Untitled record

Application filed March 12,1891. Serial No. 384,774. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, Frank G. Gollon, of Hoboken, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Im5 proved Exercising-Machine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an exercising-ma. chine, and has for its object to provide a ma* chine especially adapted for exercising the io muscles of the human frame, and which is capable of affording amusement to the party exercising by means of it.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the machine that it will be simple, 15 durable, and economic and capable of adjustment to accommodate persons of different weights, and also whereby the machine may be readily taken apart and packed in a minimum of space.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying 25 drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section 30 through the machine, taken on the line 11 in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a front elevation. Fig. 4 is a detail view of one of the posts, and Fig. 5 is a sectional detail view of an attachment to the machine.

The base A of the machine is preferably made rectangular and in skeleton form, as shown in Fig. 2, embracing two end and two side beams connected in any suitable or approved manner. In each side beam, at or near 40 the center thereof, a polygonal opening is made adapted to receive the reduced end of a post or pillar 10, the said reduced end being of a cross-sectional contour corresponding to that of the opening into which it is inserted.

The posts or pillars 10 are in transverse alignment, and are held in removable connection with the base by means of a rod 11, passed through the side beams of the frame and through apertures in the reduced ends of the 50 posts or pillars.

When the posts are in position, they are vertical and are braced by means of rods 12, a rod being located at opposite sides of each post, as is best shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The rods at their upper ends are fitted in a thim- 55 ble 13, located in the posts or pillars or in sockets produced in the posts, and the lower ends of the brace-rods are made to enter diagonally-placed thimbles or sockets 14, located or produced in the side beams of the 60 frame.

A platform 15 is pivotally located between the posts or pillars. Ordinarily a rod or bar 16^a is passed through the platform and through apertures in the posts or pillars near the up- 65 per ends thereof, as shown in Fig. 3. The platform 15 ispivoted betweenits centerand rear end and is of sufficient length to extend over and beyond the forward eud of the base. The movement of the platform is limited by 70 attaching cords 16 or their equivalents to the front and rear ends, and also to the front and rear ends of the base. A chair 17 is adjustably secured upon the platform back of its fulcrum, and the adjustment is usually ef- 75 fected by producing in the platform at or near its rear end a longitudinal slot 18 and providing the chair-bottom with an attached bolt 19, extending downward through the slot, the lower end of the bolt being provided 80 with a wing-nut 20 or similar device, as is best illustrated in Fig. 1. By rendering the chair adj ustable upon the platform it may be moved forward or rearward to accommodate persons of different weight, it being necessary 85 to so adjust the chair that the major portion of the weight of the body will be at the rear of the fulcrum of the platform. A slot 21 is produced in the platform at or near its forward end, and in said slot two friction-pul- 90 leys 22 and 23 are pivoted, one in front of the other. One end of a rope 24 is secured to the bottom of the platform between its fulcrum and forward end, which rope is passed over a friction-pulley 25, located upon the forward 95 end of the base, and is from thence carried upward through the slot 21 over the pulley 23 and downward and upward over the forward pulley 22 and through a guide-staple 26 or like device secured to the upper face of too the platform. The upper end of the rope or cord 24 is preferably secured in an aperture 27, produced diametrically in a ball 28, the said ball being also provided with an essen459,88^ δ

tially U-shaped bore or aperture 29, as illustrated in Fig. 5. A rope 30 is passed through the aperture 29 in the ball in such a manner that the ends of the rope may be grasped by 5 the hands of the occupant of the chair or seat 17, as shown in Fig. 1, the ball 28 constituting the coupling between the two ropes. Beneath the fulcrum of the platform 15 a footrest 31 is pivoted at its ends in the posts or io pillars 10.

In operation, when a person is seated in the chair 17 and after said chair has been properly adjusted by grasping the ends of the rope 30 and pulling the same backward, the for15 ward end of the platform is drawn downward until the rear check-rope 16 is straightened out taut, and by drawing the platform downward the occupant of the chair virtually lifts an amount corresponding practically to the 20 weight of his body. By releasing the rope 30 and ceasing to draw upon the rope 24 and leaning backward in the chair the occupant of said chair will restore the platform to its normal or horizontal position. By this opera25 tion of drawing down the forward end of the platform and again bringing the platform upward either to a horizontal position or tilting the forward end upward the various muscles of the body are brought into action and are 30 greatly benefited thereby, while considerable enjoyment is likewise afforded to children or to young persons in operating the device. The pivoted foot-rest 31 also aids in exercising the muscles, as when the operator leans 35 backward considerable pressure may be exerted upon the back of the chair and upon the rest. The back of the chair is preferably made removable from its bottom. When the device is to be packed for transportation or 40 storage, by removing the bolt 11 the posts or pillars 10 may be removed from the base, and by withdrawing the pivot-bolt 16 from the pillars the pillars are disconnected, and the chair may be disengaged from the platform 45 by removing the nut from its bolt 19. Thus the several parts may be placed in the base and a flat package readily made.