Fire escape – ladder – or scaffold – Torso harness – Strand-engaging – with descent retarder
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-20
2002-04-23
Lev, Bruce A. (Department: 3634)
Fire escape, ladder, or scaffold
Torso harness
Strand-engaging, with descent retarder
C182S003000, C182S007000, C244S15100A
Reexamination Certificate
active
06374946
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a roping harness comprising:
a sit harness comprising a securing belt and a pair of leg loops joined to the belt by joining straps,
a pair of shoulder straps fixed to the front and rear of the belt, each shoulder strap comprising a chest strap extended by a dorsal strap forming a half-turn designed to pass over the user's shoulder,
and an offset attachment strip formed by an auxiliary extension strap.
STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE
Known harnesses generally have two attachment points to be secured to the safety rope by means of an attachment strip and a follower jammer. The first type of belaying on a front abdominal or chest attachment point is illustrated in
FIGS. 1 and 2
. The follower jammer
50
is secured to the front attachment point, with the drawback of the permanent presence of the rope
52
in front of the user, which hinders his progression and work (FIG.
1
). In the event of a fall on the other hand, the user is secured to the rope
52
in total safety with optimum comfort, and the rope
52
is easily accessible thus enabling the user to draw himself back up (FIG.
2
).
The second type of belaying on a dorsal rear point is represented in
FIGS. 3 and 4
. The follower jammer
50
is secured to the rear attachment point with the advantage that the rope
52
is at the back without hindering the user's progression or work (FIG.
3
). In the event of a fall however, the user finds himself in an uncomfortable position hanging suspended by his back with the rope
52
rendered inaccessible behind him (FIG.
4
). Any attempt to right his position on the rope by himself is then impossible.
An anti-fall harness PR
7
manufactured by Protecta International exists which makes use of an extension strap attached to a dorsal attachment point and then run over the shoulder to the front. In the event of stopping due to a fall, the user again finds himself in the uncomfortable situation of FIG.
4
.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to achieve a reliable roping harness which combines all the advantages of known solutions without the drawbacks thereof, i.e. in which the user is not hampered by the rope in normal use and is stopped in the event of a fall with optimum comfort while preserving the accessibility to the rope to be able to perform self-rescue.
The harness according to the invention is characterized in that the attachment strip has a first fixing end securedly affixed to the front of the harness, and a second attachment end located at the rear of the harness, said strip being superposed on one of the shoulder straps by means of a detachable retaining part able to be in a secured contact position or in a released position depending on whether the tensile force exerted on the attachment strip is lower than or greater than a preset threshold, movement from the secured contact position to the released position taking place following a fall or by a manual operation causing separation of the second end of the shoulder strap and transfer movement of the attachment strip to the front.
According to a preferred embodiment, the retaining part of the attachment strip is located in the secured contact position on the dorsal strap of the shoulder strap. The first fixing end of the attachment strip is located on a common part for assembly of the chest straps of the two shoulder straps to the belt.
The detachable retaining part can be formed either by at least one strip of self-gripping securing tape, or by a securing system by means of snap-fastener buttons, or elastic securing means.
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patent: 5569057 (1996-10-01), Barsdorf et al.
patent: 5598900 (1997-02-01), O'Rourke
patent: 5664844 (1997-09-01), Greene
patent: 5878833 (1999-03-01), Bell
patent: 5960480 (1999-10-01), Neustater et al.
patent: 6006700 (1999-12-01), Cox
patent: 6006860 (1999-12-01), Bell
patent: 6032758 (2000-03-01), May
patent: 6125966 (2000-10-01), Jones
patent: 6158548 (2000-12-01), May
patent: 0 508 278 (1992-03-01), None
patent: 3066346 (1981-07-01), None
patent: WO 98/40124 (1998-09-01), None
Hede Jean Marc
Petzl Paul
LandOfFree
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