Patent Publication Number: US-6338700-B1

Title: Adjustable leg stretcher

Description:
This application claims benefit of provisional application 60/131,325, filed Apr. 27, 1999. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     Leg stretching devices are well known. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,117,782 to Johnston; U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,709 to Christianson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,865 to Trainor; U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,306 to Goldsmith, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,873 to Carlstrom. All of these patents show devices for stretching and strengthening muscles of the lower back and legs of a person in a supine position. All of these patents show a rope and pulley system operated by a person by pulling and releasing a rope which extends to a support above the head and then to a person&#39;s foot. The rope is pulled by a user to raise and stretch a leg or legs. None of these patents show a device where the rope is easily adjustable in length to accommodate a user of a different height and to optimize mechanical advantage desirable for stretching. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a leg stretcher used to stretch a user&#39;s hamstring muscles when the user is lying in a supine position. A conventional pulley is suspended from any convenient support at a position above the user&#39;s head. A rope is threaded through the pulley, and at one end thereof has an adjustable stirrup to be placed around the user&#39;s ankle. The stirrup is adjustable in size to accommodate a particular user&#39;s ankle. The opposite end of the rope is then threaded through a cord lock and a handle bar with the cord lock fixedly attached to the handle bar. This end of the rope is then secured to an adjustment handle which is used to adjust the length of the rope and prevent the rope from slipping through the handle bar. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, a preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is an elevational view of all the components of the adjustable leg stretcher strung together on one rope; 
     FIG. 2 is an elevational view of a stirrup shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a right side view of the stirrup shown in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the stirrup shown in FIG. 3 with background parts broken away for clarity; 
     FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line  5 — 5  in FIG. 3 with background parts broken away for clarity; 
     FIG. 6 is an elevational view of a pulley with strap shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 7 is a right side view of the pulley with strap shown in FIG. 6; 
     FIG. 8 is an elevational view of a handgrip shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the handgrip shown in FIG. 8 with parts broken away; 
     FIG. 10 is a bottom view of the handgrip shown in FIG. 8 with parts broken away; 
     FIG. 11 is a right side view of the handgrip shown in FIG. 8; 
     FIG. 12 is a top plan view of an adjustment handle shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 13 is a right side view of the adjustment handle shown in FIG. 12; 
     FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the adjustable leg stretcher according to the present invention with the stirrup placed around a user&#39;s ankle; and 
     FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a cord lock used with the present invention being operated with a finger of a user. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     An elevational view of an adjustable leg stretcher  10  is shown in FIG. 1 with all the components strung together on a single rope  12 . 
     One end of rope  12  is connected to an adjustable size stirrup  14  as shown in FIG.  1 . As shown in FIG. 2, stirrup  14  includes a strap  24  which has been folded to form a first loop  25  and a second loop  27  with the free ends of strap  24  stitched together at  32  to form a reinforced end  30  as shown in FIG. 3. A grommet  34  is provided in second loop  27  as shown in FIG.  4 . The rope  12  is threaded through grommet  34  and a free end knotted in loop  27  to secure stirrup  14  to rope  12  as shown in FIG.  1 . 
     A foot support  28  is positioned on strap  24  within loop  25  as shown in FIG.  2 . In a preferred embodiment, foot support  28  is constructed of a flexible tube slidably positioned in surrounding relation with strap  24 . 
     An adjustment sleeve  26  is positioned in surrounding relation with folded strap  24  as shown in FIG. 2, and is provided to adjust the size of loop  25  to accommodate a user&#39;s ankle. 
     Rope  12  is then led through pulley  16  as shown in FIG.  1 . As best seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, pulley  16  is a conventional pulley with a housing  36 , wheel  38  rotating on shaft  40 , and a swivel ring  42 . A conventional threaded locking link  43  is positioned to extend through swivel ring  42 . A strap  44  is folded on itself to form a loop  45  and free ends of strap  44  sewn together at  48  to form a reinforced end  46  as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Folded strap  44  is threaded through threaded locking link  43  and secured thereto with stitches  51 . With this apparatus, the pulley  16  may be supported above a user lying in a supine position as shown in FIG. 14 at least three different ways. First, the reinforced end  46  may be slipped between a door and a corresponding door jamb at the hinge side of the door to support the pulley; second, the threaded locking link  43  may be opened and threaded through an eye bolt to support the hinge; and third, the loop  45  may be looped or around a structure, such as a fence post, to support the pulley, or may be formed into a slip knot for securing the pulley to the support structure. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, rope  12  is then led through a releasable cord lock  50 , which in a preferred embodiment is a clothesline tightener number F12-70 manufactured by Franklin Cord lock  50  according to the present invention permits a rope to be drawn through the cord lock in one direction, but locks the rope so that the rope cannot move in the opposite direction without release of the cord lock. As shown in FIGS. 8,  10  and  11 , cord lock  50  has a body  56  with a tapered portion  58  that tapers away from the body as best seen in FIG.  8 . At the end of body  58  opposite tapered portion  58 , a release grip  60  is spring-loaded to the closed, gripping position. Internally, tapered portion  58  has three equally spaced ball bearings  62  surrounding a central opening as shown in FIG.  10 . Rope  12  is positioned to run through this central opening in cord lock  50 . As release grip  60  is moved away from body  56  against the pressure of an internal spring, ball bearings  62  release their grip on a rope passing between them. As release grip  60  moves closer to body  56  under the action of the internal spring, ball bearings  62  are forced into rope  12  to hold it tightly. The release grip  60  is formed with a lip which can be easily manipulated with fingers of a user as shown in FIG.  15 . It should be understood that other types of cord locks could be used equally as well. 
     A pair of support rods  64  hold cord lock  50  in a spaced apart position relative to a handle bar  54 . Both rods  64  at adjacent ends are fixedly attached as by welding to cord lock  50 . At the opposite ends of rods  64 , both are fixedly attached to handle bar  54 . 
     As best seen in FIG. 9, handle bar  54  has a bore  52  sized to receive rope  12 . Bar  54  is also positioned so that bore  52  is in line with body  56  before rods  64  are welded in place. Rope  12  is then positioned to pass through both cord lock  50  and bar  54  without a significant bend in the rope. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, rope  12  is then led from handle bar  54  to adjustment handle  20 . As shown in FIG. 12, adjustment handle  20  has a bore  70  passing through the adjustment handle. Rope  12  is led through bore  70  and then a knot  22 , as shown in FIG. 1, is tied in the rope to hold adjustment handle  20  adjacent this end of the rope. 
     In operation, a user hangs pulley  16  with reinforced end  46 , threaded locking link  43  or strap  44  on some appropriate support above a user&#39;s head when lying in a supine position. Stirrup  14  is placed over the user&#39;s ankle as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 and the size of the stirrup is adjusted using adjustment sleeve  26 . The user then grips bar  54  in one hand, and adjustment handle  20  in the other hand. The adjustment handle  20  is drawn in a direction away from bar  54  to draw the rope through cord lock  50 . If the rope needs to be moved in the other direction. The user&#39;s fingers on bar  54  can then easily slide under release grip  60  on cord lock  50  so that the cord lock&#39;s grip on rope  12  can be released against spring pressure. Cord lock  50  is then adjusted forward or back along rope  12  to a comfortable position as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. Then release grip  60  is released so that cord lock  50 , under spring pressure, clamps rope  12  in the desired position. This movement of bar  54  positions the bar in the desired position. 
     Once these two adjustments are made, the user can begin exercising his/her hamstring muscles by pulling bar  54  as best seen in FIG.  14 . The present invention  10  is then used for static stretching of the hamstring muscles. 
     While the fundamental novel features of the invention have been shown and described, it should be understood that various substitutions, modifications and variations may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Accordingly, all such modifications or variations are included in the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.