Back exerciser

The principle of the back exerciser is a pedal held in an initial position by elastic strips and a back brace and side handles in such relation that the person pressing on the side handles and bracing his back against the back brace, repeatedly pressing his heels on the pedal against the action of the elastic strips, exercises his back muscles. The structure is a skeleton frame with a pivoted pedal having its rear edge raised by elastic strips toward a back frame so that the elastic strips pull the back edge of the pedal upward and the front edge downward against a stop holding the pedal in a horizontal position. On the back frame at a suitable height is a padded back brace for the person to bear against when he presses the pedal down against the action of the elastic strips.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
In the prior art exerciser devices are known which use pedal boards pressed 
against the pull of strings such as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,529. 
The primary object of this invention is to provide an apparatus, wherein 
handles, resiliently held pedal and a back brace are so related that a 
person simultaneously bearing against said elements inevitably exercises 
the lower muscles of his back.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
The device has a suitable base. For purposes of illustration flanges 1 on 
the lower ends of front legs 2 and back legs 3 rest on the floor and are 
provided with suitable holes 4 for attaching the flanges 1 to the floor if 
so desired. The back legs 3 extend upward above the top of the front legs 
to a substantial distance to provide back supports bars 6. 
A back plate 7 is attached to the back supports bars 6. A padding 8 covers 
the back plate 7. Suitable top flanges 9 on the tops of the back supports 
6 may be used to secure the frame to a perpendicular surface such as a 
wall if so desired. 
The back plate 7 is adjustably secured to the back support bars 6. In this 
illustration a sleeve 11 on the back plate 7 is slidable on each back bar 
6. A second or upper sleeve 12 on the plate 7 is also slidable on each 
back bar 6 and it is held in an adjusted position by a suitable set screw 
13. 
Handle bars 14 are pivoted at their front ends to the tops of the 
respective front legs 2 and their rear ends are pivotally connected to 
flanges 16 on respective sleeves 17 slidable on the back bars 6. Set 
screws 18 secure the sleeves 17 in adjusted position on the back legs 3. 
Above the flanges 1 are connecting bars 21 parallel with the handle bars 
14. Transverse connecting bars 22 between the front legs 2 and the back 
legs 3 are at about the level of the connecting bars 21. The connecting 
bar 22 between the front legs 1 serves as a stop for a pedal 23. The pedal 
23 has suitable bearings such as U-shaped loops 24 on its lower surface 
around a transverse bearing bar 26. On each end of the bearing bar 26 is a 
sleeve 27 slidable on the adjacent connecting bar 21. Each sleeve 27 is 
held in adjusted position by suitable set screws 28 thereby adjustably 
locating the pedal 23. A plurality of loops 31 are spaced longitudinally 
along the rear edge of the pedal 23 to receive hooks 32 on the lower ends 
of respective elastic strips 33. Each elastic strip 33 has a loop 34 at 
its top end to engage suitable hooks 36 on a bar 37. The bar 37 has 
sleeves 38 at its ends slidable on the back legs 3 and held in place by 
set screws 39 to determine the tension of the elastic strips 33. 
The front legs 2 and the back legs 3 are screwed into the flanges 1 thereby 
allowing the removal of front legs and the back legs therefrom and from 
the respective sleeves so that the device can be shipped disassembled. 
In operation the person stands with his feet 41 on the pedals 23 as shown 
in FIG. 1 with his back against the back padding 8 and his hands gripping 
the hand bars 14. Then the person braces his back 42 against the back pad 
8 and exerts pressure on his heel 43 as shown in FIG. 2. Then ease the 
pedal 23 back into its original horizontal position as in FIG. 1. By 
repeating this the user exerts tension to the lower back and leg muscles, 
and effectively exercises said muscles.