Patent Publication Number: US-6659924-B1

Title: Tiltable twisting exerciser

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a twisting exerciser, especially to a tiltable twisting exerciser. The user can do the twisting exercise on a sloped surface. The sloped surface is adjustable. And, it can be easily switch to one of the four operation modes. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Referring to FIG. 1, it shows a traditional twisting exercising device. It includes a fixing base  91  and a rotatable horizontal disk  92  on the fixing base  91 . The user&#39;s both feet can stand on the horizontal disk  92  to do all kinds of twisting exercises. For example, the user can twist to the left and then twist to the right repeatedly as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. So, the basic horizontal twisting exercise can be achieved. 
     However, such left and right twisting is too monotonous and extremely tedious. 
     In addition, because both feet stand on a horizontal surface, there is no any stretching exercise or effect about the muscles of the user&#39;s legs. Thus, the leg exercising effect is quite limited. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary object of the present invention is to provide a tiltable twisting exerciser so that the user can do the twisting exercise on a sloped surface. The next object of the present invention is to provide a tiltable twisting exerciser. In which, its sloped surface is adjustable. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a tiltable exerciser that can be easily switched to one of the four operation modes. It has various exercising modes. 
     In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, the present invention comprises: 
     a base having a top surface and a bottom surface, a plurality of fixing recesses disposed on said top surface, a rotatable disk rotatable attached to and protruding from said bottom surface; and 
     a cover hinged on a first hinge portion of said base, said cover having an outer surface and an inner surface, a heel supporting portion disposed on said outer surface, a supporting portion hingably attached to a second hinge portion on said inner surface to allow rotation between a fold-in position and a fold-out position; wherein when said supporting portion is at the fold-in position, said supporting portion substantially contacts said inner surface so that said cover is positioned in a substantially horizontal position; when said supporting portion is at the fold-out position, one edge of said support portion engages into a fixing recess so that said cover is in a tilted position. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the traditional twisting exerciser. 
     FIGS. 2A and 2B show the user twisting to the left and to the right respectively. 
     FIG. 3 is a side view of the present invention. 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the present invention. 
     FIG. 5 shows one exercising condition of this invention. 
     FIG. 6 shows another exercising condition of this invention. 
     FIG. 7 shows a hooking portion of this invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, this invention is a tiltable twisting exerciser. It mainly comprises a base  10  and a cover  20 . 
     With regard to the base  10 , it has a top surface  11  and a bottom surface  12 . A plurality of fixing recesses (or slots)  111  are disposed on the top surface  11 . A rotatable disk  13  is pivotally disposed on the bottom surface  12  and the rotatable disk  13  is slightly protruded over the bottom surface  12 . Furthermore, the bottom surface  12  of the base  10  includes at four receiving holes  121  (such as threaded holes) for inserting corresponding supporting elements  15  (such as threaded bolts) so that protruded lengths of the supporting elements  15  are adjustable. 
     The cover  20  is hinged on a first hinge portion  112  of the base  10 . The cover  20  has an outer surface  21  (to support a user standing on) and an inner surface  22 . A heel supporting portion  24  is disposed on the outer surface  21  for contacting the user&#39;s heels (to avoid slipping down). The supporting portion  23  is hinged on a second hinge portion  221  fixed on the inner surface  22  so as to rotate between a fold-in position (shown by the solid line in FIG. 4) and a fold-out position (shown by the phantom line in FIG.  4 ). Therefore, when the supporting portion  23  is at the fold-in position, said supporting portion substantially contacts (or is adjacent to) said inner surface so that said cover is substantially horizontal as shown in FIG.  3 . When the supporting portion  23  is at the fold-out position, one edge of the support portion  23  engages into a desired fixing recess  111  so that the cover  20  is tilted (to form a sloped surface so that the user can stand on) as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Besides, the supporting elements  15  are adjustable to make said rotatable disk  13  contact to a ground or separate from a ground. 
     For the user, there are four different operation modes. 
     About the first operation mode, as shown in FIG. 5, the user lifts up the cover  20  first. After which, the user folds out the supporting portion  23  and then inserts into a suitable fixing recess (or slot)  111 . So, it forms tilted condition having a tilting angle  0 . And, the rotatable disk  13  is separated from the ground with a distance H. Therefore, the base  10  and the cover  20  are fixed (and kept unmoved). At this time, the user can stand on the sloped cover  20 . It is very useful to stretch the muscles of the user&#39;s legs. If the user cooperates with other exercising movement for the user&#39;s body or hands, the overall exercising effect will be better. 
     About the second operation mode, referring to FIG. 6, the user lifts up the cover  20  first. After which, the user folds out the supporting portion  23  and then inserts into a suitable fixing recess (or slot)  111 . So, it forms tilted condition having a tilting angle θ. But, because the supporting elements  15  have been rotated into the corresponding receiving holes  121 , the rotatable disk  13  will contact to the ground. Thus, not only the user feels like standing on a slope, but also the entire base  10  and the cover  20  are rotatable. It will create a twisting exercising effect. Hence, the variety of the exercising is expanded. 
     Regarding the third operation mode, as shown in FIG. 3, the cover  20  is closed. And, the rotatable disk  13  is separated from the ground. The user can stand on the unmoved cover  20  as a flat exercising pad (such as for aerobic exercise). 
     Concerning the fourth operation mode, as illustrated in FIG. 3, all the supporting elements  15  are rotated into the corresponding the receiving holes  121  so that the rotatable disk  13  directly contacts with the ground (see the condition of the rotatable disk  13  shown in FIG.  6 ). Meanwhile, the entire base  10  and the cover  20  are rotatable so that it allows the user doing the twisting exercise. Therefore, this invention also can achieve the traditional function of the twisting exercise. 
     In addition, referring to FIG. 7, a pair of hooking portions  16  (it only shows one hooking portion in FIG. 7) is disposed on two opposite sides of the base  10 . Each hooking portion  16  has a hooking opening  161  and a hooking rod  162  so as to connect with one (or more) elastic exercising rope  80 . That is, the hook  81  of the elastic rope  80  can connect with the hooking rod  162 . Therefore, the user&#39;s hands can hold the other end (not shown) of the elastic rope  80  for exercising the arms. 
     The advantages and functions of the invention can be summarized as follows: 
     (1) The user can exercise on a sloped surface. By inserting the fold-out supporting portion  23  into a desired fixing recess  111 , the cover  20  will be fixed at a tilted or sloped condition. So, the stretching effect for the muscles of the user&#39;s legs is enhanced. If cooperating with other exercise about the body or arms, the combined exercising effect will be better. 
     (2) The sloped surface is adjustable. By inserting into a specific fixing recess  111 , a predetermined tilting angle will be obtained. Thus, the slope is adjustable. 
     (3) It is easy to switch to one of the four operation modes. This invention has four different operation modes. It can be easily switched. So, it is very convenient in use. 
     The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.