BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the improved disposable restraining device including an exploded view of the locking box ends of the hinged straps removed from the interlocking cover and illustrating the placement of the locking boxes in the cover and slots in the top and bottom walls of the cover for receiving the free tip ends of the hinged straps.
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of disposable restraints showing the hinged flexible straps of the present invention in a folded storage position with the free tip end portions extending through the locking box.
FIG. 2A is an enlarged view of the hinged portion of a flexible strap that is in the folded storage position.
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of disposable restraints showing the hinged flexible straps of the present invention in the extended position prior to tightening around the arms or wrists of a detainee.
FIG. 3A is an enlarged view of the hinged portion of a flexible strap that is in the extended position.
FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of disposable restraints showing the hinged flexible straps of the present invention in the extended position tightened around the arms or wrists of a detainee.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring to FIGS. 1-4, the improved disposable restraining device of the subject invention is generally designated by the numeral 14. The improved disposable restraining device 14 includes a first hinged flexible strap 16 and a second, separate hinged flexible strap 18 formed into two separate loops which are joined together by an interlocking cover 20.
In one embodiment of the invention, each hinged flexible strap 16 and 18 comprises an elongated, substantially flat strap having two ends. As shown in FIG. 1, each strap 16 and 18, has a free tip 22 and 24 at one end, and a locking box 26 and 28, at the other end. Each strap 16 and 18 is preferably made of an inexpensive, lightweight, strong, flexible, plastic material, similar to wire ties and bag ties, and the inner surface of each strap is lined with a plurality of saw tooth ribs 17.
As shown in FIG. 1, each locking box 26 and 28 is molded to extend perpendicularly from its respective flexible strap 16 and 18, thus forming an “L” shape so that in the assembled device, the flexible straps 16 and 18 extend in a vertical direction from the interlocking cover 20. Each locking box 26 and 28 has a top and a bottom having central openings 30 and 32, which respectively extend vertically through each box 26 and 28 and are adapted to receive the free tip end 22 and 24 of each hinged strap 16 and 18.
FIG. 1 also shows the interlocking cover 20 of the restraining device 14. The cover 20 includes a top wall 34, a bottom wall 36, opposite open ends 38 and 40 and a hollow interior 35. The top and bottom walls 34 and 36 include slots 42, for receiving the free tip end 22 of strap 16, and slots 44, for receiving the free tip end 24 of strap 18. The opposite open ends 38 and 40 of the cover 20 are adapted to receive the locking boxes 26 and 28. When assembled, the locking boxes 26 and 28 are inserted into the open ends 38 and 40 and the slots 42 and 44 are positioned to be in alignment with central openings 30 and 32, respectively.
Once it is positioned in the cover, the locking box 26 is locked in the hollow interior 35 of the cover 20 by threading the free tip end 16 through the slot 42 of the bottom wall 36, through the central opening 30 and through the slot 42 of the top wall 34 to form a first loop. Likewise, the locking box 28 is locked in place by threading the free tip end 18 through the slot 44 of the bottom wall 36, through the central opening 32 of the locking box 28 and through the slot 44 of the top wall 34 to form a second loop joined to the first loop by the cover 20. Thus, by inserting the locking boxes 26 and 28 into the cover 20 and threading the free tip ends 22 and 24 therethrough, the straps 16 and 18 are formed into two loops and the two looped straps are locked into the cover 20 to form the restraining device 14.
Hinges 23 and 25 are also shown in FIG. 1. Hinges 23 and 25 are formed within the flexible straps 16, 18 proximate the locking box 26, 28 such that hinges 23 and 25 provide increased flexibility between the end of flexible straps 16, 18 having the locking box 26, 28 and the remainder of the strap.
The hinged flexible straps of the assembled restraining device may be folded as shown in FIG. 2. In one embodiment, each of the hinged straps 16 and 18 include notches 54 for folding the straps into a compact storage position. As shown in FIG. 2, the notches 54 are positioned on each strap so that a center portion of the hinged straps may be folded inward toward the cover 20 to form a trifold without disassembling the loops. Thus, the restraining device 14 can be quickly and easily transformed from the compact, folded carrying position to the extended ready-for-use position by pulling the folded strap outward to fully extend the loops (see FIG. 3).
FIG. 2A is an enlarged view of the hinged portion 25 of a flexible strap 18 that is in the folded storage position. As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the hinge 25 is located proximate the bottom of the locking box 28. FIG. 2A illustrates that when the flexible straps 16 is in the compact folded position, as in FIG. 2, the outside angle between the end of the flexible strap 18 having the locking box 28 and the remainder of the flexible strap 18 is approximately 180 degrees. Although FIG. 2A shows only the relationship between hinge 25, flexible strap 18, and locking box 28 it is intended that alternate hinge 23, flexible strap 16 and locking box 26 have an identical relationship, albeit reversed, with each component having similar features to the respective components that are shown.
FIG. 3 shows disposable restraints having hinged flexible straps 16, 18 of the present invention where the loops formed by the straps are in the extended, ready-to-use position, just prior to tightening around the arms or wrists 60, 62 of a detainee. In this position, the closed loops formed by the flexible straps 16, 18 have been unfolded from their compact storage position, and placed around the arms or wrists 60, 62 of a detainee. FIG. 3 illustrates that the hinges 23 and 25 allow each of the flexible straps 16, 18 to bend in an outward direction, opposite their respective locking box 26, 28. These hinges 23, 25 allow the straps 16, 18 to bend at a predefined point that is proximate to the end of the strap having the locking box 26, 28.
FIG. 3A is an enlarged view of the hinge portion 23 of a flexible strap 16 that is in the unfolded ready-to-use position as illustrated in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3A, when the flexible strap 16 is unfolded from its compact storage position, the hinge 23 permits the strap 16 to bend at a specific point in a direction away from the perpendicularly extending locking box 26 and interlocking cover 20. When the flexible strap 16 bends in this manner, the outside angle between the end of the strap having the locking box 26 and the remainder of the flexible strap 16 is an angle less than 180 degrees. By permitting the flexible strap 16 to bend in this manner, the closed loop formed by flexible strap 16 bends in a direction away from the perpendicularly extending locking box without having to be forced in such a direction by the arm or wrist of the detainee. Again, although FIG. 3A shows only the relationship between hinge 23, flexible strap 16, and locking box 26 it is intended that alternate hinge 25, flexible strap 18 and locking box 28 have an identical relationship with each component having identical characteristics to the counterpart component which is shown in FIG. 3A.
FIG. 4 illustrates disposable restraints 14 having hinged flexible straps 16, 18 of the present invention in the extended position and tightened around the arms or wrists of a detainee 60, 62. When the straps 16, 18 having hinges 23 and 25 are tightened, as shown in FIG. 4, the closed loops formed by the straps assume a shape that better corresponds to the outside contour of the detainee's arms or wrists 60, 62. The closed loops tighten in this manner because the hinges 23 and 25 allow the flexible straps 16, 18 to bend in an outward direction without placing undue force on certain portions of the arms or wrists 60, 62 of the detainee as they do in previous disposable restraints. The result, as shown in FIG. 4 is that when the flexible straps 16, 18 are fully tightened around the detainee's arms or wrists 60, 62, the arms and wrists of the detainee are positioned closer to the interlocking cover 20, such that there is little or no space under the flexible straps that could squeeze or pinch a portion of the detainee's skin or tissue. The hinges 23, 25 therefore allow the restraining device to be more comfortable and secure and less likely to cause a detainee to incur an unintended injury.
The presence of hinges 23, 25 on the flexible straps 16, 18 in an area that is proximate to the bottom of their respective locking boxes 26, 28 strengthens the closed loops by as much as 12% over prior restraints. Such increased strength is attributable to the fact that the hinged areas 23, 25 allows the straps 16, 18 to bend in a more uniform manner around the detainee's arms or wrists 60, 62. By altering the manner in which the flexible straps 16, 18 bend, the hinges allow the force caused by the bending of the straps 16, 18 to be distributed in a more uniform manner across the length of the straps 16, 18 as opposed to confining such force to a few distinct points along the straps.
While the hinged flexible straps 16 and 18 must be severed to remove the restraining device 14 from the detainee once it has been applied, it is an important feature of the subject invention that the cover 20 may be reused to form a new restraining device. Once the hinged straps are cut, the locking boxes 26 and 28 are no longer locked into the cover 20 and the straps may be easily removed and discarded. The restraining device may be reassembled using replacement hinged straps by inserting the locking boxes of the hinged straps into the cover 20 and threading the free tip ends there through to form two loops. Thus, the two hinged replacement straps are locked into the cover 20 to form the restraining device 14.
The present disclosure includes that which is contained in the appended claims, as well as that of the forgoing description. Although, this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example, and that numerous changes in the details of the elements, compositions and the combination of individual ingredients may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.
Patent Application
20080040896
