A NEW OR IMPROVED PORTABLE ROWING APPARATUS OR PARLOUR GYMNASIUM
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alfred John Harrison at the Office of
"
the Commissioners of Patents on the 25th September 1879. A communication
from abroad by Jobn Michail Caflins, of Boston, in the United States of America.
ALFRED JOHN HARRISON, of Coventry, in the County of Warwick. A NEW OR
IMPROVED PORTABLE ROWING APPARATUS OR PARLOUR GYMNASIUM." [A communica-
tion from abroad by John Michail Caflins, of Boston, in the United States of America.]
This Invention has reference to a new or improved portable rowing apparatus
or parlour gymnasium, whereby a great variety of gymnastic exercises may be
obtained by the one apparatus and parts of the same.
The apparatus is composed of the following main parts viz.:-The body, the
adjustable centre piece, the sliding seat, the attachment bar, the foot rest, the leg
connecting screw, the tension bands, the single scull handle, and the double scull
handles.
The body is composed of two side pieces of wood or other suitable material placed
on edge and separated from each other by distance pieces, the lower portion of each
side being cut out longitudinally so as to form four feet for the body to stand upon.
Two horizontal grooves are provided inside the body near the top, i.e., one in each
side piece to receive the adjustabl centre piece, and one groove is made in the
top of each side to guide the sliding seat.
The adjustable centre piece is made to fit in the grooves between the two sides
of the body, and it may be adjusted to any desired position and securely fixed in
such positions by a pin or pins passing through the body, side, or sides, and entering
suitable boles in the aforesaid centre piece.
The attachment bar joins on to the front end of the adjustable centre piece being
fastened thereto in the following manner :-The metal foot rest is made with two
bevel sockets to receive its front end and the back end of the attachment bar, the
two being securely fastened together by the "leg connecting screw" from the under
side, which also answers the purpose of a leg to the apparatus just at that portion
which has to sustain the foot strain. A double hook plate is secured to the front
extremity of this attachment bar for securing the apparatus to any fixture, such as
the wainscoting of a room, by means of an eye screw, the other hook being for the
purpose of receiving the cross bar for carrying the "tension bands" which are supplied
with eyes at each end for attaching thereto the single scull handle, or the double
scull handles.
The sliding seat is simply a square of wood with two projections on the under
side to fall into the top grooves in the body sides, the upper part of this seat being
hollwoed out for comfort.

page_text: In order to exercise in rowing the person using the apparatus sits upon the seat
and places his feet against the foot rest which is secured at a proper incline, and
uses the single scull or double scull handles in a similar manner to being in
a real boat; the tension bands which are made of india rubber or other strong
elastic material supple the resistance instead of the water.
The tension bands and other parts of the apparatus may be used for varieties of
exercises, such, for instance, as lifting weights, and which is accomplished as follows:-
The sliding seat is supplied with a hook at each side to which are hooked the two
tension bands; the seat is then placed upon the floor and the exerciser stands upon
it and uses the tension bands in the place of actual weights.
For other kinds of exercises, hooks may be placed in various positions, such as
door posts and lintels, to which the bands are hooked, and thus pulling and
numberless other kinds of exercises may be practiced by this apparatus and parts
of the same.
Generally the body, sliding seat, adjustable centre piece, attachment bar, the leg
connecting screw, and the scull handles would be made from some tough wood, such
as ash, but these parts may be made from metal or other suitable material.
The whole of the pieces are quickly separated and placed in a suitable box, or
the body may be constructed as a box to which the other parts are fixed.