Abstract:
A buckle used to attach a rucksack to a frame using a strap. The buckle includes a housing, having a bottom, two side walls and an opening in the upper portion thereof. The side walls are parallel for about one half the length of the housing before diverging to form a Y-shaped opening. The side walls have retaining flanges adapted to receive and guide a strap which is locked in the buckle, wherein the diverging side walls form a jamming socket to retain the strap and attach the rucksack to the frame.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The invention is directed to a rucksack rapid attachment buckle.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    Typically, rucksacks are attached to external load bearing frames with a web strap and bail arrangement. The bail is sewn to the ruck on a short length of web along with a longer length of web. The longer length of web is looped around the frame, threaded back through the bail and is secured, such that it forms a loop that captures the frame. When the user of the frame wants to use the frame without the rucksack attached, detaching the rucksack from the frame can become a laborious task. The problem with the prior art approach is that it is tedious to remove the rucksack given the multiple attachment points used by a typical rucksack. At worst, it is impossible to do when wearing heavy gloves or mittens. Also, the attachment webs can be pulled so tightly across the bails by heavy loads having been carried on the rucksack, that coaxing them back out cannot be done without forcing a levering tool of some kind under the webs and prying. Thus, the prior art is tedious, complex, and time consuming to operate, especially with multiple attachment points and when subjected to heavy loads, the web strap and bail arrangement become difficult to undo.  
           [0005]    The invention eliminates the need to thread a web strap through the bail multiple times. The buckle of the invention utilizes a release tab that can be manipulated easily while wearing gloves and an open slot in the top of the buckle that facilitates reattachment. The prior art buckles, including the web strap and bail arrangement are difficult to undo when subjected to heavy loads. The geometry of the buckle of the present invention is shaped to eliminate the potential jamming.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The buckle mechanism of the invention includes a ‘Y’-shaped slot in the upper portion thereof. The “Y-shaped” slot is formed by two over-arching retaining flanges located along the sides of the buckle. The retaining flanges allow an attachment web to be directly inserted through the opening and guided into position. The web is then pulled into a locked position. The buckle mechanism also includes a jamming socket to retain the attachment web at the fold at the end of the web. The jamming socket consists of a jam surface and a stop surface along with a pinch radius. The retaining flanges are beveled at a 45-degree angle on the bottom thereof to facilitate the guiding of the web into and out of the buckle.  
           [0007]    An object of this invention is to provide a rapid attachable and detachable buckle.  
           [0008]    Another object of this invention is to provide a rapid attachable and detachable buckle for a rucksack.  
           [0009]    Another object of the invention is to provide a buckle that is detachable under a heavy load.  
           [0010]    Still another object of this invention is to provide a buckle that may be attached with a web strap.  
           [0011]    And still another object of this invention is to provide a buckle that may be attached with a web strap.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1. is a perspective view of rucksack attachment buckle of the invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2. is a perspective view of the buckle in FIG. 1 as a strap is passing through the buckle;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an attachment web being locked into position;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is sectional view of the buckle attached to a ruck;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the jamming socket of FIG. 3;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 is a buckle in which the mounting web has been attached with stitching to a base;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 7 is the buckle of FIG. 6 in which a separate attaching web has been locked in place;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 8 is a side view of a buckle wherein the attaching web is looped before being locked into the buckle;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 9 is a buckle which may be attached to a base through an aperture in the bottom surface of the buckle; and  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view of an alternative end tab. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0023]    Referring to FIGS. 1-10, the buckle is shown generally at  10 . The buckle may be used to attach a rucksack  12  to a frame. A strap or web  14  is used to attach the rucksack  12  to the frame.  
         [0024]    The buckle mechanism includes a ‘Y’-shaped slot  18 . The slot  18  is an opening in the top surface of the buckle  10  which is defined by parallel edges  20  for approximately half of its length of the buckle, and then widens towards the sides of the buckle  22  at one end.  
         [0025]    The slot  18  of the buckle  10  is formed by two over-arching retaining flanges  24 , and allows the attachment web  14  to be directly inserted through the opening  18 , as opposed to having to thread the web  14  through any closed slots. The ‘Y’-shaped slot  18  is important to both the insertion and removal of the attachment web  14 . On insertion, the open end of the ‘Y’  18  makes it possible for the pinched and narrowed web  14  to move easily into position under the retaining flanges  24 . Without the ‘Y’ opening  18 , the strap  14  would have to be pinched much tighter over a greater length, and thereby becoming much more difficult to feed into the slot  18 . On removal of the attachment web  14 , the ‘Y’ aspect performs a funneling function as it guides the web  14  into a pinched configuration which is the result not of pinching with the fingers, as on insertion, but is simply the result of pulling upward on the stitched tab  16 , after backing it out of a jamming socket  26 . The ‘Y’ aspect of the slot  18  does the pinching as the web  14  is pulled against it, and allows the web  14  to slide between the retaining flanges  24 , thus releasing the buckle  10 .  
         [0026]    The retaining flanges  24  consist of over-arching lips  28  which form the opposing sides of the ‘Y’-shaped slot  18 . The open-ended cavity  30  beneath the retaining flanges  20  is deep enough to allow the mounting web  32 , and the attachment web  14  to nest on top of each other when the buckle is in a closed position.  
         [0027]    On the ‘Y’ end of the flanges  22 , is the jamming socket  26  which is formed by the interior geometry thereof. The jamming socket  26  receives the 3-layer stitched tab  16  on the end of the attachment web  14 .  
         [0028]    The jamming socket  26  which retains the attachment web  14 , has a sloped jam surface  34  to bear down progressively on the stitched tab  16  as it is pulled into the jamming socket  26 . When fully seated in the jamming socket  26 , the tab  16  is held firmly in place by the pinching action of this surface. The socket  26  also has a stop surface  36 , which controls the depth to which the tab  16  can be drawn into the jamming socket  26 . This prevents the attachment web  14  from being jammed so tightly that it becomes difficult to release. Also included is a pinch radius  38 , which allows the attachment web  4  to carry heavy loads without tearing, exhibiting undue wear from exposure to a sharply breaking edge, or stripping the stitching that holds the tab  16  together.  
         [0029]    The buckle of the invention described herein is designed to take advantage of the adaptive properties of web straps A single thickness of strap is relatively flexible both along its length and its width. But, when a section of the strap is folded back on itself and sewn together, the physical properties of that section of the strap are changed, including increasing its total thickness, increasing the stiffness lengthwise along with the widthwise stiffness.  
         [0030]    The attachment web  14  is sewn to the ruck, with the folds of the web which form the tab  16 , are situated underneath as it lies flat, so that the run of the web is on top with relation to the buckle. Thus, the tensile loading on the attachment web  14  compresses the tab  16  against itself, and significantly increases its ability to resist failure due to the tab  16  pulling apart. As the force increases the tab  16  only gets stronger, within the specified load limits.  
         [0031]    The retaining flanges  24  are beveled at a 45-degree angle on their bottom or internal edges  40  to facilitate guiding the web  14  as it is pulled away from the buckle  10 . This also serves to minimize wear on the edges of the attachment web, which would otherwise be subject to abrasion and excessive wear from passing repeatedly over a sharp-breaking edge. The bevel on the internal edges of the retaining flanges  40  also acts to guide and facilitate the insertion of the strap  14  on assembly by allowing one edge of the attachment web to be pushed down and guided under one of the retaining flanges  24 . The strap  14  is then pinched between the fingers in a lengthwise fashion, so that the remaining side can then be inserted into the ‘Y’-shaped slot  18 , and expanded outward under the opposing retaining flange.  
         [0032]    In order for the second edge of the strap to feed smoothly outward and come to rest under its retaining flange, it must begin to splay outward as it is introduced into the ‘Y’-shaped slot. The beveled edges allow this to happen, where vertical edges, without the underlying bevel, would cause the edges of the strap to meet the mounting web at a steep angle, and therefore resist the tendency to spread outward, making the insertion of the flexed web into the buckle much more difficult.  
         [0033]    When both edges of the strap have been captured under the retaining flanges, the user then pulls on the non-tab end of the strap, drawing the 3-layer, stitched tab into the jamming socket.  
         [0034]    To lock the buckle in place, the attachment web is looped around the frame and positioned over the ‘Y’-shaped, lengthwise slot in the top of the buckle. One edge of the web is then slipped down through the slot and tucked into the recess under the edge of the retaining flange. The web is pinched between the fingers and bowed upward along its length to draw the edges together, effectively narrowing the width of the web. The second edge of the web is then inserted into the ‘Y’-shaped slot, and expanded outward under the opposing retaining flange by flattening the web, thus expanding it back to its full width. The folded tab is then pulled into the open end of the buckle. When load is applied to the end of the strap looped around the frame, the tab becomes firmly jammed into the buckle and retained in the locked position until intentionally released by the user.  
         [0035]    Then, when one would like to unlock the buckle, the user simply pulls the rigidly stitched tab straight back out of the jamming socket until it has cleared the edges of same. The attachment web can then be stripped upward from its position under the retaining flanges with a simple lifting motion, which draws the unstitched and flexible portion of the strap through the ‘Y’-shaped slot between the retaining flanges. The shape of the ‘Y’-shaped slot is designed to funnel the web&#39;s edges together as it is pulled upward, away from the buckle. The effect is that of narrowing the web along its length, reversing the installation procedure, so that it will pass out through the ‘Y’-shaped slot, and release the buckle.  
         [0036]    The invention has been described with a buckle that uses a mounting web which is looped around a frame and then locked in the buckle, such that the mounting web and attaching web are one in the same. However the buckle may be mounted with a mounting web onto a substrate and a separate attaching web (whether it is attached to a ruck or other object to be held in place) is locked in the buckle. Still another alternative is to have the buckle mounted directly to the frame itself.  
         [0037]    Alternatively, the buckle may have an aperture in the base of the buckle. The buckle may then be attached to a surface such as a boat with a bolt, nail or screw, so that a tarp or covering may be attached to cover the boat using web straps attached to the edges of the tarp or covering. The buckle may be used on other surfaces as well to attached the desired item with web straps.  
         [0038]    Another alternative embodiment may include adapting the tab at the end of the web strap. Instead of forming a rigid tab by folding and stitching the webbing, the tab may be formed by attaching a wedge  44  at the end of the strap as seen in FIG. 10.  
         [0039]    Although the present invention has been shown and described with respect to several preferred embodiments thereof, various changes, omissions and additions to the form and detail thereof, may be made therein, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.