Releasable tether
OwnerComer J. Wilson, Wayne A. Wilsoninventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A releasable tether has a release clip with a slide bolt operated by either a cable attached to a remote release trigger or a thumb slide directly attached to the slide bolt. The cable is attached to the slide bolt by a ball bearing swivel to afford unlimited rotation therebetween. A reinforcing cable extends between a frame rotatably attached to the release clip by a hollow connector bolt and an anchor member at the handle end of a strap so that any forces exerted on the strap are taken up by the reinforcing cable and not the release cable or other release elements associated therewith. Protective tubular guides at the tether end and handle end of the strap afford freedom of movement for the release cable.
Claims21
A releasable tether comprising:
- a strap having a handle end, a tether end, and an intermediate portion extending therebetween, said intermediate portion having a longitudinally extending interior channel portion;
- a first cable slidably located in said interior channel portion of said strap and having a first end and a second end;
- substantially inextensible reinforcing means extending between said handle end and said tether end of said strap;
- a release clip coupled to said reinforcing means adjacent the tether end of said strap, said release clip having a housing with an opening, a longitudinally extending bore and a release bolt slidably received in said bore for controlling access to said opening;
- means for normally biasing said bolt to a position blocking said opening;
- a swivel member having a first portion coupled to said bolt and a second portion coupled to said first end of said first cable so as to permit said release clip to freely rotate with respect to said first cable;
- and
- manually actuatable releasing means located adjacent said handle end of said strap and coupled to said second end of said first cable for enabling a user to retract said bolt to a release position by sliding said cable along said interior channel portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.