Exercise apparatus and associated method including rheological fluid brake
First Claim
1. An exercise apparatus comprising:
- a frame;
user actuation means connected to said frame for being engaged and moved by at least one limb of a user during exercise, said user actuation means including receiving means for receiving the limb of the user and providing an interface for engaging the apparatus; and
motorless rotary rheological fluid brake means operatively connected between said frame and said user actuation means for applying a controllable resistance to movement of said user actuation means and for dissipating substantially all energy therefrom, said rheological fluid brake means comprising a rheological fluid having a controllable viscosity.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An exercise apparatus includes a frame, user actuation components connected to the frame for being engaged and moved by a user during an exercise, and a rheological fluid brake operatively connected to the user actuation components for applying a controllable resistance to movement thereof. The rheological fluid brake includes a rheological fluid having a controllable viscosity, a housing connected to the frame and containing the rheological fluid, and a rotatable shaft extending outwardly from the housing and connected between the rheological fluid and the user actuation components. A flywheel is also preferably connected to the rotatable shaft to further smooth action of the brake. A controller, such as a microprocessor operating under stored program control, is preferably operatively connected to the rheological fluid brake for causing a predetermined field strength to be applied to the rheological fluid based upon a user-selected resistance value. In one embodiment, the rheological fluid is a magnetorheological fluid and in another embodiment, the fluid is a electrorheological fluid. A stair stepper, exercise bicycle and treadmill incorporating the rheological brake are disclosed.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. An exercise apparatus comprising:
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a frame; user actuation means connected to said frame for being engaged and moved by at least one limb of a user during exercise, said user actuation means including receiving means for receiving the limb of the user and providing an interface for engaging the apparatus; and motorless rotary rheological fluid brake means operatively connected between said frame and said user actuation means for applying a controllable resistance to movement of said user actuation means and for dissipating substantially all energy therefrom, said rheological fluid brake means comprising a rheological fluid having a controllable viscosity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An exercise apparatus comprising:
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a frame; user actuation means connected to said frame for being engaged and moved by at least one limb of a user during exercise, said user actuation means including receiving means for receiving the limb of the user and providing an interface for engaging the apparatus; and motorless rotary fluid brake means operatively connected between said frame and said user actuation means for applying a resistance to movement of said user actuation means and for dissipating substantially all energy therefrom, said fluid brake means comprising a housing connected to said frame, a viscous fluid positioned in said housing, and a rotatable shaft extending outwardly from said housing and operatively connected between said viscous fluid and said user actuation means. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. An exercise apparatus comprising:
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a frame; user actuation means connected to said frame for being engaged and moved by at least one limb of a user during an exercise, said user actuation means including receiving means for receiving the limb of the user and providing an interface for engaging the apparatus; and motorless rotary magnetorheological fluid brake means operatively connected between said frame and said user actuation means for applying a controllable resistance to movement of said user actuation means and for dissipating substantially all energy therefrom, said magnetorheological fluid brake means comprising a magnetorheological fluid having a controllable viscosity responsive to an applied magnetic field and magnetic field generating means adjacent said magnetorheological fluid for generating a predetermined magnetic field strength in said magnetorheological fluid. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A stair stepper exercise apparatus comprising:
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a frame; left and right foot platforms for supporting respective feet of a user and being operatively connected to said frame so as to be moveable between up and down positions; and motorless rotary rheological fluid brake means operatively connected between said frame and said left and right foot platforms for applying a controllable resistance to movement of said left and right foot platforms and for dissipating substantially all energy therefrom, said rheological fluid brake means comprising a rheological fluid having a controllable viscosity. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification