Patent Publication Number: US-6908418-B2

Title: Door mounted deadman for exercise devices

Description:
This invention relates to a door attached deadman for an exercise devices. Specifically, a door mounted vertical strap cooperating with the door jambs and lintel is disclosed for providing any room with a door as a candidate location for wall mounted exercise devices. 
   This application claims priority from Provisional Patent Application 60/357,365 filed Feb. 15, 2002 entitled Door Mounted Deadman for Exercise Devices. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Doors have in the past been used for mounting a variety of exercise devices. Exemplary of such mountings are: 
   Pollock U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,065 issued Oct. 19, 1993 entitled Flexible Loop Fastening Strap Supportable in Door Structure. In this disclosure, a strap having an enlarged end portion is trapped on one side of the door with a loop depending to the opposite side of the door. The loop acts as the anchored point from which a portion of an exercise device may be attached. 
   McFall et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,205 issued Nov. 21, 1995 entitled Portable Door Mounted Exercise Apparatus. In this disclosure, two large pulley assemblies are mounted to the top and bottom of a door. The pulley assemblies have elastic members connecting the top pulley assembly to the bottom pulley assembly. The disclosed pulleys have relative large diameters and are canted out of the plane of the door so that they may swivel about an axis tilted toward the person utilizing the exercise device. 
   Weintraub U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,518 issued Feb. 11, 1997 entitled Portable Exercise Device. In this disclosure, top and bottom U-shaped brackets mount to a door to suspend an otherwise elaborate exercise device. Upper brackets and pulleys together with a lower lever produce a large essentially not portable exercise device. 
   Mazor U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,698 issued May 9, 2000 entitled Exercise Device for Removable Mounting on a Door. In this disclosure, top and bottom U-shaped brackets form anchor points for exercise devices. 
   I have discovered that such door-mounted devices suffer from at least two deficiencies. First, most devices mount relatively large mechanical structures to the door in the form of pulleys, levers, top and/or bottom mounted (typically U-shaped) brackets. These large mechanical structures subtract from the exercise device&#39;s portability, which is the principle reason for mounting the device to a door in the first place. Secondly, and most importantly, all these devices locally strain the door edges, usually at the top or the bottom of the door. These local strains on the door edges render device mounting damaging to the door and can produce hazardous conditions. 
   In the following specification, I will refer to the structure of a door. As most are aware, a door closes between two doorjambs with a lintel extending across the door top. Typically, the door is mounted by hinges at one doorjamb and swings to and from positions of engagement of a lock set to the other doorjamb. I describe a door having a closing face and an opening face. The closing face of the door closes into the doorframe consisting of the doorjambs and lintel. The opening face of the door opens out and away from the doorframe. This terminology will be used in the specification and claims that follow. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   In what follows, I solve this deficiency by first constructing a strap deadman which optimally strains a door by tension only into the door&#39;s jambs and lintels so that a vertically disposed strap on a face of the door can act as the deadman point of attachment. Secondly, I disclose a deadman having a plurality of attachment points. The resulting deadman cooperates with simple strain producing members—such as elastic tubes—which enable floor to ceiling anchor points enabling a full exercise vocabulary adaptable to any prescribed fitness regimen. 
   A door-mounted strap extends around a door in the vertical direction, from the top of the door to the bottom of the door to act as a deadman preferably toward an exerciser on the closing side of the door. The strap is continuous as it faces the exerciser. On the rear side of the door, away from the exerciser, the strap has a tension-locking clamp, typically a ladder lock, enabling the tightened strap to snugly surround the door. A back-mounting strip exceeds in width and underlies the door-mounted strap at least on the side of the door disposed towards the exerciser. This back-mounting strip is sewn at intervals to enclose the horizontally disposed linear back members of D-rings at approximate 10-inch intervals. The back mounted strip typically terminates at the upper lintel of the doorframe with a thickened section to prevent circumferential excursion of the door-mounted strap relative to the door. Removable attachment elastic members for fastening to the arcuate portions of the D-rings are provided in combination with handholds, limb straps, and the like to enable standing, sitting and/or prone exercise positions. All members of the exercise device are tensile members, which can collapse for complete portability. 
   An advantage of the disclosed deadman is that it cooperates with the doorjambs and lintels to impart all strain on a distributed basis from the door to the building structure. As a result, the door acts as a plate urged on a unitary basis into the surrounding building structure where distribution of exercise induced strain is distributed at the door periphery into the surrounding building structure. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a front elevation of a door opening away from the exerciser in the sitting position with a D-ring adjacent the lintel engaged as the exercise anchor point; 
       FIG. 2  is a detail of the ladder lock on the rear side of the door; 
       FIG. 3  is a detail adjacent a D-ring illustrating the back-mounted strip functioning to hold a D-ring in place; 
       FIG. 4  is an expanded detail at the top of the door illustrating the back-mounted strip at the lintel to prevent strap circumferential excursion; 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a sitting exerciser doing leg exercises using the bottom of the door as the exercise anchor point; 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective, side elevation view of an exerciser doing a step up exercise tending to impart peripheral rotation to the strap as mounted about the door; and, 
       FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the kit like exercise device illustrating respectively the door attaching strap, a waste attaching strap, a limb attaching strap, paired arm and/or leg holds, paired handholds, and elongate handhold, a waistband, arrayed elastic exercise gear, and a carrying case. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , door  2  is surrounded by strap  3 . Exerciser A utilizing elastic exercise gear  4  fastened to strap  3  at door  2  undertakes exercise as he is seated in chair C. It is the purpose of this invention to set forth a completely portable and universally mounting exercise apparatus. In what follows we will describe each of the components of this invention. First strap  3  will be described. Thereafter mounting of the strap  3  to door  2  will be set forth. Finally, the threading of exercise gear  4  to the D-rings  33  will be set forth. 
   The construction of strap  3  is easily understood. Referring to  FIG. 3 , it will be seen that strap  3  extends along closing face  21  of door  2 . Along this side of door  2 , strap  3  has a backing strap  32  sewn between the strap and the door  2 . Sewing of strap  3  to backing strap  32  occurs at stitching  35 . During this sewing attachment, D-rings are fastened between the strap  3  and backing strap  32  at approximate 10-inch intervals along one side of the strap. It will be understood that backing strap  32  has a width exceeding strap  3 . This excessive width enables both the protection of door  2  and trapping of the D-rings  33  at their vertical members. 
   Unless unrestrained it would be possible for strap  3  to rotate as it is fastened around door  2 . Forming an enlarged section in the strapping surrounding door  2  can prevent this. An example of this is shown in  FIG. 4  where backing strap  32  is gathered in a large mass at its terminal end. The reader will understand that either strap  3  or backing strap  32  can be gathering in a thickened section or volume  34 . Thickened section  34  is typically registered to a lintel  10  to prevent relative rotation of the strap relative to the door  2 . 
   It will be understood that many exercises when attached to the respective D-rings will tend to cause the strap  3  and the backing strap  31  to undertake circumferential excursion relative to the door D. Thickened section  34  will resist such excursion. Specifically, when an exerciser undertakes exercise either as set forth in  FIG. 1  where the exerciser facing portion of the strap will rotate downwardly with respect to the exerciser, or as set forth in  FIG. 6  where the exerciser facing portion of the strap will rotate upwardly with respect to the exerciser, such rotation is resisted. 
   It will be understood that strap  3  is fastened to door  2  when door  2  is in the opening position. Typically the strap  3  passes over closing face  21  of door  2 , around the bottom of the door, and back over the top of the door. Backing strap  32  only extends under strap  3  at one door face. In the view of  FIGS. 1 and 5 , backing strap  32  extends over the closing face  21  of door  2 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 2 , strap tensioning clamp  31  (typically of the ladder lock variety) enables strap  3  to be gathered under tension snugly around the door. Once strap  3  is snugly fastened about door  2 , the door is closed. In  FIG. 1 , the closing face  21  of door  2  swings on hinges  23  from the hinge doorjamb  10  into a locked relation with lock set doorjamb  11 . Door  2  fits snugly into door frame  1  trapping strap  3  at a lintel  12 . Typically thickened section  34  registers to lintel  12  to prevent relative rotation of strap  3  over door  2 . 
   Observing  FIG. 1  further, it will be seen that tension on strap  3  pulls door  2  into door frame  1  at hinge doorjamb  10  and lock set doorjamb  11 . With this tension on the door, warping of the door under the strain strap  3  cannot occur. The reader will understand that it is possible to mount the strap in the opposite disposition. In this case the entire strain exerted on the strap will be transferred to a hinge  23  and lock set  24 . 
   Once strap  3  is in place, elastic exercise gear  4  is passed through D-rings  33 . Elastic exercise gear  4  is typically comprised of elastic tubing. It will be understood that other elastic tensile members can just as easily be used. For example bungee cords, tensioning coil springs, and the like can as well be used. Further it will be understood that more than one elastic exercise gear  4  can be passed through one or more of the individual D-rings. In this way tension may be varied depending upon the particular exercise undertaken as well as the particular individual involved. 
   Each of the elastic exercise gear  4  has clips  41  attached to either of the ends. These respective clips  41  can be attached to handholds  42  or to limb bands  43 . 
   For example, referring to  FIG. 5 , it will be seen that exerciser A sits in chair C with his back to door  2 . Elastic exercise gear  4  has two clips  41  (typically of the C-clip variety) at either end. The elastic exercise gear  4  has been threaded through a D-ring  33  with the clips  41  being threaded to limb band  43 . In the particular case here illustrated, clips  41  fastens to strap  3  at the bottom of door  2 . A limb band  43  fastens about ankle  40  of exerciser A. Exerciser A is seated in chair C, extending his leg at the ankle, exerciser A is able to undertake exercise flexing his ankle towards and away from door  2 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 6 , exerciser A view shown with a waistband W fastened around his waist. The elastic exercise gear  4  extends to the lowest D-ring adjacent to the base of door  2 . Relative rotation of strap  3  relative to door  2  is inhibited by either a thickened section  34  or alternatively a D-ring registering to the top or bottom of door  2 . 
   It will be understood that this invention can easily be utilized as a portable kit. The components of such a portable kit are all illustrated in FIG.  7 . These components include the door mounting strap  3 , waistband W, individual hand holds  41 , enlarged hand hold  42 , limb band  45 , arm bands  46 , elastic arrays  4 , and finally a carrying case  50 . It will be understood by the expedient of taking carrying case  50  loaded with the displayed contents of  FIG. 7 , a portable door attached exercise systems disclosed.