Patent Publication Number: US-9421415-B2

Title: Rope pulling exercise apparatus

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/013,046 filed on Aug. 29, 2013, and claims priority to Taiwan Application serial number 102204823, filed Mar. 15, 2013, and Taiwan Application serial number 102208756, filed May 10, 2013, which are herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to an exercise apparatus. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a rope pulling exercise apparatus. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Modern life can be very busy and exhausting. Many people are suffering from chronic fatigue because of lack of exercise. All kinds of exercise apparatus are thus invented and produced, to help people develop exercise habit or train different muscle group. 
     One of the most popular exercise apparatus is the sit-up board. Conventional sit-up board, however, is for only one kind of exercise, sit-up. Repeating the same sit-up exercise can be boring easily. Moreover, limited muscle groups can be trained or exercised provided conventional sit-up board. 
     Improved sit-up board therefore produced, with all kinds of additional functions. Some sit-up boards can adjust the decline angle. Some sit-up boards include a spring at the backup plate making doing sit-ups more easily. By adjusting or lowering the difficulty of doing exercise, people can enjoy more fun and confidence using the exercise apparatus. Nevertheless, the exercise mode and the muscle group trained are still limited. 
     Some exercise apparatus further combine multiple exercise machines into one apparatus, to provide versatile exercise mode, such as sit-up, rowing, running, weight training, etc. All these exercise modes can&#39;t be performed at one time though. One exercise is to be performed at one time. As a result, the muscle group trained is still limited in each exercise session. And since these exercises are standard and common, it can get boring easily and not ideal for those who start on developing an exercise hobby. Furthermore, usually this kind of “versatile” exercise apparatus are designed for intense training, but not for people who want to relaxing and developing an exercise hobby. When people get bored or frustrated, the exercise hobby can be difficult to cultivate. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a rope pulling exercise apparatus includes an exercise base, a rope base, a pivot base, a pivot-base pulley, a rope and a backrest rotatably. The rope base along an exercise direction has a first end and a second end, and the first end is connected to the exercise base. The pivot base is pivotally joined to the second end of the rope base. A swing direction of the pivot base is relative to the exercise direction. The pivot-base pulley is pivotally connected at the pivot base. The rope has one end connected to the rope base and the other end for pulling along the exercise direction, and the rope is wound around the pivot-base pulley. The backrest rotatably is disposed on the exercise base, and the backrest is driven synchronously with the rope. 
     According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a rope pulling exercise apparatus includes an exercise base, a rope base, two pulling sets and a backrest. The rope base along an exercise direction has a first end and a second end. The first end is connected to the exercise base. The two pulling sets are disposed side by side at the rope base. Each pulling set further includes a pivot base, a pivot-base pulley, and a rope. The pivot base is pivotally joined to the second end of the rope base, and a swing direction of the pivot base is relative to the exercise direction. The pivot-base pulley is pivotally connected to the pivot base. The rope has one end connected to the rope base and the other end for pulling along the exercise direction. The rope is wound around the pivot-base pulley. The backrest rotatably is disposed on the exercise base, and the backrest is driven synchronously with the rope. 
     According to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, a rope pulling exercise apparatus includes an exercise base, a rope base, two pulling sets and a backrest rotatably. The rope base along an exercise direction has a first end and a second end. The first end is connected to the exercise base, and the first end has a fixing part for determining a predetermined angle between the rope base and the exercise base. The two pulling sets are disposed side by side at the rope base. Each pulling set includes a pivot base, a pivot-base pulley, at least one intermediary pulley, a rope, and a pulling handle. The pivot base is pivotally joined to the second end of the rope base, and a swing direction of the pivot base is relative to the exercise direction. The pivot-base pulley is pivotally connected to the pivot base. The intermediary pulley is pivotally disposed at the first end or the second end of the rope base. The rope has one end connected to the rope base and the other end for pulling along the exercise direction. And the rope is wound around the intermediary pulley and the pivot-base pulley. The pulling handle is connected to the other end of the rope. The backrest rotatably is disposed on the exercise base, and the backrest is driven synchronously with the rope. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The disclosure can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to the accompanying drawings as follows: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a rope pulling exercise apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a partial perspective view of the rope base and the pulling sets of the rope pulling exercise apparatus of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the rope base and the pulling sets of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the rope base and the pulling sets of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a rope pulling exercise apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 5  in an operation state; 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 5  in another operation state; 
         FIG. 8  is a partial perspective view of the rope base and the pulling sets of a rope pulling exercise apparatus according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 9  is an exploded view of  FIG. 8 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a partial perspective view of the rope base and the pulling sets of a rope pulling exercise apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 11  is an exploded view of  FIG. 10 ; 
         FIG. 12  is a partial perspective view of the rope base and the pulling sets of a rope pulling exercise apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG. 13  is an exploded view of  FIG. 12 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a rope pulling exercise apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.  FIG. 2  is a partial perspective view of a rope base  200  and two pulling sets  300  of the rope pulling exercise apparatus of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 3  is an exploded view of  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 2 . 
     The rope pulling exercise apparatus includes an exercise base  100 , the rope base  200 , and the pulling sets  300 . The exercise base  100  can include a seat  110  and a backrest  120 , for performing sit-up exercise. The rope base along an exercise direction P has a first end  210  and a second end  220 . The first end  210  is pivotally connected to the exercise base  100 . The pulling sets  300  are disposed side by side at the rope base  200 . 
     Each pulling set  300  further includes three intermediary pulleys, a pivot base  340 , a pivot-base pulley  350 , and a rope  360 . The three intermediary pulleys are a first intermediary pulley  310 , a second intermediary pulley  320 , and a third intermediary pulley  330 . The first intermediary pulley  310  is pivotally disposed at the first end  210  of the rope base  200 . The second intermediary pulley  320  is pivotally disposed at the second end  220  of the rope base  200 . And the third intermediary pulley  330  is pivotally disposed at the first end  210  of the rope base  200 . An axial direction of the first intermediary pulley  310  and an axial direction of the third intermediary pulley  330  are parallel. 
     The pivot base  340  is pivotally joined to the second end  220  of the rope base  200 , and a swing direction R of the pivot base is relative to the exercise direction P. The pivot-base pulley  350  is pivotally connected to the pivot base  340 . The rope  360  has one end connected to the rope base  200 , and the rope  360  is wound around the pulleys in an order of the third intermediary pulley  330 , the second intermediary pulley  320 , the first intermediary pulley  310 , and the pivot-base pulley  350 . The other end of the rope  360  is for pulling along the exercise direction P. 
     When a user pulling the rope  360  along the exercise direction P, the pulling direction may be varied due to human&#39;s fatigue and unstable force output. As the pulling direction varying, the pivot base  340  can swing along the swing direction R, thus prevent the rope  360  from robbed. As a result, the wear of the rope  360  can be greatly prevented, and the life of the rope pulling exercise apparatus can be prolonged. 
     Furthermore, the rope  360  can be an elastic rope. The first end  210  of the rope base  200  can further have two fixing part  211 , for determining a predetermined angle between the rope base  200  and the exercise base  100 . It is worth to notice that the exercise base  100  does not require the seat  110  or the backrest  120 . The exercise base  100  would be efficient as far as being able to perform sit-up exercise. 
     Moreover, this embodiment of the rope pulling exercise apparatus shown in  FIGS. 1-4  adopts three intermediary pulleys, namely the first intermediary pulley  310 , the second intermediary pulley  320 , and the third intermediary pulley  330 . The quantity of the intermediary pulleys, however, is not limited by three, but can be three, two, one, or more than three. Other embodiments will be illustrated later. 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a rope pulling exercise apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. In addition to the structure shown in  FIG. 1 , the rope pulling exercise apparatus can further includes a pulling handle  400 . The pulling handle  400  can be connected to the other end of the rope  360 . The pulling handle  400  is for being gripped by the user to pull the rope  360  for exercising. 
       FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 5  in an operation state. The first end  210  of the rope base  200  can further have two fixing parts  211 . Each fixing part  211  is for fixing the rope base  200  to the exercise base  100 , so that the angle between the rope base  200  and the exercise base  100  can be a predetermined angle A. The fixing part  211  can be a slot or a hole. A pin  212  is also adopted to engage the fixing part  211 , so that the rope base  200  can be fixed to the exercise base  100  with the predetermined angle A. The user can sit on the seat  110 , rest his/her back on the backrest  120 , and grip the pulling handle  400 . 
       FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 5  in another operation state. Following the operation state shown in  FIG. 6 , the user sits on the seat  110 , lies down by pushing the backrest  120  down, and pulls the rope  360  by pulling the pulling handle  400  approximately in the exercise direction P. In brief, the backrest is pivoted on the exercise base so can be rotated by human&#39;s body, when the user pulls the rope  360 , the backrest will be clockwisely rotated. Thus the user can perform the exercise of lying down and rope pulling at the same time. 
     Attached Appendix 1 is the exercise program study for the embodiment of the present disclosure, and Appendix 2 is the testing report for the exercise program of Appendix 1. Please refer to tables 1a and 1b in Appendix 2, being considered with the condition that subjects only row the rope, rowing and leaning back simultaneously can produce greater muscle activity. Especially, in table 1a and 1b, the percentage difference between the two conditions of muscle activity of brachii and rectus are 123% and 220% for female, and 293% and 468% for male. 
     Moreover, in tables 2a and 2b in Appendix 2, doing crunches with leaning back can also produce greater muscle activity than doing the standard floor crunches. 
     The exercise of lying down mentioned above can be the lying part of the exercise sit-up. Therefore the user can exercise sit-up and rope pulling at the same time. It is worth to notice that the present disclosure is not limited for sit-up exercise. The present disclosure can be applied to any exercise required lying down. Hence the user can perform the exercise of lying down or stretching, and do rope pulling at the same time. Also, the exercise base  100  is not limited by the drawing, the exercise base  100  can be a sit-up board, a flat board, a curved board, a chair which is able to be leaning backward, a apparatus which is able to perform leaning backward. For example, an office chair can suffice as an exercise base  100 . Adopting the present disclosure to an office chair, so that a user can relax and stretch and pull the rope to exercise whenever he/she was tired just sitting. 
     The pulling handle  400  is for pulling the rope  360 . The pulling handle, however, is not limited by a hand grip. The pulling handle  400  can also be a mechanism to be fixed to the user&#39;s arm, shoulder, or limb. The pulling handle  400  is sufficient as long as being used for user to perform rope pulling. The handle  400  can be removable from the rope  360 . Therefore the handle  400  can be supplied with varies types, and the user can attach different type of handle to the rope  360  in different situation. Exercise versatility for rope pulling thus is provided. 
     The pivot-base pulley  350  is pivotally connected to the pivot base  340 . Thus when pulling the rope  360  to perform rope pulling exercise, the rope  360  can swing the pivot base  340  in swing direction R. (Please refer to  FIG. 2 .) So the rope  360  won&#39;t be wear easily. And the user can pull the rope  360  with smaller resistance, since the rope  360  won&#39;t be robbed by other element. The rope pulling exercise therefore can be performed more smoothly. 
     Furthermore, the first intermediary pulley  310 , the second intermediary pulley  320 , the third intermediary pulley  330 , and the pivot-base pulley  350  are all installed around the outer edge of the rope pulling exercise apparatus, so it is easy and convenient to repair or replace these parts. Only few elements needed to be uninstalled to reach the intermediary pulleys and the pivot-base pulley  350 . 
       FIG. 8  is a partial perspective view of the rope base  200  and the pulling sets  300  of a rope pulling exercise apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.  FIG. 9  is an exploded view of  FIG. 8 . Each pulling set  300  in the rope pulling exercise apparatus shown in  FIG. 8-9  includes two intermediary pulleys. The two intermediary pulleys are a first intermediary pulley  310  and a second intermediary pulley  320 . Other elements with the same number are the same as mentioned before. 
     The first intermediary pulley  310  can be disposed at the first end  210  of the rope base  200 . The second intermediary pulley  320  can be disposed at the second end  220  of the rope base  200 . The rope  360  can be connected to the first end  210  of the rope base  200 . The rope  360  is from the fixing location to extend along the exercise direction P and wound around in the order of the second intermediary pulley  320 , the first intermediary pulley  310 , and the pivot-base pulley  350 . Each pulling set  300  can further includes a pulling handle (not shown). The pulling sets  300  can be installed in a rope pulling exercise apparatus shown as  FIG. 1  or  FIG. 5  to replace the original pulling sets  300 . Thus the operation is similar to  FIGS. 6-7  and need not to be explained again here. 
     The embodiment disclosed in  FIGS. 8 and 9  can also provide a user to exercise sit-up and rope pulling at the same time. The pivot base  340  can also swing in the swing direction R. So the rope  360  won&#39;t be wear easily. And the user can pull the rope  360  with smaller resistance, since the rope  360  won&#39;t be robbed by other element. The rope pulling exercise therefore can be performed more smoothly. Moreover, the intermediary pulleys are installed around the outer edge of the rope pulling exercise apparatus, so it is easy and convenient to repair or replace the intermediary pulleys or parts. Only few elements needed to be uninstalled to reach the intermediary pulleys and the pivot-base pulley  350 . 
       FIG. 10  is a partial perspective view of the rope base  200  and the pulling sets  300  of a rope pulling exercise apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.  FIG. 11  is an exploded view of  FIG. 10 . Each pulling set  300  in the rope pulling exercise apparatus shown in  FIGS. 10 and 11  includes only one intermediary pulley, namely a first intermediary pulley  310 . Other elements with the same number are the same as mentioned before. 
     The first intermediary pulley  310  can be disposed at the first end  210  of the rope base  200 . The rope  360  can be connected to the second end  220  of the rope base  200 . The rope  360  is from the fixing location to extend along the exercise direction P and wound around in the order of the first intermediary pulley  310  and the pivot-base pulley  350 . Each pulling set  300  can further includes a pulling handle (not shown). The pulling sets  300  can be installed in a rope pulling exercise apparatus shown as  FIG. 1  or  FIG. 5  to replace the original pulling sets  300 . Thus the operation is similar to  FIGS. 6-7  and need not to be explained again here. 
     The embodiment disclosed in  FIGS. 10 and 11  can also provide a user to exercise sit-up and rope pulling at the same time. The pivot base  340  can also swing in the swing direction R. So the rope  360  won&#39;t be wear easily. And the user can pull the rope  360  with smaller resistance, since the rope  360  won&#39;t be robbed by other components. The rope pulling exercise therefore can be performed more smoothly. Moreover, the intermediary pulley is installed around the outer edge of the rope pulling exercise apparatus, so it is easy and convenient to repair or replace the intermediary pulley or other parts. Only few elements needed to be uninstalled to reach the intermediary pulley and the pivot-base pulley  350 . 
       FIG. 12  is a partial perspective view of the rope base and the pulling sets of a rope pulling exercise apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.  FIG. 13  is an exploded view of  FIG. 12 . Each pulling set  300  in the rope pulling exercise apparatus shown in  FIG. 12-13  includes no intermediary pulley. Other elements with the same number are the same as mentioned before. 
     The rope  360  can be connected to the first end  210  of the rope base  200 . The rope  360  is from the fixing location to extend along the exercise direction P and wound around the pivot-base pulley  350 . Each pulling set  300  can further includes a pulling handle (not shown). The pulling sets  300  can be installed in a rope pulling exercise apparatus shown as  FIG. 1  or  FIG. 5  to replace the original pulling sets  300 . Thus the operation is similar to  FIGS. 6-7  and need not to be explained again here. 
     The embodiment disclosed in  FIGS. 12 and 13  can also provide a user to exercise sit-up and rope pulling at the same time. The pivot base  340  can also swing in the swing direction R. So the rope  360  won&#39;t be wear easily. And the user can pull the rope  360  with smaller resistance, since the rope  360  won&#39;t be robbed by other components. The rope pulling exercise therefore can be performed more smoothly. Moreover, the pivot-base pulley  350  is installed around the outer edge of the rope pulling exercise apparatus, and it is easy and convenient to repair or replace the pivot-base pulley  350  or other parts. Only few elements needed to be uninstalled to reach the pivot-base pulley  350 . 
     Therefore, the number of the intermediary pulleys of a rope pulling exercise apparatus according to the present disclosure is not limited by one, two, or three. One skilled in the art can increase or decrease the number of the intermediary pulleys in different scenario, or even no intermediary pulley at all. No matter what the number of the intermediary pulleys is, a rope pulling exercise apparatus according to the present disclosure can provide a user to exercise sit-up and rope pulling at the same time. The pivot base can swing in the swing direction R, so the rope won&#39;t be wear easily. Thus the user can pull the rope smoothly. Moreover, the intermediary pulleys and the pivot-base pulley are installed around the outer edge of the rope pulling exercise apparatus, so it is easy and convenient to repair or replace the pulleys or other parts. 
     According to the foregoing embodiment and example, the advantages of the present disclosure are described as follows. 
     1. A user is able to exercise sit-up and rope pulling at the same time. As a result, the user can exercise and train multiple muscle groups at the same time, such as abdominal muscle and arm muscle. 
     2. The exercise versatility is increased. A user may simply lie down and relax. The user can do sit-ups, rope pulling, or sit-ups and rope pulling at the same time. Exercising can be more interesting and versatile. Using a rope pulling exercise apparatus according to the present disclosure can thus help people develop exercise habit. 
     3. The wear of the rope can be greatly prevented, and the life of the rope pulling exercise apparatus can be prolonged. Meanwhile, a user can do rope pulling more smoothly. 
     4. The repair and maintenance are both easy and convenient. 
     5. The storage is easy and space-saving. The rope base  200  can be closed with the exercise base  100 , i.e., the predetermined angle A can be zero. To store a rope pulling exercise apparatus according to the present disclosure is easy and required small space. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.