Patent ID: 9532611
Date: 2017-01-03
CPC Classifications: A41D,A41F

Claim:
1. A belt apparatus structured to support a pair of trousers having a number of belt loops, the belt apparatus comprising: a trouser support apparatus comprising an elongated and flexible belt element having a number of cavities formed therein and being structured to extend through the number of belt loops of the pair of trousers and to thereby assist in supporting the pair of trousers at the waist of a user, the trouser support apparatus further comprising a fastener structured to be cooperable with the belt element to retain the belt element at a selected circumferential length; a protection apparatus comprising a number of cushion elements that are each structured to be movable from a collapsed configuration situated within a cavity of the number of cavities to an expanded configuration situated at least partially outside the cavity and in protective proximity to a body part of the user; a control apparatus comprising a number of fall-detection elements and being structured to output a trigger signal responsive to a falling event of the user; an expansion apparatus which, responsive to the trigger signal, is structured to expand at least a first cushion element of the number of cushion elements from the collapsed configuration to the expanded configuration; and wherein the belt element has cross-sectional dimensions that are unvarying along substantially the entirety of its longitudinal extent.