The present invention relates to buckles and, more particularly to buckles for a climber's, linesman's or arborist's belts, harness or saddles wherein the buckle resists accidental opening.
Buckles for climber's, linesman's or arborist's belts, harness or saddles and other applications are well known in the art. These types of equipment are typically worn by workers when working at significant heights or in other situations where a fall could be injurious or even fatal. To be practical, a buckle for such equipment must present a combination of ease of fastening and resistance to accidental opening. Buckles of the prior art can be improved to provide adequate protection against accidental opening.
Buckles designed for applications such as climber's, linesman's or arborist's belts, harnesses or saddles and other such applications typically require activation of release mechanisms disposed on opposite sides of the buckle for the buckle to open. Under normal circumstances, this approach to preventing accidental buckle opening is adequate. However, in some applications, for example when an arborist is engaged in trimming a tree, a foreign object may accidentally activate the release mechanism on one side of the buckles of the prior art. In this case, accidental activation of the release mechanism on the opposite side of the buckle may have catastrophic consequences. In some cases, this condition is exacerbated when one portion of a buckle assembly becomes cocked (i.e., experiences side-to-side motion) within the mating buckle portion. This may happen when a foreign object, for example a tree branch, presses against the buckle as a wearer pursues his or her activity while wearing a belt, harness, saddle, fall arrester, or the like.
What is required, therefore, is a device that minimizes or prevents accidental opening of the buckle, particularly when the buckle is subjected to stresses which could cock one buckle component with respect to another buckle component.
Many attempts to provide accidental release prevention may be found in buckles of the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,459,673 for CLASP, issued Sep. 26, 1922 to Louis Jabner, shows a clasp having dual release mechanisms.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,713,192 for BUCKLES FOR SAFETY BELTS, issued Jan. 30, 1973 to Jan-Olof Raymond Wallin, teaches a seat belt buckle having a notched, bifurcated tongue. The bifurcated tongue is held by two locking hooks that engage protrusions on the outer edges of the bifurcated tongue.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,891 for FASTENER STRUCTURE BETWEEN A DIVING FLIPPER AND A TIGHTENING STRAP THEREOF, issued Oct. 8, 1996 to Hsing-Chi Hsieh, shows another clasping mechanism having a tongue and dual release mechanisms located on opposite sides of a housing receiving the tongue.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,106 for HELMET STRAP BUCKLE ASSEMBLY, issued Dec. 17, 1996 to Joseph Anscher, teaches a buckle with a resilient tongue having protrusions on outside edges of its distal end. The protrusions are captured in mating openings. The buckle is released by pressing both protrusions inwardly, thereby distorting the tongue and releasing the protrusions from the openings.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,877 for PINCH RESISTANT BUCKLE ASSEMBLY, issued Mar. 24, 1998 to C. Kwai Kong, teaches a mechanism similar to that of ANSCHER. However, KONG teaches a protective structure over the openings to help prevent accidental release of the buckle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,163,942 for TWO-PIECE LOCK WITH HIDDEN LOCKING MECHANISM, issued Dec. 26, 2000 to Chien-Chen Liao, also teaches a structure similar to that of ANSCHER. However, LIAO adds an auxiliary mechanism that must be activated before the protruding portions of the tongue may be depressed and withdrawn from the receiving portion of the buckle.
Published United States Patent Application No. 2003/0074772 for MOVABLE BUCKLE STRUCTURE, published Apr. 24, 2003 upon application by Ang-yo Chen, shows a buckle assembly having a tongue with two pivoting latching blocks adapted for engaging openings in a receiving housing. The tongue also has a guiding block which is received in a guiding track in the receiving portion of the buckle assembly.
None of the patents or the published patent application, singly or in any combination, anticipates or suggests the novel buckle of the present invention.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a buckle that is resistant to unintentional or accidental release. A first portion of the novel buckle assembly has a rigid, bifurcated tongue. A pair of outward-facing protrusions located on the edges of the tongue at its distal end is adapted for engagement with a locking mechanism disposed within a mating buckle component. The mating buckle component has a rigid block forming a keying component centrally located so that as the bifurcated tongue is inserted into the receiving buckle component, the central opening of the bifurcated tongue surrounds and fits snuggly against the keying component. Side-to-side movement of the tongue (i.e., cocking) is thereby prevented. This lack of side-to-side movement, in cooperation with the latching mechanism, helps prevent accidental unlocking of the buckle.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a buckle that is difficult or impossible to unintentionally or accidentally unlatch.
It is another object of the invention to provide a buckle that requires rotation (i.e., depression) of two diametrically opposed release mechanisms to release a tongue portion of the buckle.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a buckle wherein two diametrically opposed release mechanisms are recessed to minimize contact with environmental objects in their vicinity.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a buckle wherein rotation (i.e., depression) of any one of the two diametrically opposed release mechanisms will not release the tongue portion of the buckle.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a buckle wherein cocking of the tongue within the receiving portion of the buckle is minimized.
A complete understanding of the present invention may be obtained by reference to the accompanying drawings, when considered in conjunction with the subsequent detailed description, in which:
The buckle of the present invention represents an improvement in safety compared to buckles of the prior art. It is critical that when a worker is wearing safety equipment, for example, a work-positioning belt, a safety harness, an arborist's belt, an arborist's saddle, a fall arrester, and the like, the buckle thereof remain mated because the worker's life may depend upon the reliability of the buckle. In many occupations requiring such safety equipment, for example, when topping a tree, the buckle may be pressed against, brushed, or impacted by, or otherwise influenced by an environmental object such as a protruding branch. Under such circumstances, it is essential that the buckle remain closed.
Referring now to
Buckle 100 has two portions: a tongue portion 102, and a receiver portion 104. In
A belt or web length-adjusting mechanism 114 is disposed in tongue portion 102. In the embodiment chosen for purposes of disclosure, length adjusting mechanism 114 has a knurled bar or roller 114a and a keeper bar 114b held in tension against roller 114a by a spring, not shown, or another tensioning mechanism. Such mechanisms for gripping a web length passed between roller 114a and keeper 114b are well known to those of skill in the art. It will be recognized that other mechanisms for performing the length-adjusting function are known. The invention is not considered limited to the specific length-adjusting mechanism chosen for purposes of disclosure. Rather, the invention covers any mechanism suitable for performing the length-adjusting, web-gripping function.
Receiver portion 104 is a laminated structure having an upper plate 116 and a lower plate 118 (best seen in
Sandwiched between upper and lower plates 116, 118, respectively, is a solid, rigid key or bar 120 sized and configured to fit into slot 110 as tongue portion 102 is slid into receiver portion 104 when mating the buckle 100 portions 102, 104. Key or bar 120 and slot 110 are sized so that slot 110 easily slides around key or bar 120 during buckle mating, but tightly enough so that there is little or no side-to-side movement of tongue 108 once tongue 108 is inserted and locked in receiver portion 104.
A pair of pawls 124 is disposed between upper and lower plates 116, 118, each having a structure adapted to retain protrusions 112 of tongue 108 when buckle 100 is mated. External actuators 126 pivot about posts 130 in the direction indicated by arrows 128. Springs 134 bias pawls 124 against protrusions 112 thereby keeping the buckle in a latched, mated position. The rotation (i.e., depression) of both external actuators 126 overcome the bias provided by springs 134 and allow the removal of tongue 108 from receiving portion 104. It is, of course, necessary to release both pawls 124 from respective protrusions 112 to release tongue 108 from receiving portion 104, the interaction of slot 110 with guide block or key 120 helping prevent the withdrawal of tongue 108 from receiving portion 104 when only one of external actuators 126 are moved.
As may be readily seen in
Since other modifications and changes varied to fit particular operating requirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention is not considered limited to the examples chosen for purposes of disclosure and covers all changes and modifications which do not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of this invention.
Having thus described the invention, what is desired to be protected by Letters Patent is presented in the subsequently appended claims.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1209369 | Wood | Dec 1916 | A |
1459673 | Jabner | Jun 1923 | A |
2153077 | Clarke | Apr 1939 | A |
3201840 | Jantzen | Aug 1965 | A |
3605210 | Lohr | Sep 1971 | A |
3713192 | Wallin | Jan 1973 | A |
3789467 | Aratani et al. | Feb 1974 | A |
5355562 | Matoba et al. | Oct 1994 | A |
5561891 | Hsieh | Oct 1996 | A |
5584106 | Anscher | Dec 1996 | A |
5729877 | Kong et al. | Mar 1998 | A |
6163942 | Liao | Dec 2000 | A |
6668434 | Casebolt et al. | Dec 2003 | B2 |
20030074772 | Chen | Apr 2003 | A1 |