US3064920A - Safety harness device - Google Patents

Description

SAFETY HARNESS DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Sept. 6, 1955 Nov. 20, 1962 c. E. CUSHMAN ETAL 3,064,920:

SAFETY HARNESS DEVICE Original Filed Sept. 6, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet; 2

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SAFETY HARNESS DEVICE Original Filed Sept. 6, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 5.

Uited States Patent @filice 3,054,920 Patented Nov. 20, 1962 3,064,920 SAFETY HARNESS DEVICE Clifford E. Cushman, Burbank, and Robert J. Wrighton, Tarzana, Calif., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Pacific Scientific Aeroproducts, Glendale, Calif, a corporation of California Original application Sept. 6, 1955, Ser. No. 532,631, new Patent No. 2,992,790, dated July 18, 1961. Divided and this appiication July 14, 1958, Ser. No. 751,590

Claims. (Cl. 242--107.4)

This invention relates, in general, to safety harness devices for use in protecting passengers in moving vehicles and more particularly to novel improvements in ineria-operated safety devices utilized to automatically lock passengers in their seats during crashes and the like.

There is disclosed in United States patent application Serial No. 396,038, now US. Patent No. 2,845,234 a novel inertia-operated safety device of the type to which the present invention relates. The present application is a division of US. patent application Serial No. 532,631, now US. Patent No. 2,992,790, filed September 6, 1955, by the same inventors. The object of the present invention is to provide an improved inertia-operated safety device constructed so as to insure safer, more dependable operation under all types of extreme operating conditions.

One feature of the present invention is the provision of novel apparatus for preventing the safety device from functioning to automatically lock-up the cable reel or harness spool during movement of the cable or straps in the wind-up direction.

This and other features of this invention will become apparent after a perusal of the following description of the embodiments of this invention disclosed in the drawings wherein,

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view partly in longitudinal section of a harness-spool type of safety device in which the novel apparatus of this invention may be incorporated.

FIG. 2 is a cross-section view taken along section line 2-2 in FIG. 1 showing an internal stop device.

FIG. 3 is another cross-section view taken through FIG. 1 along section line 3-3 disclosing structure for preventing false unlocking during wind-up,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the apparatus shown in FIG. 3 and encircled by the dash-dot lines 44.

FIGS. 5 and 5A are section views taken through FIG. 4 along section line 55 showing the apparatus in two different operating positions,

FIG. 6 is a cross-section view of a cable-type inertia safety device employing a novel apparatus for preventing false automatic cable reel locking during wind-up of the cable,

FIG. 7 is a cross-section view of a portion of the safety reel device taken at approximately a 90 angle to the section view of FIG. 6,

. FIG. 8 is a top elevation view with parts broken away of the apparatus of FIG. 7,

FIG. 9 is a cut-away view of another cable-type safety device employing a different means for preventing false automatic cable reel locking, during wind-up than that shown in FIG. 6, and

FIG. 10 is a section view of a portion of FIG. 9 taken along section line 1010.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 5A, there is shown an inertia-operated device of the harness-spool type especially adapted for use by pilots in aircraft. This safety device is of the type where the harness strap or Web which passes over the pilots body and serves to hold the pilot within his seat is wound directly on an elongated spool. Although the safety device shown in FIGS. 1 through 5A does not incorporate the novel invention of this divisional application, which is shown in different forms in FIGS. 6 through 10, these FIGS. 1 through 5A serve to describe the general apparatus in which the invention may be embodied. The harness spool or drum 1 is fixedly secured, as by a key and key-way arrangement, to an elongated, hollow cylindrical shaft 2 which is rotatably mounted on the left-hand side in a bearing portion 3 of a main housing section 4 and on the right-hand side in a bearing member 5. The bearing member 5 is fixedly secured as by screws 6 within one end of a hollow cylindrical housing 7, the other end of which is secured as by screws 8 to main housing section 9 which, in turn, is secured to the main housing section 4 as by screws 11. The two tension members or harness straps 12 and 13 which pass over the two shoulders of the pilot are secured at their inner ends to the spool in a manner described in the parent application, Serial No. 532,631. This safety device is mounted on the pilots seat by means of brackets 6, 8, 10 and screws and bolts 10 and 7'.

A pin 19 serves to anchor one end of a wind-up coil spring 21 in the spool 1, the other end of spring 21 being anchored by a pin 22 in the bearing member 5. This coil spring is tensioned so as to urge the spool 1 inthe harness wind-up direction.

An annular inertia member 23 is rotatably mounted on the left-hand end of the spool 1, recesses 24 in the member 23 accommodating integral lugs 25 on the spool end. An annular retainer ring 26 and screws 27 are utilized to hold the inertia member 23 on the spool, the lugs 25 limiting the distance of rotation of the inertia member relative to the spool to a very short arc. Drive link 28 is pivotally mounted at 29 on the spool 1, the drive link extending through an opening 31 into the hollow shaft 2 Where it engages a drum shaft 32, the flanged edge 33 of which rides on an annular support member 34 which is fixedly secured in the shaft 2. The drum shaft 32, 33 is held in place by a spring-loaded rocker arm 35 which is springtensioned in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1 around a pivot pin 36. The other end of rocker arm 35 carries a pin 37 which engages a sear 38 pivotally mounted at 38 (FIG. 3), the pivoted sear serving as a trigger for a locking pawl 39.

To describe the operation of that part of the apparatus heretofore mentioned, as the Webbing 12 and 13 is pulled off of the spool in response to movements of the pilots body and is rewound on the spool by the rotation of the spool in response to the tension of wind-up spring 21, the inertia member 23 tends to resist rotation due to its weight. In the wind-up direction, the lug 25 drives the inertia member, while in the unwind direction the inertia member is driven by means of drive link 28. During feed out of the web 12, 13 at less than a predetermined acceleration, the inertia member rotates with the spool. When the pull exceeds such value of acceleration, the inertia member tends to remain stationary when the spool rotates, thus causing link 28 to pivot and tip the drum shaft 32 which, in turn, pivots arm 35 to trigger the sear 38 and release pawl 39. Pawl 39, tensioned by the pawl spring 56, pivots to engage the ratchet teeth 41 located in the periphery of the inertia member. The spool is restrained from further rotation in the unwind direction butthe pawl will ratchet over the ratchet. teeth to permit the spool to rotate in the wind-up direction. Release from the locked condition is accomplished by pulling the manual control cable 42, the termination 42 engaging and returning pawl 39 to its normal position where it is held triggered by sear 38, after which the termination 42 is returned to its normal position as shown in FIG. 3. The spool may be manually locked by pulling termination 42 away from the locking pawl 40 so that pawl 40 may rotateand engage the ratchet teeth 41.

The novel means 43, 44, 45, 46 and 26', incorporated for providing a positive internal stop for the spool in the wind-up direction, the novel means 47, 48, 49, 51, 51 52, and 53, incorporated for at times forceably winding up the harness 12, and the novel means 57, 58, 59, 59, 61 and 62, for preventing rebound of the pawl 39 and false unlocking, are described, and claimed in the parent application and will not be further described herein.

It is understood that this safety device works on the principle that the inertia member 23 tends to remain stationary when an acceleration of the harness reel 1 is produced, the rotational movement of the harness reel relative to the inertia member resulting in the automatic locking of the harness. If the harness is reeled in at excessive speeds, the inertia-member will tend to keep rotating when the harness reel or spool is brought to a sudden stop by a retarding force acting on the cable. This relative rotation between inertia-member and spool may result in automatic locking when it is not desired. It is very seldom that the harness reel is reeled in fast enough and brought to such a sudden halt so as to cause this undesirable locking; however, to completely eliminate this false locking, one form of novel anti-locking apparatus is shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 and another form in FIGS. 9'and 10.

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 illustrate this novel anti-locking feature in an inertia-operated safety device of the cable reel type, that is, where the safety straps or harness are coupled to a cable or similar tension member 60, the cable in turn being wound on a cable reel 63 in the safety device. It will be noted from FIG. 6 that this cable type of safety device is considerably shorter than the elongated spool but their structure and functioning are very similar. The novel forms of this anti-lock invention may be incorporated in either spool or reel type of safety device. The cable reel type of device, more fully described in the previously cited patent application, Serial No. 396,038, includes the rotatably mounted cable reel 63 and inertiamember 64, spiral wind-up spring 65, drive link 66, rocker arm 67 and drum shaft 67. The anti-locking structure, effective only during rotation of the cable reel in the wind-up direction, comprises an annular, slightly dish-shaped drive disk 68 mounted at its outer periphery 68' around the flange 69 of the cable reel 63, with its inner peripheral edge 71 tensioned against the inner surface of the reel housing or casing 72. A U-shaped stop channel 73 (FIGS. 7 and 8) is securely affixed to the edge of the disk 68 by rivets 74 and 75, rivet 74 being flush with the bottom of channel stop 73 while rivet 75 is provided with a high head. The channel stop 73 islocated in a substantially rectangular opening 76 in the reel housing or cover assembly 72, the distance of movement of the channel stop 73 and thus of disk 68 being limited by the width of opening 76. As viewed in FIG. 8, as the cable reel rotates in the unwind or reel out direction, the disk 68, due to its frictional bearing against the cable reel flange 69, rotates with the reel through a small arc until the channel stop 73 engages the top edge of opening 76. When the cable reel starts back in the wind-up or reel in direction, the channel stop 73 moves until it hits against the lower edge of opening 76. Thus, the channel stop 73 is limited to a short movement between the two positions. In the wind-up position, thehigh head of rivet 75 is positioned directly under an adjustment screw 77 located in the rocker arm 67, while in the unwind position, the high head rivet 75 is out from under the screw 77. It can thus be seen that if the drum shaft 67' raises the right-hand end (as viewed in FIG. 7) of the rocker arm 67 in response to a relative rotation be tween the inertia-member and cable reel during unwinding of the cable, the rocker arm 67 will pivot and, at its left-hand end, transmit a pivotal movement to the associated sear (not shown but similar to sear 38) whereby the locking pawl is released. However, if the right-hand end of rocker arm 67 is raised during the wind-up of the cable reel, the high head rivet 75 will be positioned under the adjustment screw 77 and will prevent the left-hand end of rocker arm 67 from moving to release the locking pawl. The rocker arm 67 is made flexible to permit a small degree of bending.

In actual use of this novel anti-locking device, approximately 4; of cable movement is needed to move the channel stop 73 from one position to the other while a minimum of A1 of cable travel is needed to initiate a locking movement of the rocker arm 67. It therefore follows that the stop 73 will always be positioned properly to insure desired operation.

Another novel structure for preventing automatic locking during wind-up at excessive accelerations is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 as utilized on a cable reel type of structure similar to that shown in FIG. 6. A locking dog 78 is pivotally mounted at 78 on an arm 79 which is fixedly secured as by rivets 81 on the annular inertia member 82, the dog 78 having an extension arm 83 with a button 84 secured on the end. The button 8.4 bears with a frictional force against the inside surface of the housing 85 such that rotation of the inertia member 82 in the cable unwind direction pivots the dog 78 counter-clockwise (looking at FIG. 9) to prevent the dog from interfering with the normal relative rotation between the cable reel 86 and inertia member 82 during cable unwinding and automatic lockup. However, rotation of the inertia member 79 in the cable wind-up direction causes the button 84 to drag on the surface of 85 and dog 78 pivots into the space between the lug 87 on the cable reel 86 and the inertia member 82 to thereby prevent any relative rotational movement between the cable reel and the inertia member.

Since many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

l. A safety device comprising a tension member, a reel rotatably mounted in said device adapted to rotate in one direction to wind up said tension member and in the other direction to unwind the tension member, an inertia member rotatably mounted in said device, said inertia member rotating in unison with said reel during rotation thereof in the unwind direction below a predetermined acceleration, said reel rotating relative to said inertia member during rotation of said reel above the predetermined acceleration, means operated in response to the relative rotation between the reel and inertia member for stopping rotation of said reel in the unwind direction, means in said device operable to one position in response to movement of the tension member in a wind-up direction on the reel and to a second position in response to movement of the tension member in an unwind direction from the reel, and means responsive to movement of said last means to said first position for preventing operation of said reel stopping means during movement of the tension member in a windup direction on the reel.

2. A safety deviceas claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for preventing operation of said reel stopping means comprises means for preventing relative rotation between said reel and said inertia member during rotation in the wind-up direction.

3. A safety device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said last means comprises a locking dog pivotally mounted on the inertia member adapted to move into a jamming position between the inertia member and the reel during rotation in the wind-up direction.

4..A safety device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said reel-stopping means includes a locking pawl and a rocker arm coupled to said reel and inertia member, said rocker arm being moved during relative rotation between the reel and inertia member to thereby cause said locking pawl to be released to lock said reel against further rotation in the unwind direction, and means coupled to said reel operated during rotation of the reel in the Wind-up direction for preventing said rocker arm from moving to release said locking pawl.

5. Safety apparatus adapted to be used on a moving vehicle, comprising, in combination, a tension member adapted to engage an occupant in the vehicle, resilient reel means connected to said tension member for normally urging said reel to rotate in one direction to Wind up said tension member, said reel rotating in the unwind direction responsive to outward pulls on the tension member, whereby the occupant is allowed freedom of motion, an inertia member rotatably mounted within said safety apparatus and coupled to said reel means, said inertia member rotating in unison with said reel during rotation thereof in the unwind direction below a predetermined acceleration, locking means, said inertia member being operable by inertia to cause said locking means to lock said tension member positively against further movement outwardly from said reel when said tension member is pulled outwardly at a rate exceeding a predetermined acceleration due to forces tending to dislodge the occupant, means in said safety apparatus operable to one position in response to movement of the tension member in a wind'up direction on the reel and to a second position in response to movement of the tension member in an unwind direction from the reel, and means responsive to movement of said last means to said first position for preventing operation of said reel locking means during rotation of the reel in the wind-up direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,845,234 Cushman et al July 29, 1958

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