NZ193433A - Buckle for safety harness, keyhole slot type - Google Patents

Description

19343 NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT 195 3 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION AFTER PROVISIONAL NO; 193433 DATED: 14 April 1980 "BUCKLE FOR SAFETY HARNESS" I, ROBIN JOHN HEWITT a New Zealand Citizen of 1/11 Channell View Road, Campbells Bay, Auckland, New Zealand, do hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me and the method by which it is performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: 1 93433 This invention relates to buckles for safety harnesses, and has particular application to safety harnesses for use by yachtsmen.

Various types of buckles have been proposed for use with 5 restraint harnesses, whether for vehicle seat belts, or for safety harnesses for yachtsmen, climbers and the like, it is desirable that such buckles are readily fastenable, whilst the risk of accidental disengagement is minimised. This is particularly so for safety harnesses 10 for yachtsmen, climbers and the like, where they are connected to the harness by a safety rope as the harness may receive a severe jolt, in the event of the wearer falling.

It is an object of this invention to provide a buckle 15 for a safety harness,and/or a safety harness, which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.

In one aspect, the invention provides a buckle including a main member for attachment to a strap or straps, and a tongue protruding from said main member, 20 said tongue having an enlarged head at an angle to said main member.

In another aspect, the invention provides a buckle and • - 1 L»'rr ICE 1 93433- female member combination, wherein said buckle includes a main member for attachment to a strap or straps, and a tongue protruding from said main member, said tongue having an enlarged head at an angle to said main member; said female member having an aperture therethrough for reception of said tongue, said female aperture having a leading edge normal to the direction of pull of said buckle and a second dimension at an angle to said leading edge of length sufficient to allow insertion of said enlarged head into said female aperture.

In a further aspect, the invention provides a harness including a buckle and female member combination as recited in the preceding paragraph.

Other aspects of this invention, which should be considered in all its novel aspects, will become apparent from the following description, which is given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 illustrates a first safety harness incroporating a preferred buckle; Figure 2 illustrates the buckle of this invention; Figure 3 illustrates a partial section on line AA of Figure 2 showing the enlarged head; Figure 4 illustrates a preferred female member for use with the buckle of Figure 2; 193433 Figure 5 illustrates a second safety harness incorporating the buckle of this invention; Figure 6 illustrates a third safety harness incorporating the buckle of this invention.

A first safety harness 10 has a chest strap 11 and a pair of shoulder straps 12, 13 connected together. As shown, the chest strap 11 is in two portions and connected to a connecting plate 15. The connecting plate 15 can have a protruding loop 17 capable of receiving a rope, carabine or other fastening. The inside of this connecting member 15 is preferably flat, so as to fit against.the wearer's body, whilst the loop protrudes outwardly therefrom.

The rear ends of the shoulder straps 12,13 and the rear ends of the chest straps 11 are preferably connected to the connection plate 15 by passing through suitable apertures in the plate and folding back the ends of the straps so as to secure the folded over portion to the body of the straps, by stitching, gluing, or any other suitable means.

The front ends of the straps are connected to a buckle 21 and a female member 20., These, components are shown in more detail in Figures 2 to 4.

Turning now to Figures 2 and 3, the buckle 21 has a 193433 relatively narrow tongue 30 of width X protruding therefrom. The end 31 of the narrow tongue 3 0 is provided with an enlarged head 32. The enlarged head may be of any suitable shape, although it is preferred that the leading edge 3 3 thereof is rounded whilst the trailing edge 34 is substantially flat. The head 32 and a short portion of the tongue (equivalent to the thickness of the female member 2 0) are inclined at substantially right angles to the main member 21 of the buckle.

The enlarged head 32 may be provided with an aperture 3 6 for the reception of a rope, carabine or other fastener.

Turning now to Figure 4, the female member 20 has an aperture 22 for reception of the enlarged head of the buckle 21. This aperture 22 has a leading edge 23 at substantially right angles to the direction of pull on buckle 21, and of width corresponding to width X of the tongue 30.

The aperture 22 also has a secondary dimension at an angle to the leading edge 23 and of a length sufficient to enable the enlarged head 32 to be inserted in the aperture 22. As shown in Figure 4 this dimension 24 is conveniently provided by an edge of the aperture 22 which is triangular in shape. Other shapes of aperture are possible, e.g. dimension 24 could be the diagonal of 193433 rectangular aperture, or the aperture could be L-shaped or T-shaped as shown in Figure 5 and 6.

The secondary dimension 24 is preferably less than the full width Y of the enlarged head, so that the enlarged head has to be partly rotated as it is inserted in or removed from the aperture.

The female member 2 0 can also be provided with apertures 25,26 for reception of the straps 11,12.

In use, the enlarged head 32 can be passed through the female aperture 22 by aligning the buckle so that the trailing edge 34 is aligned with the secondary dimension 24 of the female aperture. The buckle is then rotated, so that the enlarged head can be partly passed through the aperture, and further rotation will allow the enlarged head to be completely passed through the aperture. The buckle is then moved so that the trailing edge 34 is aligned with the leading edge 23 of the aperture.

It will be appreciated that the buckle will now lie flat against the inside face of the female member 20, with the enlarged head 32 protruding through the aperture. The similar dimensions of the tongue 30 and the leading edge 23 of the aperture restrains the buckle from 193433 undue movement and any tendency to disengage. The direction of pull on the buckle imposed by the chest strap of the harness is such that the enlarged head will be pulled against the leading edge 23 of the female 5 aperture.

Similar considerations apply to the buckle and female member combinations shown in Figures 5 and 6. In this case, where the female member has a T-shaped slot, the enlarged head can be inserted through the relatively long 10 cross-slot of the T, and then pulled back towards the narrow leading edge of the slot.

In addition, the safety harness can be attached to a rope or carabiner by attaching it to the enlarged head 36, thereby locking the buckle in place, or by 15 . connection to the loop 17 of the connection plate 15 at the other side of the harness. It will be generally convenient to wear the harness with the connection plate 15 at the wearer's back, with the buckle 20, 21 at the front. This enables a user to wear the harness for 20 long periods and to quickly and easily connect a safety rope to either the front or the rear of the harness. It will be noted that if a rope is connected to the rear of the harness by way of loop 17, then if the wearer falls overboard, the load on the harness will assist in 25 locking the components of the buckle together. 193433 The buckle of this invention can be used in different harness arrangements, with or without the connection plate 15. For example, Figure 5 shows a modified harness in which the shoulder straps 12, 13 are connected directly to the chest strap 11. The ends of the shoulder straps 12, 13 being connected to the buckle. Figure 6 shows another embodiment, in which the shoulder straps 12, 13 are connected by way of loops 40, 41 to the chest strap adjacent the buckle components. If desired, the safety harness of this invention, can be worn with the buckle at the rear.thereof. This is particularly useful, where children are concerned, to prevent them from disengaging the buckle.

Whilst the buckle and harness of this invention are particularly suitable for yachting and marine applications, it will be appreciated that they can be used on other types of safety harness, where a quick release is not desirable. For example, they can be used as safety harnesses in forestry work, climbing and for steeplejacks, window cleaners or the like.

Finally it will be appreciated that various alterations and modifications may be made to the foregoing without departing from the scope of this invention as exemplified by the following claims.

Claims (16)

193433 - 9 - WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A buckle including a main member for attachment to strap or straps, and a tongue protruding from said main member, said tongue having enlarged head at an angle to said main member.

2. A buckle as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said enlarged head has a curved leading edge.

3. A buckle as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein said enlarged head has an aperture therethrough.

4. A buckle as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein the enlarged head is at substantially right angles to the main member.

5. A buckle as claimed in any preceding Claim in combination with a female member for attachment to a strap or straps, said female member having an aperture therethrough for reception of said tongue, said female aperture having a leading edge normal to the direction of pull of said buckle and commensurate in width to the width of the tongue and a second dimension at an angle to said leading edge of length sufficient to allow insertion of said enlarged head into said female aperture.

6. A buckle and female member as claimed in the 193433 - 10 - preceding Claim wherein the second dimension is at an acute angle to the leading edge.

7. A buckle and female member combination as claimed in the preceding Claim, wherein the female aperture is triangular in shape.

8. A buckle and female member combination as claimed in Claim 6 wherein the second dimension is at right angles to the leading edge.

9. A buckle and female member combination as claimed in the preceding claim, wherein the female aperture is L-shaped or T-shaped.

10. A buckle and female member combination as claimed in any one of Claims 5 to 9, wherein the second dimension is less than the diameter of the enlarged head, but is sufficient to enable the enlarged head to be inserted into the aperture.

11. A harness including a buckle and female member combination as claimed in any one of Claims 5 to 10.

12. A harness as claimed in Claim 11, including a chest strap connected at one end to said buckle and at the other end to said female member, and a pair of shoulder straps 193433 11 connected to said chest strap at or adjacent the midpoint thereof and connected at their respective ends to said buckle and said female member or the ends of the chest strap adjacent the buckle and female member. 5

13. A harness as claimed in Claim 12 wherein said chest strap is provided in two portions connected together by a connection plate at or adjacent the mid-point thereof.

14. A buckle substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings. 10

15. A buckle and female member combination substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings.

16. A harness substantially as herein described with reference to Figure 1 or Figure 5 or Figure 6 of the 15 accompanying drawings. ROBIN JOHN HEWITT By his Attorneys HENRY HUGHES j.tmttpt.