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Gymnastic machine

Gymnastic machine description/claims

The present invention relates to a gymnastic machine provided with at least a lever. In particular, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine provided with at least a lever usable to actuate a load group. In more detail, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine provided with at least a lever usable to actuate a load group and to a method for producing this lever.

In the field of gymnastic equipment, it is known to manufacture gymnastic machines provided with levers pivoted to a frame supporting a load group, normally of the gravitational, hydraulic or electromagnetic type. These levers are of the substantially box-shaped type in order to optimise the ratio between the mass and the mechanical resistance and to minimise the cost thereof. Normally, these levers are produced by cutting bars which have a constant and generally rectangular cross-section to be more easily machinable. Again in order to optimise the ratio between the mass and the mechanical resistance and to minimise the cost thereof, the greater dimension of the cross-section of the bars is parallel to the plane in which the lever is actuated in consideration of that the transverse load is substantially negligible and the lever is rigid enough to absorb it without damage even when the width is substantially half the depth. Similar cases occur in the majority of gymnastic machines with gravitational load and weight stack movable along a rectilinear guide, which can be grouped together through an elongated body which passes through them transversely and is connected to the levers by means of a flexible member, generally a cable made of textile material.

Furthermore, when the load group comprises free weights which must be carried laterally by the same levers through adequate pins, it is well understood that these levers are subject not only to shear stress but also to torque, just as the coupling pins for coupling the levers to the frame. Therefore, in these cases, the choice is generally made to use levers which present rectangular cross-sections tending more toward a square shape and/or to strengthen the lever in correspondence of the coupling section thereof extending the pin and dividing the hub for connection to the frame into a fork. In addition to this, by choosing to use a lever of reduced transverse dimensions, thus subjecting the portions that couple the pins to the frame to considerable shear stress, a safety member must be inserted for supporting the pin in the case of breakage thereof or of the respective support.

Furthermore, it should be noted that free weight machines are generally used by the most competent body building enthusiasts, who wish to experience feelings as similar as possible to the use of free weights held directly or carried by dumbbells or barbells; this obliges the manufacturers of levers to balance them so as to make them substantially neutral when no load is aplpied thereon. Therefore, it is also known that the use of levers of considerable cross-section obliges manufacturers to strengthen the frame and thus the machine in its entirety, and also to load the levers before having added the free weights for execution of an exercise. This contributes toward placing manufacturers in the position of choosing whether to strengthen the resistant cross-sections or to complicate the shape of the levers with the result of compromising the aesthetic appearance, as already described above.

In view of the above description, the problem of having available a gymnastic machine in which the interaction between the implement and the corresponding load group is carried out by means of levers of simple shape, light, carried by the frame through a single hub and, simultaneously, capable of withstanding the exchange of high energy values in the unit of time and of high torsional stresses with the respective pin for connection to the frame is currently unsolved. The solution of this problem represents an interesting challenge for the applicant in order to simplify the structure of the gymnastic machines, to lighten the mass of one or their most characterising components, due to the fact that it carries the interface through which the user interacts with the load, and to make them safer without the need to resort to the use of additional members that would compromise the style and outer appearance.

In view of the situation described above, it would be desirable to have available a gymnastic machine which, in addition to enabling to limit and possibly to overcome the typical drawbacks of the art illustrated above, could define a new standard for the gymnastic machines and, in particular, for free weight gymnastic machines.

The present invention relates to a gymnastic machine provided with at least a lever. In particular, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine provided with at least a lever usable to actuate a load group. In more detail, the present invention relates to a gymnastic machine provided with at least a lever usable to actuate a load group and to a method for producing this lever.

The object of the present invention is to provide a gymnastic machine which 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 gymnastic machines. According to the present invention, a gymnastic machine is provided, whose main characteristics are described in at least one of the appended claims.

Furthermore, the present invention relates to a lever for this gymnastic machine, this lever being designed to contain the overall mass of the machine with the same resistance to torsional loads, to increase the safety degree of the machine in its entirety, and to simplify the structure thereof.

According to the present invention a lever for this gymnastic machine is also provided, and the main characteristics of this lever are described in at least one of the appended claims.

Further characteristics and advantages of the gymnastic machine according to the present invention will be more apparent from the description below, set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate at least one non-limiting example of embodiment, in which identical or corresponding parts of the device are identified by the same reference numbers. In particular:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a gymnastic machine according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view in enlarged scale of a component extracted from FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of FIG. 1.

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• Utility Patent

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