Exercise Device with Pivot Shaft for Knee Joint Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing exercise methods and devices for strengthening thigh and hip muscles often put excessive stress on knee and ankle joints, making them unsuitable for individuals with weak joints, such as the elderly or obese, and limit the range of motion, thereby reducing exercise efficiency.
Innovation Solution
An exercise device and method that allows users to perform exercises in a sitting, prone, or supine position with the arm's lower end on their thighs, reducing the load on knees and ankles by enabling lateral rotation and adduction, and incorporating a shaft changing portion to adjust the pivot shaft's direction, and a bicycle configuration where the pivot shaft is fixed to the hip joints to enhance motion range and efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If existing exercise methods and devices are used to strengthen thigh and hip muscles, then muscle strength is improved, but excessive stress is applied to knee and ankle joints
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an arm as an intermediary element that transfers the exercise load from the lower extremities (knees and ankles) to the upper body. The arm rotates about a pivot shaft located within 20 cm from the pelvis, allowing the user to exert force through the arm while the foot plate rests on the thighs, thereby mediating the stress away from vulnerable joints.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent shifts the exercise mechanism from a vertical load-bearing structure (traditional leg press) to a horizontal rotation mechanism. The arm rotates horizontally about a pivot shaft, changing the dimensional plane of force application from vertical to horizontal, which eliminates direct compressive stress on knee and ankle joints while maintaining muscle engagement.
2Adaptability or versatility
If traditional exercise devices are used, then thigh and hip muscles are engaged, but the range of motion is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamic pivot shaft mechanism that can rotate freely, allowing the arm to move through a wide arc. The pivot shaft is positioned to enable maximum rotational range while maintaining mechanical advantage. This dynamic rotation system provides greater adaptability in motion range compared to fixed-axis traditional devices, while the continuous rotational motion maintains high exercise efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The exercise device can accommodate multiple exercise variations by adjusting the pivot shaft position and arm configuration. The same basic mechanism can perform different muscle-group targeting exercises by changing the user's starting position and arm orientation, providing universal applicability across various fitness goals without sacrificing exercise efficiency.
3Force
If the arm is positioned far from the pelvis, then leverage is increased, but the radius of rotation becomes too large affecting joint stability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the pivot shaft position parameter to be within 20 cm from the pelvis, creating an optimal balance between leverage and stability. This specific parameter range provides sufficient mechanical advantage for effective muscle engagement while keeping the rotation radius small enough to maintain joint stability and prevent excessive stress on the hip and spine.
Data Source
AI summary
An exercise device for performing exercises suitable to strengthen thigh and hip muscles such as a leg press machine, a total hip, a stationary bicycle, or a moving bicycle, and more particularly provides an exercise device for strengthening thigh and hip muscles while protecting the knees and ankle joints by enabling a user to locate a lower end of an arm on the user's thighs in a sitting, prone or supine position and move the user's legs in order to minimize a load or stress added to the knee and ankle joints.