The invention relates to an exercise apparatus, in particular to an exercise apparatus for simulating movements of the body, in particular different types of arm-swinging movements.
An exercise apparatus is known, for example from U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,102 that simulates the movements of a long-distance skier and the stress to which the body is subjected in this connection. The movements of the arms in opposite directions are transmitted via the rotation of an adjustable brake disk.
DE 90 07 392 U1 describes a paddle ergometer with two levers swiveling about vertical axles. Said levers can be deflected against a braking force and are reset automatically by pulling a cord that connects a paddle shaft with a lever.
DE 296 20 700 describes an exercising device for simulating the paddling activity of a canoeist, whereby a cable system serves for transmitting the force and for driving a braking device in this case as well. A freely movable, hand-held paddle imitation has a bar with two spaced-apart fastening points for a cable extending through via a cable-guiding system. A cable-tensioning device compensates asymmetries in the movements of the arms in opposite directions, and keeps both ends of the cable tensioned while the device is being actuated. Each pulling motion of one end of the paddle imitation is transmitted via a drive arrangement comprising rollers that are looped by cable rope a number of times, as well as freewheel devices, leading to a wind wheel acting as the brake device.
The present invention is based on the problem of further developing exercise apparatuses of said type in an advantageous manner.
Solutions of said problem according to the invention are specified in the independent claims. The dependent claims contain advantageous embodiments and further developments of the invention.
According to a first advantageous variation of the exercise apparatus, the driving arrangement contains two laterally spaced roller elements that are driven by the cable system. For good transmission of the pulling force of the cable to the roller elements, the latter are advantageously looped by the cable a number of times. The roller elements are aligned coaxially with each other and may be arranged on a common rotatable shaft. When arranged on a common shaft, both roller elements are coupled with the shaft via freewheel elements rotating in the same sense. In another embodiment, provision is made for separate, axially aligned shaft sections for the drive system, such shaft sections in turn being coupled with freewheel elements via rollers or directly to the movement of the cable. The brake device is advantageously arranged between the spaced roller elements.
The brake device is advantageously rotatable in the form of disks or wheels and designed in the form of a wind wheel in a preferred embodiment. The axis of rotation of the brake device advantageously coincides with the axis of rotation of the roller elements and the shaft, or sections of the shaft. If the shaft is extending all the way through, the brake device can be connected with freewheel-coupled roller elements in a fixed manner, or connected with the shaft via another freewheel element. If the shaft is divided, provision is made for a freewheel-type clutch coupling for each of the two sections of the shaft. The preferred embodiment with a through-extending shaft results in a particularly simple and stable type of construction of the drive system and the brake device.
The ends of the cables of the cable system advantageously run from the actuating device directly onto roller elements without substantial prior reversing, preferably by way of cable feed-in guides that correct minor angular deviations in the alignment of the ends of the cables and safely guide an end of a cable that has been left behind and is running back.
For lateral adjustment of the cable feed-in positions or the feeding-in process, the roller elements in a first embodiment may be mounted on the shaft in a sliding manner as well. The displacement may advantageously take place jointly with the shift of the cable feed-in guides, particularly by arranging the rollers and the cable feed-in guides and preferably also the first reversing rollers of the cable guiding system downstream of the roller elements on a common carrier module. The roller elements may have a width also in the axial direction that covers the lateral variation of the cable feed-in position or the lateral adjustment range of the feed-in guide, and in that case do not need to be displaceable sideways. Finally, if the shaft is divided, the roller elements may be formed also by the jacket surface of the shaft itself, in which case the further explanations hereinafter then put the jacket surface of the shaft in the place of the roller elements.
The variation in the positions of the cable feed-in guides may be coupled to a simultaneous variation in the position of other components of the cable guiding system, especially of the position of narrow driver sleeves of the drive system and/or of first reversing rollers of the cable guiding system. The components capable of being variable in their positions in a coordinated manner are preferably combined in carrier modules within a module containing the mechanics, and can be displaced by the user as one uniform block, and preferably fixed by means of one single fixing element.
The cable guiding system preferably contains first reversing rollers that are slightly spaced from the drive system and reverse the run of the cable toward the center plane of the apparatus. A compact structure of the apparatus can be obtained in this way particularly also under the aspect of the fact that the guiding system for the cable is screened to a large extent by a covering for safety reasons. By reversing the run of the cable toward the center of the apparatus it is possible to limit the larger width of the module containing the mechanics required for the favorable initial run of the cable with parallel longitudinal axes to a short section in the longitudinal direction, so that it is possible to keep the type of construction used for the module containing the mechanics small. The angle of the run of the cable measured in the horizontal plane downstream of the first reversing rollers of the cable guiding system behind the drive system against the line of connection of the first reversing rollers preferably amounts to 45xc2x0 at the most, in particular to 30xc2x0 at the most. The run of the cable downstream of the first reversing rollers toward the center of the apparatus is preferably aligned approximately perpendicular in relation to the center plane with respect to the horizontal projection.
The first reversing rollers are preferably disposed in the lateral direction near the cable feed-in guides, so that the guidance of the cable via the drive system needs not to bridge any larger offset sideways.
In a preferred variation of the exercise apparatus, the roller elements are arranged in the center plane with a small spacing from one another. The spacing of the axes of rotation of the roller elements advantageously amounts to 20% at the most, preferably maximally to 10% of the spacing of the feed-in positions of the cable ends of the cable system coming from the actuation device and running into first, laterally spaced reversing elements, in particular reversing cable rollers of the cable guiding system. Arranging the roller elements rotated by the cable system near the center permits a particularly compact drive unit, which can then completely encapsulated in an advantageous manner in a housing with a small volume that preferably contains the brake device as well.
Advantageous is a coaxial arrangement of both roller elements on a common shaft and coupling of the roller elements with the common shaft by way of freewheel devices rotating in the same sense. The brake device is preferably arranged coaxially with the roller elements as well, in particular with a fixed connection of the common shaft with the rotating brake device. In another type of arrangement, the roller elements also can be rotatably arranged in such a way that they revolve about parallel, spaced-apart axes.
The separate or preferably common axes of rotation of the roller elements are preferably disposed upright, or in particular at least aligned approximately vertically. This permits further guidance of the cable system downstream of the roller elements to the rope tensioning device at least approximately parallel-with the center plane without requiring reversing elements, or only needing reversing elements that require particularly low expenditure. In conjunction with the coaxial arrangement of the roller elements and the brake device, a particularly compact drive system combined at the same time with a simple system for guiding the cable is obtained.
The actuation device can be connected with the motion module or handled detached from the latter depending on the type of movement involved. In connection with the variation that can be freely handled, it is again possible to make a distinction between whether the points of articulation of the cable system can be freely handled on the actuation device individually, or, as for example for imitating a swimming movement or an arm movement of a long distance skier, whether the points of articulation are fixed within the actuation device in a defined relative position to each other, such as, for example for imitating a canoe paddling movement, or also for imitating a rowing movement according to a special design. The cable pivot points may be guided in a displaceable manner as well. Furthermore, provision can be made that one end of the cable system is fixed and only the other end is displaceable by means of an actuation device, for example for imitating a unilateral stabbing-like paddling motion of the type used by kayak sportsmen.
The actuation device has handles that directly contain the pivot points, or are connected to the latter. Particularly advantageous on account of its simple structure and versatile applicability is an actuation device that can be freely handled in the way of a bar, a tube or the like, whereby the pivot points for the cable system are located on their ends.
The great number of possible embodiments of the cable system includes a system that comprises a through-extending, substantially non-expandable cable, which is secured with its ends on the pivot points of the actuation device and is guided with multiple reversals through the cable guiding system and is maintained taut within a range of actuation by means of the cable tensioning device. For the purpose of changing the actuation device and/or for adjusting an optimal length of the cable, the ends of the cable may be connected to the ends of the actuation device in an easily detachable manner, for example via quick-change devices that can be plugged onto different actuation devices and can be easily removed for changing the actuation device.
The rope tensioning device preferably contains a resetting element that acts on a displaceable reversing roller of the cable guiding system, in particular in the form of a spring or a pulling element having the elasticity of rubber, which itself may be reversed as well. The resetting element, when the cable roller is deflected from a resting position, exerts on such cable roller a resetting force when the actuation device is used, such resetting force keeping the cable taut.
In an advantageous simple embodiment, the cable is guided on the displaceable reversing roller in two parallel lines, and the range of displacement of the displaceable reversing roller, or the resetting range of the cable tensioning device is substantially equal to the symmetrical range of actuation of the actuation device with pivot points moving in the same sense. While with the known system, only one compensation of the asymmetry of the movement of the pivot pointsxe2x80x94which takes place in the opposite sense per sexe2x80x94is made possible by the cable tensioning device, provision is made according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention that the reset range of the cable tensioning device also permits using the actuation device when the cable pivot points of the actuation device are moving in the same sense. The reset range of the cable tensioning device is advantageously selected for said purpose in such a way that it is at least equal to or greater than the typical maximum displacement range with movement in the same sense. In particular, provision can be made that the reset range of a displacement of the pivot points in the same sense comes to at least 0.75 m, preferably at least to 1.50 m.
The displacement range of a reversing roller in the cable guiding system may be reduced vis-à-vis the desired actuation range of the actuation device in the same sense by making provision for a block-and-tackle-type of cable guidance system. A compact construction of the module comprising the mechanics can be taken into account in this way under certain circumstances.
The cable tensioning device is arranged in the section of the cable guiding system facing away from the actuation device, so that along the course of the cable, the drive system is arranged facing the actuation device in both cable lines leading from the cable tensioning device to the actuation device.
Furthermore, the cable tensioning device also may contain an elastic pulling element interconnected in the course of the cable system. The rope tensioning device including the reversing roller is advantageously displaceable in a channel that is covered at least on three sides. According to a preferred embodiment, said channel may be formed by a statically supporting component of the apparatus.
The cable guiding system comprises a cable feed-in guide in the course of the cable from the pivot points of the actuation device upstream of the drive system preferably in both cable lines, which constantly assures safe guidance of the cable especially in conjunction with an actuation device that can be freely handled, and in particular permits the cable to be fed to a driving device directly.
The cable feed-in guides may be formed, for example by sleeves having a cross section expanding toward the side of the actuation device. For another favorable embodiment of the feed-in guides, provision is made that such guides are produced from a strong wire, or from a round steel element in the form of a coil tapering in the form of a cone, whereby an extension of the round steel element at the same time serves as a fastening point for securing the feed-in guide so formed.
For the purpose of adaptation to different kinds of movements and/or different movement modules and/or different users, the position of the cable feed-in guides is advantageously variable, so that the cable runs into the cable-guiding system in as straight a line as possible and in particular with as little reversing as possible up to the drive system at least for the pulling strand of the cable. In particular the lateral position of the feed-in guides may be variable, whereas a variation in the vertical level of the initial run of the cable depending on the type of movement involved can be taken into account by the associated module of use. A starting course of the cable that extends parallel with the center plane of the apparatus is perceived by the user as being close to reality and pleasant.
In addition to imitating the pattern of movements of the paddle alternating between two sides, which is the typical pattern of motion during canoe paddling, the exercise apparatus can be advantageously used also as a training device for other patterns of movement.
According to a first proposal, provision is made for an exercise apparatus with a cable system and a cable guiding system comprising an actuation device connected to the cable system; a cable tensioning device facing away from the actuation device in the course of the cable; a brake device; and a drive system for the unilateral transmission of a pulling movement exerted by the actuation device on the cable system to a brake device, of the type as it is known from DE 296 20 700, to be used not only as a canoe ergometer, but to be employed as an exercise apparatus or ergometer also for movement patterns other than the paddling movements on two sides, which are typical of paddling a canoe. Where mention is made in the following, for example of an arm movement, the movement of the entire body connected therewith and the load are understood to be included therein.
A first group of exercise apparatuses is directed in this conjunction at a movement in opposite senses of two cable pivot points on the actuation device, as it is the case with the known canoe ergometer as well. It is particularly advantageous if the exercise apparatus is designed for imitating the movement patterns, especially the arm movement pattern employed during swimming, and in that area especially during crawl-type swimming, as well as during long-distance skiing involving alternating swinging movements of the arms, whereby provision can be made for using such apparatuses both for diagnostic and therapeutic and exercise purposes as well. Vis-à-vis the known long-distance running exercise apparatus mentioned above, a long-distance running exercise device of the type as defined by the invention shows on account of the cable tensioning device a substantially enhanced stress behavior that is perceived as being substantially more natural especially when a wind wheel is employed as the brake device.
Furthermore, an advantageous property of the exercise apparatus as defined by the invention is the fact that the present invention can be employed also for movement patterns involving movement of two load engagement points in the same sense. Especially advantageous is the embodiment of the exercise apparatus for imitating the movement during rowing, during long-distance skiing with double swinging of the arms, or with a type of swimming style where the arms or moved in the same sense such as during butterfly-style swimming, or also its embodiment as a wheelchair-type exercise apparatus.
Finally, according to another advantageous embodiment of the exercise apparatus, provision is made for only unilateral stress, in particular in the form of a kayak-type exercise apparatus.
For the purpose of imitating movement on two sides in the same sense, or movement only on one side, it is possible to substantially employ the same mechanical structure used for imitating movement on both sides in oppositely directly senses, whereby the cable-tensioning device has advantageously a clearly greater reset range versus the compensation of asymmetry in connection with the oppositely directed movement for imitating the movement in the same sense, in particular a reset range of at least 0.75 m, preferably of at least 1.50 m cable length for each strand of cable that can be actuated with the actuation device.
With respect to the various forms of embodiment of the exercise apparatus specified above, it is especially advantageous if the exercise apparatus is structured with an application-independent module containing the mechanics, and a movement module directed at a defined type of movement, or a group of types of movement. On the one hand, this offers economical benefits in the manufacture of the exercise apparatuses because the same mechanics module is employed for different types of apparatus, and the apparatuses therefore can be produced in greater numbers of units and thus at more favorable cost. This offers the user the advantageous possibility to supplement a mechanics module as the base module by a plurality of movement modules that are specific to certain types of sports disciplines, and thus to have a number of apparatuses available at favorable cost and with comparatively low space requirements. Details of advantageous constructions of various embodiments are specified in the following.
For the purpose of dividing the exercise apparatus in a mechanics module not depending on the type of movement, and a movement module depending on the type of movement, it is particularly advantageous if the cable guiding system, the brake device, the drive system and the cable tensioning device are completely accommodated in the module for accommodating the mechanics. Any adaptation to a defined type of movement to be imitated can then be achieved in a favorable manner with minor expenditure by connecting the specific movement module with the standard mechanics module, and by connecting the latter with the associated actuation device, with adaptation of the length of the cable system, if need be.
For adapting a standard mechanics module to different types of utilization of the apparatus, it is possible to advantageously make provision for a possibility for adjusting the components integrated in the module containing the mechanics, in particular for adjusting the cable guiding system. For example, the lateral spacing of cable feed-in guides, which are arranged between the drive system and the actuation device, may be variable versus the center.
It is advantageous if the apparatus can be refitted for different types of utilization by designing the mechanics module as a unit that can be set up in the operating position standing by itself. The different types of movement-specific movement modules then can be designed also as attachments to the mechanics module not standing by themselves, and in this way can be constructed under certain circumstances in a space-saving manner and with a lighter weight, and will take up less space when stored separately. Dividing the apparatus in a mechanics module of the type specified above, and a movement module is advantageous also in view of the way in which the apparatus can be easily handled due to its lower weight and in view of the favorable storage possibilities due to smaller dimensions of the separated modules. The mechanics module is preferably designed symmetrically with respect to a center plane.