Patent Application
20170143999
This invention relates generally to the field of police, military and law enforcement equipment. More particularly, the invention relates to a compact, wrist-worn window-breaking tool that allows the tool to be carried safely on the person and yet be immediately accessible for emergency use.
In police and other public safety lines of work, sometimes windows need to be broken immediately in order to gain access to a building or vehicle. For example, an unconscious or injured person or infant may be locked in an automobile that has caught on fire or is about to be submerged in water. In such circumstances, the immediate breaking of a window to either unlock the door or provide a means of egress from the vehicle is literally a matter of life or death for the person trapped in the vehicle.
There are several window-breaking devices known in the prior art, such as tactical police batons or small, hand-held window-breaking punches or hammers. The prior art window-breaking techniques using baton are often ineffective as the tempered glass found on the side windows of contemporary automobiles is extremely difficult to break with a police baton, even when a very hard blow is delivered. While small hand-held window breaking punches or hammers offer an advantage over police batons, the punch tip is often exposed and cannot be safely carried by the user due to the risk of puncture wounds. For example, if the hammer or punch is kept in a shirt pocket or on a waist belt and the user falls, the tip of the punch or hammer can cause a puncture wound to the chest or abdomen. As a result, many users carry these devices in their duty vehicle, which means the tool is not readily available for use in an emergency situation where an officer may only have seconds to extract a passenger from a vehicle.
The present invention provides an emergency window-breaking punch worn on the wrist that overcomes the problems of the prior art. The wrist worn aspect protects the user from possible puncture from the window-breaking punch, allowing the punch to be carried on the person without risk of injury. Further, the wrist worn strap allows the window-breaking punch to be immediately.
The present invention is a wrist worn emergency window-breaking apparatus that includes a window-breaking punch tool and a wrist strap. A platform base secured to the wrist strap supports a striking tip of pointed form. In the preferred embodiment, the striking tip is constructed from carbide but may also be constructed from stainless steel or other materials known to shatter glass when used to strike glass. The platform base may be constructed out of a variety of materials, including but not limited to stainless steel, molded plastic, rubber, leather, and nylon or other synthetic textiles. On the opposite sides of the internal surface of the platform base are two sidewalls defining openings or slots permitting the passage of the strap through the ends or sides of the platform base. The strap may be secured around the user's wrist using a variety of wrist band securing devices known in the prior art, including but not limited to a buckle, snap, or Velcro attachment. The strap may be constructed out of a variety of materials such as rubber, metal links, molded plastic, leather, and nylon or other synthetic textiles.
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There are various configurations that would allow the platform base 10 to be attached to the strap 50. For example, as shown in the Figures, on the opposite sides of the internal surface of the platform base 101 are two sidewalls 104 defining openings (or slots) permitting the passage of the strap 50 through the ends or sides of the platform base 101. The openings may be completely surrounded by the sidewalls or there may be a notch in the sidewall to allow insertion of the strap rather than sliding the strap through the sidewalls. The sidewalls may be located on the opposing ends such as shown in the Figures. However, it is also contemplated that the sidewalls be located on the opposing sides such that the strap fits into a notch within the side walls.
There are various ways to secure the strap to the user's wrist designated as 55 in the Figures, including but not limited to a buckle, snap, or Velcro attachment. For example, as shown in
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference has been made to the preferred embodiments illustrated in the drawings, and specific language has been used to describe these embodiments. However, this specific language intends no limitation of the scope of the invention, and the invention should be construed to encompass all embodiments that would normally occur to one of ordinary skill in the art. The particular implementations shown and described herein are illustrative examples of the invention and are not intended to otherwise limit the scope of the invention in any way. For the sake of brevity, conventional aspects of the system (and components of the individual operating components of the system) may not be described in detail. Furthermore, the connecting lines, or connectors shown in the various figures presented are intended to represent exemplary functional relationships and/or physical or logical couplings between the various elements. It should be noted that many alternative or additional functional relationships, physical connections or logical connections may be present in a practical device. Moreover, no item or component is essential to the practice of the invention unless the element is specifically described as “essential” or “critical”. Numerous modifications and adaptations will be readily apparent to those skilled in this art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/259,902 filed Nov. 25, 2015. The entire contents of the above application are hereby incorporated by reference as though fully set forth herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62259902 | Nov 2015 | US |
