Exercise device and stopping device therefor

An exercise device comprising:

• a. a pair of handles, including a first handle and a second handle each having an inner end and an outer end and each having a longitudinal central bore therethrough;
• b. an elastic cord extending longitudinally through the bores of said handles wherein the handles are slidable along the cord toward and away from each other and wherein the inner ends of the handles face each other;
• and
• c. a stopping device affixed to the outer end of each handle, each stopping device comprising a member having a first end and a second end and having a bore therethrough through which the cord may pass, and a side wall having a slot extending parallel to the bore from said first end of the member toward said second end thereof, said slot tapering and narrowing from said first end toward said second end and terminating in a circular opening at least slightly larger than the narrowed end of the slot and forming a pair of pinch points therewith, wherein a cord passing from the bore into the slot at the first end of the member may be pulled through the slot at a right angle to the bore past the pair of pinch points and into the circular opening to permit the cord to expand slightly as it passes the pinch points and locks the cord in the circular opening of the stopping device, whereby the handle integral with the stopping device is prevented from moving along the cord.

An exercise device comprising:

• a. a pair of handles, including a first handle and a second handle each having an inner end and an outer end and each having a longitudinal central bore therethrough;
• b. an elastic cord extending longitudinally through the bores of said handles wherein the handles are slidable along the cord toward and away from each other and wherein the inner ends of the handles face each other;
• d. a stopping device integral with the outer end of each handle, each stopping device comprising a member having a first end and a second end and having a bore therethrough through which the cord may pass, and a side wall having a slot extending parallel to the bore from said first end of the member toward said second end thereof, said slot tapering and narrowing from said first end toward said second end and terminating in a circular opening at least slightly larger than the narrowed end of the slot and forming a pair of pinch points therewith, wherein a cord passing from the bore into the slot at the first end of the member may be pulled through the slot at a right angle to the bore past the pair of pinch points and into the circular opening to permit the cord to expand slightly as it passes the pinch points and locks the cord in the circular opening of the stopping device, whereby the handle integral with the stopping device is prevented from moving along the cord;
• e. each stopping device further comprising a receiving portion integral therewith and having a wall having an opening therein extending parallel to the bore and aligned with and open to the slot in the member of the stopping device, whereby the cord can pass through the opening in the wall of the receiving portion and into the slot in the member of the stopping device generally at a right angle to the bore of the member, and each receiving portion being adapted to receive a spherical enclosure enclosing a marginal end of the cord;
• and
• f. a spherical member enclosing the marginal end of the cord and a stopping member affixed to the cord at a marginal end thereof, whereby the spherical member is prevented from slipping off the end of the cord adjacent said marginal end.