EP1575826A1

EP1575826A1 - Safety system for hook and ring combination connection device

Info

Publication number: EP1575826A1
Application number: EP03782674A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Raymondo Tonelli
Original assignee: Sea Sure Ltd
Current assignee: Sea Sure Ltd
Priority date: 2002-12-27
Filing date: 2003-12-22
Publication date: 2005-09-21
Also published as: GB2396654A; AU2003290315A1; WO2004058563A1; GB2396654B; GB0230190D0

Abstract

A safety device, for use with a hook (12) adapted to be engaged in a ring (14) so as to connect together two structures, one (13) attached to the hook and the other (7) attached to the ring, comprises two connector members (41, 31) located between the hook (12) and ring (14) combination and a first one of the structures (13), a removable locking member (43) adapted to lock together the two connector members (41, 31), and means (47, 48) for disengaging the locking member (43) from the two connector members (41, 31) so as to interrupt the connection between the first one of the structures (13) and the hook and ring combination.

Description

SAFETY SYSTEM FOR HOOK AND RING COMBINATION CONNECTION DEVICE

The present invention relates to a safety device for use with a hook adapted to be engaged in a ring or similar unit so as to connect together two structures, one attached to the hook and the other attached to the ring.

The invention has a particular application in which the ring is secured to a wire attached to the mast or other part of a sailboat, and known as a trapeze wire. In use, a sailor wears a harness to which the hook is secured. In order to attach himself to the trapeze wire so as to use his weight to balance the boat against the force of the wind on the sails of the boat, the sailor engages he hook in the ring so as to support himself from the mast and leans away from the mast. To detach himself from the trapeze wire and the mast, when desired, the sailor has to disengage the hook from within the ring. This operation is not easy when the tension on the hook from the wire is great, or the sailor is in the water, or the wire has become entangled with other parts of the boat.

The object of the invention is to provide a safety device for the hook and ring combination connection device which enables the hook and ring to be disengaged relatively easily and quickly.

According to the present invention the safety device comprises two connector members located between the hook and ring combination and a first one of the structures, a disengagable locking member adapted to lock together the two connector members, and means for disengaging the locking member from the two connector members so as to interrupt the connection between the first one of the structures and the hook and ring combination.

According to one embodiment of the invention the hook is formed with a cylindrical rod which is adapted to engage inside a cylindrical collar attached to a harness. The rod and the collar form two connector members. The rod can be retained in the collar by means of a pin which forms a disengagable locking member and is adapted to pass through a first hole in one side of the collar, through a second hole in the rod and through a third hole in the opposite side of the collar. When the pin is engaged in the three holes, the rod and the hook are securely attached to the collar and the harness.

A sailor wearing the harness can connect himself to a ring attached to a trapeze wire by engaging the hook in the ring. If the sailor wants to disengage the hook rapidly from within the ring on the trapeze wire, he pulls a rope attached to the pin so that the pin is withdrawn from within the three holes. This allows the hook and the rod to move away from the collar and the harness under any tension provided by the wire and the ring. The rod will no longer be secured within the^'cόllar and the tension on the hook from the ring and the trapeze wire will cease. The hook can then easily be disengaged from the ring by the sailor or will disengage itself from the ring automatically.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood an embodiment will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a sailboat with a sailor supported on , a wire from the mast of the boat,

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic end view of the boat illustrated in Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic side view of the sailor wearing a harness with a hook which can be attached to a ring on the wire illustrated in Figures 1 and 2,

Figure 4 is a side view on a larger scale of part of the harness illustrated in Figure 3 showing the hook attached to the ring,

Figure 5 is a front view on a larger scale of the harness illustrated in Figures 3 and 4,

Figure 6 is a side view on a larger scale of the hook illustrated in Figures 3, 4 and 5, Figure 7 is a side view of the hook located in a collar forming part of one embodiment of the invention,

Figure 8 is a side view in section of the collar illustrated in Figure 7,

Figure 9 is a plan view in section of the collar illustrated in Figure 7,

Figure 10 is a side view of a locking pin for use with the hook and the collar illustrated in Figures 7, 8 ands 9,

Figure 11 is an end view on a larger scale of the collar illustrated in Figures 7, 8 and 9 with the locking pin illustrated in Figure 10, and «

Figure 12 is a plan view of a pocket in the harness illustrated in Figure 5 adapted to house the locking pin illustrated in Figures 10 and 11.

With reference to Figures 1 and 2 a sailboat 1 has a hull 2 and a mast 3, and two sails 4, 5. A sailor 6 in the boat can be attached by a trapeze wire 7 to a point near the top of the mast 3 and, by leaning out away from the mast 3, the sailor can balance the boat using his weight as indicated by the arrow 8 in Figure 2 against the force of the wind on the sails indicated by the arrow 9 in Figure 2.

With reference to Figure 3 the sailor 6 can wear a harness 11 to which is attached a hook 12. As illustrated in Figure 4, the hook 12 is mounted on a plate 13 adapted to be secured to the harness 11 (see Figure 5 below). The hook is adapted to be inserted into a ring 14 attached to the trapeze wire 7. As further illustrated in Figure 4, the tension from the trapeze wire 7 tends to pull the ring 14 into the inner curve 15 of the hook 12. When the sailor 6 wants to disconnect himself from the trapeze wire 7, he has to pull the hook 12 upward relative to the ring 14 or pull the ring 14 downward relative to the hook 12, as viewed in Figure 4. This operation can be difficult and time consuming if the tension on the wire 7 is great, or the wire 7 has become entangled with other parts of the boat 1 , or the sailor is immersed in the water. With reference to Figure 5 the harness comprises a pair of shorts 21 attached to a back portion 22 with shoulder straps 23 to secure the harness to the sailor. The plate 13 is mounted inside the front part of the shorts 21 with the hook 12 extending through a hole 14 in the front of the shorts. The plate 13 is shown in phantom in Figure 5. A pocket 24 is formed on the front surface of the shorts 21 (see below with reference to Figure 12).

A safety device embodying the invention is illustrated in Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. As shown in Figure 6 a cylindrical rod 41 extends from the hook 12 and is formed with a transverse hole 42. As shown in Figures 7, 8, and 9 a cylindrical collar 31 is attached to the plate 13. The collar 31 has a cyfinέlrical inner surface 32 and two holes 33,34 of equal diameter which extend- transversely through the walls of the collar 31 on opposite sides of the collar as shown in Figure 9. Hole 33 is shown in Figure 8 and hole 34 is shown in Figure 7. The outer diameter of the cylindrical rod 41 extending from the hook 12 is slightly less than the diameter of the inner surface 32 of the collar 31. The diameter of the hole 42 in the cylindrical rod 41 extending from 41 the hook 12 is substantially the same as the diameters of the holes 33, 34 in the collar 31. The cylindrical rod 41 and the collar 31 form two connector members.

Figure 10 illustrates a locking pin 43 adapted to cooperate with the collar 31 and the cylindrical rod 41 extending from the hook 12 so a to form a disengagable locking member adapted to lock together the collar 31 and the rod 41 (the connector members). The locking pin 43 has an end portion 44 of diameter slightly less than the diameters of the holes 33, 34 in the collar 31 and the hole 42 in the cylindrical rod 41. The pin 43 has a generally U-shaped body 45 which terminates in a hook 46. A ring 47 is attached to the body 45 by a wire 48.

As illustrated in Figure 11 , if the end 44 of the locking pin 43 is inserted through the holes 33, 34 so that the body 45 extends around the outside of the collar 31 , the hook 46 engages with the outer surface of the collar 31 thereby securing the pin 43 in the holes 33, 34. If the cylindrical rod 41 extending from the hook 12 is inserted into the collar 31 (with the locking pin 43 absent as illustrated in Figure 7) and positioned so that the hole 42 in the cylindrical rod 41 is aligned with the holes 33, 34 in the collar 31, then the end 44 of the locking pin 43 can be inserted in through the hole 34, through the hole

42 and out through the hole 33. The pin 43 thereby locks the cylindrical rod 41 in the collar 32 and secures the hook 12 to the plate 13 attached to the harness 11. If the hook 12 is then engaged in the ring 14 the harness, and a sailor wearing the harness will be attached to the ring 14 and thereby to the trapeze wire 7.

Figure 12 illustrates a structure for storing the ring 47 and the wire 48 so that the pin

43 will not be disengaged from the collar 31 inadvertently. The structure comprises a generally rectangular flap of material 51 formed atone edge with two arms 52, 53 attached permanently (by stitching for example) to the front of the shorts 21 of the harness 1 adjacent to the collar 31. The opposite edge 57 of the flap 51 is attached to the front of the shorts 21 by a Velcro (RTM) temporary fastener system (or similar temporary fastener system) so that the edge 57 can be raised from contact with the shorts 21 when required. A loop of string 58 is attached to the edge 57.

The operation of the safety device described above is as follows. When the locking pin 43 is engaged in the collar 31 as described above, the sailor wearing the harness 11 pulls the loop of string 58 so the edge 57 of the flap 51 is raised clear of the front of the harness 11. The sailor then pushes the ring 47 and the adjacent portion of the wire 48 between the arms 52, 53 so that the ring 47 lies under the flap 51. The sailor then reattaches the edge 57 to the front of the harness using the Velcro (RTM) fastening system. The safety device is then ready for use.

In an emergency or to save time, in order to remove the hook 12 quickly from engagement in the ring 14, the safety device described above is used as follows.

The sailor wearing the harness 12 pulls on the loop 58 to raise the flap 57 and expose the ring 47, takes hold of the ring 47 attached to the wire 48 leading to the locking pin 43 and pulls it hard. The locking pin 43 is immediately pulled out of the holes 33, 34, and 42. The cylindrical rod 41 extending from of the hook 12 is then free in the collar 31. Any tension on the trapeze wire 7 will be transmitted to the ring

14 and to the hook 12. As a result the hook 12 and the rod 41 will be pulled out of the collar 31 and the sailor will no longer be subjected to the tension on the trapeze wire 7.

If the sailor can recover the hook 12 , or has a spare hook, he can reconnect himself to the trapeze wire 7 by inserting the cylindrical rod 41 extending from the hook 12 into the collar 31 and reinserting the locking pin 43 into the holes 33, 34 and 42 and then re-engaging the hook 12 in the ring 14.

It will be appreciated that, in the embodiment of the invention described above, the cylindrical rod 41 and the collar 31 form two connector members which connect the hook 12 to the plate 13 and the harness 21. The locking piή^"^3 forms a disengagable locking member which is adapted to lock together the two connector members. The ring 47 and the wire 48 together form means for disengaging the locking member from the connector members so as to interrupt the connection between the hook 1 and the plate 31 and the harness 21.

In a practical embodiment of the safety device described above some of the components had the following dimensions:

Plate 13 - thickness 3 mm

Collar 31 - inner diameter approx. 8 mm

- length 1 cm

Rod 41 - outer diameter approx. 8 mm

- length 2 cm

The clearance between the inner surface of the collar 31 and the outer surface of the rod 41 was approx. 0.1 mm

Holes 33, 34 - diameter approx. 3 mm

Hole 42 - diameter approx. 3 mm

Locking pin 43 - outer diameter approx. 3 mm

The clearance between the outer surface of the locking pin 43 and the inner surfaces of the holes 33, 34 and 42 was approx. 0.05 mm The hook 12, the ring 14, the collar 31 , the plate 13, and the locking pin 43 were all made of stainless steel.

While the invention a been described herein in use with a harness for attaching a sailor to a trapeze wire on a sailboat, the invention could also be used with a harness for attaching a sailor to the boom of a windsurfer or sailboard, or with a harness for attaching to a kite a sailor standing on a surfboard as in the water sport known a kite surfing or kite boarding.

Claims

. A safety device, for use with a hook (12) adapted to be engaged in a ring (14) so as to connect together two structures, one (13) attached to the hook and the other (7) attached to the ring, comprising two connector members (41, 31) located between the hook (12) and ring (14) combination and a first one of the structures (13), a removable locking member (43) adapted to lock together the two connector members (41, 31), and means (47, 48) for disengaging the locking member (43) from the two connector members (41, 31) so as to interrupt the connection between the first one of the structures (13) and the hook and ring combination.

2. A safety device as claimed in Claim 1 in which the connector members (41, 31) are each formed with a hole (42, 33, 34) and the locking member (43) comprises a locking pin (44) adapted to be positioned in the holes so as to lock the two connector members (41, 31) together.

3. A safety device as claimed in Claim 2 in which one of the connector members comprises a collar (31) defining a cylindrical chamber formed with two transverse holes (33, 34), the other connector member comprises a cylindrical rod (41) adapted to be inserted in the cylindrical chamber and formed with one transverse hole (42), and the locking pin (43) is adapted to engage in the three holes (42, 33, 34)

4. A safety device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the locking pin (44) is adapted to be disengaged from the connecting members manually.

5. A safety device as claimed in Claim 4 further comprising a wire 48 attached to the locking pin (44) and adapted to be pulled so as to disengage the locking pin (44) from within the holes (42, 33, 34),

6. A safety device for use with a hook adapted to be engaged in a ring so as to connect together two structures, one attached to the hook and the other attached to the ring, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.