Load bearing garments such as vests and packs are often worn by people who encounter situations where the garment needs to be either partially or completely removed. Such situations include an injury to the wearer where access needs to be gained to the site of the injury, often times under the garment, where the weight of the garment and supplies/equipment have become an encumbrance, for example on the battlefield. The garment may also become engaged with another item inhibiting movement of the vest wearer thereby necessitating partial or total removal of the garment. Such garments may be used for carrying equipment, supplies and/or armor. So called cutaway vests are known in the industry, and provide an improvement over non cutaway vests, at least in certain regards. Such a vest may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,047,570 which provides an advance in the art by having a quick release mechanism that permits quick jettisoning of the vest in separate components wherein the front panel and rear panel can separate from one another. While providing an advance in the art, complete separation of the vest into separate components for removal is not always necessary or desirable, particularly on the battlefield where both the wearer and the medic attending to the wounded wearer of the garment are subject to hostile fire. Additionally, such vests, to provide efficiency in manufacture and inventory control, should be adjustable within ranges for size adjustment for different wearers, by providing adjustment at the shoulders for height and by providing adjustment for waist size to better accommodate different wearers, comfort levels and perhaps different types of clothing to be worn under the vest.
While such a cutaway vest has provided an advance in the art of vest design, reassembly after cutaway can be problematic and time consuming. It can take several minutes to reassemble a vest for wearing which may exacerbate a situation in which a wearer is using the vest such as in a hostile fire environment.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an alternative vest design, which permits easy to effect alternative rigging configurations, one for remote quick release of the vest from a wearer while maintaining the parts connected and while permitting size adjustment in a simple and effective manner, and one for manual release of the garment. There is also a need for a vest having additional armor carrying capability to enhance the user's safety without having to make major modifications to current garment constructions.
Thus, there is a need for an improved vest or other form of releasable garment.
The present invention involves the provision of a releasable garment, for example a vest, which has at least one torso panel and a waist belt along with shoulder straps to support at least some of the weight of the garment on the shoulders of the garment wearer. When the garment is a vest, there is provided a front torso panel, a rear torso panel, strap members extending between the front and rear torso panels to provide shoulder straps, and a belt, for securing lower portions of the front and rear torso panel in position on the vest user. The vest includes a remotely activatable release system that works in combination with first and second connector systems. The first connector system is adapted for attaching the first and second end portions of a belt together in a manual release mode and a second connector system is adapted for alternately attaching the first and second belt end portions together in a quick release mode. When attached in the quick release mode, the quick release system is operable for disconnecting the belt end portions from attachment such that the front torso panel may be moved relative to the user to either remove the vest completely or to move portions of the vest to provide access to normally covered areas of the vest user. The shoulder straps may remain attached to both the front and rear torso panels retaining them connected together after release for quick remounting of the garment.
The present invention also involves the provision of a mounting system for carrying soft armor in lower portions of the garment, and in particular around the waist of the garment user in a manner that allows selective use of the armor.
Like numbers throughout the various figures designate like or similar parts or construction.
The following detailed description and associated drawings of the present invention are related to certain embodiments or implementations of the invention. Accordingly, the following description and associated drawings do not describe every conceivable and possible embodiment or implementation of the invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art, given the teachings herein, will recognize that aspects of the present invention may be changed or otherwise adapted to best-fit a particular implementation of the present invention.
The reference numeral 1 in
The garment 1 is provided with at least one connector system for connecting portions of the garment together in at least two release modes including a manual release mode and/or a quick release mode as described below. A quick release connector system, designated generally 16 (
The front torso member 3 includes the torso panel 6 and rearwardly extending side portions 11A and 11B. The front torso member 3 also includes, in the illustrated structure, portions of the shoulder strap assemblies 8A and 8B which are in the form of generally upwardly and rearwardly extending ears 21A and 21B (
The rear torso member 4 includes the rear torso panel 7 and the forwardly extending side portions 12A and 12B. At the upper portion of the torso panel 7, there are two generally upwardly and forwardly extending ears 31A and 31B (
The shoulder strap assemblies 8, as shown, include portions of the front and rear torso members 3 and 4, that is, the ears 21 and 31 which can provide cushioning and underlie shoulder strap members 45A and 45B (
The belt member 14, as illustrated, can also be provided with a series of horizontally and vertically positioned rows or series of loops 22 for securement of items and pouches to the belt 14 as do the loops 22 associated with the front and rear torso members 3 and 4 respectively. The belt member 14 has two side portions 56A and 56B with each side portion 56 having opposite ends whereby the belt 14 can be separated into two separate parts. The ends 26A and 26B are the front positioned ends of the sides 56A and 56B, respectively, while the ends 39A and 39B are the rear positioned ends of the sides 56A and 56B respectively. The belt member 14 is preferably provided with longitudinally extending sleeves or pouches 59A and 59B preferably extending from adjacent the ends 26A and 26B toward the ends 39A and 39B for receipt therein of armor members or segments 20 which are preferably soft an nor, for example, Kevlar® based armor that is generally comformable to the shape of a user's waist, which minor members are well known in the art.
Secured to the belt sides 56A and 56B adjacent the belt ends 39A and 39B are connector devices, for example, sewn fabric loops 61 which are best seen in
As best seen in
For rigging the belt member 14 for a quick release, the loops 61C are placed through a respective aperture 69 and releasably locked to the adapter member 65 by use of a portion of the quick release system 16 for remote quick release, that is, remote from the loops 61 or the point or points of attachment. In the illustrated structure, the quick release connection system 16 includes a retainer member such as a plastic coated metal wire cable 79 or any other suitable member that preferably extends from adjacent the front portion of the front torso member 3 through the belt section 56A, or alternately the belt section 56B, and into the pouch 37 for extending through the loops 61C to lock each of the loops 61C extending through a respective aperture 69. This rigging secures the adapter member 65 to the belt end 39A and the belt ends 39A and 39B together in a quick release manner. The loops 72 are then substituted for the loops 61B having the cord 75 laced therethrough as described above for the lacing of the loops 61A and 61B, that is, the loops 61A and 72 are now laced together with the cord 75 as previously explained. To affect quick release, the cable 79 is removed from the loops 61C by pulling a handle 81 which in turn is secured to the cable 79. The handle 81 can include a fastener 82 (
Although member 14 has been described or called a waist belt, the member 14 could also be a cummerbund and use of the term “waist belt” is meant to include any member which fits around the waist of the user such as an internal or external belt or cummerbund member typically associated with a garment or vest of the type disclosed herein.
It is recognized and anticipated that the various components and elements comprising the present connector systems such as the members 61, 65, 69, 72, 75, 79 and 81 can take on a wide variety of different shapes and dimensions yet still accomplish the stated purpose. For example, although the attachment device or adapter member 65 is illustrated as having openings 69 and loops 72 associated therewith, it is recognized and anticipated that other connection devices or connection means can be utilized in association with the waist belt end portions 38A and 38B to effect operable connection therebetween. It is also recognized that the loops 61A, 61B, 61C and 72 could be apertures and that the apertures 69 could be loops. Likewise, still other connection devices instead of the loops and apertures disclosed herein could be utilized to accomplish the same task. Still further, it is likewise recognized and understood that other attachment devices instead of the cord member 75 could likewise be utilized to accomplish connection between the adapter member and one end portion of the waist belt. In addition, although the garment 1 is disclosed as being a vest having front and rear torso members 3 and 4 respectively, it is likewise recognized and anticipated that a garment utilizing the present invention may utilize one or more torso members, for example, the garment could be a back pack having a waist belt associated therewith, the back pack having only a rear torso member associated therewith. It is also recognized and anticipated that a garment utilizing the present invention may eliminate use of the manual release system and may incorporate just the quick release connector system disclosed herein. Still other variations and modifications to the various constructions illustrated herein are contemplated including equivalents thereof.
Thus, there has been shown and described several embodiments of a novel invention. As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. The terms “having” and “including” and similar terms as used in the foregoing specification are used in the sense of “optional” or “may include” and not as “required”. Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications of the present construction will, however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and the accompanying drawings. All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims which follow.
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Number | Date | Country |
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642244 | Jun 1962 | CA |
Entry |
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Point Blank Body Armor, Inc., Nato QR Full Spectrum Battle Equipment, web site printout dated Nov. 5, 2003. |
U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center, USMC Full Spectrum Battle Equipment, web site printout (several views are included). This body armor/vest is believed to be the vest produced by Point Blank Body Armor, Inc. |
Attachment A1-A8 show Point Blank Body Armor, Inc., Nato QR Full Spectrum Battle Equipment, Digital photograph with details of cable release system using multiple cables taken Jul. 2004. |
Figures B1-B3, for Cut Away Vest (digital photographs). Attachment B is a prior art vest. It includes a four cable release system to effect cut away of the vest Fig. B1. The shoulder straps each have a cable connection Fig. B3 and the sides each have a cable connection Fig. B2. The four cable connections are similar in construction. The vest has been referred to as a FSBE I vest. |
Figures C1-C7, for Cut Away Vest (digital photographs). Attachment C shows a TAC-VDG vest that went through several design changes, six versions were believed to have been designed. It is not clear which version the illustrated vest is. One version (unknown) which was sold on or about Jun. 18, 2002. Fourteen units of version four were sold on Oct. 20, 2002. The specific design of what was sold is currently unknown. The shoulders were each joined by a respective cable, Fig. C2 and the belt or sides and cummerbund were connected by a third cable Fig. C3. |
Figures D1-D6 illustrate the Dap vest discussed in the background of the subject application. The vest shown has an ID tag claiming a manufacture date of 1990 and denotes the vest as Model A1-IIIA and named A1-TAC-DPSO. Figures D1-D6 show the vest from the front side. Figure D1 shows the cable in the retaining loops closing the armor pocket. Figure D2 shows the cable removed and the loops out of their grommets. Figure D3 shows the cable removed and the loops out of their grommets. Figure D4 shows the vest with the cable installed and the closure flap closed. Figure D5 shows the exterior of the vest with the cable installed. Figure D6 shows an enlargment of the vest label on the body side of the vest denoting American Body Armor & Equipment, Inc. as the source of the vest. |
Attachments E1-E11 show what is believed to be an M1 flak jacket used in the latter part of World War II by American flyers. This flak jacket utilized a pull cord as seen in Attachment E3 that when pulled separates snaps as seen in Attachments E1 and E2 allowing the flak jacket to fall downwardly off the wearer in the event the wearer needs to ditch the flak jacket in an emergency situation. The flak jacket included armor plates to protect the wearer. Apparently, the armor stayed with the various portions of the flak jacket when the vest was released from the wearer. Attachment E11 shows the flak jacket from the rear and Attachments E1-10 show the flak jacket from the front. |
Attachments F1-F4 show World War II flak jackets including the M1 flak jacket and the M12. It is not clear from the photos what the construction of the M12 jacket includes. The Attachment F3 appears to show the M1 flak jacket as it would be released from the wearer. |
Attachment G1-G10 illustrates a releasable vest apparently produced by Point Blank Body Armor, Inc. Attachment G3 describes the vest as being designed for quick release. Structural details of the vest are not disclosed in the article. There is a reference in Attachment G3 about the vest having a quick ejection hard armor plate pocket. |