Constant Force Exercise Equipment

Constant-Force Y-Flex™ Exercise Equipment — This design combines constant force resistance, safety, versatility, compactness and lighter weight into one home fitness machine.

General Information

Y-Flex™ Constant-Force Exercise Equipment simulates the constant force of “free weights” in fitness equipment but without the weights. This machine replicates the benefit and “feel” of free weights without the hassle and danger of heavy weights. This equipment has several advantages over traditional free weights:

• Constant Force — professional motion and feel will appeal to occasional users as well as hard-core fitness enthusiasts
• Light — less weight to ship and easier for consumer to move
• Safe — the controlled motion of the resistance mechanism eliminates the need for a spotter and greatly reduces the chances of an accident, and therefore reduced manufacturer liability
• Simple — easy to use and not intimidating to new users

The Market

Home fitness equipment is a $3 billion a year market. The Y-Flex™ constant-force exercise machine has the competitive advantage of combining constant force, safety, versatility, compactness and lightweight in one machine. Current products can only provide one or two of these characteristics. The current market offerings are free weights, space/weight saving home gyms and stacked weight home gyms. Free weights are used by most serious lifters because of their constant force. Space/weight saving home gyms (Bowflex) are popular because they are lightweight, safe, and versatile in the kind of exercises that can be done. Most provide progressive resistance as it is difficult to simulate constant, continual resistance. Stacked weight gyms are safe and provide constant force but they are extremely heavy and have a large footprint.

Patent Information

Patent #7,060,012

The Inventors

Larry Howell, Mechanical Engineering Department, Brigham Young University
Spencer Magleby, Mechanical Engineering Department, Brigham Young University

Licensing Information