Abstract:
A pulley assembly for removably fastening an arm cord to an exercise apparatus is disclosed. The pulley assembly includes a yoke having a central portion and a pair of parallel leg portions, the central portion having a bore therethrough, a pulley wheel rotatably supported between the yoke leg portions by an axle, and an elongated stem having an axially extending shaft portion protruding through the bore. The shaft portion has distal end portion having an L shaped slot formed therethrough. The L shaped slot forms a hook shaped end to the shaft portion. A tapered coil spring over the shaft portion of the stem, has a small end and a large diameter around the shaft portion of the stem. The spring biases the hooked end away from an eyebolt on the exercise apparatus to keep the pulley assembly engaged with the eye bolt and hence fastened to the exercise apparatus.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     1. Field of the Disclosure 
     The present disclosure relates to pulleys. In particular, it relates to a pulley assembly utilized in physical exercise apparatus. 
     2. State of the Art 
     Exercise machines such as reformers utilized in the performance of physical exercises originated by Joseph Pilates often employ pulleys through which cords are extended. One end of each of such a cord is typically attached to a spring biased carriage and the other end attached to a grip loop or handle. The pulley is in turn fastened to one end of the reformer or may be attached to an upright member extending from the frame of the reformer. The pulley is typically bolted to the upright member or may be adjustably fastened to the upright member through a slot in the upright member. Such installations of pulleys are relatively permanent, as they are fairly difficult to remove, requiring the pulley to be unbolted from the upright to which it is attached. Therefore, if many alternative pulley locations are desired to be used, either additional pulleys must be mounted on the upright members or changing them requires a substantial amount of time to complete. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     A removable pulley assembly for use in an exercise apparatus such as a reformer is disclosed which permits the pulley to be attached to any appropriately sized device such as an eyebolt or hook. The removable pulley assembly preferably includes a yoke having a central portion and a pair of parallel leg portions. The central portion has a bore therethrough, and a pulley wheel is rotatably supported between the yoke leg portions by an axle. An elongated stem having an axially extending shaft portion protrudes through the bore. The shaft portion has a distal end portion having an L shaped slot formed therethrough. The L shaped slot forms a hook shaped end to the shaft portion of the stem. A tapered coil spring over the shaft portion of the stem has a small end wrapped onto the shaft portion and a large diameter around the shaft portion of the stem. The hooked end can be hooked onto an eyebolt. The spring biases the hooked end away from the eyebolt on the exercise apparatus to keep the pulley assembly engaged with the eye bolt and hence fastened to the exercise apparatus. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the pulley assembly is for removably fastening an exercise cord to an exercise apparatus. The pulley assembly comprises a yoke having a central portion and a pair of parallel leg portions, the central portion having a bore therethrough. A pulley wheel is rotatably supported between the yoke leg portions by an axle. An elongated stem having an axially extending shaft portion protrudes through the bore. The shaft portion has a distal end portion having an L shaped slot formed therethrough with an axial portion and a radial portion. The radial portion opens through the side of the shaft portion. The axial portion terminates short of the end of the shaft portion, forming a hook shaped end to the shaft portion. The assembly also has a tapered coil spring over the shaft portion of the stem having a small end and a large diameter end, wherein the small end is wrapped around the shaft portion of the stem. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects, other than those set forth above, will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description. Such description makes reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a reformer exercise apparatus incorporating one or more pulley assemblies in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a separate perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a pulley assembly in accordance with the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is an axial cross sectional view of the pulley assembly shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of the pulley assembly shown in  FIG. 2  attached to an eyebolt secured to an upright frame member of the reformer exercise apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough disclosure. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the art disclosed may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known features may have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the art disclosed. 
     A perspective view of a reformer apparatus  100  is shown in  FIG. 1 . This particular reformer  100  has a trapeze assembly  130  installed at its head end. The exercise apparatus  100  comprises a generally rectangular frame  102  having a head end  104  and a foot end  106  and a pair of parallel track or rail members  108  separating the head end  104  from the foot end  106 . Each of the rail members  108  has an outwardly open T shaped slot  110  running the length of each of the rail members  108 . A movable carriage  111  rides on four roller/guide wheel assemblies  112 , one of which can barely be seen in  FIG. 1 , fastened to the underside of the carriage  111 . These wheel assemblies  112  roll on the track members  108  to support and guide movement of the carriage  111  back and forth along the track members  108  of the frame  102 . A plurality of elastic members, e.g., springs  114  are selectively connected between the carriage  111  and the foot end  106  to bias the carriage  111  toward the foot end  106 . 
     A foot bar assembly  116  is removably fastened to the frame  102  near the foot end  106  so as to provide a stationary support for a user of the apparatus  100  to push against while reclining or sitting on the carriage  111  in order to move the carriage  111  back and forth along the track members  108 . The foot end  106  also includes a flat foot topped foot platform  118  for a user to place one foot on while the other foot is placed on the carriage  111  for standing exercises on the apparatus  100 . 
     The head end  104  is designed to space the rail members  108  rigidly apart. The head end  104  is preferably a rectangular box tubular extrusion member made preferably of aluminum fastened to the head ends of the rail members  108 . 
     The carriage  111  comprises a flat support platform  120  which has a generally rectangular shape. A cushion pad  122  is secured to an upper surface of the platform  120 . A pair of shoulder stops  124  are spaced apart near one end of and fastened to the rectangular platform  120 . These shoulder stops  124  engage with a user&#39;s shoulders when the user lies on his or her back on the carriage  111  while exercising on the apparatus  100 . A padded headrest  126  is fastened via a hinge at a base end to the platform  120  between the shoulder stops  124 . 
     A trapeze assembly  130  is slidably installed in the T shaped slots  110  in the rails  108 . The trapeze assembly  130  includes an upside down U shaped or arched frame  132  that has two parallel legs  134  joined by a U shaped upper section  136 , typically has a trapeze bar  138  suspended from the legs  134 , and has a pair of support bracket assemblies  140  that slide into the T shaped slots  110  in the rails  108 . These support bracket assemblies  140  permit the trapeze frame  132  to be rigidly positioned in an upright operating position at the head end  104  of the frame  102  as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     The trapeze frame  132  has adjustable exercise cord pulleys  144  adjustably attached to the vertical frame legs  134  of the trapeze frame  132 . These permit a user to attach one end of an exercise cord (not shown) to the reformer carriage  111  and pass, the other end through the pulley  144  to a hand grip to then perform resistance based exercises via the user&#39;s arms or legs, while standing, sitting or reclining on the carriage  111 . 
     There are also a number of eyebolts  142  fastened at various heights on the trapeze frame members  134  from the reformer head end  104 . A spring (not shown) may be attached to one or more of these eyebolts to facilitate various additional exercise regimens. Alternatively springs may be attached to the trapeze bar  138  and thence to one of the eyebolts  142  to provide a resilient bias to the trapeze bar for other exercise purposes. 
     One or more pulleys  200  in accordance with the present disclosure may be removably attached to the reformer  100  via one of these eyebolts  142 . This permits a user to extend exercise cords from the carriage  111 , through a set of pulleys located at the head end  104  in general alignment with the carriage  111 , such as pulleys  144  in a lowered position, and through one or more of the pulleys  200  to facilitate additional exercise routines which otherwise could not be performed, such as an exercise performed while standing on the carriage  111 . These alternative locations permit a wide variety of alternative exercises to be performed without the need for a large number of pulleys such as pulleys  144 , and without the need for restringing the cords through new pulleys each time a pulley location is changed. Instead, the pulley  200  may be simply relocated to another eyebolt  142 . 
     While eyebolts  142  are shown attached to the trapeze frame  132 , other locations for eyebolts  142  may also be utilized. For example, eyebolts  142  could be provided at corners of the trapeze bar  138 , on the foot bar assembly  116 , or on other locations of the frame  102  of the reformer  100 . Thus the eyebolt locations shown in  FIG. 1  are purely exemplary. 
     An enlarged perspective view of one embodiment of a detachable pulley assembly  200  in accordance with this disclosure is separately shown in  FIG. 2 . A cross sectional view of this pulley assembly  200  is shown in  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 4  shows the pulley assembly  200  attached to one of the eyebolts  142  on the trapeze frame  132 . 
     The pulley assembly  200  for use on an exercise apparatus such as a reformer  100  includes a yoke  202  supporting a pulley wheel  204  on an axle  206 , a stem  208  having a head portion  210  and a cylindrical elongated shaft portion  212  protruding through a central hole or bore  214  through the yoke  202 . The head portion  210  of the stem  208  is larger in diameter than the shaft portion  212  such that the stem  208  passes through and is retained in the bore  214  through the yoke  202 . The stem  208  may be prevented from being withdrawn from the central bore  214  by interference with the pulley wheel  204 , rib  230 , or other obstruction to removal. A distal end of the shaft portion  212  has a hook shape formed by an elongated L-shaped slot  216  cut completely through the shaft portion  212 . The slot  216  has an axial portion  218  that extends along the axis of the shaft portion and a radial portion  220  that cuts through the periphery of the shaft portion  212  to the center of the shaft portion  212 . Together the axial portion  218  and radial portion  220  essentially form a distal end hook on the stem  208 . The axial portion  218  of the slot  216  extends axially along the shaft portion  212  and ends just short of the end of the shaft portion  212  to form the hook shape. The pulley assembly  200  also includes a tapered coil spring  222  around the stem  208  that has a large diameter end  224  and a small diameter end  226 . The small diameter end  226  is wrapped around and is fastened to the shaft portion  212 . The large end  224  wraps around and captures a grommet or bushing  228 . The bushing  228  is preferably made of a flexible material such as an elastomeric material, leather or fabric, although rigid materials such as a rigid plastic or metal may alternatively be used to form the bushing. 
     This bushing  228  is sized to fit over and receive the eye of one of the eyebolts  142  therein. The spring  222  is compressed to permit the hook shaped distal end of the stem  208  to hook through the eye of the eyebolt  142 . The spring  222  then pushes the stem  208 , away from the eyebolt  142  to elastically retain the stem  208 , and hence the pulley assembly  200 , firmly engaged with the eyebolt  142  at the end of the axial slot  218  in the shaft portion  212 . In this manner the assembly  200  is firmly attached to whatever structure the eyebolt  142  is fastened to. Yet the pulley assembly  200  may be quickly removed from the eyebolt  142  by pressing the stem  208  against spring pressure to unhook the shaft portion  212  from the slot  216 . 
     The stem  208  is preferably made of a high tensile strength material such as steel, titanium or a high strength metal alloy. The shaft portion  212  of the stem  208  in the assembly  200  also preferably has an annular flange or rib  230  around the shaft portion  212  spaced from the yoke  202 . An equivalent to this rib  230  could alternatively be a snap ring (not shown) in a complementary groove formed around the shaft portion  212 . The small diameter end  226  of the spring  222  fastens to the shaft portion  212  between the rib  230  and the yoke  202  to retain the spring  222  on the stem  208  when the assembly  200  is disengaged from an eyebolt  142 . The assembly  200  remains together as an assembly by virtue of the narrow end of the spring  222  being captured between the rib  230  and the yoke  202 . 
     At the same time, when the pulley assembly  200  is installed on an eyebolt  142  fastened to the frame  132 , compression of the spring  222  against the frame  132  biases the stem  208  away from the eyebolt  142  to maintain engagement of the shaft portion  212  with the eyebolt  142  and prevent the shaft portion  212  from disengaging the slot  216 . 
     To install a pulley assembly  200 , a user compresses the coil spring  222  against the surface to which the eyebolt  142  is fastened and the hooked distal end of the stem  208  is passed beside the eye of the eyebolt  142  such that the eyebolt  142  is inserted into the slot  216  in a manner such that as compression force on the spring is relaxed, the eyebolt remains in slot  216  and rests at the distal end of stem  208 . This spring bias between the support surface and the stem  208  keeps the pulley assembly  200  fully engaged with and attached to the eyebolt  142  until such time as a user desires to relocate the pulley assembly  200 . 
     Removal of the pulley assembly  200  is essentially the reverse. The user pushes the assembly  200  toward the frame  132  to which the eyebolt  142  is attached, until the stem  208  can be unhooked from the eyebolt  142 . Once released from the eye, spring forces simply permit the spring  222  to return to its uncompressed state. The spring  222  is retained on the stem  208  via the small diameter end  226  wrapped around the shaft portion  212 . Preferably the rib  230  around the shaft portion  212  prevents the end  226  from sliding off the end of the stem  208 . 
     Various modifications and alternatives to the disclosed embodiment will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, the spring  222  may be fastened to the shaft portion  212  via a different means than the small diameter end  226  being wrapped around the shaft portion  212 . The small diameter end  226  may include a straight portion that fits within a cross bore in the shaft portion  212 . The small diameter end  226  could alternatively be fastened to the yoke  202 . The head portion  210  of the stem  208  may be rigidly or loosely attached to the yoke  202  via the shaft portion  212  passing through the bore  214 . The stem  208  may have any cross sectional shape, such as cylindrical, square, multi-sided, or circular or triangular, and the head portion  210  may have a different shape than that of the shaft portion  212 . These are only exemplary variations. Accordingly, all such alternatives, variations and modifications are intended to be encompassed within the scope of and as defined by the following claims.