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US 11,369,087 B2Granted
Remote release buckle
OwnerJason Smith, Philip J. Hawkins +1inventors
InventorsJason Smith, Philip J. Hawkins, George Heddy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A buckle assembly includes a housing enclosing a locking bar for securing a latch. The latch is inserted into a latch cavity of the buckle assembly, pushing the spring-loaded locking bar into the housing until a convex feature of the latch passes a convex feature of the latch cavity, and slides to the side, whereupon the locking bar is extended by a compression spring, thereby locking the latch from release from the buckle assembly. The latch is released from the latch cavity by pulling a release cord or cable or trigger attached to the locking bar to overcome the spring tension and draw the locking bar up, thus allowing the latch to move away from the convex feature of the latch cavity and release from the buckle assembly.
Claims19
A remotely releaseable buckle assembly comprising:
- a housing;
- a latch having a convex portion and a concave recess under the convex portion;
- a latch cavity in the housing open at a first end to receive the latch;
- a bar passage in the housing intersecting the latch cavity;
- a blocking bar disposed within the bar passage;
- a convex surface in the latch cavity extending laterally towards the bar passage;
- and
- a release cord or cable or trigger attached the blocking bar and extending from the housing;
- wherein:
- in a partially inserted position, the latch residing in the latch cavity to a first lateral position wherein the convex portion is adjacent to the convex surface in the latch cavity and entering a portion of the bar passage, and the blocking bar is vertically held up into the bar passage by the latch;
- in a fully inserted position, the latch positioned laterally upward and away from the blocking bar from the partially inserted position inside the latch cavity to have a second lateral position wherein at least part of the convex portion is above and overlapping the convex surface in the latch cavity, and the blocking bar resides beside the convex portion of the latch retaining the at least part of the convex portion overlapping the convex surface in the latch cavity;
- and
- in a released position, the blocking bar is held upward by the release cord or cable or trigger and the latch has moved laterally towards the bar passage and away from the convex surface in the latch cavity and the latch is free to move vertically inside the latch cavity.
10 more elements
A remotely releaseable buckle assembly comprising:
- a housing;
- a circular cross-section latch having a convex portion and a concave recess under the convex portion;
- a latch cavity in the housing open at a first end to receive the latch;
- a bar passage in the housing intersecting the latch cavity;
- a blocking bar disposed within the bar passage and a top held in a fixed position by a bar pin pressed into the housing and having a bottom including a tapered or rounded nose and biased into the latch cavity, the bottom biased towards the latch cavity by a spring residing between the top and the bottom;
- a cylindrical rod pressed into the housing creating a convex surface in the latch cavity extending laterally towards the bar passage;
- a cord attached the bottom of blocking bar and extending through the top of the blocking bar and from the housing;
- and
- the latch attached to an animal collar,
- wherein:
- in a partially inserted position, the latch residing in the latch cavity to a first lateral position wherein the convex portion is adjacent to the convex surface in the latch cavity and entering a portion of the bar passage, and the blocking bar is vertically held up into the bar passage by the latch;
- in a fully inserted position, the latch positioned laterally upward and away from the blocking bar from the partially inserted position inside the latch cavity to have a second lateral position wherein at least part of the convex portion is above and overlapping the convex surface in the latch cavity, and the blocking bar resides beside the convex portion of the latch retaining the at least part of the convex portion overlapping the convex surface in the latch cavity;
- and
- in a released position, the blocking bar is held upward by the release cord or cable or trigger and the latch has moved laterally towards the bar passage and away from the convex surface in the latch cavity and the latch is free to move vertically inside the latch cavity.
11 more elements
A remotely releaseable buckle assembly comprising:
- a major housing portion;
- a removable cover attached to the major housing portion;
- a flat, elongated rectangular cross-section, latch with edges viewed in the planform view having a convex portion and a concave recess under the convex portion;
- a latch cavity in the major housing portion open at a first end to receive the latch;
- a bar passage in the major housing portion intersecting the latch cavity;
- a blocking bar having a tapered or rounded nose and disposed within the bar passage;
- a convex surface in the latch cavity extending laterally towards the bar passage;
- a spring biasing the blocking bar towards the latch cavity;
- a cord attached the blocking bar and extending through the spring and from the major housing portion;
- a first belt of a seat belt attached to the latch;
- and
- a second belt of the seat belt attached to the major housing portion or the cover,
- wherein:
- in a partially inserted position, the latch residing in the latch cavity to a first lateral position wherein the convex portion is adjacent to the convex surface in the latch cavity and entering a portion of the bar passage, and the blocking bar is vertically held up into the bar passage by the latch;
- in a fully inserted position, the latch positioned laterally upward and away from the blocking bar from the partially inserted position inside the latch cavity to have a second lateral position wherein at least part of the convex portion is above and overlapping the convex surface in the latch cavity, and the blocking bar resides beside the convex portion of the latch retaining the at least part of the convex portion overlapping the convex surface in the latch cavity;
- and
- in a released position, the blocking bar is held upward by the cord and the latch has moved laterally towards the bar passage and away from the convex surface in the latch cavity and the latch is free to move vertically inside the latch cavity.
14 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.