Duty belt
Assignee5.11, Inc.
InventorsUwe Wende, Matthew David Noble
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A core member for a duty belt can include a series of segments, which can include a first support segment, a second support segment, and a joint segment. The joint segment may be connecting the first support segment and the second support segment, The joint segment may include a bridge portion bounded above and below by notches, The joint segment with bridge portion and the notches may facilitate relative rotation between the first support segment and the second support segment about a rotation axis perpendicular to a length of the belt, which may facilitate suitable hinging when the belt is moved toward a frustoconical orientation in a worn configuration to provide an adaptive fit suitable to accommodate variations in waistline shape among different users.
Claims17
A duty belt comprising:
- a core member having a longitudinal direction configured to at least partially encircle a wearer along hips of the wearer in a worn position, the core member further having a height direction configured to be aligned with a direction of gravity in the worn position, the core member further having a depth direction configured to be aligned with a radially inward direction facing toward the wearer in the worn position, the core member comprising a series of segments including:
- a first support segment;
- a second support segment;
- and
- a joint segment connecting the first support segment and the second support segment, the joint segment comprising a bridge portion bounded above and below in the height direction by notches, wherein the core member is sized such that a narrowest portion of the joint segment in the height direction is less than 65% of a narrowest portion of the second support segment in the height direction, wherein the joint segment is configured to facilitate relative rotation between the first support segment and the second support segment about a rotation axis extending in the depth direction;
- and
- a sheet of flexible material overlaying the joint segment in the depth direction and having stretch characteristics biasing the core member toward a default position.
A core member for a duty belt, the core member comprising:
- a series of segments that include:
- a first support segment;
- a second support segment;
- and
- a joint segment connecting the first support segment and the second support segment, the joint segment comprising a bridge portion bounded above and below by notches, wherein a narrowest portion of the joint segment in a height direction is less than 65% of a narrowest portion of the second support segment in the height direction,
- wherein the core member is supplemented with a cover formed from a sheet of material overlaying the joint segment, and
- wherein the core member comprises a first material and the sheet comprises a flexible sheet that is more stretchable than the first material and is fixed to the first material such that stretch characteristics of the flexible sheet impart a bias toward a default position of the core member.
A method, comprising:
- accessing a core member comprising a series of segments that include:
- a first support segment;
- a second support segment;
- and
- a joint segment connecting the first support segment and the second support segment, the joint segment comprising a bridge portion bounded above and below by notches, wherein a narrowest portion of the joint segment in a height direction is less than 65% of a narrowest portion of the second support segment in the height direction;
- and
- incorporating the core member into a belt, wherein incorporating the core member into a belt comprises attaching a sheet of material that is more flexible than the core member in a position overlaying the joint segment.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.