Isokinetic exercise device with speed control

An exercise device comprising:

• a support member;
• first and second members disposed in a face-to-face relationship on said support member with at least one of said members mounted in rotation about a common axis;
• means for restraining axial movement of said first and second members along said common axis;
• handle means connected to said rotatable members for providing operator movement of said rotatable members during the performance of an exercise operation;
• a series of angularly-spaced raceways associated with the inboard faces of said first and second members and positioned such that the raceways of said first member are substantially aligned with the raceways of said second member;
• ball means captivated within said aligned raceways upon said rotation and establishing a driving connection for transmittal of forces produced by said operator on said handle means;
• a brake assembly mounted on said support member adjacent one of said first and second members and in operable communication with said driving connection, said brake assembly operable by said forces transmitted along said driving connection to retard rotation of said rotatable members and movement of said handle means;
• and
• means for changing the angle of contact of said captivated ball means with said paired raceways, said angle of contact changing the relationship of said driving connection with said brake assembly and the transmittal of said forces therebetween for affecting the efficacy of said driving connection and the degree of said operation of said brake assembly.

An exercise device comprising:

• a first rotatable member;
• a second rotatable member;
• a shaft member extending between said first and second members and presenting a common axis of rotation;
• handle means on at least one of said members for providing a user rotation thereto;
• a floating plate interposed between said first and second members in axial and rotatable movement relative to said shaft;
• a series of paired arcuate raceways having a non-linear sloped profile thereto and positioned adjacent the opposing faces of one of said rotatable members and said floating plate and disposed in a generally aligned relationship therebetween;
• ball means movable along said paired raceways and captivated therebetween upon a relative rotation between said raceways about said common axis, said captivation providing for a driving connection between said floating plate and said one member for transmittal of forces produced by said user rotation therethrough;
• brake means interposed between said floating plate and the other of said rotatable members, said brake means operably responsive to said transmittal of forces so as to retard user movement of at least said handle means linked to said other rotatable member;
• and
• means for selectably angularly positioning said captivated ball means between said paired raceways to change the relationship of said driving connection with said brake means and the transmittal of forces along said driving connection to said brake means whereby to control the effect of said forces transmitted to said brake means and said brake means response.