US20040067831A1

US20040067831A1 - Swinging rack structure for sit-up machines

Info

Publication number: US20040067831A1
Application number: US10/420,907
Authority: US
Inventors: Hung-Chung Hou
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Link Treasure Ltd
Priority date: 2002-10-03
Filing date: 2003-04-23
Publication date: 2004-04-08
Also published as: TW543476U

Abstract

A swinging rack structure for sit-up machines includes a pair of lower bar brackets and an upper bar bracket. The upper bar bracket has one end fastening to an axle to pivotally couple with the lower bar brackets in the axial direction or normal to the axial direction and another end releasably anchoring on the lower bar brackets. When an user wants to get up, the upper bar bracket may be released on one side and turned about the axle to form an open condition so that the user may get up conveniently without interference.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a swinging rack structure for sit-up machines and particularly a swinging rack structure that has an upper bar bracket and a lower bar bracket with one end of the upper bar bracket pivotally connecting to the lower bar bracket through an axle and another end of the upper bar bracket releasable anchoring on the lower bar bracket. So the upper bar-bracket can be released at another end and is turn-able around the axle to one end thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the continuous economic development and transformation of society, many people no longer make their living by labor. Because of decreasing labor activities, people in modern time often suffer from the so called “civilization ills”. Hence many people try to do various kinds of exercises at spare moments to keep the body in a healthy condition. In order to avoid physical injury during exercises caused by erroneous exercise methods, many exercise facilities and equipments have been developed to aid users to do exercises in correct postures and procedures. Doing sit-up is one of the popular exercises. It can be directly done on the floor. Because people get injured easily, auxiliary equipments have been developed, such as a simple sit-up board, and a sit-up machine equipped with a swinging arm. FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional Sit-

up machine

1 which includes a frame 10, a supporting board 11 and a swinging arm 12. Through the swinging arm 12 and the force of a user, the user can enjoy the benefits of sit-up exercises. However, the swinging arm of the conventional sit-up machine is located above the supporting board. When the user lies on the supporting board, the swinging arm is located directly above the user and hampers the user from getting up. The user has to bend and move around the swinging arm, or completely disassemble the upper portion of the swinging arm to get up. That's very inconvenient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the invention is to provide a sit-up machine to overcome the problem mentioned above. The sit-up machine of the invention has a swinging rack consisting of a pair of lower bar brackets and an upper bar bracket. The upper bar bracket has one end pivotally coupling with the lower bar bracket through an axle in the axial direction or, normal, to the axial direction, and another end releasable anchoring on the lower bar bracket. When a user wants to get up, the upper bar bracket may be released on one side and turned around the axle to form an open condition so that the user can get up smoothly.

The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. The description and drawings are only to serve for reference and illustrative purposes, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional sit-up machine. [0005]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the invention. [0006]
FIG. 3 is a side view of the invention. [0007]
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the swinging rack of the invention, with figure A-A showing the enlarged view of the axle, and figure B-B showing the top view of the axle coupling with the anchor dock. [0008]
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the upper bar bracket with one side opened. [0009]
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the invention in a moving condition. [0010]
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary schematic view of a second embodiment of the invention. [0011]
FIG. 8 is a fragmentary schematic view of the second embodiment of the invention in a moving condition.[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Refer to FIGS. 2, 3 and [0013] 4 for a first embodiment of the invention. The swinging rack structure 2 for sit-up machines of the invention mainly includes a frame 3 and a swinging rack 4. The frame 3 consists of a front rack 31, a rear rack 32, a support bar 33, a seat board 34, a backrest board 35, a driving rack 36 and a retaining rack 37. The support bar 33 is fixedly fastened to the front rack 31 at a desired location to provide a support spot for latching the user's feet. The seat board 34 is fastened to the frame 3. The backrest board 35 is pivotally connecting to the frame 3 and movable, relative to the seat board 34, so when a user sits on the sit board 34, the backrest board 35 can be turned during the sit-up exercise. The retaining rack 37 is pivotally connected to the rear rack 32, having adjusting holes 371 for adjusting the position of engagement. The driving rack 36 is connected to the swinging rack 4 and turn-able therewith. The driving rack 36 has a driving rod 361 and a roller 362. The roller 362 is pivotally connected to an end of the driving rod 361 and in contact with the backrest board 35. The turning of the driving rod 361 drives the roller 362 to push and rotate on the backrest board 35. The swinging rack 4 is connected to the retaining rack 37, and includes a pair of lower bar brackets 41 and an upper bar bracket 42. The lower bar brackets 41 have respectively one end connecting to either of two sides of the retaining rack 37 and are movable with the retaining rack 37. One of the lower bar brackets 41 has another end fastening to an anchor dock 5. The upper bar bracket 42 has one end forming a connecting section 421 and an axle 422 extending from the connecting section 421 to couple with the anchor dock 5 for connecting to one end of the lower bar brackets 41. The axle 422 has a lug 423 to prevent separation. The upper bar bracket 42 has another end connecting temporarily to another end of the lower bar brackets 41 on another side through a pin 6 so that the upper bar bracket 42 and the lower bar brackets 41 may be coupled together. By means of the construction set forth above, when a user sits on the seat board 34, in normal conditions the backrest board 35 and the seat board 34 are at the same horizontal level. Users may grasp the swinging rack 4 with both hands to swing the swinging rack 4 with the hands and the abdomen and drive the roller 362, to raise the backrest board 35 to lift user's back, achieving a sit-up exercise effect (as shown in FIG. 6). When the user wants to stop the exercise and get up, he/she can release the pin 6 and move the swinging rack 4 upwards to separate one end of the upper bar bracket 42 from another side of the lower bar brackets 41. Meanwhile, the axles 422 on another end of the upper bar bracket 42 still couple with another side of the lower bar brackets 41. Thus the upper bar bracket 42 may be turned around the axle 422 to open on one side, enabling the user to get up without interference (as shown in FIG. 5).
Refer to FIGS. 7 and 8 for a second embodiment of the invention. While the previous embodiment has the [0014] upper bar bracket 42 turn-able around the axle 422, to open in one direction, in the second embodiment another approach is employed. The lower bar bracket 7 has one side coupling with an anchor seat 71. The anchor seat 71 has a slot 72 and an anchor trough 73. The upper bar bracket 8 has an anchor member 81 located on one end slid-able in the anchor trough 73. The lower bar bracket 7 has an axial axle 9 pivotally connecting to the slot 72 of the anchor seat 71. In normal conditions, the anchor member 81 of the upper bar bracket 8 is nestled in the anchor trough 73 of the anchor seat 71. When the pin 6 on another end of the upper bar bracket 8 is released and the upper bar bracket 8 is moved upwards, the anchor member 81 separates from the anchor trough 73 and is freed from constraint. Thus the upper bar bracket 8 may be turned around the axle 9 to enable the user to get up without interference.
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments not departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. [0015]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A swinging rack structure for a sit-up machine mounted onto a sit-up machine frame which equips with a supporting board for an user to grasp, the swinging rack structure comprising:

a pair of lower bar brackets having respectively one end pivotally engaging with two sides of the frame; and

an upper bar bracket having one end pivotally coupling with the end of the lower bar brackets through an axle and another end releasably engaging with the another end of the lower bar brackets through a latch apparatus such that when the latch apparatus is released the upper bar bracket is turnable about the axle to form an opening on one side.

2. The swinging rack structure for a sit-up machine of claim 1, wherein the frame includes a front rack, a rear rack, a support bar, a seat board, a backrest board, a driving rack and a retaining rack, the seat board being fixedly mounted onto the frame, the backrest board being pivotally engaging with the frame and movable relative to the seat board such that the backrest board is turnable when the user does sit-up exercise.

3. The swinging rack structure for a sit-up machine of claim 1, wherein the upper bar bracket further includes a connecting section to couple with the lower bar brackets.

4. The swinging rack structure for a sit-up machine of claim 3, wherein the axle is extended from the connecting section.

5. The swinging rack structure for a sit-up machine of claim 1, wherein one of the lower bar brackets has one end coupling with an anchor dock to pivotally engage with the axle.

6. The swinging rack structure for a sit-up machine of claim 1, wherein the latch apparatus is an inserting pin.

7. The swinging rack structure for a sit-up machine of claim 1, wherein the axle is pivotally engaged with the lower bar bracket on the central axis thereof in a radial direction.

8. The swinging rack structure for a sit-up machine of claim 1, wherein one of the lower bar brackets has an anchor seat fastening to the top end thereof to couple with the upper bar bracket through another axle, the anchor seat having an anchor trough and a slot.

9. The swinging rack structure for a sit-up machine of claim 8, wherein the upper bar bracket has an anchor member located on one end slidable in the anchor trough.

10. The swinging rack structure for a sit-up machine of claim 8, wherein the another axle runs through the slot of the anchor seat and is pivotally engaged with the lower bar bracket on the central axis in a normal direction.