Exercise Alignment Mat with Grooved Panels and Indicia
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional exercise mats lack visual guidance and hand alignment features, limiting their effectiveness for performing various push-up exercises such as stationary, staggered, and mobile push-ups, which increases fatigue and reduces exercise versatility.
Innovation Solution
An exercise alignment mat system with a flat structure featuring central and parallel grooves and concentric squares with dotted and solid line indicia, providing visual and kinesthetic references for precise hand placement, allowing for a range of push-up exercises including diamond, close-width, shoulder-width, and widest-width variations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional exercise mats are used without indicia or grooves, then the mat structure remains simple and manufacturing is easy, but visual guidance and hand alignment for push-up exercises are not provided
Solution Approach 1:
The mat surface is segmented into multiple panels by grooves that extend across the mat. Each panel contains concentric square indicia that divide the placement area into specific zones, providing structured visual guidance for different hand positions during push-up variations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds visual and tactile dimensions to the mat surface through grooves and printed indicia. The grooves create three-dimensional tactile references while the concentric squares with dotted and solid lines add visual alignment cues, enabling precise hand placement without complicating the overall mat structure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional mats without alignment features are used, then the mat remains simple in design, but exercise versatility and accuracy for various push-up variations are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The mat system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides structural support for exercise, visual guidance through concentric square indicia, tactile reference through grooves, and alignment cues for various hand positions. This multi-functionality enables support for stationary, mobile, staggered, and diagonal push-up variations without requiring separate devices.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the mat have specialized features tailored to specific exercise needs. The concentric squares with dotted and solid lines provide localized alignment cues for different hand placements, while grooves in specific locations provide tactile references for finger positioning during various push-up variations.
3Measurement precision
If no hand placement references are provided on the mat, then the mat structure remains simple, but hand alignment accuracy and reduction of fatigue are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The concentric square indicia and grooves act as intermediary reference elements between the user and the ideal hand placement position. These visual and tactile intermediaries guide the user's hand placement without requiring complex measurement tools or sophisticated alignment systems, achieving precision through simple visual and tactile cues.
Data Source
AI summary
An exercise alignment mat system for performing various exercises includes a mat of a generally flat structure having a top surface, bottom surface and a thickness, a major longitudinal axis and a minor longitudinal axis orthogonal to the major longitudinal axis, and a plurality of spaced grooves formed in the top surface along both the major and minor axes so as to define a plurality of equal sized panels on the mat. Each panel includes a set of concentric squares indicia thereon, in which an upper half of each square in the concentric squares has a dotted line configuration for fingertip placement, and a lower half of each square has a solid line configuration for palm placement.