Patent Publication Number: US-7896785-B1

Title: Pump/exercise system

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a pump/exercise system and more particularly pertains to facilitating a plurality of cardiovascular and other exercises in a safe, efficient, entertaining and economical manner. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     The use of exercise systems of known designs and configurations is known in the prior art. More specifically, exercise systems of known designs and configurations previously devised and utilized for the purpose of facilitating cardiovascular and other exercises are known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. 
     While the prior art devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, they do not describe pump/exercise system that allows facilitating a plurality of cardiovascular and other exercises in a safe, efficient, entertaining and economical manner. 
     In this respect, the pump/exercise system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of facilitating a plurality of cardiovascular and other exercises in a safe, efficient, entertaining and economical manner. 
     Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved pump/exercise system which can be used for facilitating a plurality of cardiovascular and other exercises in a safe, efficient, entertaining and economical manner. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of exercise systems of known designs and configurations now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved pump/exercise system. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved pump/exercise system and method which has all the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages. 
     To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a cylinder with an internal cylindrical surface, an external cylindrical surface, a top and a bottom. The length of the cylinder is 24 inches, plus or minus 10 percent. The interior diameter of the cylinder is 3.5 inches, plus or minus 10 percent. The exterior diameter of the cylinder is 4 inches, plus or minus 10 percent. The cylinder is fabricated of a rigid metallic material selected from the class of rigid metallic materials including aluminum and stainless steel. 
     The piston has a cylindrical exterior surface with an annular groove. An elastomeric O-ring is located within the groove and in sliding contact with the internal cylindrical surface of the cylinder. 
     The rod has a lower end coupled to the piston and an upper end above the cylinder. The rod is adapted to be axially reciprocated by a user to move the piston between adjacent to the top and adjacent to the bottom of the cylinder. 
     The end caps include a lower end cap over the bottom of the cylinder. A lower aperture is provided in the lower end cap for the escape of air as the piston moves toward the bottom of the cylinder. 
     The end caps also include an upper end cap over the top of the cylinder. Upper apertures are provided in the upper end cap for the escape of air as the piston moves toward the top of the cylinder. The upper end cap has a central bore for the sliding receipt of the rod. The upper end cap is rotatable about the central axis. An annular bearing is between the rod and the upper end cap. Fixed exhaust ports are adapted to be aligned with the upper apertures for varying the effective size of the upper apertures to thereby vary the force needed by the user to move the piston. 
     Next provided is a handle. The handle has a cross piece. The cross piece has a center section attached to the upper end of the rod. The cross piece has end sections with axial recesses and bearing surfaces. Elastomeric grips are slidably received over the end sections of the cross piece. The recesses reduce the frictional relationship between the grip and the handle for facilitating the oscillation of the grips about the end sections during use. 
     A rigid base is next provided. The rigid base has an upper face and a lower face. The lower face is positionable upon a floor. The upper face has a central section with a pivot pin joining the base to the lower end cap for allowing the cylinder to oscillate during use of the system. The upper face has laterally spaced foot rests for receiving the feet of the user to secure the system during use. The foot rests have straps for securing the feet of the user to the system. 
     Lastly, cylindrical weights are provided. The cylindrical weights have axial apertures. The cylindrical weights are removably positionable upon the end sections of the handle between the central section of the handle and the grip. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached. 
     In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting. 
     As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved pump/exercise system which has all of the advantages of the prior art exercise systems of known designs and configurations and none of the disadvantages. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved pump/exercise system which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed. 
     It is further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved pump/exercise system which is of durable and reliable constructions. 
     An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved pump/exercise system which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such pump/exercise system economically available to the buying public. 
     Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a pump/exercise system for facilitating a plurality of cardiovascular and other exercises in a safe, efficient, entertaining and economical manner. 
     Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved A pump assembly includes a cylinder, a piston, a rod, upper and lower end caps, all sharing a common central axis. The cylinder has internal and external surfaces. The piston has a cylindrical exterior surface with an annular groove. An O-ring within the groove is in sliding contact with the internal surface of the cylinder. The rod has a lower end coupled to the piston and an upper end above the cylinder. The lower end cap is over the bottom of the cylinder and the upper end cap is over the top of the cylinder. An aperture in one of the end caps allows air to escape as the piston moves. A handle has a cross piece with a central section attached to the rod. The handle has grips, slidably received over end sections. A rigid base has an upper face having a central section. A pivot pin joins the base to the lower end cap for allowing the cylinder to oscillate during use of the system. 
     These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
     For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a front elevational view of a pump/exercise system constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view of the system taken along line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is an end elevational view taken along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is cross-sectional view taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view taken thru the central upper section of the cylinder. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view taken along line  7 - 7  of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view taken along line  8 - 8  of  FIG. 7 . 
     
    
    
     The same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the various Figures. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIG. 1  thereof, the preferred embodiment of the new and improved pump/exercise system embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     The present invention, the pump/exercise system  10  is comprised of a plurality of components. Such components in their broadest context include a pump assembly, end caps, a handle and a rigid base. Such components are individually configured and correlated with respect to each other so as to attain the desired objective. 
     The pump/exercise system  10  of the present invention is for facilitating a plurality of cardiovascular and other exercises. The facilitating is done in a safe, efficient, entertaining and economical manner. First provided is a pump assembly  14 . The pump assembly includes a cylinder  16 , a piston  18 , a rod  20 , and end caps  22 ,  24 . The cylinder, piston, rod, and end caps share a common vertical central axis. 
     The cylinder has an internal cylindrical surface  26 , an external cylindrical surface  28 , a top  30  and a bottom  32 . The length of the cylinder is 24 inches, plus or minus 10 percent. The interior diameter of the cylinder is 3.5 inches, plus or minus 10 percent. The exterior diameter of the cylinder is 4 inches, plus or minus 10 percent. The cylinder is fabricated of a rigid metallic material selected from the class of rigid metallic materials including aluminum and stainless steel. 
     The piston has a cylindrical exterior surface  34  with an annular groove  36 . An elastomeric O-ring  38  is located within the groove and in sliding contact with the internal cylindrical surface of the cylinder. 
     The rod has a lower end  40  coupled to the piston and an upper end  42  above the cylinder. The rod is adapted to be axially reciprocated by a user to move the piston between adjacent to the top and adjacent to the bottom of the cylinder. 
     The end caps include a lower end cap  22  over the bottom of the cylinder. A lower aperture  44  is provided in the lower end cap for the escape of air as the piston moves toward the bottom of the cylinder. 
     The end caps also include an upper end cap  24  over the top of the cylinder. Upper apertures  46  are provided in the upper end cap for the escape of air as the piston moves toward the top of the cylinder. The upper end cap has a central bore  48  for the sliding receipt of the rod. The upper end cap is rotatable about the central axis. An annular bearing  52  is between the rod and the upper end cap. Fixed exhaust ports  54  are adapted to be aligned with the upper apertures for varying the effective size of the upper apertures to thereby vary the force needed by the user to move the piston. 
     Next provided is a handle  58 . The handle has a cross piece  60 . The cross piece has a center section  62  attached to the upper end of the rod. The cross piece has end sections  64  with axial recesses  66  and bearing surfaces  68 . Elastomeric grips  70  are slidably received over the end sections of the cross piece. The recesses reduce the frictional relationship between the grip and the handle for facilitating the oscillation of the grips about the end sections during use. 
     A rigid base  74  is next provided. The rigid base has an upper face  76  and a lower face  78 . The lower face is positionable upon a floor. The upper face has a central section with a pivot pin  80  joining the base to the lower end cap for allowing the cylinder to oscillate during use of the system. The upper face has laterally spaced foot rests  82  for receiving the feet of the user to secure the system during use. The foot rests have straps  84  for securing the feet of the user to the system. 
     Lastly, cylindrical weights  88  are provided. The cylindrical weights have axial apertures  90 . The cylindrical weights are removably positionable upon the end sections of the handle between the central section of the handle and the grip. 
     As to the manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.