Garment assembly and release apparatus and method

An assembly and release apparatus for a vest, comprising:

• a C-shaped clip defining a channel open at opposite ends thereof, attached to one of a side element and a side edge of a front panel of the vest;
• a pin attached to another of the side element and the front panel, slidably receivable in the channel of the C-shaped clip through either of the open opposite ends thereof to assemble the C-shaped clip and the pin together to connect the side element and the front panel with a tab or strip connected to the pin extending through a sidewardly facing slot bounded by spaced apart edges of the C-shape clip extending between the opposite ends of the C-shaped clip, respectively;
• and
• at least one detent element comprising a tab connected in cantilever relation to a portion of the C-shaped clip defining the channel between the opposite ends thereof, the detent element extending sidewardly between portions of one of the edges of the C-shaped clip beside the slot, and the detent element being cooperatively receivable in a receptacle in the pin when in the channel for retaining the pin in the channel, the detent element including a manually graspable feature and being deformable away from the pin by manually pulling the manually graspable feature to release from the receptacle to allow slidably removing the pin from the channel through either of the opposite ends of the C-shaped clip.

A method of releasing a ballistic vest from a wearer's body, comprising steps of:

• providing a first release assembly including a first C-shaped clip defining and bounding a channel open at opposite ends thereof, attached to a first element of the vest, a first pin attached to a second element of the vest and slidably received in the channel of the first C-shaped clip through the open end thereof connecting the first and second elements of the vest together with a tab or strip connected to the pin extending through a sidewardly facing slot bounded by spaced apart edges of the C-shape clip extending between the opposite ends of the C-shaped clip, respectively, and a detent element releasably retaining the first pin in the channel, the detent element comprising a tab connected in cantilever relation to a portion of the C-shaped clip defining the channel at a location about centrally between the opposite ends thereof, the detent element extending sidewardly between portions of one of the edges of the C-shaped clip beside the slot, and the detent element being cooperatively receivable in a receptacle in the pin when in the channel for retaining the pin in the channel, the detent element including a manually graspable feature and being deformable away from the pin by manually pulling the manually graspable feature to release from the receptacle to allow slidably removing the pin from the channel through either of the opposite ends of the C-shaped clip, the C-shaped clip and the pin having mating surfaces bounding the channel adjacent to at least one side of the slot including a mating surface on the C-shaped clip that faces the channel and a mating surface on the pin that faces the slot when the pin is located in the channel, the mating surfaces being tapered at less than a 90 degree angle to the slot such that when the pin is located in the channel and a force is exerted against the tab or strip in a direction to pull the pin toward the slot, the mating surface of the clip adjacent to the slot will be drawn toward the slot to prevent passage of the pin therethrough;
• providing a second release assembly including a second C-shaped clip defining and bounding a second channel open at least one end, slidably receiving a second pin, connecting one of the elements of the vest to a third element, and a second detent element releasably retaining the second pin;
• and
• manually releasing the first and second detent elements and sliding the pins from the C-shaped clips, to disconnect the elements of the vest.