Patent Publication Number: US-2021186739-A1

Title: Quick Release Restraint Ring

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. Non-provisional application Ser. No. 15/871,057, filed Jan. 14, 2018 entitled QUICK RELEASE RESTRAINT RING. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to restraint rings used in facilities to attach individuals to an object to restrict their movement. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Restraint rings have been used to restrain people for their own safety and for the safety of those around them. Restraint rings comprise a ring or fixture attached to a chair, bed or the floor. The ring is adapted to receive a strap, rope or chain that is looped through the ring and attaches to the subject to another ring to restrict movement. A restraint ring may be used with hand cuffs having one cuff on the subjects arm or leg and the other cuff attached to the restraint ring. 
     Restraint rings may also be used with straps to strap a subject to a bed or chair by connecting a first end of the strap to a first restraint ring, extending the strap over the subject having the subject between the strap and the bed and attaching a second end of the strap to a second restraint ring whereby the strap bears against the subject to restrain movement. 
     Restraint rings must be secured to be effective. The restraint ring should be anchored to a floor, wall or a piece of furniture that is anchored or ballasted to restrain movement. The restraint ring may be securely attached to a sturdy piece of furniture for restraining the subject to the furniture such as a bed or chair. 
     Restraint rings may be used in incarceration type situations such as jail or police holding areas as well as health care facilities to restrain patients. The sight of a restraint ring on a piece of furniture may be intimidating in a health care facility thus causing stress in the patient. Therefore, a quick release restraint ring is needed that can be easily and quickly attached and removed to a piece of furniture. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     The present invention comprises a kit of a restraint ring, a base and a quick release, tamper resistant fastener. The base is adapted to attach to a fixture. The fixture may be a bed, chair, floor or wall. The base may be attached using tamper resistant fasteners. The base may be permanently attached or may be removably attached. The base is adapted to releasably receive the quick release fastener thereby attaching the restraint ring to the base. The base may be attached by a connector extending from a first side to a second side. The connector adapted to receive the quick release fastener thereby holding the restraint ring on the fixture. The restraint ring may be made of metal or plastic or a restraint material. 
     The quick release fastener engages the base and bears against the restraint ring to provide secure anchoring of the restraint ring. Actuating the quick release fastener disengages the base and allows the restraint ring to be removed. 
     The above description sets forth, rather broadly, the more important features of the present invention so that the detailed description of the preferred embodiment that follows may be better understood and contributions of the present invention to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described below and will form the subject matter of claims. In this respect, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or as illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is a top plan view of a first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a right side elevation view of the first embodiment of the present invention of  FIG. 1   
         FIG. 3  is a front elevation view of the first embodiment of the present invention of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3 a    is a section view of the first embodiment taken at approximately  3   a - 3   a  of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom plan view of the first embodiment of the present invention of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a left plan view of the first embodiment of the present invention of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  is a back elevation view of the first embodiment of the present invention of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 7  is a top back perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention of  FIG. 1   
         FIG. 8 . is a top front perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 9  is a bottom front perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 10  is a bottom perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a bed adapted to attach to the first embodiment of the present invention of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 12  is a section v view of the first embodiment of the present invention of  FIG. 1  attached to the bed of  FIG. 11 . 
         FIG. 13  is an exploded view of the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 14  is a bottom perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention attached to a bed. 
         FIG. 15  is a perspective view of the second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 16  is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 17  is an exploded view of the third embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 18  is an perspective exploded view of the fourth embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 19  is an exploded section view of the fourth embodiment of the present invention taken at approximately  19 - 19  of  FIG. 18 . 
         FIG. 20  is a section view of the fourth embodiment of the present invention taken at approximately  19 - 19  of  FIG. 18   
         FIG. 21  is an perspective exploded view of a fifth embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 22  s an exploded section view of the fifth embodiment of the present invention taken at approximately  22 - 22  of  FIG. 21 . 
         FIG. 23  is a section view of the fifth embodiment of the present invention taken at approximately  22 - 22  of  FIG. 21 . 
         FIG. 24  is an perspective exploded view of the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 25  is an perspective exploded view of a sixth embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 26  is an perspective exploded view of a seventh embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 27  is an perspective exploded view of an eight embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application. The drawings show, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting. It should be appreciated that the invention can be used for any suitable. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-5  the invention comprises a base  10  having a mounting surface  12  and a restraint ring  14  attached to the mounting surface  12 . The restraint ring  14  has an open loop portion  16  and a ring base  18 . Mounting hole  15  extends through base  10 . Quick release fastener  24  extends through ring base  18  in quick release hole  30 . Quick release fastener  24  engages base  10  to secure restraint ring  14  to base  10 . Stabilizers  20  on mounting surface  12  to urge restraint ring  14  to maintain a predetermined orientation with respect to base  10 . It is preferable that open loop portion  16  is spaced from base  10 . Quick release fastener  24  comprises head  40  bearing against restraint ring  14  to attach restraint ring  14  to base  10  having ring shaft extending through ring  14  and into base  10  with quick release shaft extending on quick release hole  30  to dispose locking mechanism  46  in position to bear against locking shoulder  58 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 6-10 , base  10  has a first side  26  and second side  28 . Quick release hole  30  opens to first side  26  having quick release shaft  44  removably attached therein. Restraint ring  14  comprises strap opening  22  on open loop portion  16 . Secure hole  32  extends through base  10  generally perpendicular to quick release hole  30 . Quick release fastener  24  may have a release mechanism  25  adapted to securely release and prevent unauthorized removal of restraint ring  14 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 11-12 , bed  116  may have a side wall  118  having fastener coves  128  molded therein adjacent the bed bottom  130 . Cove  128  comprises a side wall  126  and bottom wall  132 . Anchor fastener  19  extends through base  10  to engage bottom wall  132  to removably attach base  10  to bed  116 . Anchor fastener  19  may be a threaded fastener having a tamper resistant head  21 . Anchor fastener may alternatively attach base  10  to floor or wall. 
     Referring to  FIG. 13 . Quick release fastener  24 , may have locking head  40  with release mechanism  25 . Release mechanism  25  may be operated by actuator  32  adapted to release quick release fastener  24  from base  10 . Release mechanism  25  may be a key, a magnetic actuator, a bio-metric scanner, a remote control release, a combination lock or other actuator device. Quick release fastener  24  may comprise a head  40  having a ring shaft  42  extending therefrom. A base shaft  44  may extend from ring shaft  42 . Base shaft  44  may have locking mechanism  46  contained therein. Locking mechanism  46  may have retractable fixtures extending perpendicular to base shaft  44 . Locking mechanism  46  may be actuated by release mechanism  25 . 
     Continuing to refer to  FIG. 13 , quick release hole  30  may comprise ring opening  50  and locking shoulder  58  and shaft portion  60 . Restraint ring  14  may have a restraint hole  48  extending there-through. When assembled, ring shaft  42  is adapted to extend into shaft portion. Locking mechanism  46  releasably engages locking shoulder  58 . ring shaft extends through restraint hole  48  and into ring opening  50 . Release mechanism  25  actuates the locking mechanism  46  into a non-locking configuration whereby quick release fastener is extended through restraint hole  48  and into base  10  at quick release hole  30 . Base shaft  44  in shaft portion  60  is adapted to hold locking mechanism adjacent locking shoulder  58 . Release mechanism  25  may be disengaged to extend locking mechanism  46  adapted to bear against locking shoulder  58 . Head  40  bears against ring base  18  thereby removably securing restraint ring  14  to base  10 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 14 and 15 , base  110  may be attached to bed  116  comprising two opposing sidewalls  117  by connector rod  114  extended under bed  116 . Connector rod  114  may be attached to first and second base  110 . First and second base  110  bear against opposing respective sidewalls  117  to dispose ring opening  150  adjacent to the respective sidewalls  117 , the ring opening  150  adapted to receive quick release fastener  24 . Base  110  may have flange  112  bearing against bed  116 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 16 and 17 , base  210  may comprise ring opening  250  on the end of shaft  214 . Shaft  214  may be pierced through bed  216 . Ring opening  250  may be adapted to removably receive quick release fastener  224 . Quick release fastener  224  may releasably connect restraint ring  14  to bed  216 . Threaded coupling  218 ,  220  may be used to adapt shaft  214  to dispose base  210  on outside wall  217  of bed  216 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 18-20 , base  310  may comprise a pocket  311  formed on a molded bed  316 . Pocket  311  may further comprise ring opening  350  and stabilizer edge  320  adapted to engage restraint ring  14  to hold restraint ring  314  in a predetermined orientation. Restraint hole  348  is disposed to align with ring opening  350 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 21-23 , base  410  may comprise bolt on pocket  411  attached to bed  416  on wall  418 . Bolt on pocket  410  may comprise a restraint plate  416  adapted to bolt to bed  416 . Restraint plate  416  may comprise ring opening  450  and stabilizer edge  420 . Restraint ring  14  may fit in pocket  410  having ring opening  450  aligned with restraint hole  438 . Tamper resistant quick turn fastener  456  may be adapted to removably attach restraint ring  14  to bolt on pocket  410 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 24-27 , base  610  may have different dimensions or have stabilizer  620  formed in front surface  612 . Ring opening  650  may have insert  654  attached by pin  667 . Ring opening  650  may be centered on front  612 . 
     in summary base  10  may be attached to bed  16 . base  10  is adapted to releasably connect to restraint ring  14 . Quick release fastener  24  extends through restraint ring  14  to releasably attach to base  10 . Quick release fastener  24  may be tamper resistant having mechanical, electrical or other quick release lock. 
     Although the description above contains many specifications, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the embodiments of this invention. Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents rather than by the examples given. Further, the present invention has been shown and described with reference to the foregoing exemplary embodiments. It is to be understood, however, that other forms, details, and embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which is defined in the following claims.