Patent Publication Number: US-2013252790-A1

Title: Upper body exercise device

Description:
FIELD 
     The following description relates generally to exercise equipment, and more particularly to upper body exercise devices. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Fitness experts and athletes are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of a strong “core” to overall fitness and athletic ability. Among the most important core muscles are muscles in the chest, back and arms, as well as the abdominal muscles. These upper body muscles can be exercised without the use of any exercise equipment, for example by doing pushups, chin-ups, abdominal crunches or sit-ups. However, performing these exercises poses risk of injury, especially to the lower back, if the person does not use proper technique and/or is not in good physical shape. Although exercise machines specifically designed to exercise upper body muscles are common, these machines are often very expensive and occupy a great deal of space in a room. It is therefore desirable to provide a piece of fitness equipment that allows people to exercise their upper body muscles safely using consistent form, but without the need for an overly-complex, expensive or large machine. 
     One example of a known upper body exercise device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,162 to Landers et al. However, the device disclosed in Landers et al. is relatively large and bulky. Further, it lacks the ability to be converted into a storage configuration that occupies less space relative to its exercise configuration. Finally, the Landers et al. device also does not provide the user with any feedback such as a count of repetitions. Accordingly, there remains a need for an upper body exercise device that allows users to safely perform upper body exercises, but that also occupies a small amount of space in storage and provides feedback to the user. 
     SUMMARY 
     The following simplified summary is provided in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the claimed subject matter. This summary is not an extensive overview, and is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope of the claimed subject matter. Its purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. 
     In one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, an upper body exercise device includes a central tube supported at a first height by at least two legs. A pair of wings is hingedly connected to the central tube. Each wing includes a pair of parallel arcuate rails, each rail having an outer end opposite the central tube, and each rail having a nadir at a second height lower than the first height. A strut connects the outer ends of the pair of parallel arcuate rails, and two rail legs support the outer ends of the pair of parallel arcuate rails. A hand slider is slidably supported on top of the pair of parallel arcuate rails of each of the pair of wings. Each hand slider includes a grip and a friction mitigation unit connected to the grip. Each hand slider is slidable along the pair of parallel arcuate rails between the central tube and the outer ends of the pair of parallel arcuate rails. The pair of wings are rotatable about the central tube between an active exercise configuration and a storage configuration. 
     In some embodiments, the friction mitigation unit of each hand slider is a pair of wheels or a low-friction pad. Each hand slider may also include a pair of end caps in which the friction mitigation unit is mounted. The grip may be rotatably connected to the end caps. Wheels may be mounted in the end cap spaced below the grip and equidistant from each other. Each hand slider may also include a repetition counter that counts the number of repetitions completed by the user. Finally, in some embodiments, the outer ends the pair of parallel arcuate rails are at the same height as the central tube. 
     To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the claimed subject matter may be employed and the claimed subject matter is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features may become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an upper body exercise device, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a front elevation view of the upper body exercise device of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a top plan view of the upper body exercise device of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a front elevation view of the upper body exercise device of  FIG. 1 , shown in a storage configuration. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an enhanced version of the upper body exercise of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, an upper body exercise device includes a central tube connected to two wings. Each wing includes a pair of parallel arcuate rails that slidably supports a hand slider. The rails serve as guide tracks for the hand sliders. The central tube and the outer ends of the wings are elevated and the arcuate rails have a nadir between the central tube and the outer end of the rails. The user can perform a wide variety of exercises by placing his or her hands on the hand sliders and working to move the sliders along the track against the resistance provided by the user&#39;s bodyweight. 
       FIGS. 1-3  show a perspective view of one embodiment of an upper body exercise device in an active exercise configuration.  FIG. 4  shows the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-4  in a collapsed storage configuration. Upper body exercise device  10  includes central tube  12  which is supported at a predetermined height above of the floor by central legs  14 . A pair of wings  20  is hingedly connected to central tube  12  by hinge  21 . In this embodiment, both wings  20  are identical, although that is not necessarily the case in all embodiments. Each wing  20  slidably supports one hand slider  30 . Again, in this embodiment, the two hand sliders  30  are identical, but in other embodiments the hand sliders may be different from each other. 
     Each wing  20  is formed from a pair of parallel arcuate rails  22  which are connected to one another near their outer ends by strut  24 . As used herein, the term “outer end” refers to the end of wing  20  or parallel arcuate rails  22  furthest from central tube  12 . The outer ends of parallel arcuate rails  22  are connected to, or bent to form, rail legs  26 . A second strut, such as interior strut  28 , may also connect parallel arcuate rails  22  in order to provide increased structural rigidity. Rail legs  26  support the outer ends of parallel arcuate rails  22  at a predetermined height above the floor. In this embodiment, the outer ends of parallel arcuate rails  22  are supported at substantially the same height above the floor as central tube  12 . Due to the arcuate shape of rails  22 , there is a low point (nadir  40 ) between the outer ends of the rails and central tube  12 . Thus, hand sliders  30  will tend to gravitate toward nadir  40  when the user is at rest. 
     Each hand slider  30  includes grip  32  and two end caps  34 . Grip  32  is rotatably mounted between end caps  34  so that the user&#39;s hand does not have to slide around grip  32  as hand slider  32  moves along parallel arcuate rails  22 . For example, grip  32  may be connected to end caps  34  via a rotatable bearing. A friction mitigation unit, such as a pair of wheels  36 , is used to decrease the friction between hand sliders  30  and parallel arcuate rails  22  so that hand sliders  30  slide along parallel arcuate rails  22  more easily. Alternatively, or in addition to wheels  36 , the friction mitigation unit may include a low-friction pad. Additionally, parallel arcuate rails  22  may be lubricated to further decrease friction. In this embodiment, two wheels  36  are mounted on bearings in end caps  34  below grip  32  and equidistant from one another. In other words, the axes of wheels  36  and grip  32  are all parallel to one another and arranged in a triangular configuration (when viewed from a plane orthogonal to the axes), with grip  32  at the apex of the triangle and wheels  36  forming the two base points of the triangle. This triangular configuration of the axes of wheels  36  and grip  32 , especially when forming an equilateral or isosceles triangle, is a particularly stable configuration that allows for smooth travel of hand slider  30  along parallel arcuate rails  22 . 
     To further increase the stability of hand slider  30 , wheels  36  may have a smaller diameter at their centers than at their ends. This tapered profile mirrors the profile of parallel arcuate rails  22  so that wheels  36  tend to stay engaged with parallel arcuate rails  22  even if the user fails to push hand slider  30  in precisely the same direction as parallel arcuate rails  22 . Finally, end caps  34  may also be provided with a protruding lip on their lower edge which extends underneath parallel arcuate rails  22 . This lip prevents hand slider  30  from becoming disengaged from parallel arcuate rails  22  even if the user attempts to life hand slider  30  from parallel arcuate rails  22 . 
     As mentioned above, each wing  20  is hingedly connected to central tube  12 . This hinged connection may be accomplished using hinge  21 . Alternatively the inner ends of parallel arcuate rails  22  may include short sleeve portions with a diameter slightly larger than central tube  12 . These sleeves may be placed over central tube  12  so that parallel arcuate rails  22  are rotatable about central tube  12 . One advantage of the hinged connection between wings  20  and central tube  12  is that it allows upper body exercise device  10  to have both an active exercise configuration (shown in  FIGS. 1-3 ) and a collapsed storage configuration (shown in  FIG. 4 ). A locking mechanism such as a locking pin may be provided to temporarily lock upper body exercise device  10  in either the exercise or storage configurations. 
     Upper body exercise device  10  is primarily used for exercising the chest, arm, shoulder, back and abdominal muscles. hi one possible exercise, the user assumes a pushup position with his or her hands gripping hand sliders  30 . The user can then exercise the upper body by moving hand sliders  30  alternately toward and away from central tube  12 . In this embodiment, all of the resistance is provided by the user&#39;s bodyweight. In other embodiments, however, elastic resistance elements may be attached to hand sliders  30  in order to increase the difficulty of the exercises. in another possible exercise, the user is aligned perpendicular to central tube  12  at one end of upper body exercise device  10 . The user places both hands on one hand slider  30  then leans forward into a prone position, thereby sliding hand slider  30  away from the user along parallel arcuate rails  30 . The user completes the repetition by returning to the starting position, with the user&#39;s hands closer to the body and rear end in the air. 
     One aspect of upper body exercise device  10  that improves the quality of the user&#39;s workout is the arcuate shape of parallel arcuate rails  22 . Instead of traveling in a straight line in a horizontal plane, hand sliders  30  travel in a gradual arc. This arcuate range of motion more closely mimics the natural motion of the human body as compared with a straight horizontal line. In this embodiment parallel arcuate rails  22  have approximately a 46 inch radius. It is to be understood, however, that smaller or larger radii of parallel arcuate rails  22  are also contemplated. 
     An optional enhancement of upper body exercise device  10  is an electronic repetition counter, such as counter  40  shown in  FIG. 5 . In this embodiment, counter  40  is a liquid crystal display that displays the number of repetitions the user has completed during a current exercise routine. Counter  40  could also be configured to display other information such as a timer, calories burned, or a heart rate monitor. Counter  40  is in communication with a sensor (not shown) that can detect when hand slider  30  passes. For example, the sensor may be a magnetic sensor embedded in parallel arcuate rails  22  that detects the metal in hand slider  30  each time it passes, and then sends a signal to counter  40 . Alternatively, a sensor in one or more of wheels  36  may count the number of rotations the wheel makes. By comparing the number of rotations the wheel has made with the number of rotations required to travel the entire length of parallel arcuate rails  22 , the number of repetitions performed can be determined. This information could be wirelessly transferred to counter  40  using known wireless communication protocols. 
     The materials used to build upper body exercise device  10  are not critical. However, in one embodiment, central tube  12  and wings  20  are made from steel tubes. Although the dimensions of the various parts of upper body exercise device  10  are also not critical, in one embodiment central tube  12  has a four inch diameter and is twelve inches long. Central legs  14  are also made from four inch diameter steel tube and support central tube  12  five inches above the ground. Parallel arcuate rails  22  are made from approximately 26 inch long steel tubes with approximately a 1.5 inch diameter. In this embodiment, parallel arcuate rails  22  are spaced about ten inches apart across their entire lengths. Hand sliders  30 , particularly end caps  34 , may also be made from steel, though grip  32  may be rubber or rubber over a steel core. Wheels  36  are made from rubber, polyurethane, or any other suitable material. 
     What has been described above includes examples of one or more embodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the aforementioned embodiments, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of various embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the described embodiments are intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.