Exercise system

Exercising apparatus comprising:

• manually operated movable drive means for manual operation by a person for exercise caused by resistance to motion thereof;
• stationary support stand means for mounting said manually operated drive means;
• fly wheel means mounted on said support stand means operatively connected to said manually operated movable drive means for energy storage and continuous application of momentum force thereto during manual operation thereof;
• continuously automatically operable speed-responsive resistance load changing means mounted on said support stand means for automatically increasing and decreasing the resistance load applied to said manually operated movable drive means in accordance with the operational speed thereof;
• a driven wheel means mounted on said support stand means and operatively connected to said manually operable movable drive means;
• shaft means on said support stand means for rotatably supporting said flywheel means and said load changing means and said driven wheel means:
• a first shaft member for rotatably supporting both said flywheel means and said load changing means and a second shaft member for rotatably supporting said driven wheel means;
• and
• intermediate drive means for drivably connecting said drive wheel means on said first shaft member to said flywheel means and said load changing means on said second shaft member.

An exercise system for enabling an human being to perform an exercise by manually generated input force applied against a load through a drive system and comprising:

• manually operable force input means for applying the input force to the exercise system;
• a force transmission drive means operably connected to said force input means for receiving the input force from the force input means;
• an energy storage means for storing energy generated by the exerciser;
• a resistance load applying means for applying a resistance load to the input force of the exerciser;
• support stand means for supporting said force input means and said drive means and said energy storage means and said resistance load applying means;
• said energy storage means comprising a rotatable wheel device having a diameter and weight such as to store energy proportional to input energy;
• said resistance load means comprising a rotatable wheel means having blade members thereon for causing a flow of air across said blade members and providing a resistance to air flow which is proportional to the speed of rotation of said rotatable wheel means;
• an intermediate drive system means between said force transmission drive means and said energy storage means and said variable resistance load means which comprises only direct positive drive elements having toothed surfaces;
• a first drive system connecting said force input means to a first shaft means for rotatably supporting at least one driven sprocket;
• and
• a second drive system connecting said first shaft means to a second shaft means for rotatably supporting said energy storage means and said resistance load applying means.

An exercise system comprising:

• manually operated movable drive means including driven wheel means for manual operation by a person at a first variable operational velocity for exercise caused by resistance to motion thereof;
• stationary support stand means for mounting and supporting said manually operated drive means;
• velocity change means associated with said manually operable movable drive means for changing the first variable operational velocity to a second operational velocity;
• fly wheel means mounted on said stationary support stand means and being operatively connected to said manually operated movable drive means through said velocity change means for energy storage and continuous application of momentum force thereto during manual operation thereof;
• velocity responsive variable resistance load applying means for continuously automatically applying variable resistance loads to said manually operated drive means and for automatically increasing an decreasing the resistance load applied to said manually operated movable drive means in accordance with the operational velocity of the system, the construction and arrangement of the system being such as to provide an envelope of preselected exercise parameters including a total energy level, a power level to overcome energy dissipation and maintain a given level and enable change to another power level, and a mechanical advantage ratio which are selected to provide high level cardio-aerobic development;
• shaft means mounted on said support stand means for rotatably supporting said flywheel means and said variable resistance load applying means and said driven wheel means;
• said movable drive means operatively connecting said driven wheel means and said flywheel means and said variable resistance load applying means for causing rotation of said flywheel means and said variable resistance load applying means at variable velocities directly proportional to the rotational velocity of said driven wheel means;
• a first pulley means operably associated with said driven wheel means;
• a second pulley means operably associated with said flywheel means and said load applying means;
• and
• a belt member operably associated with said first pulley means and said second pulley means to cause said driven wheel means to drive said flywheel means and said load applying means.

An exercise system comprising:

• manually operated movable drive means including a driven wheel means for manual operation by a person at a first variable operational velocity for exercise caused by resistance to motion thereof;
• stationary support stand means for mounting and supporting said manually operated drive means;
• velocity change means associated with said manually operable movable drive means for changing the first variable operational velocity to a second operational velocity;
• fly wheel means mounted on said stationary support stand means and being operatively connected to said manually operated movable drive means through said velocity change means for energy storage and continuous application of momentum force thereto during manual operation thereof;
• velocity responsive variable resistance load applying means for continuously automatically applying variable resistance loads to said manually operated drive means and for automatically increasing and decreasing the resistance load applied to said manually operated movable drive means in accordance with the operational velocity of the system, the construction and arrangement of the system being such as to provide an envelope of preselected exercise parameters including a total energy level, a power level to overcome energy dissipation and maintain a given level and enable change to another power level, and a mechanical advantage ratio which are selected to provide high level cardio-aerobic development;
• the exercising system being constructed and arranged for use with a plurality of different exercise devices;
• and
• said support stand means being constructed and arranged for mounting components of said exercises devices.

An exercise system comprising:

• manually operated movable drive means including a driven wheel means for manual operation by a person at a first variable operational velocity for exercise caused by resistance to motion thereof;
• stationary support stand means for mounting and supporting said manually operated drive means;
• velocity change means associated with said manually operable movable drive means for changing the first variable operational velocity to a second operational velocity;
• fly wheel means mounted on said stationary support stand means and being operatively connected to said manually operated movable drive means through said velocity change means for energy storage and continuous application of momentum force thereto during manual operation thereof;
• velocity responsive variable resistance load applying means for continuously automatically applying variable resistance loads to said manually operated drive means and for automatically increasing and decreasing the resistance load applied to said manually operated movable drive means in accordance with the operational velocity of the system, the construction and arrangement of the system being such as to provide an envelope of preselected exercise parameters including a total energy level, a power level to overcome energy dissipation and maintain a given level and enable change to another power level, and a mechanical advantage ratio which are selected to provide high level cardio-aerobic development;
• said velocity change means provides a mechanical advantage of at least 10 to 1;
• a rotatable air impelling means connected to an being operable by said manually operated movable drive means through said velocity change means for automatically increasing and decreasing the resistance load through said rotatable air impeller means in response to increases and decreases in resistance to air flow proportional to operational velocity thereof;
• said manually operable movable drive means comprising a chain means and a multiple sprocket wheel means for selectively variably applying a selected resistance load to said manually operated movable drive means;
• and
• lower support means for supporting one end of said exercise device and said driven wheel means and said variable resistance load applying means on a floor surface;
• and
• upwardly extending support means on said lower support means and an associated shaft means for supporting said driven wheel means and said flywheel means and said variable resistance load-applying means independently of said exercise device.