Abstract:
A table is slidably supported on a chassis which is tiltably supported on a base or support frame whose angle may be adjustable via a motorized tilt control device that allows the chassis and table to be tilted and the weight of the user made available to produce a load against which exercising can be carried out. Said weight may be increased by the addition of one or more elastic resistance bands at various geometric points of said slidable supported device and the fixed base on which it is mounted, and whose geometry serves to apply a pre-tension force to said band(s). By pre-tensioning the material, the resistance band then provides a more linear force to the end user.

Description:
PATENTS CITED 
     The following documents and references are incorporated by reference in their entirety, Berdut (U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,879), Frick et al (U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,676), Barnett (U.S. Pat. No. 8,012,073), Boren (U.S. Pat. No. 8,012,073), Solow (U.S. Pat. No. 8,394,005), and Hetrick (U.S. Pat. No. 8,469,864). 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an item of exercise equipment which enables a user to perform a plurality of different exercises. More specifically, the present invention relates to exercise equipment in which the user may selectively utilize a combination of the weight of the user and/or variable resistance straps to provide a load against which the person exercises and which varies the load simply by changing the angle of either the apparatus and/or the straps. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART 
     A great many and various types of exercise apparatus have been proposed. A large number of these devices have relied solely upon springs, weights or even elastomeric members to provide resistance against which exercise can be performed. Other devices have attempted to make use of the body weight of the person in order to provide an exercise resistance, but have been limited to one or two different bench-press and riding types of exercises. 
     The above types of machines are intended for use by people who are in good health and wish to improve their physical condition; however, they are usually not suited for elderly and disabled people such as those who suffer from muscular dystrophy, or who have spinal or heart problems, for example. 
     There is a need for exercise equipment which is simple, sturdy, allows a good variety of different exercises to be performed, and which is readily adjustable. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This section is for the purpose of summarizing some aspects of the present invention and to briefly introduce some preferred embodiments. Simplifications or omissions may be made to avoid obscuring the purpose of the section. Such simplifications or omissions are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. 
     In one aspect the invention is about an exercising machine comprising a support frame, a chassis supported on said support frame so as to be selectively tiltable at an angle with respect to a horizontal plane, a motorized tilt control arrangement which controls the angle of inclination of the combined chassis and table arrangement, said angle adjustment device interconnecting said support frame and said chassis and maintaining a selected tilt angle of said chassis with respect to the horizontal plane, a slidable table slidably supported on the tiltable chassis, said table being adapted to support a person and to be tiltable at the same angle as said chassis, a pair of oar anchor brackets which are fastened to each side of said chassis, said oar anchor brackets having connection means which enables the lower ends of oars to be pivotally connected to said chassis and one or more table hooks positions along the side of said table and one or more hook positions along the length of said angle connector, with at least one adjustable resistance band connecting one said table hook position to one said position along said angle connector. 
     In another aspect said table is supported on said chassis by a plurality of rollers, and wherein said chassis is provided with rail means on which said rollers can roll. In yet another aspect, said rollers are arranged in sets wherein a plurality of rollers of each set are arranged to roll on top of a rail of said rail means, and at least one roller of each set is arranged to roll on a lower side of the rail. 
     Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon examining the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows an illustration of a perspective view of the Tiltable multi-purpose variable resistance exercise gym apparatus, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a side elevation showing a user in a backward tiltable positions (using part of his weight as resistance), having it augmented by the addition of a variable resistance band between the slidable table and the base, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3  shows an illustration of a perspective view of a user rowing on the tiltable multi-purpose variable resistance exercise gym apparatus, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 4  shows an illustration of the perspective view in detail of the variable resistance connectors at both the fixed and slidable portions of the device, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 5  shows an illustration of a perspective view of the a user using the tiltable multi-purpose variable resistance exercise gym apparatus in combination with a shoulder strap assembly of variable resistance, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 6  shows an illustration of a perspective view of a user in another exercise combination, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 7  is an end sectional view showing a roller and track arrangement which supports the slidable table member on the tiltable chassis. 
         FIG. 8  is a side sectional view of the roller and track arrangements. 
     
    
    
     The above-described and other features will be appreciated and understood by those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, drawings, and appended claims. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     This section is for the purpose of summarizing some aspects of the present invention and to briefly introduce some preferred embodiments. Simplifications or omissions may be made to avoid obscuring the purpose of the section. Such simplifications or omissions are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. 
     All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinence of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art. 
     It is acknowledged that the term ‘comprise’ may, under varying jurisdictions, be attributed with either an exclusive or an inclusive meaning. For the purpose of this specification, and unless otherwise noted, the term ‘comprise’ shall have an inclusive meaning—i.e. that it will be taken to mean an inclusion of not only the listed components it directly references, but also other non-specified components or elements. This rationale will also be used when the term ‘comprised’ or ‘comprising’ is used in relation to one or more steps in a method or process. 
       FIGS. 1-6  illustrate the concept upon which the present invention is based. As will be readily appreciated from these sketches, the invention  100  is quite simple in its physical construction and comprises five basic elements: a base or support frame  102 ; a tiltable chassis  104  which is pivotally supported on said base frame  102 ; a bed or table  106  which is slidably supported on the tiltable chassis  104 ; an adjustable resistance angle connector  108  and a motorized tilt control arrangement  110  which controls the inclination of the combined chassis and table arrangement. 
     The table  106  and chassis  104  are arranged to be tiltable in both directions through a motor/screw combination  112  to a maximum angle which is set in one embodiment at 45° either way, but may be set to any angle up to 90°. In one embodiment, the motor/screw combination  112  is under the control of a hand-held remote controller unit  114 . 
     By tilting the table  106 , it is possible to employ the body weight of the person using the apparatus to provide a load against which exercise can be carried out. As seen in  FIG. 2 , the table  106  is inclined so that the “foot” end (F/E or  202 ) of the table elevated above the horizontal plane, and the padded foot rest  116  arrangement connected to the chassis by way of wing nuts or the like. In one embodiment these nuts are depicted as having triangular heads and are provided on both the chassis  104  and the table  106  to enable the foot rest  116  to be connected to either. 
     In one embodiment, the foot rest  116  is provided with toe caps which allow the user to secure his or her feet against the foot rest  116  and thus be able to apply a traction force which acts on the muscles in the upper thigh and holds the slidable table  106  in position. By increasing the angle of tilt using the remote control unit  114 , the amount of resistance can increased from a near zero level when the table and chassis are horizontal, to a considerable amount when the maximum degree of inclination is reached. It should be noted that the angle through which tilting is possible is not limited to the above mentioned value and that the amount of tilt can be increased to any practical maximum value. 
       FIG. 2  shows the foot rest  116  that is connected to the un-moveable chassis  104  having the moveable table  106 , whose foot end  202  of moves through the motion of the user  206  in one end  204  and another  208 , which are represented at points  206 ′,  204 ′ and  208 ′ respectively. When the table is flat, one or more elastic bands  118  may be connected to the one or more table hooks positions  210  along the table designed to connect via one or more bands  118  to the one or more hook positions  136  along the adjustable angle connector hook positions  136  along the adjustable resistance angle connector  108 . In this fashion, the user may use the levers or handles  126  that are connected to the base frame&#39;s  102  oar anchor pins  128  which allows the user to pull his or her body weight up the slope in a manner which enables a “dead lift” exercise to be carried out, to do it in a flat position against the bands  118  and or a combination of both  FIG. 3 . 
     For the purpose of the present invention, it is appreciated that the elastic element may be comprised of a variety of different forms. For example, the elastic element or bands  118  may be a band, tube, or like resistive element. In one embodiment, said bands comprise tubes that are generally two feet long and terminate at a fabric coupling at each end, so that each coupling has a loop to attach a metal clip, e.g. carabineer, which can be releasably attached to an attachment ring, or handle or other implement. The coupling material may comprise a e.g. heavy nylon webbing or the like material that is capable of withstanding large tensile loads. 
     A desired pre-set tension may independently be applied to each of the bands  118  by selecting an appropriate length of band material, or selecting the movable table hook position  210  and the respective angle hook connector positions  136 . In this regard, a preferred band material is made of synthetic rubber materials such as latex or other elastomeric rubber-like materials. Alternatively, a length of band  118  may be connected to the first table hook position  210  of the bed and secured to the highest point in the angle hook connector  136 . 
     In one embodiment, certain combinations of table hook  210  to angle hook  136  may be color coded, or numbered to represent 1X, 3X, 5X resistance where X is a particular color. The elastic elements may be provided as a set of elastic tubes that have different colors: e.g. yellow, green, red and blue, each color corresponding to a different resistance. Two or three elastic tubes can be attached to one handle and attachment point of pull on the system, so that a user can combine red and green on handle for more resistance, or any other combinations of colors. Although the elastic elements are preferred, it is appreciate that any elastic element, e.g. band, tubing or the like, currently available in the art may be used in the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  shows details of one possible combination of a rubber band  118  connected at one of the many angles between the angle hook  136  openings to the movable bed  106  hooks  210 . The ability to place the same band  118  at varying angles (effectively altering the resistance by the sine/cosine trigonometric aspect), affords among many the advantage of allowing a user to use the same belts with multiple powers of resistance. Thus a band  118  placed almost horizontal, say from hooks  404  to  406 , will have less resistance than the same band between hooks  404  to  408 , yet a completely different feeling than the same belt from  402  to  406  and/or  408 . In addition, a user may fit one type (or the same) of band  118  from  402  to  406 , and a second from  404  to  408  without these interfering with each other. 
     In this fashion, we see in  FIG. 5  we an exercise face-up position  500  where the user  502  has a combined exercise position where the user  502  is able to perform leg push exercises while having resistance bands  504  connected to an harness  506  placed around said user&#39;s  502  shoulders. The position of the user  504  above the table  106  then allows the user to move up/down with the table. The addition of the variable resistance bands  118  between the angle connection  108  and the bed or table  106  then allows for an additional level of resistance. 
     Another exercise can be seen in  FIG. 6  where another exercise with the user  502  in a face-up position  600 . In one embodiment, user fixed resistance bands  602  are attached to posts  604  attached to the support frame  102  with the moving of the table  106  (connected to the user  502 ), with the resistance of the table movement being augmented by the selected angle/position of the variable resistance bands  118 . In an alternate embodiment, the user resistance bands  602  may be comprised of variable resistance bands. 
     As will be appreciated from  FIGS. 7-8 , the sides of the chassis  104  in this particular instance are formed of channel members  702  in which smaller pieces of T-section channel  704  are rigidly connected. The channel members  702  are interconnected by suitably spaced laterally extending brace members  706 . Sets of rollers which comprise two upper support rollers  707   a  and one lower retaining roller  707   b , are provided on each of the four support brackets  708  and are arranged to roll along the rails  712  provided by the mirror image T-section channel  704  which are provided on either side of the chassis  104 . Braces  709  extend between pairs of support brackets  714  to prevent flexure of the brackets  714  when the table  106  is moving under load. The cover covers or enclosures  710 . 
     In one embodiment the chassis  104  is supported on the base/support frame  102  by two stub pivot shafts  708  which are connected at their inboard ends to the chassis  104  and which pass through mounting brackets. In another embodiment, in order to reduce noise, the rollers  707   a ,  707   b  can be roller bearing type rollers such as those used on skate boards having Nylon® or hard rubber tires. Alternatively, the rollers  707   a ,  707   b  can have steel tires and the T-section channel  704  lined on both the upper and lower sides with a suitable elastomeric sound deadening material. 
     The tilt control  112  in this embodiment features an extendible strut  122  which is mechanically connected to an electric motor  120  through suitable step down-gearing. The energization and direction of rotation of the motor  120  is controlled by the remote hand-held controller  114  which is connected with the motor  120  through a control cable or as a wireless control unit. 
     Both the upper and lower ends of the extensible strut  122  are connected to the tiltable chassis  104  and the base frame  102  by way of pivoting the angle relationship, to allow for the change in angle which occurs with tilting of the chassis  104 . In one embodiment, the extensible strut  122  includes a helically threaded male member which is threaded into a female member that is provided internally with a corresponding helical thread. 
     In one embodiment the foot rest  116  can be adjusted both in a direction to allow for different leg lengths as well as vertically adjustable so as to allow the height of the foot position to be selectively increased. A pair of rowing oar anchor brackets  124  are fixedly connected to the sides of the chassis  104 . The lower ends of these brackets  124  are provided with suitable “oar” anchor pins  128  which allow the selective connection of lever or oar members  126 . 
     The “head” end H/E of the chassis  130  is provided with a pair of horizontally extending bicycle-type hand grips  132 . Adjacent these handles  132  are a pair of sockets into which cable connector brackets  134  are insertable. As shown, the cable connector brackets  134  are provided with a series of holes which allow fixed or variable resistance cables or straps to be connected at different heights and used to enable various types of arm exercises to be carried out. 
     CONCLUSION 
     In concluding the detailed description, it should be noted that it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations and modifications can be made to the preferred embodiment without substantially departing from the principles of the present invention. Also, such variations and modifications are intended to be included herein within the scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims. Further, in the claims hereafter, the structures, materials, acts and equivalents of all means or step-plus function elements are intended to include any structure, materials or acts for performing their cited functions. 
     It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present invention, particularly any “preferred embodiments” are merely possible examples of the implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention. Any variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments of the invention without departing substantially from the spirit of the principles of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of the disclosure and present invention and protected by the following claims. 
     The present invention has been described in sufficient detail with a certain degree of particularity. The utilities thereof are appreciated by those skilled in the art. It is understood to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure of embodiments has been made by way of examples only and that numerous changes in the arrangement and combination of parts may be resorted without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the forgoing description of embodiments.