Patent Publication Number: US-2012028770-A1

Title: Portable exercise device and method

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES 
     The present application claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 61/369,687 filed on Jul. 31, 2010, by Leighton Barchi, entitled “Double Up Revolutionary Pull-Up Bar”, the entire contents of which are fully incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates to a portable, personal exercise device, and more particularly to a personal exercise device that allows for the rotation of the hands, wrists, and/or arms during the exercise. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Presently, there is an increased awareness of the importance of good health. The medical industry has made significant technological advances, and people are more aware of the positive effect that proper diet and exercise can have on life expectancy. Toward that end, an increasing number of people closely monitor their diets and participate in some form of physical exercise in order to maintain their health and increase their chances of living longer. 
     The active and busy lifestyles of many individuals often necessitate an exercise program that can be completed in a short period of time without having to travel a long distance to a gym or other exercise facility. The ability to exercise outdoors in one&#39;s neighborhood is often negatively impacted by adverse weather conditions, limited number of daylight hours, traffic, and the prevalence of criminal activity. Therefore, indoor exercise in one&#39;s home, office or hotel room is often the best and most convenient choice for a place to exercise. Perhaps the most common indoor exercises are pull-ups and chin-ups. Such types of exercise require minimum equipment in terms of size and cost. Pull-ups and chin-ups may be done on any convenient horizontal bar or support which may be grasped by a user. Such activities may be performed using any number of devices of modest cost and size that may be mounted with respect to a door opening. The great majority of devices of this type requires coupling through screws or the like to the periphery of a door opening. Such coupling, however, normally involves defacing of the door that leaves an unsightly appearance when the device is removed. 
     One other disadvantage of a straight pull-up or chin-up bar is that it limits the number of exercises, and therefore, the number and type of muscles that can be exercised. Also, since the hands are in a static position during the pull-up or chin-up exercise, strain may be placed on the hands, wrist, arms, back, and chest while performing the exercise. In addition, there is no known portable exercise device that allows for performing a pull-up and/or chin-up while being able to rotate hands, wrist, and/or arms during the exercise. Such an exercise may lead to better training and exercise. 
     Therefore, there is a need for a portable exercise device that overcomes the above and other disadvantages. 
     SUMMARY 
     The disclosed invention relates to a portable exercise device comprising: a support member, configurable to be installed such that it is generally stationary when in use; a first rotatable hand grip device attached to the support member, the rotatable hand grip device comprising: a first housing attached to the support member; a first grip rotatable within the first housing, the rotation taking place generally within an imaginary plane that is generally perpendicular to the direction of earth&#39;s gravity, and where the first grip is generally sized so that a user&#39;s hand can grasp and hold on to the first grip; a second rotatable hand grip device attached to the support member, the rotatable hand grip device comprising: a second housing attached to the support member; a second grip rotatable within the second housing, the rotation taking place generally within an imaginary plane that is generally perpendicular to the direction of earth&#39;s gravity, and where the second grip is generally sized so that a user&#39;s hand can grasp and hold on to the second grip. 
     The invention also relates to a method of using a portable exercise device with rotating grips, the method comprising: grasping grips in a chin-up position; pulling body up towards the grips; rotating grips into a pull-up position; finishing pulling body to the top of the exercise position, but with hands in a pull-up position; beginning to lower body back to a starting position; rotating the grips of both hands back to a chin-up position; and completing a repetition of the exercise back at the start position, with hands in a chin-up position. 
     The invention, in addition, relates to a method of using a portable exercise device with rotating grips, the method comprising: grasping grips in a pull-up position; pulling body up towards the grips; rotating grips into a chin-up position; finishing pulling body to the top of the exercise position, but with hands in a chin-up position; beginning to lower body back to a starting position; rotating the grips of both hands back to a pull-up position; and completing a repetition of the exercise back at the start position, with hands in a pull-up position. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present disclosure will be better understood by those skilled in the pertinent art by referencing the accompanying drawings, where like elements are numbered alike in the several figures, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a front view of the disclosed portable exercise device; 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of the disclosed portable exercise device with the grips rotated about 180′; 
         FIG. 3  is a cut away view of the disclosed portable exercise device; 
         FIG. 4  is a cut away view of the disclosed portable exercise device with the grips rotated about 180°; 
         FIG. 5  is bottom view of the disclosed portable exercise device; 
         FIG. 6  is a bottom view of the disclosed portable exercise device with the grips rotated about 180°; 
         FIG. 7  is a top view of the disclosed portable exercise device; 
         FIG. 8  is a side view of the disclosed portable exercise device; 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of one rotatable hand grip device; 
         FIG. 10  is a top view of one end of the disclosed portable exercise device; 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of one embodiment of the disclosed portable exercise device attached to a doorway; 
         FIG. 12  is a front view of the disclosed portable exercise device installed in a doorway; 
         FIG. 13  is a flowchart illustrating a disclosed method; and 
         FIG. 14  is a flowchart illustrating another disclosed method. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  discloses a side view of the portable exercise device  10  being used by a user  14 , the user&#39;s two arms shown  18 ,  22 . The device comprises a support member  26 . The device  10  may be configured to removeably attach to any structure that is suitable for supporting a user, such as, but not limited to a wall, ceiling, stairs, door, doorway, or door jamb. Examples of attachment means are shown in  FIGS. 11 and 12 . The device comprises a first and second connecting members  30 ,  34 . In one embodiment, the connecting members  30  and  34  may be fixed to the support member  26 . In other embodiments, the connecting members  30 ,  34  may be slideably attached to the support member  26  and locked in place by the user using any suitable locking means, including, but not limited to: set screws; collars, locking pins; etc. Attached to each of the connecting members  30 ,  34  is a rotatable hand grip device  38 ,  42 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the user&#39;s two hands  46 ,  50  are grasping or holding on to the rotatable hand grip devices  38 ,  42 . In  FIG. 1 , the user&#39;s hands  46 ,  50  are orientated so that the palms are generally facing in the same direction as the user&#39;s face, or in other words, the user is in position to do a pull-up. In  FIG. 2 , the user&#39;s hands rotated a grip within each of the rotatable hand grip devices  38 ,  42  in an “inward” direction so now the palms of the hands  46 ,  50  generally face in a direction opposite the user&#39;s face. The rotatable hand grip devices  38 ,  42 , may be spaced apart to be generally shoulder width apart with respect to a user. The distance between the rotatable hand grip devices  38 ,  42  may range from about zero inches to about 40 inches, and preferably will range from about 22 inches to about 26 inches. 
       FIG. 3  shows a cutaway view through the rotatable hand grip devices  38 ,  42 . In this view, one can see the grips  54 ,  58  in each of the rotatable hand grip devices  38 ,  42 . Those grips  54 ,  58 , in one embodiment, rotate with respect to the housing  62 ,  66  of the rotatable hand grip devices  38 ,  42 . The grips  54 ,  58  may be knurled, or may have cushioning. The grips  54 ,  58  rotate generally in an imaginary plane that is parallel to the local surface of the earth, or if the local surface of the earth is irregular, the imaginary plane is generally perpendicular to the direction of the force of gravity. The grips  54 ,  58  are generally sized so that a user&#39;s hand can grasp and hold on to either of the grips  54 ,  58 , when doing an exercise such as a pull-up or a chin-up, or a combination of both. The housings  62 ,  66  are generally non-rotatable with respect to the support member  26  and the connecting members  30 ,  34 .  FIG. 4  shows the grips  54 ,  58  rotated generally about 180° with respect to the  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 5  shows a bottom cross-sectional view through the rotatable hand grip devices  38 ,  42 . The support member  26 , in this view, can be seen to comprise two parallel bars  27 ,  28 . However, in other embodiments, the support member  26  may comprise a single bar. In this view, the first grip  54  is shown attached to a first inner race  70 . A first outer race  74  is attached to the first housing  62  (First housing  62  is not shown for clarity). A set of rolling elements  78  is located between the first inner race  70  and first outer race  74 . The rolling elements  78  may be any suitable type of rolling element, including, but not limited to, balls, cylindrical rollers, needle rollers, tapered rollers, and spherical rollers. The inner race, outer race, and rolling elements thusly form a bearing. Hence, the first grip  54  can rotate with the first inner race  70  with respect to the first outer race  74  and the support member  26 . Similarly, the second grip  58  is shown attached to a second inner race  82 . A second outer race  86  is attached the second housing  66  (second housing  66  is not shown for clarity). A set of rolling elements  78  are located between the second inner race  82  and second outer race  86 . Thus, the second grip  58  can rotate with the second inner race  82  with respect to the second outer race  86  and the support member  26 .  FIG. 6  shows the grips  54 ,  58  rotated about 90° with respect to the grips in  FIG. 5 . In this embodiment the grips  54 ,  58  can rotate freely with respect to the outer races  74 ,  86 . 
       FIG. 7  is a top view of the disclosed portable exercise device  10 . In this view, the ends of the support member can be seen, and, in one embodiment, the two parallel bars  27 ,  28  may attach to each other via U-shaped connections  90 ,  94 . In the shown embodiment, the U-shaped connections  90 ,  94  may be cushioned, to make the U-shaped connections more suitable for performing exercises. In addition, the cushions will help protect the walls, door jamb, doorway, or moldings when using the device for chin-ups, pull-ups, or other exercises, see  FIGS. 11 and 12 . In still other embodiments, the two parallel bars  27 ,  28  may not be in direct connection at all, see  FIG. 10 , for example. In this view, the first and second connecting members  30 ,  34 , are shown connecting the parallel bars  27 ,  28  to the housings  62 ,  66  of each of the rotatable hand grip device  38 ,  42 . In one embodiment, the first and second connecting members  30 ,  34  may be made out of any suitable material, including but not limited to: bent sheet metal, and molded plastic. The first and second connecting members  30 ,  34  may be connected to the housings  62 ,  66  via any suitable attachment means  90  including but not limited to rivets, screws, welds, adhesive, etc. In addition, the first and second connecting members  30 ,  34  may also be connected to the support member  26  via any suitable attachment means  94  including but not limited to rivets, screws, welds, adhesive, etc.  FIG. 8  is a side view of the device  10  from  FIG. 7 .  FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of the rotatable hand grip device  38 . In this view, the inner race  70  may have a channel  98  for the bearings  78 , which will allow the bearings to handle radial loads, but will also allow the bearings to handle axial loads, such as the load generated by a user hanging from the grips  54 ,  58 . The channel  98 , therefore may be slightly offset from the radial plane of rotation, such that it will be angled from the radial plane of rotation by about 30° to about 60° and preferably about 45°, see angle α in  FIG. 9 . Also seen in this view, the attachment means  94 , may be a rivet that attaches the connecting member  38 , to the bars  27 ,  28 , and to the housing  62  or first outer race  74 . 
       FIG. 10  is another embodiment of the disclosed portable exercise device  10 . However, in this embodiment, the two parallel bars  27 ,  28  are not connected by a U-shaped connection, but rather simply may terminate without connecting to each other. In this embodiment, the terminal ends of the each of the bars  27 ,  28  may have cushions  98 . 
       FIG. 11  shows an embodiment of the attachment means for attaching the device  10  to a doorway  102 . The attachment means may be similar to that used by other pull-up bars, such as the Pro Fit Iron Gym Pull Up Bar, which uses leverage to hold itself to the doorframe.  FIG. 11  shows that the two parallel bars  27 ,  28  are attached via attachment means  122 ,  126  to a first curved member  106 , and a second curved member  110 , respectively. The attachment means may be any suitable attachment means, including, but not limited to, welds, machine screws, rivets, screws and bolts, adhesive. Attached to the top of both curved members is a bumper member  114 . As shown, the bumper member  114  rests on top of the molding  118  in the door frame.  FIG. 12  shows a view from the other side of the doorframe, and, in this view, the cushioned U-shaped attachment means  90 ,  94  are against the molding  122  of the other side of the door way. 
     The disclosed portable exercise may be used in many ways.  FIG. 13  shows just one method of use. At act  200  the user grasps the grips in a pull-up position, that is with palms of the hand facing away from the user. At act  204 , the user pulls his body up towards the grips or exercise device. At act  208  the user rotates the grips into a chin-up position, that is with his palms facing towards him. At act  212  the user has pulled himself to the top of the exercise position, but with his hands in a chin-up position. At act  216 , the user begins to lower his body back to the starting position. At act  220 , the user rotates the grips of both hands back to a pull-up position, that is with the palms of his hands again facing away from him. At act  224  the user completes the first repetition of his exercise back at the start position, with his hands in the pull-up position, and at the bottom of the exercise. 
       FIG. 14  shows another exercise the user may perform. At act  228  the user grasps the grips in a chin-up position, that is with palms of the hand facing the user. At act  232 , the user pulls his body up towards the grips or exercise device. At act  236  the user rotates the grips into a pull-up position, that is with his palms facing away from him. At act  240  the user has pulled himself to the top of the exercise position, but with his hands in a pull-up position. At act  244 , the user begins to lower his body back to the starting position. At act  248 , the user rotates the grips of both hands back to a chin-up position, that is with the palms of his hands again facing toward him. At act  252  the user completes the first repetition of his exercise back at the start position, with his hands in the chin-up position, and at the bottom of the exercise. 
     The disclosed invention has many advantages. The disclosed portable exercise device allows a person to do pull-ups on independently-rotating grips or hand-holds. The rotatability of the grips allows the user to do front pull-ups: pull-ups with pronated palms facing away; rotate both hands simultaneously to do under-handed chin-ups: pull-ups with supinated palms facing the body; mixed-grip pull-ups (one hand front, one hand under); rotating a single hand during a pull-up from front to under; and alternate hand pivots during an exercise. The portable exercise device allows a user to engage more muscle groups during a single pull-up set without changing grips. The disclosed device allows one to rotate the grips so one can start in a chin-up position, rotate to a pull-up position, and back to a chin-up position, all during the execution of pulling oneself up to the bar/grips, thereby exercising many more muscles as compared to doing a straight pull-up or a straight chin-up. Of course, one will recognize that a user can start in a pull-up position, rotate to a chin-up position, and so forth, during the execution of pulling oneself up to the bar/grips. 
     It should be noted that the terms “first,” “second,” and “third,” and the like may be used herein to modify elements performing similar and/or analogous functions. These modifiers do not imply a spatial, sequential, or hierarchical order to the modified elements unless specifically stated. 
     While the disclosure has been described with reference to several embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the disclosure. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the disclosure without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the disclosure not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this disclosure, but that the disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.