Patent Application
20060096068
Field of the Invention. The present invention generally relates to straps and buckles, and more particularly to protective coverings for straps and buckles.
Background Information. Equipment such as canoes, kayaks and rafts are often loaded onto the roof of a vehicle for transport. A long strap with a metal buckle at one end is typically the method used for securing loads such as these. The metal buckle of such a strap can accidentally strike the roof of the vehicle, be dragged along the roof of the vehicle or may be in contact with the roof during transport. Any of these actions can result in the paint of the vehicle being scratched.
What is needed is a protective cover that fits over a standard type of buckle. The more that this encloses the buckle, the better such a strap would be. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a protective cover that may be utilized with a standard configuration of buckle, and that completely protects the vehicle from being scratched by the buckle.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
These and other objects are accomplished by the protective cover of the invention. The invention is a protective cover that fits over a buckle of the type that is used to secure loads on a vehicle. Such a buckle has a strap attached to it, and the free end of the strap feeds into the buckle and is locked in place. The protective cover goes over the buckle and accommodates the strap attached to the buckle, and protects surfaces from being scratched or chipped by the hard metal of the buckle.
The protective cover of the invention can be used with a number of types of buckles, but is particularly suitable for a cam buckle in use at the current time. Such a buckle is a type that uses a camming action to secure the strap end, while the camming action is released by a lever. Such a buckle typically has a left and a right side that are attached to each other through several posts. One of the posts is a strap gripping post, which typically has ridges or teeth on it, to facilitate gripping the strap when the strap is pressed against it by a locking lever. Another post that holds the left and right side together is the strap attachment post, which is located at the opposite end of the buckle from the strap gripping post. The strap attachment post is available for permanently attaching one end of the strap to the buckle. The strap can be looped around the strap attachment post and sewn permanently in place. The protective cover of the invention would work equally well with buckles that did not have a strap permanently attached.
The buckle would typically include a locking lever that is rotatable about an axle, with one end being a gripping end for camming action against the strap end when it is pressed between the strap gripping post of the buckle and the gripping end. The other end of the locking lever is a release end, and by pressing down on the release end the camming action on the strap is released and the strap end may be withdrawn from the buckle. The buckle also has a buckle top and a buckle bottom, and a strap including an attached end that is attached to the strap attachment post, and a strap free end that is looped around the object being secured and fed into a strap entry slot where it is gripped by the locking lever.
The protective cover of the invention is made of a non-scratching and resilient material such as rubber, vinyl or other flexible and resilient material. The resilient cover body has a cover interior that is sized to fit snugly around a particular design of buckle. The cover body of the protective cover includes a cover sidewall that extends in a generally rectangular shape completely around the buckle. It encloses the buckle sides, front and back. The cover sidewall includes four sides: a back sidewall, a front sidewall, a left sidewall and a right sidewall. It also includes a cover top and a cover bottom that joins the left, right and rear sidewalls of the cover together. The back sidewall of the cover defines a strap exit slot through which the strap attached to the buckle can exit the protective cover. The bottom side of the cover can define another strap entry slot through which the free end of the strap can pass and thus pass between the gripping end of the lever and the strap gripping post of the buckle. The cover top side defines a strap exit slot through which the free end of the strap can pass and thus exit the buckle.
The cover top side covers the release end of the locking lever. This is different than some prior art, which specifically leaves a gap for accessing the release end of the locking lever. The cover of the present invention completely covers over the release end of the locking lever. However, the cover top side is thin enough that it can be pressed in against the release side of the lever, and the lever can be released without removing the protective cover from the buckle. This serves to protect the buckle from grit and debris, and protectively covers the release end of the lever, which typically protrudes above the sides of the buckle.
One version of the protective cover includes left, right and rear sidewalls that are wider than the left and right side of the buckle. In this version the front sidewall is narrower than the sidewalls of the buckle.
One design feature of the protective cover is that in the cover interior are a number of spacers that are used for centering and securing the buckle within the interior of the cover. The spacers can take the form of a ridge formed around the interior of the sidewalls, or it can take the form of a number of blocks that are attached to the interior of the sidewall and which center and secure the buckle.
In another embodiment of the device, the cover bottom side includes a second strap exit slot. The bottom slot is used when the bumper is installed on the strap in production at the factory. The webbing enters the rear slot, wraps around the buckle and exits the bottom slot to be sewn behind the buckle/bumper together with the webbing, making the bumper permanently fixed on the strap. For after market applications the bumper can be added or removed simply by sliding it on the webbing, through the rear slot.
One optional design of the device includes an exterior ridge that goes around the circumference of the sidewalls. This exterior ridge provides additional protection of the surface of the vehicle from being scratched by the buckle.
The purpose of the foregoing Abstract is to enable the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers, and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection, the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The Abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description wherein I have shown and described only the preferred embodiment of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by carrying out my invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of modification in various obvious respects all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description of the preferred embodiment are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive in nature.
While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but, on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.
The preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in
The protective buckle cover 10 of the invention is shown in
A material that has been found to be suitable for making the protective buckle cover 10 is polyurethane, although any flexible and resilient material would also be suitable. Possible materials include rubber, polypropylene, polyethylene and other types of plastics.
The cover top side 24 covers the release end 72 of the locking lever 70, but is flexible enough so -that the release end 72 of the locking lever 70 may be depressed by pressing on the cover top side 24. Having the cover top side 24 cover the release end 72 of the buckle 60 protects objects such as the vehicle roof the buckle might be used. This is because the release end 72 of the locking lever 70 typically protrudes slightly above the left side 62 and right side 64 of the buckle 60. Having a cover top side cover, this portion of the buckle provides additional safety to the vehicle. The cover top side 24 covers as much of the buckle 60 as possible which also keeps grit, dirt and debris out of the buckle mechanism, and allows it to work a longer period of time between cleaning.
Although not essential for the operation of the buckle 60, the preferred embodiment of the buckle includes a front sidewall 18, which is narrower than the other three sidewalls. The front sidewall 18 includes a ridge 28, which extends around the circumference of the sidewall.
While there is shown and described the present preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be distinctly understood that this invention is not limited thereto but may be variously embodied to practice within the scope of the following claims. From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
