Patent Application
20200398088
Not Applicable
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The invention relates to safety harnesses and in particular those safety harnesses used by hunters during saddle hunting. Saddle hunting is a type of hunting whereby the hunter is typically positioned in a tree while standing on a small tree stand, foot platform, steps or the like. The hunter utilizes the safety harness for safety reasons as well to allow the hunter to move around the tree, using the tree stand for leverage, while searching for and shooting at game.
The disclosure and prior art relates to saddle hunting harness devices and more particularly pertains to a new saddle hunting harness device for allowing a user of a harness to adjust the harness sections relative to each other such that the sections are more comfortable for walking to and from a hunting area as well as for sitting in while the user is in their hunting location.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising an upper cradle and a lower cradle. Each of the upper and lower cradles has a front side, a rear side, a top edge, a bottom edge, a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge. The upper cradle is positioned above the lower cradle such that the bottom edge of the upper cradle is positioned adjacent to the top edge of the lower cradle. The upper cradle is configured to be positionable against a lower back of a person and the lower cradle is configured to be positionable against upper legs of a person. A plurality of bridge connectors is attached to the upper and lower cradles and is configured to engage a bridge rope. An adjustment member is attached to and extends between the upper and lower cradles. The adjustment member has an adjustable length to selectively alter a distance between the upper and lower cradles.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A plurality of bridge connectors 28 is attached to the upper 12 and lower 14 cradles and is configured to engage a bridge rope 30, used to secure the assembly 10 to a line 32, typically comprising a rope, coupled to a tree 34. The bridge rope 30 may comprise a rope or webbing. As can be seen in
The plurality of bridge connectors 28 may include a pair of saddle straps 36. One of the saddle straps 36 extends between and is attached to the first lateral edges 24 of the upper 12 and lower 14 cradles, and another of the saddle straps 36 extends between and is attached to the second lateral edges 26 of the upper 12 and lower 14 cradles. The saddle straps 36 may be constructed out of any conventional, flexible strapping or webbing material though rope material may be utilized instead. The saddle straps 36 will each be flexible and have a length from about 6.0 inches to 30.0 inches.
An adjustment member 38, which may include a pair of adjustment members 38, is attached to and extends between the upper 12 and lower 14 cradles. The adjustment members 38 each have an adjustable length to selectively alter a distance between the upper 12 and lower 14 cradles such that a selected distance between the upper 12 and lower 14 cradles is releasably maintained by the adjustment member 38. The adjustment members 38 are spaced from each other and are spaced from the first 24 and second 26 lateral edges of the upper 12 and lower 14 cradles. The distance between the first 24 and second 26 lateral edges and a closest one of the adjustment members 38 is typically 6.0 inches or more. A distance between the adjustment members 38 is greater than 4.0 inches if only two of the adjustment members 38 is utilized. However, it should be understood that more than two adjustment members 38 may be utilized though there would generally be little reason to include more than three adjustment members 38.
The adjustment members 38 may include, for example, a first portion 40 attached to the upper cradle 12 and a second portion 42 attached to the lower cradle. The first portion 40 may be attached to the rear side 16 of the of the upper cradle 12 and the second portion 42 may be attached to the rear side 16 of the lower cradle 14 as shown in the Figures though the locations of the first 40 and second 42 portions relative to the upper 12 and lower 14 cradles is not critical to the assembly 10. Each of the first 40 and second 42 portions may comprise conventional strap material used with safety harnesses. A buckle 44 adjustably secures together the first 40 and second 42 portions. The adjustment members 38 may be cinched tightly so that the top edge 20 of the lower cradle 14 abuts the bottom edge 22 of the upper cradle 12. This configuration would be used, for instance, while the user of the assembly 10 is walking so that the lower cradle 14 is not hanging freely and to abut, rub against, and irritate the user's legs but will instead be positioned on the buttocks adjacent to the lower back. By pulling the lower cradle 14 upwardly tight against the upper cradle 12, the lower cradle 14 will also not easily catch on underbrush while the user moves through the underbrush.
As with conventional harnesses, additional securing means may be employed to further engage the user. Thus, a waist belt 46 is attached to the upper cradle 12 and will usually be is attached to the front side 16 of the upper cradle 12. Furthermore, a pair of leg straps 48 may be attached to and extend between the upper 12 and lower 14 cradles. The leg straps 48 are attached to the front sides 16 of the upper 12 and lower 14 cradles or may be attached to the lower cradle 14 and the waist belt 46. The leg straps 48 may also be attached to the saddle straps 36.
Additional structure on the harness may include conventional loops or connectors 50 for connecting additional articles to the assembly 10. For example, a variety of buckles and hook may be used with typical MOLLE type connectors that are insertable into MOLLE type strapping 14. MOLLE, which may also be referred to as PALS, stands for, respectively, modular lightweight load-carrying equipment and pouch attachment ladder system. These labels are often interchangeable and define a ubiquitous coupling arrangement whereby a strap is attached to an article at approximately 1.5 inch increments to form closed loops between the attachment points. The closed loops are then used for receiving clips, hooks, other straps, or connectors. However, any variety of conventional attachments for hunting type safety harnesses may be included.
Handles 52 may be attached to the upper cradle 12 and are positioned such that the saddle straps 36 are positioned forward of the handles 52. The handles, formed of strapping, rope, or other flexible material, may be used for manipulation by the user for receiving other safety ropes, articles to be transported and the like.
In use, the user typically attaches the bridge rope to the assembly 10 and then steps into the assembly 10 as it lies on the ground with the bridge rope 30 to the front and the upper 14 and lower 16 cradles to the rear. The assembly 10 is lifted and the waist belt 46 buckled and cinched so that the upper cradle 12 is on positioned at the base of the lower back. The adjustment members 38 are typically cinched tight so that the lower cradle 14 is not hanging loosely and the leg straps 48 are secure in place. The bridge rope 30 may be tied off so that it is not freely hanging while walking to a desired destination. When the user enters a tree, the bridge line 30 is secured to the tree line 32 and lower cradle 14 is lowered, relative to the upper cradle 12, with the adjustment members 38 until it is positioned where desired by the user. This distance can vary considerably as the positioning can be above the lower part of the buttocks to a position between the knees and the buttocks depending on the comfort of the user.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
