Patent Document

This application claims priority of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/256,218 having a filing date of Dec. 14, 2000, and is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to breakaway safety fasteners. More specifically, the present invention relates to breakaway safety fasteners used in association with boundary markers and even more particularly, to re-attachable breakaway connectors for boundary markers along snow skiing trails. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     At snow skiing resorts, groomed ski trails or “runs” are provided on the face of a mountain or hill to provide routes for skiers to descend from the top of the resort to the bottom. Many of these trails have defined boundaries. The out-of-bounds areas are often too dangerous due to the steep incline or extreme risk of avalanche danger. Further, some of these areas may be outside the ski area&#39;s United States Forest Service (U.S.F.S.) permit area. Thus dangers in the out-of-bounds areas may be created by dense timber, steep inclines, insecure foundation for the snow beds causing avalanche concerns, insufficient snow cover, or other hazardous conditions. 
     In order to prevent skiers from accessing these areas, the defined boundaries are often marked by ropes, fences, or panel sheets fastened to stakes or other secure items, e.g., trees, 4×4&#39;s, or other stanchions along the boundary line. The ropes or fences not only mark the boundary, but also provide a visual and limited physical barrier to skiers attempting to travel into the out-of-bounds or closed areas. 
     Unfortunately, the rigidity of the ropes or fences can cause an abrupt change of velocity of the skier. Thus, skiers may be injured when striking the rope or fence while skiing or snowboarding. The force at which a skier strikes the boundary marker may cause broken bones, severe bruising or even internal injuries or death. Additionally, the abrupt change of velocity may cause injury to the head or neck of the restrained skier. Although generally designed for the skiing industry, it should be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the present invention may be used in any type of setting or industry where a boundary is identified and the potential for any person hitting the boundary at an increased velocity is present. 
     Thus, a significant need exists for a boundary or closed marker connection system which will provide a visual and limited physical barrier, yet minimize the injuries caused to the skier when encountering the boundary marker or rope closure at a potentially high velocity. The boundary marker connection system or rope closure should be capable of failing at a predetermined level necessary to prevent these injuries, yet providing a necessary resistance to prevent becoming detached or collapsing merely when a skier, snowboarder, or patron brushes it or during high wind conditions. Additionally, it would be desirable to provide a connection system that is capable of failing at a predetermined level but that may be reconnected in a simple and efficient manner. In this way, replacing the boundary marker takes minimal time and has minimal cost. By minimizing the time to replace the boundary, other skiers may be prevented from traveling off of the defined ski trail. Also, the cost of replacing the boundary marker prevents unnecessary cost to the operator of the ski resort. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is thus one aspect of the present invention to provide a breakaway safety connector for use with boundary markers and rope closures which addresses the limitations of products currently known in the art by being capable of failing at a predetermined tension level. This aspect may allow for the prevention of serious injury to persons running into the boundary marker or rope closure. 
     It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a breakaway safety connector for use with boundary markers or rope closures which is capable of being reconnected after failure, and which can thus be used repeatedly. In this way, the boundary marker or rope closure may be replaced with minimal effort and time, thereby providing others with a clear indication of boundary lines. 
     In yet another aspect of the invention, the device is made of a material which allows a portion of the male end to be reduced in size, and thereby reducing the tensile strength of the connector. This provides the user with a method of selecting the tensile strength desired in the connector by reducing the diameter of the connector along at the male end, thus providing a breakaway connector which can be custom designed for a variety of applications. Alternatively, it is another aspect of the present invention that the female component of the connecting end may be selectively increased in size to reduce the amount of tensile force required to separate the male component and female component. 
     It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a breakaway safety connector which is not reusable and shatters or breaks during failure when a predetermined amount of force is applied. In all embodiments, a light weight, generally inexpensive apparatus is provided which can substantially reduce the risk of injury or death to someone hitting a rope or other barrier device. 
     Additional advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following discussion, particularly when taken together with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of the female connector portion of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the embodiment of the female connector of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is an end elevation view of the embodiment of the female connector of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the embodiment of the female connector of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 is a plan view of one embodiment of the male connector portion of the present invention; 
     FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the embodiment of the male connector portion of the present invention; 
     FIG. 7A is an end elevation view of the embodiment of the male connector portion of the present invention; 
     FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of the male connector of FIG. 5 along section line A—A; 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the embodiment of the male connector portion of the present invention; 
     FIG. 9 is a side elevation view of one embodiment of the re-attachable breakaway connector of the present invention with the embodiment of the female connector of FIG.  1  and the embodiment of the male connector of FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 10 is a plan view of an alternative embodiment of the female connector of the present invention; 
     FIG. 11 is side elevation view of the embodiment of the female connector of FIG. 10; and 
     FIG. 12 is a front elevation view depicting the present invention interconnected to a barrier device. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present invention, including the preferred embodiments, may be seen in FIGS. 1-12, which show a re-attachable breakaway safety connector specifically designed for attachment to a boundary marker or rope closure. The re-attachable breakaway safety connector in one embodiment is generally comprised of two components. Each component has an attachment end for attachment to a boundary marker such as a rope, cable, chain or webbing or any other type of material known in the art which may be used as a boundary material or closure. The two connectors are also capable of being releasably interconnected to one another and, if separated, selectively reconnected. 
     With reference to FIG. 1, a female component of the present invention is shown. The female component  10  is comprised of a female component body  12  with an attachment end  14  and a female connector end  16 . The attachment end  14  is designed to be connected to a rope or other boundary marker. Thus, the attachment end  14  includes an attachment aperture  18 . A rope may be tied or looped to the attachment end  14  of the female component  12  by inserting an end of the rope through the attachment aperture  18  and knotting or looping the rope about the attachment end  14  or the rope itself. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the attachment end  14  may also include a passage  20  for receiving the rope, clip or other attachment mechanism. With this feature, a looped end of rope may be attached to the attachment end  14  by sliding the looped end of rope through the passage  20  into the attachment aperture  18 . The passage  20  also may accommodate attachment to a chain or other object that cannot be tied to the attachment end  14 . 
     The female connector end  16  of the female body  12  is designed to be connected to the male component, as described below. The female connector end  16  includes a connector socket  22 . A connector slot  24  may additionally be provided between an external surface of the female connector end  14  and the connector socket  22 . 
     The female component body  12  may also include a reinforcing ridge  26  along at least a portion of the female component body  12 . The reinforcing ridge  26  is a raised portion of the female component body  12  used to provide increased structural integrity to the female component body  12 . As shown in FIG. 1, the reinforcing ridge may also extend around at least a portion of the attachment aperture  18  to provide enhanced structural integrity and also to increase the bearing surface of the attachment aperture  18 . 
     Referring now to FIG. 2, the female component  10  of FIG. 1 is shown in a top plan view. In this embodiment, the female connector end  16  is formed by a first connector arm  28  and a second connector arm  30 . The first and second connector arms  28  and  30  define a channel  32  in the female connector end  16 . The channel  32  is designed to receive the body of the male component as described below. FIG. 3 shows a right end elevation view of the female component  10  as seen from the female connector end  16 . FIG. 4 depicts the female component  10  in an upper perspective view, and which again identifies the first connector arm  28 , second connector arm  30  and other components. 
     Referring now to FIG. 5, one embodiment of a male component of the present invention is shown. The male component  34  is generally comprised of a male component body  36  having a attachment end  14  and a male connector end  38 . The attachment end  14  of the male component  34  of this embodiment is generally identical to the attachment end  14  of the female component  10  as described above, and is thus adapted to receive a rope or other type of barrier device. 
     The male connector end  38  of the male component  34  includes a connector post  40 . The connector post  40  is sized to be received into the connector socket  22  of the female component  10 . The connector post  40  is a projected area at the male connector end  38  of the male component  34 . As shown in FIG. 5, the connector post  40  may be a cylindrical wall with a hollow center. It is understood, however, that a connector post  40  may be comprised of a solid cylinder or other solid or walled geometries. It should also be understood that the connector socket  22  of the female component  10  should have a substantially corresponding and mating geometry, and the two are designed to be engaged with such a high degree of tolerance that it takes a predetermined force to disengage the two components. Thus, high wind, drifting snow and other similar events will not prematurely disengage the connector. As in the female component  10  above, the male component body  36  may include a reinforcing ridge  26  along at least a portion of the male component body  36 . Additionally, the reinforcing ridge may also be formed adjacent to the attachment aperture  18  for providing structural rigidity as well as increased bearing surface of the attachment aperture  18 . As further appreciated by one skilled in the art, the geometry of the male and female connectors are not critical as long as the two components matingly engage and can be selectively disconnected. Thus these components may be round, oval, peg-shaped, triangular semispherical or any other shape which conceivably can be fit together with male and female components. 
     Referring now to FIG. 6, the male component  34  of FIG. 5 is shown in a top plan view. In this embodiment, the connector post  40  is shown extending outwardly from both sides of the male component body  36 . It should be understood, however, that other embodiments of the connector post  40  are possible. For example, the connector post may extend from only one side of the male connector body  36 , as opposed to both sides. Preferably the connector posts  40  are comprised of a plastic, wood, rubber or other material which can be selectively reduced in size with an abrasive material such as sandpaper or rasping tools to effectively reduce the diameter and selectively reduce the amount of force required to detach the male component  40  from the female connector slot  24 . 
     With reference to FIG. 7A, the male component  34  is shown in a right end elevation view as viewed from the male connector end  38 . Similarly, FIG. 7B shows a cross section of the male component  34  as seen from cross section A—A as indicated in FIG.  5 . With reference to FIG. 8, the male component  34  is shown in a front perspective view. 
     Referring now to FIG. 9, one embodiment of the breakaway connector  42  of the present invention is shown with the corresponding male and female connections releasably interconnected. The breakaway connector  42  is the combination of a female component  10  and a male component  34  of the present invention as described above. The portion of the male component body  36  adjacent to the connecting post  40  is inserted into the connector slot  24  of the female component  10  such that the connecting post  40  is seated within the attachment aperture  18 . Once property inserted, the connection of the female component  10  and the male component  34  require a predetermined tension level to be separated again. As shown in FIG. 9, the reinforcing ridge  26  of the male component  34  may be abbreviated such that the male connector end  38  may be rotated within the female connector end  16  such that the reinforcing ridge  26  does not interfere with the female connector end  16 . 
     The breakaway connector  42 , and all components and pieces thereof, may be formed of substantially any material. It is desirable, however, that the material used for the connector  42  have some resilience and elasticity such that when the necessary tensile force is applied, the first and second connector arms  28  and  30  expand to allow disconnection with the connector post  40  without structural damage. Some such materials may include, but are not limited to rubber, nylon, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polypropylene, polyethylene, or other plastics known in the art. Alternatively, certain metallic materials such as stainless steel may be suitable for this purpose. 
     Additionally, the size and shape of the breakaway connector  42  may vary. Thus it is possible to design a breakaway connector  42  with virtually any required tensile strength for failure. However, it is anticipated that the breakaway connector  42  and its component parts should be designed to require a tensile strength of between about 30 and about 50 pounds (lbs), and more preferably about 40 lbs, prior to disengaging the male component  34  from the female component  10 . 
     Referring now to FIG. 10, a preferred embodiment of the female connector end  16  is shown. In this embodiment marks  44  are provided on the female connector end  16  to indicate the tension strength of the connection between the female component  10  and the male component  34  if the connector slot is extended to corresponding marks  44 . A user may trim the female connector end  16  by removing that portion of the female connector end up to and including the mark  44 . In this way, the user may select the proper tension level for a given application. Alternatively, the male connecting posts  40  may be selectively reduced in diameter to reduce the force required to separate the male and female components of the breakaway connector  42 . As shown in FIG. 11, the marks may have corresponding grooves  46  such that the user may properly locate a cutting utensil along the mark  44 . The grooves  46  simplify the trimming process. 
     Referring now to FIG. 12, a depiction of the present breakaway connector  42  in use is provided herein. As shown, the breakaway connector  42  is typically interconnected to a rope  48  or other barrier device, which is in turn positioned between two substantially non-movable objects such as trees, rock outcroppings, stanchions  50 , or other similar devices or objects. 
     While various embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it is apparent that modifications and adaptations of those embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art. However, it is to be expressly understood that such modifications and adaptations are within the scope and spirit of the present invention, as set forth in the following claims.

Technology Category: f