Patent ID: 8425384

Claim:
An exercise machine for the limbs of a user comprising: a linkage system with a multiplicity of links; the multiplicity of links including a drive lever, wherein the drive lever includes a foot pad having a foot engagement surface therein, the footpad for engagement of at least one foot of the user when the user is seated in a sitting position in a seat; a mechanical resistance device for engagement with the linkage system so as to be responsive to movement of the drive lever; the seat including a non-pivoting backrest and a seat base, the seat adapted to substantially support the weight of the exercise machine user, the seat engaged with the linkage system so as to provide an increasingly upward vertical component of motion to the seat when the drive lever is moved by the user; wherein the user's application of muscular force to the drive lever results in the application of a vertical motion resistance force that includes mechanical resistance of the mechanical resistance assembly as well as at least some of the user's weight; wherein the multiplicity of links are configured to maintain the backrest in a non-pivotal orientation to the foot pad such that the user may maintain a substantially horizontal line of leg press force between the foot rest and seat back while operating the machine; and further including a floor support frame wherein the seat is supported by pivotal attachments to the drive lever and wherein the multiplicity of links includes a rocker link, wherein the drive lever and the rocker link are pivotally attached to the floor support frame such that the increasingly vertical upward component of motion of the seat occurs when the drive lever is pivoted away from the user's torso by the limbs of the user further comprising an intermediate link coupled to one end of the drive lever and the seat, the intermediate link pushed by the drive lever and cooperating with the rocker link to elevate the seat, wherein the rocker link has at least one end and is coupled at the end to an intermediate point on the intermediate link.