The abstract of United States Patent No. 6,368,227, filed by Steven Olson of St Paul, Minnesota on November 17, 2000 and approved April 9, 2002:

I claim:

1. A method of swinging on a swing, the method comprising the steps of:

   1. suspending a seat for supporting a user between only two chains that are hung from a tree branch;

   2. positioning a user on the seat so that the user is facing a direction perpendicular to the tree branch;

      

   3. having the user pull alternately on one chain to induce movement of the user and the swing toward one side, and then on the other chain to induce movement of the user and the swing toward the other side; and

   4. repeating step (c) to create side-to-side swinging motion, relative to the user, that is parallel to the tree branch.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is practiced independently by the user to create the side-to-side motion from an initial dead stop.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the step of:

   5. inducing a component of forward and back motion into the swinging motion, resulting in a swinging path that is generally shaped as an oval.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the magnitude of the component of forward and back motion is less than the component of side-to-side motion.

[Ed.: Patent No. 5,443,036 covers any use of the beam of light from a laser pointer to excite cats into physical exercise. Likewise, Patent No. 6,360,693 is for a stick for a dog to fetch. Patent No. 6,293,874 describes a contraption with which you can kick yourself in the behind.]

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