CA2133251C - Striding exerciser with upwardly curved tracks - Google Patents

Abstract

A striding exercise device includes a base having two elongated parallel tracks which curve upwardly in a constant radial arc, and two footskates which are rotatably supported on the tracks for reciprocating movement thereon. The radial arc generally corresponds to the natural swinging arc of a human leg as the leg pivots about the hip. When the operator stands on the footskates and reciprocates the footskates back and forth along the upwardly curved tracks, the operator's torso is maintained in a stationary and balanced position over the base. The reduction in torso movement substantially eliminates strain on the leg joints, particularly the knee and hip joints, caused by up and down movement of the torso and further substantially eliminates back strain caused by reaching and bending at the waist.

Description

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STRIDING EXERCISER WIT~I

2 UPWARDLY ~:UKV~ TRACRg 3 Background and Summary of the In~ention:

4 The instant invention relates to exercise apparatus and more particularly to a striding exerciser which 6 simulates the natural exercise of walking.
7 Walking, jogging, and cross-country skiing have been 8 found to be effective activities for exercising the body, 9 and in particular, the legs, hear and lungs. However, these activities are primarily outdoor activities which 11 can be severely limited by adverse weather and geographic 12 conditions. The limitations of traditional outdoor 13 exercise activities have in some respects been resolved 14 by the development of indoor exercise devices which simulate particular exercise activities. In this regard, 16 a wide variety of walking, striding and cross-country 17 skiing devices have heretofore been known in the art. In 18 this connection, the U.S. Patents to Dalebout No.
19 4,850,585; Hix No. 4,654,200, Bull et al. No. 4,940,233;
and Friedebach No. 4,804,178 are thought to be 21 particularly relevant to the instant invention.
22 'The patent to Friedebach discloses a cross-country 23 skiing device comprising a pair of parallel horizontal 24 rails and a pair of footplates which are movably supported on the rails. The Friedebach cross-country 26 skiing device further includes a belt mechanism which 2 ',~ 2 ~ ~

1 causes the footplates to move in unison in opposite 2 directions. Still further, the skiing device includes 3 two independent hand levers which pivot back and forth to 4 simulate the movement of cross-country ski poles. In use, the operator stands upon the footplates, and 6 reciprocates the footplates back and forth while 7 simultaneously pushing and pulling the hand levers.
8 While the Friedebach cross-country skiing device is 9 capable of providing a significant aerobic workout, it has been found that it also places a tremendous amount of 11 stress on the operator's back and leg joints. The 12 reciprocating movement of the feet along a horizontal 13 path causes the operator's torso to move up and down, 14 thereby forcing the operator to continuously lift his/her body weight with each stride. In addition, the up and 16 down lifting motion of the torso increases the stress 17 placed on the leg joints, particularly the hip and knee 18 joints. Still further, the pushing and pulling of the 19 hand levers forces the operator to bend over and reach from the waist which unnecessarily stresses the back 21 muscles. Accordingly, it has been found that persons who 22 have back, knee or hip problems often find it 23 uncomfortable, painful, or even impossible to utilize 24 ski-type exercise machines.
The patents to Dalebout, Hix and Bull et al disclose 26 devices which are commonly referred to as striding-type 3 ~7~

l exercisers. Striding-type exercisers typically comprise 2 a pair of spaced vertical frame members, and a pair of 3 swinging leg members which are pivotably mounted on the 4 vertical frame members. In use, the operator stands on platforms which are mounted at the ends of the swinging 6 leg members and reciprocates his/her legs back and forth 7 in a swinging motion between the vertical frame members.
8 The swinging movement of the legs in a striding~type 9 exerciser provides substantially the same aerobic benefits as the Friedebach cross-country ski exerciser:
ll however, the striding exerciser balances the user in a 12 more stable position, reduces the up and down movement of 13 the operator's torso and reduces strain on the back and 14 leg joints. When a striding-type exerciser includes hand levers, the levers usually rotate about a point which 16 does not require the operator to bend or~reach during 17 movement. While striding exercisers have been found to 18 be highly effective in providing a low stress aerobic l9 workout, they have several design problems which prevents their widespread marketability and use. Striding 21 exercise devices generally require heavy duty frame 22 members and heavy duty bearings to accommodate the weight 23 of the operator on the pivot mechanisms. As a result, 24 these machines are too bulky and too heavy for use within the home.

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1 In addition, the heavy duty construction makes 2 striding exercisers too costly to compete with other less 3 expensive exercise devices. Accordingly, striding 4 exercisers are usually only found in institutional rehabilitation centers and large scale exercise 6 facilities that have substantial funds for purchasing and 7 maintaining these machines. In addition, it has been 8 found that the design of the prior art striding 9 exercisers creates somewhat of a safety hazard in that the vertical frame members of the striding-type exerciser 11 prevent mounting of the exerciser from a side position.
12 T he current striding exercisers are designed so that the 13 operator must mount the machine from the rear~ When the 14 operator first steps onto one of the platforms, the platform tends to pivot forwardly, thereby throwing the 16 operator off balance before being able to step up with 17 -the opposite foot. It can therefore be seen that 18 operators who are not familiar with mounting the machine 19 may be thrown off balance and fall to the floor while mounting the machine.
21 The instant invention provides a novel and 22 inexpensive striding-type exerciser which overcomes the 23 disadvantages of the prior art. Briefly, the instant 24 striding exerciser comprises a base having a pair of elongated parallel tracks which curve upwardly in a 26 continuous arc, a pair of footskates rotatably supported 1 on the upwardly curved tracks for reciprocating movement 2 thereon, and a pulley mechanism for moving the footskates 3 in unison in opposite directions. The upward curvature 4 of the tracks generally corresponds to the natural swinging arc of a human leg so that when the operator 6 stands on the footskates, and reciprocates the footskates 7 back and forth on the tracks, the operator's torso 8 remains in a stationary and balanced position over the g base.
Accordingly, it is an object of the instant 11 invention to provide an exercise device which simulates 12 the natural exercise of walking.
13 It is another object to provide an exercise device 14 which aerobically conditions the user's cardiovascular system without the muscle and joint strain commonly 16 associated with conventional exercise machines.
17 It is another object to provide a striding exerciser 18 having a base with upwardly curved tracks that follow the 19 natural swinging arc of the leg.
It is yet another object to provide a striding 21 exerciser which maintains the user's torso in a 22 stationary and balanced position over the track.
23 It is an even further object to provide a striding 24 exerciser that is simple ir. design, easy to construct, and inexpensive to manufacture.

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1 Other objects, features and advantages of the 2 invention shall become apparent as the description 3 thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the 4 accompanying illustrative drawings.

6 De~cription of the Drawing~:
7 In the drawings which illustrate the best mode 8 presently contemplated for carrying out the present 9 invention:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the striding 11 exerciser of the ins~ant invention;
12 Fig. 2 is a top view thereof with the base cover and 13 the handlebars removed for purposes of illustration;
14 Fig. 3 is a front view thereof;
Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view thereof taken along 16 line 4-4 in Fig. l;
17 Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view thereof taken along 18 line 5-5 in Fig. 1; and 19 Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the instant exercise apparatus.

22 Description of the Preferrea Embodiment:
23 Referring now to the drawings, the striding 24 exerciser of the instant in~ention is illustrated and generally indicated at 10 in Figs. 1-5. As will 26 hereinafter be more fully described, the instant 7 ~ 2s ~

1 invention provides an inexpensive striding exerciser 10 2 which aerobically conditions the operator's 3 cardiovascular system without the muscle and joint strain 4 commonly associated with conventional exercise machines.
The striding exerciser 10 generally comprises a curved 6 base generally indicated at 12, two footskates generally 7 indicated at 14 which are movably supported on the base 8 12, and a pulley mechanism generally indicated at 16 9 (Fig. 2) which is operative for moving the footskates 14 in unison in opposite directions. More specifically, the 11 base 12 comprises an integrally formed, blow-molded body 12 having a contoured lower side 18, spaced legs 19 for 13 supporting the base 12 on a flat supporting surface, and 14 a contoured upper side 20. The contoured upper side 20 includes two elongated parallel tracks generally 16 indicated at 22 which curve upwardly in a continuous arc.
17 The upward curvature of the tracks 22 generally 18 corresponds to the natural swinging arc of a human leg as 19 it pivots about its hip joint. In this connection, the track is preferably a constant radial arc, however it may 21 be slightly out of round if desired~ Each of the tracks 22 22 includes a center ridge 24 and two spaced grooves 26 23 on either side of the ridge 24 which are adapted for 24 supporting the footskates 14. (See FigO 5). The contoured upper side 20 further includes an elongated 26 central ridge 27 (Also see Fig. 5) which longitudinally ", : ' ~" " '' :. .-' .. , ' ' i : ' ' ~

8 ~ J1 1 extends between the two tracks 22. While the base 12 is 2 specifically described herein as comprising an integrally 3 formed unit, it is to be understood that the base 12 may 4 also be constructed from tubular metal elements, wherein the upwardly curved tracks are formed from parallel 6 rails.
1 The footskates 14 are generally U-shaped (Fig. 5), 8 and they comprise a horizontal body portion 28 for 9 receiving the operator's foot thereon, two downwardly extending leg portions 30, and four skatewheels 32 which 11 are rotatably mounted to the leg portions 30. The body 12 portion 28 of the footskate 14 is received over the 13 center ridge 24 of the respective track 22 so that the 14 wheels 32 ride in the spaced grooves 26 on both sides of the ridge 24. It can thus be seen that the footskates 14 16 are movable back and forth along the length of the tracks 17 22.
18 The pulley me~h~nism 16 is attached to both 19 footskates 14, and it is operative for causing the footskates 14 to move in unison in opposite directions 21 during use. The pulley mechanism 16 comprises two 22 pulleys 34 which are respectively mounted in depressions 23 36 formed at the front and rear ends of the central ridge 24 26, and a cord generally indicated at 38 tFig. 2) which is attached to the foo~skates 14 and extends around the 26 pulleys 34 to form a continuous loop. More specifically, i. .

1 there isa first cord section 40 which is attached to the 2 rear end of one of the footskates 14 and extends around 3 the rear pulley 34 and is attached to the rear end of the 4 other footskate 14. Likewise, there is a second cord section 42 which is attached to the front end of the 6 first footskate 14 and extends around the front pulley 34 7 and is attached to the front end of the other footskate 8 14. It can therefore be seen that when one of the 9 footskates 14 is moved forward in its track, the other footskate 14 is moved rearwardly in its track. In order ll to conceal the pulleys 34 and cord sections 40 and 42 12 from sight, and to prevent the operator's feet from 13 becoming entangled with the cord sections 40 and 42 14 during use, the base 12 is provided with a cover 44 which is releasably mounted over the central ridge 26. the 16cover 44 also retains the cord sections 40 and 42 so that 17 they conform to the curved shape of' the base 12.
18The striding exerciser 10 further includes a set of 19 handlebars generally indicated at 46 which are connected to the front end of the base 12. The handlebars 46 21 iIlclude two downwardly extending arm portions 48 which 22 are pivotally connected to the sides of the base 12 and 23 a horizontal body portion 50 which is operative for 24 supporting an electronic display unit 52. The pivotal connection of the arm portions 48 enables the handlebars 26 46 to be pivoted downwardly out of the way so that the ~ :': ' ': ,~' ' ''' '. "' .~: ," ''', , ' ~.. " ; '':'"' '" ''.,,' ;;',:- : :':' " ' , .: "'~'. : '':-~13 3~ ~

1 entire exercise device 10 may be more easily transported 2 and stored. In order to maintain the handlebars 46 in a 3 stable and upright position, the sides of the base 12 4 include two triangular depressions 53 which are operative for frictionally receiving circular support members 54 6 mounted to the arm portions 48. The arm portions 48 of 7 the handlebars 46 further include rubber or foam pad hand 8 grips 56 for the operator to grasp during use. The g electronic display unit 52 is operative for measuring time, calories or other information related to use of the 11 apparatus 10.
12 In use, the operator stands on the footskates 14, 13 grasps the rubber pad hand grips 56 on the handlebars 46, 14 and reciprocates the footskates 14 back and forth along the upwardly curved tracks 22. While the handlebars 46 16 are provided to help maintain balance during use, it has 17 been found that the instant striding exerciser 10 so well 18 balances the user over the base that the use of the 19 handlebars 46 is really not necessary during operation.
In this connection, operators may wish to swing their 21 arms as would be normal when walking and, in addition, to 22 utilize hand weights in order to increase the aerobic 23 benefits of this exercise. The upward cur~ature of the 24 tracks 22 corresponds with the natural swinging arc of the operator's leg, and maintains the operator's torso in 26 a stationary and balanced position over the base 12. The 11 2~3~v............. '~ .

1 curved tracks 22 allow the operator's legs to naturally 2 pivot around their hip joint without reguiring the legs 3 to lift the body or torso upwardly with each stride.
4 Because the legs are not required to continuously lift the op~rator's weight, there is virtually no strain 6 placed on the leg joints, especially the ankle, knee and 7 hip joints. In addition, the stationary position of the ~ torso substantially eliminates the back strain commonly 9 associated with repetitive bending and reaching in conventional cross-country ski machines. The combined 11 effect is to virtually eliminate physical stress on both 12 the back and legs of the operator, while providing an 13 effective aerobic workout. It is also pointed out that 14 the instant striding exerciser 10 is mounted from the side which allows the user to balance their weight to the 16 side so that the footskates do not slide forward and 17 backward while mounting the device lO.
18 A second embodiment of the striding exerciser is l9 illustrated and generally indicated at 58 in Fig. 6. In the second embodiment 58, the handlebars 46 are replaced 21 by two pivotable hand levers 60. The hand levers 60 are 22 mounted to the sides of the base 12 by means of rotatable 23 couplings (not shown) which have conventional resistance 24 means for adjusting the resistance level o~ movement of the hand levers 60. The hand levers 60 provide a means 26 for simultaneously working out the upper body during use 12 21t,~32~

1 of the exerciser 10. the operator simply grasps the hand 2 levers 60 and reciprocates them in opposite directions to 3 the footskates 14. In order to support the electronic 4 display unit 52 in the second embodiment 58, the exerciser 10 is provided with aa center column support 62 6 which is attached at the front of the base 12.
7 It can therefore be seen that the instant invention 8 provides a unique and effective striding exerciser for 9 exercising the operator's cardiovascular system without the muscle and joint stress commonly associated with 11 conventional exercise davices. The upwardly curved 12 radius of the tracks 22 effectively maintains the 13 operator's torso in a stationary and balanced position 14 over the base 12 thereby reducing the back and leg strain. Further, the instant striding exerciser allows 16 side mounting which is easier and safer than the prior 17 art, rear mounting striding exercisers. Still further, 18 the instant exercise device 10 is inexpensive to 19 manufacture, simple and fun to operate, and collapsible to facilitate transportation and storage. These unique 21 features are not offered by the prior art exercise 22 davices. For these reasons, the instant invention is 23 believed to represent a significant advancement in the 24 art which has substantial commercial merit.
While there is shown and described herein certain 26 specific structure embodying the invention, it will be 13 ~33~ ~

1 manifest to those skilled in the art that various 2 modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made 3 without departing from the spirit and scope of the 4 underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and 6 described except insofar as indicated y the scope of the 7 appended claims.

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Claims (11)

1. A striding exercise device comprising:
a base including two elongated parallel tracks which curve upwardly in a continuous arc, said continuous arc generally corresponding to a natural swinging arc of a human leg as it pivots around its hip joint; and two footskates which are respectively movably supported on said parallel tracks, said footskates being operable for receiving feet of an operator thereon wherein said operator reciprocates said feet back and forth so that said footskates move in reciprocating motion along said upwardly curved tracks.

2. The exercise device of claim 1 further comprising means for moving said footskates in unison in opposite directions along said tracks.

3. In the exercise device of claim 2, said means for moving said footskates in unison comprising two pulleys which are respectively mounted between said parallel tracks at front and rear ends of said base, and a cord which extends along said tracks and around said pulleys to form a continuous loop, said cord being attached to said footskates so that as one footskate moves forward on said track, the opposite footskate moves backward on said track.

4. In the exercise device of claim 1, said tracks each including two parallel spaced grooves, said footskates including spaced wheels which ride in said grooves.

5. The exercise device of claim 1 further comprising two arm levers which are pivotally mounted at opposite sides of said base.

6. In the exercise device of claim 5, said arm levers including means for adjusting a tension level thereof.

7. The exercise apparatus of claim 1 further comprising handlebar means for supporting an operator during reciprocating movement of said footskates.

8. In the exercise apparatus of claim 1, said continuous arc comprising a constant radial arc.

9. A striding exercise device comprising:
a base including a bottom surface for supporting said base on a flat supporting surface, and a contoured upper surface, said contoured upper surface including two elongated parallel tracks which curve upwardly in a continuous arc, said continuous arc generally corresponding to a natural swinging arc of a human leg as it pivots around its hip joint:
two footskates which are respectively movable supported on said parallel tracks for reciprocating movement thereon;
means for moving said footskates in unison in opposite directions along said tracks, said means for moving said footskates comprising two pulleys which are respectively mounted between said parallel tracks at front and rear ends of said base, and cord means extending along said tracks and around said pulleys to form a continuous loop with said footskates so that as one footskate moves forward on said track, the opposite footskate moves backward on said track.

10. In the exercise device of claim 9, said tracks each including a center ridge and two spaced grooves respectively positioned on opposing sides of said center ridge, said footskates being respectively received over said center ridge, said footskates including spaced wheels which ride in the spaced grooves on the opposing sides of the ridge.

11. In the exercise apparatus of claim 9, said continuous arc comprising a constant radial arc.