Patent Publication Number: US-2020276466-A1

Title: Resistance exercise apparatus

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates generally to the field of physical exercise apparatus, and, more particularly, to a resistance exercise apparatus. 
     Physical fitness is widely recognized as a key component to good health. Numerous kinds of exercise equipment have been developed to facilitate people&#39;s physical exercises. Conventional exercise equipment either utilize gravity or spring force to provide resistance to user motions. As gravity and spring force are generally one dimensional, such conventional exercise equipment have limited freedom of motion. As such what is needed is an exercise equipment that can provide resistance to great range of motion by a user. 
     SUMMARY 
     A resistance exercise apparatus is disclosed which comprises a resistance ball rigidly attached to a first end of a rod, a resistance cup retaining the resistance ball to a proximity thereof and allowing the resistance ball to rotate relative to the resistance cup, the resistance cup having a surface profile substantially matching a surface profile of the resistance ball, and an anchor rigidly attached to the resistance cup for keeping the resistance cup substantially stationary during an exercise session. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1A  illustrates a resistance exercise apparatus in use in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 1B  illustrates an alternative mounting structure for the resistance exercise apparatus shown in  FIG. 1A . 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of the resistance cup shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     The drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification are included to depict certain aspects of the disclosure. A clearer conception of the disclosure, and of the components and operation of systems provided with the disclosure, will become more readily apparent by referring to the exemplary, and therefore non-limiting, embodiments illustrated in the drawings, wherein like reference numbers (if they occur in more than one view) designate the same elements. The disclosure may be better understood by reference to one or more of these drawings in combination with the description presented herein. 
     DESCRIPTION 
     The present disclosure relates to a resistance exercise apparatus with large range of motion. A preferred embodiment of the present disclosure will be described hereinafter with reference to the attached drawings. 
       FIG. 1A  illustrates a resistance exercise apparatus in use in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The resistance exercise apparatus includes a long rod  115  with a hand ball  112  on one end and a resistance ball on the end. The long rod  115  is made of a rigid material such as wood or steel pipe. Although not shown, the long rod  115  may be assembled from multiple sections for compact packaging as well as altering a length of the long rod  115 . The hand ball  112  is for an exercising person  102  to hold on to and move it with his or her hands or other body parts. As shown in  FIG. 1A , the hand ball  112  is spherical. In other embodiments, the spherical hand ball  112  can be replaced by a bar or a ring. The resistance ball  118  is for coupling the rod  115  to a resistance cup  124  which in term is mounted to a base  138  through a pole  132 . The resistance ball  118  and the resistance cup  124  have matching surfaces so that the resistance ball  118  can smoothly rotate in the resistance cup  124 . One way to achieve this is to make a radius of the spherical surface of the resistance ball  118  to be approximately equal to the radius of the spherical surface of the resistance cup  124 . The base  138  provides a weight to the resistance exercise apparatus. The pole  132  is for raising the resistance cup  124  to a desired height for the exercising person  102 . In embodiments, the length of the pole  132  can be adjusted by sliding a smaller steel tube in a slightly larger tube (not shown). As a result of the heavy base  138  and the rigid pole  132 , the resistance cup  124  is stationary during an exercise. In embodiments, the resistance ball  118  is attracted to the resistance cup  124  by a strong magnetic force which causes a fiction between their contacting surfaces, so that the exercise person  102  would have to use force at the hand ball  112  to cause the resistance ball  118  to rotate relative to the resistance cup  124 . Because of the spherical nature of the surfaces of the resistance ball  118  and the resistance cup  124 , the hand ball  112  has a large range of motion, which is determined by the radius of the resistance ball  118  and the resistance cup  124  as well as a depth of the resistance cup  124 . Larger radius and/or shallow depth may provide larger range of motion for the exercise person  102 . 
       FIG. 1B  illustrates an alternative mounting structure for the resistance exercise apparatus shown in  FIG. 1A . Here the resistance cup  124  is rigidly attached to a mounting plate  152  which is secured to a wall  160  by screws  171 . 
       FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of the resistance cup  124  shown in  FIG. 1 . The resistance cup  124  contains a permanent magnetic ring  213  and an electric magnet  225 , both are proximate to the surface of the resistance cup  124 . The permanent magnetic ring  213  is for providing a basic attraction force, so that the ferromagnetic resistance ball  118  will not fall off the resistance cup  124  under its own weight. The electric magnet  225  includes a coil and an iron core. When a DC current is applied to the coil, a magnetic force will be generated. The magnitude of the generated magnetic force is proportional to the value of the DC current, the size of the coil and the iron core. The higher DC current, the higher the generated magnetic force. The larger the coil and/or the iron core, the higher the generated magnetic force. The size of the coil and the iron core are determined at factory, a user can vary voltage applied to the coil to adjust the generated magnetic force to his or her desire. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , a thin layer  202  with a shape matches the surface contour of the resistance cup  124  is provided between the resistance cup  124  and the resistance ball  118 . The thin layer  202  is for providing a desired fiction level between the resistance cup  124  and the resistance ball  118  as well as protecting the surface of the resistance cup  124 , as the thin layer  202  is replaceable. In an embodiment, the thin layer  202  is made of an injected nylon material with textured surfaces. The nylon material is relatively long lasting. Different texture may provide different level of fiction. The surface that faces the permanent magnetic ring  213  exemplarily has rougher texture than the surface that faces the resistance ball  118 , so that the thin layer will not slide relative to the resistance cup  124  during an exercise. In one embodiment, the thin layer  202  may be secured to the resistance cup  124  by screws (not shown). In another embodiment, the thin layer  202  may be weakly glued to the resistance cup  124 . 
     Although the disclosure is illustrated and described herein as embodied in one or more specific examples, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the disclosure and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the disclosure, as set forth in the following claims.