Autonomous Leg Linkage Exercise Device with Ergonomic Pivot Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current stationary exercise machines fail to ergonomically conform to a user's natural striding motion, as they either dictate pace or gait, limiting their effectiveness in mimicking human movement.
Innovation Solution
A stationary lower body mimetic exercise machine with fully or partially autonomous leg links and ergonomically positioned hip and knee pivot points, allowing for versatile foot support motion that adapts to the user's innate striding motion by enabling autonomous thigh and calf pivoting, synchronized out of phase with each other.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the machine employs leg linkages with defined path of travel to accommodate user-defined pace, then low-impact exercise is achieved, but machine-dictated gait and stride limit natural movement conformance
Solution Approach 1:
The machine divides the leg linkage into separate thigh and calf segments with independent pivot points, allowing each segment to move autonomously rather than as a rigid connected structure. This segmentation enables the machine to accommodate both user-defined pace and natural gait patterns simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic pivot points that can move autonomously within defined ranges, allowing the leg linkage to adapt its path of travel in real-time based on user movement patterns. This dynamic capability enables the machine to conform to natural striding motion while maintaining low-impact exercise characteristics.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the machine employs autonomous thigh and calf links with ergonomic pivot alignment, then natural striding motion conformance is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies ergonomic pivot alignment specifically at the hip and knee regions where it is most needed for natural movement conformance, rather than uniformly across the entire mechanism. This localized application of ergonomic design reduces overall complexity while maintaining natural striding motion benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The autonomous thigh and calf links are designed to self-regulate their movement within defined ranges, using the user's own motion to drive the mechanism without requiring complex external control systems. This self-service approach reduces control system complexity while maintaining adaptability to natural movement patterns.
3Reliability
If the machine uses machine-dictated path of travel to ensure consistent exercise mechanics, then exercise control is maintained, but user's innate striding motion is not accommodated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements partial autonomy in the leg linkage, where thigh and calf segments can move independently within defined ranges rather than following a completely fixed path. This partial freedom allows the machine to maintain exercise control while accommodating variations in user striding motion.
Solution Approach 2:
The machine allows dynamic changes in movement parameters such as pivot point positions and linkage angles within defined ranges, enabling adaptation to user-specific striding patterns while maintaining consistent exercise mechanics through boundary constraints on these parameters.
Data Source
AI summary
An exercise device having (-) a frame, (-) left and right leg linkages, each including (i) an upper leg member pivotally coupled to the frame for pivoting about an upper pivot point with the upper pivot point of each leg linkage defining a point on a laterally extending upper pivot axis that passes through the upper pivot point of each leg linkage, and (ii) a lower leg member directly pivotally coupled to the upper leg member distal to the upper pivot point for pivoting about a lower pivot point, and (-) a foot support attached to each lower leg member distal to each respective lower pivot point. The invention characterized by an ergonomically synergistic spatial orientation and relationship amongst and between the upper leg members, lower leg members, upper pivot axis, lower pivot axis, hip region of a user, knees of a user, a biased damping means in communication with the lower leg members, and an interconnect member interconnecting the lower leg links with and the biased damping means.