Parachute riser buckle

A parachute riser buckle for selectively securing and releasing a connector fitting on the parachute riser comprising,

• a buckle body,
• a guide on said buckle body, said guide being effective to engage said connector fitting and guide said fitting into said buckle body and into the position where it is held,
• blocking means on said buckle body adjacent to said guide, said blocking means being movable between a latched position and an unlatched position, said blocking means when in the latched position being effective to block the removal of the riser connector fitting from said guide and when in the unlatched position being effective to permit removal of said riser connector fitting from said guide,
• latch preventing means on said buckle body movable between a first position and a second position, said latch preventing means when in the first position being effective to prevent said blocking means from returning to its latched position from its unlatched position except when said riser connector fitting is in the position where it is held in said guide and its removal is blocked by said blocking means in its latched position to thereby prevent incorrect and nonpositive latching of said blocking means with said riser connecting portion,
• handle means interconnected with said blocking means and movable between an unlatched position and a latched position, said handle means being in said unlatched position when said blocking means is in its unlatched position and being in said latched position when said blocking means is in its latched position,
• face means on said handle means for preventing said latch preventing means from being in its first position except when said handle means is in its unlatched position,
• said latch preventing means being pivotally mounted for rotation between its unlatched and latched positions, and
• foot means on said latch preventing means and extending from the latch preventing means to contact said riser connector fitting during its insertion to rotate said latch preventing means from its first position to its second position.

A parachute riser buckle for selectively securing and releasing a riser connector fitting, said riser buckle including the combination of,

• a buckle body,
• a guide on said buckle body adapted to engage said riser connector fitting, said guide being effective to guide said riser connector fitting into said buckle body and into the position where it is to be held,
• blocking means on said buckle body adjacent to said guide, said blocking means having a latched position and an unlatched position, said blocking means when in the latched position being effective to block the removal of the riser connector fitting from said guide and when in the unlatched position being effective to permit removal of said riser connecting portion from said flange means,
• a latch on said buckle body having a first position and a second position, said latch when in the first position being effective to prevent said blocking means from returning to its latched position except when said riser connector fitting is in the position where it is held by said guide and its removal is blocked by said blocking means in its latched position to thereby prevent incorrect and non-positive latching of said blocking means with said riser connector fitting,
• handle means on said blocking means and movable between an unlatched position when said blocking means is in its unlatched position and a latched position when said blocking means is in its latched position,
• face means on said handle means for preventing said latch from being in its first position except when said handle means is in its unlatched position,
• said latch is mounted for rotation on said buckle body between its first and second position, said handle means is fixedly attached to said blocking means and mounted for rotation therewith on said buckle body, and
• pawl means on said latch extending from the axis of rotation of said latch preventing means to a point where it would contact said handle means in its latched position whereby said pawl means prevents excess rotation of said handle means past its latched position to positively identify the handle means being in its latched position and whereby the coming together of said handle means and said pawl means when said handle means moves to its latched position emits a sound to indicate that the handle means is latched.

A parachute riser buckle for selectively securing and releasing a connector fitting on the riser including the combination of,

• a buckle body,
• a guide on said buckle body, said guide being effective to engage said riser fitting and guide said fitting into said buckle body and into the position where it is held,
• blocking means on said buckle body adjacent to said guide, said blocking means being movable between a latched position and an unlatched position, said blocking means when in the latched position being effective to block the removal of the riser connector fitting from said guide and when in the unlatched position being effective to permit removal of said riser connector fitting from said guide flange means,
• latch on said buckle body movable between a first position and a second position, said latch when in the first position being effective to prevent said blocking means from returning to its latched position from its unlatched position except when said riser connector fitting is in the position where it is held in said guide and its removal is blocked by said blocking means in its latched position to thereby prevent incorrect and non-positive latching of said blocking means with said riser connecting portion,
• handle means on said blocking means movable between an unlatched position and a latched position, said handle means being in an unlatched position when said blocking means is in its unlatched position and being in a latched position when said blocking means is in its latched position,
• face means on said handle means for preventing said latch from being in its first position except when said handle means is in its unlatched position,
• said handle means being mounted for rotation on said buckle body and fixed to said blocking means for rotation therewith,
• locking means interconnected with said handle means for locking said handle means in its latched position when said locking means is in its locked position until said locking means is moved to an unlocking position where it allows rotation of said handle means to its unlatched position, and
• return means interconnected with said locking means to return the locking means to its locked position upon rotation of said handle means to its latched position.

A parachute riser buckle for selectively securing and releasing a riser connector fitting of the parachute riser comprising,

• a buckle body,
• a guide on said buckle body, said guide being effective to engage said riser fitting and guide said riser fitting into said buckle body and into the position where it is to be held,
• blocking means on said buckle body adjacent to said guide, said blocking means being movable between a latched position and an unlatched position, said blocking means when in the latched position being effective to block the removal of the riser connector fitting from said guide and when in the unlatched position being effective to permit removal of said riser connector fitting from said guide,
• latch on said buckle body movable between a first position and a second position, said latch when in the first position being effective to prevent said blocking means from returning to its latched position from its unlatched position except when said riser connector fitting is in the position where it is held in said guide and its removal is blocked by said blocking means in its latched position to thereby prevent incorrect and non-positive latching of said blocking means with said riser connecting portion,
• said blocking means being rotatable about an axis,
• a tangential surface on said blocking means generally tangential to a circle about said axis, said tangential surface contacting said riser connecting portion so that forces from the riser connecting portion on the blocking means are directed at the axis of rotation of said blocking means to prevent forces about the axis on said blocking means,
• locking means interconnected with the handle means to selectively prevent or permit said handle means from moving to its opened position to release said riser connecting portion, and
• means on said handle means to move said latch preventing means to a position where it prevents latching of the handle means with the riser connecting portion.