Abstract:
A recliner exerciser for simulating walking in which the user can adjust the degree on reclining as well as the amount of simulated walking and exercise his or her legs are subjected. A motorized gear box operates two moveable foot rests in varying degrees of incline to provide minor to aggressive walking simulation for the user.

Description:
The instant invention relates to a motorized recliner which is used to both support the body in a reclining position for relaxation and to exercise the legs of the user to simulate walking when the user has an affliction which prevents actually walking such as temporary inability caused by surgery or a major problem such as arthritis, gout or other malady. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
   Among the problems facing those people who have contracted arthritis or have other debilitating ailment, such as diabetes, which prevents them walking is the impact on their joints when they attempt to walk with the help of a walker or cane. In short, a lot of these people cannot walk at all. Such a condition prevents them from getting the exercise their legs need to prevent arterial disease or deterioration of the joints. 
   BACKGROUND PRIOR ART  
   Various attempts have been made to provide an exercise chair but none of the prior art anticipate or perform the same functions as the instant invention. The patent to Stevens (Des. 340,269) shows a chair with foot portions that evidently move up and down but there does not appear to be a reclining feature to adjust the degree of aggressiveness of the exercise feature. Brenthan (Des. 289,190) appears to show foot portions of a chair which are movable but one of them appears to be a lifting section with two rollers which is used to strengthen leg muscles and the chair does not recline. 
   The reclining exercise chair of Studdard (U.S. 2003/0087737) is a chair that can be put in various positions for exercising and which has various pulleys, braces, and adjustable features but is not motorized and could not perform the functions of the instant invention. Herod (U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,635) shows a pair sprung foot portions used to exercise that are not connected to a chair or recliner. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,260 to Crews shows a static chair where static exercises may be performed but the chair is not motorized and does not have the features to accomplish the function of the instant invention. Sterling (U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,247) shows a chair having means to exercise the arms and a pedal assembly for the feet. It is similar to Curtis (U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,298) which shows a chair with arm exercisors and a pedal assembly for the feet. Likewise the patents to Silco (U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,963) and Miller (U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,649) show the same features but none of them can perform the function of the instant invention. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
   The present invention provides a solution to the problem facing people who cannot walk but must to preserve joint integrity and prevent circulatory diseases. It is in the form of a chair recliner which allows a user to either sit up or recline. The recliner is motorized and has leg portions which move in a swinging motion to and from the recliner. When the recliner is in the sitting position, the movement to and from the recliner is limited from the knee down with only the knee engaged. As the recliner is progressively reclined, the amount of movement and the angle of movement increases and the hip, knee and ankle are engaged. As the amount of movement increases the distance between the hip, knee and ankle is shortened thereby causing the knee to be bend outward and upward off the edge of the chair recliner. This also rotates the hip and ankle to a greater degree. There are two foot rests which alternate moving to thereby simulate the exercise of actually walking. The chair recliner has controls which allow the user to adjust the degree of reclining and the amount of movement so that the entire exercise is comfortable to them. Upon shutting the chair recliner off it resumes its initial position with the foot rests parallel. 
   With a normal setting the recliner affords a simulated walking pace of about 12 steps per minute. The center foot rest portion has a couple of rotating portions fixed underneath which, through the action of eccentrics, rotate the other two foot rest portions that the feet are set upon. If one merely lays their foot across the two outermost foot rest portions, the recliner acts as a leg lifter without the walking function. This may be more desirable to a user depending on the condition of his or her legs. 
   OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION  
   It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an exerciser recliner chair to simulate walking for a user who cannot put stress or weight upon his or her legs, and 
   A further object of the invention is to provide a walking simulating exerciser one can use in either an upright sitting position or a reclining position, and 
   A still further object of the invention is to provide a walking simulating exerciser where the amount of recline and speed of the walking simulation is adjustable by the user, and 
   Yet another object of the invention is to provide a walking simulating exerciser where the user may rest one of his or her legs while exercising the other one simultaneously, and 

   
     These and other objects of the invention will become apparent when reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which 
       FIG. 1  is front view of the recliner. 
       FIG. 2  is a front view of the recliner with a user thereon and moving. 
       FIG. 3  is a partial view of the foot rest. 
       FIG. 4  is a side view of the recliner showing the mechanisms underneath and in normal position which minimizes leg movement. 
       FIG. 5  is side view of the recliner showing the mechanism extended and the foot rests in their aggressive position to afford the most leg movement. 
       FIG. 6  is a front view of the recliner showing the normal position as in  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 7  is a front view of the recliner showing the aggressive position as in  FIG. 5 . 
       FIG. 8  shows a partial side view of the upright position with the foot rest down. 
       FIG. 9  shows a partial side view of the recline position with the foot rest up. 
       FIG. 10  shows a partial side view in motion in the recline position with the left foot rest up and the right foot rest down. 
       FIG. 11  shows a partial side view in motion in the recline position with the right foot Rest up and the left foot rest down. 
       FIG. 12  shows a partial front view in the upright position with the foot rests down. 
       FIG. 13  shows a partial front view in the recline position with the foot rests up. 
       FIG. 14  shows a partial front view in the recline position while in motion with the left foot rest up and the right foot rest down. 
       FIG. 15  shows a partial front view in the recline position while in motion with the right foot rest up and the left foot rest down. 
       FIG. 16  is perspective view of the underside of the invention showing the various components, 
       FIGS. 17   a  and  17   b  are side and end views of the foot rail assembly. 
       FIGS. 18   a  and  18   b  are side and end views of the foot rail assembly showing the heel rest rotated out of the way while the user is resting and 
       FIG. 19  is a perspective view of a portion of the view of  FIG. 16  showing the recline tilt bar and the gas spring and their relationship to the recline shaft. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
   Referring now to  FIG. 1  there is show the recliner  10  having a back support section  11 , a seat portion  12 , arm rests  13  and  14 , and a support frame  15 . Frame  15  supports a rotating recline shaft  16  which is journaled into the frame at  17  and  18  In front of the recliner are right foot rest  20 , center foot rest  21  and left foot rest  22 . The foot rests are respectively secured to the shaft  16  by rails  23  and  24 ,  25  and  26 , and  27  and  28 . Showing in  FIG. 1  is motor cam bar  30 . Also shown are recline lock  40  and recline lever  41 . 
     FIG. 2  shows a user in the recliner with her feet upon the left and right,foot rests. Both motor cam bar  30  and  31  are shown operating the foot rests in this figure. The figure shows the recliner in the recline position with the foot elevated and the knees cocked.  FIG. 3  shows a partial view of the rotated heel rest shown in more detail later herein. 
     FIG. 4  shows the recliner  10  with pedestal  50  and adjustment holes and bolt  51  to adjust the height thereof as well as support member  52  to hold the pedestal  50 . It shows motor cam bar  31  which is connected to eccentric rod  33  and which is driven by geared motor  34 . Also shown are foot lift bars  35  and  36  which are adapted, when gear motor  34  is engaged, to straighten out the bars so that the foot rests are extended in the recline position as shown in  FIG. 5 . When so extended the bars  31  and  30  are also extended 
     FIGS. 6 and 7  show the front of the recliner  10  with the foot rests down ( FIG. 6 ) and up ( FIG. 7 ).  FIG. 7  shows the gear motor  34  engaging shafts which drive eccentrics such as  30  and  31  to raise and lower foot rests  20  and  22  alternately so as to mimic the act of walking.  FIG. 7  shows the motor cam arms  60  and  61  used to drive the bars and which are referred to as eccentrics. Again, a user may use lever  41  to adjust the amount of recline and lock it with lever  40  so as to insure that the chair recliner is comfortable and suits their particular needs. It should be noted that the chair recliner can be made in various sizes so as to accommodate people from short and slight build up to tall and heavy and sizes in between. The length of the eccentric bars can be adjusted so as to accommodate someone with long legs with a normal sized upper body. 
     FIGS. 8 through 15  show the side and end views of the foot supports as the recliner is moved through various positions.  FIGS. 8 and 12  show the foot supports in a vertical position,  FIGS. 9 and 13  show it in a raised position.  FIGS. 10 and 14  show the side and end views of the foot supports when the recliner is moving in an outward position to exercise the lower legs. Likewise,  FIGS. 11 and 15  show the foot supports moving in an inward position.  FIGS. 17   a ,  17   b ,  18   a  and  18   b  show the foot supports with a heel rest  90  consisting of a roller portion  91  rotatably attached to the upper bracket member  93  which is adjustably mounted upon square member  92 . The distance of the portion  91  from  20  can be adjusted by a bolt and holes such as shown at When not using the roller foot support  91  it can be moved to the side as shown in  FIGS. 18   a  and  18   b . The foot support is simply detached by loosening the bolt, rotated  90  degrees and then re-attached as shown so that it will still be attached but out of the way. 
     FIG. 19  shows the details of the underside of a second embodiment of the recliner. A recline tilt bar  80  is pivotally attached as at bolt  51  to the chair pedestal  50  and attached, at its other end, to recline tilt cam  81  which is clamped upon bar  83  which rotates in bearing blocks such as  84  and  85  and to which is clamped foot lift bar  82 . A gas spring  70  is pivotally attached at one end to the underside of the chair and attached, via pivot  71  to gas spring lever,  73 , which, in turn, is clamped on bar  83  which is adapted to rotate to tilt the chair when the user engages lever  41 . The degree of tilt can be adjusted by moving bolt  58  in holes such as  51 . Bolts such as  88  secure the various cams to rotating bar  83  to facilitate movement. In  FIG. 19  the recline tilt cam is in the horizontal position and the recline tilt bar has moved backward moving the pedestal from the upright to the recline position. 
   Having described the preferred embodiment of the invention it will be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art to make changes without departing from the scope of the appended claims.