TRAINING APPARATUS

Abstract

A training apparatus for stimulating the back muscles associated with a person's spine has two rows of shaped bodies, which run one beside the other in a longitudinal direction, in particular are not offset from one another, are connected to one another via connecting portions and project away from a base plane which runs through the connecting portions. Each shaped body has at least one bearing region, which is in the form of a bearing point or bearing surface and is intended for stimulating the back muscles, wherein the shaped bodies of the one row along with the adjacent, associated shaped bodies of the other row form respective shaped-body pairs, and wherein the shaped bodies of the shaped-body pairs form interspaces, in which portions of a spine can be accommodated in the longitudinal direction of the rows. The shaped bodies are formed monolithically together with the connecting portions.

Claims

1. Training apparatus for stimulating the back muscles associated with a person's spine, with two rows of shaped bodies that run next to one another in a longitudinal direction, which shaped bodies are connected to one another via connecting portions and project away from a base plane that runs through the connecting portions, wherein each of the shaped bodies has at least one bearing region that is designed as a bearing point or bearing surface for stimulating the back muscles, wherein the shaped bodies of one row along with the adjacent assigned shaped bodies of the other row that are perpendicular to the longitudinal direction form shaped-body pairs in each case, and wherein the shaped bodies of the shaped-body pairs form interspaces, in which portions of a spine can be accommodated in the longitudinal direction of the rows, wherein the shaped bodies together with the connecting portions are formed monolithically.

2. The training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portions have a web-like shape.

3. The training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the rows has at least two shaped bodies.

4. The training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shaped bodies project away from the base plane on either side, or on one side.

5. The training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shaped bodies are spherical bodies.

6. The training apparatus Training apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the shaped bodies that are designed as spherical bodies are designed to be essentially spherical or partially spherical and project away from the base plane on either side or are designed to be hemispherical and project away from the base plane on one side.

7. The training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the shaped bodies is connected to the adjacent shaped body or the adjacent shaped bodies of the same row via one connecting portion respectively and/or wherein the shaped bodies of each shaped-body pair are connected via one connecting portion respectively and/or wherein each of the shaped bodies of each shaped-body pair is connected to the shaped body of the other row of the adjacent shaped-body pair or the shaped bodies of the other row of the adjacent shaped-body pairs via one connecting portion respectively.

8. The training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portions transition into one another seamlessly such that an individual, common connecting element is formed, wherein the common connecting element preferably in regions surrounded by two successive shaped body pairs in each case has a through opening.

9. The training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the monolithically-formed shaped bodies together with the connecting portions have a closed-pore outside layer-.

10. The training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shaped bodies and the connecting portions are formed from a plastic, from silicone, or from rubber.

11. The training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shaped bodies and the connecting portions are foamed, injection-molded, or cast in one piece.

12. The training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein on the inside, the shaped bodies enclose a hollow space or several hollow spaces.

13. The training apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the hollow spaces are filled with a filler.

14. The training apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the material of the filler has a lower density than the material of the shaped bodies.

15. The training apparatus according claim 1, wherein the distance between the bearing regions or the bearing points or surface centers of gravity of the bearing regions of the shaped bodies of each shaped-body pair is between 30 mm and 100 mm.

16. The training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a longitudinal distance between bearing regions or the bearing points or surface centers of gravity of the bearing regions of the adjacent shaped bodies inside the rows is between 30 mm and 100 mm.

17. The training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shaped bodies project away from the base plane on either side, symmetrically.

18. The training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portions transition into one another seamlessly such that an individual, common connecting element is formed, wherein the common connecting element, in regions surrounded by two successive shaped-body pairs, in each case has a through opening.

19. The training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the bearing regions or the bearing points or surface centers of gravity of the bearing regions of the shaped bodies of each shaped-body pair is between 40 mm and 80 mm.

20. The training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the bearing regions or the bearing points or surface centers of gravity of the bearing regions of the shaped bodies of each shaped-body pair is between 45 mm and 65 mm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] Additional details, features, and advantages of the invention are given in the description below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments are depicted. Here:

[0042] FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic top view of a training apparatus according to the invention, wherein shaped bodies and connecting portions arranged according to a first embodiment are depicted as separate, partially overlapping bodies,

[0043] FIG. 2 shows a diagrammatic top view of the training apparatus according to FIG. 1, with shaped bodies and connecting portions depicted connected to one another but without exposed edges,

[0044] FIGS. 3 to 8 show additional diagrammatic top views as in FIGS. 1 and 2 in another three embodiments of the training apparatus according to the invention with differently arranged connecting portions respectively, in each case with shaped bodies and connecting portions depicted separated and connected,

[0045] FIG. 9 shows a top view of an embodiment of the training apparatus according to the invention, in which the connecting portions merge into one another seamlessly and form an individual, common connecting element,

[0046] FIG. 10 shows a side view of the training apparatus according to the invention according to FIG. 9, wherein a shaped body of the training apparatus is shown as a partial cutaway-along an angled sectional plane X-X,

[0047] FIG. 11 shows a top view of a training apparatus according to the invention according to another embodiment with a common connecting element, and

[0048] FIG. 12 shows a side view of the training apparatus according to the invention according to another possible embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0049] FIGS. 1 to 8 show a very diagrammatic top view of a training apparatus 1 according to the invention with two rows of shaped bodies 2 that are arranged next to one another, which shaped bodies are spherical in the depicted embodiment. The rows run in a longitudinal direction L.

[0050] In each case, a shaped body 2 of one row is assigned to an adjacent shaped body 2, not offset, of the other row, so that these two shaped bodies 2 form a shaped-body pair P.

[0051] The shaped bodies 2 are connected to one another via flat connecting portions 3 and are formed monolithically or integrally with the latter.

[0052] In FIGS. 1 to 8, only four shaped bodies 2 respectively are depicted in each of the rows. This means, however, that this number of shaped bodies 2 is only intended as an example. The training apparatus 1 according to the invention preferably has more than four, for example six to fourteen, shaped bodies 2 per row.

[0053] In FIGS. 1, 3, 5, and 7, the shaped bodies 2 and the connecting portions 3 are depicted respectively—to ensure better understanding—as separate bodies, overlapping in certain regions, and in FIGS. 2, 4, 6, and 8, they are depicted as connected to one another.

[0054] In FIGS. 1 and 2, a first embodiment is depicted, in which the shaped bodies 2 are separated from one another and thus form an interspace, and each shaped body 2 is connected to the adjacent shaped body 2 (in the case of a shaped body 2 arranged on one end of the training apparatus 1) or the adjacent shaped bodies 2 of the same row, as well as the respectively assigned shaped body 2 of the same shaped-body pair P, via one connecting portion 3 respectively.

[0055] In FIGS. 3 and 4, an additional possible embodiment of the training apparatus 1 according to the invention is depicted, in which the shaped bodies 2 are separated from one another, and each shaped body 2 is connected to the shaped body 2 of the other row of the adjacent shaped-body pair P (in the case of a shaped body 2 that is arranged on one end of the training apparatus 1) or the adjacent shaped bodies 2 of the other row of the adjacent shaped-body pair P.

[0056] In FIGS. 5 and 6, another possible embodiment of the training apparatus 1 according to the invention is depicted, in which the shaped bodies 2 are directly adjacent, so that the diagrammatically depicted connecting portions 3 are reduced to the connecting regions that are almost indistinguishable from the shaped bodies 2 or the connecting surfaces that run between the shaped bodies 2.

[0057] In FIGS. 7 and 8, still another embodiment of the training apparatus 1 according to the invention is depicted, in which the shaped bodies 2 are also directly adjacent. In this embodiment, the connecting portions 3 that are depicted diagrammatically as intersecting run into one another seamlessly, so that in each case, the regions that are surrounded by two adjacent shaped-body pairs P are bridged entirely by the connecting portions 3.

[0058] FIG. 9 shows another possible embodiment of the training apparatus 1 according to the invention, in which the shaped bodies 2 are separated from one another, and the connecting portions 3 form an individual, common connecting element V, since they merge into one another seamlessly.

[0059] FIG. 10 shows the training apparatus according to FIG. 9 in a side view, wherein it can be seen that in the depicted embodiment, the rows of shaped bodies 2 run essentially parallel, so that two adjacent shaped bodies 2, assigned to one another, of different rows, which form a shaped-body pair P, are arranged directly behind one another, seen from the side.

[0060] A base plane 4, away from which the spherical shaped bodies 2 project symmetrically, runs centrally through the essentially flat connecting portions 3—or through the individual, common connecting element V.

[0061] Between two adjacent shaped-body pairs P respectively, the common connecting element V has through openings 5, or the connecting portions 3 that run into one another in places surround through openings 5. These through openings 5 are depicted as circular in FIG. 1, but can also be oval, square, star-shaped, or of some other shape.

[0062] In the depicted embodiment, in many transition regions, which form a transition between the common connecting element V and the shaped bodies 2, the flat common connecting element V is-or the connecting portions 3 are-rounded on the outside edge, so that in these regions, curved edges 6 are formed that face into the interior of the common connecting element V. The training apparatus 1 thus does not have any sharp corners in which dirt could collect or whose presence could have a negative effect on the manufacturing of the training apparatus 1—for example by casting. Within the framework of the invention, however, embodiments with fewer, more, smaller, larger, or even no curved edges 6 are also conceivable.

[0063] In FIG. 10, one of the shaped bodies 2 is depicted partially in cutaway, wherein the section runs along a sectional plane X-X drawn in FIG. 1.

[0064] The cutaway depiction shows that in the depicted embodiment of the training apparatus 1 according to the invention, hollow spaces 7 are formed in the shaped bodies 2. The hollow spaces 7 are filled with a porous material that has properties that are different from those of the material from which the shaped bodies 2 and the connecting portion 3 or the common connecting element V are formed and that forms a closed-pore outside layer 8.

[0065] In FIG. 11, another possible embodiment of the training apparatus 1 according to the invention is depicted in a top view in which the training apparatus 1 does not have any through openings 5 in the common connecting element V. In addition, each row consists of ten shaped bodies 2 instead of seven shaped bodies 2 as in FIGS. 9 and 10.

[0066] In FIG. 12, still another possible embodiment of the training apparatus 1 according to the invention is depicted in a side view. In this embodiment, the shaped bodies 2 are essentially hemispheres, so that on only one side of the base plane 4, they project away from the latter and the connecting portions 3 or—if present—the common connecting element V. On the other side of the base plane 4, essentially flat bottoms of the shaped bodies 2 together with the connecting portions 3 or optionally the common connecting element V form a flat bearing surface 9.

[0067] It is understood that the shaped bodies 2 of the training equipment 1 according to FIGS. 1 to 8, 11 and 12, can also have a hollow space 7, with or without fill material accommodated within. In the same manner, the shaped bodies according to FIGS. 1 to 10 can be designed to be hemispherical as in FIGS. 11 and 12.

[0068] The connecting portions 3 depicted in FIGS. 1 to 4 can be made narrower than depicted. In addition, the connecting portions 3 can be also be made wider than depicted and can run into one another seamlessly in places.

[0069] Each shaped body 2 has at least one region that is located further from the base plane 4 than the other regions of the shaped body 2. Within the framework of the invention, this region is referred to as the bearing region 10, since to this end, it is suitable for serving as a support for the body parts of a person undergoing training and surrounding the spine and in this case for exerting pressure on the musculature of the spine of the person being trained with the training apparatus 1. When the shaped bodies 2 project away on either side of the base plane 4, each shaped body 2 can have, for example, two such bearing regions 10, so that the training apparatus 1 has on either side a bearing side for the body parts of a person being trained.

[0070] The bearing regions 10 can assume essentially the shape of points when the shaped bodies 2 taper more and more away from the base plane 4, such as, for example, in the case of a ball shape or pyramidal shape. In the case of such shaped bodies 2, the bearing region 10 becomes a bearing point.

[0071] Between the bearing regions 10 or the bearing points or surface centers of gravity of the bearing regions 10 of the two shaped bodies 2 of a shaped-body pair P, a distance A is formed. The distance A is great enough to form an interspace in which portions of the spine of a person being trained with the training apparatus 1 can be accommodated in the longitudinal direction L between the shaped bodies 2. Preferably, this distance A is between 40 and 80 mm in size.

[0072] Within the framework of the invention, the following features that are listed by way of example can be combined with one another arbitrarily: the number of rows of shaped bodies 2, the number of shaped bodies 2 in the rows, the shape of the shaped bodies 2 (for example, spherical or pyramidal-shaped), the further configuration of the shaped bodies 2 (e.g., size and/or material of the shaped bodies 2 and/or the presence of hollow spaces and the filling thereof), as well as various embodiments of the connecting portions 3 (e.g., as common connecting element V, as well as with or without through openings 5 and/or curved edges 6).

REFERENCE SYMBOL LIST

[0073] 1 Training apparatus [0074] 2 Shaped body [0075] 3 Connecting portion [0076] 4 Base plane [0077] 5 Through opening [0078] 6 Curved edge [0079] 7 Hollow space [0080] 8 Outside layer [0081] 9 Bearing surface [0082] 10 Bearing region [0083] L Longitudinal direction [0084] P Shaped-body pair [0085] V Common connecting element [0086] A Distance between bearing regions (bearing points) of a shaped-body pair