Patent ID: 6994661

Claim:
An exercise bench which comprises an H frame including a pair of parallel beams joined by a connecting beam and adapted to lie on a horizontal support surface; a support post having one end secured to said connecting beam and extending vertically away from said H frame; a bench member being a panel interfacing a pad, said pad having a top surface opposite said panel and said panel having a bottom surface opposite said pad; a hinge member being a first hinge section mounted on said bottom surface and a second hinge section mounted on said base, and a hinge pin through said first and second sections and arranged to enable said bench member tiltable relative to a base; said first section of said hinge member including a channel, comprising two parallel sides joined by a connecting side, said connecting side mounted on another end of said support post and extending parallel to said parallel beams; said second section of said hinge member including a support bar secured flat against said bottom surface; said channel and said support bar dimensioned and arranged to permit said support bar to nest between said parallel sides of said channel; said hinge pin extending through said channel and said support bar; a flat plate ( 28 ) having a broadest surface bounded by a major arcuate edge ( 28 A) concentric with and larger than a minor arcuate edge ( 28 B) and a pair of end edges ( 30 A, B) between ends of the major and minor arcuate edges ( 28 A,B); said end edges of said plate secured to said bottom surface of said panel with said plate extending perpendicularly away from said bottom surface; a row of tapered notches formed on said minor arcuate edge; a lever means hingeably mounted on said base for engaging any one of said notches providing that an angle of tilt of said bench member relative to said base is selectable by a user; said lever extending from one side of said bench member to an opposite side of said bench member operably arranged to provide accessibility to a user from a right side and a left side of said bench member; a keeper means mounted on said support post and surrounding said lever for providing aligning support to said lever; a spring means compressed between said keeper and said lever for biasing said lever toward said minor arcuate edge; a set screw means threaded into said keeper and abutting said lever for providing adjustable frictional resistance to rotation of said lever.