Patent Application
20230242063
The present invention relates to restraining belts and harnesses. More particularly, it relates to a restraining belt for pets useful in an automotive environment.
Safety belt restrainers, car seats, and other devices have been improved in recent years as crash data clearly indicate that some restraint is necessary even for small children and pets. Small children, and pets in particular, are difficult to restrain because of their small size. Pets have the additional problem in that they are not shaped like humans so the restraining device or belts must be modified to conform to the shape of the pet to be restrained.
However, proper restraint of pets in vehicles presents many challenges. For example, finding an easy secure attachment for a pet leash can be difficult. While all new automobiles are provided with safety restraints that are designed to accommodate humans, they are not suitable for restraining pets as discussed above. In addition, if a leash attachment point is found, there will inevitably be a certain amount of slack in the leash in order to provide the pet with a humane amount of mobility. In an accident or abrupt stop, however, this slack will allow the pet to be projected forward and then suddenly jerked to a stop when the slack in the leash has run out. This can lead to serious injury to the pet in a hard braking scenario.
Most prior art restraint devices for pets are either multi-point harness devices, or belts or straps connected in some way to an existing vehicular seat belt system. These devices do not typically have tensioning systems and thus cannot manage the slack when the pet moves closer to the anchoring point of the device. Of course, if there is slack during an impact the pet will not be restrained. Accordingly, there remains a need for an apparatus that can conveniently and safely restrain a pet while traveling.
A problem that occurs with restraining belts used for pets is that the end of the belt or “webbing” attached to the pet collar is typically looped back onto itself by way of stitching. This looped back portion is then slid into the tensioner housing repeatedly during normal use. This action can be greatly exacerbated by a pet. Abrasion of the stitching can cause the stitching to become frayed with the result that the belt can be compromised over time, no longer able to provide a proper amount of restraining force.
The present invention provides a single point restraining device for pets. The device is designed to be used with an automotive safety belt restraining system. A first end of the system is a housing having tensioning components therein with the housing having a standard male seat belt connector. An extendable and retractable belt is anchored within the housing, the belt having a connecting end formed by looping a length of material around a male connector. A retraction limiting component is attached to the connecting end of the belt to prevent damage thereto. The housing can be attached to a seat belt receiver and the belt may have a collar attachment for connection to a pet collar.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved single point restraining device for pets.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved single point restraining device for pets that can be used with a conventional three point automotive seat belt system.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved single point restraining device for pets attachable to a standard seat belt receiver.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved single point restraining device for pets having a retraction limiting component is attached to the connecting end.
It is an object of the invention to provide a retraction limiting component to a standard seat belt assembly attachable to anchors and tethers positioned within a vehicle.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved single point restraining device for pets having a tear away feature.
The present invention is a safety device for harnessing a pet within an automotive environment. The device, generally indicated by the numeral 10, includes an extendable strap or belt 12 wound about a reel contained within a housing 20. The belt 12 is preferably made of a non-elastic woven material such as polyester. A tensioning and retracting mechanism is mechanically coupled to said reel and secured within the housing, the mechanism operating to control extension and retraction of the belt 12.
The housing 20 containing the reel and belt 12, the belt 12 having a male connector or fastener 22 affixed to its distal end, is configured for attachment to a pet collar as will be described in more detail below. The tensioner component of the tensioning and retracting mechanism may use a centrifugal clutch or pendulum lock mechanism while the retractor may use a spring retractor mechanism, but any mechanism familiar to those of skill in the art may be used here. The self-tensioning mechanism may be, for example, a centrifugal clutch mechanism or a pendulum lock mechanism. The fastener 22 may be a clip or similar type of fastener for attachment to a pet collar or pet harness in the well known manner. Alternatively, any durable, easily released attachment means may be used such as a button or hook. The load attached to fastener 22 may be a pet, like a dog or a cat, and the fastener 22 may attach to a jacket, pet harness, sweater, or other article of clothing or accessory affixed to the animal. The retractor is spring loaded so as to apply a constant force to wind the belt 12 on the reel to eliminate slack and provide some restraining force on the load, and the tensioner may lock the reel to fix an extended length of the belt 12 upon sudden movement to secure the load. The housing 20, the tensioning and retracting mechanism, the reel, and the fastener 22 may be comprised of any suitable rigid material such as hard plastic or metal.
According to the invention, a device 10 for securing a pet within a vehicle using an extendable belt 12, a tensioning and retracting mechanism, a reel for winding said belt 12, a fastener 22, and an anchoring element 42 for securing said device is provided. The fastener 22 is at a first or distal end of the belt 12 and the anchoring element 42 is affixed to and extends from the belt housing 20, the anchoring element 42 having a connector extending in generally the opposite of the direction of extension of the extendable belt 12. It should be noted that the length of the belt 12 cannot be more than about 3 feet as any length greater than this will allow the pet to wander or move to an adjacent seating area within the vehicle thereby making restraint in an accident scenario impossible as there will be too much “play” in the belt 12 to provide effective restraint. In accordance with a key aspect of the invention, means are provide to ensure reliable operation of the device 10 by limiting wear and tear as described in detail below.
The retractor of the retraction and tensioning mechanism may be configured to apply a force to wind the belt 12 on the reel and this force may be adjusted to be stronger or weaker depending on the strength of the pet. Adjustment mechanisms of this type are known to those of skill in the art and can take many forms. Alternatively, the device 10 may have a tensioning force commensurate with the size of the pet so that, for example, a large dog can still move freely but will be held back with sufficient force to discourage excessive movement, this force being determined by trial and error during the manufacturing process. The tensioner may be configured to lock the reel to fix an extended length of the belt 12 and may also be configured to pretension and lock the reel in response to a trigger such as a sudden movement.
Referring now
The seat belt 12 may be made from any appropriate relatively inelastic material such as, for example, polyester or nylon seat belt webbing.
The seat belt 12 may be attached at the proximal end 32 to a reel contained within the housing 20, and may be wound around the reel within the housing 20. The self-tensioning mechanism and retracting mechanisms may be incorporated into or attached to the reel and are securely affixed within the housing 20. The housing 20 includes an opening 34, which is a slit or slot large enough for the belt 12 to pass through with minimal clearance, that may allow a length of the seat belt 12 to be selectively extended from the housing 20 in the well known manner.
At a distal end of the seat belt 12, a short length is extended from the housing 20, and inserted under a looping bar 35 of collar adapter 36 and then sewn back into itself so as to create a loop 37 securing the seat belt 12 to the collar adapter 36, the loop 37 and collar adapter 36 cooperating to prevent the seat belt 12 from retracting completely into the housing 20. The collar adapter 36 may be any appropriate adapter such as, for example, a clip, hook, button loop, or other adapter suitable for connecting the seat belt 12 to a pet collar.
The sewn area 40 of the loop is subjected to wear and tear as it passes through the slit 34 when retracting and extending, as this is the thickest portion of the belt due to the overlap. This is a common problem with pets as they are much more active than people, causing many instances of retraction and extension leading to fraying of the sewn area 40. This can ultimately weaken this area and reduce the effective restraining power of the belt 12 as the frayed area can fail. This potential to fail may not be apparent to the user and thus needs to be obviated. To this end, two embodiments of retraction limiting components are shown in
While the present invention allows a user to restrain a pet safely, it can be appreciated that with any restraint there is a possibility of the pet choking or otherwise being injured because of the position of the pet relative to the restraint at the moment of impact. Accordingly, the sewn area 40 of the loop can be designed with a tear away feature. This feature would cause the belt 12 to rupture at the sewn area 40 when a predetermined amount of force is applied. The amount of force can be variable, that is the sewn area 40 may be made to tear easily for small pets, with much more force required for larger pets. It should be noted that the belt 12 does not tear completely, it tears partially to essentially lengthen the deceleration time to reduce the restraining force applied to the pet. A number of methods for creating a tear away portion for the belt 12 are known to those of skill in the art, such as connecting the sewn area 40 to the rest of the belt 12 by stitching 41, the stitching having a predetermined tear force.
The self-tensioning and retracting pet safety belt device 10 may further include an anchoring element 42, which may be attached to the housing 20 on an opposite side from the exit of the seat belt 12. The anchoring element 42 extends from a projection 44 formed in the rear of housing 20 and is preferably formed as part of the housing 20 or may alternatively be securely affixed thereto. The anchoring element 42 may be any connector suitable for plugging into a standard vehicle seat belt receiver.
Referring now to
Referring now particularly to
As shown in
In operation, a user may first insert the anchoring element 42 into a vehicle seat belt receiver in their vehicle as they would a standard seat belt. Alternatively, the user may attach device 200 to one of the attachment points 100, 102 within the vehicle. The user may then connect the collar adapter 36 clip or other attachment to a collar or pet harness being worn by a pet within the vehicle as they would a standard leash as can be seen in
Referring now to
Referring now to
Any variations and any combinations of the above teachings are also intended to be covered by this patent application.
This application claims priority to Provisional Application No. 63/305,709 filed on Feb. 2, 2022.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63305709 | Feb 2022 | US |
