Sway Capable Stationary Bicycle Base

• US 20100125029A1
• Filed: 11/20/2008
• Published: 05/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Inner Body Fitness & Wellness
• Original Assignee: Inner Body Fitness & Wellness
• Inventors: Lambrache, Emil George, Nielson, Gregg Stuart
• Granted Patent: US 7,857,732 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 482/61
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2022/0641 enabling a lateral movement of the exercising apparatus, e.g. for simulating movement on a bicycle
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2069/163 for the front wheel
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2069/165 rear wheel hub supports
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 22/0605 performing a circular movement, e.g. ergometers
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/62 Inflatable
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/16 for cycling , i.e. arrangements on or for real bicycles

Abstract

A sway capable stationary bicycle system comprises a bicycle frame with an inertial wheel firmly mounted on a sway capable base comprising a base core which can sway side to side relative to the upright equilibrium plane of the bicycle frame by rotating on two hinges mounted on a base support which rests on the ground and which has 4 pneumatic or hydraulic struts or elastic air-filled chambers connecting each corner of the base support to the corresponding corner of the base core above. A rider can mount the bike frame which comprises further a saddle, a pedal and crank arm mechanism with a sprocket driving a chain which in turn drives the inertial wheel by means of a concentric gear. The entire rider plus bicycle system exhibits an unstable equilibrium at the upright position which challenges the rider to sway his body from side to side to counterbalance the swaying of the bicycle itself in a similar manner to a real road bicycle. The struts or elastic air-filled chambers have a stiffening response at large sway angles in order to limit the swaying to safe limits and avoid the crashing of the rider sideways under the lateral component of the rider own weight. The entire system potential energy dependence on the sway angle has the shape of a gravitational well with a raised bottom center.

Claims

1. A sway capable base for a stationary bicycle comprising:

a rectangular base core positioned in a horizontal plane at equilibrium, unto which a bicycle frame is firmly attached in the center thereof;

a rectangular horizontal base support resting on the ground, of the same size as the said base core and placed aligned under the said base core, unto which the base core and consequently the bicycle frame can sway side to side by rotating around the horizontal axis which is the intersection between the bicycle frame plane and the base core plane;

said horizontal rotation axis, which is placed vertically above and parallel to the median line of the said base support;

two hinges, fixed on the said base support, which define the opposite ends of the said axis and which act as mounting means of the base core unto the base support;

four stiffening pneumatic or hydraulic struts or elastic air-filled chambers, each one connecting each corner of the base core to the corresponding underlying corner of the base support;

said four stiffening struts being connected through ball-and-socket joints to the corresponding corner of the said base core and to the underlying corner of the said base support;

said four stiffening elastic air-filled chambers having elastic casing allowing them to be firmly connected at its top center to the base core corner and at its bottom center to the base support corner;

said two hinges being able to glide vertically (up and down) to allow the struts to self-adjust their resistance according to the weight of the rider in order to provide a constant sway response.

2. The sway capable base of claim 1 together with the stationary bicycle frame (alias entire bicycle system) wherein the bicycle frame, being vertical at equilibrium, is a quadrilateral frame, holding a couple of handlebars at its front top corner, a saddle at its top back corner, a coplanar (with the frame plane) spinning sprocket with bilateral crank arms and pedals at its back side middle and a coplanar (with the frame plane) spinning front inertial wheel with a concentric gear at its front side middle, a chain connecting the said back sprocket with the said front gear and a brake mechanism attached to the front inertial wheel.

3. The sway capable stationary bicycle system of claim 2 wherein a sway capable horizontal at equilibrium base core, unto which the bicycle frame is firmly installed, is a rectangular horizontal frame which can rotate around the horizontal axis which is its median line and at the same time the intersection between its own plane and the plane of the bicycle frame of claim 2.

4. The sway capable stationary bicycle system of claim 2 wherein a horizontal base support is a rectangular frame which rests on the ground and has the same size as the said base core of claim 3 and unto which the base core of claim 3 is mounted above and with all its sides parallel to the corresponding sides of the base support.

5. The base support of claim 4 which further includes two medial opposite hinges on the back and the front sides of base support, where the two hinges allow the said base core of claim 3 to rotate around the line connecting these two hinges which is therefore the sway axis of the entire bicycle system of claim 1 and is at the same time the intersection of the bicycle frame plane of claim 2 and is the base core plane of claim 3.

6. The base support of claim 4 which further includes four stiffening struts, pneumatic or hydraulic, one strut in each corner of the base support of claim 4, mounted between the corresponding corners of the base support of claim 4 and the base core of claim 3 by means of ball-and-socket joints.

7. The base support of claim 4 which alternatively to claim 6 includes four stiffening air-filled chambers with elastic casing, where each chamber is placed in one corner of the base support of claim 4, firmly attached at its top center to the corner of the base core of claim 3 because the elastic casing allows the lateral displacement.

8. The sway capable stationary bicycle system of claim 2 wherein the bicycle frame of claim 2 together with the base core of claim 3 to which is firmly attached do sway from side to side (of the equilibrium vertical plane of said bicycle frame) on the two hinges of claim 5 above the base support of claim 4, under the weight of the rider who is in an unstable equilibrium and has to maintain an average upright position close to the equilibrium vertical frame plane by shifting his bodily center of gravity while sitting in the saddle or jogging on the pedals.

9. The struts of claim 6 which provide low resistance around the vertical equilibrium position of the bicycle frame of claim 2, in order to make the equilibrium of the rider unstable in the upright position under his/her own weight to swaying side to side around the rotation axis connecting the two hinges of claim 5.

10. The struts of claim 6 which provide an increasing resistance to an increasing sway angle from the vertical equilibrium plane around the axis which connects the hinges of claim 5 and as such providing safety against the crashing of the rider sideways by providing more resistance than the lateral gravitational pull at large sway angles.

11. The two hinges of claim 5 which further are capable of gliding vertically (up and down) to allow the struts of claim 6 to self-adjust their resistance according to the weight of the rider in order to provide a constant sway response of the entire bicycle system of claim 2.

12. The struts of claim 6 with a stiffening response, i.e. more than linear increase in strut resistance with the strut displacement.

13. The sway capable stationary bicycle system of claim 2 which, based on the stiffening response of the struts of claim 6, provides the rider with a potential energy profile similar to the gravitational well with a raised bottom center, so that the vertical equilibrium is unstable, i.e. at sway angle zero, but has 2 absolute stable positions, one on each side, for rider'"'"'s safety, at large sway angles (of about 10 to 20 degrees, adjustable by means of adjustable strut resistance).

14. The sway capable base of claim 1 together with the stationary bicycle frame (alias entire bicycle system) wherein the bicycle frame, being vertical at equilibrium, is any real (not stationary) road or mountain bicycle mounted on a trainer system, where the trainer system is well-known as prior art, comprising a support for the back wheel of the bicycle and an electromagnetic or hydraulic braking wheel tightly connected by friction with the said back wheel of the bicycle.

15. The sway capable base of claim 1 where the base core of claim 3 is mounted on top of the base support of claim 4 by means of a single central cardanic cross vertically gliding hinge (instead of the two lateral opposite hinges of claim 5) allowing the base core to sway both in the sagittal plane of the rider (vertical front to back sway movement), as well as in the frontal plane (vertical side to side sway movement), but preventing any rotation in the transverse plane of the rider (horizontal plane) to ensure the stability of the entire system.

16. The sway capable base of claim 1 together with a trainer fork attached on top of the back side bar of the base core of claim 3, together also with an electromagnetic or frictional brake roller attached in the middle of the said back side bar, together also with a wheel groove support attached on the top of the front side bar of the said base core, all of which build a trainer fixture on top of the said base core and allow any real road bicycle to be mounted on top of the said base core as an equivalent stationary bicycle frame, with the end result of an entire bicycle system equivalent to the entire bicycle system of claim 2.