This invention pertains to a protective garment of a type worn by a firefighter or by an emergency rescue worker, and of a type having a lower torso-covering portion and two leg-covering portions. This invention provides such a garment with a drag harness or drag harnesses.
As worn by firefighters and by emergency rescue workers, protective garments of the type having a lower torso-covering portion and two leg-covering portions noted above include protective pants, protective overalls, and protective coveralls. Herein, the lower torso-covering portion refers to the portion comprising and extending downwardly from the waist to the leg-covering portions and covering, among other regions, the groin and buttocks regions of the wearer.
Commonly, a firefighter or an emergency rescue worker who wears a protective garment of the type noted above also wears a drag harness, which is a harness used by a rescuer to drag a stricken wearer from a perilous situation. Such a harness may be also called a drag rescue device.
Drag harnesses, as discussed in the preceding paragraph, are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,671, No. 4,854,418, and No. 6,205,584 B1, and in United States Patent Application Publications No. US 2005/0173188 A1 and No. US 2005/0211188 A1.
This invention provides a protective garment of a type worn by a firefighter or by an emergency rescue worker, and of a type having a lower torso-covering portion and two leg-covering portions. Broadly, the protective garment is equipped with a drag harness or with drag harnesses, each of which is accessible through an associated aperture or associated apertures located somewhere in the lower torso-covering and leg-covering portions.
As indicated above, the lower torso-covering portion refers to the portion comprising and extending downwardly from the waist to the leg-covering portions and covering, among other regions, the groin and buttocks regions of the wearer. Broadly, the associated aperture or associated apertures may be located in a pocket, under a flap, or under a knee pad.
Along with each drag harness, the protective garment may be also equipped with a flap, which is manipulatable between a position wherein the flap covers the aperture or apertures associated with said drag harness and positions wherein the flap does not cover the aperture or apertures associated with said drag harness.
Along with each drag harness, the protective garment may be also equipped with a knee pad, which is manipulatable between a position wherein the knee pad covers the aperture or apertures associated with said drag harness and positions wherein the knee pad does not cover the aperture or apertures associated with said drag harness.
So as to be manipulatable therebetween, the knee pad may be attached to the given one of the leg-covering portions so as to be completely detachable or, in a variation wherein the knee pad serves as a flap, so as to be completely detachable, except for being attached hingedly to the given one of the leg-covering portions, along an edge portion of the knee pad.
Preferably, the drag harness extends into the protective garment, through a pair of apertures associated with said drag harness. Alternatively, the drag harness extends into the protective garment, through a single aperture associated with said drag harness.
In each illustrated embodiment, a protective garment 10 of a type worn by a firefighter or by an emergency rescue worker, such as a pair of protective pants, a suit of protective overalls, or a suit of protective coveralls, has a lower torso-covering portion 12 and two leg-covering portions 20 and is equipped at each leg-covering portion 20 with a knee pad 30 and with a drag harness 40, which is accessible through a pair of apertures 50 in said leg-covering portion 20 when the knee pad 30 does not cover the pair of apertures 50. If the protective garment 10 has an outer shell and a liner or liners, the apertures 50 extend through the outer shell and through the liner or liners.
At each leg-covering portion 20, the drag harness 40 is made from a length of rope, as illustrated, or from a length of strap, and, as illustrated in broken lines in
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In a simplified embodiment, the outer portion 44 of each drag harness 40 passes through one such aperture 50 in a given one of the leg-covering portions 20, and the knee pad 30 associated with the same one of the leg-covering portions 20 is attached detachably, either as in the embodiment of