Patent Publication Number: US-9849056-B2

Title: Seated inversion table

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is based upon and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 from Taiwan Patent Application No. 104217926 filed on Nov. 9, 2015, which is hereby specifically incorporated herein by this reference thereto. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a seated inversion table, especially to a seated inversion table that can prevent a user from over-inverting when using the seated inversion table. 
     2. Description of the Prior Arts 
     A seated inversion table is used for relieving discomfort caused by osteophytes, commonly referred to as bone spurs or parrot beak. In other words, the seated inversion table is rehabilitation equipment that allows a patient to appropriately exercise on it for stretching the abdominal muscles and back muscles. 
     According to Taiwan Patent No. M298454, the conventional seated inversion table is provided with a seat cushion assembly tiltably mounted between a front support component and a rear support component, a center of a first rod of the seat cushion assembly is mounted on an extendable rod, and two end portions of the first rod are tiltably mounted on two inner surfaces of two opposite ends of the rear support component which face to each other. The extendable rod is connected to a connecting tube through a second rod. The second rod is located under a sitting cushion of the seat cushion assembly. A center of the connecting tube is tiltably mounted on a connecting frame, and two opposite ends of the connecting tube are tiltably mounted on a hanging portion of the rear support component. The connecting frame is securely mounted on a rear surface of the back cushion. 
     When the patient performs inversion on the seated inversion table, the spaces between vertebras can be extended, aches caused by the osteophytes pressing on neurons are relieved, and abdominal muscles and back muscles stretch and get exercise at the same time. When the user sits on the seated inversion table and uses it, the back of the user lies against the seat back, the feet hook on the foot-clamping frame assembly, and the hands hold on and push the handle bars until the body tilts backward 180 degrees. 
     However, the conventional seated inversion table is not disposed with any protective structure for preventing the seated inversion table from over tilting. Thus, because the two end portions of the first rod are tiltably mounted on the two inner surfaces of two opposite ends of the rear support component which face to each other, when the user over tilts with the seat cushion assembly, the conventional seated inversion table cannot stop the inertia of inverting by the first rod abutting on the handle bars, which increases the possibility of injury to the user. 
     In addition, because a distance between two fixing rods of the foot-clamping frame assembly of the conventional seated inversion table is hard to adjust when the user sits on a sitting cushion of the seated inversion table, the user&#39;s foot cannot hook on the fixing rods firmly. 
     Besides, because the seated inversion table is designed for the particular purpose, the seated inversion table is not suitable for other purposes. When the seated inversion table is not in use, it is not easy to store the seated inversion table in the limited housing space of densely populated metropolitan area. 
     To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a seated inversion table to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The main objective of the present invention is to provide a seated inversion table that can restrict and stop inertia during inversion to protect the user. 
     The seated inversion table has:
         a support frame assembly comprising:
           at least one rear support component,   at least one front support component connected to the at least one rear support component, and   a connecting tube, two opposite ends of the connecting tube securely mounted on the at least one front support component;   
           a seat back assembly comprising:
           a rear swinging rod, two opposite ends of the rear swinging rod tiltably mounted on the support frame assembly,   a rear-rod-tilting frame tiltably mounted at a center of the rear swinging rod, and   a back cushion securely mounted at one end of the rear-rod-tilting frame;   
           a seat cushion assembly comprising:
           a front swinging rod, two opposite ends of the front swinging rod tiltably mounted on the support frame assembly,   a cushion bottom rod, one end of the cushion bottom rod securely mounted on the rear swinging rod of the seat back assembly, and another end of the cushion bottom rod securely mounted on the front swinging rod, and   a sitting cushion movably mounted on the cushion bottom rod and the cushion bottom rod located on a bottom surface of the sitting cushion;   
           a lower connecting tube assembly comprising:
           a lower connecting tube located on the bottom surface of the sitting cushion, one end of the lower connecting tube securely mounted at another end of the rear-rod-tilting frame of the seat back assembly,   a guiding stand mounted on an outer surface of the lower connecting tube, and   a band, one end of the band securely mounted on the connecting tube of the support frame assembly and detoured around the guiding stand;   
           a rotating frame assembly comprising:
           a connecting frame tiltably mounted at a center of the front swinging rod of the seat cushion assembly, another end of the lower connecting tube securely mounted on the connecting frame, another end of the band mounted on the connecting frame, and   
           a foot-clamping frame assembly securely mounted on the rotating frame assembly, and being adjustable in angle and distance relative to the rotating frame assembly.       

     One of the advantages of the present seated inversion table is that with the front swinging rod tiltably mounted on the support frame assembly, the front swinging rod will be located at an end of the stroke and abut on the upper bars when the user performs inversion on the seated inversion table. Thus, a range of an inversion angle is restricted and thereby the seated inversion table may not over tilt. 
     Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a seated inversion table in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a sectional view of a pivot frame, a front support component, and a rear support component of the seated inversion table in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a pivot frame and a support cover of the seated inversion table in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded view of the seated inversion table in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded view of the rotating frame assembly in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the foot-clamping frame assembly in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIGS. 7-9  are serial operational views of the seated inversion table in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a sectional view of the seated inversion table in  FIG. 1 , shown folded; and 
         FIG. 11  is an operational schematic view of the folded seated inversion table in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , a seated inversion table in accordance with the present invention comprises a support frame assembly  10 , a seat back assembly  20 , a seat cushion assembly  30 , a lower connecting tube assembly  40 , a rotating frame assembly  50 , and a foot-clamping frame assembly  60 . 
     Please also refer to  FIGS. 2 and 3 . The support frame assembly  10  comprises two pivot frames  11 , two handle components  12  and at least one rear support component  13  tiltably mounted on the two pivot frames  11 , at least one front support component  14  securely mounted on the two pivot frames  11 , and a connecting tube  15  removably mounted on the at least one front support component  14 . In other words, the at least one front support component  14  is connected to the at least one rear support component  13  through the pivot frames  11 . 
     In this embodiment, the numbers of both the at least one rear support component  13  and at least one front support component  14  are two. Each one of the two rear support components  13  and the two front support components  14  is a straight rod, an upper end of each rod is mounted on the corresponding pivot frame  11 , and a lower end of each rod stands on the ground. The connecting tube  15  is removably mounted between the two front support components  14 . 
     The two pivot frames  11  are located on two sides of the support frame assembly  10 , each one of the pivot frames  11  comprises two sidewalls  111  and a connecting wall  112 . The connecting wall  112  connects to and is located between the two sidewalls  111  to make the pivot frame  11  form a U-shape with a pivot space in the U-shape. An opening of the U-shape is formed between two ends of the two sidewalls  111 . Two lower ends of the two handle components  12  and the two upper ends of the two rear support components  13  are tiltably mounted between the two sidewalls  111  of the two pivot frames  11  respectively. 
     More precisely, in this embodiment, each one of the lower ends of the handle components  12  is tiltably mounted in one end of the pivot space of the corresponding pivot frame  11 , and each one of the upper ends of the rear support components  13  is mounted in the other end of the pivot space of the corresponding pivot frame  11 . The lower ends of the handle components  12  and the upper ends of the rear support components  13  are capable of pivoting in the pivot space. In other words, the handle components  12  and the rear support components  13  tilt about different axes. The lower ends of the two handle components  12  and the upper ends of two rear support components  13  selectively abut against the connecting wall  112  of the corresponding pivot frame  11 , and when the handle components  12  and the rear support components  13  abut against the connecting walls  112 , each one of the handle components  12  and the corresponding rear support component  13  are disposed in the same straight line. 
     According to  FIG. 3 , in this embodiment, the support frame assembly  10  further comprises two support covers  16  removably mounted on the two pivot frames  11  respectively. Each support cover  16  is located between the corresponding handle component  12  and the corresponding front support component  14 . More precisely, each one of the support covers  16  is located in the opening of the corresponding pivot frame  11  and between the sidewalls  111  of the corresponding pivot frame  11 , and the support covers  16  shelter the pivot spaces respectively. Each one of the support covers  16  forms a plurality of protrusions  160  on an edge of the support cover  16 , and the sidewalls  111  of each one of the two pivot frames  11  form a plurality of recesses  1110 . The protrusions  160  selectively engage with the recesses  1110  respectively. When the protrusions  160  engage with the recesses  1110 , the support cover  16  shelters the corresponding pivot space, so as to prevent the corresponding handle component  12  and the corresponding front support component  14  tilting with respect to each other and prevent foreign objects from falling into the pivot space and obstructing tilting and later storage. 
     According to  FIGS. 2 and 4 , each one of the handle components  12  comprises a first fixing element  121 , a first sleeve  122 , a handle bar  123  and a second fixing element  124 . The two first fixing elements  121  are removably mounted through the two pivot frames  11  and adjacent to the lower ends of the handle components  12  (as shown in  FIG. 2 ), and the two second fixing elements  124  are removably mounted through the two handle bars  123  and upper ends of the two handle components  12  (as shown in  FIG. 4 ). The first fixing elements  121  and the second fixing elements  124  may be screws or pins, but hereinafter the first fixing elements  121  and the second fixing elements  124  are elaborated as screws in this embodiment. 
     The two first sleeves  122  are securely mounted adjacent to the lower ends of the two handle components  12  respectively, and the two first fixing elements  121  are removably screwed into the two first sleeves  122  respectively. When penetrating through the connecting wall  112 , each first fixing element  121  abuts against the connecting wall  112  and is screwed into the corresponding first sleeve  122  respectively, and each one of the handle components  12  may not tilt with respect to the corresponding pivot frame  11 . 
     The two handle bars  123  are removably mounted on the upper ends of the two handle components  12  respectively, and each one of the handle bars  123  comprises a second sleeve (not illustrated in the drawings). The two second fixing elements  124  are removably screwed into the second sleeves of the two handle bars  123  respectively. When penetrating through the corresponding handle component  12 , each second fixing element  124  abuts against an inner surface of the corresponding handle component  12  and is screwed into the corresponding second sleeve respectively, and each one of the handle bars  123  is fixed on the upper end of the corresponding handle component  12 . Each one of the handle bars  123  comprises an upper bar  1231  and a lower bar  1232 . 
     Each one of the two front support components  14  comprises a third fixing element  141  removably mounted through the corresponding front support component  14  and the connecting tube  15 . The third fixing elements  141  also can be screws or pins. In this embodiment, when penetrating through the corresponding front support component  14 , the two third fixing elements  141  are screwed into two ends of the connecting tube  15  respectively, and the connecting tube  15  is fixed between the two front support components  14 . 
     The support frame assembly  10  further comprises a curved tube  17  mounted between the two rear support components  13 . The curved tube  17  is curved backward. 
     Then refer to  FIGS. 1 and 4 . The seat back assembly  20  comprises a rear swinging rod  21 , a rear-rod-tilting frame  22  and a back cushion  23 . The rear swinging rod  21  is a U-shaped rod, and two opposite ends of the U-shaped rod are tiltably mounted adjacent to the lower ends of the two handle components  12  respectively. A center of the rear-rod-tilting frame  22  is tiltably mounted at a center of the U-shaped rear swinging rod  21 . The back cushion  23  is removably mounted at an upper end of the rear-rod-tilting frame  22  with screws or pins. 
     Please also refer to  FIG. 7 . The seat cushion assembly  30  comprises a front swinging rod  31 , a cushion bottom rod  32  and a sitting cushion  33 . The front swinging rod  31  is a U-shaped rod, and two ends of the U-shaped rod are tiltably mounted adjacent to the upper ends of the two handle components  12  respectively. One end of the cushion bottom rod  32  is securely mounted at the center of the rear-rod-tilting frame  22 , and said end is located under the rear swinging rod  21 ; the other end is securely mounted at a center of the U-shaped front swinging rod  31 . The sitting cushion  33  is movably mounted on the cushion bottom rod  32 , and the cushion bottom rod  32  is located on a bottom surface of the sitting cushion  33 . In another embodiment, the number of the cushion bottom rod  32  can be two or more, and the cushion bottom rods  32  are equidistantly spaced apart from each other. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 . The lower connecting tube assembly  40  comprises a lower connecting tube  41 , a guiding stand  42 , a band  43 , a sleeve component  44  and a spring  45 . The lower connecting tube  41  is located on the bottom surface of the sitting cushion  33 , and one end of the lower connecting tube  41  is securely mounted at a lower end of the rear-rod-tilting frame  22 . The guiding stand  42  is movably mounted on an outer surface of the lower connecting tube  41  and comprises a roller  421  pivotably mounted therein. One end of the band  43  is securely mounted on the connecting tube  15 , and a middle of the band  43  is detoured around the guiding stand  42 . Thus, the band  43  can be fixed securely and may not droop to the ground when the present seated inversion table is being inverted. The band  43  has a plurality of separate marks  432  on a surface of the band  43 . The other surface of the band  43  is laid on an outer surface of the roller  421 . The sleeve component  44  movably sleeves the lower connecting tube  41 , and the guiding stand  42  is securely mounted on an outer surface of the sleeve component  44 . The spring  45  sleeves the lower connecting tube  41 . One end of the spring  45  abuts on the sleeve component  44 , and the other end of the spring  45  abuts on the outer surface of the lower connecting tube  41 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 5 . The rotating frame assembly  50  comprises a connecting frame  51 , an assembling tube  52 , a knob  53  and an adjusting component  54 . The connecting frame  51  is mounted at the center of the front swinging rod  31 . The other end of the lower connecting tube  41  is securely mounted on the connecting frame  51 , and said end is opposite the end of the lower connecting tube  41  that is securely mounted at the rear-rod-tilting frame  22 . The other end of the band  43  comprising a sleeving portion  431  is mounted on the connecting frame  51 , and said end is opposite the end of the band  43  that is securely mounted on the connecting tube  15 . The connecting frame  51  has two separate but connected sheet bodies and comprises two rod stands  511  laterally mounted through the two sheet bodies respectively and pivotably mounted in the front swinging rod  31 . The rod stands  511  correspond to each other in locations. 
     One end of the assembling tube  52  is securely mounted on a bottom of the connecting frame  51 . The knob  53  has a stick  531  protruding from a surface of the knob  53  and penetrating through the connecting frame  51 . 
     The adjusting component  54  is pivotably mounted in the connecting frame  51  and includes a casing  541 . The casing  541  is a hollow tube and is mounted around the stick  531 . The casing  541  forms an elongate opening  5411  corresponding to an inside of the casing  541 . The band  43  penetrates the elongate opening  5411  and the sleeving portion  431  of the band  43  is inside the casing  541  and is mounted around an outer surface of the stick  531 . 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1, 4 and 6 . The foot-clamping frame assembly  60  is adjustably and removably mounted on the connecting frame  51  through the assembling tube  52  and can abut on the support frame assembly  10 . The foot-clamping frame assembly  60  comprises a curved linkage tube  61 , a rack piece  62 , an adjusting tube  63 , an adjusting rod  64 , and an adjusting spring  65 . 
     One end of the curved linkage tube  61  of the foot-clamping frame assembly  60  is a straight segment and is adjustably mounted on the assembling tube  52 , and the other end of the curved linkage tube  61  forms a curved segment. The curved linkage tube  61  comprises an adjusting stand  611  and two first foot-clamping components  612 . The adjusting stand  611  is mounted on a top surface of the curved segment of the curved linkage tube  61 . The foot-clamping components  612  are mounted on two lateral surfaces of the straight segment of the curved linkage tube  61  respectively. 
     One end of the rack piece  62  is mounted on the curved linkage tube  61  and comprises a toothed portion  621  formed on an edge of the rack piece  62  and facing to the sitting cushion  33 . 
     The adjusting tube  63  is a hollow tube and one end of the adjusting tube  63  is tiltably mounted on the adjusting stand  611 . The adjusting tube  63  comprises a cover  631  and two second foot-clamping components  632 . The cover  631  is mounted on the other end of the adjusting tube  63 . The two second foot-clamping components  632  are mounted on two lateral surfaces of the adjusting tube  63  respectively. The second foot-clamping components  632  correspond to the first foot-clamping components  612  in locations. 
     The adjusting rod  64  is mounted in the adjusting tube  63 , and one end of the adjusting rod  64  penetrates through the cover  631 . The adjusting rod  64  comprises an obstruction portion  641  and a wedge portion  642 . The obstruction portion  642  radially protrudes on an outer surface of the other end of the adjusting rod  64 . The wedge portion  642  forms on said other end of the adjusting rod  64  and is engaged with the toothed portion  621  of the rack piece  62 . 
     The adjusting spring  65  is mounted around an outer surface of the adjusting rod  64 . One end of the adjusting spring  65  abuts on the obstruction portion  641 , and the other end of the adjusting spring  65  abuts on the cover  631 . 
     However, in another embodiment, the numbers of both the at least one rear support component  13  and the at least one front support component  14  are one. Each of the rear support component  13  and the front support component  14  is a U-shaped rod. The connecting tube  15  is connected between two arms of the U-shaped front support component  14 . The curved tube  17  is connected between two arms of the U-shaped rear support component  13 . 
     In accordance with  FIG. 11 , when a user performs inversion with the present seated inversion table, the user sits on the sitting cushion  33 , the user&#39;s back lies against the back cushion  23 , and the user&#39;s hands hold the upper bars  1231 . Meanwhile, the user&#39;s hands push the upper bars  1231  and thereby the user&#39;s arms get exercise. Besides, when the user inclines backward with force and makes the user&#39;s back push the back cushion  23 , the rear swinging rod  21  can be tilted forward, an angle between the sitting cushion  33  and the back cushion  23  is changed, and thereby the user&#39;s abdominal muscles stretch. In addition, the foot-clamping frame assembly  60  is moved away from the connecting tube  15  because the back cushion  23  pushes the lower connecting tube  41  and the connecting frame  51  through the rear-rod-tilting frame  22 , the front swinging rod  31  is tilted upward with respect to the handle components  12  along with the connecting frame  51  moving forward, and the band  43  is stretched and deformed along with the connecting frame  51  moving forward, so that the user&#39;s leg muscles can be stretched. At this moment, the front swinging rod  31  is tilted toward the upper bars  1231 . 
     With the user&#39;s hands keep pushing and shifting from the upper bars  1231  to the lower bars  1232 , the rear swinging rod  21  will be tilted further and the angle between the sitting cushion  33  and the back cushion  23  is increased. At this time, the back cushion  23  pushes the lower connecting tube  41  and the connecting frame  51  through the rear-rod-tilting frame  22  so that the foot-clamping frame assembly  60  finally moves to a location above the back cushion  23 , which achieves the purpose of inverting and exercising. Besides, the front swinging rod  31  abuts on the upper bars  1231  because of the driving of the connecting frame  51 , and the band  43  is stretched completely because of being dragged by the connecting frame  51 . Thus, the present seated inversion table may not be tilted toward the same direction further at this time. 
     Then refer to  FIGS. 4 and 7 to 9 .  FIG. 4  illustrates storage process of the present seated inversion table after the exercise. First, the user can remove the handle bars  123 , the connecting tube  15 , the support covers  16 , the back cushion  23 , and the foot-clamping assembly  60 . More precisely, after the second fixing elements  124  are removed, the handle bars  123  can be removed; after the third fixing elements  141  are removed, the connecting tube  15  can be removed. After the aforesaid components are removed, the seated inversion table is as shown in  FIG. 7 . Then after the first fixing elements  121  are removed, the two handle components  12  and the two rear support components  13  can be tilted. 
     After that, as shown in  FIG. 8 , the handle components  12  are tilted forward until the handle components  12  are parallel to the front support components  14 . Then the rear swinging rod  21  and the front swinging rod  31  are tilted forward, making the sitting cushion  33  move forward and the front swinging rod  31  and the sitting cushion  33  parallel to the front support components  14 . Then the upper end of the rear-rod-tilting frame  22  is tilted backward, making the connecting frame  51  tilt forward. 
     Finally, as shown in  FIG. 9 , the two rear support components  13  are tilted forward until the rear support components  13  are parallel to the front support components  14  to finish the storage process of the present seated inversion table. Then also refer to the  FIG. 10 , with the curved tube  17  bent backward, when the rear support components  13  are parallel to the front support components  14 , the curved tube  17  can step away from the lower connecting tube  41  and make the lower connecting tube  41  accommodated in a curved space of the curved tube  17  to minimize a thickness of the folded seated inversion table. 
     Consequently, one of the advantages of the present seated inversion table is that with the front swinging rod  31  tiltably mounted on the support frame assembly  10 , the front swinging rod  31  will be located at an end of the stroke and abut on the upper bars  1231  when the user performs inversion on the seated inversion table. Thus, a range of an inversion angle is restricted and thereby the seated inversion table may not over tilt. Another advantage of the present seated inversion table is that the connecting tube  15 , the back cushion  23  and the foot-clamping assembly  60  are removable, and after the aforesaid components are removed, the present seated inversion table can be folded through tilting the handle components  12 , the at least one rear support component  13 , the front swinging rod  31 , and the sitting cushion  33  to be parallel to the at least one front support component  14 . After the removal and folding, the present seated inversion table is adapted to store and thereby decrease occupied space significantly and promote the efficiency of space utilization. 
     Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.