U.S. patent application number 12/784362 was filed with the patent office on 2010-11-25 for belt attachment device.
Invention is credited to KEVIN P. HAIGHT.
Application Number | 20100294822 12/784362 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43123916 |
Filed Date | 2010-11-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100294822 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
HAIGHT; KEVIN P. |
November 25, 2010 |
BELT ATTACHMENT DEVICE
Abstract
Presented is a belt attachment on which may be mounted
accessories that would normally be mounted in the waist belt. These
can include hand cuffs, hand tools, radio, handgun holster, taser,
meters, flashlights, and other items. The belt attachment has a
passage for the waist belt, and a passage for attachment of the
accessories, with the two passages perpendicular to each other. The
belt attachment aids in minimizing wear of a user's shirt by moving
belt mounted accessories away from the user's belt.
Inventors: |
HAIGHT; KEVIN P.; (TWIN
FALLS, ID) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DYKAS, SHAVER & NIPPER, LLP
P.O. BOX 877
BOISE
ID
83701-0877
US
|
Family ID: |
43123916 |
Appl. No.: |
12/784362 |
Filed: |
May 20, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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61179966 |
May 20, 2009 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
224/666 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A45F 2200/0575 20130101;
A45F 5/02 20130101; A45F 5/021 20130101; F41C 33/041 20130101; A45F
2200/0591 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
224/666 |
International
Class: |
A45F 5/00 20060101
A45F005/00 |
Claims
1. A belt attachment for use with a waist belt, for mounting belt
accessories to said waist belt, comprising: a generally planar clip
body, with a top side, a bottom side, a front side, a rear side, a
left side, and a right side; said clip body defining a belt passage
adjacent to said rear side, with said belt passage configured for
enclosing a waist belt of a user, so that said clip body may be
attached to said waist belt; and said clip body further defining an
accessory passage, oriented generally normal to the belt passage
and adjacent to the front side of said clip body, for enclosing an
attachment strap of a belt mounted accessory.
2. The belt attachment of claim 1 in which said belt passage is a
three sided slot, with one side open for sliding the belt
attachment over a waist belt, said three sided slot bounded by a
belt passage rear panel, a clip body rear side, and a belt passage
top panel.
3. The belt attachment of claim 2 which further includes a
removable first locking bar attached to said belt clip body, which
allows said belt passage rear panel to be placed over a waist belt
and which closes behind said belt to secure said belt in said belt
passage.
4. The belt attachment of claim 1 with said accessory passage
formed of an accessory top panel attached to said front side of
said clip body, and an accessory passage front panel attached along
a first edge to said accessory passage top panel, forming a three
sided accessory passage, with said three sided accessory passage
further comprising a removable passage closure block, to form a
fourth side of said accessory passage, with said accessory passage
configured for attachment of belt accessories.
5. The belt attachment of claim 2 with said belt passage formed of
a belt passage top panel attached to said rear side of said clip
body, and a belt passage rear panel attached along a first edge to
said belt passage top panel, forming a three sided belt passage,
with said three sided belt passage further comprising a removable
passage closure block, to form a fourth side of said belt passage,
with said passage configured for attachment to a waist belt.
6. A belt attachment for use with a waist belt, for mounting belt
accessories to said waist belt, comprising: a generally rectangular
belt clip body, with a top side, a bottom side, a front side, a
rear side, a left side and a right side; said clip body defining a
belt passage adjacent to said rear side, with said belt passage
forming a three sided slot, with one side open for sliding the belt
attachment over a waist belt, with said belt passage configured for
enclosing a waist belt of a user, so that said clip body may be
attached to said waist belt; said clip body further defining an
accessory passage, with said accessory passage comprised of a three
sided slot formed by a front side of said clip body, an accessory
passage top panel attached to an edge of said clip body front side,
and an accessory passage front panel attached to a side of said
accessory passage top panel, with said accessory passage with said,
with one side open for sliding the belt attachment over a waist
belt, with said accessory passage oriented generally normal to the
belt passage and adjacent to the front side, for enclosing an
attachment strap of a belt mounted accessory; and a removable
passage closure block forming a fourth side of said accessory
passage, with said passage configured for attachment of belt
accessories.
7. The belt attachment of claim 6 which further comprises a
removable passage closure block attached to form a fourth wall in
said belt passage.
8. The belt attachment of claim 1 in which said belt passage
comprises a first and second spacer block attached to a rear side
of said clip body adjacent to said top edge and said bottom edge,
and further comprised of a belt passage back panel attached to said
left and right spacer blocks, and forming said belt passage.
9. The belt attachment of claim 1 in which said accessory passage
comprises a third and fourth spacer block attached to a front side
of said clip body adjacent to said top edge and said bottom edge,
and further comprised of an accessory passage back panel attached
to said third and forth spacer blocks, and forming said accessory
passage.
10. A belt attachment for use with a waist belt, for mounting belt
accessories to said waist belt, comprising: a generally rectangular
belt clip body made of a first body panel attached to a second body
panel, with each of said body panels, with a top side, a bottom
side, a front side, a rear side, a left side and a right side, with
said first body panel rear side attached to said second body panel
front side; a belt passage defined by said second body panel rear
side, and a first and second spacer block attached to said second
body panel rear side adjacent to said top edge and said bottom
edge, and further comprised of a belt passage back panel attached
to said left and right spacer blocks, forming said belt passage;
and an accessory passage defined by said first body panel front
side and a third and fourth spacer block attached to a front side
of said first body panel adjacent to said right edge and said left
edge, and further comprised of an accessory passage front panel
attached to said third and forth spacer blocks, forming said
accessory passage, with said accessory passage oriented normal to
said belt passage.
Description
PRIORITY/CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application No. 61/179,966, filed May 20, 2009, the disclosure of
which is incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention is in the field of clip on belt accessories,
and more specifically for a clip which attaches to a waist belt
accessories can be attached.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Police officers are required to wear a very sturdy leather
duty belt on which is attached a number of tools for their job.
These can include a holster which holds a handgun; cases for
flashlights; clips of ammunition; baton; canister of pepper spray;
handcuffs; possibly a taser; and possibly a radio. This results in
a very heavy belt which is worn by the police officer, on which are
located a number of belt accessories.
[0004] The problem is that some of these belt accessories extend up
above the belt and rub against the officer's shirt. Some of these
accessories are somewhat abrasive and quickly wear a hole in the
officer's shirt. When this happens, the officer has to buy a new
shirt, and that becomes expensive.
SUMMARY OF DISCLOSURE
[0005] The purpose of the Abstract is to enable the public, and
especially the scientists, engineers, and practitioners in the art
who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to
determine quickly from a cursory inspection, the nature and essence
of the technical disclosure of the application. The Abstract is
neither intended to define the inventive concept(s) of the
application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to
be limiting as to the scope of the inventive concept(s) in any
way.
[0006] The invention is a device which re-positions these belt
accessories so that they are slightly further away from the police
officer's body, and therefore, reduce or eliminate the wear from
these belt accessories on the officer's shirt. It also provides
better access to these accessories. Besides police officers, others
can benefit from the device. Anyone who carries items on a belt can
use the device to provide better access to the accessories and to
provide less friction on his or her clothing, such as electricians,
linemen, technicians, and others.
[0007] The device is a belt attachment which attaches to a waist
belt, such as the duty belt of a police officer. It may take a
number of forms, such as generally rectangular, but may be round,
oval or other shapes. It is planar, and a rectangular form is
advantageous but not required. The clip body of the device defines
a belt passage which is adjacent to the rear side of the device.
The waist belt of the officer would go through the belt passage,
thus securing the belt attachment on the duty belt. The clip body
also has another passage which goes through the clip body at a
right angle to the belt passage. This is called an accessory
passage, and the mounting loop of accessories, such as a flashlight
holder, would pass through this in a vertical manner, while the
waist belt passes through the belt attachment in a horizontal
manner. The accessory passage is on the front side of the
device.
[0008] The belt passage and the accessory passage can be generally
rectangular shape or they may be three sided slots with one side
being open. This three sided slot form allows the belt attachment
to be slid over the waist belt without the user having to take the
waist belt off. Also, this allows the accessory passage to be
available for the attachment loop of an accessory such as the
flashlight holster. Each of these three sided passages can have a
raised rim which serves as a detent for securing the belt
attachment to the waist belt and for securing the belt accessory to
the belt attachment. The two passages can also have a locking gate
which can be closed after the belt or the mounting loop of the
accessory is positioned in the passage. The gate can take the form
of a hinged gate like a carabiner, or can take the form of a bar or
rod which may be removed and then replaced such as by screws, thus
locking the waist belt and the accessory mounting loop in place.
The passage for the belt and accessories can also be closable so
that the passages are closed on four sides. This can be by use of
removable spacer blocks, or by the passage structure being built
with the four sides permanently closed.
[0009] When assembled as described above, the top portion of an
accessory such as a flashlight in the flashlight carrier is
positioned at a further distance from the user's body, or at an
angle that reduces the wear on the user's shirt.
[0010] The belt attachment includes a generally planar clip body,
with the clip body having a top side, a bottom side, a front side,
a rear side, a left side, and a right side. The clip body can also
be split in half and be made of two pieces, with a front half and a
back half making up the clip body. The clip body includes a belt
passage adjacent to the rear side of the clip body, and an
accessory passage adjacent to the front side of the clip body. The
two passages are generally normal or perpendicular to each other.
The belt passage is configured to surround a user's waist belt and
enclose it within three or four sides of the belt passage. The
accessory passage is made to provide a mounting structure for
mounting accessories to the belt attachment, and indirectly for
mounting the accessories on a user's waist belt.
[0011] The belt attachment can be a three sided slot with one side
open for sliding the belt attachment over a waist belt. In the
three sided slot version of the device, the belt passage is bounded
on three sides by a belt passage rear panel, the rear side of the
clip body and the belt passage top panel. The three sided slot
version of the belt passage may include a movable locking bar
attached to the belt clip body which allows the belt passage rear
panel to be placed over a waist belt and which has the capability
of closing behind the belt to lock the belt in place in the belt
passage.
[0012] The accessory passage can be formed of an accessory top
panel and an accessory front panel which forms two sides of the
accessory passage, with the front side of the accessory body
forming the third.
[0013] The accessory and belt passages can be formed using spacer
blocks which are attached to the belt clip body, and a generally
rectangular belt passage back panel and an accessory passage front
panel attached to the left and right spacer blocks. Such spacer
blocks are preferably mounted by screws, but other forms of
attachment would also work, including the use of mortise and tenon
joints to secure the spacer blocks to the belt clip body.
[0014] The clip body can be made of snap together parts, with the
belt passage and accessory passage formed by a snap on panel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the front side of an
embodiment of the belt attachment.
[0016] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rear side of the
embodiment of the belt attachment shown in FIG. 1.
[0017] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the belt
attachment in which the front side is wider than the rear side.
[0018] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the belt
attachment.
[0019] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the belt
attachment.
[0020] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the belt
attachment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
[0021] While the presently disclosed inventive concept(s) is
susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions,
certain illustrated embodiments thereof have been shown in the
drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be
understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the
inventive concept(s) to the specific form disclosed, but, on the
contrary, the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s)
is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and
equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the inventive
concept(s) as defined in the claims.
[0022] In the following description and in the figures, like
elements are identified with like reference numerals. The use of
"e.g.," "etc," and "or" indicates non-exclusive alternatives
without limitation unless otherwise noted. The use of "including"
means "including, but not limited to," unless otherwise noted.
[0023] Shown in FIGS. 1-6 are several preferred embodiments of the
invention. FIG. 1 shows a version of the invention in which the
belt attachment of the invention is designated as 10. FIG. 1 shows
a belt clip body 12 which has a top side 14 a bottom side 16 a
front side 18 and a rear side 20. Shown is a left side 22 and a
right side 24. In FIG. 1, the belt clip body 12 is shown as a
generally rectangular structure with a front half 60 and a back
half 62, but it is to be understood that the belt clip body 12
could take a number of different shapes and still perform its
function. For instance, it could be a planar and circular piece, or
could be oval or various dimensions of rectangles. To perform its
function it must be planar, and it must have a belt passage 26
(shown in FIG. 2) and an accessory passage 28 on opposite sides of
the belt clip body 12, oriented normal to each other.
[0024] Shown in FIG. 1 is an accessory passage 28 which is on the
front side 18 of the belt clip body 12. The accessory passage 28 is
made up of a first spacer block 46, a second spacer block 48 and an
accessory passage front panel 56. This configuration defines a
space which forms the accessory passage 28. This passage is
provided so that a user's belt mounted accessories may be mounted
on the front panel 56. This could include hand cuffs, taser
holster, pepper spray holster, hand gun holster, flashlight
holster, or other accessories. For use in areas other than law
enforcement, the accessories which attach through the accessory
passage 28 may include a tool pouch, a flashlight holder, a meter
holster, or various other kinds of tools or tool carriers.
[0025] As noted above, the belt clip body 12 could be other shapes
than square or rectangular, such as oval or round. The belt clip
body 12 needs to be planar so that an accessory passage 28 is
provided for attaching accessories to the belt attachment 10. It
has been found that plastic is a good material for construction of
the belt attachment 10. However, other materials would also be
suitable, such as aluminum, or other metals. FIG. 2 shows the same
embodiment of the belt attachment 10, showing the rear side 20 of
the device with the belt passage 26 shown. The belt passage 26 is
formed in this case by a third spacer block 50, a fourth spacer
block 52, and a belt passage back panel 54. The third and fourth
spacer blocks 50 and 52 are shown as being removable, and one would
typically be removed if necessary to allow the fitting of the belt
attachment 10 over a waist belt. In the case of use by police
officers, the officer may be involved in physical altercations and
would need to have the belt attachment securely attached to the
belt, so that it can never come off in any kind of physical
confrontation. The secure attachment of the third and fourth spacer
blocks 50 and 52 would provide that. In other non-law enforcement
applications of the belt attachment, the belt passage 26 could be a
three sided structure, basically bounded by the rear side 20 of the
belt clip body, the third spacer block 50 and the belt passage back
panel 54. In such a less demanding application, the fourth spacer
block 52 could be omitted, or could take the form of a ridge or tip
which could be pressed over a belt to lock the belt attachment 10
in place.
[0026] FIG. 3 shows a version of the belt attachment in a similar
orientation to that of FIG. 1. In FIG. 3, the belt clip body 12 is
made of a front half 60 and a back half 62. The difference between
FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 is that in FIG. 3, the front half 60 is wider
than the back half 62. This allows for a wider accessory passage
front panel 56, to accommodate wider belt accessories.
[0027] FIG. 4 shows an alternative embodiment of the belt clip 10.
It has all of the essential features of the above described
embodiment, but it may have some additional features. The device
shown in FIG. 4 includes a belt clip body 12, which defines a belt
passage 26 and an accessory passage 28. These two passages are
shown as basically three sided slots, with the fourth side
optionally formed by a spacer block. The belt passage 26 is bounded
by the rear side 20 of the clip body, the belt passage top panel
40, and a belt passage rear panel 38. The fourth side of the belt
passage is formed by a fourth spacer block 52, which is shown to be
attached by screws 64 to the belt passage rear panel 38. In this
particular case, the fourth spacer block 52 is also held in
position by a number of mortise and tenon joints 66, which allow
the fourth spacer block 52 to slide in and out of position in the
belt clip body.
[0028] The three sided belt passage is formed of a belt passage top
panel 40 and a belt passage rear panel 38.
[0029] Similarly, the accessory passage 28 is bounded by the front
side of a clip body 12, and an accessory passage top panel 44, and
the accessory passage front panel 42. The fourth side of the
accessory passage 28 is blocked by the second spacer block 48, and
fits in place with mortise and tenon joints 66. Screws 64 are shown
as a way of securing the spacer blocks.
[0030] The embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is structurally similar to
that shown in FIG. 4, with the passages 26 and 28 formed of three
side slots. The belt passage 26, and the accessory passage 28 are
formed by a similar three sided structure or slot as shown in FIG.
4. The main difference shown in the version of FIG. 5 compared with
FIG. 4 is that the mortise and tenon joints are not present. Spacer
blocks 48 and 52 optionally close off the third side of the
passages.
[0031] FIG. 6 shows an alternative preferred embodiment of the
invention in which the belt passage 26 and the accessory passage 28
are formed by parts which snap together onto the clip belt body 12.
Shown is a belt passage rear panel 38 and an accessory passage
front panel 42 which attach to a belt passage top panel 40. The
fourth spacer block 52 is formed by the snap together parts of the
belt passage rear panel 38. The belt passage 28 is formed by
identical structures as the belt passage 26, but it is oriented
normal or perpendicular to the belt passage 26.
* * * * *