Patent Publication Number: US-2003236150-A1

Title: Twist exerciser

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1) Field of the Invention  
       [0002] The present invention relates to a twist exerciser, more especially to an exerciser provided for the user to stand thereon and move the waist and leg portions to twist the wheeled body for steering operation mainly comprises a machine disposed with a convex ridge portion with low step pedals extending outwardly at the lower aspect thereof; furthermore, the outer sides of the pedal is disposed with opposite auxiliary wheels so as to achieve the objective of operating by bare hands and obtaining a steady center of gravity to facilitate the application by people of any age groups.  
       [0003] 2) Description of the Prior Art  
       [0004] Accordingly, most of the regular twist exercisers are operated by young children sitting thereon and steering by hands to make the wheels linked below to move alternatively. However, for obtaining more exciting and difficult movement, now a stand-type twist exerciser is available many years after the launch of the sit-type twist exerciser. The stand-type twist exerciser has a pedal disposed with a driving wheel and an idler respectively in the front and rear lower aspects to form a T-shaped rear lateral view. The position of the pedal located at the upper aspect of the wheels makes the center of gravity unsteady when the user stands thereon. Furthermore, the design of having two wheels disposed front and back in a vertical direction is suitable only for the trained professional people to operate but not for any age group. The shortcomings of operating the stand-type twist exerciser include that at the start, it is necessary to use a rod, such as a ski rod, for assisting the push movement; before the push movement, the user has to find a best equilibrium point to stand thereon in two feet. Therefore, a great obstacle exists even at the beginning step. In addition, during the moving procedure, the user has to move the ski rod away in order to use hands to freely handle and balance the operation; furthermore, before parking the twist exerciser, the user has to jump to leave the exerciser and that makes it dangerous and inconvenient to operate.  
       [0005] Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional twist exerciser mainly comprises a wheeled body ( 8 ) with the rear upper aspect thereof formed as a planar pedal ( 81 ) and a driving wheel ( 82 ) disposed at the forward lower aspect thereof; the driving wheel ( 82 ) is moveably jointed with the wheeled body ( 8 ) via an axle ( 84 ) extending downwardly through a rocker arm ( 85 ) to movably joint with a wheel body ( 86 ); an idler ( 83 ) is disposed at the rear lower aspect of the wheeled body ( 8 ). When in operation, the user has to stand on the pedal. Since the design thereof only uses the driving wheel ( 82 ) and the idler ( 83 ) to bear the wheeled body ( 8 ), in a static state, the wheel body ( 8 ) has to completely lie down and that is not convenient for starting operation.  
       [0006]FIG. 2 shows that a T-shape forms between the wheel body ( 86 ) and the pedal ( 81 ); the user needs to be very skilled to precisely stand on the pedal ( 81 ) in a horizontal direction, otherwise, he or she might fall off right away. Furthermore, the pedal ( 81 ) distances from the ground surface in a certain height (H) which is higher than the circular tangent point on the wheel body ( 8 ) thereby making the center of gravity become too high; in addition, when pedaling, the user&#39;s ankles are subjected to injury caused by the pedal ( 81 ) during a fall.  
       [0007] At the starting step, the structure requires the user not only to be trained to conquer the difficulty of immediately stepping on the pedal ( 81 ) in balance, but also to use a rod object to push backwardly to form kinetic energy for moving forwardly so as to achieve the objective of assisting running. After obtaining the kinetic energy to proceed, the user has to throw the auxiliary rod object away in order to freely operate and adjust balance by hands.  
       [0008] During the parking procedure, the user has to first make the wheeled body ( 8 ) in an idle state and then jump away from the wheeled body ( 8 ); it is very difficult for people of any level group to operate and is extremely dangerous to the children.  
       [0009] In addition, the design thereof provides only the method of making ground movement and the operation is monotonous.  
       [0010] Therefore, the present invention provides a twist exerciser comprising a convex ridge portion, a lowered pedal and auxiliary wheels for starting so as to achieve the objectives of operating by bare hands and reinforcing the structure of the wheeled body ( 8 ).  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011] The present invention improves the conventional twist exerciser by forming a convex ridge portion on the longitudinal line at the center of the machine, extending two sides at the lower aspect outwardly and horizontally to form pedals thereby lowering the center of gravity and installing a front and a rear auxiliary wheels to obtain a three-footed bearing area so as to achieve the primary objective of starting the exerciser by bare hands and getting off safely for parking.  
       [0012] Another objective of the present invention is to have bendable hold pads on two sides of the convex ridge portion disposed on the machine for holding or protecting the user&#39;s ankles so as to make figure performance.  
       [0013] Yet another objective of the present invention is to make auxiliary wheels detachment-free for more difficult application made by a conventional two-wheeled exerciser.  
       [0014] Still another objective of the present invention is to make a rear wheel detachment-free and use an auxiliary wheel on the rear side to touch the ground thereby building a three-point planar relationship among the two rear auxiliary wheels at the rear aspect and the forward detent wheel, or to use a wheeled body disposed with a longitudinal convex ridge portion, pedals formed by two sides at the lower aspect and extending outwardly, a driving wheel disposed forwardly and capable of deflecting, a left and a right rear wheels disposed on the rear side of the wheeled body thereby expanding the location area of the center of the gravity through the left and right rear wheels and the pedals designed to be lower to facilitate a stable stand operation so as to allow a static and stable standing position before starting the exerciser such that the primary learner can easily operate and drive the exerciser forwardly.  
       [0015] To enable a further understanding of the structural features and the technical contents of the present invention, the brief description of the drawings below is followed by the detailed description of the preferred embodiment. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0016]FIG. 1 is a pictorial and schematic drawing of a conventional twist exerciser.  
     [0017]FIG. 2 is a rear view drawing of applying the conventional twist exerciser.  
     [0018]FIG. 3 is a pictorial and schematic drawing of the present invention.  
     [0019]FIG. 4 is a bird&#39;s-eye view drawing of the relationship among all the wheels of the present invention.  
     [0020]FIG. 5 is a lateral view drawing of the structure of the present invention.  
     [0021]FIG. 6 is a rear view drawing of the implementation of the present invention.  
     [0022]FIG. 7 is a rear view drawing of the present invention in the state of operating an assistant run.  
     [0023]FIG. 8 is a pictorial and external view of the present invention.  
     [0024]FIG. 9 is a bird&#39;s-eye view drawing of the relative positions of all the wheels of the present invention.  
     [0025]FIG. 10 is a lateral view drawing of the structural relationship of the present invention.  
     [0026]FIG. 11 is a mechanical drawing of the operation and the application of the present invention.  
     [0027]FIG. 12 is the first mechanical drawing of the operation of the present invention.  
     [0028]FIG. 13 is the second mechanical drawing of the operation of the present invention.  
     [0029]FIG. 14 is the third mechanical drawing of the operation of the present invention.  
     [0030]FIG. 15 is a schematic drawing of the twist movement line of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
     [0031] Referring to FIG. 3, the present invention of a twist exerciser allows a user to stand on and use a cooperative working force of a waist and a foot portions to make the machine ( 50 ) to twist and swing left and right as well as use the detent effect of an eccentric detent wheel ( 6 ) to construct a moving exerciser.  
     [0032] Mainly, the present invention comprises the machine ( 5 ) with the forward eccentric detent wheel ( 6 ) movably connected at the lower aspect and a rear wheel ( 7 ) disposed at the lower rear aspect; a convex ridge portion ( 51 ) is formed at the center of the machine ( 5 ) in a longitudinal direction; the downward position of a machine head ( 50 ) is provided for the movably locking the eccentric detent wheel ( 6 ); the rear inner portion of the convex ridge portion ( 51 ) is provided for inserting the rear wheel ( 7 ); furthermore, the positions on two downward sides of the convex ridge portion ( 51 ) extending horizontally and outwardly to form pedals ( 52 ); a front and a rear auxiliary wheels ( 71 ,  72 ) are respectively disposed on two outer sides of the pedal ( 52 ).  
     [0033] Referring to FIG. 4, the eccentric detent wheel ( 6 ) is disposed downwardly on the machine ( 5 ) and the rear wheel ( 7 ) is disposed at the rear aspect thereof; the two outer sides of the pedal ( 52 ) are respectively disposed with a front and a rear auxiliary wheels ( 71 ,  72 ) arranged in a straight line parallel to the longitudinal line of the machine ( 5 ).  
     [0034] Referring to FIG. 5, not only the two auxiliary wheels ( 71 ,  72 ), as shown in FIG. 4, are parallel to the longitudinal line of the machine ( 5 ), a straight line (L 1 ) formed by their two circular tangent points at the lower ends is also parallel to the ground surface. The position of the machine head ( 50 ) is disposed with an axle hole ( 53 ) for inserting and movably joining with an axle body ( 61 ) disposed on the eccentric detent wheel ( 6 ); the eccentric detent wheel ( 6 ) has an eccentric rocker arm ( 62 ) to join rearwards with a wheel ( 63 ); based on the wheel ( 63 ) and the longitudinal line of the axle body ( 61 ), the eccentric detent wheel ( 6 ) makes deflective rotations; most part of the rear wheel ( 7 ) inserts into the inner portion of the convex ridge portion ( 51 ) disposed on the machine ( 5 ); the position of the axle center of the rear wheel ( 7 ) is higher than the pedal ( 52 ) thereby obtaining the height for the center of gravity to steadily fall.  
     [0035]FIG. 6 show the rear lateral view of the structure of the present invention; as indicated, the rear wheel ( 7 ) is disposed in the inner portion of the convex ridge portion ( 5 ) of the machine ( 5 ); the left and right sides at the lower aspect of the convex ridge portion ( 51 ) extend outwardly to from pedals ( 52 ); the lateral lower aspects of the pedals ( 52 ) are disposed with auxiliary wheels ( 71 ,  72 ); the relative position between the straight line, formed by the circular tangent points at the lower ends of the auxiliary wheels ( 71 ,  72 ) and the rear wheel ( 7 ), and the ground surface defines an opening angle (θ); that means, when the wheeled body is in a horizontal and stable condition, the auxiliary wheels ( 71 ,  72 ) disposed respectively on two side are suspending above the ground surface and only the rear wheel ( 7 ) touches the ground.  
     [0036] The axis of the auxiliary wheels ( 71 ,  72 ) is different from that of the rear wheel ( 7 ) such that when the auxiliary wheels ( 71 ,  72 ) touch the ground, the axis thereof is parallel to the ground surface.  
     [0037] Referring to FIG. 7, when the machine ( 5 ) is slanted, the axis of the auxiliary wheels ( 71 ,  72 ) is parallel to the ground surface; as indicated, before sliding operation, the user has to use assistant running method to obtain resisting force of a static friction; the assistant running method involves using one foot to step on one of the pedals ( 52 ); a triangular area (A) is formed among the auxiliary wheels ( 71 ,  72 ) and the rear wheel ( 7 ) for the foot to step on and bear the center of gravity to make the machine ( 5 ) touch the ground in a slanted direction. Cooperated with the pushing from the user&#39;s other foot, the machine ( 5 ) moves forwardly. Of course, the eccentric detent wheel ( 6 ) might touches the ground during the procedure, however, in principle, the function of the eccentric detent wheel ( 6 ) is eliminated in the assistant running; after the entire machine ( 5 ) is pushed to move, the other foot steps on the other pedal ( 52 ) and stands thereon through the kinetic energy of the wheeled body to achieve the forward assistant running to facilitate twist operation.  
     [0038] Basically, the twist and move operation utilizes the eccentric design of the eccentric detent wheel ( 6 ), as shown in FIG. 5; the eccentric rocker arm ( 62 ) thereon defines a width distance (D) at the relative position between the wheel ( 63 ) and the axle body ( 61 ); when the machine ( 5 ) swings left and right, the distance (D) links the axle body ( 61 ) to make arcuate traction. A certain length exists between the longitudinal line of the axle body ( 63 ) and the eccentric rocker arm ( 62 ) to make the wheel ( 63 ) deflect; during the deflection procedure, the difference of the friction coefficient and the changes of the distance of the eccentric rocker arm ( 62 ) turning toward the central point cause the wheeled body to generate a reverse function thereby linking the machine ( 5 ) to move forward; that is of a traditional design and will not be described.  
     [0039] Referring to FIG. 3, the longitudinal convex ridge portion ( 51 ) formed on the machine ( 5 ) not only lowers the height of the pedals ( 52 ), but is also able to extend the distribution area of the mechanical strength through the curve line structure if it is made of plastic material so as to strengthen the mechanically structural force.  
     [0040] The convex ridge portion ( 51 ) located between the standing points of the operator&#39;s ankles is held thereby; soft and bendable hold pads ( 4 ) disposed thereon are capable of not only protecting the ankles, but also being held by the operator&#39;s ankles for lifting up the machine ( 5 ) to make a half turn in the air, a reverse turn at 180 degree or a backward twist after the reverse turn.  
     [0041] During the twist and backward operation, the eccentric detent wheel ( 6 ) is movably jointed to the machine head ( 50 ) via an axle post ( 61 ); the eccentric detent wheel ( 6 ) is disposed with an eccentric rocker arm ( 62 ) capable of freely rotating at 360 degree opposite the wheeled body so as to twist toward any direction as long as within a permitted application scope.  
     [0042] Therefore, the present invention is not only capable of making forward movement, but also of achieving the twist and backward figure operation; during the twist and backward procedure, the convex ridge portion ( 51 ) assists the holding operation to convenience the present invention in making multiple extensive operations; furthermore, the twist and backward application is applicable when the machine ( 5 ) is in a static state.  
     [0043] Referring to FIG. 4, the rear wheel ( 7 ) of the present invention is detachable such that the two auxiliary wheels ( 71 ,  72 ) and the detent wheel ( 6 ) form a triangle to facilitate the operator to stand on in a static state thereby eliminating the assistant running operation and suitable for people of any level group to operate easily.  
     [0044] Another embodiment of the present invention is to selectively detach or eliminate the auxiliary wheels ( 71 ,  72 ) for assembling four, three or two wheels in order to train the user to have advanced skills to control more difficult operations. Or, as indicated in FIG. 8, a wheeled body ( 1 ) is disposed with a longitudinal convex ridge ( 14 ); two sides extend outwardly from the inner portions of the convex ridge ( 14 ) to form pedals ( 11 ); a driving wheel ( 2 ) is disposed at the forward lower position thereof; the rear sides of the wheeled body ( 1 ) are disposed with a left and a right rear wheels ( 3 ); bendable hold pads ( 15 ) are installed on the convex ridge ( 14 ) to form a hold portion ( 10 ) for the user&#39;s feet to hold and operate.  
     [0045] Referring to FIG. 9, a rear left wheel ( 31 ) and a rear right wheel ( 32 ) are disposed rearwards on the wheeled body ( 1 ) of the present invention; two sides of the wheeled body ( 1 ) form pedals ( 1 ) and the forward lower aspect thereof is disposed with an eccentric driving wheel ( 2 ).  
     [0046] Referring to FIG. 10, the rear lower aspect of the wheeled body ( 1 ) is disposed with a rear wheel ( 3 ); the pedal ( 11 ) locates adjacent to the chassis position; an axel hole ( 12 ) is disposed at a forward position for installing the driving wheel ( 2 ); through an axel post ( 23 ), the driving wheel ( 2 ) downwardly and eccentrically couples with a rocker arm ( 22 ) and further movably joins with a wheel body ( 21 ) at the distal end of the rocker arm ( 22 ); the center of the wheel body ( 21 ) opposite the central line position of the axel post ( 23 ) forms an eccentric distance (D); therefore, the axel post ( 23 ) inserts through the axel hole ( 12 ); at the upper aspect, a lock member ( 24 ), opposite the axel post ( 23 ), movably fastens the driving wheel ( 2 ); furthermore, a driving idol ( 13 ) is fixed on the top end of the axel post ( 2 ) and to be driven by the turning axel post ( 23 ) to turn left or right, clockwise or anticlockwise, thereby driving the face portion of the driving idol ( 13 ) to deflect left or right in imitating the actual expression of a real driver turning left and right to examine.  
     [0047] The driving principles of the present invention are indicated from FIGS.  11  to  15 . The bird&#39;s-eye view of FIG. 11 shows the relationship among the wheels ( 31 ,  32 ,  21 ) and the wheeled body ( 1 ); the rear left wheel ( 31 ) and the rear right wheel ( 32 ) are respectively disposed on the two rear sides of the wheeled body ( 1 ); the driving wheel ( 2 ) is disposed forwardly and coupled to the axel post ( 23 ) via the rocker arm ( 22 ). The center of the axel post ( 23 ) and the axel center of the wheeled body ( 21 ) form an eccentric distance (D) to allow the standing user&#39;s center of gravity to fall on the triangular area defined by two rear wheels ( 31 ,  32 ) and the driving wheel ( 2 ); therefore, when the wheeled body ( 1 ) is in a static state, the user can stand steadily on the wheeled body ( 1 ).  
     [0048] Referring to FIG. 12, the convex ridge ( 14 ) on the wheeled body ( 1 ) forms the hold portion ( 10 ); after stepping on the pedals ( 11 ), the user uses the pressure of downward stepping or the toes to hold and press the hold portion ( 10 ) thereby controlling the deflecting movement of the wheeled body ( 1 ).  
     [0049] Referring to FIG. 13, the principle of driving the wheeled body ( 1 ) is to use the rear left wheel ( 31 ) as the center of a circle during the left deflecting operation such that the rear right wheel ( 32 ) is driven by the wheeled body ( 1 ) to displace in an upward traction; furthermore, the wheel body ( 21 ) slants in transverse direction due to the link of the rocker arm ( 22 ) between the wheel body ( 21 ) and the axel post ( 23 ).  
     [0050] Referring to FIG. 14, when the wheeled body ( 1 ) tracts rightwards, a reverser movement occurs between the wheeled body ( 21 ) and the axel post ( 23 ) to alternatively make the rear right wheel ( 32 ) the center of a circle thereby displacing the rear left wheel ( 31 ) upwardly. When the wheeled body ( 1 ) turns, the central position between the rocker arm ( 220  and the wheeled body ( 21 ) forms a dynamic force pushing rearwards to not only make the entire wheeled body ( 1 ) alternatively move forwardly as the rear wheels ( 31 ,  32 ), but also form a push and press force, via the relationship between the rocker arm ( 22 ) opposite the driving wheel ( 2 ) and relative to the axel post ( 23 ) of the wheeled body ( 1 ), to move the point position of the axel post ( 23 ) forwardly so as to achieve the objective of driving the exerciser forwardly.  
     [0051]FIG. 15 shows the operation movement line of the wheeled body ( 1 ) moving forwardly; the relative distance between the rear left wheel ( 31 ) and the right left wheel ( 32 ) is indicated as R; when the rear left wheel ( 31 ) displaces forwardly, the rear right wheel ( 32 ) works as the center of a circle and the distance (R) as the radius to displace upwardly; therefore, the distance (R) forms radius (R1, R2, etc.) to make the rear left wheel ( 31 ) and the rear right wheel ( 32 ) alternatively move forwardly thereby forming a distance of a moving length (L) and that is the travel distance of the wheeled body ( 1 ).  
     [0052] Referring again to FIG. 8, two bendable hold pads ( 15 ) are disposed on the sides of the convex ridge ( 14 ) of the wheeled body ( 1 ) to form the hold portion ( 10 ); the hold portion ( 10 ) is a bendable body for protecting the user&#39;s ankles and to be held by two ankles; therefore, when the sliding speed reaches a certain point, the user&#39;s two feet clamp the hold portion ( 10 ) and jump to carry the wheeled body ( 1 ) into the air to achieve a bounce movement, any figure operation of bouncing and turning or any holding operation of bouncing and turning for sliding on an U-shaped stair in a field to facilitate figure performance.  
     [0053] In addition, the convex ridge ( 14 ) reinforces the mechanical strength of the longitudinal side of the entire wheeled body ( 1 ) and is made of plastic material convenient for application and molding.  
     [0054] Therefore, the design of the present invention particularly makes the center of the gravity lower and steady to allow any primary learner to easily stand on the wheeled body ( 1 ) when the exerciser is in a parked state and to allow the user to merely twist the waist and the leg portions to achieve the objective of driving the wheeled body ( 1 ) to move forwardly. The suitable age group for operating the present invention ranges from young children to adults.  
     [0055] It is of course to be understood that the embodiment described herein is merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that a wide variety of modifications thereto may be effected by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.