Buckles – buttons – clasps – etc. – Separable-fastener or required component thereof – Including member having distinct formations and mating...
Patent
1998-04-20
1999-08-17
Sakran, Victor N.
Buckles, buttons, clasps, etc.
Separable-fastener or required component thereof
Including member having distinct formations and mating...
245994, 245999, F16B 4500
Patent
active
059374900
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a so-called "dual-action" safety snap hook, that is to say one that requires two different actions in order to open it.
This snap hook can be used in any field of activity, and in particular in the field of sailing, for example for securing a safety harness worn by the helmsman to a cable fixed to the deck of the boat, known as "lifeline".
A snap hook comprises a hollowed-out body, in the overall shape of a hook, the lateral opening of which is closed by a pawl. This pawl is mounted so that it can pivot on the body and can pivot between a position in which the snap hook is closed, in which position the free end of the pawl engages with the corresponding branch of the body, and a position in which the snap hook is open, in which position the pawl is pivoted towards the inside of the body.
To produce the pawl in the shape of a "hairpin", that is to say using a rod of elastically deformable metal, bent to form an open loop, the bent-over ends of this rod not being coaxial, is known. The pawl pivots on the body about these ends, so that the rod is deformed at the time of this pivoting and so that the pawl is brought back, by elastic return, into the position in which the snap hook is closed.
These conventional snap hooks have the drawback that they can be opened accidentally, and this prevents them from being used when safety is at issue, such as in the case of securing a harness.
In order to overcome this drawback, it is known for the snap hook to be equipped with safety means which keep the snap hook closed in any event.
A snap hook of this kind comprises a cylindrical sleeve that can slide over the free end of the pawl and over the corresponding branch of the body of the snap hook so as to occupy either an active position in which the sleeve extends both over this free end and over this branch, and prevents any movement of the pawl, or a retracted position, in which the sleeve is pulled back to extend only over the pawl and allows the latter to pivot. The sleeve is normally kept in the active position by a coil spring engaged over the pawl, and can be immobilized by screwing it onto the end of the branch of the body.
Other safety snap hooks comprise a retractable rod forming a brace which keeps the pawl in the closed position.
Existing safety snap hooks have the drawback of not being very easy to manipulate because they involve the use of both hands, one retracting the aforementioned sleeve or the aforementioned retractable rod, and the other pressing down on the pawl in order to pivot it.
The snap hook is difficult to hook on, given that both of the user's hands end up covering the opening of the snap hook. Under certain conditions, particularly in rough seas, the user finds himself temporarily unable to hold on to the boat, which may be particularly hazardous.
Existing safety snap hooks also have the drawback of consisting of a relatively large number of parts, and this leads to a high cost of manufacture and increases the risk of seizure in a marine environment.
The present invention aims to overcome all of these drawbacks by providing a safety snap hook that is easy to manipulate under all conditions, but which at the same time remains simple and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
This snap hook comprises, in a way known per se, a body in the overall shape of a hook and a "hairpin" pawl.
According to the invention: in a spaced-apart position in which they are situated some distance from one another preventing any possibility of pivoting with respect to the body, and this pawl may be deformed in such a way as to bring the said bent-over ends into a position in which they are closer together, in order to make this pivoting possible, and bent-over ends is engaged and can slide, while the other bent-over end is mounted so that it can pivot on the body about a fixed axis, this aperture being shaped to allow the bent-over end engaged in it to slide between the position in which the two bent-over ends of the pawl are spaced apart and the position in which these ends are clo
REFERENCES:
patent: 1071650 (1913-08-01), O'Kelly
patent: 1363873 (1920-12-01), Hokanson
patent: 1402868 (1922-01-01), King
patent: 3317972 (1967-05-01), Harley
patent: 5579564 (1996-12-01), Rullo et al.
Sakran Victor N.
Wichard
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