Reciprocating Exercise Machine with Pivotal Hand Grips
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing exercise machines lack the ability to pivotally adjust hand grips without releasing the handle, allowing for simultaneous exercise of opposing muscle groups in dual-directional movements, and fail to simulate the fatigue factor of free weights by controlling reciprocation rates.
Innovation Solution
The exercise machine features pivotally mounted hand grips that allow repositioning without releasing the handle, and an actuator-controlled reciprocating mechanism with a computer processing unit to adjust the rate of reciprocation, simulating the fatigue of free weights by incrementally increasing rates during repetitions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If hand grips are fixed on exercise arms, then the structure is simple and stable, but the user cannot reposition hands to exercise different muscle groups without releasing the handle
Solution Approach 1:
The hand grip is designed with a pivotal connection that allows it to rotate between a first position for pushing exercises and a second position for pulling exercises. This dynamic repositioning capability enables the same hand grip to serve different exercise functions without requiring release and regrip, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The pivotally mounted hand grip serves multiple functions by being repositionable between pushing and pulling orientations. This universal design allows a single hand grip component to accommodate different muscle group exercises (pectorals, lats, triceps, biceps) without requiring separate fixed grips for each function, thereby improving versatility while maintaining reasonable structural complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If reciprocation rate is constant, then the machine operation is simple, but the fatigue factor of free weights cannot be simulated
Solution Approach 1:
The reciprocation rate is made variable through computer control rather than fixed mechanical timing. The system can dynamically adjust the rate of reciprocation between exercise phases, transitioning from slower rates during the eccentric phase to faster rates during the concentric phase, thereby simulating free weight fatigue effects while maintaining manageable control system complexity through software-based adjustment.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system varies the reciprocation rate parameter throughout the exercise cycle, implementing different rates for different phases of movement. This parameter change strategy enables simulation of fatigue effects without requiring complex mechanical modifications, as the rate variation is achieved through control algorithms rather than structural complexity.
3Strength
If the actuator applies force greater than user resistance, then the exercise effectiveness is improved, but the user may feel excessive resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The actuator operates in periodic reciprocating cycles, alternating between pushing and pulling phases. During each cycle, the actuator applies force greater than user resistance during the concentric phase to provide effective training, then allows the eccentric phase to occur at a controlled rate. This periodic action pattern ensures exercise effectiveness while preventing excessive resistance perception through rhythmic variation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates load cells to detect user resistance in real-time and feeds this information back to the control system. Based on this feedback, the actuator adjusts its force application dynamically, ensuring that the force applied is sufficient for effective exercise but not excessively greater than user resistance. This feedback mechanism balances exercise effectiveness with comfort by continuously monitoring and adapting the resistance profile.
Data Source
AI summary
An exercise machine having band grips mounted on arms that reciprocate at a pre-set incrementally increasing rate of reciprocation and at an applied force capacity greater than a resistive force applied by the user. The band grips are universally mounted for manipulation by the user for repositioning the hands at the beginning of each stroke of reciprocation without removing the hands from the grips, thereby exercising alternate opposing it is. muscle groups during alternate strokes of reciprocation and allowing the user to apply a desired resistive force, which force is measured and displayed for viewing by the user during exercise.