Plank Exerciser with Off-Center Pivot
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional plank exercises performed on wobble boards often result in the board sliding across the floor when users tilt, requiring adjustments to maintain alignment, which can disrupt the exercise's effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
A plank exercise device featuring a support portion with a destabilizer, such as a pivot ball or ball bearing turntable, mounted off-center, combined with load sensors and a microcontroller for force monitoring, and communication with a display device, allowing for dynamic tilting and improved user engagement through interactive exercises and gaming.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a wobble board is used for plank exercises, then the exercise provides instability and challenges core muscles, but the board slides across the floor when the user tilts, requiring the user to move their feet to maintain alignment
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into separate functional components: a stationary base that remains fixed on the floor, a support portion that tilts, and a destabilizer mechanism connecting them. This segmentation allows the base to provide stable anchoring while the support portion provides controlled instability, resolving the contradiction between stability and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The destabilizer is intentionally mounted off-center (4-12 percent off-center) relative to the support portion's center line. This asymmetric positioning creates controlled tilting behavior that challenges core muscles while preventing random sliding, as the off-center pivot point provides a predictable rotation axis rather than unrestricted movement.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the destabilizer is mounted off-center (4-12 percent off-center), then the device provides controlled tilting for core engagement, but the mounting precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent specifies a range (4-12 percent off-center) rather than a single precise value for the destabilizer mounting position. This parameter range approach allows manufacturing flexibility while maintaining the functional benefit of controlled tilting, reducing the stringency of manufacturing precision requirements while preserving adaptability.
3Loss of information
If load sensors and microcontroller are added for force monitoring, then real-time feedback is provided to enhance user engagement, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Load sensors are integrated into the base to detect forces applied by the user, and a microcontroller processes this data to provide real-time feedback through a display device. This feedback mechanism enhances user engagement by providing quantitative information about exercise performance, while the modular integration keeps the added complexity manageable and justified by the functional benefits.
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 stable and challenging plank exercises by preventing sliding, allowing for varied tilting angles and interactive features that enhance core muscle engagement and provide real-time feedback, improving exercise efficacy and user experience.
Implementation Method 1
a destabilizer connected to the support portion... the destabilizer includes a pivot ball mounted to a collar
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of load sensors mounted to the base that sense forces and are in communication with a microcontroller
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a plank exercise device including a support portion adapted to receive arms or hands of a person and adapted to receive a display device, a destabilizer connected to the support portion, and a stationary base adapted to hold the destabilizer.