Portable Exercise Device with Rotating Disk and Tether Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hand-held exercise devices are either too heavy and bulky for portability or overly simplified, resulting in diminished workout effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
A lightweight, portable exercise device featuring a central disk and outer handles connected by tethers that twist and rotate, applying cyclic forces to muscle groups when manipulated, allowing for effective muscle exercise through alternating spinning motions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional exercise devices are made heavy and bulky, then workout effectiveness is improved, but portability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The device is segmented into a central disk component and tether components that can be separately stored. The tethers can be coiled and stored within or alongside the central disk, creating a modular system that provides full workout functionality when assembled but compact storage when disassembled, resolving the contradiction between workout effectiveness and portability.
Solution Approach 2:
The tethers are designed to be stored within the central disk structure or in dedicated storage compartments integrated into the device. This nesting approach allows the complete exercise device to be collapsed into a compact form factor for transport while maintaining full functionality when deployed, addressing both workout effectiveness and portability requirements.
2Weight of moving object
If conventional exercise devices are simplified for portability, then ease of transportation is improved, but workout effectiveness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The central disk is designed with dynamic resistance characteristics that adapt to user input. The disk's rotational inertia and friction characteristics provide progressive resistance that increases with workout intensity, ensuring effective muscle engagement despite the device's lightweight construction. This dynamic resistance mechanism maintains workout effectiveness while enabling portability.
Solution Approach 2:
The device utilizes changes in rotational parameters (speed, torque, angular momentum) to provide varied resistance levels. By manipulating the spinning disk at different speeds and with different forces, users can adjust workout intensity without adding physical mass to the device, thereby maintaining both portability and workout effectiveness.
3Reliability
If a central disk spinning mechanism is added, then muscle engagement is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device merges the resistance mechanism, storage system, and structural support into a single integrated central disk component. The tethers are attached directly to the disk, eliminating the need for separate pulleys, guides, or frame structures. This consolidation provides effective muscle engagement through the spinning mechanism while minimizing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The spinning disk mechanism is self-regulating through its rotational inertia and friction characteristics. The resistance automatically adjusts based on the user's pulling force and speed, eliminating the need for complex control systems, springs, or adjustable mechanisms. This self-service approach enhances muscle engagement while keeping the device structure simple.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device provides a compact, portable, and efficacious workout for various muscle groups, offering a range of exercises with adjustable grip and position, enhancing muscle engagement and convenience.
Implementation Method 1
a central disk, rotatable relative to the handles... Manipulation of the handles by a user results in cyclic spinning of the disk in alternately opposing directions, which applies a force to a user of the device
Implementation Method 2
moving one or both of the outer handles to cause the central disk to rotate to thereby cause the pair of tethers to twist about one another
Data Source
AI summary
An exercise device comprises a pair of outer handles and an inner, central disk, rotatable relative to the handles. The disk includes at least a pair of orifices formed therein or therethrough. At least one tether or cord extends between the handles and through the orifices in the central disk. Manipulation of the handles by a user results in cyclic spinning of the disk.