US2372557A - Quick-release harness construction - Google Patents

Description

Mai'ch 27, 1945. R. E. DOWD I QUICK-RELEASE HARNESS CONSTRUCTION Filed Marc 2h 18, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 0708/71 0 ad 5 Dana March 27, 1945. E. D OWD QUICK-RELEASE HARNESS CONSTRUCTION Filed March 18, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 2:

March 27, 1945., R. E. DOWD 2,372,557

QUICK-RELEASE HARNESS CONSTRUCTION Filed March 18, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet I5 March 27, 1945. R. E. Dowb QUICK-RELEASE HARNESS CONSTRUCTION Filed Marchvl8, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 hue/7Z0 fizymnd E Dowd Patented Mar. 27,? 1945 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE QUICK-RELEASE HARNESS CONSTRUCTION Raymond E. Dowd, Chicago, 11!. Application March 18, 1942, Serial No. 435,13'7' v 7 Claims. (creel-'15s) This invention relates to improvements in quick-release harness constructions.

One object of this invention i to provide an improved quick-release harness construction for acrobatic flying safety harnesses. v v v Another object or this invention is to provide an. improved quick-release harness construction characterized by simplicity and an obvious mode of operation for applicatiomadjustment and release oi the harness.

an improved quick-release harness construction which can be quickly. released by a sinelemovement of a lever of the mainor waist-buckle or the harness with consequent immediate disconnection or release of the main and auxiliary it Another object of this-invention is to providestrap or. the like that may form part of the harness.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved quick-release harness construction including waist? and shoulder-strap members in which shoulder-buckles are employed in conjuncan improved quick-release mainor'wa st-buckle.

formingpart of the foregoing release harness construction; 1

Another object of this invention is toprovide .an' improved quick-release buckle formed of simple elements, readily manufactured and readily improved quickassembled to produce an efllclent, durable con-v 'struct'icn at minimum cost.

. With the above and other objects ln-view, as

appear to those skilled in the art from thepresent disclosure, this invention includes all features in the said disclosure which are novelover the prior art.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of the present disclosure, in which certain ways of carrying out the invention are shown for illustmflv purposes:

191:. 1 i a perspective view ofv a quick-release harness oonstructlonmad in accordance with the present invention;

P18, 2 ls'a trcntieievation or the main or waist.- buckle' shown inl'lg. 1, together with fragmental portions otthehamess:

Fig. 3 is a sectional View talzen on the line 3-4 were. 2; r

Fig. 4 is a sectional view'taken on line d-fi Fig. 5 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 4 but with the parts in unlocked, open position;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the locking-lever of the main buckle;

lar to Fig. 2 of another modified construction differing principally from the corresponding construction shown in Fig. 2 by having a difierent form of locking-lever;

Fis. 13'is a sectional view on line i3-l3 of Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 is a top plan view of a modified tonguemember having a pivoted locking-stud;

' 'its limited pivotal movement;

I buckle: and

Fig. 15 is a sectional view on line 15-45 of F 4;

Fig, 16 is a View similar to Fig. 15 with the locking-stud swung up about its pivot to illustrat Fig. 17 is a front elevation of a modified form of auxiliary-strap terminal for connecting an auxiliary- 0r shoulder-strap to the malnor waist- Flg. 18 is a side elevation of Fig. 17. I

In the description and claims, the various parts are identified by specific names for convenience,- but they are intended to be as generic in their 7 application as the prior art will permit. In carrying out the invention in the form illustrated in Figs. Ito '7 of the drawings, a quickrelease acrobatic flying afety harness ll includes mainor waist-strap means 2| with a mainor waist buckle 22 and auxiliaryor shoulder-strap means 23 which includes two shoulder-strap 2i and two rear anchor-straps 25. v

The main- ,or waist-mckle 22 includes a chan! no! 01' U-shaped tongue or bar 2 pivoted at 21 to an elongated frame 28 having an elongated opening 29. ,The frame II has upper and lower U-shaped portions 3. and II at its opposite ends. with their openings directed oppositely to the opening of the tongue 20. The opposite sides I;

of the frame 28 are of fluted form, as shown, to increase the rigidity of the frame. A lockingstud 33 is riveted at 34 to the tongue 28 and is provided with a slot 35 across which extends a rivet or pin 36 on which may be rotatably mounted an antifriction roller 31. A locking-lever 38 has its ears 39 and 40 respectively pivoted to the ears 4| and 42 of the frame 28 by means of rivets or pins 43. The locking-lever 38 has a lockingfinger 44 adapted to pass through the slot 35 and have locking engagement with the roller 37 when the locking-lever is swung to the locked position shown in Figs. 3 and 4, in which position the detent-projection 45 of the ear 4! is adapted to yieldingly engage in the detent-opening 48 of the ear 35 to yieldinglyhold the locking-lever 38 in its locked position.

Although the rounded end of the locking-finger 44 of the main-buckle 22 can have a camming action on the roller 31 when the locking-lever 38 is being swung to locked position, the shape and position of the locking parts is such that any stress which occurs in use which tends to swing the frame to open position, is effectively resisted by the pressure of the roller 3? against the concaved surface of the locking-finger 4d.

The locking-stud 33 is of sumcient length to have room near its base to freely receive and anchor eye-terminals di 'or the auxiliaryor shoulder-straps 23 without interfering with the frame 28 being swung from its unlocked position of Fig. to its closed or locked position shown in 'Fig. 4.

The mainor waist strap means 26 comprises two strap-portions it and S9. The strap-portion 88 has one of its ends looped at 56! around the tongue or bar 2% (Fig, 3), The other end of the strap-portion to may extend downwardly and be anchored to any suitable location as is usual in the case of flying harnesses. The strap-portionit is passed up through the strap-passage 5! over the trunk of a person, thus aiding in preventing a sudden forward thrust of the lower portion of the body or a sudden upward movement of the thighs or lower portionof the trunk during sudtion of the trunk. There are times, however,

the top of the tongue 26 and then downwardly through the strap-passage 52, the left end of the strap-portion 39 being suitably anchored similar to the way described concerning strap-portion 48. It will be appreciated, however, that for some purposes the strap-portions 68 and as may, forexample, form part of one strap which extends continuously around a person's waist in th usual manner of a waist belt.

Both of the shoulder-straps 24 can be identical and therefore it will only be necessary to describe one of them. Each shoulder-strap 24 has a lever-release buckle 53 of the form shown in Patent No. 2,191,228, granted to Dowd, one end of a strap 24 being secured to'the buckle and then passing upwardly through the slot 54 of the eye-terminal 41 and then along through the buckle 53 and upwardly and over the shoulder and downwardly to where it joins with the other strap-portion 24 to a common strap-portion 55 which may be anchored at any downward location, as is usual and well known."

Mounted upon each shoulder-strap 24 is a three-bar or double-slot buckle 56 through which also extends over the top of the strap 24, one of the rear anchor-straps 25 which extends back rearwardlywhere it joins the other corresponding rear anchor-strap 25 in an anchor-member 51 which may be anchored in any suitable location rearward of the shoulders of the person who is to wear the harness.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Fig. l, the strap- portions 48 and 49 may extend downwardly across the portions of the thighs adjacent when it is desirable that the aviator or other person wearing the harness shall be free to lean forward for special purposes such, for example, as adjusting an instrument. In order to accomplish this, anelastic-member 58 is interconnected between each two buckles 53, 56. Normally, these elastic-members which may be of elastic rubber or other suitable spring-like means, perform no function since the two buckles 53 and 55 are lockedon the shoulder-straps 24 as shown in Fig. 1. But when the person wearing the harness desires to free himself to move forward, he throws up the release-levers 59 of the shoulder-strap release-buckles 53 and moves forward, with the consequence that the strain on the shoulderstraps 2 3 causes the buckles 53 to be pulled downward on the straps 2% against the elastic action of the elastic-members 58. As the person moves back to normal upright position, the elasticmembers 58 pull the buckles 53 back upwardly to their original positions, whereupon the locking levers 59 of the buckles 53 are swung to the looking position shown in Fig. l, by the person wearing the harness.

Should any emergency arise in which the person wearing the harness desires to release himself quickly, he merely grasps the lever 38 of the waist-buckle 22 and throws the lever 38 from its position illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 over to the broken line position shown inFig. 3, whereupon the locking-finger 54 passes out of the lockingslot 35 of the locking-stud 33, and the strap-portion 49 and the eye-connectors or terminals 17, inasmuch as they are normally exerting stress against the frame 28, cause the latter to be swun outward to some position such as illustrated in Fig. 5, thus releasing the strap-portion 49 and permitting the eye-terminals 4-1 of the shoulder-v straps to be pulled off or to move off the end of the stud 33, thus freeing the personfrom the harness. 1

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 8 to 11, a modified form of buckle 22a is the same as the form or buckle 22 illustrated in Figs. 1 to '7 except that instead of relying uporf the lockingstud 33a for. attaching the shoulder-strap eyeterminals 41, two special anchor-pins 33b are the person's legs and be anchored suitably-at oppositely-spaced locations beneath the legs.

Although the form of strap or strap-portions illustrated in connection with the construction shown in Figs. 1 to '7 could be equally well employed in the'construction illustrated in Figs. 8

to 11, a diflerent form-of strap construction has place aboard ship or planes or holding freight been illustrated to illustrate another mode of use, namely, having two tree-end strap-portions lid and 49a passed oppositely through the strap:

passages Bla and 52a between the tongue 28a and the frame 28a, the anchoring action being 'in the nature oi a snubbing action on both strapportlons 48a and 49a. While the preferable way of securing free-end waist-strap portions in the mainor waist-buckle is to pass them through the strap-passages at opposite sides or the buckletnngue while the buckle is in closed condition, the tree-end strap-portions can be passed across the space (Fig. between the buckle-frame and tongue before the frame is swung to closed position. The release or the buckle 22a i accomplished by throwing the lever 38a about its pivot in the same manner as described concerning the tom of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 7. whereupon the strap-portions 48a, 49a and the shoulder-strap terminals 41 will bepromptly released from their, connection with the buckle 22a. the lower strap 66 remaining connected with the buckle 22a by means of the slot-connection 65.

A still further modified form of buckle con- I struction is illustrated in Figs. 12 and 13 in which a buckle-frame 22b has a locking-lever 38bghaving an ear 40b pivoted at 43b to an ear 4217 on the frame 28b, the mode of locking and securing strap-elements or portions being the same as described concerning the construction illustrated inFlgs.1to'I.

Figs. 14 to 16 illustrate a modified form of lockins-stud 330 which, instead of being rigidly connected to the tongue 260, is pivoted thereto by a pivot-pin 61 riveted in the side walls 58 of the channel-shaped tongue 260 to facilitate the au- "tomatic removal of the shoulder-strap terminals 11 oil of the holding-pin or pins by the terminals pulling the stud 33c upward to a slight angle, as illustrated in Fig. 16, thereby facilitat ng the sliding oil of the eye-terminals d1 of the shoultier-straps. The stud 830 is shown in the draw ings as being returned to its normal position at right angles to the bottom wall 69 of the tongue 280 by means of a leaf-spring l0 riveted to the bottom wall 89 of the tongue 280, although it wll be appreciated that this return to position could be accomplished in any suitable way, as for example, bygravity acting on the stud 330. This form of tiltable stud 330 could be employed in the place of any of the studs heretofore illustrated on which it may be desired to anchor shoulderstrap eye-terminals or the like.

Instead of having the shoulder-strap eye-terminals each made of a single/ integral piece of metal, as shown in- Figs. 4 and 5, such terminals mayconsist of a main body-member I I (Figs. 17

and 18) provided with a strap-slot "I2 and having -an anchor eye-portion- 13 hinged at 14, which thus makes it unnecessary to provide any angular.

' departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present. em-

bcdiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as fllustrative and not restrictive, and allchanges coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein. 1

I claim:

1. A quick-release harness. construction comprising: a buckle including a tongue, a frame having one end pivoted to one end or said tongue and having an opening, and being adapted to be swung to and from a closed position in which said tongue extends across said opening and in spaced relation to the sides of said frame at opposite sides of said tongue to provide strap-passages between said tongue and sides, said frame and tongue having cooperating engaging-means adapted to detachably hold auxiliary strap-means when said frame is in closed position; strapmeans including a first main strap-portion constructed andjarranged to be attached to said tongue and have a portion extend through one oi'said strap-passages and past one or said sides. and a second main strap-portion constructed and arranged to have a portion extend past said one side between said one side and said first main strap-portion and through said one strap-passage and over said tongue and through the other of said strap-passages. such that when said two main strap-portions are pulled in opposite directions, said first main strap-portion presses said second main strap-portion against said one side, and at least one of which main strap-portions isreleasable when said frame is swung away from said closed position, said strap-means also including auxiliary strap-means adapted to be held by said engaging-means when said frame is in closed position, and releasable when said frame is swung away from said closed position; and releasable locking-means adapted to lock said ,frame and tongue in said closed position.

2. A' quick-release harness construction comprising: a buckle including a tongue, a frame having one end pivoted to one end of said tongue and having an opening, and being adapted to be swung to and from a closed position in which said tongue extends across said opening and in spaced relation to the sides of said frame at opposite sides of said tongue to provide strap-passages between said tongue and sides, said frame and tongue having cooperating pin-and-hole engaging-means adapted to detachably hold auxil- 1 iary strap-means when said frame is in closed relationship between the anchoring eye-portion and the main body-portion.

, straps or other auxiliary-strap means, if so desired.

Itwill be appreciated that the hereinbefore de-,

scribed buckles and harness can be used by observers and gunners and other on' planes as well so forth,'and can also be used for holding emergency equipment such as holding life rafts in position; .strap-means including 8. st main strap-portion constructed-and arranged t b ttached to said tongue and have a portion extend through one or said strap-passages and pastone of said sides,- and a second main strap-portion constructed and arranged, to have a portion err-- tend past said one side-between said one side and said first main strap-portion vand through said one strap-passage and over said tongue and as by aviators, and also can be used elsewhere as, for example, in armored military equipment and through the other oisaid strap-passages, such that when said two main strap-portions are pulled in opposite directions, said first main strap-portion presses said second main strap-portion against said one side, and at least one or hich main strap-portions is releasable when said rame is swung away from said closed position, said strap-means also including auxiliary strap-means ing-means when said frame is in closed position,

and releasable when said frame is swung away from said closed position; and releasable locking-means adapted to lock said frame and tongue in said closed position.

3. A quick-release harness construction comprising: a buckle including a tongue, a frame having one end pivoted to one end of said tongue and having an opening, and being adapted to be swung to and from a closed position in which said tongue extends across said opening and in spaced relation to the sides of said frame at opposite sides of said tongue to provide strap-passages between said tongue and sides, said frame and tongue having cooperating engaging-means adapted to detachably hold auxiliary strapmeanswhen said frame is in closed position; strap-anchor means at the pivot end of said buckle; strap-means including a first main strapportion constructed and arranged to be attached to said tongue and have a portion extend through one of said strap-passages and past one of said sides, and a second main strap-portion constructed and arranged to have a portion extend past said one side between said one side and said first main strap-portion and through said one strap-passage and over said tongue and through the other of said strap-passages, such that when said two main strap-portions are pulled in opposite directions, said first main strap-portion presses said second main'strap-portion against said one side, and at least one of which main strap=portions is releasable when said frame is swung away from said closed position, said strapmeans also including auxiliary strap-means adapted to be held by said engaging-means when said frame is in closed position, and. releasable when said frame is swung away from said closed position, and said strap-=1neans also including other auxiliary strap-means adapted to be held by said strap-anchor means; and releasable locking-ineans adapted to lock said frame'and tongue in said closed position.

4. A quick-release harness construction comprising: strap-means including waist-strap means and a number ofshoulder-straps; a waist-buckle for said waist-strap means; a shoulder-buckle attached to one end of each said shoulder-strap and releasably securable at various positions along such shoulder-strap to provide a loop. of adjustable length attachable to saidwaist-buckle; and elongated elastic means having one end attached to said shoulder-buckle and the opposite end attached to said shoulder-strap to permit said shoulder-buckle when in released condition, to he slid along said shoulder-strap and elongate said elastic means, said elongated elastic means being adapted to retrieve said shoulder-buckle.

5. A quick-release harness construction comprising: strap-means including waist-strap means and a number of shoulder-straps; a waist-buckle for said waist-strap means;. a shoulder-buckle attached to one end of each said shoulder-strap and releasably securable at various positions along such shoulder-strap to provide a loop of adjustable length attachable to said waist-buckle; and elongated elastic means having one end attached to said shoLlder-buckle and the opposite end attached to said shoulder-strap to permit said shoulder-buckle when in released condition, to he slid along said shoulder-strap and elongate said elastic means, said elongated elastic means being adapted to retrieve said shoulder-buckle, said shoulder-buckle being located below the said place of attachment of said elastic means to said shoulder-strap.

6. A quick-release buckle comprising: a tongue; a frame having one end pivoted to one end of said tongue and having an opening, and being adapted to-be swung to and from a closed position in which said tongue extends across said opening and in spaced relation to the sides of said frame ed on the end of said frame opposite the said pivoted end of said frame and at the face of said frame which is most distant from said tongue when said frame is in open position, the axis of the pivot of said lever being approximately parallel to the general longitudinal axi of said tongue when said tongue and frame are in closed position.

7. n-qidck-release buckle comprising: a tongue; a frame having one end pivoted to one end of said tongue and having an opening, and being adapted to be swung to and from a closed position in which said tongue extends across said opening and in spaced relation to the sides of said frame at opposite sides of said tongue to provide strappassages between said tongue and sides; and releasable locking-means adapted to lock said frame and tongue insaid closed position; said locking-' means including cooperating pin-and-hole engaging-parts, one part on the tongue and the other part on the frame, and a locking-device adapted to releasably engage said'pin, said pin being directly pivotally mounted to have limited swinging c movement.

' RAYMOND E. DOWD.

Images