Abstract:
An exercise machine includes a frame having a horizontal cross beam which can be formed in two sections at right angles each defining an exercise area on a floor underneath the cross beam together with two pairs of upright posts where a first exercise area is formed between a wider spaced pair of the posts and a second exercise area is formed between a narrower spaced pair of the posts. Each post carries an exercise element including a mounting collar carried on the respective post and slidable longitudinally of the post to adjust the position of the exercise element on the post. Each exercise element includes a cable attached to an adjustable resistance element, a pair of pulleys between which the cable passes carried on a housing pivotal relative to the post and a hand grip member attached to an end of the cable such that the hand grip member can be grasped by a person for pulling on the cable with the cable being guided as it is pulled by at least one of the pulleys. The apparatus also provides a glove which is designed to allow the cable to be attached while applying forces to the forearm away from the wrist and also provides a mat which shows exercises to be doe on the machine

Description:
[0001]     This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119 of the filing date of Provisional Application 60/638,398 filed Dec. 27, 2004.  
         [0002]     This invention relates to an exercise machine. 
     
    
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     It is one object of the invention to provide an improved exercise machine.  
         [0004]     According to one aspect of the invention there is provided an exercise machine comprising:  
         [0005]     a frame arranged to be mounted on and fixed to a floor for multiple exercises to be carried out by a person at the frame, the frame comprising:  
         [0006]     a horizontal cross beam defining an exercise area on a floor underneath the cross beam;  
         [0007]     at least one pair of upright posts each at a respective side of the exercise area underneath the cross beam and connected thereto so as to extend from the cross beam to the floor;  
         [0008]     and a plurality of exercise elements mounted on the frame with two of the exercise elements being located each on a respective one of the pair of posts;  
         [0009]     each of the exercise elements mounted on respective ones of the posts including a mounting bracket carried on the respective post and moveable longitudinally of the post to adjust the position of the exercise element on the post;  
         [0010]     and each exercise element including a cable attached to an adjustable resistance element, a pair of pulleys between which the cable passes and a hand grip member attached to an end of the cable such that the hand grip member can be grasped by a person for pulling on the cable with the cable being guided as it is pulled by at least one of the pulleys.  
         [0011]     Preferably the cables are attached to weight stacks to provide the resistance but other resistance systems such as springs can be used.  
         [0012]     Preferably each of the exercise elements is movable relative to its respective post from a bottom of the post for the person to pull upwardly and to a top of the post for the person to pull downwardly.  
         [0013]     Preferably each of the exercise elements includes a mounting member carrying the pulleys so that the cable passes between the pulleys and a pivot coupling connecting the mounting member to the post allowing the pulleys in the mounting member to pivot about an axis parallel to the post so as to move side to side.  
         [0014]     Preferably each of the exercise elements includes a collar surrounding the respective post and slidable along the post, the post having a series of location points which can be selected so as to set the collar at a selected one of the location points.  
         [0015]     Preferably there are provided a first pair of posts spaced by a distance greater than the arm span of the person such that the person can pull horizontally inwardly from an arm spanned position and a second pair of posts spaced by a distance which is less than that of the first pair and less than the arm span of the person.  
         [0016]     Preferably the first pair of posts is provided at a first location on the frame to provide a first exercise area and wherein the second pair of posts is provided at a second location on the frame to provide a first exercise area.  
         [0017]     Preferably the horizontal cross beam includes a first beam portion at which the first pair of posts and the first exercise area is located and a second beam portion at right angles to the first beam portion at which the second pair of posts and the second exercise area is located.  
         [0018]     Preferably there is provided a mat for location on the floor in the exercise area, the mat having printed on an upper surface thereof illustrations of a series of exercises available to the carried out at the apparatus. Preferably the illustrations are arranged in rows and columns. Preferably the illustrations are arranged in columns headed by an area of the body to be exercised and the illustrations include start and finish positions only for reach exercise.  
         [0019]     Preferably there is provided a glove for wearing by the person having a forearm engaging portion for engaging around the forearm of the person and a hand engaging portion which engages over the hand of the person, at least one brace therein extending from the hand engaging portion longitudinally toward the forearm engaging portion to resist bending of the wrist during exercise; wherein the cable includes an attachment portion for attachment to loops on the forearm engaging portion in such a manner that the force for the attachment portion is communicated into the forearm engaging portion and the brace to avoid applying bending forces to the wrist.  
         [0020]     Preferably the glove includes a plurality of longitudinally extending straps extending from the hand engaging portion to the forearm engaging portion and wherein at least one of the straps includes a loop for receiving the attachment portion of the cable.  
         [0021]     Preferably the glove includes a peripheral strap extending around the forearm engaging portion at a base end of the glove and wherein the peripheral straps includes at least one loop for receiving the attachment portion of the cable.  
         [0022]     According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided an exercise machine comprising:  
         [0023]     a frame arranged to be mounted on and fixed to a floor for multiple exercises to be carried out by a person at the frame;  
         [0024]     a plurality of exercise elements mounted on the frame at an exercise area of the frame;  
         [0025]     wherein there is provided a mat for location on the floor in the exercise area, the mat having printed on an upper surface thereof illustrations of a series of exercises available to the carried out at the apparatus.  
         [0026]     According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided an exercise machine comprising:  
         [0027]     a frame arranged to be mounted on and fixed to a floor for multiple exercises to be carried out by a person at the frame;  
         [0028]     a plurality of exercise elements mounted on the frame;  
         [0029]     each exercise element including a cable, a pair of pulleys between which the cable passes and an attachment portion at the end of the cable;  
         [0030]     and a glove for wearing by the person having:  
         [0031]     a forearm engaging portion for engaging around the forearm of the person;  
         [0032]     a hand engaging portion which engages over the hand of the person;  
         [0033]     at least one brace therein extending from the hand engaging portion longitudinally toward the forearm engaging portion to resist bending of the wrist during exercise;  
         [0034]     and a plurality of loops on the forearm engaging portion for connection to the attachment portion of the cable and arranged thereon in such a manner that the force from the attachment portion is communicated into the forearm engaging portion and the brace to avoid applying bending forces to the wrist.  
         [0035]     Other aspects of the invention which are of independent importance are the glove itself alone independent of the machine and the mat itself alone independent of the machine which are defined herein as separate inventions. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0036]     One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0037]      FIG. 1  is a front elevational view of a first embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention.  
         [0038]      FIG. 2  is a top plan view of the apparatus of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0039]      FIG. 3 a  top plan view of a second embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention.  
         [0040]      FIG. 4  is a front elevational view of the apparatus of  FIG. 3 .  
         [0041]      FIG. 5  is an isometric view of the exercise device attached to a post of the apparatus of  FIG. 1  or  FIG. 3 .  
         [0042]      FIG. 6  is an end elevational view of one weight stack of the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 and 2 .  
         [0043]      FIG. 7  is a top plan view of the mat of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0044]      FIG. 8  is a rear elevational view of a protective glove for use with the embodiments of the previous Figures.  
         [0045]      FIG. 9  is a front elevational view of the protective glove of  FIG. 8 . 
     
    
       [0046]     In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0047]     The apparatus as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  comprises a cross beam  10  which is supported from the ground at a height of the order of 9 or 10 feet and is carried on to posts  11  and  12 . The cross beam  10  is connected to the top of the posts  11  and  12  at a suitable rigid coupling member  14  and a cross beam extension at the top of the posts outwardly to respective ends  15  and  16 . At the base of the posts  11  and  12  is provided a support beam  17 ,  18  which extends outwardly from a respective one of the posts parallel to the beam  10 . The beams  17 ,  18  each carry a pair of transverse floor support bars  13 ,  13 A at spaced positions along the beams  17 ,  18 . Thus the structure defined by the beam  17  and  18 , the posts  11  and  12  and the cross beam  10  form the rigid structure which can be attached to the floor as a fixed structure defining an exercise area generally indicated at  20  between the posts and underneath the cross beam  10 .  
         [0048]     Six separate exercise members are provided each of which is indicated at  21  and these are basically the same structure arranged to be mounted on a respective one of the frame elements. Each exercise member comprises a cable  22  extending between a pair of pulleys  23  and  24  so that the cable is confined between the pulleys and extends forwardly from the pulleys to an end  25  of the cable to which is attached a suitable hand grasping element  26 .  
         [0049]     The hand grasping element can be of various different types well known to persons skilled in this art including simply a capital D-shaped single hand grasping element, various forms of cross bar or T-bar, and the like.  
         [0050]     The structure is attached to a collar  27  which attaches onto the respective frame member. The collar is fixed in longitudinal position but provides the possibility for a change of angle of the cable by a pivotal or rotational movement around an axis of a hinge  27 A longitudinal of the frame element.  
         [0051]     Thus as shown in  FIG. 2  the exercise elements indicated at  21 A and  21 B mounted on the posts are rotated so that one is forwardly of the frame and the other is rearwardly of the frame. It will be appreciated that the rotational movement allows the exercise element to pivot between these two positions or even further to a position at right angles to the plane containing the frame structure. In this way the angle of the cable can be changed so that the cable is pulled within the plane of the frame or it can be pulled forwardly from the frame or rearwardly from the frame as required by the person for the particular exercise concerned.  
         [0052]     Thus the frame includes six of these elements so that two are mounted on a cross beam  10  above the exercise area  20  and generally symmetrically inwardly relative to the posts. Thus in general the two exercise elements on the cross beam are above the exercise area to be pulled downwardly by the person. The position of the exercise elements along the length of the beam can be adjusted by sliding of the collar  27  so that the position of the cables as they are pulled downwardly can be adjusted to the required position of the user so that they are for example at shoulder width or at a greater width as required.  
         [0053]     The two exercise elements on the posts are also adjustable in height along the length of the posts by movement of the collar  27  but are positioned in general to either side of the exercise area  20  so that a person pulling on the cables of the exercise elements on the post generally pulls inwardly toward the exercise area.  
         [0054]     Yet further exercise elements indicated at  21 C and  21 D are located at the bottom of the exercise area  20  on each side of the exercise area and generally underneath the exercise elements on the cross bar. The exercise elements  21 C and  21 B are respectively mounted on arms  30  and  31  which are pivotally mounted on couplings  32  at the base of the post so that the arms can be pivoted upwardly as indicated by the arrow  33  to a position alongside the post and thus remove from the exercise area when they are not required. Thus the person exercising can select for exercising either the exercise elements above or the exercise elements to the side or exercise elements below depending upon the exercise to be performed.  
         [0055]     Each exercise element has a cable thereof extending from the pulleys thereof to additional pulleys so as to guide the cable to a respective one or pair of weight stacks  35  and  36 . Thus the cable from the bottom exercise element as indicated at  37  extends under a pulley  38  upwardly to a top pulley  39  and extends downwardly from that top pulley  39  to the weight stack  36 .  
         [0056]     Symmetrically the cable  40  from the center exercise element extends upwardly and rearwardly to a pulley  41  which it passes over and then extends downwardly to the weight stack  36 . The exercise element at the center includes two additional pulleys  43  and  44  which guide the cable from the exercise element, bearing in mind that its height along the post can be varied and thus the amount of angle wrap around one or the other of the pulleys can also vary.  
         [0057]     The cable  45  from the top exercise element extends over two pulleys  46  and  47  at the top of the post to a top pulley  50  from which it extends downwardly to the weight stack  36 .  
         [0058]     The weight stack  36  can operate with each of the cables as required. The exercise person will be using only one of the three exercise elements at any one time and therefore they will be pulling on the respective cable that is lifting the weight stack. For this purpose the weight stack includes three guide tubes and three shafts extending through the guide tubes. The weight stack can be attached to the shaft of a selected one of the cables by an operating pin in a conventional manner. Thus the person can select for each of the three cables a different amount of the weights to be lifted. When that cable is pulled, the certain number of weights in the weight stack is lifted. This acts to lift the shafts of the remaining cables but this is merely taken up in slack in the cable.  
         [0059]     Thus the person using a single stack of weights can select different amounts of weights for each of the cables to be pulled and so that three separate exercises can be carried out with separate amounts of weight to provide repetitions without the necessity for individual adjustment between each repetition.  
         [0060]     As shown best in  FIG. 5 , therefore, each exercise device includes the collar  27  which is slidable along the respective post which is indicated at  27 B and can be located on the post by insertion of a spring pin  27 C into a respective hole  27 D of the post. The post is of square tube construction and the collar is of a slightly larger square tube so that its angle relative to the post is fixed and the collar cannot rotate on the post. However the position of the pulleys  23  and  24  can be adjusted around the axis of the post by the pulleys being mounted in a housing or bracket  23 A which is attached to a hinge  27 A for rotation about a central axis  27 B of the hinge  27 A. The hinge is thus mounted on one side of the collar  27  which is in practice the forward side which is approached by the user. In the simple arrangement shown in  FIG. 5 , the housing  23 A is formed from two parallel plates which are attached on either side of the hinge and mount between them the pulleys  23  and  24 . The cable thus passes between the two pulleys and rolls over one or other of the pulley depending upon the direction of pull. From the pulleys, the cable extends to the weight set over suitable pulleys mounted on the frame. In the arrangement shown in  FIG. 1 , some of the exercise devices mounted on the posts and particularly those shown at  21 A and  21 B include additional pulleys attached to the rear of the collar. These pulleys assist in guiding the cables to the required location. However as shown in respect of exercise devices  21 C and  21 D, there are no pulleys on the rear side of the collar and instead the cable merely extends from one of the pulleys  23  or  24  directly to a next adjacent pulley on the frame which is located along the length of the post.  
         [0061]     Turning now to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , there is shown an alternative arrangement which utilizes a frame and the exercise devices substantially as previously described in a different configuration. In this frame configuration as best shown in  FIG. 3 , there are two sections to the frame including a first section  1  and a second section  2 . The first section includes a horizontal top beam  3  together with posts  4  and  5 . The beam  3  is stabilized by end transverse floor portions  4 A and  5 A respectively at the base of the posts  4  and  5 .  
         [0062]     The second section  2  includes a top beam  3 A attached to the beam  3  and extending at right angles to the beam  3 . Second section includes two further posts  6  and  7 .  
         [0063]     Each post is of the construction shown in  FIG. 5  and carries an exercise device of the construction shown in  FIG. 5 . Posts  4  and  5  carry exercise devices  4 B and  5 B. These devices are mounted on the faces of the posts which are directed inwardly toward one another so that the primary direction of operation of the device presents the cable inwardly toward the opposite one of the exercise devices. The posts  4  and  5  are spaced by a distance greater than the arm span of the user so that they are spaced by a distance of the order of 8 feet so that the user can stand between the posts and can grasp the hand grasping device of the cable from the side facing at right angles to the length of the beam  3 . In this position as best shown in  FIG. 4  the person using the device can grasp the handles and pull them inwardly toward the body. The height of the exercise device on the post can of course be adjusted so that the direction of pull can be adjusted.  
         [0064]     The posts  6  and  7  are mounted on the beam  3 A but slightly forwardly of the beam so as to present the exercise devices  6 A and  7 A forwardly to the person when the person is turned to face the beam  3 A. The spacing between the posts  6  and  7  is significantly less than the spacing between the posts  4  and  5  so that the exercise device  6 A and  7 A are located quite close together for common pulling toward the body of the user. Again the exercise devices  6 A and  7 A can be adjusted in height on the respective post so that the user can pull down when the exercise devices are at the top of the post and can pull up when the exercise devices are at the bottom of the post. This arrangement replaces the exercise devices in the frame of  FIG. 1  which are above and below respectively the person. The device is thus simplified relative to the arrangement of  FIG. 1  in that there are only two exercise devices mounted on the post  6  and  7  in a manner so that they can be adjusted in position for downward and upward pulling as the person chooses.  
         [0065]     Each exercise device is associated with a respective one of the weight stacks as indicated at  8 . These devices can comprise simple single weight stacks of the conventional type or can be multiple complex weight stacks as described hereinafter.  
         [0066]     On the floor at the area  20  is provided a mat  60  which can be located so that it is directly within the area  20  to be stood on by the person or can be just in front of the frame. Thus as shown it is in front of the frame but it can be moved rearwardly so that it bridges the frame so that the person when exercising stands on the mat for protective purposes. The mat thus has a suitable resilient thickness.  
         [0067]     As shown in  FIG. 7 , the mat has printed on it a series of rows and columns so that the full top surface of the mat is covered by these printed elements. For example the columns may carry at the top a series of areas of the body to be exercised and it will be noted that the columns contain the headings “chest”, “triceps”, “back”, “biceps”, “legs”, “shoulders” and “abs”.  
         [0068]     Each heading has two columns headed “start” and “finish”. Underneath each of these headings is provided a number of spaces which contain illustration of exercises to be carried out with the apparatus including a start position and a finish position. These are not shown in  FIG. 7  for convenience of illustration.  
         [0069]     Thus the person using the exercise equipment can look down at the mat which is underneath the person or in front of the person and can select a series of exercises for exercising an area to be exercised during that particular session.  
         [0070]     As shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , there is provided a glove generally indicated at  70  which includes a forearm engaging portion  71  and a hand engaging portion  72 . This is formed from perforated neoprene with Kevlar reinforcements. The forearm engaging section  71  tightly binds around the forearm of the user and includes longitudinal braces so as to prevent twisting of the wrist of the user during use of the equipment. At a base  73  of the forearm engaging portion is provided a pair of attachment loops  74  and  75  which are attached to end couplings on the cable so that the pulling action by the user is applied wholly to the wrist without bending of the hand relative to the wrist since no forces are transferred to the hand.  
         [0071]     The rear of the glove is shown in  FIG. 8  and includes a slit  76  which can be closed by a longitudinal strip  77  of a hook and loop fastener together with a strap  78  which wraps around the open end of the glove at the forearm engaging section  71  so that together the slit and the strap effect a closure of the glove as it wrapped around the forearm of the user. The glove includes longitudinal braces which extend from the hand engaging portion  72  longitudinally so as to reduce the ability of the wrist to flex during use. Thus the glove includes straps  80 ,  81 ,  82  and  83  extending longitudinally of the glove from the area of the fingers to a position closely adjacent the strap  78 . The straps are formed of a material which is resistant to stretch so that they resist bending of the wrist and fingers of the user since they resist the extension necessary to increase the length around the outside curvature as the wrist and knuckles bend.  
         [0072]     On the inside of the glove is provided a stiff brace  84  which is formed by a pocket  85  stitched on the inside of the glove facing outwardly of the palm of the person when the glove is worn with that pocket receiving a stiff metal brace portion  86  inserted into the pocket. The brace portion thus extends from a position on the top of the palm of the person to a position beyond the wrist and into the forearm thus resisting inward bending of the wrist and fingers by providing the stiffening effect on the inside surface. Thus the stiffening plate and the straps co-operate together to provide a longitudinal brace which resists the bending wrist and hand of the person during use.  
         [0073]     In addition to the loops  74  and  75  on the strap  78  there are also provided loops  87  and  88  in at least some of the longitudinal straps  81  to  83 . Thus the user can select either the loops on the straps which are longitudinal or the loops on the peripheral or wrapping strap  78 . The simple small D ring at the end of the cable can be hooked into place onto the selected one of the loops in the glove and thus acts to transfer loading from the cable to the forearm of the user rather than to the fingers and hand and wrist of the user. The tight strap around the forearm primarily acts as a clamp around the forearm so that the forces are loaded at that location. The stiffening provided by the longitudinal straps and the stiffening plate resist the ability of the person to bend the wrist which would otherwise transfer loading to the fingers, hand and wrist of the user.  
         [0074]     In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , the gloves are of the fingerless type but it will be appreciated that fingers can also be provided.  
         [0075]     Fingerless gloves are commonly used in exercise equipment to provide additional cooling in areas where the effect of the glove is not physically required.  
         [0076]     In addition areas of a resilient material such as gel can be provided between the fingers as indicated at  90  so that any longitudinal forces applied to the glove tending to slide the glove along the arm of the user do not provide a pinching effect between the fingers.  
         [0077]     It will be appreciated that the intention is that the user place the glove in position and attach the end of the cable to the glove at the fore arm engaging portion and then the user can exercise the upper arm and body muscles which connect to the upper arms without affecting the wrist and fingers. This is particularly useful in a situation where the user has a wrist injury which would be exacerbated by the repetitive stress of bending the wrist or fingers under load.  
         [0078]     This arrangement can be used for persons with injuries in this area so that they can continue to exercise the remainder of the body without damaging the wrist.  
         [0079]     This glove is for people who have arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, hand fatigue, tendonitis, poor circulation, stress related injuries, repetitive strain injury or basic weal wrists. All of the above prevent people from doing exercises or any clenching of an object, such as a dumbbell. Now these individuals have the opportunity to exercise by putting hand or hands in gloves and doing the movement.  
         [0080]     Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without department from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.