Abstract:
A musculature training device is disclosed. The musculature training device includes an attaching member, a fixing-and-adjusting member coupled to the attaching member, and an elastic member connected to the fixing-and-adjusting member, wherein the fixing-and-adjusting member sets an initial length of the elastic member. When a user move his/her body or limbs to deform the elastic member and change the initial length of the elastic member, the elastic member generates a restoring force that provides a resistance needed for a musculature training around the user&#39;s joint. Therefore, the user can train himself anytime and anywhere. Moreover, the user is allowed to perform a single joint musculature training to avoid sport injury and improve training effectiveness.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This invention relates to training devices, and, more particularly, to a portable musculature training device. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    For fitness and health reasons, people get to spend more time on musculature training A conventional musculature training device is heavy and bulky. Therefore, people cannot train themselves unless they stay at a certain place where the musculature training device is installed. 
         [0005]    The conventional musculature training device requires a user&#39;s body to prop against an external device (e.g., wall, pole, or pillar), which is with high potential of injuries to the user. The conventional musculature training device usually provides constant resistance coefficient, which may not be suitable for all kinds of people, for example, athletes, ordinary persons, senior citizens, and patients. In the conventional musculature training device, the tubing set is fixed by a grip handle or a pedal, and cannot be fixed to a user&#39;s limbs. Accordingly, the user is likely to have his hands get hurt or his foot suffer plantar arch collapse. The conventional musculature training device generates joint load resistance that is applied to multiple joints (e.g., shoulder joints, elbow joints and wrist joints), and cannot be applied to musculature of a certain joint. 
         [0006]    Therefore, there is a need to provide a musculature training device that can be steadily fixed to a user&#39;s body or limbs, needs no external device, is suitable all kinds of people, and is used to train the musculature of a certain joint. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention provides a musculature training device, including an attaching member fixed around a joint of a user&#39;s body or limbs; at least a fixing-and-adjusting member installed on the attaching member that is disposed on two sides of the joint; and at least an elastic member coupled to the fixing-and-adjusting member, wherein the fixing-and-adjusting member sets an initial length of the elastic member, and when the body or the limbs move to deform the elastic member and change the initial length of the elastic member, the elastic member generates a restoring force that provides a resistance needed for musculature training around the joint. 
         [0008]    The present invention further provides a musculature training device, including a training cloth; a plurality of fixing-and-adjusting members coupled with the training cloth and disposed on two sides of a joint of a user&#39;s body or limbs; and at least an elastic member having two ends connected to the fixing-and-adjusting members that are disposed at two side of the joint, wherein the fixing-and-adjusting members set an initial length of the elastic member, and when the body or the limbs move to deform the elastic member and change the initial length of the elastic member, the elastic member generates a restoring force that provides a resistance needed for musculature training around the joint. 
         [0009]    Compared with the prior art, the present invention provides a musculature training device that has an adjustable attaching member having an initial length and a fixing-and-adjusting member that can be fixed to a corresponding position of a user&#39;s body or limbs. Therefore, a training resistance with different strength is provided, sport injury is avoided, and training effectiveness is improved. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    The invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, with reference made to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0011]    FIGS.  1 A to  1 L′ are schematic diagrams illustrating a musculature training device according to an embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram showing a musculature training device according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0013]    The following illustrative embodiments are provided to illustrate the disclosure of the present invention, these and other advantages and effects can be apparently understood by those in the art after reading the disclosure of this specification. The present invention can also be performed or applied by other different embodiments. The details of the specification may be on the basis of different points and applications, and numerous modifications and variations can be devised without departing from the spirit of the present invention. 
         [0014]      FIG. 1A  is a schematic diagram showing a musculature training device  1  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The musculature training device  1  comprises an attaching member  10 , at least a fixing-and-adjusting member  11 , and at least an elastic member  12 . 
         [0015]    The attaching member  10  is fixed around a joint of a user&#39;s body or limbs, and can be adjusted according to the dimension of the limbs, to satisfy the musculature training demands for different body parts. With regard to the musculature training for knee joints, for example, the attaching member  10  is fixed at a first position, which is ⅓ of the length of the thigh away from the knee and a second position, which is ⅓ of the length of the shank away from the knee, as shown in  FIG. 1B . With regard to the musculature training for elbow joints, the attaching member  10  is fixed at a first position, which is ⅓ of the length of the upper arm away from the elbow and a second position, which is ⅓ of the length of the forearm away from the elbow, as shown in  FIG. 1C . With regard to the musculature training for finger joints, the attaching member  10  is fixed to a finger tip and a proximal phalanx, as shown in  FIG. 1D . 
         [0016]    In an embodiment, the attaching member  10  is a ring-shaped girdle that has a through hole  101  for a user A&#39;s body or limbs to pass therethrough, and an engaging portion  102  for adjusting the size of the through hole  101 , as shown in  FIG. 1E . 
         [0017]    In another embodiment, the attaching member  10  is a cloth strip  103  that has a first surface  10   a,  a second surface  10   b  opposing to the first surface  10   a,  a first engaging portion  104  disposed on the first surface  10   a,  and a second engaging portion  104 ′ disposed on the second surface  10   b,  for the user to fix the attaching member  10  to his body or limbs by engaging the first engaging portion  104  with the second engaging portion  104 ′, as shown in  FIG. 1  F. 
         [0018]    In yet another embodiment, the attaching member  10  is another cloth strip  103 ′ that has a first surface  10   a,  a second surface  10   b  opposing to the first surface  10   a,  and an engaging portion  102  and a buckle  105  that are disposed on the first surface  10   a,  for the user to fix the attaching member  10  to his body or limbs with the second surface  10   b  adhered to his body or limbs and the engaging portion  102  surrounding the body or limbs and engaged with the buckle  105 , as shown in  FIG. 1G . 
         [0019]    In yet another embodiment, the attaching member  10  has a first surface  10   a  coupled with the fixing-and-adjusting member  11 , a second surface  10   b  opposing to the first surface  10   a,  and an engaging portion  102  disposed on the second surface  10   b,  for the user to fix the attaching member to a cloth A′ wore on his body or limbs, as shown in  FIG. 1H . 
         [0020]    The at least a fixing-and-adjusting member  11  is installed on the attaching member  10  that is disposed on two sides of the joint. 
         [0021]    In an embodiment, the fixing-and-adjusting member  11  is a clamp buckle, a slide buckle or a cam buckle. 
         [0022]    The at least an elastic member  12  is coupled with the fixing-and-adjusting member  11 . An initial length of the elastic member  12  is set by the fixing-and-adjusting member  11 . When the user moves his body or limbs to deform the elastic member  12  and change the initial length of the elastic member  12 , the elastic member  12  generates a restoring force that provides resistance needed for musculature training around the joint. The shorter the initial length is, the greater the restoring force generated by the elastic member  12  becomes. Therefore, the user may select suitable training strength on his demands. In an embodiment, the elastic member  12  is a tubing, a thera-band, a spring or a metal sheet. 
         [0023]    In an embodiment, at least two fixing-and-adjusting members  11  are installed on the attaching member  10  that is disposed on two sides of the joint, and two ends of the elastic member  12  are coupled with fixing-and-adjusting members  11 , respectively, that are installed on two side of the joint. 
         [0024]    In another embodiment, the fixing-and-adjusting member  11  that is coupled with one end of the elastic member  12  is disposed on the attaching member  10 , which is disposed on one side of the joint, and the other end of the elastic member  12  is coupled with the attaching member  10  that is disposed on the other side of the joint. 
         [0025]    In yet another embodiment, the elastic member  12  is deformed when being pulled, compressed, bended or twisted. 
         [0026]    In yet another embodiment, the user is allowed to dispose the fixing-and-adjusting member  11  or the elastic member  12  on certain positions corresponding to the musculature to be trained. The elastic member  12  is deformed as the musculature to be trained contracts. With regard to the training of quadriceps femoris at the front side of thigh, the fixing-and-adjusting member  11  is fixed at the thigh and the front side of the shank, as shown in  FIG. 1I . With regard to the training of biceps femoris at the rear side of thigh, the fixing-and-adjusting member  11  is fixed at the thigh and the rear side of the shank, as shown in  FIG. 1J . 
         [0027]    In another embodiment, the fixing-and-adjusting member  11  is used to adjust the initial length of the elastic member  12 , such that the elastic member  12  provides the resistance needed for musculature training of various strength. 
         [0028]    In yet another embodiment, the elastic member  12  can be in parallel to or interlaced with a motion direction of the joint by changing the positions where the two ends of the elastic member  12  are coupled with the fixing-and-adjusting member  11 , to form force arms with different length and change the magnitude of the resistance. 
         [0029]    In yet another embodiment, a user may select an elastic member  12  with a different resistance coefficient or change a number of the elastic members  12  on his demands. It is recommended that an elastic member  12  with a low resistance coefficient is selected for muscle strength training, and another elastic member  12  with a high resistance coefficient is selected for muscular endurance training 
         [0030]    In another embodiment, the fixing-and-adjusting member  11  has a first engaging portion  111 , and the elastic member  12  has a second engaging portion  121  extending along a length thereof. The initial length of the elastic member  12  can thus be adjusted by adjusting a position where the second engaging portion  121  is engaged with the first engaging portion  111 , as shown in  FIG. 1K . 
         [0031]    In yet another embodiment, the fixing-and-adjusting member  11  is a button  112  or a button hole  113 , and the elastic member  12  has a plurality of button holes  123  or buttons  122  disposed along a length thereof. Accordingly, a user can adjust the initial length of the elastic member  12  by engaging the fixing-and-adjusting member  11  with one of the button holes  123  or the buttons  122 , as shown in FIGS.  1 L and  1 L′, respectively. 
         [0032]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram showing a musculature training device  2  according to another embodiment of the present invention. The musculature training device  2  comprises at least a training cloth  20 , a plurality of fixing-and-adjusting members  21 , and at least an elastic member  22 . The musculature training device  2  differs from the musculature training device  1  in that the fixing-and-adjusting members  21  of the musculature training device  2  are coupled with the training cloth  20 , and are disposed on two sides of the joint of a user&#39;s body or limbs. With regard to the musculature training for knee joints, for example, the fixing-and-adjusting member  21  is disposed at a first position, which is ⅓ of the length of the thigh away from the knee and a second position, which is ⅓ of the length of the shank away from the knee. With regard to the musculature training for elbow joints, the fixing-and-adjusting member  21  is fixed at a first position, which is ⅓ of the length of the upper arm away from the elbow and a second position, which is ⅓ of the length of the forearm away from the elbow. 
         [0033]    In conclusion, since a musculature training device of the present invention includes an attaching member or a training cloth, a user may take rehabilitation treatment or strength training without worrying about getting injured. By contrast, the conventional weight training equipment such as 1 RM (repetition maximum) likely introduces sport injure. 
         [0034]    Moreover, a musculature training device of the present invention has a fixing-and-adjusting member in cooperation with an elastic member, so as to change training resistance of musculature around a single joint, perform a certain joint sport, and act as an auxiliary device that is composed of active and passive body elements, such as muscles, joints and ligaments. Therefore, the musculature training device provides resistance against muscles, and provides athletes or patients with improved musculature training effectiveness. When a user is walking, the musculature training device provides light resistance training 
         [0035]    The foregoing descriptions of the detailed embodiments are only illustrated to disclose the features and functions of the present invention and not restrictive of the scope of the present invention. It should be understood to those in the art that all modifications and variations according to the spirit and principle in the disclosure of the present invention should fall within the scope of the appended claims.