Gymnastic machine

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a machine effectively usable for performing physical exercises. In more detail, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine having at least one pair of footboards for the repeated performance of alternating movements along an open trajectory. Therefore, this invention can be effectively applied both to gymnastic machines aimed principally at muscular development and to machines suitable for training with prolonged cyclical exertions of the lower limbs.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] In the field of gymnastic machines there are well-known skating simulators for training of the lower limbs. These machines are used to perform cyclical movements and are therefore particularly suitable for cardiovascular training.

[0005] Some machines of this type are produced in implementation of patents whose teachings have already been described and discussed in the text attached to the Italian invention patent application no. RA2004A000044 filed on 16 Sep. 2004 by the assignee of the present application, followed by European Patent application no. EP1598095, which corresponds to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/908,316 filed May 6, 2005. Furthermore, the teachings that can be drawn from these patent applications by the applicant have enabled it to construct a machine called “Cardio Wave”, in which a pair of footboards, each of which is supported by an arm hinged to a frame and is movable along an open trajectory according to a composite movement when the arm is moved outward. This composite movement is the result of the combination of a plurality of movements, with the result that, during evolution of the thrusting movement along the respective trajectory, each footboard is inclined inwards to reduce the various deformities of the knee and favour stability of the ankle, and rotated forward, so as to lower a respective front portion; a respective rear portion is raised to stabilize the user's centre of gravity.

[0006] Again in the field of skating simulators, the assignee is the holder of a further Italian invention patent application no. RA2005A000029, filed on Jul. 29, 2005, which corresponds to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/494,994 filed Jul. 28, 2006 and which provides the teachings to construct a machine in which each footboard is supported by an articulated quadrilateral coupled to said frame; in particular each footboard is movable with respect to the connecting rod of the respective quadrilateral in a freely rotatable manner around a determined axis, but is held in rotation by a lever carried by the connecting rod so that, in use, the footboard is movable along an open trajectory according to a substantially curvilinear composite movement that allows the user exercising on the footboards to easily maintain his/her balance.

[0007] U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 10/908,316 and 11/494,994, which are incorporated herein by reference thereto, provide teachings to construct machines based on the use of articulated mechanisms that can be actuated freely in the space even if the respective operating volumes differ in size. In particular, the operating volume that is swept by the footboard and by the respective arm to implement the inventive concept described in the first of the two applications is decidedly lower than the volume required to implement the inventive concept corresponding to the second application. Herein and hereafter the expression “operating volume” indicates the portion of space inside which the articulated mechanisms are actuated.

[0008] It should be observed that, in both cases, the footboards are supported in a cantilevered fashion by articulated mechanisms the arms of which must be designed so that the footboard can accurately follow the respective open trajectories typical of the composite skating movement described above even when the power discharged by the user on said footboards is particularly relevant. This makes it necessary for these arms to be constructed with materials having a high intrinsic rigidity, or to impart rigidity on the arms and on the turning pairs that connect them to each other and to the frame, taking particular care to oversize the dimensions of the resisting sections. Only in this way will it be possible to minimise transmission of stress from the machine to the user's foot and allow the user to concentrate exclusively on controlling his/her motion, with great advantage to the active safety of the machine as a whole. Naturally, this represents an escalation in the costs of the gymnastic machine, as it complicates design and increases the cost of the respective structure.

[0009] The present invention relates to a machine effectively usable for performing training exercises. In more detail, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine having at least one pair of footboards for the repeated performance of alternating movements along an open trajectory. Therefore, this invention can be effectively applied both to gymnastic machines aimed principally at muscular development and to machines suitable for the training with prolonged cyclical exertions of the lower limbs.

[0010] The object of the present invention is to construct a gymnastic machine that allows the disadvantages described above to be solved, and which is suitable to satisfy a plurality of requirements that to date have still not been addressed, and therefore, suitable to represent a new and original source of economic interest and capable of modifying the current market of skating simulators.

[0011] According to the present invention, a gymnastic machine is constructed, whose main characteristics are described in at least one of the appended claims.

[0012] Further characteristics and advantages of the machine according to the present invention will be more apparent from the description below, set non-limiting examples of embodiment, in which identical or corresponding parts of the machine itself are identified by the same reference numbers. In particular:

[0013] FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevation view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0014] FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1, with parts removed for clarity; and

[0015] FIG. 3 is a view extracted from FIG. 1, in which a respective device is illustrated in two distinct operating positions.

[0016] In FIG. 1, no. 1 indicates, in its entirety, a gymnastic machine having a frame 10 and an exercise station 20; the exercise station 20 having, in turn, a pair of footboards 30, each of which is carried movable along an open trajectory P1 with respect to the frame 10 of a rocker arm 42 of an articulated mechanism 40. In particular, this mechanism 40 carries a rocker arm 42 for each footboard 30, and each rocker arm 42 is carried in a cantilevered fashion by the frame 10 by means of interposition of a further rocker arm 44, which is connected to the frame 10 in a freely rotatable manner. The rocker arm 42 is connected to the rocker arm 44 by a turning pair 45. To facilitate representation, the trajectory P1 is visible in FIG. 2, where it has been drawn only for the left footboard 30, given the symmetry of the machine 1.

[0017] The exercise station 20 is also provided with a supporting device 50 carried rigidly by the frame 10 and associated with each rocker arm 42 to minimise the amount of stress that can be transmitted to the respective footboard 30. This supporting device 50 comprises a prismatic pair 52 carried rigidly by the frame 10 and provided with a slide 54 movable on a guide 56 along a second trajectory P2. According to the illustration in FIG. 1, the slide 54 is connected to the respective rocker arm 42 in a corresponding intermediate portion 43 in a freely rotatable manner. This decision to constrain each rocker arm 42 to the frame 10 by means of the respective slide 54 determines a reduction of the extension of the effective length of each first rocker arm 42, and results in a reduction in the amount of stress that can be transmitted to the respective footboard 30. In the case in question, also in order to minimise the overall dimensions of the rear part of the machine 1, the guide 54 is substantially rectilinear, positioned in a direction that lies on a plane D with a double inclination with respect to a longitudinal vertical median plane M of the machine 1 to guide each footboard 30 between a first and a second end position A and B. In particular, in the first position A the slide 54 is located at the front at a maximum height on the guide 56 and is placed at a minimum distance from the median plane M, while in the second position B the slide 54 is located at the rear at a minimum height and at a maximum distance from said median plane M. It should be noted that the plane D presents a double inclination with respect to the plane M, and lying on said plane D there is provided a casing 12, delimiting the top of a box-shaped body 14 of the frame 10, which contains the device 50.

[0018] It should be specified that the trajectory P2 could also have a different form on the basis of the location of the intermediate portion 43 of the rocker arm 42. Furthermore, the two trajectories P1 and P2 could also be produced similar to each other, although the mechanism 40 would undoubtedly have to be modified for this purpose.

[0019] With particular reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the machine 1 comprises a load unit 60 suitable to exchange power with each footboard 30 and provided with an electromagnetic load device 62, of known type and already with an electromagnetic load device 62, of known type and already described with reference to the aforesaid U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 11/603,666 and/or 11/494,994 which are incorporated herein by reference thereto. Furthermore, the device 62 could also be of the gravitational or elastic type, without this modifying the subject matter of the present invention.

[0020] In any case, again with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, associated with the load unit 60 is a return device 70 having at least one return component 72 associated in turn with a rotating disc 64 of the electromagnetic load device 62 of the load unit 60 by means of a transmission 73 having a flexible component that can be produced, for example, although not limitingly, by a belt 74, wound on a plurality of pulleys 75. Examples of the load device 62 and of the return device 70 have been described with reference to the aforesaid U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 10/908,316 and 11/494,994 incorporated herein by reference thereto. In any case, each return component 72 is of the rotatable type with alternating motion and is mechanically connected to the footboard 30 by means of a relative belt 74. Again with reference to FIG. 1 and with particular reference to FIG. 3, a turning pair 48, shaped so that an upper face 32 of the footboard 30 is positioned with a front portion 34 slightly raised with respect to a respective rear portion 36 when, in use, the footboard 30 travels inside the respective position A, and is positioned with the front portion 32 slightly lowered with respect to a respective rear portion 36 when, in use, the footboard 30 travels inside the respective position B.

[0021] Use of the machine 1 is easily understood from the above description and requires no further explanation.

[0022] Finally, it is clear that modifications and variants can be made to the machine 1 described and illustrated herein without however departing from the protective scope of the present invention.

[0023] It must nonetheless be noted that the machine 1 described above is particularly interesting from the user safety point of view. In fact, each intermediate portion 43 of the respective rocker arm 42 is movable with substantially rectilinear motion over the plane D, and at a minimum distance therefrom and therefore allows minimisation of the space freely accessible under the rocker arms 42 and 44 in the exercise station 20. Therefore, once the space at the sides of the guide 56 has been enclosed with the casing 12, and if this is sufficiently strong, a user could use the casing 12 as a fixed support for his/her feet before starting or after having finished each exercise. This means that the assembly of the mechanism 40, of the frame 10 and of the casing 12 define in their entirety a safety device 80, visible only in FIG. 2, which minimises the risk of the user placing a foot under the rocker arm 42, or being struck, and consequently knocked down, at calf level, by the moving rocker arm 42.

[0024] Furthermore, the teachings provided above integrate a method for stiffening each rocker arm 42, which, as already stated, is provided with a movable end supporting a footboard 30 on the curved and open trajectory P1. This method provides for the step to connect the intermediate portion 43 of the rocker arm 42 by means of the substantially linear prismatic pair 52.