Abstract:
The present invention relates to a sport and amusement apparatus wherein two persons, taking handles to hold a weight article on opposite sides, conduct the regular movements of opening both arms on one side and closing both arms simultaneously on the other side to reciprocate the weight article between the both sides for the exercise of overall upper body including shoulders, arms and bosoms, so that uniform and effective training of the muscles of upper body in the midst of amusement may be achieved. Thus, the present invention proposes a sport and amusement apparatus comprising a weight article provided with a through-hole in the middle location, the weight article having a predetermined weight, two strings extending through the through-hole to permit the weight article to move from one side to the other side, and handles provided at opposite ends of said strings.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to a sport and amusement apparatus for two participating players and more particularly to a sport and amusement apparatus wherein two persons, taking handles to hold a weight article on opposite sides, conduct the regular movements of opening both arms on one side and closing both arms on the other side to reciprocate the weight article between the both sides, so that the exercise for the upper body including shoulders, arms and bosoms, combined with amusement, may be conducted.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    While there are many athletic apparatuses to train physical body dependant on the classes, they are mostly intended for a specific part of the body. As a single athletic apparatus can not train many parts of the body uniformly, many kinds of sporting equipments exist under categories of respective physical parts.  
           [0003]    Of those sporting equipments, arm sporting equipments chiefly for training arms have been proposed in various forms so far and are widely used. As the most widely used arm sporting equipment, there is a so-called arm strengthening device which is composed of a pair of handles, an elastic member like spring or rubber string extending across the handles.  
           [0004]    However, because these conventional arm sporting apparatuses are of the construction based on the stretching and contracting movement of arms, muscles are trained preponderantly only in one direction, i.e. the compressing direction of the elastic member, and thus wrists, articulation of arms and shoulders and the like except the muscles are hardly trained.  
           [0005]    In addition, as another form of conventional arm sporting apparatus, there was a sport apparatus consisting of a stationary support connected to a handle as the elastic member designed to train arm muscles of a user through repeated movements of pulling the handle. This apparatus is also, however, associated with the same problem of training only the muscles of particular physical part, because the underlying principle lies on the muscle training with the help of the elastic resisting force of the elastic member through the repetition of stretching and folding arms.  
           [0006]    Moreover, the above-described conventional sporting apparatuses have the common flaw that the users tend to get tiresome early due to monotony from exercising by themselves. In other words, those sporting apparatuses were not adapted for ordinary individuals owing to the lack of interest exciter during exercising.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    The object of the invention is to provide a sport and amusement apparatus which is effective in training overall upper physical body including the shoulders and bosom, not just arms, even with a simple construction and which can simultaneously have the effect of amusement through co-exercising.  
           [0008]    The above object is achieved according to an aspect of the invention by a sport and amusement apparatus comprising a weight article provided with a through-hole in the middle location, the weight article having a predetermined weight, two strings extending through the through-hole to permit the weight article to move from one side to the other side, and handles provided at opposite ends of said strings.  
           [0009]    Preferably, the weight article is in the form of a hollow sphere or oval.  
           [0010]    Further, the weight article is preferably formed through an injection molding of plastic, with steel plates interposed to reach a predetermined overall weight.  
           [0011]    According to another preferred aspect, the opposite ends of said through-hole in the weight article are respectively provided with elastic caps.  
           [0012]    Said handle or handles can be further provided with a counter or counters for counting the stokes of the weight article.  
           [0013]    Preferably, in the inside of said weight article, generators each comprising a rotatable roller to be rotatable in contact with a string during the movement of the weight article, a magnet shaft provided fixedly with a magnet shaft and a bobbin carrying the coil windings in the proximate outside around the magnet shaft, and lamps for emitting light by using the electricity generated by the generators are further included.  
           [0014]    Otherwise, the weight article is preferably provided, in its middle area, with a clamped plate and wherein the clamped plate includes lamps arranged at equal intervals around the rim circumference of the clamped plate, a battery as the power supply for the lamps and a vibration terminal switch for switching-on or -off the power of the battery to the lamps dependent on vibration. Causing emission of the light from the weight articles has the advantage of increasing the enjoyment of playing by exciting interest.  
           [0015]    The amusement or the feeling of interest can be further promoted not only by the light emission but also by the melody production from a part of the sporting apparatus, for example, the weight article. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1 shows the perspective view of a sport and amusement apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the invention,  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2 shows the plan view in cross section for a sport and amusement apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, illustrating the state of use,  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 3 shows the perspective view of a weight article to be mounted on the inventive sport and amusement apparatus, the weight article being a variant embodiment,  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 4 shows the perspective view of a handle with a movement counter to be mounted on the inventive sport and amusement apparatus, the handle being a variant embodiment,  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 5 shows the perspective view of a handle with a full-stroke counter to be mounted on the inventive sport and amusement apparatus, the handle being another variant embodiment,  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 6 shows the cross sectional plan view of a weight article with light emitting elements to be mounted on a sport and amusement apparatus according to another embodiment of the invention,  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 7 shows the cross section along the line A-A in FIG. 6,  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 8 shows the cross sectional plan view of a weight article with light emitting elements to be mounted on a sport and amusement apparatus according to still other embodiment of the invention, and  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 9 shows the cross section along the line B-B in FIG. 8. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0025]    Preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail below by referring to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0026]    Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, which show respectively a perspective view and a plan view in partial cross section for illustrating the state of use for the sport and amusement apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the sport and amusement apparatus according to the invention has a weight article or weight body  10  with a predetermined weight. The weight article  10  is preferably in the form of an oval or ellipsoid like a rugby ball, even though not restrictive, and formed with a through-hole  12  in the middle area, for example, along the long axis.  
         [0027]    Further, the weight article  10  may be made of wood or injection molded product from plastic material, for example in the form of a hollow body. In that case, while the weight article  10  may have generally the desired weight on its own for the case of the wood, the predetermined weight of the weight article  10  may be achieved, for example, by installing steel plates or webs  14  inside the article for the case of injected product, as shown in FIG. 2. Steel plates with the same weight are preferably disposed symmetrically on both sides of the weight article  10  in order to maintain the balance of the weight article  10 .  
         [0028]    The production of a weight article  10  interposed with steel plates  14  as described above can be realized either by the process of disposing the steel plates  14  inside the weight article while injection-molding the article  10  or by the process in which two halves of a molded weight article, each provided with steel webs, are first obtained through injection molding step and then the two halves are joined together by an ultrasonic adhesion or the like as a widely known art.  
         [0029]    As shown in the drawings, two strings  20   a  and  20   b  are inserted in the through-hole  12  in the weight article  10 , wherein the both ends of each string are provided with handles  30 .  
         [0030]    The operation of the sport and amusement apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the invention takes place as follows: In order to cause the weight article  10  to slide along the strings  20   a  and  20   b  between the opposite ends to have the effect of physical exercise of the upper body, one of the two persons each taking the handles  30  stretches his both arms while the other one folds his both arms, wherein the weight article  10  moves from the side where one player is stretching his arms to the side where the other player is folding his arms.  
         [0031]    The through-hole  12 , through which the strings  20   a  and  20   b  run for the travel of the weight article  10  as explained above, is provided at each of its opposite ends, with an expansible or elastic cap to facilitate the movement of the article  10 . The expansible caps  16  made of rubbery material function to reduce the friction between the strings  20   a  and  20   b  and the wall of the through-hole  12  at its opposite ends where a high friction takes place, so that the weight article  10  can move easily during sporting operation and as the result the breakage of strings  20   a  and  20   b  due to wear-out can also be prevented.  
         [0032]    The movement of stretching and folding arms to cause the reciprocation of the weight article  10  effects the physical exercise of human upper body including the shoulders, arms and bosom. Further, the amusement-like atmosphere can be produced by interest stimulation due to the fact that two people exercise together. Therefore, the sport and amusement apparatus according to the invention has the advantage that men can exercise for a longer period without weariness because two people exercise together.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the weight article to be provided to the sport and amusement apparatus according to a variant embodiment of the invention.  
         [0034]    As shown in FIG. 3, the weight article  10  may be formed in a spherical form instead of the oval form in the foregoing first embodiment, wherein the spherical weight is formed with a central through-hole  12  as well. The material, manufacturing process, function and effect of the resulting sporting apparatus are the same as in the previous embodiment.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIGS. 4 and 5 show the handles of the sport and amusement apparatuses according to the invention in the form of variants, wherein the handle mounted with a movement or stroke counter is shown in FIG. 4 and the handle mounted with a full-stroke counter is shown in FIG. 5.  
         [0036]    As seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the handles may be provided with a movement counters  42  or full-stroke counter  44 , which counter is housed in the depression  32  formed on the surface of the handle  30 . In the case of the handle shown in FIG. 5, the full-stroke counter  44  is mounted in the depression  32  in a manner that its switch  46  protrudes from the front edge of the handle  30 , so that the counter  44  may increases its counted number by one every time the moved weight article  10  strikes the handle  30  or presses the switch  46 .  
         [0037]    Thus, the amount of the exercise performed can be measured by the counts displayed on the counters, which correspond to the cumulative number of arm stretchings or foldings of the athletes, which will be described in some more detail below.  
         [0038]    In the case of movement counters  42 , the counts are increased by every change in the pattern of vibrations generated at the time of stretching or folding arms.  
         [0039]    In the case of full-stroke counters  44 , the counts of a counter are increased every time the switch  46  of the counter  44  is pressed as the handle  30  is struck by the weight article  10 , which swings back and forth due to the movement of stretching or folding the arms of the athletes.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 6 shows the construction of the weight article to be mounted on the sport and amusement apparatus according to a variant embodiment of the invention, in which the light can be flashed from the weight article. FIG. 7 shows the cross section along the line A-A in FIG. 7.  
         [0041]    The sporting apparatus shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, designed to emit the light beam during the movement of a weight article  10 , comprises generators  50  for generating electricity through contact with the strings  20   a  and  20   b  during the movement of the weight article  10  and lamps  58  for emitting the light beam through use of the electricity generated by the generators  50 . Preferably, the lamps  58  are formed of light emitting diodes or LEDs.  
         [0042]    The generators  50  are each constructed in such a manner that a rotatable roller  52 , brought into rotation by the string  20   a  or  20   b  in contact with the roller during the sliding movement of the weight article  10  carrying the rollers, is provided fixedly with a cylindrical magnet shaft  54  to be rotatable together with the rotating roller  52 , and in the proximate outside around the magnet shaft  54  a bobbin  56  carrying the wound coil is located, as seen in FIG. 7.  
         [0043]    As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the rotatable rollers  52  of generators  50  are arranged on and around the circumferential edge of the through-hole  12  provided in the weight article  10  so as to be rotatable from contact with the strings  20   a  and  20   b  while the weight article is in motion. Four generators  50  are disposed at equal circumferential intervals with regard to the central through-hole  12  in the drawings but the number of generators may be more or less than four.  
         [0044]    The generators  50  produce electricity only when their rollers come in contact with a string  20   a  or  20   b  to be rotated during the movement of the weight article  10  and therefore they fail to produce electricity when they are out of contact with strings.  
         [0045]    Furthermore, according to another embodiment of the invention, a battery can be mounted instead of the generators to produce lamp lights, as seen in FIGS. 8 and 9.  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 8 shows the construction of the weight article mounted on the sport and amusement apparatus according to another variant of the invention, in which the light can be flashed from the weight article. FIG. 9 shows the cross section along the line B-B in FIG. 8.  
         [0047]    As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the weight article  10  in the form of the same oval shell as in the previous embodiments is provided, in its middle area, with a clamped plate or disc  62 , on the rim circumference of which there are disposed lamps  68  at the same intervals to emit flash light. The plate  62  also carries a battery  64  which supplies electric current to the lamps  68  and which is switched on and off by a switch  66  as a vibration terminal, on-off controlled on the base of vibrational contact.  
         [0048]    The vibrations generated along with the movement of the weight article  10  from one side to the other causes the battery  64  to supply the electric energy to the lamps  68  so that they may flash.  
         [0049]    Otherwise, a switch capable of turning the lamps on is mounted on one side of the weight article while a switch capable of turning the lamps off is mounted on the opposite side of the weight article, so that the lamps stay turned on during the period when the weight article travels in one direction until hitting the terminal handle to actuate its switch while the lamps stay turned off during the period when the weight article travels in the reverse direction until hitting the handle to actuate its switch, even though not shown.  
         [0050]    The reason for causing emission of the light from the weight articles is to increase the sustainable exercise by exciting interest.  
         [0051]    In addition to mounting lamps on the weight article, a melody producing element may be mounted according to a further variant of the invention, wherein this melody producing element can be simply connected to the above-described battery for switching lamps, for the same purpose of increasing the feeling of interest.  
         [0052]    The sport and amusement apparatuses according to the invention have the advantage that the productivity of the product is improved owing to the simple construction and the usability is also improved owing to the easy and convenient portability through use of bags or the like regardless of places. Further, as two people join the sport or game using the inventive apparatus, interest can be aroused to make the athletes feel more like an amusement than a sport, so that they can conduct sustained exercise for upper body without a weariness.  
         [0053]    It is to be understood that, while the invention was described mainly with respect to specific embodiments, the invention is never restricted to those embodiments and a variety of modifications and alterations would be possible to a man skilled in the art by referring to the description or drawings presented here and within the spirit of the invention and thus those modifications or alterations are to fall within the scope of the invention, which scope should be limited only by the attached claim.