US3134153A - Buckles - Google Patents

Description

Y E L R A H B R May 26, 1964 s E n C U B Filed Sept. 8, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet [UJI L IHI 1 i a Y N E v M FRANK B. HARLEY BY 3%MWM9 ATTORNEY May 26, 1964 F. B. HARLEY 3,134,153

BUCKLES Filed Sept. 8, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fla. 3.

FIG. 4.

lNvEN'roR FRANK B. Hume! AT'rbRNEYJ United States Patent 3,134,153 BUCKLES Frank Bernard Harley, Englefield Green, Egham, England, assignor to Harley Patents (international) Limited, London, England, a company of Great Britain Filed Sept. 8, 1961, Ser. No. 136,826 Claims priority, appiication Great Britain Sept. 13, 1960 12 Claims. (Cl. 24-191) This invention relates to buckles for connecting a strap or the like to another part.

According to the present invention a releasable buckle for connecting a strap or the like to another part comprises a body affording a main anchorage for connection to the part to be connected to the strap, a roller extending transversely to the direction of the strap and having around its surface and extending parallel to its axis a number of ribs and an auxiliary anchorage having a transverse concave surface facing the roller, the arrangement being such that a tension in a strap extending between the roller and auxiliary anchorage in one direction (referred to as the locking direction) causes a rib to kink the strap into the concavity of the auxiliary anchorage to grip it, but a tension in the other direction (referred to as the tightening direction) displaces the anchorage away from the roller permitting it to rotate and allowing the strap to be drawn through the buckle.

The auxiliary anchorage is preferably biassed towards the roller, an increase in tension in the locking direction tending to draw the auxiliary anchorage towards the roller to increase the grip on the strap. Conveniently the auxiliary anchorage has two concave surfaces bounded by two outer and one common intermediate gripping edges, the dimensions of the roller and auxiliary anchorage being such that in operation each concave surface has a rib of the roller opposite or extending into it to form two kinks in the strap.

The auxiliary anchorage may be manually moved rearwardly away from the roller to a retracted position to permit the strap to pass freely through the buckle in either direction' The auxiliary anchorage may be moved to the retracted position from an operative position by a release member, the auxiliary anchorage being free to move relatively to the release member in the operative position.

The release member may be arranged to lift a transverse pin extending through an aperture in the auxiliary anchorage of greater cross section than the pin, but end portions of the pin are constrained to move in a rearward and upward direction e.g. in slots in the body, such that the auxiliary anchorage is also raised and moved rearwardly as the release member is raised. The slots in the body are conveniently of arcuate form.

The pin may extend through slots in side rails of the release member to permit freedom of movement of the pin and the auxiliary anchorage in the operative position.

In an alternative arrangement the release member is pivoted to the body, a transverse pin extending through an aperture in the auxiliary anchorage of greater cross section than the pin to permit the anchorage to move relatively to it but to move the auxiliary anchorage rearwardly if the release member is raised.

The ribs of the roller may be equally spaced around its surface and may be of substantially parallel sided form with rounded outer edges.

The invention may be carried into practice in a number of ways but one specific embodiment will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional side elevation on the line 1-1 of FIGURE 2 of a buckle according to the present invention shown in a released position;

3,134,153 Patented May 26, 1964 FIGURE 2 which is a plan view of the buckle with part cut away to show certain internal features;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 with the buckle in an engaged position and FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 of an alternative embodiment.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2 it will be seen that the buckle has a frame formed by a pair of side rails 10 interconnected at their lower ends by a lower transverse member 11. Secured between the side rails to the right in the drawings, is a main anchorage in the form of a circular bar 12 to which another strap, not shown, is secured by a stitched loop.

Adjacent the other end of the side rails 10 and extending between them is a rod 15 on which is rotatably mounted a roller 16 having a hub portion 17 and five transverse ribs or teeth 13 having generally parallel sides. Adjacent faces of two of these ribs subtend between them an angle of approximately 75. The roller 16 can rotate freely in either direction on the rod 15, and as will be seen from FIGURE 2 the roller extends substantially the full width of the buckle between the two side rails except for slight spaces as each end, these spaces accommodate, one at each end, side-pieces 22 of a release member 23 having a top transverse, interconnecting portion 24 formed with a fingerpiece 25. The two side pieces 22 each have a hole in them through which the rod 15 passes so that as will appear, the release member 23 can be pivoted upwards and downwards slightly about the axis of the rod 15.

Situated substantially midway between the roller 16 and the main anchorage 12 is an auxiliary anchorage which extends between the two side pieces 22 of the release member 23. The auxiliary anchorage has, as shown in FIGURE 1,- a pair of lugs 31 each having a relatively large hole 32 through which passes a rod 33 of small crosssection in relation to the holes 32. The rod 33 passes through straight slots 34 in the two side pieces 22 of the release member 23 and also through arcuate slots 35 in the side rails 10 of the frame. As shown in FIGURE 2 the rod 33 has secured to it at each end a rivet 37 having a head 38 and a cylindrical portion 39 lying within the arcuate slot 35 and of an external diameter equal to the width of the arcuate slot to form a sliding fit therein.

The auxiliary anchorage 30 including the lugs 31 are of generally triangular shape in side elevation, as shown in FIGURES l and 3, but the left-hand or forward face of the auxiliary anchorage has formed in it two concave recesses 40 and 41. The upper recess 40 is bounded by an upper smoothly curved gripping edge 43 and an intermediate gripping edge 44 and, as is seen in FIGURES 1 and 2, the concave surface of the recess 40 commences at the top with a smoothly curved portion 45 which merges in a straight portion 46 terminating at the gripping edge The lower recess 41 has a similar upper concave surface 48 merging with a flat lower surface 49. This flat surface terminates in a lower giipping edge 50 having a ridge 51 extending along it so that the lower surface 49 merges into the gripping edge 50 by way of a slight depression 53.

Bearing on the curved rear edges of the two lugs 31 is a curved leaf spring 55 which is of generally hairpin form in sections having two generally vertical portions 56 and 57, the former of which is free at its lower end and the latter of which curves downwards and forwards to be riveted at 58 to the lower transverse member 11 of the frame. This rounded portion of the spring has for reinforcement a backing spring-piece 59 terminating roughly half way up the portion 57 of the spring.

In the position of FIGURE 1 the auxiliary anchorage 30 has been withdrawn to the right away from the toothed roller 16. This is effected by lifting the fingerpiece 25 which causes the transverse rod 33 to rise up the slots 34 and 35, the rod bearing on the rear side of the holes 32 in the lugs 31 to move the auxiliary anchorage upwards and backwards. In practice the auxiliary anchorage can be retained in the position of FIGURE 1 due to the particular configuration'of the two slots 34 and 35, but a slight downward pressure on the fingerpiece 215 of the release member will cause the rod 33 to move down the slots and move the auxiliary anchorage downwards and slightly forwards. In this position it is to some extent floating freely but is biassed to the left or forwards by the section 56 of the leaf spring, Thus if a strap 6%) is in the position shown in FIGURE 1, i.e. is extending round the roller 16, the lower gripping edge 50 of the auxiliary anchorage will be bearing on the strap and in fact forming a slight indentation in it. If now the lower rung of the strap has a tension applied to it this tends to draw the auxiliary anchorage to the left towards the roller. The roller will adjust its position to that of FIGURE 3 wherein two of its ribs lie generally opposite or within the concave recesses of the auxiliary member to provide two kinks in the strap. Any further tension in the lower run of the strap will tend to rotate the roller in a clockwise direction in FIGURE 3 which will tend to increase the grip on the strap both by virtue of the ribs 18 of the roller gripping the strap more firmly and also due to the fact that the auxiliary anchorage tends to be moved further to the left.

If, however, a tension is applied to the top run of the strap the roller 16 can rotate freely in an anti-clockwise direction to permit the strap to run through the buckle. In this case the auxiliary anchorage 3% will move backwards or to the right in the drawing to permit passage of the strap.

Accordingly if this buckle is used for example as part of a seat or parachute harness connected to the lower run of the strap, it is possible to apply a tension to the top run of the strap in order to draw up the buckle along the lower run so as to tighten the harness. The tension can be applied to the top run with a single hand allowing the other hand to be free, for example to maintain control of the aircraft. As soon as the tension is released from the top run of the strap the auxiliary anchorage will be drawn to the position of FIGURE 3 to grip the strap firmly. In practice the strap might move slightly through the buckle until the two ribs on the roller reach the position shown.

In the modified embodiment shown in FIGURE 4 the construction of the frame, roller and auxiliary anchorage is identical but in this instance the release member 23 is pivoted to the side rails of the frame by means of studs 70. Also the elongated slots in the side rails and release member of the first embodiment are omitted, the ends of the rod 33 extending into oval shaped apertures 71 in the release lever and not being guided at all by the side rails.

A stop 72 is provided on each side rail, between its internal surface and the spring, against which the back edges of the side pieces 22 of the release member 23 can abut to limit the pivoting movement of the release member. The operation of this embodiment is similar to that of FIGURES 1-3. If the fingerpiece is lowered by pivoting the release member clockwise in FIGURE 4 the auxiliary anchorage will be moved slightly to the left into an operating position in which a tension in the lower run of the strap will cause the roller 16 to kink the strap into the concavities of the auxiliary anchorage. A tension in the upper run of the strap however will rotate the roller anticlockwise and the strap will be drawn through the buckle, the auxiliary anchorage being able to move slightly to the right by virtue of the holes 32 in its lugs 31,

Moreover if the fingerpiece is raised to the position shown in FIGURE 4 the rod 33 will be moved rearwards and permit the strap to be drawn freely in either direction.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A releasable buckle for connecting a strap to another part, said buckle comprising a body, a main anchorage on said body, a cylindrical roller rotatably mounted on the body and extending transversely to the direction of the strap, the surface of said roller being provided with a plurality of axially extending ribs, an auxiliary anchorage having teeth facing the ribs on said roller, said auxiliary anchorage being mounted on said body for bodily sliding movement towards and away from said roller between a retracted position sufliciently spaced from said roller to permit said strap to slide therebetween and an operative position in which the distance between the tip of at lemt one of said teeth and the circular path travelled by the tips of said ribs is less than the thickness of said strap, said one tooth travelling in a path approximately tangent to the circular path so that when said auxiliary anchorage is in said operative position and said roller is rotated in one direction to squeeze said strap between said one tooth and a roller rib, said one tooth is frictionally urged along its approximately tangential path in a direction which slides the auxiliary anchorage bodily closer to said roller, whereas rotation of said roller in the opposite direction tends to urge said auxiliary anchorage away from said roller and resilient means on said body biasing said auxiliary anchorage toward its operative position.

2. A releasable buckle as claimed in claim 1 in which the tip of said one tooth is bent toward the axis of said roller.

3. A releasable buckle as claimed in claim 1 comprising an abutment which defines with said roller an aperture within which said one tooth lies when in its operative position, so that said abutment supports said one tooth against pressure exerted thereagainst by a roller rib in a direction radial with respect to said roller.

4. A buckle as claimed in claim 1 in which the auxiliary anchorage has two concave surfaces bounded by two outer and one common intermediate gripping teeth the dimensions of the roller and auxiliary anchorage being such that in operation each concave surface has a rib of the roller opposite or extending into it to form two kinks in the strap.

5. A buckle as claimed in claim 1 in which the roller has its ribs equally spaced around its surface.

6. A buckle as claimed in claim 1 in which the ribs are of substantially parallel sided form with rounded outer edges.

7. A buckle as claimed in claim 1 including means interconnecting the auxiliary anchorage and the body by which the auxiliary anchorage may be manually moved away from the roller to said retracted position to permit the strap to pass freely through the buckle in either direction.

8. A buckle as claimed in claim 7 including a release member by which the auxiliary anchorage is moved to the retracted position from said operative position, the auxiliary anchorage being free to move relatively to the release member in the operative position.

9. A buckle as claimed in claim 8 including a pin extending transversely of the body through an aperture in the auxiliary anchorage of greater cross section than the pin, end portions of the pin co-operating with guiding means on the body and lifting means on the release member so that as the release member is raised the pin is constrained to move in a rearward and upward direction such that the auxiliary anchorage is also raised and moved rearwardly.

10. A buckle as claimed in claim 9 in which the said guiding means comprises a slot in the body of arcuate form.

11. A buckle as claimed in claim 9 in which the release member has a pair of side rails each having in it a slot through which the pin extends, one end of each slot forming an abutment by which the pin is lifted, but the slot permitting freedom of movement of the pin and the auxiliary anchorage in the operative position.

12. A releasable buckle for connecting a strap to another part, said buckle comprising a body affording a pair of spaced parallel side rails, a main anchorage extending between the side rails adjacent one end of said body, a roller mounted to rotate freely between the side rails adjacent the other ends of said body, the roller having around its surface and extending parallel to its axis a number of ribs, an auxiliary anchorage having teeth facing the ribs on said roller, said auxiliary anchorage being mounted on said body for bodily movement towards and away from said roller between a retracted position sufiiciently spaced from said roller to permit said strap to slide therebetween and an operative position in which the distance between the tip of at least one of said teeth and the circular path travelled by the tips of said ribs is less than the thickness of said strap, said one tooth travelling in a path approximately tangent to said circular path so that when said auxiliary anchorage is in said operative position and said roller is rotated in one direction to squeeze said strap between said one tooth and a roller rib, said one tooth is frictionally urged along its approximately tangential path in a direction which draws the auxiliary anchorage bodily closer to said roller, whereas rotation of said roller in the opposite direction tends to urge said auxiliary anchorage away from said roller, and a release member affording a pair of side arms pivoted respectively about a common axis to the side rails and means interconnecting the release member and the auxiliary anchorage on the one hand and the release member and the side rails on the other hand by which rotation of the release member upwardly about its pivotal axis moves the auxiliary anchorage upwardly and rearwardly away from the roller.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,941,383 Benson Dec. 26, 1933 2,653,365 Elsner Sept. 29, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 24,943 Great Britain Nov. 16, 1903

Claims (1)

1. A RELEASABLE BUCKLE FOR CONNECTING A STRAP TO ANOTHER PART, SAID BUCKLE COMPRISING A BODY, A MAIN ANCHORAGE ON SAID BODY, A CYLINDRICAL ROLLER ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE BODY AND EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY TO THE DIRECTION OF THE STRAP, THE SURFACE OF SAID ROLLER BEING PROVIDED WITH A PLURALITY OF AXIALLY EXTENDING RIBS, AN AUXILIARY ANCHORAGE HAVING TEETH FACING THE RIBS ON SAID ROLLER, SAID AUXILIARY ANCHORAGE BEING MOUNTED ON SAID BODY FOR BODILY SLIDING MOVEMENT TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM SAID ROLLER BETWEEN A RETRACTED POSITION SUFFICIENTLY SPACED FROM SAID ROLLER TO PERMIT SAID STRAP TO SLIDE THEREBETWEEN AND AN OPERATIVE POSITION IN WHICH THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE TIP OF AT LEAST ONE OF SAID TEETH AND THE CIRCULAR PATH TRAVELLED BY THE TIPS OF SAID RIBS IS LESS THAN THE THICKNESS OF SAID STRAP, SAID ONE TOOTH TRAVELLING IN A PATH APPROXIMATELY TANGENT TO THE CIRCULAR PATH SO THAT WHEN SAID AUXILIARY ANCHORAGE IS IN SAID OPERATIVE POSITION AND SAID ROLLER IS ROTATED IN ONE DIRECTION TO SQUEEZE SAID STRAP BETWEEN SAID ONE TOOTH AND A ROLLER RIB, SAID ONE TOOTH IS FRICTIONALLY URGED ALONG ITS APPROXIMATELY TANGENTIAL PATH IN A DIRECTION WHICH SLIDES THE AUXILIARY ANCHORAGE BODILY CLOSER TO SAID ROLLER, WHERAS ROTATION OF SAID ROLLER IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION TENDS TO URGE SAID AUXILIARY ANCHORAGE AWAY FROM SAID ROLLER AND RESILIENT MEANS ON SAID BODY BIASING SAID AUXILIARY ANCHORAGE TOWARD ITS OPERATIVE POSITION.

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