FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a balance training apparatus for slide and swing exercises and a method thereof, and more particularly to a balance training apparatus having a driving mechanism for driving a swing stand to simultaneously produce back-and-forth slides and up-and-down and right-and-left swings and an adjusting mechanism for changing the swing amplitude of a slide and swing module to provide the effects of slides and swings in different directions.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONReferring toFIGS. 18A and 18B for a conventional swing apparatus for balance training, abottom panel70 includes corresponding first, second, third andfourth sideboards71,72,73,74, anupper lid75 connected to the top of eachsideboard71,72,73,74, and a plurality of axial holes disposed on the third andfourth sideboards73,74 for passing first andsecond output shafts82,83 respectively. Thebottom panel70 has amotor module80, and aworm81 fixed at the axle rod, such that theworm81 is engaged with abevel gear831 of thesecond output shaft83. An end of thesecond output shaft83 has-agear832 engaged with abevel gear821 of thefirst output shaft82, and another end of thefirst output shaft82 has aneccentric pillar822 protruded from thefourth sideboard74 and connected to a rod end bearing823. Another end of the rod end bearing823 is pivotally connected to the bottom of thefourth sideboard74, and an end of thesecond output shaft83 is protruded from thethird sideboard73 and pivotally connected to aneccentric member833. Another end of theeccentric member833 is pivotally connected to adriving member834, such that the drivingmember834 is pivotally connected to a wall of thesecond sideboard72.
Referring toFIG. 19A, themotor80 is turned on-to drive aworm81 to rotate and abevel gear831 and agear832 of thesecond output shaft83, and drive thebevel gear821 at thefirst output shaft82 to rotate thesecond output shaft83, and drive thedriving member834 to move back and forth, so that the first andsecond sideboards71,72 produce displacements with respect to thebottom panel70. Referring toFIG. 19B, thefirst output shaft82 is rotated to drive the rod end bearing823, such that the rod end bearing823 drives thefourth sideboard74 at the same time to produce displacements for the third andfourth sideboards73,74 with respect to thebottom panel70. With the operation of the foregoing components, theupper lid75 can be swung in different directions such as back-and-forth and up-and-down directions with respect to thebottom panel70.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn view of the shortcomings of the prior art, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience in the fitness equipment related industry to conduct extensive researches and experiments, and finally invented a balance training apparatus for slide and swing exercises.
The balance training apparatus for slide and swing exercises in accordance with the invention comprises a base module, a left-and-right swing module, a driving mechanism and a back-and-forth slide and swing module. Both front and rear sides of the base module are pivotally connected to a left-and-right swing module, and the left-and-right swing module has a driving mechanism, and the left-and-right swing module baseboard is pivotally connected to a back-and-forth slide and swing module. The driving mechanism comprises a motor, a decelerating mechanism, a transmission disc driving module and a plurality of driving members. The axle center of the decelerating mechanism is sheathed together with a transmission disc driving module by a transmission shaft, such that both ends of the transmission shaft are pivotally connected to a slide and swing rail stand on the back-and-forth slide and swing module by the plurality of driving members, and the axle center of the transmission disc driven by the transmission disc driving module is sheathed with an eccentric shaft, so that another end of the pivotal shaft is pivotally connected to a link board module of the base module. By the operation of the driving mechanism, the back-and-forth slide and swing module is driven to produce back-and-forth slides and up-and-down swings with respect to the left-and-right swing module. By the rotation of the transmission disc, the eccentric shaft is moved with respect to the link board module, such that the left-and-right swing module baseboard uses the pivotal connecting point of the base module as the center to produce left, right and oblique swings. Both semicircular hole and protruding pillar work together to convert the status of the left-and-right swing inclined towards the front into the back-and-forth swing inclined towards the rear, when the driving mechanism is rotated in a reverse direction, so as to form a multidirectional slide and swing exercise apparatus and simulate different slide and swing situations to give more fun to the exercises.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSFIG. 1 is a perspective view of a balance training apparatus of the present invention;
FIG. 2A is an exploded view of a back-and-forth slide and swing module and a left-and-right swing module of a balance training apparatus of the present invention;
FIG. 2B is an exploded view of a left-and-right swing module and a base module of a balance training apparatus of the present invention;
FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic views of a transmission disc and an eccentric protruding pillar of a balance training apparatus of the present invention;
FIGS. 4A˜4D are side views of movements of a back-and-forth slide and swing module of a balance training apparatus of the present invention;
FIG. 5A is a front view of a left-and-right swing module of a balance training apparatus of the present invention;
FIGS. 5B and 5C are front views of left and right swings and tilts of a balance training apparatus of the present invention;
FIGS. 6A and 6B are top views of swing and slide movements of a balance training apparatus of the present invention;
FIGS. 6C and 6D are top views of slide and swing movements of a driving mechanism of a balance training apparatus of the present invention when it is rotated in a reverse direction;
FIGS. 7A and 7B are schematic views of slide and swing movements of a balance training apparatus of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a flow chart of an exercise method of a balance training apparatus of the present invention;
FIGS. 9A and 9B are schematic views of movements of an adjusting mechanism of the present invention;
FIGS. 10A and 10B are schematic views of a balance training apparatus of the present invention;
FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 13 is a schematic view of a third preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 14A˜14C are schematic views of installing an eccentric protruding pillar into a pivotal hole of a driving member in accordance with a third preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 15A˜15D are top views of movements in accordance with a third preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 16A and 16B are top views of two swing stands being crossed with each other in accordance with a third preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 17 is a schematic view of a balance training apparatus used for snow skiing in accordance with the present invention;
FIGS. 18A and 18B are exploded views of a conventional swing apparatus; and
FIGS. 19A and 19B are schematic views of movements of a conventional swing apparatus.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTSReferring toFIGS. 1,2A and2B for a balance training apparatus for slide and swing exercises and its method in accordance with the present invention, the apparatus comprises the following elements:
Abase module10 has abasic stand11, two connectingboard modules12 disposed on both sides of thebasic stand11 and pivotally connected to a left-and-right swing module20, alink board module13 disposed on a side of thebasic stand11 and having apivotal ear base14, and aguide pin base15 pivotally connected to thepivotal ear base14 and having atransversal guide slot16.
A left-and-right swing module20 has a plurality of pivotal connecting boards and adriving mechanism30 disposed on abaseboard21, and agroove hole25 disposed between thebaseboard21 and thepivotal board23 for passing thebase module10.
Adriving mechanism30 pre-installs a program and a circuit for controlling and driving and thedriving mechanism30 comprises amotor31, adecelerating mechanism32, a transmissiondisc driving module34 and a plurality of drivingmembers37. Thedecelerating mechanism32 is driven by themotor31, and the axle center of thedecelerating mechanism32 is sheathed with a transmissiondisc driving module34 by atransmission shaft33, and the periphery of the transmissiondisc driving module34 has a plurality of equidistantprotruded poking rods341, and the periphery of thetransmission disc35 has a plurality of equidistantserrated grooves351 and a stoppingmember353 disposed at theaxle hole352 and having a semicircular hole to form asemicircular axle hole352, and the pokingrod341 of the transmissiondisc driving module34 and theserrated groove351 of thetransmission disc35 are installed with a ratio of 1:2. Apivotal axle36 is pivotally connected and fixed onto thepivotal board23 of thebaseboard21, and an end of thepivotal axle36 has a quarterly circular eccentricprotruding pillar361 such that the quarterly circularprotruding pillar361 is embedded into anaxle hole352 of the transmission disc semicircular (as shown inFIG. 3A), and a pokingrod341 of the transmissiondisc driving module34 is latched to aserrated groove351 of thetransmission disc35, and another end of thepivotal axle36 has aneccentric axle rod362, such that theeccentric axle rod362 can be extended correspondingly into theguide slot16 of theguide pin base15 of thelink board13.
Anadjusting mechanism40 pre-installs a program and a circuit for controlling and driving, and theadjusting mechanism40 has amotor41 installed at a side of thebaseboard21 and latched and connected by anaxle rod411 of thedecelerating mechanism412 and ahorizontal screw rod42, and another end of thehorizontal screw rod42 is pivotally connected to thepivotal board24.
A back-and-forth slide andswing module50 is pivotally connected by a plurality of board stands, and thefirst slide base51 is comprised of front andrear frames52 and amiddle board module53, and both left and right sides of the front andrear frames52 separately have arail521. Thefirst slide base51 is pivotally connected to therails521 on the front andrear frames52 through two correspondingpivotal bases22 of the left-and-rightswing module baseboard21 for pivotally installing thefirst slide base51 on the left-and-right swing module20, and embedding twosideboards531 of themiddle board53 into thelatch grooves541 on both sides of a drivingmember54, and sheathing the drivingmember54 on ascrew rod42 of anadjusting mechanism40. The top of thefirst slide base51 is connected to a pivotalconnecting point562 of asecond slide base55 through a board stand, and thesecond slide base55 is comprised of a slide andswing rail stand56, and both left and right sides of the slide and swing rail stand56 also have arail561 separately. A swing stand57 is a rectangular frame having asupport board571 extended from the bottom of the periphery of the swing stand57 for pivotally connecting eachsupport board571 to thesecond slide base55 and eachrail561 of the slide andswing rail stand56. A drivingmember37 is pivotally connected to a pivotalconnecting position572 on the right side proximate to twosupport boards571 of thedriving mechanism30, and the drivingmember37 is a rectangular member with an end having anaxial hole371 pivotally connected to thesupport board571 and a pivotalconnecting position572 of theslide base rail561, and another end having apivotal hole372 for passing and fixing thetransmission shaft33.
Referring-toFIG. 4A for a side view of the original status of a training apparatus A of the present invention, if themotor31 of thedriving mechanism30 is driven by thedecelerating mechanism32 to rotate thetransmission shaft33 clockwise, the drivingmember37 is rotated to drive thesecond slide base55 and the swing stand57 to slide back and forth and swing up and down. If thetransmission shaft33 drives the drivingmember37 to deflect to the position of Point a (as shown inFIG. 4B), then thesecond slide base55 and the swing stand57 will slide and swing to a titled position with the front side lower than the rear side. If the drivingmember37 is deflected to the position of Point b (as shown inFIG. 4C), thesecond slide base55 and the swing stand57 will slide and swing back to its horizontal position. The drivingmember37 continues to deflect to the position of Point c (as shown inFIG. 4D), thesecond slide base55 and the swing stand57 will slide and swing to a tilted position with the front side higher than the rear side. If the drivingmember37 continues its rotation and returns to the position of the original point o (as shown inFIG. 4A), then thesecond slide base55 and the swing stand57 will slide and swing back to their original positions at the same time. With the aforementioned slide and swing movements, thesecond slide base55 and the swing stand57 simultaneously produce slide and swing movements with respect to thebase module10.
Referring toFIGS. 5A˜5C for schematic views of left and right tilted movements of a training apparatus A, themotor31 is driven by thedecelerating mechanism32 to rotate thetransmission shaft33 and the transmissiondisc driving module34, and thetransmission disc35 is driven to rotate. Since the number of pokingrods341 of the transmission disc driving module and the number ofserrated groove351 of the transmission disc are installed in the ratio of 1:2, therefore thetransmission disc35 will turn one round when the transmissiondisc driving module34 turns two rounds (or themotor31 is driven by thedecelerating mechanism32 to rotate thetransmission shaft33 for two rounds), such that the eccentricprotruding pillar361 pivotally connected to thesemicircular axle hole352 of thetransmission disc35 will drive theaxle rod362 of thepivotal axle36 to rotate in thetransversal guide slot16 of theguide pin base15, so as to drive theguide pin base15 to turn pivotally, and thebaseboard21 is pulled and the pivotal connecting point of the connectingboard12 of thebase module10 is used as a center to produce left and right tilted swings.
Referring toFIGS. 6A˜6D for top views of a training apparatus of the present invention, if thetransmission shaft33 turns one round clockwise, the swing stand57 will slide and swing towards the left corner of the original position with respect to the pivotal connection of the left-and-right swing module20 (not shown in the figure) and thebase module10, and then the swing stand57 will slide and swing back to the original position. If thetransmission shaft33 turns another round clockwise, the swing stand57 will slide and swing towards the right corner with respect to the left-and-right swing module20 and thebase module10, and then will slide and swing to the original position. If themotor31 is driven by thedecelerating mechanism32 to turn thetransmission shaft33 counterclockwise, thetransmission disc35 will turn 90 degrees counterclockwise, such that the quarterly circular eccentricprotruding pillar361 of thetransmission shaft33 can be embedded and latched into another side of thesemicircular axle hole352 of the transmission disc35 (as shown inFIG. 3B), and the wall of thesemicircular axle hole352 of thetransmission disc35 is pressed to rotate the eccentricprotruding pillar361. If thetransmission shaft33 turns one round clockwise, the swing stand57 will slide and swing to the original position towards the left rear corner of the pivotal connection of the left-and-right swing module20 and thebase module10, and then will slide and swing back to the original position (as shown inFIG. 6). If thetransmission shaft33 turns one round counterclockwise, the swing stand57 will slide and swing towards the right rear corner with respect to the left-and-right swing module20 and thebase module10, and finally will swing and slide back to the original position (as shown inFIG. 6D), so as to form a multidirectional balance training apparatus A for slide and swing exercises. Referring toFIGS. 7A and 7B for schematic views of movements of a balance training apparatus for slide and swing exercises in accordance with the present invention, andFIG. 8 for a flow chart of movements of a balance training apparatus for slide and swing exercises in accordance with the present invention, the method comprises the following steps:
(a) using an exercise apparatus A driven by adriving mechanism30 installed on the exercise apparatus A for training a human body;
(b) pre-installing a program and a circuit in the exercise apparatus A, such that themotor31 of thedriving mechanism30 drives thetransmission shaft33 to rotate counterclockwise, while driving asecond slide base55 and aswing stand57 of a back-and-forth slide andswing module50 to swing back and forth or up and down with respect to abase module10; or working together with an adjusting mechanism to adjust the back-and-forth slide andswing module50 to displace horizontally on the baseboard of the base module to change the swinging amplitude of the back-and-forth slide and the swing module;
(c) setting thedriving mechanism30 to simultaneously rotate the transmissiondisc driving module34 and drive thetransmission disc35 and its pivotally connected eccentric protrudingpillar361 to link theguide pin base15, and also pull abaseboard21 of the left-and-right swing module20 and use the pivotal connecting point of thebase module10 as a center to produce left, right and tilted swings; so as to form a multidirectional balance training apparatus A for slide and swing exercises.
Referring toFIGS. 9A and 9B, the drivingmember54 is fixed onto amiddle board module53 of thefirst slide base51, such that the drivingmember54 can be operated by themotor41 of theadjusting mechanism40 and driven by thedecelerating mechanism412 to rotate thescrew rod42, and the drivingmember54 can be displaced back and forth on thescrew rod42 to displace the first and second slide bases51,55 with respect to thebaseboard21. Since the swing stand57 is pivotally connected to thedriving mechanism30, therefore the swing stand57 will not be driven by the drivingmember54 to displace. Referring toFIGS. 10A and 10B, it is known from the principle of lever that if a fulcrum is situated at the center, both front and rear ends of the rod are maintained in equilibrium; if the first and second slide bases51,55 are shifted to an appropriate distance to the rear or the position of the pivotal connecting point562 (which is the fulcrum) is shifted to aposition562′ that approaches the pivotal connectingposition572 of thedriving mechanism30 and theswing stand57, the rear rod section at thefulcrum562′ of thesecond slide base55 will become longer, and the front rod section at thefulcrum562′ of thesecond slide base55 will become shorter. If thedriving mechanism30 drives the front shorter rod section to swing to a swing distance d1 at a swing angle α1, the longer rear rod section will pivotally turn and swing with an angle β1 to produce a larger swing distance d2. On the other hand, if the first and second slide bases51,55 are adjusted to displace to an appropriate distance backward, the front rod section at thefulcrum562′ of thesecond slide base55 will become longer and the rear rod section will become shorter. If thedriving mechanism30 drives the long rod section to swing with an angle α2, the swing distance is equal to d1, and the swing angle of the short rod section will pivotally turn or rotate with a small angle β2 only, so as to decrease the amplitude, and the deflected distance is equal to d3 to define anadjusting mechanism40 capable of adjusting the swing amplitude.
Referring toFIG. 11 for a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, anexternal casing base60 is disposed on the exercise apparatus A, and asaddle seat61 is formed on theexternal casing base60 and provided for a user to ride and used for simulating horseback riding. Referring toFIG. 12 for a second preferred embodiment of the present invention, the exercise apparatus A installs anexternal casing base62, and aplatform63 formed on theexternal casing base62 for a user to stand on theplatform63 for conducting a balance training and simulating slides and swings in different directions, so as to enhance the function, effect and fun of the exercise.
Referring toFIG. 13 for a third preferred embodiment of the present invention, thedriving mechanism30 has arectangular board373 disposed on the backside of apivotal hole372 of a drivingmember37 at an end without the transmissiondisc driving module34, such that the corner can precisely cover the position of ¼ of a circle of thepivotal hole372, and thetransmission shaft33 has an eccentricprotruding pillar331 with ¼ of a circle-protruded from an end corresponding to thepivotal hole372 of the driving member for embedding the eccentricprotruding pillar331 of thetransmission shaft33 into thepivotal hole372, so that thelateral plane3311 of the eccentricprotruding pillar331 is aligned evenly with thelateral side3731 at the corner of theboard member373 into a plane (as shown inFIG. 14A), and the top of the back-and-forth slide andswing module50 has two parallel swing stands58,58′. Referring toFIGS. 15A and 15B, pokingrods341 of the transmission disc driving module andserrated grooves351 of the transmission disc are installed with the ratio of 1:2, such that if the transmissiondisc driving module34 turns two rounds, thetransmission disc35 will turn exactly one round. Thedriving mechanism30 is operated, so that the swing stands58,58′ can produce back-and-forth slides and up-and-down and left-and-right titled swings. If thetransmission shaft33 rotates one round clockwise, the two swing stands58,58′ will be parallel and swing and slide towards the front left corner with respect to the baseboard21 (not shown in the figure) and thebase module10, and then return to the original positions. If thetransmission shaft33 further rotates one round clockwise, the swing stands58,58′ will be parallel and swing and slide towards the front right corner with respect to thebaseboard21 and thebase module10 and then return to the original position. Referring toFIG. 14B, if thetransmission shaft33 rotates counterclockwise, the eccentricprotruding pillar331 of thetransmission shaft33 will rotate 180 degrees along a pivotal hole of the drivingmember37, and then thelateral plane3311 of the eccentricprotruding pillar331 will press precisely on aplane3731 at a corner of therectangular member373 to pivotally turn the driving member to 180 degrees by the transmission shaft33 (as shown inFIG. 14C) and displace the swing stand58′ accordingly and parallelly with the front and rear of anotherswing stand58. If thetransmission shaft33 rotates a round counterclockwise and operates together with the driving mechanism3 as shown inFIGS. 15C and 15D, the swing stand58 will slide and swing to the right rear corner and the swing stand58′ will slide and swing to the right front corner, and the two swing stands58,58′ will be alternately intersected, and then returned to their original position. If thetransmission shaft33 further rotates one round clockwise, the swing stand58 will slide and swing towards the rear left corner and the swing stand58′ will slide and swing towards the front left corner and then the two swing stands58,58′ will be alternately intersected, and then returned to their original positions.
Referring toFIGS. 16A and 16B for front views of movements of two swing stands58,58′ intersected with each other, andFIG. 17 for a schematic view of a slide and swing exercise apparatus having two swing stands58,58′ in accordance with the present invention, the apparatus is applied as a snow skiing balance training apparatus B for performing a snow skiing and balance training with fun.
The transmissiondisc driving module34 and thetransmission disc35 could be a gear mechanism, a belt pulley mechanism or other driving mechanism.