Patent Publication Number: US-2020298047-A1

Title: Front Speed/Resistance Attachment

Description:
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/600,620, filed on Feb. 27, 2017 and the benefit of this earlier filing date is therefore accorded for all matter common therewith. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an attachment arrangement extending a pair of elastic bands or tethers each stretched from a back harness to a respective thigh of the user for providing resistance to the forward movement of the user&#39;s legs. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     In my prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,931, issued Mar. 30, 1993, I have described an exercise apparatus in which a rolling frame is trailed behind a user to fix the ends of a set of elastomeric bands, or straps, that at their other ends each respectively attach to the arms and legs to elastically restrain the forward motion of each of these limbs while running. Thereafter I described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,427, issued to me on Nov. 25, 2003, an improved form of the foregoing elastometric restraint arrangement in which the elastic band is branched to the legs from a single elastic strap extending rearward to an attachment at the end of a treadmill, with the single elastic strap delayed in its motion by the lagging motion of fabric panel to align the strap out of the way of the user&#39;s other leg, an improvement that was then carried over for use on a track by way of a roller supported trailing frame described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,958,030 that was issued to me on Aug. 16, 2011. 
     Each of the foregoing stem from my observation, and also the observations of many others, that any neuromuscular movement sequence of a human body follows predictable, coordinated patterns dictated by the anatomical disposition of the muscle groups involved in the movement, their skeletal attachments, their various elastic coefficients, mass distribution, moments of inertia, and so on, as it is these interrelationships that were earlier honed by evolution to make us the highly efficient, bipedal species that we are. Of course, improvement by training of such coordinated muscle groups is best achieved by their natural repetition while their main muscle group effort is enhanced. In this manner the muscle group involved in the running movement, for example, is best trained while running the main thigh muscles loaded by an elastic restraint to a higher effort to extend the distance of the runner&#39;s gait, as in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 7,998,030, with the remainder of the muscle complement then following suit. 
     In the past such elastic restraints were typically deployed between one and another part of the user&#39;s body, as for example, the resistance attachment disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,280,365 to Weber et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,314,437 to Frappier; U.S. Pat. No. 7,850,583 to Smith; and many others, or the restraint is affixed to a stationary object, as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,612,845 to Macri et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,087,001 to Ihli; and others. While suitable for the purposes intended, each of the foregoing limits the extent of its use by its very nature and their application is wholly inapposite to train the wholly unconstrained movement of running, or particularly bicycling, movement that is characterized by well coordinated muscle groupings that achieve a well-reinforcing gait or cyclic pattern from their common coefficients of restitution resulting from coordinated and matching mass-elastic coefficients and dynamic responses of the whole muscle group. 
     An elastic restraint arrangement useful in developing and strengthening the coordinated movements that complement the operation of a matched carriage like a bicycle are therefore extensively desired and it is one such arrangement that is disclosed herein. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is the general purpose and object of the present invention to provide of a set of elastic restraint straps adjustable to stretch between the back harness and the thighs of the user to provide resistive forces to the downward and forward movement of the user&#39;s legs. 
     Yet other and further objects of the present invention shall become apparent upon review of the description following in conjunction with the illustrations appended. 
     The previous U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,652,437, 5,397,931 and 9,446,278 issued to me illustrate that the resistance is exerted with the upward motion of the legs. Briefly, these and other objects are accomplished within the present invention by exerting resistance with the downward motion while the elastomeric bands help lift the legs faster before the legs come down again to exert resistance. 
     The elastic straps are selectively grasped and pulled over the shoulders and inserted through one of the thigh straps hoops on both thighs and back up again into fasteners attached to the elastic straps thereby achieving an adjustable resistance as the fasteners are locked. The elastic hoop that is cinched around the corresponding thigh of the user, thereby provides a resistance tension opposing the downward and forward part of the leg and vertical movements assisting the upward effort over the return part of the leg. In this manner the muscular stress level involved in the forward movement is enhanced while the effort of the muscle group of the return stroke is reduced. 
     Those skilled in the art will appreciate that an organism developed in an evolutionary setting will flourish if its several components, as a group, maximize its energy consumption efficiency and a conservative running gait, as well as the cyclic repetitions of the present invention that maximize rebound energy, otherwise referred to as maximizing its coefficient of restitution, will prevail. An exercise mechanism that imposes a biasing load by resisting the forward motion of the whole muscle group will inherently bias this efficiency towards a faster rate, a result that has been and continues to be heuristically supported. Thus the instant invention results in a bias towards faster movement down the track, providing a convenient mechanism for those training for competition. Of course, any significant modification of muscular movement sequences can only be achieved through extensive repetition thus extending the possible training intervals to a point where the mechanism of fatigue then resolve this muscular adaption to its most efficient form. Furthermore one will appreciate that these same motion aligning aspects are useful not only in the training of a sprinter but also in other competitive events like skating, walking, cross country skiing or cycling in which all unnecessary muscular movements only detract from the result. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is a perspective front view of a use provided with the inventive elastic restraint assembly conformed for selective downward and forward restraint of the thighs of the user mounted thereon; 
         FIG. 1B  is a perspective back view of the user shown in  FIG. 1A . 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective detail view, separated into parts illustrating the manner of attachment of the inventive restraint assembly; 
         FIG. 3A  is a perspective front view of a runner wearing the inventive restraint assembly while running; 
         FIG. 3B  is a perspective side view of the runner shown in  FIG. 3A ; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective front view of a bicyclist provided with the inventive elastic restraint assembly conformed for selective downward and forward restraint of the thighs of the bicyclist while mounted on a road bicycle; and 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective side view of a bicyclist provided with the inventive elastic restraint assembly conformed for selective downward and forward restraint of the thighs of the bicyclist mounted on a stationary bicycle. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     As shown in  FIG. 1A , the inventive restraint assembly comprises a first and second elastic restraint  1 - 1  and  1 - 2  each engaged at one end to a tension adjusting strap  2 - 1  and  2 - 2  and a tension adjusting strap fastener  3 - 1  and  3 - 2 . The other end of the tension adjusting strap  2 - 1  and  2 - 2  is inserted through one of the thigh strap loops  6 - 1  and  6 - 2  of the thigh straps  4 - 1  and  4 - 2 , which are fastened around the user&#39;s thighs by buckles  5 - 1  and  5 - 2 , respectively, then to the tension adjusting strap fastener  3 - 1  and  3 - 2  to adjust and lock the tension adjusting strap fastener  3 - 1  and  3 - 2  to maintain the adjusted tension. 
       FIG. 1B  is a perspective back view of the user show in  FIG. 1A . In  FIG. 1B  the other ends of the first elastic restraint  1 - 1  and the second elastic restraint  1 - 2  are engaged over the left and the right shoulders, respectively, of the user  100  to the back harness  7 . The bottom of the harness  7  is attached to the waist belt  8 . The waist belt  8  locks using belt buckle  9 , which may be a slide release buckle. 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective detail view, separated into components illustrating the manner of attachment of the inventive restraint assembly to a user. Shown in  FIG. 2  are a waist belt  8 , which has a belt buckle  9 , to which is attached a back harness  7 . Attached at the top of the back harness  7  are first elastic restraint  1 . 1  and second elastic restraint  1 . 2 , which stretch over a right shoulder and a left shoulder, respectively, of a user of the inventive restraint assembly. The other end of the first elastic restraint  1 . 1  and second elastic restraint  1 . 2  is connected to tension adjusting strap fastener  3 - 1  and tension adjusting strap fastener  3 - 2 , respectively, which may be, for example, adjustable strap buckles or tri-bar adjustable webbing sliders. 
     Also shown in  FIG. 2  are thigh straps  4 - 1  and  4 - 2 , which are fastened around the user&#39;s thighs by buckles  5 - 1  and  5 - 2 , respectively. Each of the thigh straps  4 - 1  and  4 - 2  comprises a loop strip  6 - 1  and loop strip  6 - 2 , respectively, which in one embodiment may be a fabric strip sewn in convolved loops to each thigh loop (In  FIG. 2 , each thigh strap has seven such loops). 
       FIG. 3A  is a perspective front view of a runner wearing the inventive restraint assembly while running. As in  FIG. 1A , the runner in  FIG. 3A  has fastened the waist belt  8  around his waist using belt buckle  9 , and first elastic restraint  1 - 1  and the second elastic restraint  1 - 2  are engaged over his left and the right shoulders. The lower ends of first elastic restraint  1 - 1  and the second elastic restraint  1 - 2  are connected to tension adjusting strap fastener  3 - 1  and tension adjusting strap fastener  3 - 2 , respectively, where, after adjustment, the lower ends of first elastic restraint  1 - 1  and the second elastic restraint  1 - 2  are connected to thigh strap  4 . 1  and thigh strap  4 . 2 , respectively, by way of D-ring  4 - 3  and D-ring  4 - 4 , respectively. 
     In this particular embodiment, D-ring  4 - 3  and D-ring  4 - 4  may be sewn or heat fused to loop  6 - 3  of loop strip  6 - 1  and loop  6 - 4  of loop strip  6 - 2 , respectively. The lower ends of tension adjusting strap  2 - 1  and tension adjusting strap  2 - 2  may be passed through D-ring  4 - 3  and D-ring  4 - 4 , respectively, and then passed through to tension adjusting strap fastener  3 - 1  and tension adjusting strap fastener  3 - 2 , respectively. In other embodiments, the tension adjusting strap fasteners  3 - 1  and  3 - 2  may each pass through an eyelet of a swivel clip (not shown) before being passed to the tension adjusting strap fasteners.  FIG. 3B  is a perspective side view of the runner shown in  FIG. 3A . 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective front view of a bicyclist provided with the inventive elastic restraint assembly with thigh straps around his thighs while mounted on a road bicycle, where the lower ends of the tension adjusting strap  2 - 1  and tension adjusting strap  2 - 2  are passed through a loop on the thigh straps  4 - 4 .  FIG. 5  is a perspective side view of a bicyclist provided with the inventive elastic restraint assembly mounted on a stationary bicycle where the lower ends of the tension adjusting straps pass through a D-ring on each thigh strap of the bicyclist before connection to tension adjusting strap fasteners. 
     The assembly is simple to produce, easily attached to the user. This simplicity and inherent safety are particularly useful in self training program with which anyone can adhere to. 
     Obviously many modifications and variations of the instant invention can be effected without departing from the spirit of the teaching herein. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be determined solely by the claims appended hereto.