Abstract:
An exercise apparatus with both a mat rotating means operated by an electric motor and a foot support means to allow a user reclining on a mat to hang his/her body upside down from the foot support means or to do exercises, such as sit-ups, without help from another person. In the exercise apparatus of the present invention, the leg assembly includes movable and immovable legs, in which the movable leg is closed towards the immovable leg to close the leg assembly in an effort to increase space efficiency of the apparatus. The exercise apparatus also has a locking means for causing the leg assembly in a closed state to be maintained in a stable position, and a plurality of rollers mounted to an outside portion of either leg of the leg assembly to cause a user to easily move the heavy exercise apparatus when necessary.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates, in general, to exercise apparatuses and, more particularly, to an exercise apparatus with both a mat rotating means operated by an electric motor and a foot support means to allow a user reclining on a mat to hang his/her body upside down from the foot support means or to do exercises, such as sit-ups, without help from another person. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art 
   The present invention has been studied and invented, based on U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,560 (herein below, referred to simply as “No. &#39;560”) that was filed by the inventor of the present invention, entitled “exercise device”. 
   The construction of the exercise device of No. &#39;560 is shown in  FIG. 1  of the accompanying drawings. 
   The exercise device of No. &#39;560 includes a base frame  20  with both a first leg  21  and a second leg  22  serving as a support base to support the exercise device on a support surface as shown in  FIG. 1 . The exercise device further includes: a mat  1  on which a user lies reclined; a mat frame  2  rotatably mounted to an upper end of the base frame  20 , with the mat  1  supported by the mat frame  2 ; a mat rotating means  4  having a motor to rotate the mat frame  2 ; and a bearing unit  7  rotatably coupled to the mat frame  2 . Furthermore, a length-adjustable extension member  8  is mounted to a longitudinal end of the mat frame  2 , with a foot support means  10  mounted to a free end of the extension member  8  to support the feet and ankles of the user reclining on the mat  1 . 
   The foot support means  10  includes: a pair of footholds  11  mounted to the free end of the extension member  8  while extending laterally horizontally in opposite directions to support the weight of the user reclining on the mat  1 ; and a pair of calf support bars  12  mounted to the extension member  8  at a position near the free end of the member  8  while extending laterally and horizontally in opposite directions to support the calves of the user&#39;s legs. The foot support means  10  further includes: a pair of ankle holders  13  which is rotatably coupled to the free end of the extension member  8  by means of a swinging bar  14 ; and an ankle holder rotating means  15  which rotates the ankle holders  13  towards the calf support bars  12  so as to support the ankles of the user. The ankle holder rotating means  15  is installed in the footholds  11 . 
   The mat rotating means  4  and the ankle holder rotating means  15  are provided with a first reversible motor  5  and a second reversible motor (not shown), respectively. A reduction gear assembly  6  is provided in the mat rotating means  4  to reduce the output speed of the first reversible motor  5 . The ankle holder rotating means  15  has a reduction gear assembly (not shown) in the same manner as that described for the gear assembly  6  of the mat rotating means  4 . Thus, the rotating forces of the first and second motors are transmitted to a rotating member  3  of the mat frame  2  and the rotating bar  14  of the ankle holder  13 , respectively, through the reduction gear assemblies, and thus, both the mat frame  2  and the ankle holders  13  rotate. 
   In the meantime, two switches S 1  and S 2  are provided on the upper portion of the outer surface of a casing that covers the mat rotating means  4 . Of the two switches, the first switch S 1  controls operation of the first motor  5  provided in the mat rotating means  4 , and thereby controls the inclination angle of the mat  1 . Furthermore, the second switch S 2  controls operation of the second motor (not shown) provided in the ankle holder rotating means  15 , and thereby controls the rotating angle of the ankle holders  13 . Thus, when using the above-mentioned exercise device, the user lying reclined on the mat  1  easily controls the inclination angle of the mat  1  by manipulating the switches. Furthermore, the user stops the motor of the mat rotating means  4  when the mat  1  is placed at a desired inclination angle. After the mat  1  is stopped at the inclination angle, the user does desired exercises, such as sit-ups, on the mat  1 . In the drawing, the reference numeral  9  denotes a handgrip that extends from the rotating member  3  of the mat frame  2 . 
   The above-mentioned exercise device is advantageous in that a user conveniently controls operation of the device. However, the exercise device is problematic in that the base frame  20  including the first and second legs  21  and  22  has a fixed structure which does not allow the legs  21  and  22  to be closed or disassembled, although the legs  21  and  22  firmly fixed to each other can stably support the device on a support surface. Thus, the exercise device must occupy a substantial predetermined space even when the device is not in use, thus reducing space efficiency. 
   Furthermore, to move the exercise device, two or more persons must handle the heavy device at the same time. 
   Another disadvantage of the above-mentioned exercise device is that the device does not have any means for manually rotating the mat frame when interruption of electric power occurs while the device is in use. Thus, if the power gives out while the user&#39;s body is hanging upside down from the foot support means, the mat frame cannot return to its horizontal position, sometimes causing safety hazards. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an exercise apparatus with a folding structure capable of improving space efficiency of the device. 
   Another object of the present invention is to provide an exercise apparatus that can be easily moved by a user when necessary. 
   A further object of the present invention is to provide an exercise apparatus that is provided with a manual actuating means to rotate a mat frame when interruption of electric power that stops automatic operation of the mat frame occurs while the apparatus is in use. 
   In order to achieve the above objects, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an exercise apparatus comprising a leg assembly; a mat frame for supporting a mat on which a user lies or reclines, the mat frame being rotatably mounted to an upper end of the leg assembly by means of motor-operated mat rotating means and a bearing unit; and a foot support means mounted to a longitudinal end of the mat frame so as to support the feet and ankles of the user lying or reclining on the mat. 
   The leg assembly may comprise a movable leg and an immovable leg rotatably coupled together at upper ends thereof. 
   The exercise apparatus may further comprise: a skirt interposed between the leg assembly and each of the mat rotating means and the bearing unit to support the mat rotating means and the bearing unit on the leg assembly, with an upper portion of the immovable leg securely supported in one side of the skirt, and an upper portion of the movable leg supported in the other side of the skirt to be movable towards the immovable leg; a reinforcing folding frame horizontally coupled between the movable leg and the immovable leg so that one end of the reinforcing folding frame is rotatably coupled to the movable leg, and the other link is rotatably coupled to the immovable leg, with a center of the reinforcing folding frame being constructed to be able to fold; and a locking means for causing the movable leg closed towards the immovable leg to be locked at a predetermined position. 
   The locking means may comprise: a locking hole formed on the upper portion of the movable leg at a predetermined position; and a locking protrusion provided on the skirt to elastically protrude from the skirt by means of a spring at a predetermined position along a moving path of the locking hole which is defined by a movement of the movable leg, so that, when the movable leg is closed towards the immovable leg, the locking protrusion is inserted into the locking hole. 
   The exercise apparatus may further comprise: a tool insert hole formed through a housing of the mat rotating means to reach an output shaft of a motor of the mat rotating unit from an outside; and a polygonal countersink formed on an outside end of the shaft of the motor which is exposed to the outside through the tool insert hole. 
   The exercise apparatus may further comprise: rollers mounted to an outside portion of a support beam part connecting lower ends of the movable leg to each other or to an outside portion of another support beam part connecting lower ends of the immovable leg to each other. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a conventional exercise apparatus; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating an exercise apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view illustrating the exercise apparatus of  FIG. 2  in a closed state when viewing the apparatus from the left; 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating the exercise apparatus of  FIG. 2  in the closed state when viewing the apparatus from the right; 
       FIGS. 5 and 6  are views illustrating a closing structure of the exercise apparatus of  FIG. 2 , in which: 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a state of the closing structure before the apparatus is closed; and 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a state of the closing structure after the apparatus is closed; 
       FIGS. 7 and 8  are sectional views taken along the line A—A of  FIG. 6 , in which: 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a state in which a locking protrusion of a locking unit is inserted into a locking hole; and 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a state in which the locking protrusion is removed from the locking hole; 
       FIG. 9  is a perspective view illustrating the construction of the locking unit of the exercise apparatus of  FIG. 2 ; and 
       FIG. 10  is a partially broken perspective view illustrating an adjusting structure provided in the exercise apparatus of  FIG. 2  to be rotated by a hexagonal wrench, thus adjusting the rotating shaft of a first motor. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Reference will now be made in greater detail to a preferred embodiment of the invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numerals will be used throughout the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts. Furthermore, because the present invention is invented based on the Patent of No. &#39;560, the elements of the present invention analogous to those of No. &#39;560 will carry the same reference numerals as No. &#39;560 and will not be described in detail in the following description. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 2 to 4 , the exercise apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a leg assembly  40  serving as a support base to support the exercise device on a support surface. The leg assembly  40  comprises a movable leg  41  and an immovable leg  42  which are rotatably coupled to each other at upper ends thereof. Particularly, the movable leg  41  of the leg assembly  40  rotates relative to the immovable leg  42  around the jointed upper end to be closed towards or opened away from the immovable leg  42 . 
   The left-hand side arms of the movable and immovable legs  41  and  42  support a mat rotating means  50  by means of a skirt  30 , while the right-hand side arms of the movable and immovable legs  41  and  42  support a bearing unit  60  by means of another skirt  30 . In other words, one skirt  30  is interposed between the leg assembly  40  and each of the mat rotating means  50  and the bearing unit  60 . 
   The construction of the leg assembly  40  and the skirt  30  will be described in detail herein below with reference to  FIGS. 2 to 6 . 
   The leg assembly  40  has a structure in which the movable leg  41  and the immovable leg  42  each comprising a U-shaped frame lean on each other to be supported, with a hinged connecting member  44  provided between the upper ends of the movable and immovable legs  41  and  42  to connect the two legs  41  and  42  together at each side of the leg assembly  40 . The connecting member  44  comprises two arms jointed together by a hinge, so that the two arms of the connecting member  44  can rotate around the hinged joint to be opened or closed. In that case, one arm of the connecting member  44  is securely mounted to the upper end of the movable leg  41 , while the other arm is securely mounted to the upper end of the immovable leg  42 . Thus, when the movable leg  41  moves towards the immovable leg  42 , the arm of the connecting member  44  mounted to the movable leg  41  rotates around the hinged joint to be closed toward the arm mounted to the immovable leg  42 . The leg assembly  40  is thus closed. This connecting member  44  connecting the two legs  41  and  42  enables the leg assembly  40  to endure external load (due to the mat, mat frame and user) more effectively. 
   Coupled to the middle portions of the movable and immovable legs  41  and  42  at each side of the leg assembly  40  is a reinforcing folding frame  43  which increases the structural strength of the leg assembly  40  to allow the leg assembly  40  to effectively endure external load and ensures a desired structural stability of the exercise apparatus. The reinforcing folding frame  43  comprises two links jointed together by a hinge, so that the two links of the frame  43  can rotate around the hinged joint to be opened or closed in the same manner as that described for the connecting member  44 . In that case, one link of the reinforcing folding frame  43  is coupled by a hinge to the middle portion of the movable leg  41 , while the other link is coupled by another hinge to the immovable leg  42 . Thus, the two links of the reinforcing folding frame  43  can rotate relative to each other around the hinged joint to be closed or opened. 
   The lower ends of the movable and immovable legs  41  and  42  each comprise a support beam part  41   a ,  42   a  which connect the lower ends of the two arms of each of the movable and immovable legs  41  and  42  to each other while extending horizontally, with two rollers  45  mounted to the outside portion of the support beam part  41   a  of the movable leg  41 . In that case, the location of the two rollers  45  must be such that any load is not applied to the rollers  45  in an opened state of the leg assembly  40  in which the leg assembly  40  stably supports the mat frame  2  as shown in  FIG. 2  or a balanced closed state of the leg assembly  40  as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . However, the determination of the location of the rollers  45  is also based on the design factor that, when the exercise apparatus in the closed state of the leg assembly  40  leans toward the rollers  45  at a predetermined angle, a load must be applied to the rollers  45 . If the location of the rollers  45  is determined as described above, a user easily and conveniently moves the heavy exercise apparatus. 
   The upper end of the leg assembly  40  having the above-mentioned support structure is stably supported by a skirt  30  at each side thereof. In a detailed description, at each side of the upper end of the leg assembly  40 , the upper portion of one arm of the immovable leg  42  is securely supported in one side of the skirt  30  by being tightened by locking bolts  31 , while the upper portion of a corresponding arm of the movable leg  41  is supported in the other side of the skirt  30  to be movable toward the immovable leg  42 . 
   In that case, the skirt  30  serves as a stopper that determines the angular moving range of the movable leg  41  relative to the immovable leg  42 , thus limiting the maximum opening angle of the movable leg  41  relative to the immovable leg  42 . The skirt  30  also serves as a leg support that maintains a stable position of the leg assembly  40  when the movable leg  41  is opened away from the immovable leg  42  at the maximum angle. 
   Thus, the exercise apparatus can keep its stability by virtue of the structure of the leg assembly having the connecting member  44 , reinforcing folding frame  43  and skirt  30 , even though the movable leg  41  is not securely fastened to the skirt  30  by a locking bolt. 
   Herein below, the structure for closing or opening the leg assembly  40  and a locking means for causing the leg assembly  40  in a closed state to be maintained in a stable position will be described in conjunction with  FIGS. 4 to 8 . 
   As described above, unlike the immovable leg  42  securely supported in the skirts  30 , the movable leg  41  is movably supported in the skirts  30 . Thus, when a user moves the movable leg  41  toward the immovable leg  42  while slightly raising the movable leg  41  from a support surface, the reinforcing folding frame  43  and the connecting member  44  are closed around their hinged joints, and thereby, the movable leg  41  is closed toward the immovable leg  42 . In that case, the closed movable leg  41  may be fixed in a predetermined position by the locking means as shown in  FIGS. 5 to 8 . 
   The locking means comprises a locking hole  77  that is formed on the upper portion of the movable leg  41  at a position to support the bearing unit  9  thereon, and a locking unit  70  that is provided in the skirt  30  at a position corresponding to the locking hole  77 . The locking unit  70  has a locking protrusion  71  that is provided on the skirt  30  to elastically protrude from the skirt  30  by means of a spring  73  at a predetermined position along a moving path of the locking hole  77  which is defined by a movement of the movable leg  41 . Thus, when the movable leg  41  is closed towards the immovable leg  42 , the locking protrusion  71  of the locking unit  70  is inserted into the locking hole  77 . 
   As shown in  FIGS. 7 to 9 , the locking unit  70  is mounted to the skirt  30  by a screw-type engagement of a second stopper  74  of the locking unit  70  with a mounting bracket  76  which is fixed to the skirt  30 . When a control knob  75  of the locking unit  70  which is mounted to the skirt  30  is pulled backwards by the user, the locking protrusion  71  moves in the same direction. In that case, a first stopper  72  which is integrated with the locking protrusion  71  moves along with the locking protrusion  71 , while the above-mentioned second stopper  74  which is screwed to the mounting bracket  76  is in an immovable state. Due to the above-mentioned structure, elastic restoring force of the spring  73  placed between the first and second stoppers  72  and  74  is applied to the locking protrusion  71 . 
   Thus, during a closing motion of the movable leg  41 , the movable leg  41  pushes the locking protrusion  71  backward from its position. When the movable leg  41  is completely closed, the locking protrusion  71  elastically goes back forwards to its original position to be inserted into the locking hole  77  by means of the elastic restoring force of the spring  73 . Due to the above-mentioned structure, the exercise apparatus of the present invention maintains its stable state even when the apparatus is in a closed state as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . 
   To open the exercise apparatus, the user moves the movable leg  41  away from the immovable leg  42  to open the leg assembly  40  while pulling the control knob  75  with a hand. 
   As shown in  FIG. 2 , a motor-operated mat rotating means  50  and a bearing unit  60  are firmly supported on the upper ends of the two skirts  30  by welding (particularly, the welding is executed along the junctions between the upper ends of the skirts and the lower ends of housings of the mat rotating means and the bearing unit). 
   The mat rotating means  50  comprises a first motor  51  and a reduction gear assembly  52  coupled to the output shaft of the first motor  51 , and thus rotates a rotating member  3  to finally rotate the mat frame  2  by a combination of the motor  51  and the gear assembly  52 . 
   As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 10 , the housing  53  of the mat rotating means  50 , which includes a motor housing of the first motor  51  and a gear housing of the reduction gear assembly  52 , has a tool insert hole  54  that is formed through the housing  53  to reach the output shaft of the first motor  51 . Thus, the output shaft of the first motor  51  is exposed to the outside of the housing  53  through the tool insert hole  54 , with a hexagonal countersink  55  formed on the outside end of the output shaft of the first motor  51 . When interruption of electric power occurs, stopping the automatic operation of the exercise apparatus occurs, the user inserts a hexagonal wrench  56  into the hexagonal countersink  55  of the output shaft of the first motor  51  through the tool insert hole  54  and rotates the output shaft of the first motor  51 , thus manually rotating the mat frame  2  at a desired angle in a desired direction. To prevent the loss of the hexagonal wrench  56 , the wrench  56  is preferably tied to the exercise apparatus with a cord  57  and, more preferably, the tied wrench  56  is fitted into a tool hole  32  provided on a side surface of the skirt  30  to allow the user to easily find the wrench when necessary. 
   The bearing unit  60  is rotatably coupled to the rotating member  3  of the mat frame  2 , with a bearing (not shown) installed in the bearing unit  60  to cause smooth rotation of the rotating member  3 . Furthermore, a sensor may be provided on the bearing unit  60  to control the maximum rotating angle of the mat frame  2 . In other words, when the foot support means  10  comes into contact with a support surface by rotation of the first motor  51  or when the mat frame  2  is placed vertically, the maximum rotating angle of the mat frame  2  must be controlled to avoid further rotation of the mat frame  2  regardless of the operation of any switch S 1  or S 2 . To achieve the above-mentioned object, the sensor is preferably provided in the bearing unit  60  to control the maximum rotating angle of the mat frame  2 . 
   Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. For example, when the leg  42  of  FIG. 2  is designed as a movable leg, while the leg  41  is designed as a immovable leg, the rollers may be mounted to the outside portion of the support beam part of the immovable leg to avoid any interference between the rollers and the foot support means. 
   As apparent from the above description, the exercise apparatus according to the present invention having the above-mentioned construction is advantageous in that a leg assembly of the apparatus can be closed to increase space efficiency of the apparatus when necessary. Furthermore, because rollers are provided on the leg assembly, the exercise apparatus with the closed leg assembly can be easily moved by a user. 
   Another advantage of the exercise apparatus is that a mat frame of the apparatus can be manually operated when necessary.