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Workout equipmentRelated Patent Categories: Exercise Devices, For Foot Or AnkleWorkout equipment description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080015091, Workout equipment. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/211,553, filed Aug. 5, 2002. [0002] The present invention relates in general to workout or exercise equipment, and in particular to such equipment which can be used for primarily exercising the leg mussels. [0003] The need for physical exercise and conditioning is well know, especially in a culture where physical exertion is not emphasized as it once may have bee, and where the demand on athletes of al ages to compete at a high level is on the rise. An entire industry has developed for the purpose of affording people the opportunity to exercise so as to maintain health, appearance, and competitiveness. Gyms can be found in almost every city and town in the country. All of them have a variety of machine which one can use in their workouts. Some are quire complicated, and some are designed for special muscle groups. To understand the present invention better, a general review of the muscles of the human body should help. [0004] All of the muscles on the exterior of the human body involved a muscle belly with a tendon on each end attaching each end to a respective bone. As the muscles flex and extend, they operate the bones as levers. The tendon that attaches one end of a muscle to a bone and remains fixed during flexion is termed the "origin" of the muscle and the tendon that attaches the other end of the muscle to a second bone and moves that bone during flexion is termed the "insertion" of the muscle. [0005] The most common and easily recognized example of these relationships is the biceps brachii, located on the upper arm and attached at two points at the upper arm and scapula and a single lower point on the lower arm slightly past the elbow. The most common exercise for the biceps brachii is the barbell curl (which can be achieved by a dead weight or a machine). A barbell (dead weight) is lifted off the floor with both arms extended and with the body fully vertical, the barbell is curled to a position below the chin as the elbows are held at the sides of the body. The "origin" of the biceps brachii in this exercise si the two-point upper attachment (fixed) while the "insertion" is the lower attachment that moves the lower arm in a pivotal motion from full extension to full flexion to the position below the chin. [0006] Another common exercise for the biceps brachii is the chinning exercise. The arms grasp an overhead bar and the body is pulled up until the chin is positioned over the bar at full flexion. In this exercise, the: "origin" and "insertion" are the reverse of the barbell curl exercise. The attachment to the lower arm is the "origin" (fixed) while the two-point attachment at the upper arm and scapula becomes the "insertion" and performs the movement of the entire body to the position where the chin is positioned over the bar. [0007] By changing the position of muscle flexion based upon the "origin" and "insertion" of a muscle, the belly of the muscle becomes more developed and adaptable in strength and coordination. [0008] There has been consideration development in the past fifty years of exercise machines using various body supports with pulleys and weights to position a user to isolate and exercise specific muscles in a multitude of varying positions. [0009] The present invention is directed to a novel group of workout equipment and to a method to exercise the upper leg muscles, the biceps femoris, commonly referred to as the hamstrings, and also to the quadriceps. The biceps femoris is an upper leg muscle somewhat analogous to the biceps brachii on the upper arm. In a similar manner, the biceps femoris is attached between two points at the upper leg bone and hip bone and a single lower point on the lower leg slightly past the knee. [0010] There are several exercise machines that are well known in which the attachment of the upper leg bone and hi bone attachment is the "origin" and the lower leg bone attachment is the "insertion". For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,962, discloses a sitting position in which the knees are fixed in front and the heels are imposed on a padded roller on a lever that raises a stack of weights as the biceps femoris is flexed to bring the heels close to the buttocks. U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,077, discloses a bench on which the user lies on his stomach with the knees fixed in front the heels, again, imposed on a padded roller on a lever that raises a stack of weights as the biceps femoris is flexed to bring the heels close to the buttocks. [0011] Additional examples of machines of this type are the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,468,026; 4,725,056; 5,5058,884;5,094,450; 5,158,520; 5,334,120; 5,569,133; 5,628,714; 5,634,873; 5,711,749; 5,766,118; 6,059,698; 6,059,701; 6,106,444; 6,296,594; and 6,231,486. [0012] None of the known equipment is specifically directed to exercising the upper leg muscles, such as the biceps femoris, and the quadriceps, and to do so in an efficient manner. [0013] In view of the present state of the art, ti would desirable to have equipment available for use in specifically exercising the upper leg muscles, such as the biceps femoris and the provide a technique which one can utilize in using this equipment for efficiently exercising the upper leg muscles. [0014] It is an object of the present invention to provide equipment and a technique for specifically exercising the upper leg muscles, such as the biceps femoris. The equipment and technique according to the present invention reverses the origin" and "insertion" of the biceps femoris, for example, by fixing the position of the heel to stabilized the lower leg and have the upper leg bone pull the entire upper body to bring the buttocks close to the heel. This results in the biceps femoris attachment to the lower leg bone being the "origin" and the attachment at the upper leg bone and hip bone being the "insertion". [0015] The muscles of the leg are extremely strong with power lifters having squatted with over 1000 pounds on the shoulders. However, the main muscle mass performing the squat is the quadriceps muscle on the front of the thigh bone. The biceps femoris on the rear of the thigh bone acts mainly as a stabilizing muscle during heavy squatting. [0016] It is further object of the present invention to employ in the technique use of the part of the upper body weight as the resistance that the biceps femoris muscle moves from full extension to full flexion. This is accomplished by using levers and weights to support part of the upper body weight during movement from full extension to full flexion. [0017] It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an exercise machine for the quadriceps muscle on the front of the legs. This machine will enable an elder person or a person beginning an exercise program or a person recovering from a leg injury to perform the squat exercise. It consists of a cable with a stack of weights combined with a pivotable seat on which the user can sit while squatting to a parallel position with the weight stack offsetting a portion of the user's body weight. [0018] The following figures have been selected to illustrate the present invention in its various aspects. [0019] FIG. 1 is the most simple apparatus for exercising the hamstrings with the muscle attachment below the knees functioning as the "origin". [0020] FIG. 2 is a second apparatus for exercising the hamstrings with the muscle attachment below the knees functioning as the "origin" using a pivotable lever with a varying moment arm. [0021] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2. [0022] FIG. 4 is a third apparatus for exercising the hamstrings with the muscle attachment below the knees functioning as the "origin" using a pivotable lever attached to a cable to raise and lower a stack of selected weights. [0023] FIG. 5 is an apparatus for exercising the quadriceps muscles with a body weight offsetting seat that slides up and down on vertical rods. [0024] FIGS. 6a and 6b show a stand along apparatus which be used with weights. Continue reading about Workout equipment... Full patent description for Workout equipment Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Workout equipment 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 Workout equipment or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Method and apparatus for measuring exercise performance Next Patent Application: Exercise machine Industry Class: Exercise devices ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Workout equipment patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 0.37154 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Tyco , Unilever , Warner-lambert , 3m 174 |
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