TECHNICAL FIELD
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In the field of exercise devices, an apparatus attached to a foot and used while a person is seated to condition or develop a muscle by forward and transverse leg movement aided by relocation of the apparatus.
BACKGROUND ART
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There are numerous physical conditions that require an individual to engage in low impact stretching and physical manipulation of the leg and abdominal muscles supporting leg movement. Typically, this involves a person sitting in a chair, or on the floor, and moving at least one leg back and forth or sideways.
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Previously, a device to aid in sideways movement is taught in U.S. Patent Publication 20030181294 (herein the '294 publication). This invention is essentially enables one degree of freedom of leg movement, namely sideways or rightward and leftward, from a rolling wheel on a fixed axle. The wheel support is screwed into the rear of the heel of a shoe assembly sticking out horizontally in the same direction as a spur on a cowboy boot except that the wheel is oriented sideways. This invention requires the foot to be in near vertical orientation. A user typically would lie on the floor as shown in FIG. 4 of the '294 publication.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
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A therapeutic leg exerciser includes a foot frame or shoe with an upper portion and a sole portion. It is attachable to a person's foot with a strap. A bracket is rotatably attached to the foot frame so that it can rotate forward and backward in fixed positions. The bracket spans across the sole portion and can be secured to the upper portion in the various rotated positions. A wheel frame is rotatably attached to the bracket so that it can swivel perpendicularly to the span of the bracket. Upon rotation, the wheel frame may be secured to at least one discrete angle, preferably about 90 degrees to the span of the bracket across the sole portion. A wheel is rotatably attached to the wheel frame so that it can rotate in the same direction as a person's leg movement. The wheel optionally includes a central-floor-contact portion adapted for horizontal wheel movement and, an angled-floor-contact portion adapted for maximal floor contact for sideways wheel movement when the leg is at an angle to the floor.
Technical Problem
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Foot support devices aiding in leg exercises are unsuited for a seated person, whose leg is typically stretched at an acute angle with the floor. When a person is seated, wheel supports can engage the floor, impeding free movement of the wheel. This problem typically occurs when the wheel extends outwardly from the rear of the shoe, rather than downwardly from the bottom or sole of the shoe.
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Foot support devices do not have wheels that are easily adjusted to facilitate movement in three degrees of freedom: namely angle of the wheel with the floor, forward, backward alignment, and rightward, leftward alignment. There is no means to re-orient and fix the direction of the wheel to enable steady sideways movements at various leg extensions from vertical, or back and forth movements at will.
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Foot support devices do not have wheels that maximize contact surface with the floor at angles to prevent wheel slippage perpendicularly to sideways movement when the leg is extended away from the vertical.
Solution to Problem
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A therapeutic leg exerciser is in the form of a shoe attachment to the foot and having a mechanism that extends a wheel under the shoe attachment to enhance use by a seated person. The exerciser permits rotation of the wheel angle of attack with the floor and orientation in a frontward or sideways direction. A sculpted wheel also maximizes contact with the floor at acute angles.
Advantageous Effects of Invention
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The therapeutic leg exerciser facilitates leg exercises by a seated person. It enables orientation of the wheel in three dimensions: forward-backward, leftward-rightward, and angled with the floor to maximize wheel contact. Its ease of use will enable users to work out while seated on a chair or on the floor, watching television, at home and in the office. It provides a means to work leg muscles, outer and inner thighs, and abdominal muscles. It enables a person to warm up the knee joints before more aggressive exercise. It permits a person to gently increase cardio rate and burn calories. The variability of the design will work with a bare foot, with sneakers, and work shoes.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
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The drawings illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention and the reference numbers in the drawings are used consistently throughout. New reference numbers in FIG. 2 are given the 200 series numbers. Similarly, new reference numbers in each succeeding drawing are given a corresponding series number beginning with the figure number.
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FIG. 1 is a perspective of a preferred therapeutic leg exerciser.
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FIG. 2 is a perspective of a bracket that attaches to a shoe or foot frame.
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FIG. 3 is a perspective of a wheel used in a preferred embodiment.
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FIG. 4 is a perspective of a wheel on a wheel frame.
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FIG. 5 is a perspective of an alternative preferred wheel frame for use with two wheels.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
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In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof and which illustrate several embodiments of the present invention. The drawings and the preferred embodiments of the invention are presented with the understanding that the present invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms and, therefore, other embodiments may be utilized and structural, and operational changes may be made, without departing from the scope of the present invention.
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FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 illustrate a preferred therapeutic leg exerciser according to the invention. It comprises a foot frame (105); a strap (110); a bracket (125); a wheel frame (430); and a wheel (135).
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The foot frame (105) is a shoe or foot attachment comprising an upper portion (115), which comprises that part of the foot frame (105) within the dashed enclosure. The foot frame (105) is configured to cradle a person's heel, whether in a shoe or as a bare foot. The foot frame (105) further comprises a sole portion (120), which is the bottom part of the foot frame (105) or shoe.
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The strap (110) is adapted to attach the foot frame (105) to a person's foot, whether in a shoe or bare. A typical fabric hook-and-loop fastener, such as VELCRO [trade], or, alternatively, a buckle attachment are well known in the art. More than one strap (110) might be used as appropriate for different configurations of the foot frame (105).
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The bracket (125) is rotatably attached to the foot frame (105). A rotatably attachment is preferably achieved by attaching a loop or tubular structure to the sole to form a fixed bearing surface for a bolt (226) or pin. The bolt (226) serves as an axle that will enable the bracket (125) to rotate around it while securing the bracket (125) to the foot frame (105). A single axle through holes (228) in the bracket (125) may alternatively be used. The bracket (125) is configured to span the foot frame (105) across the sole portion (120) and adapted to be movably secured to the upper portion (115). Movably securing is preferably achieved by ball and socket joints. For example, sockets on both sides of the foot frame (105) engage balls on both sides of the bracket (125) when each ball is rotatably slid over the socket. Three angled positions for securing the bracket (125) are shown in FIG. 1, which provide approximately 60 degrees forward slant (128), 90 degrees perpendicular (127) and 60 degrees rearward (126) slant.
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Other mechanisms for movably securing the bracket (125) to the foot frame (105) may also be used such as a spring loaded pin that preferentially engages when slid over a receiving hole in the foot frame (105) and that is manually pulled out to disengage it.
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The wheel frame (430) is rotatably attached to the bracket (125). The wheel frame is the support for the wheel (135). It attaches to the bracket (125) preferably by a pin joint that enables rotation of the wheel frame (430) on the bracket (125). Such rotation permits the wheel (135) to orient in directions other than forward and rearward of a person's foot. For example, positioning at about 90 degrees from the span of the bracket would enable the wheel to align with sideways movement of a person's leg.
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The wheel frame (430) is adapted to be secured upon rotation to at least one discrete angle to the span of the bracket (125) across the sole portion (120), which is preferably approximately the 90 degrees noted above. The securing mechanism is preferably achieved by ball and socket joints. For example, a raised ball (431) on the wheel frame (430) engages with a socket (229) on the bracket (125) when turned to the desired angle with the span of the bracket (125). Other mechanisms for securing the wheel frame (430) at the desired angle may also be used.
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FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the wheel frame (530) that is used with a wheel (135) on each side of the foot frame (105). Each wheel (135) may be connected with a bolt (531) and a nut (532) in a connection that enables the wheel to freely rotate about the bolt (531). Alternatively, the wheels may be connected using a single long bolt (534) with a single nut (532) and a spacer tube (533) between the wheels.
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The wheel (135) is rotatably attached to the wheel frame (430) so that it can rotate against the floor with movement of a person's leg. The wheel (135) optionally comprises a central-floor-contact portion (336) adapted for horizontal wheel (135) movement, that is, for movement when the wheel (135) is relatively vertical with respect to the floor. The wheel (135) also optionally comprises an angled-floor-contact portion (337) adapted for maximal floor contact for sideways wheel movement, especially when a sitting person's leg is extended and at an acute angle with the floor when measured from the chair seat to the floor. The wheel (135) is preferably as small as practicable so that the angle of a person's legs with the floor is as natural as possible.
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It should be recognized that each rotational connection discussed herein may include the use of a bearing. A grommet may be used in each hole for reinforcement. Additionally, more than two tires may be assembled on the long bolt (534) using multiple spacer tubes (534) fitting between each pair of tires.
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The above-described embodiments including the drawings are examples of the invention and merely provide illustrations of the invention. Other embodiments will be obvious to those skilled in the art. Thus, the scope of the invention is determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents rather than by the examples given.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
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The invention has application to the exercise products industry.