The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 15, 1996
Filed:
Mar. 18, 1994
R Lee Rawls, Woodinville, WA (US);
James A Duncan, Renton, WA (US);
StairMaster Sports/Medical Products, L.P., Kirkland, WA (US);
Abstract
An exercise apparatus having a vertically movable weight, and a kayak paddle-like handle engaged by the user to input an input power with a unidirectional exercise force at a user-selected velocity for moving the weight upward. Also included is a brake applying a negative braking power with a unidirectional braking force opposing the exercise force. The braking power has a braking velocity for permitting downward movement of the weight. A brake controller controls the application of the brake to maintain the braking velocity at a selected velocity for at least a selected portion of the user's exercise time. A differential member is coupled to the weight and receives the input power and the braking power. The differential member determines a differential between the user-selected velocity and the selected braking velocity, and applies the resultant to movement of the weight. If the user-selected velocity is greater than the braking velocity, the weight is lifted, and if the user-selected velocity is less than the selected braking velocity, the weight is lowered. If they match, the weight is maintained in a stationary elevated position.