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Exercise machineRelated Patent Categories: Exercise Devices, Involving User Translation Or Physical Simulation Thereof, Stair ClimbingExercise machine description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20050272562, Exercise machine. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119 and the Paris Convention Treaty, this application claims the benefit of European Community Patent Application No. 04012143.6, filed on May 21, 2004, and the benefit of Italian Patent Application No. RA2004A000044, filed on Sep. 16, 2004 (to the extent the subject matter disclosed therein is different from that disclosed in the European Community Patent Application), both of which applications are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to a machine which may be used for the execution of physical exercises, and more particularly to an exercise machine aimed at muscular development and/or at the development of resistance to prolonged physical exertion via the repeated execution of alternating movements over an open trajectory. [0004] 2. Description of Related Art [0005] Various exercise machines for the execution of physical exercises are well known in the art and include exercise machines directed at the development of single or multiple muscle groups, either simultaneously or in succession and exercise machines which enable the development of resistance to prolonged muscular exertion. Normally, machines of the first type are equipped with means to provide resistance which provide for a succession of eccentric and concentric exercises, while machines of the second type are equipped with means to provide resistance which can exchange energy with the user continuously while he carries out a cyclical movement without a break in continuity. Among the latter, the most widely spread are stationary bicycles, treadmills for walking or running, the so-called "steppers" for simulating a step climbing motion, and elliptical machines for walking and/or running on mobile footboards on closed elliptical trajectories. [0006] Stationary bicycles, steppers and elliptical machines have means to provide resistance designed to absorb energy exerted by a user, while treadmills may be either of the type actuated by a user or motorized with an actuator which determines the delivery of power by the user. Steppers, also, are of the "floating" type, in the sense that the power transmitted to the resistance means during operation of the footboards determines the average distance of the center of gravity of the user with respect to the base of the machine, and therefore influences the amplitude of the movement. [0007] Among cyclical training machines, skating simulators, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,658, are also well-known. Such skating simulators have a pair of substantially identical arms side by side, pivoting on vertical axes; each arm carries a footboard which pivots on it near one relative free extremity; each footboard has a transverse strip designed to prevent transverse slippage from the footboard itself, and therefore for restraining the relative foot. Each lever acts on a flywheel by means of a mechanical transmission fitted with a belt, which is wound along its route around a free wheel, to cooperate with the flywheel, and is connected at its respective extremities to a lever and to the frame, and at this end the connection is made through the interposition of a spring. Each lever is therefore braked in rotation by a belt, and the return of the levers to a central rest position is effected by the respective springs. [0008] This design concept presents several disadvantages: first of all, there is the sensation of awkwardness experienced by a user lifted off the ground on two footboards supported by long activating levers; and secondly, the user's ankles are subjected to unnatural movements and the user's feet move in ways different from those in skating as the user's feet are kept oriented forward during the displacement of the arm from the rest position to a distal position. Especially, in case of particularly large movements, the user can lose his balance and be injured as a result of exercising on a conventional skating stimulator. [0009] To remedy some of the above disadvantages, skating machines have been developed, (e.g., see U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0042329), in which each footboard is supported bilaterally by an incurved prismatic guide. This guide-footboard pair, besides determining the shape of the trajectory of the said footboard, is shaped in such a way as to vary the inclination of its upper face used by the foot of a user. This guide-footboard pair, therefore, is arranged so as to increase the grip between foot and footboard during the execution of the thrusting movement, and thus to offer the user greater safety in executing the movement of each foot outwards. The means to provide resistance of the machine utilizes a flywheel which can be activated by means of a coaxial freewheel. In addition, an elastic return device is provided to bring the footboards back to their relative center position. In particular, this return mechanism is provided with a flexible component including a belt and a spring arranged in series and running around pulleys. [0010] Nevertheless, these improved skating stimulators still suffer from various problems such as the high production costs of the guide rails/shuttles and significant wear problems, which impact negatively the costs of operation because of the need to carry out frequent adjustments. Furthermore, the extreme rigidity of the structure limits the flexibility of the amplitude and angle settings of the footboard while carrying out exercising movement because these dimensions are directly tied to the length of the user's limbs. [0011] Clearly there is a need for further improvements in the art because the type of movement which can be simulated on the conventional skating machines does not represent the real skating movement, because the machines are poorly adaptable to the anthropometric dimensions of users of different heights, and because the conventional machines are cumbersome, rather ineffective, and very costly. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS [0012] The invention will now be described by reference to the annexed drawings, which illustrate non-limiting embodiments of the invention, as follows: [0013] FIG. 1 is a schematic view in lateral elevation of one embodiment of an exercise machine 1; [0014] FIG. 2 is a rear schematic view on an enlarged scale and with parts removed for clarity of the machine in FIG. 1, illustrated in an operating position useful for illustrating some of its structural characteristics; [0015] FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view, on an enlarged scale and with parts removed for clarity, of the machine in FIG. 1; [0016] FIG. 4 illustrates a structural diagram of another embodiment of the machine in FIG. 1; [0017] FIGS. 5a and 5b illustrate diagrams of additional embodiments of the machine in FIG. 1; [0018] FIG. 6 is a diagram derived from FIG. 1 in which the machine is illustrated in a particular operating position, with the relative implements arranged side by side in their respective rest positions; [0019] FIG. 7 is a view in lateral elevation of a third embodiment of FIG. 1; [0020] FIG. 8 is a view on plan, with parts removed for clarity, of FIG. 7; [0021] FIG. 9 is a view in longitudinal section, on an enlarged scale, of a detail taken from FIG. 8. Continue reading about Exercise machine... Full patent description for Exercise machine Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Exercise machine 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 Exercise machine or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Electronic data gathering and processing for fitness machines Next Patent Application: Lower muscle training device Industry Class: Exercise devices ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Exercise machine patent info. 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