Patent Publication Number: US-6705977-B1

Title: Balance board

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to the field of sports and exercise equipment, and, in particular to a balance board for improving and developing the balancing ability of an individual. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Developing a good sense of balance is generally a matter of practice. Many popular sports activities require a well developed sense of balance in order to become proficient. For example, sports such as cycling, skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding and the like all involve the use of equipment that requires the user to be able to accurately control their position on the equipment. Continuous shifting and adjustment of the user&#39;s weight and centre of gravity with respect to the equipment at appropriate times is vital to proper use of the equipment and full enjoyment of the sport. 
     In the normal course of growing up, a person must develop quite an advance sense of balance in order to graduate from a baby&#39;s crawling movements to the common walking and running movements of a child or adult. However, once the walking and running movements are mastered, a reliable sense of balance for manoeuvring in the everyday world is taken for granted by most people. To a large extent, everyday play of a child develops and refines the sense of balance. Common toys and sporting equipment such as bicycles, skateboards and snowboards also allow a person to practice and further develop their sense of balance. 
     In order to concentrate on developing balancing skills, equipment known as balance boards has been developed. Prior art balancing boards and other relevant exercise equipment known to the applicant are described in the following patents: 
     U.S. Pat. No. 842,462 to Grafin 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,451,672 to Kazdan 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,488,049 to Sasser 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,491,189 to Mutius 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,321 to Gehrke 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,768 to England 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,787 to Studebaker 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,318 to Francke 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,477 to Wilkinson 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,469 to Sasser 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,542 to Hudec 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,588 to Desjardins 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,823 to Bean 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,506 to Zubik et al. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,296 to Davignon 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,140 to Klippels 
     Many prior art balancing boards involve a platform that is pivotable about a singe axis. While this arrangement is initially challenging for a beginner, with practice, it becomes relatively easy to master. Alternatively, other balancing board designs rely on a spherical or hemi-spherical pivot point that permits movement in all directions. Such a design requires an well developed sense of balance to use and it is therefore best suited to an advanced user. Unfortunately, for a beginner, a spherical or hemi-spherical pivot is frustrating to use as it is very difficult to balance on consistently. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To overcome the shortcomings of prior art balancing boards, applicant has developed a balance board that relies on a unique pivot point arrangement that permits end to end, side to side and torsional movement about first, second and third axes alone and in combination. 
     Accordingly, the present invention provides a balance board comprising: 
     a platform to support a user; 
     a ground contacting member having a rounded lower surface in contact with the ground to permit pivoting of the platform about a first axis; and 
     a resiliently deformable interconnecting member mounted between the ground contacting member and the platform to permit pivoting of the platform about a second axis substantially perpendicular to the first axis and about a third axis substantially perpendicular to the first and second axes, the interconnecting member being shaped and dimensioned to substantially resist bending in all other directions. 
     As well, the balance board of the present invention includes a stop system that permits the pivotability of the board about at least one of the pivoting axes to be adjusted so that the balance board can be used by beginner, intermediate and advanced users. In a preferred arrangement, the system uses a stop member extending from the platform to engage with a fixed surface when the platform is pivoted to a pre-determined extent to limit further pivoting. The stop member can be resiliently deformable and includes means to adjust its deformability so that the extent of pivoting of the platform can be varied according to the skill level of the user. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Aspects of the present invention are illustrated, merely by way of example, in the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a balance board according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the balance board of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the balance board of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a end elevation view of the balance board of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 is a detail view of a stop member for use with the balance board of the present invention; 
     FIG. 6 a  is a side view of an insert for use with the stop member; 
     FIG. 6 b  is an end view of the insert of FIG. 6 a ; and 
     FIG. 7 is an end elevation view of an alternative embodiment with integral mounting flanges formed in the elongate block. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to FIGS. 1-4, there is shown a balance board  2  according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The balance board comprises a elongate platform  4  of rigid material that is supported by a centrally located pivoting arrangement  6 . Platform  4  is preferably provided with non-slip pads  7  on which a user places their feet. The user can adopt various foot positions while standing on platform  4 , and in all cases, must continually adjust their balance in an attempt to keep platform  4  substantially horizontal as the platform pivots about pivoting arrangement  6 . 
     As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, pivoting arrangement  6  comprises a ground contacting member  8  having a surface to permit pivoting of the platform about a first axis  10  extending transversely across platform  4 . There is also an interconnecting member  14  mounted between ground contacting member  8  and the underside of platform  4  to permit pivoting of the platform about a second axis  11  extending longitudinally of platform  4  and substantially perpendicularly to first axis  10 . At the same time, interconnecting member  14  permits pivoting, as shown by arrow  13  in FIGS. 2 and 4, about a third axis  12  that is substantially perpendicular to the first and second axes. 
     Preferably, ground contacting member  8  is a block of rigid material, such as wood, formed with a rounded lower surface  16  that contacts with the ground and is oriented to permit rocking of platform  4  about transverse axis  10 . 
     Interconnecting member  14  preferably comprises a piece of material shaped and dimensioned to be resiliently deformable to allow pivoting about second and third axes,  11  and  12 , respectively, while remaining rigid in all other directions. In a preferred embodiment, interconnecting member  14  comprises an elongate block formed from urethane having a hardness of in the range of 60-90 on the Shore Durometer A Scale. The urethane block is positioned vertically such that the plane of its thinnest edge  22  is perpendicular to the second, longitudinal axis  11 . Thus, the weight of a user on platform  4  tends to bend interconnecting member  14  to one side or the other across its thinnest edge  22  resulting effectively in pivoting of the board about axis  11  which must be counteracted by the user appropriately adjusting their balance. Interconnecting member  14  in the form of the urethane block also tends to pivot or twist to a limited extent about essentially vertical axis  12 . Otherwise, the urethane block is dimensioned and oriented such that it is effectively rigid about first axis  10 . 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the upper end  24  and the lower end  20  of the interconnecting member  14  are fastened to the lower surface of platform  4  and the upper surface  18  of ground contacting member  8 , respectively, by pairs of spaced L-shaped brackets  25 . Fasteners extend through one arm of each bracket to be anchored in to the platform or the ground contacting member and through the other arm of each bracket and through the interconnecting member to secure the bracket and the interconnecting member together. Preferably, the upper surface  18  of ground contacting member  8  is flat to facilitate mounting of the lower end  20  of interconnecting member  14  thereto. It is also possible to use the as the interconnecting member and elongate block that is formed with integral mounting flanges. Such a block  14   a , as illustrated in FIG. 7, would have a generally I-shaped cross-section with the upper and lower arms or flanges of the “I” being adapted to receive fasteners for mounting the block to the platform and the ground contacting member. 
     It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that other materials besides urethane can be used to form interconnecting member  14 . Examples of alternative resiliently deformable materials include rubber, metal and plastic. 
     The balance board of the present invention includes stop members to limit pivoting of the platform about at least one of the pivoting axes. An example of such stop members is shown in FIGS. 2,  3  and  4 . The members comprise projections  30  that extend downwardly from the lower surface of platform  4  to engage with the ground when the platform is pivoted to a pre-determined extent to limit further pivoting. Projections  30  are positioned at the ends of the platform to limit pivoting about first axis  10 . As best shown in FIG. 4, projections  30  have rounded or arcuate lower surface  32  to accommodate pivoting of platform  4  about second axis  11  even when a projection  30  is in contact with the ground. In general, projections  30  would be fitted only when the balance board is being used by a beginner. 
     An additional arrangement of stop members  40  can be used to limit movement about one of the pivot axes of the platform by engaging with the ground contacting member  8  when the platform is pivoted to a pre-determined extent. Examples of a such stop members are best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 5. Stop members  40  are positioned adjacent pivoting arrangement  6  on opposite sides of the platform to limit pivoting about second axis  11 . Stop members  40  and interconnecting member  14  are dimensioned so that there is a space between the stop members and the ground contacting member when the balance board is in its default, generally horizontal, position. As best shown in FIG. 4 by arrow  42 , when interconnecting member  14  deforms to one side to produce pivoting about axis  11 , stop member  40  on that side will move downwardly to contact upper surface  18  of ground contacting member  8  to prevent further pivoting movement. 
     Stop members  40  can be formed from a rigid material to immediately prevent further movement when they contact upper surface  18 . Alternatively, stop members  40  can be formed from a resiliently deformable material that flexes and gives so that there is not an abrupt stop when stop members  40  contact upper surface  18 . 
     As illustrated, stop members  40  are preferably formed in the shape of a ring  44  with attachment flanges  45  for mounting the ring to the underside of platform  4 . Ring  44  and flanges  45  are formed from a resiliently deformable material such as urethane. The advantage of the ring design is that deformation of the ring provides additional resiliency and accommodates additional movement about second axis  11  to increase the challenge of maintaining one&#39;s balance while still limiting pivoting movement. 
     To adjust the deformability of ring  44 , an insert  47  is installable within the centre of ring  44  to increase the stiffness of the ring member and thereby decrease pivoting about the second axis. Insert  47  is essentially a plug that is press fitted into place within ring  44 . An annular flange  46  is formed at one end of insert  47  to prevent the insert from being pushed through ring  44 . Preferably, a small lip  48  is formed at the other end of the insert to prevent the insert from being squeezed out of ring  44  when the ring member is compressed between platform  4  and ground contacting member  8 . Alternatively, the exterior of insert  47  and the interior of ring  44  can be correspondingly threaded to ensure that insert  47  remains in place when installed. 
     When using the balance board of the present invention, a beginner will probably prefer to use inserts  47  installed in rings  44  to minimize pivoting about second axis  11 . As a user becomes more skilled, they can remove inserts  47  to create additional pivoting movement about second axis  11  to increase the challenge of balancing. At an advanced level, stop members  40  can be removed altogether from the lower surface of platform  4  so that movement about the second axis  11  is unhindered and the considerable skill of the user is required to keep the balance board substantially level. 
     As well as being a useful tool to develop balancing ability, the balance board of the present invention is an effective exercise apparatus. For example, a user can perform a routine of squats and stretches while balanced on the board. Maintaining one&#39;s balance while performing such exercise requires considerable energy and is particularly useful for stretching and conditioning the tendons and ligaments of the leg, ankle and foot. In fact, the balance board of the present invention has been found to be useful by physiotherapists for treatment and rehabilitation exercises, particularly of the ankle and foot. The board is used in its beginner configuration and is equipped with projections  30  at the ends of platform  4  to substantially limit the pivoting motion of the board. 
     Although the present invention has been described in some detail by way of example for purposes of clarity and understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practised within the scope of the appended claims.