Improvements in Exercising Machines.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Aug., 1890-Accepted, 20th Sept., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Exercising Machines.
I, DANIEL LAWRENCE DOWD of No. 9, East 14th Street in the City County and
State of New York, United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to that class of exercising machines that are operated by ropes
attached to drums and in which the desired resistance is furnished by springs attached
to said drums.
The object of my invention is to provide a simple durable and efficient machine for
the development of all the muscles of the body, arms, legs, and neck, and strengthen
the chest and lungs, and in which the resistance may be easily varied and regulated.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specifi-
cation, in which
Figure 1 is a front elevation, and Figure 2 is an end view, of the device.
Figure 3 is a transverse section on line x x Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal section, on line y-y Figure 2.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of the device provided with a double fusee pulley
having a spiral groove upon its periphery.
Figure 6 is a longitudinal section of the device provided with a double fusee pulley
having a plain periphery.
Figure 7 is a longitudinal section of the device provided with a plain cylindrical
pulley, and
Figure 8 is a front elevation of the device, as shewn in Figures 5, 6, 7, but on a
smaller scale.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.
The cylinder A, which constitutes the case of the machine, is made in two vertically-
separable parts provided with laterally-extending flanges A2 united by screws. The
ends of the cylinder have bearings a to fit the shaft B upon which the cylinder is
loosely mounted, and in front of the cylinder is a horizontal slot 6 having rollers C
pivoted in the upper and lower part thereof and between which passes the strap or
cord by which the machine is operated. The cylinder A also keeps the operating
cord or strap in position upon the drum enclosed by the cylinder. Within the
cylinder A and mounted loosely upon the shaft B is the flanged drum D, and a flat
spiral spring E coiled around the shaft B inside the drum is attached at one end
to the drum and at the other end to the shaft so that when the drum D is turned
upon the shaft the spring E will be put in tension and when the drum is released the
reaction of the spring will turn it in the opposite direction. The drum D has a
removable side D¹ attached to it by screws s so that the spring E may be placed
within the drum. Attached to the drum D is a strap F wound upon, and attached
to, the drum; its free end, passing through the slot 6 between the rollers C, being
provided with a pair of handles H attached to the strap by a swivel d so that they
may be turned over at will without twisting the strap. The handles H are provided
with a cross-bar H' to which the swivel d is attached and which will prevent the handles
from being drawn into the slot b. If, after the handles H have been drawn out, they
are released, the spring drum D will draw the cross-bar H' against the rollers C in
the slot band the further action of the spring will turn the cylinder A till the
cross-bar strikes the bracket K, which will stop the cylinder and prevent the spring E
from being unwound. As the operating strap projects through the slot 6 in the
cylinder A it is obvious that the vertical and lateral movements of the strap will be
limited by the slot which will prevent the strap from being thrown off the drum D,

page_text: The top of the frame J is bent upward at the part I and is pivoted by the pin e to a
bracket K which may be attached to a wall or other support.
The machine is operated by pulling outwardly upon the handles H which will turn,
and unwind the strap F from, the drum D, the rollers C preventing the strap from
catching, or being worn upon, the edge of the slot and when the handles H are
released, or allowed to recede, the spring E will turn the drum D in the opposite
direction and rewind the strap F upon the drum, whereupon the operation may be
repeated.
For adjusting the amount of resistance of the spring F, I provide the machine with
the following mechanism :-The shaft B is provided with a squared end B¹ which
projects through an arm of the frame J and upon which is fitted the worm wheel f
meshing with a worm g mounted in the brackets h upon the frame J just below the
worm g so that by turning the worm, the wheel and shaft B will be turned, thus
giving a more or less initial tension to the spring E. Attached also to the squared
end of the shaft B, just inside the wheel f, is a piece f¹ (indicated by dotted lines
in Figure 2) having one tooth which meshes with the toothed wheel m pivoted to the
frame J, just above the shaft B so that, when the latter is turned once round, the
tooth fi will turn the wheel m the distance of one of its teeth. The wheel m is
provided with a pointer n extending to a curved indicator L upon the frame J and
upon which are marked numbers representing the resistance in pounds of the spring E.
We will suppose the resistance of the spring is four pounds, as shewn upon the
indicator, and it is desired to increase it to seven, the next number; it is only
necessary to turn the worm g until the pointer n is moved to that number, thus
winding the spring E and increasing the amount of its resistance. The spring E is
so adjusted that one turn of the shaft B will increase its resistance three pounds, so
that to increase it from four (as seen in Figure 2) to seven, it is only necessary to
turn the worm g until the shaft B is turned once around and the tooth f¹ will mesh
with the wheel m and turn it the distance of one tooth, at same time advancing the
pointer n from four on the indicator L to seven which will shew the change in the
resistance of the spring E. When the tension of the spring is to be lessened,
the worin g is turned in the opposite direction. The change in the resisting force of
the spring E can be indicated for less than three pounds for each revolution of the
shaft B by increasing the number of teeth f¹.
In Figures 1 to 4, it will be seen that as the strap is pulled out the resistance of
the spring will increase, whereas in Figure 5 I have shewn the machine provided with
a double fusee drum D2 tapering towards the centre and having a spiral groove p
extending across the entire periphery of the drum. The groove p should be right
and left handed and meeting in the centre, i.e. one half of the drum should be provided
with a right handed groove and the other with a left handed one. The fusee drum D
is mounted upon the shaft B in the same manner as the pulley D already described
except that instead of having one central spring E it is provided with a similar
spring E in each end thereof, the drum having its ends recessed to make room for
the springs which are attached to the drum and shaft in the manner already described,
but it will be obvious that it can be operated with one spring, if desired.
The
enclosing cylinder A', suspending frame J', and the worm wheel attachment for
regulating the resistance of the springs, are precisely like those parts described above
except that the cylinder and frame are longer. Cords F¹ are attached to each end of
the drum D2 and wind round the drum in the groove p and pass through the slot b
where their ends may be provided with a handle or handies, as before. By attaching
the cords F¹ in this manner, they will unwind from the centre of the drum towards
the ends and the increasing diameter of the drum will counteract the increasing
resistance of the springs so that it will require the same strength to pull the cords F
throughout the stroke.
In Figure 6 the double fusee drum D³ has no groove upon its face but the cords F¹
are attached in the same manner and in every other way (both in construction and
operation) it is like the arrangement shewn in Figure 5.

page_text: Figure 7 differs from Figures 5 and 6 only inasmuch as a plain cylindrica
drum D is used in which case the resistance of the springs will, of course, have
increasing effect as the cord is pulled out.
The flanged drum D (Figures 1 to 4) is preferably provided with a strap, and the
other drums with a cord, as shewn, but I do not confine myself to any particular
form of either and either may be provided with any kind of handles, although I
prefer the handles shewn and described. It is obvious that a double flanged drum
may be used instead of the single drum D and that a single fusee drum may be used
instead of a double one as shewn.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is;
1. An exercising machine, consisting essentially of a cylindrical case mounted
loosely upon a shaft and having a horizontal slot in its face, a suspending frame in
which the ends of the shaft rest and by which the machine is supported, a drum
mounted loosely upon said shaft and connected thereto by a coil spring one end of
which is fastened to the shaft and the other end to the drum, a cord or strap
attached to said pulley and adapted to be wound thereon one end of said strap
projecting through the slot in the case and having handles attached thereto,
and a worm wheel attachment, substantially as shewn, whereby the shaft may be
turned and the tension of the spring varied, substantially as described.
2. The combination, with a cylindrical case having a horizontal slot in the face a
shaft upon which said case is loosely mounted and a suspending frame supporting
the ends of said shaft, of a fusee drum mounted upon said shaft within said case a
cord or strap attached to said drum and adapted to be wound thereon said strap
projecting through the slot in the case and having handles attached thereto and a
worm wheel attachment, substantially as shewn, connected with the end of said shaft
and adapted to turn the shaft and change the resistance of the fusee spring,
substantially as described.
3. The combination, with a cylindrical case having a horizontal slot in its face a
shaft upon which said case is loosely mounted and a suspending frame supporting
the ends of said shaft, of a double fusee drum mounted upon said shaft within said
case a cord or strap attached to said drum and adapted to be wound thereupon said
strap projecting through the slot in the case where it is provided with handles and
a worm wheel attachment, substantially as shewn, connected with the end of said shaft
and adapted to turn the shaft and change the resistance of the fusee spring,
substantially as described.
4. The combination, with a cylindrical case having a horizontal slot in its face a
shaft upon which said case is loosely mounted and a suspending frame supporting
the ends of said shaft, of a double fusee drum mounted loosely upon said shaft said
drum tapering from the ends to the centre and having its periphery provided with a
spiral groove a cord or strap attached to said drum adapted to be wound thereon
said strap projecting through the slot in the case and having handles attached thereto
and a worm wheel attachment, substantially as shewn, connected with the end of said
shaft and adapted to turn the shaft and change the resistance of the fusee spring,
substantially as described.
5. The combination, with the suspending frame, and shaft B having a spring drum
mounted thereon, as shewn, of the worm wheel f fixed to the end of said shaft and
the worm attached to said frame so as to mesh with the wheel whereby said
shaft may be turned and the spring thereon tightened or loosened, substantially as
described.
6. The combination, with the suspending frame having an indicator L affixed
thereto and the shaft B having a spring-actuated drum mounted thereon, as shewn,
of the worm wheelf fixed to the end of said shaft, the worm g attached to the frame
so as to mesh with the wheelf the tooth f¹ fixed to the shaft B and the wheel m

page_text: having pointer n pivoted to the frame so as to mesh with the tooth f¹ whereby the
shaft B may be turned, the spring thereon tightened or loosened and the change
shewn upon the indicator, substantially as described.
Doted thin 10th dow of August 1800
D. L. DOWD.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agents.