Patent ID: 7731634

Claim:
An exercise device, comprising: a frame; a foot link having a rearward portion that is constrained to move in an orbital path and a forward portion; a swing arm having a pivotal connection to the frame, the swing arm including a hand gripping portion; an engagement mechanism having a first portion coupled to the swing arm and a second portion coupled to the foot link; and an arm enabling/disabling mechanism operatively engaged with the swing arm, the arm enabling/disabling mechanism including an enabled position in which the swing arm is coupled to the foot link by the enabling/disabling mechanism such that the swing arm is fixed with respect to the foot link so that a force applied to the swing arm will produce a corresponding force on the forward portion of the foot link, and the arm enabling/disabling mechanism including a disabled position in which at least a portion of the swing arm is disengaged from the foot link and fixed with respect to the frame, the enabling/disabling mechanism comprising: a latching member rotatable between (1) an engaged state in which the latching member latches the swing arm to either the foot link for the enabled position or the frame for the disabled position and (2) a disengaged state in which the swing arm is not fixed with respect to either the foot link or the frame; a bias member applying a torque to the latching member to bias the latching member towards the engaged state; and a manual actuator configured to rotate the latching member against biasing of the bias member from the engaged state to the disengaged state in response to being manipulated by a user's hand while the user's hand remains in contact with the hand gripping portion; wherein the latching member comprises a latching plate defining an enable slot and disable slot, and the exercise device further including an enable pin and a disable pin, such that when the enable pin is secured in the enable slot the swing arm is enabled and when the disable pin is secured in the disable slot the swing arm is disabled; and wherein the enable slot and the disable slot face both face in a same direction about a rotational axis of the latching plate, either a clockwise direction or a counter-clockwise direction.