Patent ID: 7313848

Claim:
A dual action canopy release buckle for releasably holding a parachute harness securement strap, said buckle having a frame with a forward end and a rearward end supporting a latch which may be pivoted between a locked-counterclockwise position and a released-clockwise position and being biased in a released-clockwise position and said latch being held in a locked-counterclockwise position by contact with a latch holding ledge supported by an actuating lever, said actuating lever having a distal end and a pivot end and said actuating lever being pivotable between a latch holding-clockwise position and a latch releasing-counterclockwise position and said actuating lever being biased toward a latch holding-clockwise position, wherein the improvement comprises: a lever arm pivotally held on the distal end of said actuating lever and extending upwardly therefrom and said lever arm having a distal, finger-contacting end and a pivot end, whereby when said distal, finger-contacting end of said lever arm is moved rearwardly the lever arm contacts a contacting end of said actuating lever and pulls the distal end of said actuating lever so that the actuating lever rotates in a counterclockwise direction to a latch releasing-counterclockwise position; a forward facing surface of said lever arm; and a contacting member secured to said frame and positioned so that a rearward edge of said contacting member contacts said forward facing surface of said lever arm at a point above said lever arm pivot pin whereby when said distal, finger contacting end of said lever arm is moved forwardly, said forward facing surface contacts said rearward edge and lifts the lever arm pivot pin thereby rotating said actuating lever in a counterclockwise direction to a latch releasing counterclockwise position whereby a dual action lever results in releasing the latch when the distal, finger contacting end of said lever arm is moved in a forward direction or a rearward direction.