IL35890A - Quick-release connecting device for a parachute harness - Google Patents

Description

35890/2 fti'jn nasa nan» naty iia n τ nn Quick-release connecting device for a parachut© Iiarness F-TUDSS Τ FABRICATIONS AEROKAUTIQtTES C/ 34050 4 The present invention relates to parachute harnesses provided with two pairs of straps each of which has a chest strap and a thigh strap and, more particularly, to quick-release connecting devices which permit the interconnection of the two straps of each pair of straps and the two pairs of straps while enabling the parachutist, as soon as he reaches the ground, to rapidly remove the harness so as to avoid risk of being dragged along by the canopy or canopies.

In known harnesses, the four aforementioned straps are interconnected, that is to say, the harness is "closed" : - at a central point on the chest of the parachutist, which excludes the possibility of unhooking and thus a rapid "opening" of the harness each time the front of the trunk of the parachutist is encumbered, which is the case in particular when the parachutist has a stomach safety parachute pack; - or at several points by connecting means which are independent of each other, in which case the parachutist has to accomplish as many successive operations as there are connecting points; - or at two points each of which corresponds to the connection of the two straps of one or the other of the pairs of the straps, a rigid bar permanently fixed to one of the chest straps at one of these two points interconnecting, in the active position, the two points and being held stationary in this active position 35890 2 experience some difficulty in putting the harness on.

The object of the invention is to Bimplify the operations and in particular the putting on and the attachment of the parachute on the body of the parachutist.

The invention provides a quick release connecting _ , ,of the kind in which the har device for a parachute harness/comprises two pairs of straps, each of which includes a chest and a thigh strap, and having a bar provided with means locking it in an operative position, characterized in that it comprises two hooking devices, one for each pair of straps, each device being formed of two parts respectively connected to a chest strap and a thigh strap, and which are adapted to permit hooking the latter to the former, said bar being permanently pivoted to the part of one of the hooking devices fixed to one of the chest straps, and so adapted that, in its operative position folded against the other hooking device, it locks each of the hooking devices in the hooking condition^ The present invention provides an improvement of the quick release fastening device disclosed in the specification of U.S. patent No 3 115 321.

In the latter device, the bar is not pivoted on one of the chest strap and a separate half ring must be used and attached by means of a flexible cable for preventing it being lost.

Moreover, the thigh straps of the known device are each provided with an end loop through which extends the bar. There is therefor no instantaneous total releasing of all the straps upon opening of the device. In contrast thereof, the present device allows an instantaneous separation of both the thigh straps from the chest straps.

According to one embodiment of the invention, each hooking device comprises a loop element which is permanently fixed to the corresponding chest strap and provided with a stud, whereas the part integral with the thigh strap is constituted by a tongue member having an aperture engageable on the corresponding stud, the bar being pivoted to one of the loop elements and covering in the operative folded position, said two tongue members engaged on their respective studs.

With the arrangement according to t he invention, it is sufficient for the parachutist , in order to remove hi-r back parachute, and possibly his stomach parachute, to unlock the bar which automatically swings about its pivot point on one of the hooking devices under the effect of its own weight assisted, as the case may be, by the weight of the stomach parachute pack which can be directly fixed to this bar and consequently the two hooking devices are unlocked, the thigh straps are released from the chest straps and the harness is completely opened.

Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the ensuing description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings : Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic front view of a harness equipped with the device according to the invention, the assembly being shown in the closed and buckled harness position; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, the assembly being shown in the open harness position; Fig. 3 is a downward front view of the assembly of the connecting device; Figs. 4 and 5 are vertical sectional views taken along lines 4-4 and 5-5 respectively of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a plan view of the device with a part cut away, and Fig. 7 is a partial plan view of the connecting device after the unlocking and the withdrawal of the bar to the inoperative position. to the invention is shown as applied i.o a harness H of known type which is adapted to secure to the back of the parachutist the pack Sd of a back parachute, only the pupper part of which is shown in Fig. 1. A container Sv containing a stomach parachute can be, if desired, H hooked to the harness/after the latter has been "closed" by the connecting device L.

This harness H comprises in the known manner two chest straps and and two thigh straps and S^, the four straps being adapted to be interconnected, first, in each pair of straps, that is to say, the strap must be connected to the strap and the strap to the strap S2 and, secondly, by the interconnection of the two pairs of straps.

The three connections are achieved by the device L which has seven parts : Two parts A and B constituting a first hooking device for interconnecting the chest strap and thigh strap Two other parts C and D respectively fixed to the chest strap S2 and to the thigh strap and constituting a second device interhooking these two straps A rigid bar E for locking, in an operative position of the bar (Figs. 1, 3 and 6) , the two hooking devices A-B and C-D in their hooking positions and interconnecting the two hooking devices.

A device F for locking the bar E in the operative position for locking the hooking devices; 4 Each of these seven parts will now be described in detail.

The part A of the device for interhooking the straps and (Figs. 3, 4, 6 and 7) is constituted by a loop in the form of a flat-shaped ring having two strips 1 and 2 interconnected at one end by an eye 3 and at the other end by a cross-member 4 which comprises and a nose portion 5/projects from the strip 2. On an outer curved face of the nose portion 5 there is provided a locking notch 6 whose function will be explained hereinafter. The strip 2 has in its centre a cylindrical hooking stud 7. The part A is completed by a stop 8 connected to the bottom of the eye 3 and to the bottom of the cross-member 4 of the part A and adapted by contact with the lower end 9 of the strap , to limit the downward tilting of the part A by a rotation of the strip 1 in an eye 10 which surrounds it (Fig. 4) and is formed in the strap .

The part B, integral with the thigh strap S3, is adapted to engage on the stud 7 for hooking purposes.

The part B is constituted by a plate 11 constituting a tongue member. The tongue member 11 is provided with a transverse opening 12 for fixing it in a loop 13 of the strap and, near its free end, with an aperture 14 for engaging the hooking stud 7.

The parts C and D of the second hooking device (C-D) for interconnecting the straps S2 and are somewhat similarly designed. half-ring portion 17 which are laterally interconnected by transverse side portions 18 and 19 with which are integral two stops 20 and 21 adapted to perform a function similar to that of the stop 8 of the device A. The stop 21 comprises moreover two lateral wing portions 22 provided with apertures 23 whose function will be explained hereinafter. The strip 16 has a hooking stud 24 adapted to co-operate with the part D which is integral with the thigh strap and forms part of the hooking device interhooking the straps S2 and S^.

The part D is similar to the part B and a consists of tongue member 25 having an opening 26 for fixing it to the strap and an aperture 27 for engagement on the hooking stud 24.

The members 11 and 25 constituting the parts B and D of the two hooking devices are adapted to be locked on the respective studs 7 and 24 by the bar E when the latter is swung over to the operative position thereof/ shown in Figs. 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

The bar E comprises a longitudinal rigid tubular body 28 having an axial passage 29 counterbored at 30. The body 28 is extended in the part adjacent the strap Sj^ by an elongated buckle or loop portion 31 having an end cranked at 32 for its engagement in the eye 3 of the part A of the first hooking device. The bar E is therefore permanently pivoted to the chest strap .

Adjacent the loop portion 31/ the bar E has a first half-ring 32 contained in a plane perpendicular to the plane of loop portion 31 and extending forwardly when possible hooking by means of a snap-hook 34 of the stomach parachute pack Sv which another snap-hook 35 hooks to a second similar half-ring 36 provided at the other end of the bar E.

At this end of the bar E adapted to co-operate with the parts C and D for interhooking the straps S2 and S^, the body 28 terminates in a head portion which has two elongated parallel loop portions 37 and 38 which define, first, by their openings, a passage in a direction perpendicular to the parallel planes of these loop portions for the engagement in the latter of the half-ring 17 of the hooking part C (see Figs. 5 and 6) , and, secondly, an opening 39 perpendicular to the foregoing openings and formed between the two rings .

The head of the body 28 also comprises the aforementioned half-ring 36 for hooking the stomach parachute pack Sv.

The bar E is completed by a lock constituted by an axial rod 40 which is movable in the passage 29 and biased towards the right (as viewed in Figs. 3 and 6) by a spring 41 disposed in the counterbore 30 and bearing against a flange 42 on the rod 40 so as to cause the end of the rod to project and constitute a latch in the loop portion 31 / and engage the end of the rod (see Figs. 3 and 6) in the notch 5 which constitutes a keeper and is provided in the lateral side portion 4 of the part A of the first hooking device.

When the end of the rod 40 is engaged in the notch 5, its other end 43 hardly extends out of the bore 29 in the head of the bar and, in the operative engaged in the loop portions 37 and 38 of the bar, as shown in Fig. 6.

The part F adapted to lock the bar E with respect to the hooking device (C-D) comprises a member 44 of piano wire having a portion folded onto itself in the shape of a V and two cranked portions 45 (Fig. 3) adapted to be blocked in the head of the body of the bar E at the ends of the passage 39. At the rear, the member 44 terminates in two loops 46 whereby it is possible to exert a pressure with two fingers on the V-shaped member 44 so as to close it and facilitate its engagement in the head of the bar. For the purpose of extracting the member 44, there is hooked on the rear portion of the two branches of the member a stirrup 47 connected to a pulling tab 48.

The auxiliary lock G is constituted by an end 49 of a rigid band adapted to be passed through the end of the lock F and through the openings 23 of the stop 21 of the hooking part C. This band 49 is for example connected by an auxiliary band 50 to a part of the harness.

The connecting device L is employed in the following manner : To put the harness on, the parachutist must first hook strap to strap . For this purpose, he takes hold of the two straps in one hand and engages the aperture 14 of the tongue member 11 on the stud 7 of the part A and then swings over the bar E in such manner as to engage the end of the rod 40 constituting a latch device (A-B) is locked and the member 11 can no longer leave the stud 7 since the bar E bears hereagainst by its flattened loop portion 31.

When this has been done, the parachutist must interconnect the straps S2 and S^. He can use both hands for this and is not hindered by the bar E since, owing to the flexibility of the straps S.^ and S^, the head of the bar E can be moved sufficiently away from the parts C and D of the second hooking device (C-D) to avoid hindering the engagement of the aperture 27 of the tongue member 25 on the stud 24 of the part C. When this has been done, the tongue member 25 being maintained by one hand, the parachutist swings by means of the other hand the bar E onto the half-ring 17 of the part C which passes beyond the passage 39 formed between the two loop portions 37 and 38 of the head of the bar E.

The assembly can then be locked in this position by engagement of the V-shaped member 44 of the locking device in the passage 39, this member being for this purpose elastically gripped between two fingers of one hand by bearing on the loops 46. When engaged, it is merely necessary' to release the member 44 for it to be held stationary by the cranked portions 45.

In this position, the straps S2 and can no longer separate since the tongue member 25. is locked in position on tile stud 24 by the lower loop portion 27 of the bar, as can be clearly seen in Fig. 5. Further, the bar E cannot be moved away from the hooking device (C-D) since the lock F passes across the loop portion 37 of the the openings 23 in the part C of the hooking device and in the V-shaped member 44.

As soon as the parachutist lands, it is advisable that he be able to free himself from his back parachute and possibly from his stomach parachute as quickly as possible and in a very simple manner so as to avoid the danger of being dragged along the ground.

Consequently, he must almost immediately "open" the harness To achieve this, he has merely two very rapid operations to carry out, namely he first disengages the auxiliary safety lock G by pulling on the band 49 and then pulls away the locking device F by pulling on the tab 48, the V-shaped member 44 automatically resiliently closing so as to pass out of the head of the bar E.

As this bar is thus released or unlocked from the hooking device (C-D) , by the effect of the weight of the stomach parachute or by a slight action exerted on the bar E itself, the latter disengages from the half-ring 17 of the part C of the second hooking device (C-D) and the tongue member 25 leaves the stud 24. The two straps and are thus disconnected. However, thenceforth the' right end 45 of the rod 40 which was up till now locked in position by the half-ring 17, can be disengaged by moving towards the left, in opposition to the action of the spring 41 , so that under the effect of the weight of the stomach parachute or of the action exerted directly by the parachutist on the bar E, the latter is able to swing by the pivoting of its loop portion 32 in the eye 3, the bolt 40 leaving the. notch This member 11 leaves the stud 7 and the straps and S4 are thus disconnected. The four straps are therefore disconnected from each other and the parachutist is completely free^ from the harness and parachute or parachutes.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that the locking of the hooking device (C-D) and of the bar by the lock F is transmitted to the hooking device (A-B) by the rod 40 constituting a bolt and that the right unlocking automatically brings about the left unlocking.

The interest cf the device according to the invention will be easily understood. The device permits the locking of the harness at two distinct points on the right and on the left of the chest of the parachutist, there being required only a single operation on a single side to effect the unlocking plus the operation of the safety auxiliary locking means G, the transmission of the unlocking to the locking of the left being effected automatically by the device itself.

Briefly, the device permits the "opening" of the harness at a single point on the right side in the presentl described embodiment, whereas the locking is achieved at two points.

Note that the rod 40 transmitting the locking on the right to that on the left may be disposed outside the body 28 of the bar E. 35890/2 .

Claims (9)

1. CLAIMS 1.

2. A quick release connecting device for a parachute harness, of the kind in which the harness comprises two pairs of straps, each of which includes a chest and a thigh stra 9 and having a bar provided with means locking it in an operative position, characterized in that it comprises two hooking devices one for each pair of straps, each device being formed of two parts respectively connected to a chest strap and a thigh strap and which are adapted to permit hooking the latter to the ormer, said bar being permanently pivoted to the part of one of the hooking devices fixed to one of the chest straps, and so adapted that, in its operative position folded against the other hooking device* it locks each of the hooking devices , in the hooking condition. 2i A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein each hooking device comprises a loop element permanently fixed to the corresponding chest strap and provided with a stud, the part integral with th© thigh strap being constituted by a tongue member having an aperture engageable on thefcorrespondlng stud, the bar being pivoted to one of the loop elements, and, in the swung over operative position of thejbar, overlapping the two tongue members engaged on their respective studs.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2» wherein the bar is combined with means for locking the bar in the operative position on the two hooking devicesi

4. A device as claimed in claim 3» wherein the bar comprises a rigid tubular body in which is longitudinally slidable a locking rod which is biased by a spring and tends to engage one end constituting a latch in a notch constituting a keeper formed in the part of the hooking device to which the bar is permanently pivoted for locking one of the hooking the bar to said /devices in the operative position, said rod having such length that it then abuts the part of the other hooking device with which the bar is locked by known locking means.

5. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the bar carries hooking means for. hooking a stomach parachute pack.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5, wherein said hooking means comprise two half-rings integral with the bar.

7. A parachute harness having two pairs °f straps comprising a chest strap and a thigh strap provided with""": a connecting device according to any one of the claims" 1-6.

8. A quick-release connecting device for a parachute harness, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

9. A parachute harness, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings .