Safety restraint apparatus

A safety restraint apparatus that includes an upper and lower frame which each have lock mechanisms conveniently located out of the reach of the prisoners and readily accessible to the law enforcement personnel from the entrance way. The upper restraint frame is pivotally connected to the ceiling and is suspended above the prisoners in a released position to prevent interference upon ingress and egress. The upper frame pivots downward into a restraint position to prevent the prisoners from standing or moving about within the vehicle. The lower restraint frame pivots horizontally into a restraint position to secure the prisoner's ankles and legs. Each restraint frame includes a padded cross bar which overlies the prisoners' upper and lower bodies not only to brace the prisoners against impact but also to prevent the prisoner from voluntarily moving about with in the vehicle. The upper and lower frames can be quickly pivoted between the restraint and entry positions from the entrance way without entering the prisoner area.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to a safety restraint apparatus for use in a 
vehicle, and in particular for use in a prisoner transportation vehicle. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
The transportation of prisoners, either from a jail to a courthouse or from 
one facility to another, has always presented law enforcement personnel 
with peculiar and special problems. The safety of the prisoner and the law 
enforcement personnel is of equal concern as to the potential for escape. 
Prisoner transportation vehicles and modules such as the ones described in 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,470,228 (Dirck) and 5,080,416 (Dirck) have been developed 
to transport prisoners and other individuals. 
Generally, prisoners wear individual security restraints during 
transportation between various locations, such as prisons, work sites and 
courthouses. The conventional safety restraints such as lap and shoulder 
belts provide limited individual protection of bound prisoners during 
collisions, however, individual security restraints, such as hand-cuffs 
and leg-irons, prevent the prisoner from using his arms and hands to brace 
himself during sudden starts, stops, sharp turns and collisions, thus 
increasing the probability of injury. Often security restraints are 
fastened to permanent fixtures within the vehicle to prevent the prisoner 
from moving about within the vehicle. Consequently, each prisoner must be 
individually released from both the safety and security restraints by 
correction personnel before exiting the vehicle in the event of an 
emergency. 
A problem with conventional mechanical restraint apparatus is that the 
restraint frame occupies valuable space inside the prisoner compartment. 
Another problem is that the restraint apparatus often interferes with the 
ingress and egress through the entrance way to the prisoner compartment. 
Such interference can be hazardous in an emergency situation. 
Yet another problem is the accessibility of the restraint's lock mechanism 
from the entrance way. The restraint apparatus should also be able to be 
released and locked into position from outside the prisoner area. When a 
guard or individual enters the prisoner area to actuate a lock mechanism 
on the restraint apparatus, the guard is at risk due to the proximity of 
the prisoners. Consequently, the lock mechanism must be not only out of 
the reach of the prisoners but accessible to the guards without requiring 
the guards to enter the prisoner area. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The safety restraint apparatus of this invention eliminates both security 
and safety problems of the conventional restraint apparatus. The safety 
restraint apparatus of this invention uses a padded frame to overlie the 
prisoners' upper and lower bodies not only to brace the prisoners against 
impact but also to prevent the prisoner from voluntarily moving about 
within the vehicle. 
The safety restraint apparatus of this invention includes an upper and 
lower frame which each have lock mechanisms conveniently located out of 
the reach of the prisoners and readily accessible to the law enforcement 
personnel from the entrance way. The upper restraint frame is pivotally 
connected to the ceiling and is suspended above the prisoners in a 
released position to prevent interference upon ingress and egress. The 
upper frame pivots downward into a restraint position to prevent the 
prisoners from standing or moving about within the vehicle. The lower 
restraint frame pivots horizontally into a restraint position to secure 
the prisoner's ankles and legs. Each restraint frame includes a padded 
cross bar which overlies the prisoners' upper and lower bodies not only to 
brace the prisoners against impact but also to prevent the prisoner from 
voluntarily moving about with in the vehicle. The upper and lower frames 
can be quickly pivoted between the restraint and entry positions from the 
entrance way without entering the prisoner area. 
An object of this invention is to provide an active safety restraint system 
for prisoners wearing hand and leg restraints. 
Another object is to provide an active safety restraint system that 
prevents prisoners from freely moving within a vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is 
shown a safety restraint apparatus 2 of the present invention. In the 
embodiment shown in FIG. 1, three restraint apparatus 2 are used in 
separate prisoner compartments of a conventional prisoner transport 
vehicle. Each restraint apparatus 2 of FIG. 1 has identical construction 
and operation. Restraint apparatus 2 includes an upper restraint frame 10 
and a lower restraint frame 50. Restraint apparatus 2 can be adapted for 
use with any type of transportation vehicle and is not limited to any 
particular vehicle application. In addition, multiple restraint apparatus 
can be incorporated into any application as desired. 
FIG. 2 illustrates restraint apparatus 2 in a typical application within a 
prisoner compartment 80; consequently, FIG. 2 will serve as a reference 
for the following description of the invention and its operation. As 
shown, prisoner compartment 80 includes a floor 81, ceiling 82, side walls 
83, 84 and a back wall 85. Side wall 84 has an entrance way 86 enclosed by 
a door 87. As shown in FIG. 2, floor 81 may include steps 88 at entrance 
way 86 to provide convenient ingress and egress to prisoner compartment 
80. A bench 90 extends from back wall 85 across the entire width of 
prisoner compartment 80. Bench 90 includes a horizontal seating area 91 
and a vertical front wall or lower kick panel 92. The area underneath 
bench 90 can be utilized for storage, if desired. 
Upper restraint frame 10 includes two spaced pivotal support legs 12, 13 
connected by a cross bar 14. Cross bar 14 is horizontally secured to legs 
12, 13 by welds. Cross bar 14 extends substantially across the width of 
the prisoner compartment 80. Cross bar 14 is covered by a pad 15. Pad 15 
is made from any soft material suitable for preventing injuries to the 
prisoners, such as foam rubber. 
Legs 12, 13 are pivotally connected to compartment ceiling 82 by a pair of 
L-shaped hinge brackets 16. Hinge brackets 16 are secured to compartment 
ceiling 82 by welds or bolts. Each leg 12, 13 includes an eye bolt 17 
which is threaded axially into one end of each leg. Legs 12, 13 are 
pivotally connected to hinge brackets 16 by bolts 18 and nuts 19. Bolts 18 
extend through aligned holes in bracket 16 and eye bolts 17 to allow 
vertical rotation of cross bar 14 about a horizontal axis. Upper restraint 
frame 10 pivots vertically between an entry position, wherein upper 
restraint frame 10 abuts against ceiling 82 and a restraint position, 
wherein upper restraint frame 10 extends diagonally over bench 90. 
Two pneumatic cylinder props 20 are connected to each leg 12, 13. Each prop 
20 includes a cylinder connected to back wall 85 by wall bracket 24 and 
piston 22 connected to each leg 12, 13. Wall brackets 24 are mounted to 
back wall 85 by any conventional method such as welds or rivets. One of 
wall brackets 24 includes pulley 26. Cable 28 is secured to leg 12 and 
passes through pulley 26. An eyelet 27 is mounted to side wall 84 near 
entrance way 86. The opposite end of cable 28 passes through eyelet 27 and 
is connected to a handle 29. 
As shown in FIGS. 2-4, upper restraint frame 10 includes a lock mechanism 
30 carried by cross bar 14. Lock mechanism 30 includes an outer housing 33 
which encases the internal components thereof. The internal components 
include a pair of mechanical latch jaws (not shown) which engage a latch 
pin 31. Latch pin 31 is mounted to side wall 84. The latch jaws are 
operatively connected to a release handle 32 which extends from outer 
housing 33. Release handle 32 extends from the forward face of outer 
housing 33. As shown in FIG. 4, lock mechanism 30 overlies and 
restrictively engages latch pin 31 when upper restraint frame 10 is in its 
restraint position. Release handle 32 can be depressed to disengage the 
latch jaws from latch pin 31 to allow upper restraint frame 10 to swing 
upward to the entry position. Release handle 32 is positioned within 
prisoner compartment 80 to be inaccessible to the prisoners and readily 
accessible to law enforcement personnel standing near the entrance way. 
FIGS. 6-7 illustrate the construction and operation of lower restraint 
frame 50. Lower restraint frame 50 includes a horizontal cross bar 52 and 
a lock mechanism 60. Cross bar 52 is covered by pads 53. A pad 53 is made 
from any soft material suitable for preventing injuries to the prisoners, 
such as foam rubber. Cross bar 52 is curved near each end for spacing it 
from kick plate 92. A latch pin 55 is mounted to the free end of cross bar 
52. Cross bar 52 includes a head part 54 (FIG. 7) which is perpendicularly 
connected at an end of cross bar 52 opposite latch pin 55. As shown in 
FIG. 7, cross bar 52 is pivotally mounted at the interior side wall 83 of 
prisoner compartment 80. An L-shaped mounting plate 56 is connected to 
side wall 83 and kick plate 92 by welds or rivets. Mounting plate 56 
includes a vertically oriented tubular hinge sleeve 57. Head part 54 is 
journalled within hinge sleeve 57 to allow radial movement of cross bar 52 
about a vertical axis in a horizontal plane. Lower restraint frame 50 
pivots between a restraint position shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 and an entry 
position shown in FIG. 8. A support leg 58, including caster 59 attached 
thereto, is centrally mounted to cross bar 52 to support the weight of 
lower restraint frame 50. 
Lock mechanism 60 is mounted to side wall 84 near entrance way 86. Lock 
mechanism 60 includes an outer housing 63 which encases the internal 
components of the lock mechanism. The internal components include a pair 
of mechanical latch jaws and linkage (not shown) which engaged latch pin 
55. The latch jaws are operatively connected to a release handle 62 which 
extends from lock mechanism 60. When lower restraint frame 50 is in its 
restraint position, latch pin 55 is restrictively engaged by the latch 
jaws. Rotating release handle 62, displaces the linkage to actuate the 
latch jaws and release the grip on latch pin 55. The grip of latch jaws 
released, cross bar 52 can be shifted to the entry position. 
FIGS. 1 and 2 show upper and lower restraint frames 10, 50 in the restraint 
position. In the release position, upper restraint frame 10 is suspended 
against ceiling 82 above the prisoners as shown in FIG. 5 and lower 
restraint frame 50 is rotated away from bench 90 as shown in FIG. 8. With 
the restraint apparatus 10 in the release position, the prisoners are 
seated on bench 90. Upper restraint frame 10 can be used with one or more 
prisoners depending on the width of bench 90. The prisoners can be 
strapped to bench 90 with seat belts (not shown) for additional safety. 
Once the prisoners are seated, handle 32 is pulled, which draws upper 
restraint frame 10 towards the restraint position. In the restraint 
position, upper restraint bar 14 extends across the front of the 
prisoners' upper bodies. Moreover in the restraint position, lower 
restraint bar 52 extends across the prisoners' ankles as shown in FIG. 2. 
During collisions or sudden shifts in the vehicle, the padded restraint 
bars 14, 52 protect the prisoners from injuries and from being tossed 
about within the vehicle. In addition to protecting the prisoners from 
injury, upper restraint cross bar 14 prevents the prisoners from freeing 
themselves during transport by reaching release handles 32, 62. 
While this invention has been described as having a preferred design, the 
present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of 
this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any 
variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general 
principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures 
from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in 
the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits 
of the appended claims.