10 , rather than acting indirectly on frame  10  through the medium of pulley-block  50 . 
   Finally, it is clear that modifications and variations may be made to the present gymnastic machine  1  without for this reason departing from the protective compass of the present invention.