Abstract:
An arm wrestling machine particularly adapted for team play includes a series of lever and handle assemblies linked together in pivotal alignment. The arm wrestling machine includes two or more shafts pivotally mounted on a horizontal, supporting surface, each shaft carrying mated lever and handle assemblies. The contestants on each side of the table compete as a team by grasping the lever and handle assemblies and attempting to force the lever and handle assembly held by the opponents downwardly.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     A team arm wrestling machine is disclosed whereby multiple persons may join together in competition through simultaneous participation in use of the machine. The machine has two or more pairs of opposed operating levers mounted on shafts which are linked together to permit the arm wrestlers to participate as a team. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Competitions testing the strength of contestants have been known and enjoyed for many years. Some, such as wrestling, require a degree of supervision and equipment and are staged between individual contestants. Others, such as tug-of-war require minimal equipment and permit contestants to participate as a team. 
     Arm wrestling has long been popular as a sport where two individual contestants face each other across a table in a contest of strength. Conventionally, the contestants place their elbows on a table and grasp hands. At the beginning of the contest, their forearms are in a generally upright position, and at the signal to begin, each contestant attempts to pin the back of the opponent&#39;s arm against the table. While this competition is quite simple, it has certain inherent weaknesses in that opponents&#39; arms may be of varying length and the opponents have a tendency to raise the elbow from the table to achieve greater leverage. 
     In order to combat these deficiencies, a number of arm wrestling machines have been developed or proposed, such as the machine for arm wrestling disclosed in our U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,949. However, all of these machines have focused on ways to improve the competition by eliminating various advantages in technique or leverage. None have attempted to alter the basic one-on-one character of the competition to provide a means for additional competitors to simultaneously participate as a team. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention solves the problem of the inability of a number of arm wrestling contestants to simultaneously participate on teams by providing a machine having multiple stations. Thus, a series of arm wrestling stations may be linked together in unison for team arm wrestling competition. The disclosed arm wrestling machine broadly includes a flat supporting surface, two or more pairs of spaced apart levers, means connecting each pair of levers, and means linking each of the pairs of levers for simultaneous pivoting. Each pair of levers are joined together and are pivotally mounted on the flat supporting surface. The levers in each pair may be joined together by, for example, a shaft or through a gear linkage. The levers of each pair pivot through opposed, generally vertical planes, and preferably the levers operated by members of the same team will pivot in substantially the same plane. 
     In preferred forms, one of the shafts carries a counterbalancing mechanism adapted to offset the weight of the levers and linkage of the unit which otherwise would act to assist the contestants actively prevailing in the contest. The mechanism includes a pair of spaced apart sprockets carried by the main shaft, each sprocket carrying a chain attached to a tensioned spring. The springs for each sprocket face in opposing directions to the spring on the counterpart sprocket and exert equal tension on each of the sprockets. The springs thus bias the shaft and therefore the levers to a central, upright position, with the tension increasing on one spring as the levers are rotated opposite the spring, thereby offsetting the advantage caused by the weight of the lever. 
     The arm wrestling machine includes an arm centering device useful to recenter the contestant&#39;s arms at a central, upright position at the beginning of each match. The device is in the form of a collar carried on one of the shafts which collar has a flattened surface engageable with a spring biased bar when the levers and thus the contestants&#39; arms are centered. This centering device assures a uniform, central starting position prior to the commencement of each match. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the arm wrestling machine with one armrest removed; 
     FIG. 2 is a sectional view along line 2--2 of FIG. 1 showing the interior structure of the arm wrestling machine; 
     FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 1, showing the position of the arm and hand of a contestant while grasping a lever; 
     FIG. 4A is a fragmentary sectional view along line 4--4 of FIG. 2 showing the position of the centering device, grip and lever when the arm wrestling machine is in the centered, initial position; 
     FIG. 4B is a fragmentary sectional view along line 4--4 of FIG. 4 showing the centering device, grip and lever in an operational mode as when a contestant has rotated the lever away from its centered position; 
     FIG. 4C is a perspective view of the arm centering collar; 
     FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view along line 5--5 of FIG. 2 showing the counterbalancing device in an operational mode as when a contestant has pivoted the lever away from its centered position; and 
     FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view along line 6--6 of FIG. 1 showing the arm stop and final positions of the levers in phantom. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The arm wrestling machine 10 broadly includes a table 12, lever and handle assembly 14, connecting linkage 16, arm centering device 18, and counterbalancing mechanism 20. 
     Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, table 12 carries a flat supporting surface or plate 22 and two pairs of spaced angles 24, 26, and 28, 30. Angles 24 and 28 are mounted opposite angles 26 and 30 on plate 22. The opposed angles are each apertured to receive corresponding bushing and collar assemblies 32, 34, and 36, 38. An elongated main shaft 40 is supported between angles 24 and 26 and within assemblies 32 and 34 for pivoting. A lever and handle assembly 14 is mounted on each end of shaft 40 for bidirectional pivoting, each lever and handle assembly 14 including mated upwardly and obliquely extending, spaced apart opposed levers 42, 44 respectively. Handles 46 and 48 are secured to the upper end of each of the levers 42, 44 respectively. 
     Connecting linkage 16 includes an upstanding connecting arm 50 secured to main shaft 40, the arm 50 having an elongated, fore and aft extending connecting bar 52 pivotally connected to the upper end thereof. The connecting bar 52 is in turn pivotally connected to a similar connecting arm 54 adjacent the rearward end of the machine. The arm 54 is secured to a second, transversely extending shaft 56, supported by angles 28 and 30. Shaft 56 also carries a mated pair of upstanding levers and grips identical to those of shaft 50. As can be appreciated, this arrangement provides a total of four lever and handle assemblies 14 interconnected through the shafts 40 and 56 and the connecting linkage 16. Thus, pivoting of any lever and handle assmbly 14 produces responsive pivoting of the remaining assemblies 14. 
     Each of the lever and handle assemblies 14 is provided with a vertically adjustable arm support 58 which is releasably connected to each of the levers by conventional means as detailed in FIG. 3. As can be appreciated, use of this arm support 58 permits each individual user to adjust the effective height of his own lever and handle. 
     Arm centering device 18 is also coupled with main shaft 40 and is shown in detail in FIGS. 4A through 4C. The purpose of the device 18 is to recenter all of the arms at the beginning of each match. To this end, shaft 40 carries an annular collar 62 having a flattened upper surface 64 as shown in FIG. 4C. A spring biased bar 66, which is rectangular in cross-section, normally rests in abutting contact with the flattened surface 64 (see FIG. 4A). Each end of the spring biased bar 66 is apertured at 68, 70. A pair of upright threaded shafts 72, 74 are supported on the plate 22, passed through apertures 68 and 70 respectively and each carry a nut 76 and a flat washer 78. A compression spring 80 is situated between the underside of washer 78 and the upper surface of the spring biased bar 66 as shown whereby to exert a downward pressure on bar 66. 
     The main shaft 40 also carries a pair of laterally spaced apart half sprockets 82 and 84. The counterbalancing mechanism 20 is associated with each of the half sprockets 82, 84 and includes (See FIG. 5) a section of chain 86 secured to one end 88 of each half sprocket. Chain 86 is trained around half sprocket 84 with coil spring 90 secured to the free end 92 of the chain 86, and in turn is coupled to the plate 22. 
     A similar chain and spring attachment is secured to sprocket 82, but chain 94 is trained in the opposite direction of chain 86 and is secured to spring 96. Spring 96 and spring 90 exert opposing tension on shaft 40. Thus, the counterbalancing mechanism 20 serves to compensate for the weight of each of the lever and handle assemblies 14 and connecting linkage 16 as the shaft 40 turns in either direction. It is contemplated that the springs 90, 96 would be arranged so that they would never be completely at rest. 
     The main shaft 40 further carries an arm stop 98 (See FIG. 6) which has a pair of bevelled end surfaces 100, 102. Victory in an arm wrestling match using the machine occurs when one of the bevelled surfaces comes into contact with the plate 22 as shown in phantom in FIG. 6. 
     FIG. 6 further shows the operation of connecting linkage 16, which serves to maintain each pair of lever and handle assemblies 14 in the same pivotal alignment. Lever 42 and connecting arm 52 are both secured to main shaft 40 and thus pivot simultaneously. Similarly, lever 104 and connecting arm 54 are connected to shaft 56 and pivot simultaneously. Preferably, connecting arms 50 and 54 are the same length and are pivotally secured to connecting bar 52 at the same radial distance from the shaft so that each lever and handle assembly moves in simultaneous and equal relationship to the other, all as shown in FIG. 6. 
     In practice, prior to a match, arm centering device 16 is adjusted by means of the nut and washer assemblies 76, 78 to provide the desired degree of downwardly directed force via compression springs 80 on the spring biased bar 66. Competitors line up on opposite sides of table 12, so that two members of one team each grip a first set of lever and handle assemblies 14; namely levers 42 and 104, and two members of the other team each grip a second set of lever and handle assemblies 14: namely levers 44 and 106. Upon commencement of a match, each contestant attempts to force the opponents&#39; arms in a direction away from the opponents&#39; palms by pivoting his lever and grip assembly 14. Each of the lever and grip assemblies of the first set cooperate against the lever and grip assemblies of the second set, and each of the lever and grip assemblies of the second set cooperate against the lever and grip assemblies of the first set. As the shafts 40, 56 move in a given direction, the counterbalancing mechanism 20 compensates for the weight of the lever and handle assemblies 14 and connecting linkage 16 by extending one of springs 90 or 96 which in turn exerts a greater force on main shaft 40. A match is concluded when one of the bevelled surfaces 100, 102 comes into contact with plate 22. 
     At the conclusion of a match, it will be appreciated that shaft 40 has been rotated to a point wherein an arcuate portion of the collar 62 is in engagement with the underside of the spring biased bar 66. When the competitors release their respective lever grips, the springs 90, 96 provided with the counterbalancing mechanism serve to urge the shaft 40 back into its centered rest position shown in FIG. 4A. As the collar 62 approaches this position, it will be appreciated that the bar 66 is slightly raised in opposition to compression springs 80 until the surface 64 comes into alignment with the bottom surface of the bar 66. At this point, compression springs 80 forceably direct the bar 66 into face-to-face engagement with the flattened portion of the collar to hold the lever grip assemblies 14 in their centered, upright locations. 
     It will be further appreciated that additional shafts and lever and handle assemblies 14 may be added and connected to the machine by means of connecting linkage 16 in order to provide additional stations for the addition of team members. Thus, any number of contestants may compete on a single machine by adding successive connecting linkages 16, shafts, and lever and handle assemblies 14.