Exercise apparatus and a brake mechanism therefor

An exercise apparatus, preferably portable and preferably for use by a person in a sitting, reclining or lying position, the apparatus comprising:

• a housing comprising an interior compartment communicating with the surroundings through one or more apertures,
• mechanical activation means for being activated by a certain portion of said person such as a foot or a hand, said activation means extending from the interior of said compartment to the surroundings through said one or more apertures,
• resistance means for exerting a resistance against a first force applied to said activation means by said person and arranged in said compartment and connected to said activation means,
• first varying means for varying the magnitude of said resistance,
• computer controlling means for controlling said first varying means for varying said resistance according to one or more sequences or algorithms, and
• power supplying means for supplying power to said first varying means and said computer controlling means.

A brake mechanism for braking the rotation of a body, preferably for use as a braking or resistance means in an exercise apparatus, said mechanism comprising:

• a first disc and a second disc having mutually facing and spaced first planar surfaces and being mounted on a common shaft perpendicular to said surfaces, the second disc being mounted so as to be rotatable and axially displaceable with respect to said shaft,
• biasing means, operatively associated with said discs, for biasing said second disc axially towards said first disc and for biasing said second disc from a first rotational position relative to said first disc towards a second rotational position relative to said first disc,
• pairs of mutually facing and registering annular grooves provided in said first surfaces and extending concentric with said shaft, a groove of a pair in one first surface registering with the other groove of said pair in the other first surface,
• at least one sphere with a diameter larger than the maximum distance between said first surfaces received in each pair of grooves,
• the combined depth of the grooves in a pair being larger at one end of the grooves than at the other end of the grooves,
• a fixedly arranged body having a planar second surface facing and spaced from a third planar surface of said second disc parallel to and opposed to said first surface of said second disc,
• a braking pad arranged between said second and said third surface and displaceable between a first position at a certain distance from the axis of said shaft to a second position at a larger distance from said axis, and
• a biasing means for biasing said braking pad from said second position to said first position.