Patent ID: 12226685

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments and aspects of the devices will be described with reference to details discussed below, and the accompanying drawings will illustrate the various embodiments. The following description may be presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the device. The following description and drawings are illustrative of the device and are not to be construed as limiting the device. Numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the present device. Descriptions of specific embodiments or applications are provided only as examples. Various modifications to the embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the device. However, in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order to provide a concise discussion of embodiments of the present devices.

FIGS.1-5illustrate perspective views of the activity ring according to one embodiment of the present device. The activity ring10has housing20that is generally circular. The interior of the housing includes a cavity, or hollow portion that extends throughout the housing. One or more generally spherical device12(hereinafter “ball”) may be enclosed within the housing20. The housing is made of a material such as plastic or metal. The cavity is generally circular shaped and may be bounded by a generally flat upper top wall. The top wall forms and defines a toroidal shaped track about which the balls12may be located and travel.

InFIG.4, The ball12can go in both directions depending on the direction the ring10is turned. The ball12goes around a cylindrical compartment22which is hollow in the middle. The ball12is placed on a track16. The track16is located at the top and bottom portions inside the ring10. The ball12is also held by a circular rod14going through it as seen inFIG.4. The rod14can be made of metal, plastic, but is not limited to these materials and could be made from any material strong and flexible enough to hold and guide the ball12.

The middle of the cylindrical compartment24is hollow and has a soft lining so that the user can fit their body part comfortably in the middle of the ring10as seen inFIG.12andFIG.13. The material of the lining can be made from leather, plush, but is not limited to these materials and could be made from any material needed for comfort and durability.

Inside the cylindrical compartment24, an optional inner removable ring18or cuff that is lined also and has a hollow part in the middle where the body part would fit snugger and prevent the ring10from sliding off. The removable ring18can be made from leather, fleece, plush, cloth, plastic, or fabric, but is not limited to these materials and could be made from any material needed for comfort.

To use the device, the user inserts a body part in the ring10and moves the body part in a circular motion of 360 degrees, either left or right, which will move the balls12around the cylindrical compartment24. The ball's12internal light12A would turn on and flash or remain steady (not flashing) while the ball12is moving. The user would have to focus on spinning the ball or balls12completely around the cylindrical compartment24in the ring10. The ball12can also be a weighted ball or have a weight inside to add resistance.

FIG.7,30shows a latch or slide lock for the ring10. The latch allows the ring10to unlock and open to the side. In a preferred embodiment, the ring10does not open more than an inch and is added to allow the user to free their body part if needed. The band14is still attached when the ring's10slide lock is unlocked and opened represented inFIG.7. The band14must be detached separately.FIG.6shows the band14which can be detached in one place once the latch30is unlocked so that the user can remove and add balls inside the ring.

The ring10can attach and detach to another ring10by using the slide locks located on top and at the bottom of the ring10represented inFIG.3, element28. Multiple rings10can be placed together on the users arm or leg as shown inFIG.12andFIG.13.

The ring10comes with an additional cover32that is removable and attaches to slide locks26located at the top of the ring10, represented inFIG.2, so that the ring10can be used in different ways and is more comfortable to the user. The attachment has five holes for placing the users fingers and a removable and adjustable strap32B. The strap32B can be made from Velcro but is not limited to this material and can be made from any material that is comfortable to the user and holds the weight of the ring10along with the weight of the balls12. The attachment also comes with a pole32A, no longer than a foot that can be attached to the cover32. The pole32A can be made from plastic but is not limited to this material and can be made from any material strong enough to support the weight of the ring10along with the weight of the balls12. The ring10can come in various sizes, colors, patterns, and weight. The ball12can also come in various sizes, patterns, and weight.

In one embodiment, the housing consists of a generally circular top, generally circular bottom, and a sidewall. The top and sidewall are formed of a single member with a rounded transition portion. At least one portion of the housing is formed of a transparent material. In one embodiment, at least the transition portion is formed of a transparent material. In another embodiment, the entire member forming the top and sidewall are formed of a transparent material.

In one embodiment, one or more openings are formed in the transition portion. The openings are a size that is suitable to view the balls located inside the ring while maintaining the balls inside the ring. The top wall, bottom wall, and sidewall may be formed of the same material, such as plastic or metal.

In one embodiment, the member forming the top and the sidewall is removably secured to an upwardly extending flange around the edge of the bottom in a “snap” type fit. In another embodiment the top, sidewall, and bottom are formed of a unitary piece.

In the embodiments discussed above, the ring according to the present device, conveniently takes the form of toroidal enclosure, configured to rest with its central axis which is substantially perpendicular to the compartment. The enclosure includes a flat or planar ring-shaped bottom member and a mating annular cover member having a U-shaped shaped cross section. The bottom member may be formed of metal, composition board, plastic or the like and may be semi-rigid in nature. In one embodiment, the bottom member may be molded from any suitable known plastic, such as polyethylene, polystyrene, polyamide, polyester and polyurethane plastics and may be semi-rigid in nature. The cover member may be made of clear transparent plastic materials of any of the types may be closed.

In one embodiment, the inner periphery of the bottom member are defined by a pair of upwardly extending continuous ridges and concentrically spaced from each other to form an annular slot therearound. The outer periphery of the bottom member are similarly defined by a pair of upwardly extending circumferential ridges and spaced to form another slot.

The mating cover member may be circular, arched, and may be provided with a pair of concentric edges and may be posed to fit in the slots at the inner and outer perimeters of the bottom members respectively. Peripheral edges may be slightly enlarged so that in assembly with bottom member, the cover member fits snugly and may be frictionally held therein. when the bottom member and the cover are assembled, they form a predefined course or raceway for the balls.

In one embodiment, the cover member is provided with a plurality of portal openings disposed in its side wall, spaced circumferentially to align with the sills. In an alternative embodiment, the cover member is provided with one or more opening in its top, which are oblong rather than arched to provide a view of the balls or access to the balls.

In accordance with the present device, both the cover and bottom members may be made from clear plastic although it may be preferred that the bottom member be made of a brightly colored plastic.

Although the bottom and cover member12and14are shown as being ring shaped, having central openings connected to each other by the functional engagement of the ridges and edges, neither the ring shaped form or frictional connection may be critical. The cover and bottom members be oval, oblong, rectangular or provided in a three dimensional path, such as a loop, all intended to have a predetermined raceway and they may be connected by other means such as gluing, heat sealing or the like.

FIG.14illustrates an embodiment in which a pole or wire is placed inside the ring. Each of the balls has a hole, and the balls are inserted onto the wire when placed inside the ring. In one embodiment, the wire is configured to allow the balls to rotate freely throughout the entirety of the ring. In another embodiment, the wire includes one or more bumps that act to limit movement of the balls. The bumps are each sized so that a user more force a ball pass the bump, but the balls are stopped by the bump when enclosed within the ring. In alternative embodiment, one or more stopper, such as rubber or plastic plug, is placed on the ring to stop the balls from moving along the wire.

FIG.15discloses an embodiment where two rings are connected to one another. A first ring has engagement portion on the outer wall configured to connect to an outer wall of a second ring. In one embodiment, the engagement portion is a surface having a high surface tension causing the two rings to be held together via frictional forces. In an other embodiment, one ring includes a projection and the other ring includes a slot, wherein the slot engages with the projection to hold the two rings together. In another embodiment, the engagement portion includes a magnet or magnetic material, and the the two rings are held together via magnetic attraction.

In one embodiment, the ring may not be opened. In another embodiment, the ring may be opened to help a user wear or remove the ring, or to add a remove balls to the interior of the ring. This is shown inFIGS.16A,B. When opened, the ring has a first end and a second end. The first end has a first engagement portion and the second end has a second engagement portion. In the illustrated embodiment one engagement portion comprises on or more holes and the other engagement portion comprises pins (or protrusions) that are configured to insert into the holes. When the user wishes to open the ring, the user merely pushes the pins in allowing the ring to be opened. In one embodiment, the pins also protrude into the interior of the housing, preventing the balls from falling out of the ring.

In an alternative embodiment, one end of the ring is tapered inward so that the one fits into the other end of the ring.

When the ring is opened, the wire may be removed by pulling one end of the wire out of the interior of the ring. Once the wire is removed, the user may add or remove balls as desired. This allows the user to easy arrange the balls in any desired combination.

In one embodiment, shown inFIG.17, decorative rings are removably attached to an exterior of the ring. The decorative rings may be attached via clips shown inFIG.18. In a preferred embodiment, at least one of the decorative rings light up such as ring of LED elements or a glow ring. The decorative rings are various colors as desired by the user.

In one embodiment, the activity ring housing includes two or more interior chambers. Each of the interior chambers is substantially cylindrical and configured to hold on or more balls therein. This is shown inFIG.17.

FIG.19illustrates a handle60that is attachable to the activity ring. The handle60has a bottom that is generally circular and attaches to the exterior of the activity ring. The user may hold the handle and move the activity ring as desired. In an alternative embodiment, a top of the handle may open revealing a hollow cavity, and the hollow cavity can be used to store balls. The entire handle or just the top portion may be made of a clear, opaque, or translucent material, allowing a user to see any balls stored within the handle.

In alternative embodiment, the handle60has a base that is larger than interior diameter of the activity ring. The body of the handle is shaped so that the activity ring my slide down the body of the handle and rest on the bottom portion of the handle.

A method of exercising a human body, the method comprising: providing a ring having a body portion adapted for receiving a limb of the human body, placing the ring on a limb, and moving the limb. The ring may be any of the rings described above so that when the user rotates or moves the limb, the one or more balls located within the ring move inside the ring. As described above, the balls may be one or more color, may light when moved, or make a sound when moved.

It may be to be understood, therefore, that numerous modifications of the device of this may be device may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiment described herein. Therefore, it may be to be understood that this device may be not to be limited to the described embodiments thereof, except as defined in the appended claims.

The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present device have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the device to the various forms that may be disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible considering the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the device and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the device and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It may be intended that the scope of the device be defined by the Claims appended hereto and their equivalents. Therefore, the scope of the device may be to be limited only by the following claims.

While the principles of the preferred embodiments have been described herein, it is to be understood by those skilled in the art this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of the invention. Other embodiments are contemplated with the scope of the present invention in addition to the exemplary embodiments shown and described herein. Modifications and substitutions by one of ordinary skill in the art are considered to be within the scope of the present invention.