H. Koch & Sons, Inc.

H. Koch & Sons Division, Gulf & Western Manufacturing Company

H. Koch & Sons, Inc., a Division of Global Systems, a Gulf & Western

H. Koch & Sons, Div. of Gulf & Western Mfg. Co.

John A Gaylord

Kenneth A Marks

A double safety manually releasable strap connector employs a male and a female member and latching devices to releasably connect the same, including a rotatable inter-connecting element in the female member. A manipulating lever is connected to the rotatable inter-connecting element for pivotal movement away from the female member. A first latch to prevent the pivotal movement of the lever for rotating the inter-connecting element being releasable by sliding the lever, and a second latch for locking the sleeve against the sliding movement. The male member is adapted to hold the riser of the canopy shrouds of a parachute and the female member is adapted to hold straps of the harness for the parachute.

Double safety manually releasable strap connector

The releasable strap connector has a female connector and male connector, the latter having one or more prongs insertable in pockets of the female connector; a rocking bar has cut-away portions intersecting said pockets to interlock with correspondingly cut-away portions of the prongs of the male member, and a manipulating yoke lever for rocking the bar into a releasing position where the bar is withdrawn from said prongs. The yoke lever has a manipulating handle which includes one or more plungers projectable from the hollow handle into suitable keepers in the frame of the female member to positively hold the yoke lever in position corresponding to the interlocking position of the locking bar and optionally also to hold the lever in position corresponding to the releasing position of the rocking bar; each plunger being urged outwardly by a spring and is retracted inwardly of the hollow handle by coacting slanted groove and pin which respond to manual rotation of a sleeve to retract the plunger and when released to permit the spring to return the plunger to a projecting locking position; the sleeve is rotatable relatively to the hollow handle, which latter is partly cut-away to expose the rotating sleeve for manipulation.

Canopy release manipulating handle

This retractable pin disconnect is shown herein in connection with the male connector member of existing hardware for parachute harness and the like. The retractable pins engage opposite sockets in the legs of the male connector member for webbing. The retractable pins are on the opposite sidewalls of a hollow body and are connected to a pair of bell cranks which latter are connected to a yoke embracing the arms of the bell cranks so as to rock the bell cranks by pulling the yoke toward the other end of the body thereby to pull the retractable pins inwardly of the body and out of the sockets of the legs of the male connector member. The body is adapted to a webbing and thus interposed between the webbing and the connector member and functions in place of the usual webbing pin of the connector member. Means are provided for pulling the yoke for actuating the bell cranks and resilient means urge the yoke so as to move and hold the bell cranks in position for extending the retractable pins.

Retractable pin disconnect

The Canopy Release is for the purpose of connecting the webbings from a canopy or parachute to a harness worn by a person. The device includes a male connector member insertable in a female connector member and a releasable locking device for locking the male member in the female member. The male member is connected to one webbing and it has a prong having a keeper recess in at least one edge and it is inserted into a pocket in the female member; a lock in the female member is moveable into and out of the pocket to interlock with the keeper recess and to release the same; a pin in the lock is journalled in the female member and in a cover plate having a substantially U-shaped slot therein; a manipulating frame is connected to the pin so as to turn the pin when the manipulating frame is turned; a guide extends from the manipulating frame into the U-shaped slot and is resiliently urged into the respective ends of the U-shaped slot thereby to prevent a turning movement of the frame until the guide is moved into the curved middle portion of the U-shaped slot; a manipulating handle is resiliently concealed in the manipulating frame slides the guide out of the respective ends of the U-shaped slot and into the curved portion thereby to permit the turning of the manipulating frame for withdrawing the lock from or turning it into the keeper recess in the prong of the male member.

Shockload resistant canopy release

In the legs of a clevis of a webbing connector are opposite aligned passages in which is journalled a pin for harness webbing. The pin is formed of a release body the hub of which fits between the legs. Parts of a pair of lock pins project the hub into the respective passages to hold the pin in place. The lock pins are fixed in the body by shear pins. Inside of the hub are a pair of plungers. A slot in each plunger riding on a set screw limits the outward movement of each plunger respectively to the adjacent end of the hub, whereby the adjacent lock pin is pushed totally into the leg passage and the release body is freed. The force for outward movement of the plungers is imparted through a thruster which includes a suitable expandable device which when expanded axially pushes the plungers apart for pushing the lock pins out of the hub of the release body.

Harness release pin

In a box, open at least at one end, is a drum cam, into each end of which is secured a stub shaft from the hub of a hand lever; the hub of a hand lever; the hubs being journaled in opposite side walls of the box; the hand levers being outside the box for turning the cam manually to release the webbing; cross-sectionally the cam is a substantially diagonal cam, the opposite projections or apices of which are rounded and spaced apart to a distance equal to or greater than the height of the box; smooth gripping surfaces adjacent the respective projections are diagonally spaced apart to leave a clearance less than the thickness of the webbing to be clamping against the top and bottom of the box when tension on the webbing around the cam urges the projections toward said top and bottom; a light multiple ribbon spring between an end wall of the box and the cam urges the webbing against the surface of the cam with light pressure; a pin spaced from the cam anchors the end of the webbing, so that the webbing extends from said anchor pin to be connected to parts to be held together and then around the cam in the box out to form a tab.

Growing community of inventors

San Diego, CA, United States of America

John A Gaylord