Patent ID: 7946962

Claim:
An elliptical exercise apparatus, comprising: (a) a main frame having a base; (b) first and second supporting members, each supporting member having a first end portion and a second end portion, the first end portions of the supporting members respectively coupled to the main frame to rotate about a first axis around a first closed path, the second end portions of the supporting members being able to align at an aligned axis, and a minimal periphery defined by the first axis and an aligned radius which is the distance between the first axis and the aligned axis; (c) a guider frame pivotally connected to the main frame at a pivot axis to be movable between a use position and a storage position, the guider frame respectively having a track for supporting the second end portion of the respective supporting member at both the use and storage positions, the second end portion of the respective supporting member movable on the track within first and second reciprocating end points of a reciprocating path while the guider frame is at the use position, the track of the guider frame including a supplemental section extending from the second reciprocating end point to a terminal point, the magnitude of the supplemental section being smaller than the magnitude of a rotating radius which is defined by the first axis and first closed path, a second periphery being defined by the pivot axis and a second radius which is the distance between the pivot axis and the second reciprocating end point and a third periphery being defined by the pivot axis and a third radius which is the distance between the pivot axis and the terminal point, the minimal periphery and the second periphery intersected at a first intersection point located above the track of the guider frame, the minimal periphery and the third periphery intersected at a second intersection point located above the track of the guider frame wherein the pivot axis of the guider frame is located at a first height higher than the bottom edge of the first closed path, an arc of the second periphery between the first intersection point and the second reciprocating end point at the use position has a first lifting angle which is greater than sixty degrees, and an arc of the third periphery between the second intersection point and the terminal point at the use position having a second lifting angle which is greater than eighty degrees; and (d) first and second pedals respectively coupled to the first and second supporting members.