Belt Tightening System

Abstract

A belt system that includes an elongated strap extending between a first and second end, with a first fastener coupled to the first end and a second fastener coupled to the second end. The belt system also includes at least one adjustable length cable coupled near the first end and the second end. The cable passes through the strap at multiple pass-through points, allowing the strap to be cinched and the belt to be shortened by adjusting the cable length. The cable length can be adjusted by a dial located on the first fastener or by a cincher fixed near the first fastener, which includes a housing supporting a dowel to which the cable end is secured. The dowel can rotate in two directions, and the cincher includes a gear, a cam, and a release that allows a user to selectively disengage the cam from the gear to release the wire.

Claims

1. A belt system comprising: an elongated strap extending between a first end and second end; a first fastener coupled to the first end and a second fastener coupled to the second end; and at least one adjustable length cable coupled near the first end and the second end, wherein the at least one adjustable length cable passes through the strap at a plurality of pass-through points such that shortening the at least one cable cinches the strap between the plurality of pass-through points to shorten the belt.

2. The belt system according to claim 1, wherein the through-point is a hole and wherein the cable weaves from the one hole to the hole.

3. The belt system according to claim 1, wherein the first fastener is a slip-on buckle.

4. The belt system according to claim 1, wherein the strap is nylon webbing or like material.

5. The belt system according to claim 3, wherein the slip-on buckle is a quick release having a male end and a female end wherein the female end is removably locked into the male end.

6. The belt system according to claim 1, wherein each cable has a first cable end, the belt system further comprising a cincher fixed near the first fastener, wherein the cincher comprises a housing supporting a dowel to which the first cable end of the at least one cable is secured, wherein the cable length is adjusted by rotating the dowel.

7. The belt system according to claim 1 wherein the cable is adjusted by a dial located on the first fastener.

8. The belt system according to claim 7 wherein the cable is spooled about the when the dial is rotated in a first direction.

9. The belt system according to claim 6, wherein the dowel may rotate in a first direction and a second direction opposite to the first direction, and wherein the cincher further comprises: a gear coupled to the dowel; a cam coupled to the housing that is spring biased to engage the gear to prevent the dowel from rotating in the first direction; a release that allows a user to selectively disengage the cam from the gear to release the wire.

10. The belt system according to claim 6, wherein the housing has a first slot through which the at least one cable is passed.

11. The belt system according to claim 7, wherein the cincher further comprises a pusher that allows a user to rotate the dowel in the second direction.

12. The belt system according to claim 10, wherein the dowel has a t shaped cutout in the dowel.

13. A strap tightener for a strap that extends a length between a first end and second end, the tightener comprising: a housing supporting a dowel that rotates in a first direction and in a second direction opposite to the first direction, wherein the dowel is detachably coupled to the strap such that rotating the dowel in the first direction winds the strap about the dowel and shortens the length; a gear coupled to the dowel; a cam coupled to the housing that is spring biased to engage the gear to prevent the dowel from rotating in the second direction; a release that allows a user to selectively disengage the cam from the gear to allow the dowel to rotate in the second direction.

14. The belt system of claim 13 wherein the dowel is detachably coupled to the strap via a slot that passes through the dowel.

15. The belt system of claim 13 wherein the dowel has a face and is detachably coupled to the strap via a t-shaped slot in the face of the dowel.

16. The belt system of claim 13 wherein the housing further comprising a slot through which the strap is passed.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present specification will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

[0018] FIG. 1 is a top view of exemplary embodiment of a belt system in accordance to one, or more embodiments;

[0019] FIG. 2 is a top view of a belt system in its contracted state in accordance to one, or more embodiments;

[0020] FIG. 3 is an isometric view of another embodiment of a buckle of the belt system in accordance to one, or more embodiments;

[0021] FIG. 4 is a bottom view of another embodiment of a buckle of the belt system in accordance to one, or more embodiments;

[0022] FIG. 5 is a front view of another embodiment of a buckle of the belt system in accordance to one, or more embodiments; and

[0023] FIG. 6 is a partial front view of another embodiment of a buckle of the belt system in accordance to one, or more embodiments.

[0024] Elements and acts in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and have not necessarily been rendered according to any particular sequence or embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] In the following description, and for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of the invention. It will be understood, however, by those skilled in the relevant arts, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, known structures and devices are shown or discussed more generally in order to avoid obscuring the invention. In many cases, a description of the operation is sufficient to enable one to implement the various forms of the invention, particularly when the operation is to be implemented in software. It should be noted that there are many different and alternative configurations, devices and technologies to which the disclosed inventions may be applied. The full scope of the inventions is not limited to the examples that are described below.

[0026] Referring initially to FIG. 1 a belt system is shown generally at 10. A belt system 10 can comprise an elongated strap 12 extending between a first end 28 and second end 30. The elongated strap 12 can be such as, for example, nylon, leather, stainless steel, canvas, or the like. The elongated strap 12 can have a set or an adjustable length that can extend between the first end 28 and the second end 30. The first end 28 can be coupled to a first fastener 34 and the second end 30 can be coupled to a second fastener 18 at location 21 configured to interact with the first fastener 34. The first and second fasteners 34, 18 can be such as, for example, a slip-on buckle, cam buckle, ratchet buckle, flip lock buckle, no sew buckle, or other fastener known to those having skill in the art. The first and second fastener 34, 18 may be secured to the first and second end 28, 30 by such as, for example, adhesive, sewing, wrap around or the like.

[0027] The strap 12 can couple to the first or second fastener 34, 18 at the first end 28 and the second end 30 wherein the strap can be adjustable by such as, for example, feed through buckles, squeeze release buckles, cam buckles, hook and loop back on itself, or the like wherein it adds another way to adjust the strap around the user or item.

[0028] At least one adjustable length cable 14 coupled near the first end 28 and the second end 30, wherein the at least one adjustable length cable passes through the strap 12 at a plurality of pass-through points 16 such that shortening the at least one cable cinches the strap between the plurality of pass-through points to shorten the belt. The at least one cable 14 can be coupled or fixed to the strap, in certain embodiments, to the first fastener 34 or the second fastener 18 at a point near the first end 28 or the second end 30 and can stretch the length or some portion of the length of the strap 12. In the preferred embodiment the cables 14 can be attached to a buckle 18 wherein the cable can wrap around the buckle when tightening the belt wherein the buckle can comprise a dial 20 that can pull and release the cable locking the cable in place wherein the dial can have an outer housing 22.

[0029] The cable 14 can be such as, for example, steel cabling, wire rope, stainless steel rope, plastic filament or the like and can be coated with an outer sheath which can be such as, for example, plastic, rubber, or the like. The plurality of pass through-points 16 extending the length of the strap can be holes with grommets or in other embodiments the through-points can extend only partially along the length of the strap. The strap 12 can have a plurality of through-points 16 evenly or in other embodiments unevenly spaced and can have at least two rows substantially near the top and the bottom of the strap. Each cable 14 can have a first cable end, the belt system 10 can further comprise a cincher 51 fixed near the first fastener 34, wherein the cincher comprises a housing 50 supporting a dowel 54 to which the first cable end of the at least one cable is secured, wherein the cable length is adjusted by rotating the dowel as shown in FIG. 3.

[0030] The cable 14 can be such as, for example, steel cabling, wire rope, stainless steel rope, plastic filament or the like and can be coated with an outer sheath such as, for example, plastic, rubber, or the like. The strap 12 can have a plurality of through-points 16 extending the length of the strap or in other embodiments the through-points can extend only partially along the length of the strap. In the preferred embodiment the strap 12 can have a plurality of through-points 16 evenly or unevenly spaced and can have at least two rows substantially near the top and the bottom of the strap.

[0031] The cable 14 can weave from the front of the strap 12 to the back of the strap 12 from the one through-point to the next through-point extending the length of the strap. In other embodiments, the cable 14 can be coupled to a second buckle 26 by at least one attachment point 24. The second buckle 26 can be removably or permanently attached to the strap 12 and can be substantially near the second end 28 of the strap or it can be at any location on the strap wherein the second buckle can couple to the strap and allow the belt to cinch from that location to the buckle 18. In certain embodiments, the strap 23 and the cable 14 can have a sheath around it extending the length the strap and cable or substantially the length of the strap and cable. The sheath can be such as, for example, leather, plastic, nylon, clothe, or the like.

[0032] The first fastener 34 and second fastener 18 can be a quick release buckle having a male end and a female end wherein the female end is removably locked into the male end. The cable 14 can be coupled to the buckle 18 wherein the buckle can comprise a housing wherein the housing can support at least one spring that pushes on a cam 64 that is rotatable within housing wherein the cam can engage a first body. The first body can have an outer body and an inner body wherein the first body is rotatably disposed in the housing wherein the inner body can have a gear around its circumference wherein the cam 64 can engage the gear locking the first body in place. The cable 14 can wrap around the inner body wherein as the user twist the first body the cam catches the gear as it rotates and locks into place tightening the belt around the user's waist or limb wherein the limb can be such as, for example, arm, leg, any portion of the body, or the like. The first body can release the cam by pushing or pulling the first body and unlocking the first body from the cam allowing the cable 14 to be pulled out by the user.

[0033] Referring to FIG. 3-5, in other embodiments, a belt tightener 51 is coupled to a strap having a length that extends between a first end and a second end. The tightener 51 can have a housing 50 and at least a first slot 60 wherein the strap or wire can be passed through. In other embodiments, the housing 50 may have a clamp that can be locked to the strap.

[0034] The tightener comprises a dowel 60 having a length coupled to one or more gears 56 located at least one end of the dowel. The dowel 60 can have a dowel slot substantially centered on the dowel 54 wherein a strap can be passed through the dowel and the strap can wrap around the dowel 54. The dowel 60 may rotate in a first direction and a second direction opposite to the first direction and wherein the cincher 51 can further comprises one or more gear 56 coupled to the dowl 54 and a cam 64 coupled to the housing 50 that is spring biased to engage the gear to prevent the dowel from rotation in the first direction. A release 58 can allow a user to selectively disengage the cam 64 from the gear 56 to release the cable 14 and in other embodiments a lateral motion by pushing the release 58. The cincher 51 can further comprise a pusher 58 that can allow a user to rotate the dowel 54 in the second direction. The dowl 54 can have a t-shape cutout in it.

[0035] The tightener 51 can have a first cam 64 attached to at least one side 52 of the housing 50 wherein the cam is rotatable around an axis allowing the first cam 64 to lock on the gears 56. The first cam 64 can be manually released by the pusher 58 either pushing the cam in or down releasing the cam from the gear. In certain embodiments the cam 64 can be on both sides of the housing and can engage two or more gears.

[0036] A strap tightener for a strap that extends a length between a first end and second end, the tightener comprising a housing supporting a dowel that rotates in a first direction and in a second direction opposite to the first direction, wherein the dowel is detachably coupled to the strap such that rotating the dowel in the first direction winds the strap about the dowel and shortens the length. The gear 56 can be coupled to the dowel 54. A cam 64 can be coupled to the housing 50 that is spring biased to engage the gear to prevent the dowel from rotating in the second direction. A release 58 can allows a user to selectively disengage the cam 64 from the gear to allow the dowel 54 to rotate in the second direction. The dowel 54 can be detachably coupled to the strap via a slot 62 that passes through the dowel. The dowel has a face and is detachably coupled to the strap via a t-shaped slot in the face of the dowel. The housing 50 further comprising a slot 60 through which the strap is passed.

[0037] In embodiments, as the user tightens the cable 14 or the strap 12 within the buckle the cable 14 pulls on the second buckle or the second end 28 the cable cinches the strap creating an accordion effect in its contracted state and a constant force around the user's limb, torso or in areas of use that belts are used as shown in FIG. 2. The tightener 51 as shown in FIG. 6 can be place anywhere on the strap wherein the dowel 54 can have an open slit 65 allowing the buckle to be put anywhere on the strap, or belt. The belt system 10 can be used on such as, for example, pants, back packs, robotic systems, bags, tourniquets, or the like. In certain embodiments the belt system 10 can have the first buckle as shown in FIG. 1 and can apply the second buckle as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 6 wherein the user can adjust the belt in micro cinches and if necessary, can slip on the tightener as shown in FIG. 6 over the strap and tightening the strap. In other embodiments, the tightener as shown in FIG. 6 can fit over any location on the strap and allow the user to tighten the strap on any location on the strap.

[0038] In closing, it is to be understood that although aspects of the present specification are highlighted by referring to specific embodiments, one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that these disclosed embodiments are only illustrative of the principles of the subject matter disclosed herein. Therefore, it should be understood that the disclosed subject matter is in no way limited to a particular methodology, protocol, and/or reagent, etc., described herein. As such, various modifications or changes to or alternative configurations of the disclosed subject matter can be made in accordance with the teachings herein without departing from the spirit of the present specification. Lastly, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure, which is defined solely by the claims. Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to those precisely as shown and described.

[0039] Certain embodiments are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the methods and devices described herein. Of course, variations on these described embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. Accordingly, this disclosure includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described embodiments in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.