Patent ID: 8813263

Claim:
A protective vest adapted for rapid removal from a wearer, the vest comprising: a front panel adapted to cover at least a portion of the wearer's chest; a rear panel adapted to cover at least a portion of the wearer's back; a plurality of connection assemblies operatively joining the front panel to the rear panel wherein at least a portion of the connection assemblies each include a retractable locking element and further including a rotatable base ring in combination with a rotatable hasp ring structure matedly received at the interior of the base ring, the retractable locking element being normally disposed in a locked position in the absence of applied pulling tension and adapted to slide from the locked position to an unlocked position upon application of pulling tension, wherein in the locked position the retractable locking element projects through the hasp ring structure to block the hasp ring structure against removal from the base ring; a plurality of tether lines operatively connected to a common pull element with at least one tether line operatively connecting each of the retractable locking elements to the common pull element, such that upon extension of the common pull element, the tether lines displace the retractable locking elements from the locked position to the unlocked position; and at least one biasing element operatively engaging a corresponding retractable locking element, the biasing element applying a recovery force to the retractable locking element upon displacement from the locked position such that the retractable locking element is moved back to the locked position upon removal of the applied pulling tension.