Patent Publication Number: US-6336892-B1

Title: Stabilizer apparatus for gymnastic bar assemblies

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Gymnastic devices, such as parallel bars, must be carefully braced by cables and the like to stabilize the entire gymnastic device during its use. This is conventionally accomplished by a series of cables which extend diagonally upwardly from a floor anchor for attachment to the vertical poles or supporting structure for the horizontal bars. With sufficient floor anchors and cables trussed in different configurations, sufficient stabilization of the bars is achieved. 
     However, conventional stabilization systems consume a large “footprint” on the floor space upon which the gymnastic apparatus is mounted. This sometimes limits the number of units that can be used within a given floor area, particularly in practice areas where floor space is more often at a premium. 
     It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a stabilizer apparatus for gymnastic bar assemblies which will consume a smaller floor area for stabilized gymnastic devices then afforded by existing equipment. 
     A further object of this invention is to provide a stabilizer apparatus for gymnastic bar assemblies that is easy to install and is safe to use. 
     These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A stabilizer apparatus for gymnastic bar assemblies has an elongated floor plate with outer and inner ends. A vertical post having upper and lower ends is pivotally secured by its lower end to the outer end of the floor plate. 
     A length adjustable bar having opposite ends extends between the upper end of the post and the inner end of the floor plate. The bar has opposite ends which are pivotally secured to the upper end of the post and the inner end of the plate. A pulley assembly is secured to the upper end of the post. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the stabilizer apparatus of this invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the device of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged elevational view of the subject matter of FIG. 1 surrounded by the line  3 — 3 ; 
     FIG. 4 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 but shows the apparatus in a position to create tension on the supporting cables; and 
     FIG. 5 is reduced scale plan view of the devices of FIGS. 1 through 4 interconnected with a gymnastic apparatus. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     A parallel bar assembly  10  (FIG. 5) is mounted on a conventional horizontal floor  11 . Two parallel flat floor bars  12  are bolted or otherwise secured to the floor  11  by conventional means. Post  14  and  15  have lower ends pivotally secured to the bars  12  and extend upwardly. A horizontal gymnastic bar  16  extends between posts  14  and a second horizontal bar  18  extends between posts  15 . The foregoing structure is conventional gymnastics equipment which has long been in existence. 
     Four stabilizer units  20  are mounted to the floor  11  to enable the structure described heretofore to be stabilized. A plan view of this arrangement is shown in FIG.  5 . Specifically, a stabilizer unit or apparatus  20  includes an elongated floor plate  22  having a inner end  24  and an outer end  26 . (FIG. 2) A cross bar  28 , (FIG.  2 ), is welded or otherwise secured to the outer end of the plate  22  and extends at right angles with respect to plate  22 . Washers  30  and floor bolts  32  extend through the cross bar  28  and the inner end  24  of plate  22  to affix the stabilizer apparatus  20  to the floor  11 . 
     An upstanding clevice  34  is secured to the outer end of plate  22  and a similar clevice  36  is rigidly secured to the inner end of plate  22  as best shown in FIG.  1 . 
     An upstanding post  38  has an upper end  40  and a lower end  42  (FIG.  1 ). A horizontal pivot bolt  44  pivotally secures the post  38  within clevice  34  to create a pivotal relationship between the posts and the clevice. A similar clevice  46  is welded or otherwise secured to the upper end of post  38 . A horizontal U-shaped link  48  is similarly rigidly secured to the upper end of post  38  above clevice  46  (FIG.  1 ). 
     A hollow square bar  50  is supported between the devices  36  and  46  as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. This is accomplished by upper eye bolt  50  and lower eye bolt  52  which are threadably secured within the ends of bar  50  by means of a threaded lug  51  which is rigidly secured within the opposite ends of bar  53  as best shown in FIG.  3 . The threads on eye bolts  50  and  52  are oppositely configured, (lefthand threads and righthand threads) as are the opposite lugs  51  so that rotation of the bar  53  with respect to the eye bolts  50  and  52  will cause each of the eye bolts, respectively, to simultaneously extend outwardly from the ends of bar  53  or to move inwardly with respect to the ends of bar  53 , depending upon the direction in which the bar  53  is rotated. Pivot bolts  54  and  56  extend through the eyelet portion of the eye bolts  50  and  52 , respectively, to prevent the eye bolts from rotating and to effect the connection of bar  50  between clevices  36  and  46 . 
     A pulley assembly  50  is movably connected to the link  48  at the top of each post  38 . Each pulley assembly is comprised of a U-shaped bracket  60  (FIG. 3) to which is secured a U-shaped link  62  which is in turn movably connected to link  48  in the same manner that two links of a chain are interconnected. A conventional pulley  64  is mounted to bracket  60  by pin  66 . A cable  68  of suitable length is threadably mounted around the periphery of pulley  64 , with the ends of each cable  68  being interconnected to selected components of the parallel bar assembly. Typically, the ends of cable  68  would be connected to the upper portions of the upstanding posts  14  and  15 . 
     In operation, four of the stabilizer units  20  are secured to the floor in close proximity to the parallel bar assembly as best shown in FIG. 5 by means of the anchor bolts  32  previously described. The cables  68  are threaded around pulleys  64  and are affixed to the post  14  and  15  of the parallel bar assembly. Then, each of the bars  53  are rotated to extend the length thereof as described above to effect tension on each of the cables  68  so as to provide balanced stabilizing forces on the parallel bar assembly. 
     It is seen that the device of this invention is easily installed and is easily connected to the parallel bar assembly. It is further evident that the stabilizing effect of the apparatus  20  by mere rotation of the bars  50  will accomplish the balanced stabilizing effect of the cables  68 . Further the stabilizing units  20  permit the parallel bar assembly  10  to be erected and used in relatively smaller floor area than the area needed by conventional equipment. Thus, this invention is seen to achieve all of its stated objectives.