Load distribution device for weight lifting

A weight lifting device is provided which removably snaps to the bar of a barbell and provides a support means for resting the device and essentially all of the weight of the barbell on the trapezius upper back muscles of weight lifters. The device has a laterally extending body that is operable to be placed across the back of a weight lifter, a bar securing means disposed on its top, and a centrally disposed and downwardly extending lobe on the back of the device. The lobe, along its inner surface, is operable to rest essentially the entire weight of the barbell on the trapezius upper back muscles of a weight lifter. The preferred embodiment of the invention includes a lobe having a convexly curved inner surface that is curved to generally mate with the trapezius upper back muscles in the valley between the left and right sides of the muscles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. A Field Of The Invention 
This invention relates to a weight lifting device for supporting a barbell, 
and more particularly to a weight lifting device to distribute the load 
from the weight lighting bar to the trapezius muscles for performing squat 
and lung exercises in which the legs are used to alternately raise and 
lower the upper portion of the body while maintaining the spine in an 
erect position. 
2. Description of Related Art 
It is common practice during squat exercises for the subject to grip the 
barbell shaft on opposite sides of his head to maintain side-to-side 
balance while permitting the intermediate shaft portion to rest upon the 
shoulders and behind the neck. When loads of even moderate magnitude are 
concentrated upon the relatively small contact area between the shaft and 
shoulders, intense pain and discomfort can result as well as an injury to 
the neckbone. 
Heretofore, numerous types of weight lifting devices have been suggested, 
but so far as applicant is aware, no exercising device has been 
constructed in accordance with the present invention or which purports to 
obviate the above-mentioned problems currently encountered in barbell 
squat exercises. Weight lifting aids such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. 
Nos. 3,679,107, 4,213,605 and 4,722,524 rely heavily on transferring the 
weight from the bar to the shoulder deltoid muscles. The deltoid muscle 
group houses the very injury prone rotator cuff assembly and should not be 
involved in a major weight support role in the performance of the squat or 
lung exercises. Doing so presents a possibility for damage and/or injury. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,605 discloses a weightlifter's protective gear adapted 
to releasably support a barbell assembly behind the neck and adjacently 
above the shoulders during exercises. Specifically, the gear comprises a 
pair of cushion-lined shield straddling the neck and fitting snugly 
against the shoulders and the upper front and back body areas of the 
subject, in combination with an upwardly extending notched projection or 
projections on the shoulder portions of the shield for supporting the 
barbell shaft, whereby the entire weight of the assembly is uniformly 
distributed over the shoulders. Each of the shoulder sections 18, 18a is 
composed of a cushioned layer or interwebbing 23 adapted to fold over the 
shoulder of the wearer with the opposite ends thereof extending downwardly 
over the fore and aft upper body surfaces so as to snugly fit against the 
trapezius and deltoid muscular areas of the shoulder. However, such a 
device does not distribute the force of the weights so as to best protect 
the weight lifter while doing exercises such as squats. Furthermore, it is 
complicated to make, use, and fasten. 
The prior art teaches to avoid a great deal, and for some prior art devices 
a preponderance, of force from being transmitted through the seventh 
cervical vertebrae and the first dorsal vertebrae, (when these exercises 
are performed in the traditional fashion) and directly down the vertebral 
column. But the prior art teaches to transmit the force through the 
deltoid muscles which houses the rotator cuff which is injury prone. The 
force should be distributed essentially through the trapezius muscle 
group, thereby introducing the load more gradually to the spinal column. 
There is a long felt need as evidenced by the prior art to provide a weight 
lifting aid to distribute the load of the barbell so as to prevent damage 
to the weight lifters spine, rotator cuff and limit the amount of pain 
experienced by the weight lifter. The pain can divert the lifter's 
attention from the lift, the form and the technique. There is also a 
commercial need to accommodate the vast differences between the various 
human forms in the shoulder and provide a device which fits many 
differently shaped and sized people. Such a device should be able to be 
constructed so that "one size fits all". 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A weight lifting device is provided which removably snaps to the bar of a 
barbell and provides a support means for resting the device and 
essentially all of the weight of the barbell on the trapezius upper back 
muscles of weight lifters. The present invention provides a device having 
a body extending laterally, to be placed across the back of a weight 
lifter, and having a bar securing means disposed on its top outer surface 
and a central downwardly extending lobe on the back of the device. The 
lobe, along its inner surface, is operable to rest essentially the entire 
weight of the barbell on the trapezius upper back muscles of a weight 
lifter. 
The device of the present invention is preferably a one piece injection 
molded plastic device. The lobe is centrally located on the back of the 
device and has an inner surface convexly curved in the transverse 
direction. The convexly curved inner surface of the lobe is curved to 
generally mate with the trapezius upper back muscles and the valley 
between the left and right sides of the muscles. 
A means to removably snap a weight lifting bar to the device is provided a 
pair of upwardly projecting bosses having coaxial cylindrically sectored 
channels formed in the device which is preferably made of a hard, somewhat 
resilient, plastic material. The resilient plastic material is one that 
provides sufficient resiliency to allow the bosses to be removably snapped 
and secured to the barbell bar. The preferred material is a polyurethane 
that has sufficient resiliency for the bosses to be removably snapped to 
the bar. Other suitable materials include polyethylene and a thermoplastic 
olefin. 
An optional feature of the device is two front curved projections that are 
operable to straddle the user's neck and are substantially smaller than 
the back lobe. The projections help center and stabilize the device and 
are concavely curved inward from front to back. The projections are 
sufficiently curved so as not to engage the deltoid muscles during normal 
exercising. The projections only come into play when the weightlifter's 
footing is compromised and the bar bobs from side to side. 
ADVANTAGES 
A principal advantage of the present invention is that during squats with 
barbells it keeps the preponderance of force from being transmitted 
through the seventh cervical vertebrae and the first dorsal vertebrae 
directly down the vertebral column. Another advantage is that essentially 
the entire force is distributed through the trapezius back muscle group 
which introduces the load more gradually to the spinal column than with 
prior devices. 
One advantage of the present invention is that it uses similarities in the 
human form by using the trapezius back muscles and avoids using areas 
where vast differences occur such as the deltoids or shoulders which makes 
it possible for the device to be made in one size. This makes it possible 
to keep tooling and manufacturing costs low. It also makes it possible for 
two or more people that exercise together to share one device. 
Another advantage provided by the present invention is a comfort level 
previously unavailable allowing the lifter to focus on his exercise form 
and making it possible to take advantage of the human body's adaptive 
response ability and progress with continual gains in muscle mass and 
functional strength. The present device is also safer because the device 
of the present invention does not use the deltoid muscles, an injury prone 
area that varies tremendously from individual to individual in size and 
shape. A particular advantage of the present invention is protection of 
the rotator cuff during the exercise. 
Another advantage is that the weight lifting device which once centered and 
snapped into position remains snugly affixed to the bar. This eliminates 
the common problem of not having any way of assuring the lifter, once the 
bar is positioned behind the head, that the weights on either end of the 
bar are truly equidistant form the lifter. A mal-alignment of as little as 
0.5 inch, particularly when maximum weight is used, can totally change the 
feel of the exercise and shift the gravitational pull to one side greatly 
increasing the chance of failure and/or injury.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
Illustrated in FIG. 1 is a weight lifting device 10 in accordance with one 
embodiment of the present invention. Device 10 is shown laterally disposed 
across the trapezius upper back muscles 12 of a weight lifter 14. For the 
purposes of this patent the following conventions are used. Front and back 
correspond to the front and back of a person such a weight lifter and a 
lateral direction is across the body from side to side. Inner or inward 
refers to facing the body of the weight lifter 14 and outer or outward 
refers to facing away from the body. 
The device 10 is preferably a one-piece article that is rather elongated 
and symmetrical with respect to a central plane that bisects the device. 
The device 10 has a laterally extending body 16, operable for placement 
across the back of a weight lifter 14, and a centralized back lobe 18 
located on the back of the device 10 and depending from a top portion 20 
of the body 16. The central lobe 18 is oriented and operable to rest on 
the trapezius upper back muscles 12 of the weight lifter 14. The centrally 
spaced lobe 18 is designed to coincide with and a valley V formed by left 
L and right R trapezius upper back muscles 12. A bar securing means 24 is 
disposed on the top portion 20 to hold a bar 25 of the barbell 19. 
A more detailed illustration of device 10 is shown in FIG. 2 which more 
distinctly points out several features of the preferred embodiment of the 
present invention. An inside view of the centralized back lobe 18 which 
depends from the top portion 20 of the body 16 shows that the lobe 18 
preferably has an inwardly convex surface 30 so as to better fit in and 
conform to the contour of the valley V formed by the left L and right R 
trapezius upper back muscles 12 shown in FIG. 1. The shape and contour of 
the lobe 18 is operable to rest essentially the entire weight of a barbell 
19 on the trapezius upper back muscles of a weight lifter shown in FIG. 1. 
Still referring to FIG. 2, the bar securing means 24 disposed on the top 
portion 20 of device 10 has a pair of upwardly projecting bosses 32 that 
are provided with coaxial cylindrically sectored channels 34. In order to 
removably snap the weight lifting bar 25 to the device 10 the channels 34 
have a diameter that is slightly less than the diameter of the bar 25 and 
the channels extend circumferentially slightly more than 180.degree.. This 
allows device 10 to remain secured in place when it is snapped to the bar 
25 and removably held by the channels 34. 
An optional feature of the preferred embodiment are a pair of inwardly 
curved projections 36 depending downwardly and outwardly from the top 
portion 20 of the body 16. The projections 36 are spaced apart to straddle 
the weight lifter's neck and are substantially smaller than the back lobe 
18. The projections 36 help center and stabilize the device 10 and are 
concavely curved inward from front to back as can better be seen from the 
view in FIG. 3. The projections 36 are sufficiently curved so as not to 
engage the deltoid muscles D in FIG. 1 during normal exercising as can bee 
seen by the clearance C between the projections 36 and the deltoid muscles 
D. By this design the device 10 is operable to rest essentially the entire 
weight of the barbell 19 on the trapezius upper back muscles 12 of the 
weight lifter 14. 
Illustrated in FIG. 4 is a compact version of the present invention in the 
form of an alternative weight lifting device 10A having a laterally 
extending body 16, operable for placement across the back of a weight 
lifter 14 as shown in FIG. 1, and a centralized back lobe 18 located on 
the back of the device 10A and depending from a top portion 20 of the body 
16. As in the embodiment in FIGS. 1-3, the central lobe 18 is oriented and 
operable to rest on the trapezius upper back muscles and spaced and formed 
to coincide with a valley V formed by left L and right R trapezius upper 
back muscles 12 shown in FIG. 1. A bar securing means 24 is disposed on 
the top portion 20 to hold a bar of a barbell- The lobe 18 preferably has 
an inwardly convex surface 30 so as to better fit in and conform to the 
contour of the valley V formed by the left L and right R trapezius upper 
back muscles 12 shown in FIG. 1. 
The length X of the alternative device 10A is substantially shorter than 
the device 10 of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1. For example the 
device 10 may be 13 inches long while the alternative device 10A may be 
71/2 inches long. The bosses 32 may be spaced a distance S from center 33 
to center 33 of about 51/2 inches in the alternative device 10A and about 
11 inches in the device 10 in FIGS. 1-3. Front projections 36 of the 
device 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 are not used in the alternative device 
10A of FIG. 4. 
While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described 
fully in order to explain its principles, it is understood that various 
modifications or alterations may be made to the preferred embodiment 
without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the 
appended claims. The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms 
or modifications within the proper scope of the appended claims 
appropriately interpreted in accordance with the doctrine of equivalents.