Training apparatus

Abstract

Disclosed is a training apparatus, which comprises a seat unit 30 including a seat 35 allowing a user M to sit thereon, a foot plate 42 adapted to allow the user M sitting on the seat 35 to keep his / her feet bottoms in contact therewith, a displacement mechanism unit 38 adapted to apply to the user M a load against a straining force generated when the user M sitting on the seat 35 while keeping the feet bottoms in contact with the foot plate 42 strains his / her legs, and a base board 20 mounting thereon the above components. The foot plate 42 is adapted to be changed in posture between a horizontal posture T1 where it protrudes approximately horizontally and outwardly from a pair of footrest frames 41 mounted on the base board 20, and a vertical posture T2 where it protrudes approximately vertically and upward from the footrest frames 41 at approximately the same height level as a that of the seat 35. The present invention can provide a training apparatus capable of allowing a user to readily sit on the seat 35 in the same manner as that for sitting on a chair, and friendly to elderly persons.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to a training apparatus for exercising the body, such as legs and lumbar, of a human user, and more particularly to a training apparatus suitable for an elderly person and a patient who undergoes rehabilitation (hereinafter referred to collectively as “elderly user”).[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]Heretofore, there has been known a training apparatus (exercise apparatus) as discloses in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-194985 (“Patent Publication 1”).[0005]This training apparatus comprises a seat for allowing a user to sit thereon, a foot-push member adapted to be pushed by a foot or feet of the user sitting on the seat, and loading means operable, when the seat is displaced based on a reaction force from the foot-push member pushed by the user's feet, to impose a load on the seat. The user sitting on the seat can repeatedly perform bending / stretching of his / her ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]In view of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a user-friendly training apparatus capable of creating an obstacle-free space in front of a seat when a user moves toward the seat to sit thereon, to allow the user to readily sit on the seat without additional movements so as to achieve enhanced usability for not only normal healthy persons but also elderly persons and persons with physical handicaps. It is another object of the present invention to provide a training apparatus designed to prevent excessive load from being imposed on a body of a user.

[0016]In the above training apparatus of the present invention, the foot plate can be changed between the active posture relative to the seat, and the inactive posture where the foot plate is disposed substantially at a lower extremity below the frontward position of the seat. Specifically, before a user sits on the seat, the foot plate is set in the inactive posture at the lower extremity by the displacement mechanism. Thus, when the user moves toward the seat, an obstacle-free space is created in front of the seat to allow the user to significantly easily sit on the seat using the foot plate as a step ladder simply by the same movement as that for sitting on a commonly-used chair. This allows not only a normal healthy user but also an elderly user to sit on the seat in a significantly easy manner. In addition, an obstacle-free space created in front of the seat during sitting allows a user using a wheelchair to roll the wheelchair close to the front of the training apparatus and then readily move from the wheelchair directly to the seat. When a care-giver escorts the user, the burden of the care-giver will be significantly reduced.

Problems solved by technology

While these movements are not so arduous for a normal healthy person, an elderly user is likely to have difficulty in carrying out such movements.

In this respect, the training apparatus disclosed in the Patent Publication 1 is not exactly friendly to elderly users.

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