Patent ID: 8746519

Claim:
A portable releasable attachment apparatus adapted to carried by a person, comprising: a retractable unit having a housing, a rotatable reel mounted inside the housing, a spring coil biasing rotation of the reel in one direction, and a tensile member carried on the reel, the tensile member having an inner end and an outer end, the housing having a formation through which the tensile member is adapted to extend outside of the housing; a connector attached to the outer end of the tensile member, the connector having a distal end and a proximal end, the proximal end adapted for contact with the formation of the housing when the connector is in a stored configuration; a fastener having a proximal end adapted for releasable attachment to the distal end of the connector, the fastener having a member adapted for carrying at least one item; a switch mounted on the housing adapted to adopt a neutral position and a locking position, the switch having an integral ratchet member movable into and out of locking engagement with the reel in response to movement of the switch; and a locking cam fixedly coupled to an inner surface of the housing, wherein the locking cam is adapted to move the movable ratchet member into locking engagement with the reel.