Patent Application
20240389555
The present invention relates to a single point restraining device having a retraction limiting component for safely restraining a pet within a vehicle. More particularly, the single point restraining device can be removably connected to a conventional vehicle safety belt system, to an existing anchoring point within a vehicle or can be permanently affixed to the interior of a vehicle.
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. An additional problem encountered with pets is that they are not shaped like humans and the restraining device of the safety belt restrainer must be modified to conform to the size and shape of the pet to be restrained.
However, the proper and safe restraint of a pet in a vehicle presents several challenges. For instance, finding an easily securable attachment for a pet leash can be difficult. All newer automobiles are provided with safety restraints which are designed to accommodate humans, they are not suitable for restraining pets because of the differences in body size and shape. In addition, if a leash attachment point is found within a vehicle, inevitably there will be a certain amount of slack in the leash to provide the pet with a humane amount of mobility. Further, in the event of an accident or abrupt stop, this slack can result in the pet being projected forwarded and then suddenly jerked to a stop when the slack in the leash has run out, which can lead to serious injury of the pet in any hard braking scenario or impact event
Attempts have been made in the prior art to develop pet restraint devices, either multi-point harness devices, or belts or straps connected in some manner to an existing vehicular seat belt system. Some of such devices have tensioning and retracting systems that inherently manage slack in a retractable webbing when the pet moves closer to the anchoring point of the device. Of course, when there is slack, the pet is not restrained during an impact event.
Another problem that occurs with belts used in vehicles for restraining pets is that the end of the belt or webbing strap attached to the pet collar typically is looped back on itself to prevent the hook from retracting back into the housing. Thus, such belts are using the thickness of the double back and stitching as an attempt to stop the retracting. This looped back portion then will bang against the tensioner and over time, this repeated action will rip up the edge of the sewn-downed stitching. This repeated banging and sliding action can be exacerbated greatly by a pet which creates abrasion of the stitching and can cause the stitching to become frayed. The result of such fraying is that the belt can be compromised over time and no longer provide a proper or sufficient degree of restraining force.
An additional and significant concern with many vehicle restraining belts for pets is that they are not crash-tested. Quite simply, these types of vehicle restraing belts for pets are not built or designed to provide adequate protection during a car accident. In order for a restraining belt to be crash-test worthy, it must meet certain industry standards. Currently, the industry standard is the “pulse sled test” which simulates a 30 mph accident into a dead stop. This test is the same test as used by the FMVSS 213 Child Restraint code for test vehicle seat belts for humans, particularly children. Many pet restraining belts claim that they are “safety belts” for pets. However, unless such prior art pet restraining belts have undergone crash-testing using industry standards, they cannot be deemed as pet safety belts during impact events as they have not demonstrated that they meet the industry standards of being crash-tested safety restraining belts for pets. Rather, they simply are pet restraining devices.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2016/0227732 A1 to Pompey provides a pet harness device having a latching member pivotally connected to a rewindable leash housing, the latching member being configured to be received into and latched within a seat belt receiver. Pompey also provides a secondary pivotable attachment clip to an attachment point other than the seat belt. Pompey does not provide for a retraction limiting component to prevent damage to the leash belt or webbing. In U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021-0170985 A1 to Anderson, a self-tension and retracting belt device is disclosed which is capable of being connected to a conventional seat belt receiver. However, like Pompey, Anderson does not provide any retraction limiting component. Further, there is no indication that either Pompey or Anderson are crash-tested safety belts. Rather, they appear to be vehicle restraining devices for pets. Accordingly, there remains a need for a single point restraining device for restraining a pet within a vehicle that is capable of safely securing a pet within the vehicle and which has a retraction limiting component to prevent damage to the leash webbing. Such a restraining device should also have important safety features including anti-twisting of the leash webbing, a tear away feature of the webbing to provide some additional extension under force and should be crash-tested worthy. Further, such a restraining device should have multiple attachment means.
The invention of the present subject matter relates to a crash-tested single point restraining device for pets which can be removably connected to a conventional vehicle safety belt system, to an existing anchoring point within a vehicle or can be permanently affixed to the interior of a vehicle.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present subject matter to provide a single point restraining device for pets which can be used with a conventional three-point vehicle seat belt system.
It is another object of the present subject matter to provide a single point restraining device for pets which is removably connected to a standard seat belt receiver.
It is yet another object of the present subject matter to provide a single point restraining device for pets which can be removably secured to an anchoring point within a vehicle, such as an anchor point utilized in conjunction with infant seats.
It is still another object of the present subject matter to provide a single point restraining device for pets which can be permanently affixed to the interior of a vehicle and be removably connected to a pet harness or pet collar.
It is a further object of the present subject matter to provide a single point restraining device for pets having a retraction limiting component to prevent the stitching near the pet harness connecting end from being retracted into the housing of the restraining device.
It is yet a further object of the present subject matter to provide a single point restraining device for pets having a retraction limiting component which prevents damage such as fraying or abrasion of the stitching.
It is an additional object of the present subject matter to provide an improved single point restraining device for pets having a tear away feature.
These and other objects of the present subject matter are accomplished by providing a single point restraining device comprising a housing having a tensioning and retracting mechanism which is mechanically coupled to a reel assembly secured within the housing, a first end having a standard seat belt insert member and/or an anchoring point connecting element, an extendable and retractable seat belt webbing anchored within the housing having a harness connecting member at a second end which is distal from the first end, a stitched area formed by looping a length of the seat belt webbing over a looping bar and connecting adaptor near the distal end, and a retraction limiting component disposed on the belt between the housing and the stitched area to prevent damage to the stitching. In an alternate embodiment, the housing is affixed permanently to an interior location of a vehicle.
In the following description, like reference numbers are used to identify like elements. Furthermore, the drawings are intended to illustrate major features of exemplary embodiments in a diagrammatic manner. The drawings are not intended to depict every feature of every implementation nor relative dimensions of the depicted elements and are not drawn to scale. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to clearly describe various specific embodiments disclosed herein. One skilled in the art, however, will understand that the presently claimed invention may be practiced without all the specific details discussed below. In other instances, well known features have not been described so as not to obscure the invention.
The terms “single point restraining device”, “restraining device, “safety device for restraining a pet”, “automotive restraining belt”, “safety harness” and similar terms may be used throughout the specification and it is to be understood that such terms are interchangeable and all refer to the single point restraining device of the present subject matter.
As described herein, the term “removably secured”, “removably attached”, “removably connected”, and derivatives thereof shall be used to describe a situation wherein two or more objects are connected in a non-permanent manner to allow the same objects to be repeatedly connected and separated.
Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of the terms “including”, “comprising”, “having”, and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items.
Further, it is to be understood that the terms “belt”, “strap”, “retractable belt”, “belt webbing”, “webbing”, “safety belt”, “seat belt webbing”, and “retractable seat belt webbing”, derivatives and variations thereof as used throughout the specification are interchangeable and all refer to the retractable seat belt webbing of the present subject matter. In addition, it is to be understood that the terms “pet harness”, “pet collar”, “pet clothing”, derivatives and variations thereof as used throughout the specification are interchangeable and all refer to an article worn by a pet to which the single point restraining device of the present subject matter can be removably connected.
The present subject matter is directed to a crash-tested single point restraining device for safely harnessing and restraining a pet within a vehicle. The restraining device comprises a housing having a tensioning and retracting mechanism which is mechanically coupled to a reel assembly secured within the housing, a first end having a standard seat belt insert member and/or an anchoring point connecting element, an extendable and retractable seat belt webbing anchored within the housing having a harness connecting member at a second end which is distal from the first end, a stitched area formed by looping a length of the seat belt webbing and sewing it upon itself near the distal end having the harness connecting member, and a retraction limiting component integrated on the belt between the housing and the stitching to prevent damage to the stitching.
Referring now to
The retractor component may be configured to apply a force to wind the retractable seat belt webbing 112 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 well known to those of skill in the art and can take many forms. Alternately, the device 100 may have a tensioning force commensurate with the size of the pet so that, for example, a large dog still can 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 retractable seat belt webbing 112 and may be configured to pretension and lock the reel in response to a trigger, such as a sudden movement or an impact event
The single point restraining device further comprises a retractable seat belt webbing 112 having a proximal end 114 and a distal end 116, the proximal end 114 being attached or anchored to the reel assembly contained within housing 120. The retractable seat belt webbing 112 preferably is made of a non-elastic woven material, such as polyester. Inelastic materials including, but not limited to, polyester or nylon seat belt webbing are examples of suitable materials for the retractable seat belt webbing of the present subject matter.
The housing 120 further includes an opening 124 which is a slotted opening sufficiently sized for the retractable seat belt webbing 112 to pass through with minimal clearance, thereby allowing a length of the retractable seat belt webbing 112 to be selectively extended from the housing 120 in any manner which will be obvious to those skilled in the art. The tension and retracting mechanism operably functions to control extension and retraction of the retractable seat belt webbing 112.
At the distal end of the retractable seat belt webbing 112, a short length of the webbing is inserted under a looping bar 135 of collar adaptor 136 and then sewn back onto itself thereby creating a loop 137 and securing the seat belt webbing 112 to the collar adapter 136. The looping bar 135, the collar adaptor 136 and the loop 137, together cooperate to prevent the seat belt webbing 112 from retracting completely into the housing 120. Affixed to the collar adapter 136 is a harness connecting member 132. The harness connecting member 132 is configured for attachment to a pet harness, pet collar, or other article of pet clothing having a connecting means. The harness connecting member 132 may be any durable connecting means for removably securing the single point restraining device of the present subject matter to a pet, suitable examples of which will be obvious to those skilled in the art and include, a clip, a hook, a button loop, a carabiner clip, and variations thereof for attachment to a pet harness etc.
The retractor component of the tensioning and retracting mechanism is spring-loaded in such a manner to apply a constant force to wind the retractable seat belt webbing 112 on the reel to eliminate slack and provide some restraining force on the load (e.g. pet), and the tensioner component may lock the reel to fix an extended length of the belt webbing 112 upon sudden movement to secure the load. The housing 120 comprising the tensioning and retracting mechanism and reel may comprise any suitable rigid material as is well known in the art, including but not limited to hard plastic composites, metal, or plastic-metal composites.
It should be noted that the length of the restraining belt 112 should not be more than about three feet (3′) as any length greater will permit the pet to wander and/or move to an adjacent seating area within the vehicle. If there is unlimited length, in any type of sudden stop or accident scenario, too much play or slack in the restraining belt 112 prevents effective restraint.
The area of the seat belt webbing 112 which is sewn to over to form the loop is 137 is referred to as stitched area 140. Stitched area 140 can be subjected to wear and tear as it passes through the slotted opening 134 when being retracted onto and extending from the reel assembly, as this stitched area is the thickest portion of retractable seat belt webbing 112 due to the overlap. This is a very common problem with active pets causing many instances of retraction and extension which leads to a fraying of the stitching 140. Ultimately, this abrasive action can weaken the stitched area 140 and reduce the effective restraining power of the retractable seat belt webbing 112 as the frayed area can fail. This potential to fail may not be apparent to the user and thus needs to be obviated.
Referring now to
Two embodiments of the retraction limiting component of the present subject matter are shown in
Referring now to
Also shown in
The single point restraining device of the present subject matter further comprises means for removably securing the restraining device to a conventional vehicular seat belt assembly having a seat belt receiving element. In one embodiment, a seat belt insert member 128 is secured to the housing 120 on the rear side 125 of the housing 120. In the embodiment shown in
The single point restraining device of the present invention further may comprise an anchoring point connector which is capable of being removably secured to an anchoring point located in the vehicle. Referring now to
Most late model vehicles now are provided with anchoring points which may be in the form of lower anchor points and tether anchor points. Most commonly, baby car seats and toddler car seats can be secured to a vehicle seat using one or more lower anchor points. Referring now to
In operation, a user will select a desired anchoring point and simply connect the anchoring point connector 429 of the restraining device 400 to the desired anchoring point 462 or 464. The user then can connect the harness connecting member 432 to the pet harness or pet collar being worn by the pet in the vehicle as illustrated in
Referring to
While the crash-tested single point restraining device of the present subject matter allows a user to safely restrain a pet in a vehicle, it can be appreciated that with any restraint there is a possibility of the restrained pet choking or otherwise being injured because of the position of the pet relative to the restraint at the moment of an impact event. Accordingly, the stitching of the loop can be designed with a tear away feature as illustrated in
In another embodiment of the present invention, the crash-tested single point attachment device of the present subject matter is mounted or permanently affixed directly to an interior portion of the vehicle, such as the ceiling or frame, a rear shelf, a back wall, the rear of a vehicle seat or on the cargo floor. Referring now to
While several illustrative embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, numerous variations and alternative embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art. Such variations and alternative embodiments are contemplated and can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/105,149, filed Feb. 2, 2023 which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application 63/305,709 filed on Feb. 2, 2022.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63305709 | Feb 2022 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 18105149 | Feb 2023 | US |
| Child | 18797885 | US |
