ELECTRONIC DUMBBELL

Abstract: An exercising dumbbell comprising a tubular body (10) with attached "U" shaped handle (12) for use with two hands. The body contains a D.C. motor (30) which is geared (32, 34) to a stationary central shaft (36), and which may rotate around the shaft to generate strong vibrations. Batteries (48) are contained within the handle, and motor speed is varied from zero to maximum by pressure activated switched (28) under each hand. Function switches on the body reverse motor direction (64), permit one hand, both hands (66) or hands free (68) operation, provide music (74) through an included speaker (76), and generate an exhilarating train of pulses (73).

Description: ELECTRONIC DUMBBELL This invention relates to exeicise equipment and in particulai to a battery operated unit that is violently vibrated by an internal, eccentric, variable speed D C motor controlled by hand opei atcd pi essure sensitive switches Brief Summary of the Invention The modern trend toward physical fitness and personal weight reduction has resulted in a vast number of various types of exercise machines, most of them large and awkward rowing machines, stationary bicycles oi weight lifting devices Rather than purchase these machines and shai e space for them in their home, many people desiring exercise have joined fitness clubs which have these machines and are also equipped with less aggiessive types of equipment such as the dumbbells, low tension hand grip and pull strings The exercises are supervised and are very beneficial but, unfortunately, many of these people find these fitness clubs inconvenient or too costly and quit them, intending somehow to continue their exercise at home This invention is for a lightweight electronic dumbbell that is small enough to fit in a bureau diawei yet will give a good physical workout It is battery operated and theiefore cordless and safe tiom electrical dangers It has cylindncal shaped housing coupled to a "U" shaped handle which contains batteries and piessuie activated switches for controlling a D C motor that is eccentncally mounted within the housing The totating motor geneiates stiong vibiations which aid in circulation and muscle development depending upon how and where the dumbbell is held The dumbbell contains some extra features in addition to the basic generator of powerful vibrations The dumbbell has external electrodes and internal cncuitry foi generating very naπovv electric pulses for muscle toning For those people who may get boied with mere exercise, the dumbbell has an included sound system that can pi oduce music or instructions through a small speaker mounted in the body There are several small light emitting diodes that can flash to divert the attention and, foi those who endoi se the use of magnetic fields for impioving blood circulation, one end of the circular housing is concave and is surrounded with an embedded permanent magnet The dumbbell enables its user to exercise at home out of sight and without interference by the casual bystander The dumbbell is lelatively lightweight and is easy to use bv eithei hand, bv both hands 01 by switch a function switch on the body, in a hands-fiee mode without need of the piessuie activated switches on the handles Two pair of these piessuie sensitive switches are located on the handles one pair on the innei side of each handle stimulate the hand and arm muscles as the user attempts to pull apart the dumbbell, the other pair on the extenor of each handle exeicise the arm and shouldei as the user attempts to press the dumbbell together In the hands-free mode, the pressure activated switches are bypassed and the dumbbell may be used as a vibiator for the neck and back or to stimulate legs and feet Useis ot conventional dumbbells rely upon the weight of the dumbbells for muscle training In this invention, the dumbbell weight is relatively light and not a factor because stimulation and toning of the muscles ot the body relies upon the vibration pioduced by a vanable centrifugal force of an eccentrically mounted D C motor within the housing of the dumbbell Accoiding to Newton's second law of mechanics the numerical value of force of an object in l ectilmcdt motion equals mass of the object times its acceleiation, F = IMA If the object is in lotational motion, it can be shown that this converts to F = MVVr, wheie V is the rotational velocity and r is the radius of rotation In the dumbbell of the invention, the D C motor is mounted oft " center so that it spins around a central axis The motor has a fixed mass and is at a fixed i ddius h orn the central axis Theiefoi e the centrifugal foice genei ated by the spinning motoi is diiectly pi oportional to the square of the rotational velocity And l otational velocity of a D C motor may be varied by varying the D C voltage so that a voltage increase resulting in doubling the rotational velocity results in quadrupling the foice The pi essui e activated switches on the handle of the dumbbell vary the D C voltage of the motor, the tightei one pi esses a pi essui e activated switch, the higher the voltage supplied to the motor It is suggested that with propei alignment of the dumbbell and by caiefully adjusting the motor speed, the dumbbell vibrations could be made to coincide with a natural resonant fiequency of body fat to help effect weight loss Description of the Drawings In the drawings which illustrate the preferred embodiment of the invention Fig I is a perspective view illustrating the dumbbell of the invention, Fig 2 illusti ates the dumbbell pivoted at a right angle on its "U" shaped handle, Fig 3 is a sectional view illustrating the inteiior of the dumbbell, and Fig 4 is a cncuit diagram of the electric circuitry of the dumbbell Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment The electronic dumbbell is lllustiated in Fig 1 and comprises a short, tubular plastic main body 10 supported on a "U" shaped handle 12 One end of the body 10 has a flat πm 14 boi dei ing a concave sui face 16 that has sevetal small lamps 18 that flash when enei gized The opposite end 20 of the body 10 is a flat surface with the handles of several function switches emanating theiefrom (not shown) A metallic label 22, electi ically insulated fi o the body 10, is attached to the aicuate sui face of the tubulai body and serves as an electrode foi a pulse stimulation circuit The "U" shaped handle 12 is attached to the body 10 by two sciews that lie on the diameter of the tubular body near its end 20 and emanate from the body to pass through a reinforced thin section 24 of the handle 12 where they aie secuied to the handle by laige wheel-like nuts 26 If desiied, these nuts 26 may be loosened and the body rotated so that the cential axis thiough the tubulai body is at a l ight angle to the plane of the handle 12, as shown in Fig 2 The "U" shaped handle 12 is also tubular and contains batteries for supplying power to the D C motoi that provides the intense vibrations of the dumbbell Around the extenor of each handle 12 at the locations where the hands will grip the handle are pressure activated switches 28 that control the rotational speed of the D C motor As will subsequently be described in detail, no pi essure of these switches results in no voltage to the motor and voltage increases as the piessui e is inci eased Theie is, however, a function switch that, when closed, will supply full voltage to the motor without applying pressure to a pressure activated switch Fig 3 is a sectional view of the dumbbell and shows the details of the interior of the main tubulai body 10 and the "U" shaped handle 12 The dumbbell generates strong vibrations from the rotation of the D C motor 30 which is geared down thi ough geai s 32 coupled to a large gear 34 attached to the stationary center shaft 36 The gears 32 and then shafts that rotate are on beaimgs in the housing 38 which suiiounds the motoi 30 and which l otates ai ound the stationai y centei shaft 36 Thus, rotation of the motor 30 causes the housing 38, containing the motor 30 and geai s 32, to rotate about the stationary shaft 36 causing a strong eccentnc vibiation of the body 10 1 he stationaiy shaft 36 is ngidly attached in the body 10 between the centei s of the concave end 16 and the opposite flat end 20 and have beai mgs 40 which permit rotation of the housing 38 The motor 30 is electrically energized through brushes coupled to the shaft 36 and to an electi ically insulated ring 42 concentncally attached to the shaft 36, both of which are connected to a souice of voltage The lotating housing 38 in the main body 10 should rotate about shaft 36 at a maximum speed of about 800 r p m At that speed there may be considerable noise from the motor and the gears Therefore, housing 38 should be insulated with a surrounding blanket of sound insulation 44 which may contact the interior walls of the main body 10 but must provide adequate space for rotation of the housing 38 Spaces between the insulation 44 and the interior top wall of body 10 is used for the installation of several colored diodes lamps 18 that flash when energized and a ring of pei manent magnets or a solid magnetic ring 46 beneath the flat πm 14 around the concave end 16 As pi eviously mentioned, the colored lamps 18 provide no function but merely add to the atti action of the dumbbell, and the magnetic ring 46 is for those who endorse the use of magnetic fields to improve blood circulation in body parts that may fit within the concave end 16 of the dumbbell In the space between the insulation 44 and the interior bottom end 20 oi body 10 is adequate space for the several function switches, circuitry such as the pulse generator for electiode 22 and a speaker and associated audio circuitry The "U" shaped handle 12 is tubular with the interior of each side of the handle pi oviding space for rechargeable batteries 48, which may be recharged as needed be connecting the plug of a batteiy chaigei into the jack 50 on the handle The exteπoi suiface of each side of handle 12, in locations wheie the user's hands grip the dumbbell, are coveied with piessuie sensitive switches 28 T he two switches are identical, each is comprised of an electrically conductive outei laver 52 and an electrically conductive inner layer 54 with a soft spongy high resistance center 56 that is reduced in resistance as it is compressed The outer layer 52 is preferably wrapped with a plastic coating to pi event salty pei spiration from penetrating the resistance center 56 Thus, if there is no compiession between the layers 52 and 54, the resistance across the layers is an open circuit As the compi ession is inci eased, the resistance across the layers is quickly decreased toward zero, theieby mcieasing the voltage to the motor 30 and increasing its lotational speed Six conductoi s 58 extend from the handle 12 to a connector 60 for connecting the positive and negative battery terminals and the inner and outer conductive layers of each the two pressure sensitive switches 28 to the main body 10 Fig 4 is a diagram of the circuitry of the dumbbell A multiconductor cable from the main body 10 is connected to the cable connector 62 which is coupled to the connector 60 fioin the battenes 48 and the two pressure sensitive switches 28 in the "U" shaper handle 12 The cable leads to the several function switches that are mounted in the flat end 20 of the body These switches include a double-pole double throw switch 64 that reverses the motor voltage and hence its dii cction, a double-pole double-thi ow switch 66 which may be used to change the operation of the two pi essure sensitive switches from series to parallel for one-hand operation oi back to senes foi both-hand opeiation, a single-pole single-throw switch 68 foi short cπ anting both pressuie sensitive switches for a hands-free operating mode, and three single-pole switches 70 72, 74 for icspectively selecting or extinguishing and flashing lights 18, a pulse generator 73 for conductive label 22, and a sound cucuit 75 for a speaker 76, all of which may also be mounted on the fiat end 20 ot the body 10 The off-axis motor in the dumbbell generates strong centrifugal vibrations that are tiansmitted to the joints and muscles through the body of the dumbbell and its handle Merely gi ippmg the handles will vibrate the hand muscles and joints of the hand Using both hands to pull apart and pi ess together the handles will transmit the vibrations to the arms and chest and switching the double-pole switch 66 will allow either a single hand or both hands to operate the unit, theieby strengthening underarm muscles If the user is unable to apply sufficient pressure to activate a pi essui e activated switch, the switch 6(6/may be put into the "hands-free" position to short cu cuit both of the pressuie activated switches Closing switch 72 will energize the pulse generator 73 to transmit a tiain of 60-volt, 200 mici osecond pulses running at approximately 55-cycles per second to the conductive metallic label 22 Though not at a dangerous voltage level, the pulses should produce a slight muscle contraction for those standing on a conductive mat at circuit ground And closing switch 74 will activate the sound cucuit to produce prerecorded exercise music from speaker 76

Claims: / Claim 1 An electi omc exeicising dumbbell compi ising a tubulai main body having first and second ends, said first end having a concave sui lace, said second end having substantially a fiat sui face and support a pluiality of function switches, a main shaft positioned on the axis of said tubular main body said main shaft attached between said fu st and said second end, a D C motor in said main body said motor spaced from and rotatable around said main shaft the l otation of said motoi aiound said shaft geneiating stiong vabrations of said dumbbell a handle having a "U" shape and being tubular for the stoiage of battenes for said D C motoi the end of each leg of the "U" being pivotally attached acioss said mam body, and motoi rotational speed controls on each leg of said "U" of said handle, said speed conti ols coupled between said batteries and said motor and activated by compiession of said handles 2 The electi omc dumbbell claimed in Claim 1 wherein said D C motor and said main shaft have geai s for reducing the rotational speed of said motor around said shaft The electi omc dumbbell claimed in Claim 2 wheiein said D C motoi obtains its voltage thi ough a first biush that wipes an insulated electrically conductive ring on said shaft for voltage of one polarity and a second brush that wipes said shaft for voltage of a second polarity 4 The electronic dumbbell claimed in Claim 3 further including a housing for said motor and said gears said housing being rotatable with said motor and said gears around said shaft 5 The electronic dumbbell claimed in Claim 4 further including a blanket of sound insulation within said main body, said blanket being clear of the rotation of said housing 6 1 he electi omc dumbbell claimed in Claim 1 wherein said motoi speed contiols on each leg of each "U" of said handle is an electrical l esistance element that vanes fi om infinite resistance with no compi ession to zeio resistance with maximum compi ession 7 The electi omc dumbbell claimed in Claim 6 wherein each of said motoi speed controls on each leg di e coupled into said main body and ai e normally connected in senes for two-hand opeiation by said function switches 8 The electi omc dumbbell claimed in Claim 7 wherein a switching of a first one of said function swilches changes the operation of said motoi speed conti ols from senes to parallel for one-hand opei ation 9 The electi omc dumbbell claimed in Claim 8 wherein a closure of a second one of said function switches shorts out both of said speed controls on both legs for opeiation in a hands-fi ee mode 10 The electi omc dumbbell claimed in Claim 1 further including a small sound amplifiei and speakei in said main body, said sound amplifiei being eneigized bv the closui e of a function switch connected to said battenes 1 1 The electronic dumbbell claimed in Claim 1 further including a pulse genet ator coupled to an insulated electi ically conductive electrode on the extenor sui face of said body, said pulse genei toi pioducing a tiain of veiy narrow pulses of a non-damaging voltage upon the closuie of a function switch connected to said batteries 12 The electi omc dumbbell claimed in Claim 1 further including a plurality of light emitting diodes scattei ed on a surface of said main body and emitting flashes of colored light upon closure of a function switch connected to said betteπes 13 The electronic dumbbell claimed in Claim 1 further including a pei manent magnetic ring in said main body and sun ounding the concave surface of said first end of said body

Inventors: YU SIMON SIU CHI, YU, SIMON, SIU, CHI
Applicants: YU SIMON SIU CHI, YU, SIMON, SIU, CHI
Application year: 2000
Main classification: A63B12
IPC codes: A63B21