Exercise device which simulates climbing a ladder

An exercise device for use at home or in a gym by which a user can simulate climbing a ladder. First and second carriage tubes are slidable axially and reciprocally over respective first and second carriage guide rails that extend in spaced, parallel alignment between top and bottom frame members. The first and second carriage rails are interlinked by first and second drive cables and a series of cable pulleys so that the carriage rails move in opposite directions relative to one another in response to successive pushing and pulling forces applied by the user to hand grips and foot pedals connected to each of the carriage tubes. A hydraulic control system is provided to permit the user to selectively adjust the minimum force which must be applied to the hand grips and/or the foot pedals to cause the carriage tubes to slide along the guide rails. The hydraulic control system includes a piston that is connected to and movable with one of the carriage tubes and a hydraulic fluid valve that controls the rate at which the piston can be moved.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to an exercise device for use at home or in a gym by 
which the user can simulate climbing a ladder. 
2. Background Art 
Commercially available exercise devices which simulate climbing are known 
to those skilled in the art. However, such conventional exercise devices 
are replete with many shortcomings. For example, some conventional 
exercise devices work on a sprocket and chain drive system which is known 
to generate repeated impact forces to the ankles and knees of the user. 
Consequently, the user may experience pain and the eventual deterioration 
of his knees after prolonged use of a sprocket and chain driven device. 
Other exercise devices include hydraulic motors to enable the user to vary 
the intensity of the workout. Such hydraulic motors are typically mounted 
at out of the way and inconvenient locations, which makes the motor hard 
to service as well as expensive to repair. Still other exercise devices 
include gripping spikes and supports to be coupled to the hands and/or 
feet of the user. Such spikes and supports are frequently insensitive to 
the user's physique and fail to adequately conform to the various 
gyrations of the user's body during the exercise workout which can lead to 
discomfort and possible injury. Yet other conventional devices include 
structure support bars that are located immediately in front of and close 
to the body of the user so as to impede the workout and/or lead to 
inconvenience in that the user must be on guard to avoid contact with such 
support bars during the exercise process. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In general terms, an exercise device is disclosed which can be used at home 
or in a gym to allow the user to simulate climbing a ladder and avoid the 
inherent shortcomings of conventional climbing exercise devices. A pair of 
rectangular carriage tubes are mounted for linear and reciprocal sliding 
movement over respective elongated, rectangular carriage guide rails at 
opposite sides of the exercise device. A hand grip is affixed, by means of 
a gimbaled connection, near the top of each carriage tube. A foot pedal is 
affixed, by means of a rotatable axle, near the bottom of each carriage 
tube. The pairs of carriage tubes are linked to one another by first and 
second drive cables. That is, a first drive cable extends from the top of 
a first of the pair of carriage tubes located at one side of the exercise 
device, over a pair of top cable pulleys, to the top of the second 
carriage tube located at the opposite side of the exercise device. A 
second drive cable extends from the bottom of the first carriage tube, 
over a pair of bottom drive pulleys, to the bottom of the second carriage 
tube. 
Each of the pair of carriage tubes is provided with an identical upper and 
lower roller assembly. Each roller assembly includes a bearing block that 
carries a set of notched and flat rollers. In the assembled configuration, 
each carriage tube surrounds and is adapted to slide evenly along a 
respective carriage guide rail with the notched rollers of the upper and 
lower roller assemblies coupled to and rolling over corners of the 
rectangular guide rail and the flat rollers of the upper and lower roller 
assemblies coupled to and rolling over the flat sides of the guide rail. 
In this manner, successive push-pull forces generated by the user and 
applied to the hand grips and/or foot pedals of the carriage tubes during 
the simulated ladder climbing exercise will cause the pair of carriage 
tubes to slide in opposite directions relative to one another over 
respective guide rails. 
The exercise device of this invention also includes a hydraulic control 
system which allows the user to selectively vary the minimum pushing and 
pulling forces that must be applied to the hand grips and/or foot pedals 
to cause the carriage tubes to slide over their carriage guide rails. The 
hydraulic control system is a closed fluid system that includes a 
hydraulic cylinder coupled to a hydraulic valve tube. A hydraulic valve is 
disposed within the hydraulic valve tube so as to be rotated by the user 
between fully opened and fully closed positions. A hydraulic piston is 
located within and movable through the hydraulic fluid within the 
hydraulic cylinder. The piston is carried on an elongated piston rod, one 
end of which is fixedly connected to and movable reciprocally with one of 
the pair of carriage tubes. The rate at which the piston is moved through 
the hydraulic cylinder and the resistance which the user must first 
overcome to cause the carriage tubes to slide reciprocally over their 
guide rails is dependent upon the position to which the hydraulic valve 
has been set by the user and the corresponding rate at which hydraulic 
fluid flows therepast.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
The exercise device 1 for use at home or in a gym that allows the user to 
simulate climbing a ladder and which forms the present invention is now 
described while referring to the drawings, where FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C show 
a generally flat base 2, a pair of parallel aligned outer side covers 3 and 
4 rising upwardly from the base 2, and a top cover 6 extending laterally 
across the tops of side covers 3 and 4 in spaced parallel alignment with 
the base 2. It is to be understood that the side and top covers 3, 4, and 
6, illustrated in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C are included for cosmetic purposes 
only to enhance the aesthetic appearance of exercise device 1. However, 
other than to support a pair of monitor mounting rails (designated 22) and 
to prevent user contact with the soon to be described carriage tubes 8 and 
drive cables 96, the side and top covers 3, 4 and 6 provide no particular 
function which is necessary to the understanding of this invention. 
A pair of rectangular carriage tubes 8 (only one of which being partially 
visible in FIG. 1A) moves linearly and reciprocally through longitudinal 
slots 10 formed in respective side covers 3 and 4. An annular hand grip 12 
is attached near the top of each carriage tube 8, and a foot pedal 14 is 
attached near the bottom of each carriage tube 8 so as to be movable 
therewith. Each hand grip 10 includes a hand bar 16 to be grasped by the 
user. Each hand grip 10 is rotatably connected to a mounting bracket 18 by 
means of a gimbaled connection 20, and the mounting bracket 18 is affixed 
to its carriage tube 8. By virtue of the multi-axis gimbaled connection 
20, the hand bar 16 carried by the hand grip 12 may be oriented to 
maximize comfort and avoid injury to the wrist of the user. Similarly, 
each foot pedal 14 is pivotally affixed to its carriage tube 8 by a 
rotating axle that is carried by a pedal mounting bracket (designated 13 
and best shown in FIG. 5) to permit the foot pedal to be rotated during 
use to accommodate the needs of the user and avoid possible injury to the 
ankle. Each foot pedal 14 may be provided with an optional foot strap 
(designated 15 and also best shown in FIG. 5) to hold the user's foot 
thereagainst. 
As is best shown in FIG. 1B, a pair of generally U-shaped monitor rails 22 
are connected to and project outwardly (i.e. rearwardly) from each of the 
side covers 3 and 4 of the exercise device 1. A monitor support 24 is 
coupled to the monitor rails 22 by cylindrical coupling sleeves 26 which 
are adapted to slide up and down the rails to adjust the location of the 
monitor support 24 depending upon the needs of the user. To this end, a 
tightening knob 28 (best shown in FIG. 1C) is manually operated by the 
user to releasably retain the coupling sleeve 26 at a desired position 
along the monitor rails 22. 
A conventional video monitor 30 rests upon the monitor support 24 to allow 
the user to watch television, video cassettes and other forms of 
entertainment while exercising. In this regard, and as best illustrated in 
FIG. 1C, it may be appreciated that the video monitor 30 is spaced 
rearwardly from the side covers 3 and 4 of exercise device 1. Moreover, no 
structural support bars are located between side covers 3 and 4 and in 
front of the user's body to interfere with the workout or cause 
inconvenience to the user. Thus, the user will have unobstructed viewing 
of the monitor 30 while his hands and feet may easily engage hand grips 12 
and foot pedals 14 so that exercising can be safe, fun and comfortable. 
FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C and 3 of the drawing illustrate the interrelationship 
between the pair of rectangular carriage tubes 8 with respective 
elongated, rectangular carriage guide rails 32 so that the tubes 8 will 
slide linearly and reciprocally over the guide rails 32 to enable the 
ladder climbing exercise to be accurately simulated by the user. The 
elongated carriage guide rails 32 extend vertically and in parallel 
alignment to one another through respective side covers 3 and 4 of the 
exercise device 1 between bottom and top frame members (designated 33 and 
35 and best shown in FIG. 6) so as to form a structurally sound frame. 
Referring concurrently to FIGS. 2A and 2B, an upper roller assembly 34 is 
shown connected to the upper end of one of the carriage tubes 8 that is 
movable along a guide rail 32 at one side of the exercise device 1. 
However, an identical upper roller assembly 34 is similarly connected to 
the upper end of the carriage tube 8 at the opposite side of the exercise 
device 1. For purposes of convenience, only the one upper roller assembly 
34 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B will be described. 
Upper roller assembly 34 includes a bearing block 36 having three generally 
flat faces that surround a central, rectangularly shaped passageway. A 
rectangular pocket 37, 38 and 39 (best shown in FIG. 2B) separates each of 
the faces of bearing block 36 from one another. A first notched roller 40 
is rotatably supported within the first pocket 37 of bearing block 36 by 
means of an axle 42 and a pair of roller bearings 43 and 44. A flat roller 
46 is rotatably supported within the second pocket 38 of bearing block 36 
by means of an axle 48 and a pair of roller bearings 49 and 50. A second 
notched roller 52 is rotatably supported within the third pocket 39 of 
bearing block 36 by means of an axle 54 and a pair of roller bearings 55 
and 56. 
Depending downwardly from the bearing block 36 is a rectangular mounting 
flange 58. Mounting flange 58 is sized to be coupled to the upper end of 
the rectangular carriage tube 8. In the assembled configuration (of FIG. 
3), the rectangular carriage guide rail 32 will be surrounded by carriage 
tube 8 so as to extend through the central passageway of the bearing block 
36 of upper roller assembly 34. To this end, the mounting flange 58 of 
bearing block 36 is provided with a series of holes (not shown) that, in 
the assembled configuration, are aligned with respective threaded holes 63 
formed through each side at the upper end of the carriage tube 8. A 
corresponding set of threaded bolts 59, 60, 61 and 62 are received through 
the holes (e.g. 63) through mounting flange 58 and carriage tube 8 to 
secure the bearing block 36 of upper roller assembly 34 to the carriage 
tube 8 such that carriage tube 8 is adapted for linear and reciprocal 
movement along the guide rail 32. 
Referring concurrently to FIGS. 2A and 2C of the drawings, the lower roller 
assembly 64 is described for one of the carriage tubes 8 at one side of the 
exercise device 1. As was pointed out with regard to the upper roller 
assembly 34, an identical lower roller assembly 64 is associated with the 
carriage tube 8 at the opposite side of exercise device 1. For purposes of 
convenience, only the one lower roller assembly 64 that is shown in FIGS. 
2A and 2C will be described herein. 
Lower roller assembly 64 includes a bearing block 66 having three generally 
flat faces that surround a generally rectangular central passageway. A 
rectangular pocket (only one of which 69 being shown in FIG. 2C) separates 
each of the faces of bearing block 66 from one another. A first notched 
roller 70 is rotatably supported within a first pocket of bearing block 66 
by means of an axle 72 and a pair of roller bearings 73 and 74. A flat 
roller 76 is rotatably supported within a second pocket of bearing block 
66 by means of an axle 78 and a pair of roller bearings 79 and 80. A 
second notched roller 82 is rotatably supported within the third pocket 69 
of bearing block 66 by means of an axle 84 and a pair of roller bearings 85 
and 86. 
Depending upwardly from the bearing block 66 is a rectangular mounting 
flange 88. Mounting flange 88 is sized to be coupled to the lower end of 
the carriage tube 8 so that the carriage guide rail 32 will be surrounded 
by carriage tube 8 and extended through the central passageway of the 
bearing block 66 of lower roller assembly 64 (best shown in FIG. 6). To 
this end, the mounting flange 88 of bearing block 66 is provided with a 
series of holes 94 that, in the assembled relationship, are aligned with 
respective threaded holes 93 formed through each face at the lower end of 
carriage tube 8. A corresponding set of threaded bolts 89, 90, 91 and 92 
are received through the holes 93 and 94 of the mounting flange 88 and 
carriage tube 8 to secure the bearing block 66 of lower roller assembly 64 
to the carriage tube 8 such that carriage tube 8 is adapted for linear and 
reciprocal motion along guide rail 32. 
FIG. 3 of the drawings shows the upper roller assembly 34 fixedly coupled 
to the upper end of a carriage tube 8 to permit carriage tube 8 to slide 
linearly and reciprocally along the carriage guide rail 32 at one side of 
the exercise device 1. However, it is to be understood that the lower 
roller assembly 64 is fixedly coupled to the lower end of the same 
carriage tube 8 in precisely the same manner as that illustrated in FIG. 
3. For purposes of convenience, only the connection of the upper roller 
assembly 34 to carriage tube 8 will be described herein. 
In the assembled configuration, the rectangular carriage guide rail 32 at 
one side of the exercise device 1 is surrounded by the rectangular 
carriage tube 8. Moreover, guide rail 32 is received through the central 
passageway of the bearing block 36 of upper roller assembly 34. 
Accordingly, the notched rollers 40 and 52 that are supported for rotation 
by axles 52 and 54 within pockets 37 and 39 of bearing block 66 are coupled 
to and ride along carriage guide rail 32 at respective corners thereof. 
Furthermore, the flat roller 46 that is supported for rotation by axle 54 
within the pocket 38 of bearing block 66 is coupled to and rides along 
carriage guide rail 32 at one of the flat sides thereof. Thus, and by 
virtue of the upper roller assembly 34 (as well as the lower roller 
assembly 64 and the coupling of the rollers 40, 46 and 52 thereof to one 
side and two corners of the carriage guide rail 32), the carriage tube 8, 
to which the upper and lower roller assemblies 34 and 64 are affixed, will 
ride smoothly and reliably over the guide rail 32 as the user simulates a 
ladder climbing exercise. 
FIG. 4 of the drawings schematically illustrates the linkage of exercise 
device 1 by which pushing and pulling forces applied by the user to either 
or both of the hand grips 12 or foot pedals 14 causes the carriage tubes 8 
to slide linearly and reciprocally along respective carriage guide rails 
32 at opposite sides of the device 1. More particularly, and as is also 
shown in FIG. 6, a cable pulley 97, 98, 99 and 100 is mounted for rotation 
at each corner of the exercise device 1. That is, a first cable pulley 97 
is rotatably supported by a pin at the intersection of the carriage guide 
rail 32 at one side of the exercise device 1 with the bottom frame member 
33. Similarly, a second cable pulley 98 is rotatably supported by a pin at 
the intersection of the carriage guide rail 32 with the top frame member 
35. Third and fourth cable pulleys 99 and 100 are rotatably supported at 
the respective intersections of the carriage guide rail 32 at the opposite 
side of the exercise device 1 with the bottom and top frame members 33 and 
35. 
A first drive cable 96-1 is connected from the bottom of the carriage tube 
8 at one side of the exercise device 1, around the bottom pulleys 97 and 
100, to the bottom of the carriage tube 8 at the opposite side of the 
device. Referring briefly to FIG. 5, the opposite ends of the first drive 
cable 96-1 are fastened to the respective bearing blocks 66 of the lower 
roller assemblies 64 that are associated with the carriage tubes 8 and 
slide along respective carriage guide rails 32 at the opposite sides of 
the exercise device 1. Similarly, although not shown, the opposite ends of 
the second drive cable 96-2 are fastened to the respective bearing blocks 
36 of the upper roller assemblies 34 that are associated with the carriage 
tubes 8 at opposite sides of the exercise device 1. Thus, the pair of 
carriage tubes 8 are interlinked with one another by means of the first 
and second drive cables 96-1 and 96-2. Accordingly, pushing or pulling 
force applied by the user to the hand grips 12 and/or foot pedals 14 which 
causes one of the carriage tubes 8 at one side of the exercise device 1 to 
slide a certain distance over its guide rail 32 in one direction will 
cause the other carriage tube 8 at the opposite side of the device 1 to 
slide the same distance but in an opposite direction over its guide rail 
32. 
Referring now to FIG. 6 of the drawings, a hydraulic control system 104 is 
shown by which the user is able to selectively vary the resistance which 
must be overcome by a pushing or pulling force applied to the hand grips 
12 and/or foot pedals 14 to cause the pair of carriage tubes 8 to slide 
linearly and reciprocally over their respective guide rails 32. The 
hydraulic control system 104 is filled with a suitable hydraulic fluid and 
includes a hydraulic valve tube 106 that is connected to and communicates 
fluidically with a hydraulic cylinder 110 to form a closed fluid system. A 
hydraulic piston 112 is carried by an elongated piston rod 114. Piston 112 
is movable linearly and reciprocally through the hydraulic cylinder 110 in 
sync with the linear and reciprocal movement of the carriage tube 8 over 
the carriage guide rail 32. 
More particularly, one end of the hydraulic cylinder 110 is fixedly 
attached to the guide rail 32 by a weldment 105. The piston rod 114 
projects outwardly through opposite ends of the cylinder 110. One (e.g. 
the top) end of rod 114 is connected to the carriage tube 8 by means of a 
mounting bracket 102 and a hold down screw 103 which is tightened against 
the piston rod 114. It may therefore be appreciated that the piston rod 
114 and the piston 112 carried thereby move (along with carriage tube 8) 
relative to the hydraulic cylinder 110. That is, cylinder 110 is fixedly 
connected to guide rail 32 by weldment 105. However, the piston rod 114 is 
connected to carriage tube 8 by mounting bracket 102 so that a sliding 
movement of the carriage tube 8 over its carriage guide rail 32 is 
translated into a corresponding movement of the piston rod 114 and the 
piston 112 thereof through the hydraulic cylinder 110. 
As will soon be described, a handle 104, which controls the position of a 
hydraulic fluid resistance valve (designated 116 and best shown in FIGS. 7 
and 9), is pivotally connected through the hydraulic valve tube 106. As 
will also be described, the user may rotate the handle 108 to control the 
position of the aforementioned hydraulic valve 116 within tube 106 and 
thereby selectively adjust the resistance which must be overcome by the 
user of the exercise device 1 to push and pull the hand grips 12 and/or 
foot pedals 14 (of FIG. 4) so that the pair of carriage tubes 8 move 
linearly and reciprocally relative to one another over their respective 
carriage guide rails 32 as hereinabove disclosed. 
FIG. 7 of the drawings shows the fluid coupling of the hydraulic valve tube 
106 to the hydraulic cylinder 110 to form the hydraulic control system 104 
of exercise device 1. The piston rod 114 is shown extending longitudinally 
through and projecting outwardly from the opposite ends of hydraulic 
cylinder 110. The hydraulic piston, carried by piston rod 114, is movable 
axially and reciprocally through cylinder 110. The piston rod 114 is 
supported for axial movement by threaded hydraulic fluid seals 118 that 
are mated to correspondingly threaded openings at the opposite ends of 
hydraulic cylinder 114. As earlier described when referring to FIG. 6, the 
top end of the piston rod 114 is attached (by means of hold down screw 103) 
to the mounting bracket 102, and the mounting bracket 102 is fixedly 
connected to carriage tube 8 so that carriage tube 8 and piston rod 114 
move in harmony. FIG. 7 also shows the hydraulic valve 116 supported for 
movement within the hydraulic valve tube 106 so as to control the rate at 
which hydraulic fluid flows through the hydraulic control system 104 
depending upon the direction in which the fluid control valve handle 108 
(of FIG. 6) is rotated. 
In this regard, the operation of fluid control system 104 for selectively 
adjusting the resistance of the exercise device 1 is now described while 
referring concurrently to FIGS. 7-9 of the drawings. In FIG. 7, the 
hydraulic valve 116 is disposed in a fully open position within the 
hydraulic valve tube 106 so as to offer the minimum resistance to the flow 
of hydraulic fluid therepast. Being that hydraulic valve tube 106 and 
hydraulic cylinder 110 are coupled to one another to form a closed 
hydraulic fluid circuit, it will now be relatively easy for the user to 
cause hydraulic piston 112 to move through hydraulic cylinder 110 as the 
carriage tubes 8 are simultaneously moved along respective carriage guide 
rails 32 (of FIG. 6). 
In FIGS. 7 and 8, the piston rod 114 is shown moving upwardly and in sync 
with a carriage tube 8 so that the hydraulic piston 112 that is carried by 
rod 114 is similarly moved upwards through hydraulic cylinder 110 in 
response to the forces applied by the user to the hand grips 12 and/or 
foot pedals 14. Accordingly, hydraulic fluid will be forced (in the 
direction of reference arrows 118 and 120) around the closed fluid circuit 
of hydraulic control system 104 and through the fully open hydraulic valve 
116 of tube 106. The hydraulic fluid will be forced by piston 112 in an 
opposite direction around the circuit of fluid control system 104 and 
through the still open valve 116 when the piston rod 114 and piston 112 
thereof move downwardly through hydraulic cylinder 110 in response to a 
corresponding downward movement of carriage tube 8. 
FIG. 9 shows the hydraulic valve 116 rotated to a fully closed position 
within the hydraulic valve tube 106 so as to offer the greatest resistance 
to the flow of hydraulic fluid therepast. That is to say, in the fully 
closed position of FIG. 9, valve 116 will block the flow of fluid around 
the circuit of hydraulic control system 104 so as to inhibit the 
reciprocal movements of the piston rod 114 and the hydraulic piston 112 
through hydraulic cylinder 110. Therefore, it will be appreciated that 
during normal use of the exercise device 1 of this invention, the 
hydraulic valve 116 will be rotated (by means of the fluid control valve 
handle 108 of FIG. 6) to a position between fully open (in FIG. 7) and 
fully closed (in FIG. 9) to meet the needs of the user by selectively 
adjusting the push and pull forces that must be generated by the user to 
move carriage tubes 8 along carriage guide rails 32 and, correspondingly, 
to drive hydraulic piston 112 through the hydraulic cylinder 110. 
It will be apparent that while a preferred embodiment of the invention has 
been shown and described, various modifications and changes may be made 
without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. Having 
thus set forth the preferred embodiment, what is claimed is: