Swim Trainer Torso Support with Cable-Connected Hands and Feet
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing swim exercise machines rely heavily on resistance mechanisms that can lead to serious injury due to excessive intensity and continuous resistance, making them unsafe and inefficient for simulating actual swimming motions.
Innovation Solution
A swim trainer that utilizes the user's body weight and natural motion to create resistance, featuring a Y-shaped base support with spring pulley assemblies, a middle support frame with adjustable rods, and a rear cross-section support roller system with a T-bar and kicker system, allowing for controlled and natural resistance through the interaction of cable-connected hands and feet with a hinge tilt mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a resistance mechanism is used to create intensity and continuous resistance, then the workout effectiveness is improved, but the risk of serious injury increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the traditional resistance mechanism entirely from the swim exercise machine. Instead of using external resistance devices, the invention relies on the user's own body weight and natural swimming motions to create the necessary exercise intensity, thereby eliminating the injury risk associated with mechanical resistance while maintaining workout effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The invention makes the user's body the source of resistance through body weight. The natural motion of swimming against water resistance in the machine creates the workout effect without requiring external resistance mechanisms, allowing the system to serve itself by using the user's own physical properties
2Productivity
If a heavy resistance mechanism is used to create continuous resistance, then the intensity of exercise is improved, but the complexity of the device increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the complex resistance mechanism from the device. The invention achieves exercise intensity through simpler means - using the user's body weight and natural swimming motions rather than sophisticated mechanical resistance systems
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the fundamental parameter of resistance from external mechanical force to internal body weight. This parameter change simplifies the device architecture while maintaining or enhancing exercise intensity through the natural interaction of body weight with the swimming motion
3Stability of the object's composition
If a fixed structure is used for the swim machine, then the stability is improved, but the adaptability to different user lengths decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic, adjustable elements to the swim machine structure. The frame includes extendable and contractible components that allow the machine to adapt to users of different lengths while maintaining structural stability during operation through proper mechanical design
4Adaptability or versatility
If a large structure is used for the swim machine, then the functionality is improved, but the storage space required increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic structural elements that can extend during use and contract for storage. The frame components are designed to be extendable and contractible, allowing the machine to provide full functionality for different user sizes while reducing to a compact form for storage, effectively decoupling operational size from storage size
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 solution provides a safe and effective way to replicate the action of swimming, developing stamina and endurance without external resistance, allowing users to adjust the machine for different lengths and facilitating compact storage.
Implementation Method 1
The spring pulley assembly uses cables that are attached to the wrist harnesses and are then threaded through a central pulley system and attached to the leg harnesses
Implementation Method 2
The spring pulley assembly uses cables that are attached to the wrist harnesses and are then threaded through a central pulley system and attached to the leg harnesses
Implementation Method 3
The column serves as the base for a hinge that is attached to a glide bar. The hinged glide bar serves as a base for the torso support which is padded to receive the exerciser's torso. The hinge itself enabled the torso support and glide bar to tilt forward and backward.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a swim trainer using a laterally displaceable torso support pad and two cables interconnecting the swimmer's opposite hands and feet: right hand with left foot, left hand with right foot. It incorporates tension physics with applied tension force displacement wherein the torso is supported with two degrees of motion, i.e., hinged front-to-back tilt and left-to-right displacement of the torso. The user's opposite hands and feet are interconnected by cables passing through pulleys located below the torso. As the user performs a simulated swim stroke, force is asserted on the cable ends, moving the entire body to the right or left along a defined lateral displacement path. The user controls the swimming stroke speed, therefore controlling the amount of resistance applied between hands and feet based on the lateral motion torso speed against torso weight pressing down on the central support.