Push-up exercise unit and device

• US 7,468,025 B2
• Filed: 06/28/2007
• Issued: 12/23/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Implus Footcare LLC (Denergy, Inc.), PT Metrics, LLC
• Original Assignee: Perfect Pushup LLC
• Inventors: Mills, Alden M., Hauser, Stephen G., Friedman, Mark B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Thanh; Loan H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Roland; Daniel F
• Application Number:
  US11/996,152
• Publication Number:
  US 20080200318A1
• Time in Patent Office: 544 Days
• Field of Search: 482 44- 50, 482/62, 482/115, 482135-137, 482/141, 482146-148, 482/910, D21/662, D21/665, 16D/IG.24
• US Class Current: 482/141
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 21/00047 Exercising devices not moving during use benches A63B21/4029; isometric exercising devices A63B21/0023; step exercisers A63B23/0458; walk exercisers A63B23/0464
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 22/14 Platforms for reciprocating rotating motion about a vertical axis , e.g. axis through the middle of the platform
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2210/50 Size reducing arrangements for stowing or transport
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 23/1236 Push-ups in horizontal position, i.e. eccentric movement
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 23/1281 primarily by articulating the elbow joint

Abstract

A push-up exercise unit and device is described which may enable a user to move with his/her body'"'"'s natural rotation to engage additional muscle groups with reduced stress on joints. The device can include a handle support structure having a pair of columns between a lower base and a separate end cap such that the handle intersects a corresponding end cap and upper portion of a corresponding column of the handle support structure. The device includes a fixed base support attached to the handle support structure, and a bearing assembly to permit rotation of the contiguous handle, end caps and handle support structure by a user with the base support resting on a planar surface. In another example, the handle assembly is detachable from a first surface on the handle support structure and inserted into a second surface to facilitate stowage for travel.

Claims

1. A push-up exercise unit, comprising:

a pair of rotatable devices, one for each hand, each device including;

a handle support structure configured as a single molded housing and including a lower base and a pair of spaced-apart columns sloping upward from the lower base so that upper portions of the columns engage corresponding top end caps attached at ends of a handle assembly there between, such that a handle of the handle assembly intersects a corresponding end cap and upper portion of a corresponding column, wherein the end cap and upper portion have a semi-circular recess which mate to form a circular aperture around a corresponding handle end to secure the handle to the handle support structure, and wherein each column has a central stanchion extending between a pair of posts to be received in its corresponding end cap, a fixed base support operatively attached to the handle support structure, and a bearing assembly operatively attached within the housing of the handle support structure to permit rotation of the contiguous handle, end caps and handle support structure by a user with the base support resting on a planar surface.

2. The unit of claim 1, wherein each of the base support, handle support structure and end caps is an injection molded article.

3. The unit of claim 1, wherein the handle assembly includes a hollow, metal handle-rod sheathed within a rubberized grip.

4. The unit of claim 3, wherein the rubberized grip has a length shorter than the metal handle-rod to expose metal between the ends of the grip and the end caps.

5. The unit of claim 3, wherein a first diameter of the grip is wider at a grip center than a second diameter at the grip ends.

6. The unit of claim 1, wherein the base support has a rubber pad adhered to an underside thereof to provide a friction surface when the device is resting on a flat surface.

7. The unit of claim 1, wherein each handle end has a chamfer, the stanchion on each column engages its corresponding chamfer to secure the handle to the handle support structure, and each end cap has a pair of bores provided in an interior surface thereof to receive the posts of its corresponding column so that a handle end is enclosed between the end cap and column of the handle support structure.

8. A push-up exercise device, comprising:

a single molded housing having a circular lower base and an integral downwardly extending facing formed around a circumference of the lower base, the housing including a pair of facing columns sloping upward from the lower base to form part of the circumferential facing, a top end cap attached to either side of the handle and to an upper portion of a corresponding column such that each handle end intersects a corresponding end cap and column upper portion of the housing, wherein the end cap and upper portion have a semi-circular recess which mate to form a circular aperture around a corresponding handle end to secure the handle to the housing a fixed base support operatively attached to the housing and partially enclosed within the downwardly extending circumferential facing of the lower base, and

a bearing assembly operatively attached within the housing to permit rotation of the contiguous handle, and housing by a user with the fixed base support resting on a planar surface.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the handle is composed of a handle-rod sheathed within a rubberized grip that has a length shorter than the handle-rod to expose a portion of the handle-rod between the ends of the grip and the end caps.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein a first diameter of the grip is wider at a grip center than a second diameter at the grip ends.

11. The device of claim 8, wherein each column includes a central stanchion extending between a pair of posts to be received in its corresponding end cap.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein each handle end has a chamfer, the stanchion on each column engages its corresponding chamfer to secure the handle to the handle support structure, and each end cap has a pair of bores provided in an interior surface thereof to receive the posts of its corresponding column so that a handle end is enclosed between the end cap and column of the housing.