Patent Publication Number: US-6702726-B2

Title: Compliant body-pressing exerciser

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to an exercise apparatus, more particularly to a compliant body-pressing exerciser which is rollable and which is detachably coupled to a seat frame for performing different exercising modes. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A conventional resilient ball for exercise is made of a deformable material to permit a user to lie on his back to exercise his upper body part, or to press his abdominal part against the ball while lifting his legs from the ground and placing his hands on the ground for exercising his arms. Another conventional balance exerciser has a spherical resilient member which is secured on a seat. The user can lie or stand on the spherical resilient member to perform abdominal part and balance exercises, respectively. It is desirable to provide a compliant body-pressing exerciser which is rollable on the ground and which can be retained from rolling to perform a wide variety of exercising modes. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the present invention is to provide a compliant body-pressing exerciser suitable for use when performing a wide variety of exercising modes. 
     According to this invention, the compliant body-pressing exerciser includes a bowl-shaped lower member and a dome-shaped upper member. The bowl-shaped lower member is adapted to contact the ground and includes an upper surrounding edge portion, and a lower rounded wall which extends downwardly and convergently from the upper surrounding edge portion and which terminates at a lowermost spot adapted to contact the ground when the exerciser is not in use. The dome-shaped upper member is adapted to compliantly press against a user&#39;s body, and includes a lower surrounding edge portion which engages the upper surrounding edge portion and which is associated with the upper surrounding edge portion to form a reference plane that is parallel to the ground, and an upper rounded wall which extends upwardly and convergently from the lower surrounding edge portion and which terminates at an apical spot. The apical spot cooperates with the lowermost spot to define a central line that is normal to and that intersects the reference plane at a central point. The bowl-shaped lower member and the dome-shaped upper member are configured such that a first height which is calculated from the apical spot to the central point is larger than a second height which is calculated from the lowermost spot to the central point, and such that a shortest one of first radial distances measured from the central point to the lower surrounding edge portion is not less than the first height. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a compliant body-pressing exerciser assembly according to this invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of the preferred embodiment; 
     FIG. 3 is a side view of the preferred embodiment to illustrate a compliant body-pressing exerciser when fastened on a seat frame; 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment; 
     FIGS. 5,  6  and  7  are schematic views illustrating three exercising modes that can be performed using the compliant body-pressing exerciser, respectively; 
     FIGS. 8,  9  and  10  are schematic views illustrating three exercising modes that can be performed using the compliant body-pressing exerciser assembly, respectively; 
     FIG. 11 is a bottom view of another preferred embodiment of the compliant body-pressing exerciser assembly according to this invention; and 
     FIGS. 12 to  16  are schematic views respectively illustrating five exercising modes that can be performed using the embodiment shown in FIG.  11 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to FIG. 1, the first preferred embodiment of the compliant body-pressing exerciser assembly according to the present invention is shown to comprise a compliant body-pressing exerciser  10 , a seat frame  20 , and a fastening cord  30 . 
     With reference to FIG. 4, the exerciser  10  is made integrally of a deformable material, such as plastic, which may be inflated or filled with water. The exerciser  10  includes a bowl-shaped lower member  12  and a dome-shaped upper member  11 . The bowl-shaped lower member  12  is adapted to contact the ground and includes an upper surrounding edge portion  122 , and a lower rounded wall  123  which extends downwardly and convergently from the upper surrounding edge portion  122  and which terminates at a lowermost spot  124  that is adapted to contact the ground when the exerciser  10  is not in use. The dome-shaped upper member  11  is adapted to compliantly press against a user&#39;s body, and includes a lower surrounding edge portion  13  which is disposed to engage the upper surrounding edge portion  122  and which is associated with the upper surrounding edge portion  122  to form a reference plane that is adapted to be parallel to the ground, and an upper rounded wall  112  which extends upwardly and convergently from the lower surrounding edge portion  13  and which terminates at an apical spot  114 . The apical spot  114  cooperates with the lowermost spot  124  to define a central line (L) that is normal to and that intersects the reference plane at a central point (C). The bowl-shaped lower member  12  and the dome-shaped upper member  11  are configured such that a first height (H) which is calculated from the apical spot  114  to the central point (C) is larger than a second height (h) which is calculated from the lowermost spot  124  to the central point (C). In addition, a shortest one of first radial distances measured from the central point (C) to the lower surrounding edge portion  13  is not less than the first height (H). In this embodiment, the second height (h) is not larger than ⅔ of a shortest one of second radial distances measured from the central point (C) to the upper surrounding edge portion  122 . Thus, the gravity center of the exerciser  10  is lowered for steady mounting on the seat frame  20 . 
     Moreover, a plurality of protrusions  111  are disposed on and extend outwardly from the upper rounded wall  112  of the dome-shaped upper member  11  for massaging the user&#39;s body. A plurality of concentric friction ribs  121  are formed on the lower rounded wall  123  of the bowl-shaped lower member  12  and around the lowermost spot  124  to increase friction thereof with the ground. A plurality of lugs  14  are disposed on and extend radially and outwardly from the juncture of the upper and lower surrounding edge portions  122 ,  13 , and are angularly displaced from one another. Each lug  14  has an eyelet  141  formed therein. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 to  4 , the seat frame  20  has a bottom wall  24 , a surrounding wall  25  which extends upwardly from a periphery of the bottom wall  24  to surround a middle line and to terminate at a surrounding upper peripheral edge portion  26 , and an inner concave portion  27  which is disposed to extend from the surrounding upper peripheral edge portion  26  downwardly and toward the middle line so as to form an inner concave surface  271  which confines an accommodation space  21 . In this embodiment, the inner concave surface  271  has a surrounding lower peripheral edge portion  272  which surrounds the middle line and which is disposed opposite to the surrounding upper peripheral edge portion  26  to confine an opening  28 . As such, the bowl-shaped lower member  12  can be retained in the accommodation space  21  with the juncture of the upper and lower surrounding edge portions  122 ,  13  disposed on the upper peripheral edge portion  26 , and with the friction ribs  121  of the lower rounded wall  123  passing through the opening  28 . 
     Preferably, the inner concave surface  271  has a first curvature which is larger than a second curvature of the lower rounded wall  123  so that when the dome-shaped upper member  11  is pressed, the lower rounded wall  123  is deformed to retract into the accommodation space  21  to contact tightly the inner concave surface  271 . 
     Moreover, the seat frame  20  further includes a plurality of anchoring members  22  disposed on the surrounding wall  25 . Thus, the fastening cord  30  can pass through the eyelets  141  in the lugs  14  and fastened to the anchoring members  22  so as to fasten the exerciser  10  on the seat frame  20 . Furthermore, a plurality of support leg members  23  are disposed on and extend downwardly from the surrounding wall  25  to support the seat frame  20  on the ground. Each support leg member  23  is provided with friction ribs  231  on a bottom wall thereof. 
     Referring to FIGS. 5 to  7 , when only the exerciser  10  is in use, the user can lie on his back on the dome-shaped upper member  11  of the exerciser  10  and bend his upper body part to exercise his abdominal part. The user can also lean against the dome-shaped upper member  11  with his waist part to exercise the side portion of his upper body part, or contact the dome-shaped upper member  11  using his abdominal part, lift his legs from the ground and place his hands on the ground to exercise his arms. 
     Referring to FIGS. 8 to  10 , when the exerciser  10  is retained on the seat frame  20  by means of the fastening cord  30  which engages the eyelets  141  and the anchoring members  22 , the user, similar to that shown in FIG. 5, can lie on his back on the dome-shaped upper member  11  to exercise his upper body part or to perform stretching exercise. Also, the user can stand on one leg on the dome-shaped upper member  11  for balance exercise. 
     As illustrated, when the exerciser  10  is used without the seat frame  20 , it is deformable and rollable on the ground so that exercise modes similar to those of a conventional resilient ball can be performed. When the exerciser  10  is used with and is fastened to the seat frame  20 , balance exercise similar to that of a conventional balance exerciser can be performed. 
     Furthermore, referring to FIG. 11, the compliant body-pressing exerciser assembly according to the present invention may additionally comprise a plurality of first and second pulleys  70 ,  80  which are mounted on the bottom wall of the seat frame  50  and which are angularly displaced from one another along the periphery  51  of the bottom wall in an alternating arrangement. A first elastic band  91  is trained on the first pulleys  70  and has two ends which are disposed radially and outwardly of the periphery  51  via through holes  511 ,  512  formed in the surrounding wall of the seat frame  50  and which are provided with two handgrips  92 ,  93 . A second elastic band  101  is trained on the second pulleys  80  and has two ends which are disposed radially and outwardly of the periphery  51  via through holes  513 ,  514  formed in the surrounding wall of the seat frame  50  and which are provided with two handgrips  102 ,  103 . Thus, as shown in FIGS. 11 to  16 , when the exerciser  40  is retained on the seat frame  50  by means of the fastening cord  60 , the user can lie or sit on the exerciser  40  to grasp the handgrips  92 ,  93 ,  102 ,  103  or to extend one foot in the handgrip  93  to perform different arm and leg stretching exercises. 
     While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretations and equivalent arrangements.