Patent Publication Number: US-2021178200-A1

Title: Harness With Continuous Linemans Loop

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     The disclosure relates to harness device and more particularly pertains to a new harness device for supporting a person while climbing and positioning oneself in a tree to prevent their falling from the tree. More particularly, the disclosure includes a modified lineman&#39;s rope connection which utilizes a continuous loop attached to a saddle for the purpose of strengthening the connection with the lineman&#39;s rope as well as distributing the user&#39;s weight across a greater area to increase use comfort. 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The prior art relates to harness devices which typically include a lineman&#39;s loop for engaging a lineman&#39;s rope wherein the lineman&#39;s loop is typically a pair loops attached to the edge of a harness. Thus, when a lineman&#39;s rope is attached to the lineman&#39;s loop, the loops concentrate the force on the edges of the harness to reduce comfort and safety when the user is being supported by the harness. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a saddle configured to receive the buttocks of a person. The saddle has an upper strap and a lower strap. The saddle has a front side, a back side, a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge wherein the first and second lateral edges are used to engage a bridge line such that the bridge line can be secured to a tree. A pair of lineman&#39;s loops is attached to the saddle and used to engage a lineman&#39;s rope. Each of the lineman&#39;s loops is positioned adjacent to one of the first and second lateral edges. The lineman&#39;s loops are comprised of a continuous loop of webbing including an upper portion is attached to the upper strap and a lower portion is attached to the lower strap. The lineman&#39;s loops are formed of lateral portions of the continuous loop extending between the upper and lower portions. 
     Thus, as can be appreciated from the above, the continuous loop is positioned along the upper and lower straps of the saddle assembly to distribute the weight of a user across the continuous loop and across the upper and lower straps. This distribution of weight and pressure across the entire length of the upper and lower straps enhances strength, safety and comfort for the user. 
     In another embodiment, the disclosure provides for a saddle configured to receive the buttocks of a person. The saddle includes a closed loop that is formed by a continuous strap. The saddle has a front side, a back side, a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge wherein the first and second lateral edges are used to engage a bridge line such that the bridge line can be secured to a tree. A pair of lineman&#39;s loops is attached to the saddle and used to engage a lineman&#39;s rope. Each of the lineman&#39;s loops is positioned adjacent to one of the first and second lateral edges. The lineman&#39;s loops are comprised of a continuous loop of webbing including an upper portion attached to the upper strap and a lower portion attached to the lower strap. The lineman&#39;s loops are formed of lateral portions of the continuous loop extending between the upper and lower portions. A flat or contoured panel of flexible material is attached to the upper and lower straps and extends from the first lateral strap to the second lateral. This panel may be comprised of a flexible material such as a mesh or fabric material. The panel may further be resiliently stretchable or inelastic in nature. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a rear view of a harness with continuous lineman&#39;s loop according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a side in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a side in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 6  thereof, a new harness device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 6 , the harness with continuous lineman&#39;s loop  10  generally comprises a saddle  12  configured to receive the buttocks of a person. The saddle  12  has an upper strap  14  and a lower strap  16  wherein the upper strap  14  is typically placed near the base of the person&#39;s back while the lower strap  16  is adjacent to the bottom of the buttocks as is shown in  FIG. 4 . The saddle  12  has a front side  18 , a back side  20 , a first lateral edge  22  and a second lateral edge  24 . The first  22  and second  24  lateral edges are configured to engage a bridge line  26  such that the bridge line  26  can be secured to a tree  70  with a tree line  28 . As can be seen in the figures, the upper  14  and lower  16  straps may be joined to form an oval-shaped, closed loop. 
     A pair of lineman&#39;s loops  30  is attached to the saddle  12  and the lineman&#39;s loops  30  are configured to engage a lineman&#39;s rope  32 . A lineman&#39;s loop  30  and lineman&#39;s rope  32  is used during the ascending and descending of the tree  70 . The lineman&#39;s rope  32  is extended around the tree  70  and secured to the lineman&#39;s loops  30  so that the lineman&#39;s rope  32  will frictionally engage the tree  70 . Thus, the climber can lean away from the tree  70  as they climb with the lineman&#39;s rope  32  providing an anchor between the climber and the tree  70 . This allows for safe climbing and body positioning while climbing. Once the saddle  12  is secured to the tree line  28  via the bridge line  26  so that the saddle  12  is supporting the climber&#39;s weight with the tree line  28 , the lineman&#39;s rope  32  is removed from the lineman&#39;s loops  30 . 
     Each of the lineman&#39;s loops  30  is positioned adjacent to one of the first  22  and second  24  lateral edges. The lineman&#39;s loops  30  are comprised of a continuous loop  34  of webbing. That is, a continuous loop  34  is attached to the saddle  12  such that the edges of the continuous loop  34  extend outwardly, and freely, in lateral directions from the saddle  12  to form the lineman&#39;s loops  30 . The continuous loop  34  includes an upper portion  36  attached to and extending along the upper strap  14  and a lower portion  38  that is attached to and extends along the lower strap  16 . Typically the continuous loop  34  will be attached to the back side  20  of the saddle  12 . The lineman&#39;s loops  30  are formed of lateral portions of the continuous loop  34  extending between the upper  36  and lower  38  portions. 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , to form the continuous loop  34 , a single strap  40  of webbing having a first end  42  and a second end  44  may be overlapped onto itself and the overlapping portions secured together by stitching  46 , vibrational friction, heat or other common methods of joining synthetic materials together. Zigzag and bar tacked stitching in particular may be utilized to prevent the overlapping portions from disengaging from each other. The overlapping portions may form an overlapped area having a length of between 2.0 inches and 5.0 inches. The overlapping portions may be located anywhere along the continuous loop  34 , however, they will typically be positioned on either the upper  36  or lower  38  straps as opposed to being located on one of the lineman&#39;s loops  30 . One advantageous area for the overlapping may occur in a central area of the lower strap  16  for reasons stated below. The continuous loop  34  may be comprised of any conventional material used for straps consisting of webbing. Plastic materials such as nylon, polyester, and polypropylene are common, however, high molecular weight polyethylene may be utilized for its high strength and abrasion resistant characteristics. 
     The upper  36  and lower  38  strap sections each have an upper edge  48  and a lower edge  50 . A plurality vertical attachment points  52  attaches the continuous loop  34  to the saddle  12  and extends from each lower edge  48  to a corresponding upper edge  50 . The vertical attachment points  52  are spaced from each other such that receivers  54  are formed between the attachment points  52 , wherein the receivers  54  extend between the continuous loop  34  and the saddle  12  and form MOLLE (modular lightweight load-carrying equipment) connection points. The vertical attachment points  52  most typically comprise lines of stitching. 
     A belt strap  56  is attached to the saddle  12  adjacent to the upper strap  14 . The belt strap  56  includes a first free portion  57  extending away from the first lateral edge  22  and a second free portion  58  extending away from the second lateral edge  24 . A coupler  59  releasably couples together the first and second free portions to form a waist belt configured to extend around a waist of the person. 
     A pair of leg straps  60  each has an attached end  61  attached to the saddle  12  and a free end  62  extending downwardly away from the saddle  12 . The attached ends  61  are typically located on the lower strap  16  in a central area thereof such that the attached ends  61  are attached to the overlapping portions of the continuous loop  34 . Each of the leg straps  60  is configured to be extended around a different one of a pair of legs of the person. The leg straps  60  each including a securing member  63  to releasably secure the leg straps  60  in a closed loop around a user&#39;s leg. 
     The saddle  12  may further include a panel  64  comprising a flexible material that is attached to the upper and lower straps and extends from the first lateral strap to the second lateral strap. The panel  64  may be comprised of a mesh material that is substantially flat when lying on a flat surface or may be contoured into a concave structure for receiving the buttocks. The mesh material may comprise a resiliently elastic material for comfort though inelastic materials may also be utilized. Other flexible materials such as fabrics, natural or synthetic, may replace the mesh material, though mesh material at times will be preferred for heat transferring purposes. 
     In use, the saddle  12  is used in a conventional manner that a harness, used when hunting from trees, is utilized. However, unlike traditional harness assemblies, the lineman&#39;s loops  30  are created with a continuous loop  34  providing advantages over prior art systems. Three primary advantages are the strength, safety, and comfort attributes of a continuous loop  34 . Because the lineman&#39;s loops  30  are formed of one, continuous loop  34 , the weight applied to the lineman&#39;s loops  30  is distributed across the entire continuous loop  34  and is partially transferred to the saddle  12  to which it is attached. Thus, the strength of the lineman&#39;s loops  30  is enhanced. Also, because the weight is distributed across the entire continuous loop  34  and therefore also along the upper  14  and lower  16  straps, comfort is increased for the wearer of the saddle  12  when the lineman&#39;s loops  30  are being utilized. In the event of a fall, the force of impact between the person and saddle  12  is distributed over a larger area to reduce the chance of injury, and thus increase the safety, to the wearer of the saddle  12 . 
     The lineman&#39;s loops  30  are engaged with the lineman&#39;s rope  32  to extend around the tree  70  while the user is ascending or descending the tree  70 . The user may utilize a small, modular ladder  72 , for instance, for climbing while the lineman&#39;s rope  32  prevents the user from falling from the tree  70  since the lineman&#39;s rope  32  frictionally engages the tree  70 . When the user is at a desired height, they attach a platform  74  to the tree  70 , step onto the platform  74 , secure the saddle  12  to a tree line  28  with their bridge line  26 , and remove the lineman&#39;s rope  32  from the lineman&#39;s loops  30 . The actions above are reversed when it is time to descend from the tree  70 . 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.