Abstract:
Detailed are exercise devices including soft-sided kettlebells. The devices may be weighted variably yet retain all functionality of existing rigid-sided kettlebells. Nesting of internal components may reduce, if not prevent, relative movement of the components when a kettlebell is in use.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This invention relates to exercise equipment and more particularly, although not necessarily exclusively, to variable-weight kettlebells with soft sides. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Commonly-owned U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0255960 of Kessler discloses exercise devices in the form of kettlebells. As noted in the Kessler application, versions of the kettlebells may comprise “a substantially hollow body and curved handle extending” therefrom. See Kessler, p. 1, ¶0007. A preferred embodiment of the kettlebell is made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or other polymers and may include a removable plug allowing “flowable material” to be introduced into the body. By “varying the substance and/or volume of material used to fill the kettlebell,” the weight of the kettlebell can be adjusted. See id., p. 3, ¶¶0039-0040. 
         [0003]    U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0248910 of DiLuglio describes other variable-weight kettlebells. Bodies of these kettlebells “may be made of a generally hard and durable material, such as plastic or steel,” with their lower portions possibly “comprised of a semi-rigid or elastic material.” See DiLuglio, p. 2, ¶0023. A hollow interior portion of the body is lined with a water-impervious coating or has a bladder disposed therein so as to receive “a liquid weight substance, such as water.” A plug may be employed to retain the water within the body. See id, p. 1, ¶0020. 
         [0004]    Disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0048362 of Liford, et al., are yet other variable-weight kettlebells. At least some of the kettlebells may include a core section made from metal, ceramics, wood, or certain other rigid materials to which differing numbers of facet plates may be connected. By varying the number of connected facet plates (which are made of material similar to that of the core section), the weight of the kettlebell may be changed. See Liford, p. 3, ¶¶0035-0037; p. 4, ¶0046. 
         [0005]    Absent from these applications is any explicit contemplation of soft-sided variable-weight kettlebells. This omission presumably is because rigidity is important conventionally to contain the liquid or other material used to fill hollow bodies of the kettlebells and to maintain the shape of the bodies. However, as rigid materials are heavier than many non-rigid materials, utilizing rigid materials for the body of a kettlebell increases its unfilled (default) weight and volume, which may be undesirable in many circumstances. Rigid-bodied kettlebells also are incapable of cushioning any impact with human flesh. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The present invention provides exercise devices including soft-sided kettlebells. When not in use, the kettlebells may collapse in at least one dimension into a smaller volume. Notwithstanding their soft, flexible sides, however, the kettlebells may be weighted variably, thus retaining the functionality of existing variable-weight equipment. 
         [0007]    At least some versions of the invention may comprise a hollow main body formed of fabric and to which a handle assembly may attach. The handle assembly preferably is made of molded plastic including a handle and a base. The handle itself may be solid or hollow—or in some cases solid in places and hollow in others. 
         [0008]    Incorporated into the base of the handle assembly may, if desired, be one or more slots or other openings each designed to receive a strap or other fastener. Advantageously, one strap received by an opening of the base may have both of its ends permanently attached to the body, thus permanently connecting the handle assembly to the body. Likewise advantageously, another strap received by another opening of the base may have only one end permanently affixed to the body, with its other end removably attached thereto. Displacing the removable end of the strap from the body allows movement of the handle assembly relative to the body as, for example, when weights are to be placed in or removed from the body. 
         [0009]    Optionally additionally included in kettlebells of the present invention may be any or all of an inner compartment and inner and outer weight vessels. The inner compartment, when present, may be a rigid-walled structure designed to be fitted into the soft-sided body. It thus may prevent collapse of the body when the kettlebell is in use. The inner compartment also may be hollow so as to receive the inner and outer weight vessels. Nesting these components (when present) may beneficially inhibit their relative movements—both from side to side and from top to bottom—when the kettlebell is in use. 
         [0010]    Each of the inner and outer weight vessels may be a hollow structure made of soft, flexible fabric. Each likewise may be filled (or partially filled) with material intended to increase its weight, as may be the body. Such weighting material may be any suitable fluid or solid, with preferred materials including (but not limited to) mixtures of sand and iron chips. The outer weight vessel also may be configured so as to receive inner weight vessel when use of both vessels is desired. 
         [0011]    It thus is an optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide exercise equipment at least in the form of kettlebells. 
         [0012]    It is another optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide kettlebells having non-rigid, or soft, sides. 
         [0013]    It is also an optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide kettlebells that may accept weights of differing amounts notwithstanding their soft sides. 
         [0014]    It is a further optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide kettlebells whose bodies are made of fabric to which a handle assembly may be attached. 
         [0015]    It is, moreover, an optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide kettlebells in which a handle assembly is permanently attached to a body yet moveable relative thereto. 
         [0016]    It is an additional optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide kettlebells having internal weighting components that may be nested. 
         [0017]    It is yet another optional, non-exclusive object of the present invention to provide kettlebells whose nested components do not move relative to each other. 
         [0018]    Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the appropriate art with reference to the remaining text and the drawings of this application. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an exemplary kettlebell consistent with the present invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 2  is a first elevational view of the kettlebell of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0021]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of the kettlebell of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0022]      FIG. 4  is a second elevational view of the kettlebell of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0023]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the kettlebell of  FIG. 1  taken along lines A-A of  FIG. 4 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0024]    Depicted in  FIGS. 1-5  is exemplary exercise equipment in the form of kettlebell  10 . Kettlebell  10  may be an upstanding object comprising body  14  and handle assembly  18 . Body  14  may be a double-walled structure thus forming hollow interior  22  (see  FIG. 5 ) in which any appropriate solid or fluid material (or both) may be placed. Such material, an example of which may be a mixture of sand and iron chips, adds weight to body  14  for purposes of resistive exercise. Body  14  additionally may include central recess  26  extending from its nominally top surface  30  to an area proximate its nominally bottom surface  34 . 
         [0025]    In presently-preferred versions of kettlebell  10 , body  14  is made of fabric and hence is soft sided. It nevertheless may be shaped or configured so that, when kettlebell  10  is placed upright on a flat surface, material within interior  22  will cause bottom surface  34  to be generally flat as well. Kettlebell  10  thus may remain stable when placed on a flat surface notwithstanding its soft-sided nature. 
         [0026]    Handle assembly  18 , by contrast, advantageously is formed of more rigid material such as molded plastic and includes handle  38  and base  42 . Handle  38  itself may be solid or hollow, or in some cases solid in places and hollow in others, although beneficially being lightweight. Handle  38  also may be ribbed or ridged for both added strength and to facilitate its being gripped by a person using kettlebell  10  while exercising. 
         [0027]    Ends  46  and  50  of handle  38  may be integrally formed with or appropriately connected (or adhered) to base  42 . Base  42  may be generally planar and of size and shape approximating those of top surface  30 ; it is shown in  FIGS. 1-5  as being generally hexagonal. Base  42  need not necessarily be generally planar or sized or shaped in this manner, however. 
         [0028]    At least one, and preferably two, openings  54  exist through base  42 . As illustrated, openings  54  may be in the form of slots; if two such slots are present, they may be positioned near opposite edges  58 A and  58 B of base  42 . Openings  54  are configured to receive straps  62 , two of which ( 62 A and  62 B) are depicted in  FIG. 3 . In some versions of kettlebell  10 , strap  62 A has a first end  66  permanently attached to body  14  and a second end  70  that is free. First end  66  may be threaded through an opening  54  (e.g. the one near edge  58 B) and temporarily attached to second end  70 , as by hook-and-loop fasteners, to secure base  42  temporarily to body  14 . Disconnecting the hooks and loops and freeing first end  66  allows it to be unthreaded through opening  54 , thus permitting access to recess  26 . 
         [0029]    By contrast, both corresponding ends of strap  62 B may be permanently attached to body  14 . If strap  62 B also is threaded through an opening  54  (e.g. the one near edge  58 A), base  42  will be permanently connected (via strap  62 B) to body  14 . It nevertheless may pivot about an axis approximately coincident with edge  58 A when strap  62 A is unthreaded (see  FIG. 3 ), hence rendering recess  26  accessible. Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize that strap  62 B need not necessarily have both ends permanently attached to body  14 ; like strap  62 A, for example, strap  62 B may have only end (or perhaps no end) permanently attached to the body  14 . 
         [0030]    Illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 5  are optional inner compartment  74 , outer weight vessel  78 , and inner weight vessel  82 , any or all of which may comprise a variable weighting assembly for kettlebell  10 . When present these components may nest within recess  26 , inhibiting their moving (either from side to side or from top to bottom) relative to one another or to body  14 . Inner compartment  74  is sized and shaped to fit frictionally (or at least reasonably snugly) within recess  26 ; because it preferably has semi-rigid or rigid walls  86 , it may support body  14  and thus prevent the soft body  14  from collapsing when not desired. Inner compartment  74  additionally may have its own central recess  90  into which outer weight vessel  78  may be frictionally fitted at least somewhat, if not completely, snugly. 
         [0031]    Outer weight vessel  78  preferably is a fabric vessel whose hollow interior may be filled (completely or partially) with weighting material. For nesting purposes, it too may define a central recess  94  into which inner weight vessel  82  may be frictionally fitted at least somewhat snugly. Inner weight vessel  82  may also be a hollow fabric vessel filled (again completely or partially) with weight-increasing solids or fluids. 
         [0032]    Whenever recess  26  is accessible (as shown in  FIG. 3 ), these nested components may be removed from or inserted into the recess  26 .  FIG. 5  illustrates in cross-section the nested components after having been inserted into recess  26  and base  42  having been closed by threading of strap  62 A through an opening  54  and attachment of its ends  66  and  70 . Clear from the figure is that little or no space then exists in any of recesses  26 ,  90 , or  94 , precluding movement of each of inner compartment  74 , outer weight vessel  78 , and inner weight vessel either laterally (i.e. from side to side when kettlebell  10  is upright) or from top to bottom within kettlebell  10 . 
         [0033]    The foregoing is provided for purposes of illustrating, explaining, and describing embodiments of the present invention. Modifications and adaptations to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. The contents of the Kessler, DiLuglio, and Liford applications are incorporated herein in their entireties by this reference.