Physical training apparatus
The present invention relates to an apparatus for physical training through use of a rope that is passed via a rope direction reversal means on a suspension device as an upper portion of the apparatus, wherein a first part of the rope hangs down from one side of the rope direction reversal means and at its other end is provided with a grip portion or sling/loop, wherein a second part of the rope hangs down from the other side of the rope direction reversal means, and wherein the second part of the rope is releasably lockable in a Wedge-groove lock, so-called Cleat-lock, on a lower portion of the apparatus that is mechanically connected to the upper portion
An apparatus of this kind is known from Norwegian Patent 161418, where, however, two ropes are employed to be able to use the apparatus for physical training. The described, commercial apparatus thus has two direction reversal means with respective ropes which have respective grip portions or slings/loops, and where the two ropes are individually adjustable. The direction reversal means are an integral part of a common suspension frame that is suspendible from two suspension fittings which are mountable in a ceiling or to a suspension stand.
However, it has been found desirable to be able to provide a solution with only one rope, and with lockable functionality as in said Norwegian Patent 161418, especially for use in the cases where there is really only need for one rope, whilst it is a desire to provide a simple and inexpensive training apparatus.
An attempt has been made to provide such a solution by means of a solution as illustrated and described in Norwegian Patent 318353, where the rope is passed around a direction reversal means and where the Wedge-groove lock is fastened to the one of the rope parts hanging down from the direction reversal means which has a grip portion or sling/loop attached thereto. The solution functions satisfactorily as long as the working height for the grip portion or sling does not vary significantly. However, if there is a need to employ this apparatus for use at different working heights/gripping heights for the sling/grip portion, it may be desirable to release the Wedge-groove lock from the rope part in question and fasten it to this rope part at another position, so as to obtain optimal functionality with respect to the Wedge-groove lock when the second rope part is pulled out for adjustment and is allowed to fall back into place. The object of the present invention is to provide a one-rope apparatus which avoids any need to move the Wedge-groove lock, whilst the adjustment possibility of the working height for the grip portion or sling is optimal.
Thus, the aim is an apparatus that is less expensive and mechanically less complex than the apparatus disclosed in Norwegian Patent 161418, and which will have a different functionality than that disclosed in Norwegian Patent 318353.
According to the invention, the aforementioned apparatus is characterised in - that only one rope is included in the apparatus; that the upper portion is equipped with a suspension hook or a suspension ring; that the apparatus has a lower, projecting portion in the form of a base piece or a body, the Wedge-groove lock being arranged on a first side of the lower portion, and a rope guide for the first part of the rope being arranged on a second, opposite side of the lower portion; that the direction reversal means is placed in an upper section of the lower portion; and that the lower portion consists of: either a flat steel piece, the Wedge-groove lock and the rope guide being fastened to opposite sides of this piece; or a fixing body for a jointly formed Wedge-groove lock and rope
guide.
According to one embodiment of the apparatus, the longitudinal mouth of the Wedge- groove lock, at least over a portion thereof, has a pull-out limiting means for preventing the second part of the rope from being pulled right out of the Wedge-groove in its transverse direction.
According to a second embodiment of the apparatus, the direction reversal means consists of a pulley, a guide sleeve or a tubular rope guide.
According to another embodiment of the apparatus, at least part of said direction reversal means is configured as a hole in an upper section of said lower portion. According to yet another embodiment of the apparatus, the jointly formed Wedge- groove lock and rope guide consists of two assemblable halves.
Non-limiting exemplary embodiments of apparatus according to the invention will now be described in the following description with reference to the attached drawing figures.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention.
Fig. 2 is a side view of the first embodiment.
Fig. 3 shows a second embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention.
Fig. 4 shows a third embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention.
Fig. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention.
Figs. 6 - 10 show alternative suspension possibilities for the apparatus according to the invention.
As shown in Fig. 1, the apparatus 1 comprises a rope 2 which is passed via a direction reversal means 3 that is connected to a suspension device consisting of a hook 4 for engagement with a mounting fitting 5, said mounting fitting 5 being securable to a ceiling 6 or a suspension stand by means of a screw 7. On one side of the direction reversal means 3, a first part 2' of the rope 2 hangs down and at its end is provided with a grip portion 8 or sling. At the other side of the direction reversal means 3, a second part 2" of the rope 2 hangs down and is releasably lockable in a Wedge-groove lock 9, so-called Cleat-lock. The Wedge-groove lock 9 is mechanically connected to a part of the suspension device that is equipped with the suspension hook 4. To limit the extent to which the rope part 2' ' can be pulled out of the Wedge-groove 9' of the Wedge- groove lock when engagement with the Wedge-groove lock 9 is to be temporarily broken, a pull-out limiting means 10 may be provided. The pull-out limiting means 10 may advantageously be a rigid hoop fastened to the Wedge-groove lock or to a base piece 11, although it is possible to allow the pull-out limiting means to be made of an elastic or resilient strap. In Fig. 1 and in the other Figs. 2 - 5, the Wedge-groove lock 9 is shown fastened to a base piece 11 by, for example, screws 9', 9", the base piece 11 at the same time forming an extension of the hook part 4 of the suspension device.
An alternative to the suspension device 4 will be described later in connection with Figs. 6 - 10.
Fig. 3 shows an alternative solution where the suspension hook 5 in Figs. 1 and 2 has been indicated by the reference numeral 12 and is secured to a body 13. The Wedge- groove lock is indicated by the reference numeral 14 and is provided by means of two moulded halves 15, 15' that are fastened together by, for example, snap action, gluing or screwing. The covers 15, 15' can form a wall 15"close to the rope part 2', thereby providing a guide for the rope part 2' between the wall 15" and the body 13. Close to the rope part 2" in an upper portion of the formed Wedge-groove lock 14, the covers can form a wall 15'", which will thus act as pull-out limiting means. Screws 16, 16' secure the covers 15, 15' to the body 13. The hook 12 has, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a hole that forms direction reversal means 17 for the rope 2. The hook 12 can be fixed to the body 13 by means of welding, gluing, riveting or the like.
Fig. 4 shows in substance the same as that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, but where the mounting fitting 18 is approximately Y-shaped and suspendible from abeam 19, which may be fixable to a frame secured to a ceiling, to a stand secured to the floor, or between two opposing structural parts, e.g., walls or columns. The fixing can be effected by means of a, in the longitudinal direction, inelastic but flexible strap 20, which has a locking element 21 for rapid and secure fixing.
Fig. 5 shows an additional variant of the embodiment in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, where the base piece, in this figure indicated by the reference numeral 22, has been modified in that at the top it does not become a hook, but has a hole 22' which can engage with a conventional suspension hook 23. This solution can also be seen from Fig. 8.
For some utilisations, it may be desirable to be able to turn the direction of use of the apparatus by, for example, 90°. To avoid having to loosen the fixing screw 7, turn the fitting 5 90° and then tighten the screw, it is conceivable that a swivel solution is provided, for example, as shown in Fig. 6, where the suspension fitting 5 forms rotatable engagement with a screw 24 which is stiffened laterally by a bushing 25. Other swivel solutions are of course possible. . _., . ,„- - .. . w « w v jji
As mentioned above, it is conceivable that the base piece 11, at the top, is not terminated in a hook, but as is shown in Fig. 7, the base piece, indicated by the reference numeral 26, is terminated in an elongate hole 26' intended for a suspension fitting 27 in the form of a hook.
Fig. 9 shows a modification of the base piece 26 with a mounted top 28 equipped with a hole 28', so that the base piece 26 can engage with a suspension hook 23 (as shown in Figs. 5 and 8) in that the hook is passed through the hole 28' and thus through a limited portion of the elongate hole 26'. Thus, the hook is prevented from sliding along the hole 26' when unevenly loaded.
An alternative to the solution in Fig. 9 is to allow the elongate groove 26' to have a recess 26" having a curvature that corresponds approximately to the curvature of a cross-section of the curved part of the hook 23.
Although in a preferred embodiment it may be sufficient to allow direction reversal to take place via a hole in the base piece or in a suspension hook, it is conceivable that the hole may be associated with a guide, for example, a short tube 11 '; 22" (see Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5) that extends through the hole and down along the rear side, so that the angle the apparatus assumes is thus easily controlled by the rope 2' . In addition, this will also eliminate any sharp edges or transitions in the direction reversal means. The wall 15" in Fig. 3 will in reality form such a "tube-like" guide together with associated covers 15, 15' and the body 13. It is also possible to allow the direction reversal means to optionally comprise a pulley, for example, if the pulley, at the top, has a suspension hook or a suspension ring, and at the bottom, for example, a body to which the Wedge- groove lock can be fastened. In addition, there will be a need for a short tube or the like in connection with the direction reversal means.
To ensure a suspension that is safe in use, the hook may optionally have a retaining flap or extra bend, so as to prevent the hook and fitting from becoming disengaged from each other. It is of course also conceivable that the apparatus should not be so readily unhookable and, in such a case, the suspension device may be capable of being bolted to a ceiling mount or a frame-mounted fitting, or the suspension device and the fitting may form a sort of hinge structure. The base member, the suspension device and the ceiling or stand-mounted suspension fitting can all, for example, be made of formed flat steel and the body 13 may be also be made of flat steel, be moulded or be formed of alternatively shaped metal.