GB2501935A

GB2501935A - Magnetic lanyard coupling arrangement

Info

Publication number: GB2501935A
Application number: GB1208316.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Craig Swallow
Original assignee: Connexion2 Ltd
Current assignee: Connexion2 Ltd
Priority date: 2012-05-11
Filing date: 2012-05-11
Publication date: 2013-11-13
Also published as: GB2549212B; GB201708437D0; GB2549212A; GB201208316D0

Abstract

A lanyard coupling arrangement 100 comprises a female element 110 for receiving a corresponding male element 120; the male element 120 and female element 110 each comprise magnetic components 115, 125 with opposite polarity to one another to attract the respective male 120 and female 110 elements together when the male element 120 is inserted into the corresponding female element 110. The male 120 and female 110 elements are preferably connected to circuitry to determine coupling or decoupling of the arrangement and the coupling may be used to connect an identity card to a lanyard.

Description

A lanyard coupling arrangement The technical field relates to a lanyard coupling arrangement.

Background of the Invention

In environments such as hospitals, schools, constniction sites, etc, those present on site are required to wear identity cards to show they are authorised to be there. Such identity cards are typically worn about a person's neck by way of a lanyard. The lanyard is coupled to the identity card/identity card holder by way of a lanyard coupling arrangement.

Some lanyards use robust clips fbr connection to the lanyard. These clips do not disengage from holders easily under stress. This is not desirable %r personnel that may encounter violence (e.g. security or hospital personnel), where the identity card may be pulled and the lanyard could therefbre present a choking risk to the wearer. Some lanyard coupling arrangements try to address this by providing breakaway/tearaway lanyard coupling arrangements that will permit decoupling of the identity card/holder fivm the lanyard upon exertion of a certain amount of fbrce. Figures Ia and lb show these types of breakaway/tearaway clips. These show plastic clips in a pincer arrangement, where the two arms flex inwards to enter into a cavity in an identity card holder. The outward bias of the arms hold them in place and themby keep the card holder engaged with the lanyard. If a certain amount of fbrce is applied downwards, the arms flex inwards and the card holder is released fix,m being held by the clip. One clip is provided on each end of the lanyard so as to cause complete breakaway of the lanyard upon force being applied to the lanyard.

A problem with these clips is they are not robust and are prone to breaking after a few uses, or weakening with use so that very little fbrce is needed to cause a decoupling. This is undesirable, particularly in cases where disconnection of the lanyard causes a signal to be transmitted, e.g. a signal that indicates someone has caused decoupling of the card holder from the lanyard. Such signalling arrangements help to serve as safety detection circuits.

Summary of the Invention

In one aspect described herein, there is provided a lanyard coupling arrangement which comprises a female element for receiving a corresponding male element and a male element for insertion into the corresponding female element. The male element and female element each comprise magnetic components with opposite polarity to one another to attract the respective male and female elements together when the male element is inserted into the corresponding female element.

This allows a reliable consistent connection between a lanyard and (for example) an identity card holder, as there is no dependence on mechanical flexing like the way that the prior art does, i.e. does not suffer mechanical fatigue due to such flexings. The breakaway/tearaway force can be controlled at least in part by the magnitude of the magnetic field strength.

Figures Figures Ia and lb show a schematic illustration of a prior art coupling arrangement.

Figures 2a and 2b show a schematic of a cross-section of first embodiment of a lanyard

coupling arrangement of the present disclosure.

Figures 3a and 3b show how the first embodiment works in a given scenario.

Figures 4a and 4b show a schematic of a cross-section of another embodiment of the present

disclosure.

Figures 5a and 5b show a schematic of a cross-section of another embodiment of the present

disclosure.

Specific Description

We will now describe a first embodiment of a lanyard coupling arrangement 100 with reference to Figure 2a. Figure 2a shows a female clement 110 for receiving corresponding male element 120. The female element 110 in this example is shaped like a collar for receiving the cylindrically shaped male element 120 therein. Other examples may have differently shaped male and female elements, as it will be appreciated that the shape of the male and female elements arc not restricted to any one shape, but that any shapes can be used as long as there is some complementary shape between the respective elements.

The male element 120 has a lanyard connection point 130 for connection to a lanyard. The underside of the frmale element 110 can be affixed to or installed an identity card holder or other device for wearing around a user's neck (or other body part). Of course, in another example the female element 110 could comprise the connection point 130 and it could be the male element 120 that is affixed to or installed into such a device.

The interior of the female element 110 comprises a magnetic component 115 (e.g. a permanent magnet) with the North polarity facing upwardly. The bottom thee of thc male clement 120 also comprises a magnctic component 125 with the South polarity fitcing downwardly. This means that when the male element 120 is inserted into the female element 110, the opposite polarities of the magnetic components 115, 125 attract one another so that the respective male and female elements 110, 120 are brought together.

Of course, depending on the strength of the magnetic component 115, 125, the male element can be brought within proximity of the interior of the female element and the magnetic attraction between the magnetic components 115, 125 can result in the coupling arrangement being brought together.

It will be appreciated that the polarities of the magnetic components 115,125 given above are examples, and other arrangements are possible. What matters is that the male and kmale elements 120, 110 cxpcrience, by way of the magnetic components, a prcdctennincd coupling force to hold the respective elements 110, 120 together until that predetermined coupling force is met or exceeded by an opposing force, at which point the coupling arrangement decouples.

This is shown in Figures 3a and 3b. The lanyard coupling arrangement 100 is provided a pair of female elements 110 on two sides of an identity card holder 140 and two corresponding male elements 120 as part of a lanyard 150. As described above, the magnetic elements 115, of the respective elements 110, 120 magnetically couple the lanyard 150 to the card holder 140 via the coupling arrangement. The magnetic field strength provides a coupling force F' to counteract an opposing decoupling force F (can be considered a brcakaway/tearaway force F). However, once the opposing force F equals or exceeds F' (as provided by the magnetic components) the identity card 150 will decouple from the coupling arrangement 100. Thc coupling arrangcment 100 can be recoupled anytime after.

In the example of hospital or security staff wearing lanyards and identity cards, this means that the lanyard coupling arrangement 100 will remain attached to the identity card holder when no-one pulls on it, or even if the wearer lightly pulls on it (e.g. for an ID inspection). However, if the pulling force F equals/exceeds the attractive force F' then the lanyard will decouple and eliminate the choking risk, e.g. even if a patient/offender yanks on their identity card, the lanyard coupling arrangement 100 will decouple. All these advantages are providcd without mcchanically flcxing parts being necessary. This increases longevity of such arrangements and the consistency of use over time, as the attractive force will not weaken due to mechanical fatigue in the way that prior art clips do.

It will be appreciated that a single male/female coupling arrangement could be provided for a lanyard/card holder setup, because the card holder should no longer present a choking risk provided that at least one side of the card holder decouples from the lanyard.

Figures 4a and 4b show another example of a lanyard coupling arrangement 200, which is the same as that of Figures 2a and 2b except that the male element 220 and female 210 are profiled with a friction fit profile 260 so that when the male element 220 is inserted into the corresponding female element 210 then the coupling arrangement is coupled together with additional force via a friction fit therebetween. In this example, the male element 220 in particular has a rubber material (e.g. elastic polymer) provided on its surface so that, when inserted into the female element 210, it resists disengagement by virtue of the increased friction of the rubber surface on the interior of the female element 210. The rubberised surface can also have some elastic properties to increase the amount of interior friction between the male and female elements 220, 210 when the two are coupled together. In another example, the male element 220 can be oversized relative to the female element 210 to provide the friction fit profile 260.

The skilled person will appreciate that the configuration of the friction fit profile of the respective male/female elements (e.g. shape, size, relative fit, materials used, ete) will affect the additional force resisting decoupling that the friction fit provides.

In particular, the profile of the male/female elements 110/120 can be used to configure a particular lanyard coupling arrangement to have a tailored or predetermined tearaway force.

For example, lanyard coupling arrangement 100 and lanyard coupling arrangement 200 can utilise the same magnetic components 115, 125/215, 225 as each other, thereby having the same attractive force as each other, but the rubber profile and tight fit of lanyard coupling arrangement 200 will mean that a greater force F would need to be applied to overcome the resistive force F' provided by the lanyard coupling arrangement 200.

Figures Sa and Sb show another example of coupling arrangement (now 300) which is the same as that of Figures 4a and 4b (though could be the same as that of Figures 2a and 2b), except that the male element 320 comprises a keyed exterior profile 370 complementary to the interior profile of the corresponding female element 375 to allow for reversible lockable insertion of the male element into the corresponding female element 310. These keyed profiles 370, 375 can be provided as part of the housing of the respective male/female elements 320/310, or as part of the magnetic components 315, 325 of the male/female elements. In any case, the keyed profiles 370, 375 help to ensure that the correct angle of insertion is used, which is particularly advantageous if correct and consistent alignment of the lanyard coupling arrangement 300 is needed, e.g. if the lanyard connection forms part of a circuit. In this example the keyed profiles define a half-height quarter portion of a the cylindrical volume that the male and female elements 310/320 couple within, however the skilled person will appreciate that different shapes and volumes can be defined to provide the keyed profiles 370, 375.

The maguetic elements can also be used as part of such a circuit to indicate connection or disconnection. For example, such magnet types could be permanent neodymium magnets. A skilled person will appreciate that the magnetic field strength associated with a given magnetic component can be varied by the dimensions (e.g. length, width, height, etc) of that component.

The lanyard coupling arrangement 100-300 can be provided just as a lanyard coupling arrangement in isolation, or provided as part of a lanyard already made/attached to such coupling arrangements. Of course, the counterpart item to be attached to the lanyard must comprise either the male or female elements. While it is intended that the male elements are provided on the lanyard and the female elements on the item to be suspended by the lanyard, the skilled person will appreciate that it could be done the other way around and the same result can be provided. Thc keyed profiles can aw be provided with the friction fit aspect Other examples of the coupling arrangement can be substantially as shown in any of Figures 2a-5b.

It will be appreciated that various features fmm some embodiments described above can be combined with other embodiments without departing from the scope of the present

disclosure.

Claims

Claims 1. A lanyard coupling arrangement comprising: a female element for receiving a corresponding male element; and a male element for insertion into the corresponding female element, wherein the male clement and female clement each comprise magnetic components with opposite polarity to one another to attract the respective male and female elements together when the male element is inserted into the corresponding female element.
2. Thc lanyard coupling arrangement of claim 1, wherein thc male clement comprises a keyed exterior proffle complementary to the interior profile of the corresponding female element to allow for reversible lockable insertion of the male element into the corresponding female element.
3. The lanyard coupling arrangement of any preceding claim, wherein the male and female elements are profiled to provide a friction fit when the male element is inserted into the corresponding female element.
4. The lanyard coupling arrangement of any preceding claim, wherein the magnetic components are connected to circuitry for determining coupling/decoupling of the arrangement.
5. A lanyard comprising the male/female elements of claim 1 for connection with corresponding female/male elements of a corresponding device to allow wearing of the device by the lanyard.
6. An identity card holder comprising the female/male elements of claim 1 for connection with corresponding male/female elements of a corresponding lanyard to allow wearing of the device by the lanyard.
7. A lanyard coupling arrangement substantially as shown in any of Figures 2a-5b.