US3703749A

US3703749A - Central strap lock, especially for body harness equipment for parachute jumpers

Info

Publication number: US3703749A
Application number: US177041A
Authority: US
Inventors: Peter Pfabe
Original assignee: Autoflug GmbH
Current assignee: Autoflug GmbH
Priority date: 1970-09-03
Filing date: 1971-09-01
Publication date: 1972-11-28
Anticipated expiration: 1989-11-28
Also published as: CA936335A; DE2043634C3; DE2043634B2; DE2043634A1

Abstract

A central strap lock, especially for parachutists, in which the parachute straps converging to a central area of the lock can all but one quickly be released from the lock by depressing an actuating member, e.g. in the form of a rotatable disc, which can register with at least two circular positions, while a holding member in axial alignment with one of the anchor bolts for receiving the ends of the straps retains contact with said one anchor bolt to positively prevent separation of the respective strap from the said one anchor bolt when the anchor bolt support is depressed.

Description

United States Patent Pfabe [54] CENTRAL STRAP DOCK, ESPECIALLY FOR BODY HARNESS EQUIPMENT FOR PARACHUTE JUMPERS [72] Inventor: Peter Pfabe, Hamburg, Germany [73] Assignee: Autoilug GmbH, Egenbuttel, Germany [22] Filed: Sept. 1, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 177,041

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 3, 1970 Germany ..P 20 43 634.4

52 vs. C! ..'..24/20s.17 51 Int. Cl. ..A47b 19/00 58 Field of Search ..24/2os.17, 230

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS [451 Nov. 28, 1972 3,639,948 2/1972 Sherman... ..24/20S. 17

Primary Examiner-Bobby R. Gay

Assistant Examiner-Garry Moore .Att0rneyWalter Becker [57] ABSTRACT A central strap lock, especially for parachutists, in

which the parachute straps converging to a central' area of the lock can all but one quickly be released from the lock by depressing an actuating member, e. g. yin the form of a rotatable disc, which can register with {at least two circular positions, while a holding member in axial alignment with one of the anchor bolts for receiving the ends of the straps retains contact with; said one anchor bolt to positively prevent separation of the respective strap from the said one anchor bolt when the anchor bolt support is depressed.

. fi ure 3,522,630 8/1970 Klink...- ..24/20s. 17=

CENTRAL STRAP LOCK, ESPECIALLY FOR BODY HARNESS EQUIPMENT FOR PARACHUTE JUMP Rs The invention relates to acentral strap lock, especially for body harness equipment of parachute jumpers, for quick and at the same time detachable connection of a plurality of straps which have one end provided with a connecting piece and which converge at a central area More specifically, the present invention relates to a central strap lock of the above men tioned type which comprises a lock housing and a primary pivot centrally housed therein, said pivot being displaceable in the direction of its longitudinal axis and having a rotatable disc on the outside of the lock housing for controlling the lock and being supported on the inside by an anchor plate, saidanchor plate preferably having four anchor bolts which are parallel to the primary pivot and are movable within the lock housing. In one position, these anchor bolts penetrate corresponding transverse slots in the housing which slots are adapted to receive the connecting piece of the respective strap. When the connectingpieces are in the slots, the anchor bolts will centrally hold thestraps together. In their other position, the anchor bolts are withdrawn from the slots, thereby releasing the connecting pieces and thus freeing the straps from the lock. N Central strap locks of this type are known and disclosed, for instance, in German Pat. No. 651,575 and German Auslegeschrift No. 1,002,632 and British Pat. No. 577,503. If with such central strap locks after the parachu tist has landed the rotatable disc is operated in the prescribed manner, all of the anchor bolts are withdrawn downwardly from the respective slots in the lock housing, thereby releasing all of the connecting pieces of the attached straps. In this manner the lock, as such, alone remains behind and as a rule falls from the body of the parachute jumper. The loss of the lock usually results.

To avoid this loss, it has already been proposed, for instance by Swiss Pat. No. 155,662, that the lock housing be provided with a special extension. This extension has a slot through which a particular holding strap is passed, which strap is independent of the anchor bolts and remains hanging on the lock after release of the lock. However, this has the disadvantage of anadditional structural expense and above all represents a hindrance when the harness equipment is taken off quickly. This hindrance consists in that the particular holding strap must in its turn be connected to the harness equipment. This is accomplished with a cross strap, which in its turn is connected with two of the straps which extend radially to the middle of the body and thereby to the lock, so that the straps cannot freely move.

It is also provided by the above mentioned central strap lock that the anchor plate with the anchor bolts be made of one piece. Due to this, a simplification of the inner construction of the central strap lock results.

It is an object of the present invention to improve a lock of the above mentioned type in such a way that, when the lock is released, it will remain connected to the harness equipment, thereby preventing a loss of the lock.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lock as set forth in the preceding paragraph, which does not require a particular holding strap.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a lock as outlined above, which is simple in design and remains easy to operate.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawing in which a partial sectional side view of a central strap lock according to the invention is shown and in which a not yet freed connecting piece has been inserted.

The invention is characterized primarily in that, in the lock housing, a holding element is located above at least one anchor bolt. During operation of the lock, the holding element conforms to the movements of the anchor bolt, so that during removal of the anchor bolt from the slot, the holding element takes the position in the slot previously held by the respective anchor bolt, thereby securely holding the strap connecting piece. In this way not only is the presented problem completely solved, but in addition, the advantage is obtained that the lock, when released, may remain hanging on any desired connecting piece or strap. The reason for this is that, to secure the lock, one of the anchor bolts, or to some extent artificial extension of the same is used, which bolt is, and must be, available anyway to retain the normal connecting pieces When using the harness equipment, theparachuter only has to see to it that that connecting piece, on which the lock shall later remain hanging, registers with the correct anchor bolt. This may be readily accomplished by means of a marking, for example, a colored mark.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a locking bolt is supported in a bore of the lock housing in alignment with an anchor bolt and above the locking position of the same. Said locking bolt is displaceable in its longitudinal direction, and follows the movements of the pertaining anchor bolt and has such a length that its lower end rests upon the top of the anchor bolt while its upper end engages the underside of the rotatable disc.

In this way only one single additional structural part is required in order to impart the characteristic features of the invention to the lock. Even already available locks may be changed over to the new design with little expendituresTo this end, only a hole for receiving or mounting the locking bolt in the lock housing need be bored, whereupon the locking bolt is inserted and the rotatable disc reassembled. The rotatable disc then holds the locking bolt at its place and also brings about its longitudinal displacement and therewith its operation. The maintaining of constant contact between locking bolts and anchor bolts is effected by the already present pressure springs for the respective anchor bolts.

A further embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the anchor plate with the anchor bolts is of one piece. In this way an especially simple construction is obtained, since the number of parts in the lock is considerably reduced. Of course, the invention works just as well with locks having anchor bolts not securely connected to the anchor plates, but rather have a cross shaped anchor plate the ends of which guide the anchor bolts in a fork shaped manner.

According to the invention, the holding bolt may also form a truncated cone on that side facing the anchor bolt, and may have a convex shape on that side acted upon by the rotatable disc. In this way the movability of the holding bolt in the housing is improved, and the assurance of proper functioning of the central strap lock thereby increased.

Finally, the invention embraces yet another embodiment, which is characterized in that the diameter of the holding bolt is less than the diameter of the' anchor bolt. In this way material is saved, because the holding bolt need absorb only little stress, while the anchor bolt must carry all the weight of the parachute jumper and his equipment.

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of the lock mechanism in a locked position.

FIG. 2 is a view of an alternate embodiment of the invention.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the arrangement shown comprises a lock housing 1 of the known square plan view configuration, which is provided centrally with a main pivot 2, which pivot carries at its top a rotatable disc 3 for manually actuating the lock. A guide pin 4 visible only by its side view in the drawing serves to generate clearly noticeable stop positions during turning of the rotatable disc 3. Within the housing 1, which is closed on the bottom by a cap 5, is arranged a cross shaped anchor plate 6. The anchor plate 6 has four anchor bolts 7, which consist of one piece with the anchor plate 6. The central portion of the anchor plate 6 is movably connected to the lower end of the main pivot 2, so that the rotatable disc 3 may be turned independently of, and displaced with, the anchor plate 6. The lower end of each anchor bolt 7 has a recess for receiving the upper end of a helical compression spring 8 which urges the respective anchor bolt and thereby the anchor plate as well as the main pivot and the rotatable disc in upward direction.

The housing 1 is provided with transverse slots 9 in the region of the anchor bolts 7, which slots are large enough that an eye shaped connecting piece 10 of the corresponding strap 11 may be inserted to such an extent that the eye is penetrated by the respective anchor bolt 7. The anchor bolts 7 are slanted at their tops towards the outside so that they are pressed downwardly during insertion of the connecting piece 10 until they can again snap into the eye.

Coaxially with, and above, an anchor bolt 7, the housing 1 is provided with a bore 12 having arranged therein a holding bolt 13 which forms a truncated cone on its bottom and is rounded off on top. The holding bolt 13 is of such a length that it fills up the space between the upper edge of the anchor bolt 7 and the lower surface of the rotatable disc 3 so that a frictional connection from the cap to the rotatable disc 3 through the spring 8, the anchor bolt 7, and the holding bolt 13 is obtained. In other words, the holding bolt 13 is in constant contact with the anchor bolt 7.

During the release of the central strap lock, the rotatable disc 3 is first turned in the known way by one quarter of its circumference and disengaged as well as subsequently pressed down towards the housing 1. In this way, the main pivot 2 pushes the anchor plate 6 down against the thrust of the springs 8, the anchor bolts 7 are displaced downwardly out of the slots 9, and the connecting pieces situated therein are free to leave the slots. However, this is not possible with that anchor bolt 7 which is in contact with the holding bolt 13, because, when the rotatable disc 3 is depressed, the

holding bolt 13 which continually follows the descending anchor bolt 7 moves downwardly into the respective slot 9, until the holding bolt 13, in relation to the connecting piece 10, takes the place of the anchor bolt 7, thereby preventing the connecting piece 10 from moving out of the slot.

When the central strap lock is subsequently needed again for placing the harness on a jumper, the rotatable disc 3 is turned back in the known manner until the anchor plate 6 is released and can be moved upwardly by the thrust of the springs 8. In this way the respective anchor bolt 7 pushes the holding bolt 13, which follows the rotatable disc 3, upwardly so that finally the position represented in the drawing is again obtained.

It is, of course, to be understood that the present invention is by no means limited to the specific showing in the drawing but also comprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A central strap lock, especially for parachutists, for use in connection with a plurality of parachute straps meeting at a central area and respectively provided with connecting elements having an opening therethrough, which includes: lock housing means, stud means substantially centrally located in said lock housing means and displaceable along its longitudinal axis, anchor plate means arranged within and axially displaceably and resiliently supported by said lock housing means and supporting said stud means, said anchor plate means being provided with a plurality of anchor bolts for respectively entering the openings of said connecting elements to thereby hold the same, actuating means arranged outside said lock housing means and supported by said stud means while being selectively axially movable in the direction toward said housing means, and holding means interposed between said ac- I tuating means and one of said anchor bolts while being in axial alignment with said one anchor bolt to thereby prevent the respective connecting element from moving out of its slot.

2. A lock according to claim 1, in which said lock housing means is provided with slot means corresponding in number to the number of said anchor bolts and respectively registering therewith, said slot means respectively being adapted to receive said connecting elements, and said anchor bolts being urged into said slot means.

3. A lock according to claim 1, in which said actuating means is formed by a rotatable disc, and in which said stud means is formed by a pivot.

4. A lock according to claim 1, in which said holding means includes an axially displaceable holding bolt arranged in axial alignment with said one anchor bolt, and in which said housing means has a bore arranged in substantially axial alignment with said one anchor bolt for slidingly maintaining said holding bolt in axial alignment with said one anchor bolt during axial movement of said holding bolt.

5. A lock according to claim 1, in which said anchor plate means is of one and the same piece with said anchor bolts.

6. A look according to claim 4, in which one end of said holding bolt is truncated cone shaped and normally in engagement with said one anchor bolt, and in which the other end of said holding bolt is convex and normally in engagement with said rotatable disc.

7. A lock according to claim 4, in which the diameter yieldably urged into continuous engagement with said one anchor bolt.

9. A lock according to claim 1, in which said anchor bolts have respectively associated therewith helical spring means interposed between said anchor bolts and the bottom of said housing means.

Claims

1. A central strap lock, especially for parachutists, for use in connection with a plurality of parachute straps meeting at a central area and respectively provided with connecting elements having an opening therethrough, which includes: lock housing means, stud means substantially centrally located in said lock housing means and displaceable along its longitudinal axis, anchor plate means arranged within and axially displaceably and resiliently supported by said lock housing means and supporting said stud means, said anchor plate means being provided with a plurality of anchor bolts for respectively entering the openings of said connecting elements to thereby hold the same, actuating means arranged outside said lock housing means and supported by said stud means while being selectively axially movable in the direction toward said housing means, and holding means interposed between said actuating means and one of said anchor bolts while being in axial alignment with said one anchor bolt to thereby prevent the respective connecting element from moving out of its slot.

6. A lock according to claim 4, in which one end of said holding bolt is truncated cone shaped and normally in engagement with said one anchor bolt, and in which the other end of said holding bolt is convex and normally in engagement with said rotatable disc.

7. A lock according to claim 4, in which the diameter of said holding bolt is shorter than the diameter of said one anchor bolt.

8. A lock according to claim 1, in which said holding means includes angle lever means pivotally supported by said housing means laterally of the longitudinal axis of said one anchor bolt, one arm of said lever being yieldably urged into continuous engagement with said one anchor bolt.