Apparatus for initially positioning a weight lifting handle

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention provides a starting positioning apparatus which enables the user of a weight lifting apparatus to selectively position the handle, bar or other manually engageable weight lifting device at essentially any starting position along the path of travel of the handle, bar or the like and not simply at one of a relatively few number of discrete grossly distanced positions.
In accordance with the invention therefore there is provided in a weight lifting machine having a manually engageable mechanism which is movable along a predetermined path of movement wherein the manually engageable mechanism is interconnected to a weight mechanism which resists movement of the manually engageable mechanism in at least one direction along the predetermined path of movement, an apparatus for positioning the manually engageable mechanism in a selected initial or starting position along the path movement without weight resistance, the apparatus comprising: an elongated rod having a mesh mechanism on a surface of the rod and a sleeve having a mesh mechanism receivably interlockable with the mesh mechanism of the rod; one of the rod and the sleeve being interconnected to the manually engageable mechanism and movable in unison with movement of the manually engageable mechanism; the other of the rod and the sleeve being connected to the weight mechanism; the mesh mechanisms of the rod and the sleeve being reversibly interlockable and unlockable such that the rod and the sleeve move in unison with each other when interlocked and such that the manually engageable mechanism is freely movable through its predetermined path of movement without weight resistance when the rod and the sleeve are unlocked from each other.
The weight mechanism preferably comprises a weight stack having a plurality of discrete weight elements selectively interconnectable to one of the rod and the sleeve.
The mesh mechanisms of the rod and the sleeve are preferably constantly biased into lockable engagement with each other by a spring mechanism