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Bed-shaped exerciserRelated Patent Categories: Exercise Devices, Involving User Translation Or Physical Simulation Thereof, BicylclingBed-shaped exerciser description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20050272566, Bed-shaped exerciser. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a bed-shaped exerciser and its construction having a function that a user lying on the exercise-bed and facing upward puts their feet on a predetermined pair of foot-holding elements to activate and move the foot-holding elements in order to start exercise of legs and feet. [0003] 2. Prior Art [0004] Patients having long been in a hospital or persons being long bedridden almost surely have muscles of and near legs declined or become weaker. Being long bedridden is likely to lead to poor blood circulation to legs, causing an additional symptom of any possible diseases, whereby the situation of being bedridden is not at all wiped away in the worst case due to the additional symptom of disease. For the purpose of avoiding the problem, various attempts and countermeasures have been hitherto taken for keeping muscular strength or power. [0005] In detail, at a stage when patients recover to some extent from diseases or injuries, the so-called rehabilitation is carried out to apply to patients physiotherapeutic instruments and equipments such as a walk-trainer or the like for regaining muscular power so as to facilitate recovery of the patients. As an actual point of matters, the start of rehabilitation exercise is often likely to delay, i.e., to be hindered due to patients complaining of pains even after a stage when patients could readily regain original functions of organs. Furthermore, in case of aged persons who generally get leg muscles weaken, it is often hard from bitterness of pains for the aged persons to continue exercises, which they carry out on the basis of their intention, such as bending and stretching exercises of legs or walking. [0006] By sitting on a chair for many hours it possibly happens to cause "economy class syndrome or long flight thrombosis" (Pulmonary Thromboembolism) i.e., to generate thrombus at a bent hip joint or knee joint, or a pressurized thigh or crus. The generated thrombi flow through blood circulation in the body, occasionally leading to a serious disorder, particularly, death. Minutely, the "economy class syndrome" or Pulmonary Thromboembolism occurs often in staying and sleeping in an air plane in a long distance route or in a car provided with no bed therein. Moreover, the disorder also occurs in persons engaging in desk work and in those whose occupation is to drive cars. Thus, it will be conceivable that the number of persons who to take countermeasures against the pulmonary thromboembolism must be large substantially. [0007] From the above background various apparatuses, devices or instruments, as called therapeutic or health apparatuses or the like are commercially available on the market. But they are seldom long kept in use. A principal reason for it is "bitterness" users or patients feel when they continuously try to activate their muscles by themselves while sensing load. [0008] In detail, those among various instruments for use in rehabilitation exercise after recovery from injuries or diseases, and those used for complementing lack of exercise for substantially healthy persons in their ordinary everyday life are, conventionally, adapted to cause users or patients to stretch and contract muscles by themselves. Hence, it is quite severe for the users to impose on themselves continuation of using of those conventional apparatuses or instruments even after they feel and sense pains and fatigue. And also, it is much hard for a third person to keep forcing users or patients to continue using of those conventional apparatuses or instruments. Moreover, the constructions of the apparatuses, etc did not give users comfortable use, so that in most cases users easily stop using such apparatuses without achieving desired goal or purpose. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0009] Under the above circumstances the Inventor long zealously studied and finally achieved a bed-shaped exerciser according to the present invention characterized in the bed-shaped exerciser comprising a mechanism for lifting up and moving down alternately right and left legs of user lying on the bed-shaped exerciser and facing upward and a mechanism for swinging the body of user leftward and rightward with the feet being fixed. [0010] In detail, it can be said that the exerciser according to the present invention applies to the body of person lying on the exerciser and facing upward the exertion of an external driving source so as to cause expansion and contraction of muscles, and the exerciser is designed to have configuration of expansion and contraction of muscles similar to that obtainable in actual running (or walking as or when required). [0011] Although arms are also swung upon actual jogging or walking, the present invention aims to expand and contract muscles of and near legs and feet but not those extending from shoulder joints to remote ends of finger tips of arms. [0012] The foregoing "mechanism for lifting up and moving down alternately right and left legs of user lying on the bed-shaped exerciser and facing upward" has been hitherto proposed and commercially available. And the mechanism "for swinging rightward and leftward the body of user lying on the exerciser and facing upward with feet and head being fixed" has been recently called "goldfish motion exerciser" and variously and much commercially available on the market. The present invention can be said to have combination of functions of these mechanisms. It has been found that in the present invention, the cycle of lifting up and moving down legs and the cycle of swinging the body are adjusted and also amplitude adjusted, so that expansion and contraction of muscles to be mistaken for that obtainable in actual walking (or running) is provided merely in the posture of lying and without applying forces by users themselves. Thus, the mechanism for lifting up and moving down alternately right and left legs of user lying on the bed-shaped exerciser and facing upward, and the mechanism for swinging rightward and leftward the body of user lying on the exerciser and facing upward with legs being fixed are not at all defined here minutely. The above adjustment of those mechanisms may be carried out in such manner that several patterns of combinations of cycles and amplitudes with respect to movement of the two mechanisms are previously set and any one of a plurality of corresponding switch buttons is chosen by users to switch on. Due to large difference among specific individuals the two mechanisms are preferably adjusted separately or individually to have desired exercises depending upon specific occasions. The adjustment may be made specially to realize or reproduce muscular expansion and contraction exercise resembling to "soma or trunk exercise" in swimming and "twisting exercise" in dancing. [0013] By using the present invention exercise is enabled with power of a driving source housed in the apparatus. Thus, the present invention is applicable to rehabilitation of patients after recovery from injuries or diseases to show a sufficient effect. Also, people living in everyday ordinary life but worried about lack of exercise may use the present invention in order to eliminate lack of exercise. Furthermore, the present invention may be provided in air planes, buses, or trains in their long distance routes to prevent the foregoing "economy class syndrome" and show sure and absolute effects. [0014] The present invention further proposes a structure that fine adjustment corresponding to states of users (patients) is able to be carried out simply and sufficiently. For example, in use for rehabilitation exercise after recovery from injuries and diseases, it is necessary to synthetically judge kinds of diseases, degree of recovery, figures of human bodies of patients, or the like, determine optimum patterns of exercise, and reflect the determined exercise patterns in the movement patterns of the exercisers. This problem is also solved by the present invention. [0015] In detail, the second invention is a bed so constructed that: there are arranged at one end side of an upper surface of a bed body a pair of foot-holding elements for legs exercise for lifting up and moving down alternately right and left feet of user lying on the bed and facing upward; the bed body comprising a separately provided part including the foot-holding element; and the separately provided part of the bed body being adapted to be able to move up and down or rotate with respect to the other part of the bed body, or, a part of the bed body except the separately provided part being able to move up and down with respect to the separately provided part. [0016] A member for movement of moving up and down is separate from the bed body and is fixed at a proper position set by turning or shifting up and down this member so as to be usable as an exerciser. By this, a delicate and complicated movement of legs, which is not at all provided merely by changing amplitude and cycles, is able to be reproduced, thereby providing an ideal exerciser that finely deals with kinds and degree of injuries and diseases, degree of recovery therefrom, figures of human bodies of patients, etc. [0017] The above second invention also essentially comprises the mechanism for "alternately lifting up and moving down right and left feet". The movement of moving up and down contains as its concept the movement with rotation such as pedaling in a bicycle as well as the movement of mere moving feet up and down. [0018] In the present invention, right and left feet are "moved" through a driving force of an electric motor, etc. That is, the present invention has a driving source which may be an electric motor usually or alternatively employ other mechanisms. Power for the electric motor may employ alternating current for domestic use or from stringing for electric cars or direct current from batteries used in automobiles. [0019] Furthermore, in the present invention, the second invention may be also provided with a function allowing an exercise other than the legs exercise which function is essential in the first invention. Minutely, a bed member, i.e. an upper surface part of the part of the bed body not including the foot-holding element (i.e. the part on which the body from head to waist of user lying on the bed and facing upward is positioned) may be mounted to a bed base in capable of being rotated so as to swing around a longitudinal axis of the bed body, so that exercise of swinging (horizontal movement) rightward and leftward the body with head and feet being fixed. Right and left legs with feet are alternately lifted up and moved down and the movement of legs is coupled with the movement of swinging the body rightward and leftward, thereby providing a movement complicatedly combining contraction of muscles, bending and stretching of joints, and twisting movement of body. [0020] The feature of the twisting movement may be modified in such manner that the upper part of the body and the waist part of user are each twisted oppositely to each other, thereby providing a more optimum exercise. The construction for this purpose comprises the bed member (a mattress means) which is an upper surface part of the bed body and divided in two halves in the longitudinal direction of the bed body, the two halves of bed member being adapted to be swung with the swinging phases being displaced about 1/2 cycle, so that such exercise may be enabled as both shoulders of user being directed to the right side while the waist to the left side with the head and legs being directed upward. [0021] At the stage of trial experiments the exerciser with the above construction according to the present invention was tried by a man of 67 years old who is not at all able to walk by himself since he suffered from cerebral infarction seven years ago to have the right side of the body paralyzed. We obtained such result that after 30 minutes of use of the present invention he was enabled to walk several steps by himself although using a walking stick, and then, the number of steps he walks has gradually increased. Mechanism of recovery of his walking function (medical theories) in this case has not yet been clarified, but it is inferred from that trial by the man that the present invention has a possibility including capacities providing effects not expected from the conventional apparatuses for rehabilitation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Continue reading about Bed-shaped exerciser... Full patent description for Bed-shaped exerciser Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Bed-shaped exerciser patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Bed-shaped exerciser or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Safety device for treadmills Next Patent Application: Verticle exercise bicycle Industry Class: Exercise devices ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Bed-shaped exerciser patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 0.46959 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Daimler Chrysler , DirecTV , Exxonmobil Chemical Company , Goodyear , Intel , Kyocera Wireless , 174 |
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