Patent Publication Number: US-2011067648-A1

Title: Pet harness safety system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/244,725 filed Sep. 22, 2009, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to a pet harness safety system, and more particularly to a pet harness safety system having a harness assembly worn by a pet and a carabiner tether assembly to secure the harness assembly to a vehicle during usage. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Pet safety systems are essential when traveling with a pet, such as a dog, to protect the pet and the driver and any passengers in a vehicle. Pet safety systems are available in a variety of sizes and styles, and few crash tests have been conducted to ensure they will do the job in case of a sudden stop or accident. Statistically, a twenty-five (25) pound, unrestrained dog can become a deadly, one-thousand (1000) pound projectile in the event of a forty (40) mph vehicular crash. In addition, pet safety systems prohibit the pet from distracting the driver while driving the vehicle, making travel safer for everyone. 
     Current pet safety systems, however, do not meet any reasonable safety standards. Many harnesses of the current pet safety systems are designed for walking and built to meet the form, fit, and function of walking the dog and effectively put a “safety” claim on a walking harness. Few harnesses of the current pet safety systems adequately provide for the safety of the pet (and their owners) when driving and potential hazards are encountered. For example, many of the existing harnesses for pet safety systems are not practical because they are either “over-engineered” and expensive or “under-engineered” and unsafe. Over-engineered harnesses for pet safety systems often include heavy, cumbersome buckles, hardware, and excessive webbing, and suffer from poor overall installation, design, and functionality. These over-engineered harnesses provide adequate safety by some expectations, but are impractical because they are difficult installation into the vehicle, difficult to fit properly to the pet, and/or have cumbersome buckles (e.g., car seat buckles on the harness), which are heavy, awkward, and clearly uncomfortable for the pet. In addition, these over-engineered harnesses render the pet safety system impractical for anything other than in-vehicle use. At the other extreme are the under-engineered harnesses, which are typically merely a walking harness labeled as a “safety harness” by only providing a means to secure or tether the pet in the vehicle. However, the under-engineered harness serves no practical safeguard in the event of an accident. The under-engineered harnesses fail at three-hundred (300) pounds of force, whereas a reasonable safety rating for an average pet would easily be five (5) to ten (10) times that force. 
     It is therefore desirable to provide a pet harness safety system that limits all unnecessary hardware, connectors, and buckles by providing a harness assembly that includes two support body loops made from webbing that are joined by a carabiner tether assembly, which becomes a part of the pet harness safety system without disrupting/interrupting the integrity of the body loops. 
     It is still further desirable to provide a pet harness safety system having a carabiner tether assembly designed to “close” the pet harness safety system and secure the harness assembly to the vehicle. 
     It is yet further desirable to provide a pet harness safety system that is light-weight and capable of being easily worn either in or out of the vehicle, while exceeding the safety ratings for the appropriate dog weights by withstanding over four-thousand (4,000) pounds of force. 
     It is yet further desirable to provide a pet harness safety system that may be easily put on or taken off of a pet while keeping a consistent custom fit. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In general, the invention relates to a pet harness safety system having a harness assembly and a carabiner tether assembly. The carabiner tether assembly includes an elongate tether body with opposing carabiners. During usage, one of the carabiners is secured to the harness assembly while the other carabiner is secured to the seat belt buckle webbing or child seat latch. The harness assembly includes two parallel body loops that are adjustably joined together via a body support to form a completed or closed system without any additional hardware, connectors or metal rings. Each of the body loops are folded to form a reinforced loop at a point of attachment to the carabiner and a slide to adjust the size and fit the body loops about the dog and close the loop system. The chest plate body support includes a series of body loop apertures for receipt of the body loops. 
     A primary and a secondary back plate are respectively attached to the body loops and may be releasably fastened together using a fitting connector. The primary back plate is movable between an open position and a closed potion. The fitting connector does not interrupt or interfere with the integrity of the pet harness safety system and does not bear any load when a load is placed on the pet harness safety system, such as during an accident involving the vehicle. 
     During use, the pet harness safety system loops substantially parallel to the body of the dog such that only its shoulders are encircled by the body loops, at which point they may be releasably coupled via the fitting connector. The primary back plate is moved from the open to the closed position, the loops of the body loops are secured by the carabiner, and the carabiner can be secured thereto to secure the pet harness safety system to the vehicle. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative embodiment of the pet harness safety system disclosed herein; 
         FIG. 2  is an exterior view of the illustrative embodiment of the pet harness safety system shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an interior view of the illustrative embodiment of the pet harness safety system shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded view of an example of a primary back plate in an open position in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the pet harness safety system disclosed herein; and 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded view of the primary back plate of the pet harness safety system shown in  FIG. 4  in a closed position. 
       Other advantages and features will be apparent from the following description, and from the claims. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The devices discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific manners in which to make and use this invention and are not to be interpreted as limiting in scope. 
     While the devices have been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be noted that many modifications may be made in the construction and the arrangement of the structural and functional details disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. It is understood that the devices are not limited to the embodiments set forth herein for purposes of exemplification. 
     Referring to the figures of the drawings, wherein like numerals of reference designate like elements throughout the several views, and initially to  FIG. 1 , a pet harness safety system  10  is shown during use to secure to a dog  12  within a vehicle (not shown) for travel. The pet harness safety system  10  includes a harness assembly  14  and a carabiner tether assembly  16 . As shown, the carabiner tether assembly  16  includes an elongate tether body  18  formed from suitable webbing and being disposed intermediate of opposing carabiners  20  on opposing terminal ends  22  of the tether body  18 . Each opposing terminal end  22  may include a connection loop  24  formed by a length of the webbing secured to the tether body  18 , and each of the connection loops  24  has the carabiner  20  received therethrough, as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . During usage, one of the carabiners  20  of the carabiner tether assembly  16  is secured to the harness assembly  14  while the other carabiner  20  is secured to the in-vehicle restraint system, such as by securing to the webbing of a seat belt latch (not shown). 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the harness assembly  14  of the pet harness safety system  10  includes two parallel body loops  26  and  28  formed from suitable webbing, which are adjustably joined together via a body support  30  to form a completed or closed system without any additional hardware, connectors or metal rings. Each of the body loops  26  and  28  includes a reinforced segment that is secured to form a loop  32  and  34 , respectively. Each of the body loops  26  and  28  also includes a slide  36 , which may be adjusted to fit the body loops  26  and  28  of the pet harness safety system  10  to the dog  12 . Each of the slides  36  includes a pair of parallel, elongate apertures  38  for receipt of the body loop  26  and  28 . The slides  36  may be constructed of any light-weight metal or other suitable resilient material. The slides  36  enable the pet harness safety system  10  to be adjusted and fitted to the dog  12  once, and, thereafter, the pet harness safety system  10  can be easily put on and/or off with a fitting connector  40 . 
     The body support  30 , as exemplified in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , includes an upper section  42 , a lower section  44 , and an intermediate section  46  joining the upper section  42  and the lower section  44 . The upper section  42  of the body support  30  may include opposing flared members  48 A and  48 B, each having a series of body loop apertures  50  for receipt of the respective body loops  26  or  28 . The opposing flared members  48 A and  48 B of the upper section  42  of the body support  30  may be joined using a suitable webbing joint  52 , and, as illustrated, a substantially V-shaped webbing joint  52  secured intermediate of the opposing flared members  48 A and  48 B. The lower section  44  may have a width greater than a width of the elongate intermediate section  46  and have a series of body loop apertures  50  for receipt of the respective body loops  26  and  28 . Thus, the body support  30  may be substantially Y-shaped at the upper section  42  and substantially I-shaped at the lower section  44 . In addition, a substantially tubular wrap  54  may surround the elongate intermediate section  46  and the segments of the body loops  26  and  28  engaged with the body support  30 . 
     The reinforced loop  32  of the body loop  26  is secured to a primary back plate  56  loop, and the reinforced loop of the body loop  28  is secured to a secondary back plate  58 . The primary back plate  56  includes a first segment  60  and a second segment  62 , with the first segment  60  having a width less than a width of the second segment  62 . On a face of the primary back plate  56 , both the first segment  60  and the second segment  62  include a fastener, such as hook and loop fastener components  64 A and  64 B respectively placed such that the first segment  60  may be releasably fastened to the second segment  62 . In addition, the first segment  60  includes a substantially I-shaped aperture  66  having opposing enlarged ends  68 A and  68 B separated by opposing projections  70 A and  70 B. The second segment  62  may include a reinforced portion  72  that abuts the fitting connector  40  during operation. The second segment  62  of the primary back plate  56  has a component  40 A (shown as the female component) of the fitting connector  40  secured thereto, such as by using a length of webbing. The secondary back plate  58  secured to body loop  28  includes a component  40 B (shown as the male component) of the fitting connector  40  secured thereto, such as also by using a length of webbing. The fitting connector  40  may be constructed of plastic or other resilient material and enables the pet harness safety system  10  to be easily and quickly put on and taken off the dog  12 . The fitting connector  40  does not interrupt or interfere with the integrity of the pet harness safety system  10  and does not bear any load when a load is placed on the pet harness safety system  10 , such as during an accident involving the vehicle. 
     During use, an upper portion of the body loops  26  and  28  are positioned along the upper chest of the dog  12 , while a lower portion of the body loops  26  and  28  are positioned along the lower chest of the dog  12 , with the intermediate section of the body support  30  positioned substantially parallel to the sternum of the dog  12 . Thus, the pet harness safety system  10  loops substantially parallel to the body of the dog  12 , such that only the shoulders of the dog  12  are encircled by the body loops  26  and  28 . The body loop  26  may be releasably coupled to the body loop  28  by inserting the male component  40 B of the fitting connector  40  having opposing protruding detents  74  into the female component  40 A of the fitting connector  40  (or vice versa), wherein the detents  74  engage detent openings  76  in the female connector  40 A to releasably couple the body loop  26  to the body loop  28 , as shown and illustrated in  FIG. 4 . The pet harness safety system may then be adjusted and fitted to the dog  12  using the slides  63  engaging the body loops  26  and  28 . 
       FIG. 4  is an enlarged view of the primary back plate  56  in an open position, and  FIG. 5  showing an enlarged view of the primary back plate  56  in a closed position. From the open position, the first segment  60  of the primary back plate  56  may be folded over the second segment  62  and the hook and loop fastener components  64 A and  64 B thereon may be releasably secured in the closed position. The loop  32  of the body loop  26  and the loop  34  of the body loop  28  are fed through the substantially I-shaped aperture  66  of the first segment  60  of the primary back plate  56 , at which point the carabiner  20  of the carabiner tether assembly  16  is secured to the loops  32  and  34  of the body loops  26  and  28  to secure the pet harness safety system  10  to the vehicle. The pet harness safety system  10  is designed to utilize the carabiner tether assembly  16  and not a standard pet leash, since usage of a standard pet leash would effectively render the pet harness safety system  10  only as strong as the pet leash. 
     It will be appreciated that the pet harness safety system  10  may be constructed in varying sizes, such as small, medium, and large or based on a predetermined weight range. Once the pet harness safety system  10  is fitted and adjusted to the dog  12 , it may be easily worn by the dog  12  both in and/or out of the vehicle. 
     The key features of the pet harness safety system  10  are (1) the harness loops around the pet&#39;s shoulders, minimizing the possibility of strangulation; (2) the fit connector is effectively outside the load bearing system allowing the harness to be custom fit one time, by the load bearing slide buckle, but installed on and off the pet conveniently with the fit buckle; and (3) continuous loops are parallel but jointed at the loop carabiner to form an uninterrupted system. Furthermore, the carabiner tether assembly may be attached and detached from the in-vehicle restraint system without interrupting the harness loop assembly. Thus, the harness loop assembly is for fitting the harness around the dog comfortably, while the carabiner tether assembly effectively connects the system together and to the vehicle. 
     Whereas, the devices have been described in relation to the drawings and claims, it should be understood that other and further modifications, apart from those shown or suggested herein, may be made within the spirit and scope of this invention.