GB2125106A

GB2125106A - Closure arrangement for pack covers

Info

Publication number: GB2125106A
Application number: GB08321302A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hubert Nohren
Original assignee: Autoflug GmbH
Current assignee: Autoflug GmbH
Priority date: 1982-08-07
Filing date: 1983-08-08
Publication date: 1984-02-29
Also published as: FR2531402B1; DE3229504A1; AT390772B; ATA270783A; GB2125106B; FR2531402A1; DE3229504C2; GB8321302D0

Abstract

A closure arrangement for pack covers used for air or sea rescue equipment, comprising cover portions 11 and 12 which may be folded out and are provided with adherent strips on their exterior faces. An independent closure member 15 is provided with a plurality of short sections 17 of adherent strip arranged in a line and fits over the cover portions so as to close the pack. The closure member is removed by pulling a loop 20 sideways when all the short sections peel away simultaneously. For this purpose, they are fastened to the closure member on or adjacent their transverse edge located remote from the loop. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Closure arrangement for pack covers The invention relates to a closure arrangements for pack covers, and in particular to those having at least one cover portion which can be folded out and a portion which covers this cover portion. The portions are provided with adherent strips on their mutually facing sides, whilst one portion may be removed by pulling means attached thereto in order to open the pack cover. The contents of the pack cover may be, for example, a parachute, a life raft, a life jacket (buoyancy aid), sports equipment, weapons or for air or sea rescue equipment generally.

In a known closure arrangement for pack covers according to DE-OS 24 23 786, in a first embodiment, two closure flaps are provided with adherent strips, and in the closed position one flap covers the other. The adherent strips extend longitudinally of the pack cover, but the cover is opened by pulling in the transverse direction, thus giving a short actuating distance. The situation is different in the second embodiment, wherein the two edges of the flaps lie flush against each other and are covered by a special closure strip which also has an adherent strip on its underside. This closure strip must be removed, in the longitudinal direction of the point of connection, by rolling or peeling it away, which gives rise to a comparatively long actuating distance.Whereas the first embodiment is intended predominantly for reserve parachute packs worn on the chest, the second embodiment is intended for the main parachute pack, which is more important in terms of the overall function of the rescue equipment and which is worn on the back, so that it is not possible and not necessary to open it by hand as this is the function of the normal ripcord.

There are disadvantages in having a long actuating distance for opening the closure of the pack cover; on the one hand, it takes longer, which may be significant in cases of emergency, and on the other hand a longer distance is travelled by the pack cover before the closure is opened. This may be of critical importance, both in the case of the parachute pack and also in the case of pack covers for sea rescue equipment, sports equipment or weapons.

According to the invention, there is provided a closure arrangement for a pack cover in which two portions are releasably secured together by means of a pair of parallel, mutually adherent strips respectively provided thereon, separation of the two portions being effected by pulling in a longitudinal direction, wherein the strip on one of the portions consists of a plurality of relatively short longitudinal sections each attached to the portion on or adjacent one transverse edge, so as to form a plurality of flaps all pointing in the same longitudinal direction.

Thus the invention provides a closure arrangement for pack covers having the features mentioned above, which can be opened very quickly and has a short actuating distance to separate the two portions even if relatively long adherent strips are used.

One advantage of the invention is that, in spite of the considerable length of the closure, the pack can be opened by a relatively small hand movement and the adhering strength of the closure is unaffected, compared with conventional closures of this kind. Furthermore, the closure for the pack cover can also be opened in the normal way if this is required in individual cases.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a side view of a pack cover with a closure arrangement in accordance with the invention before closure; Fig. 2 shows a cross-section on the line I1--II in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows part of the removable portion of the closure arrangement viewed in the direction of the arrow Ill in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 shows a view as in Fig. 1 when the closure is opened by pulling in the direction of the arrow IV; and Fig. 5 is a view as in Fig. 4 when the closure is opened by pulling in the direction of the arrow V.

A pack cover 10 with a flat rectangular outline and having a parachute (not shown) packed therein, for example, consists of a piece of textile fabric cut to shape with four portions or flaps which can be folded round or over and which are placed over the contents of the pack so that these contents are encased on all sides. Fig. 1 of the drawings shows a longitudinal side flap 11 and two shorter side flaps 1 2. The flaps meet one another at their edges on the upper side of the pack cover (cf. Fig. 2). To reinforce them, the edges are provided with bindings 1 3. Other components of the pack cover, such as harness, fittings, buckles, etc., are not shown.

An adherent strip 14 is stitched on in the associated edge region of the cover portions or flaps 11, and in this case the adherent strip consists of the hook-bearing strips of so-called "burr" closures such as those marketed under the Trade Mark "VELCRO". These hook-bearing strips 14 with their flaps form one part of the closure arrangement, the other part of which consists of an independent closure strip 1 5 with an edge binding 1 6. On its side facing the hook-bearing strips 14, the closure strip 1 5 also carries an adherent strip in the form of a fleecy strip corresponding to the hook-bearing strips 14 but subdivided into several (ten in this embodiment) sections 1 7 of adherent strip or fleecy strip.The sections are independent as such and are secured to the closure strip in a line or behind one another.

The fastening is effected on or near one transverse edge 1 8 by means of a seam 19. In this way, each section 1 7 of adherent strip forms a sort of flag which is freely movable within the limits of its attachment to the closure strip 1 5. The sections 1 7 of adherent strip have a specific length which will be discussed further hereinafter; they are broad enough to cover the abutting hook-bearing strips 14 substantially completely.

In the production of the closure strip 1 5, the sections 1 7 of adherent strip can easily be produced by first securing a continuous fleecy strip to the closure strip 1 5 using the required number of transverse seams 19, and then subdividing the fleecy strip into the individual sections 1 7 by making corresponding cuts.

The closure strip 1 5 is provided at both ends with actuating members in the form of loops 20, 21 which serve to separate the closure strip 15 from the pack cover 10 or the sections of adherent strip 1 7 from the adherent strips 14 and hence to open the closure arrangement and release the contents of the pack cover.

In a similar manner to the longitudinal side flaps 11 with adherent strips 14 as shown in Fig. 2, the shorter side flaps 12 also comprise adherent strips 22 in the form of hook-bearing strips along their edges as shown in Fig. 1, these adhesive strips 22 being included in the closure arrangement in that they are also gripped by the closure strip 1 5 with its sections 1 7 of adherent strip.

in order to close the pack cover 10 once it has been filled, the portions or flaps 11, 12 thereof are wrapped over the contents of the pack cover until their edges meet, so that the adherent strips 14, 22 form a substantially closed surface. The the independent closure strip 1 5 is placed with the adherent strip sections 1 7 facing downwards on this surface and is pressed firmly, thus causing the hooks and loops of the VELCRO strips to engage in one another and close the pack cover. The closure strip 1 5 must be placed on the adherent strips 14, 22 in such a way that the seams 19 of the sections 1 7 of adherent strip are located counter to the direction in which the closure strip 1 5 is to be pulled away from the pack cover 10.

In the embodiment shown, the procedure illustrated in Fig. 4 or 5 may be used to open the closure, and these Figures clearly show the different procedures and different effects. If, as is usually the case, it is important to have the shortest possible actuating distance when separating the two elements of the adherent closure, the loop 20 of the closure strip 1 5 will be pulled by hand or by means of an auxiliary device at an angle of approximately 45 , as shown in Fig.

4, whereupon each individual section 1 7 of adherent strip will be detached by rolling or peeling it away from the adherent strips 14, 22 of the flaps 11, 12 which are placed together. This occurs more or less rapidly and over a greater or lesser distance, as a function of the length of the sections 1 7 of adherent strip, measured in the direction of pulling, since the actuating distance always corresponds approximately to twice the length of the sections 1 7 of adherent strip. This dimension therefore depends on the desired actuating distance, whilst certain limits may be imposed, for example, by the manufacturing costs and the desired strength of the closure.In any case, the closure strip 1 5 can be removed from the actual pack cover 10 by a comparatively short pull on the loop 20, owing to the fact that the fleecy strip attached to said closure strip is subdivided many times, and consequently this pack cover 10 very quickly bursts open under the pressure of the contents folded therein and releases the parachute or life raft or buoyancy aid, etc.

Fig. 5 ciearly shows the difference in terms of time and distance, as compared with the opening procedure according to Fig. 4, if the closure strip 1 5 is removed from the pack cover 10 by pulling the loop 21 in the conventional way, which is also possible with the sections 1 7 of adherent strip if such a procedure should be desirable or necessary for any reason. In this case, the angle of attack on the closure strip 1 5 may be greater, as shown. The distance which must be travelled by the loop 21 is in this case about twice as great as the length of the entire closure strip 15, i.e. in the case of ten sections 1 7 of adherent strip it is virtually ten times as great as when the closure is opened by pulling on the loop 20 as shown in Fig. 4.

The method of opening in this latter manner as shown in Fig. 5 is used particularly if the opening is to be actuated by means of a ballistic missible, a deployment rocket or the like, which may be convenient in some special cases. If, however, the cover is to be opened by hand, either directly or indirectly by acting on the closure strip 15, the method of actuation using the loop 20 has the advantage of a short pulling distance as shown in Fig. 4. This is ideally suited to meet the special requirements of hang-gliding, for example.

Moreover, in those cases where a power store, e.g. a steel spring, or a pyrotechnic device is used to open the pack cover, as is the case particularly in sea rescue equipment, the advantages of rapid opening resulting from the sections 1 7 of adherent strip and their operation as shown in Fig. 4 are favourable in terms of safety and psychology.

Finally, it is also advantageous for the longitudinal direction of closure and the actuating direction to coincide and for the forces of opening to be effective over the entire length of the closure simultaneously. This makes it unnecessary to provide any special reinforcements in the form of rows of seams and tucks in the region of the foldable cover portions. This advantage is lost if the method of actuation shown in Fig. 5 is used predominantly.

Claims

1. A closure arrangement for a pack cover in which two portions are releasably secured together by means of pair of parallel, mutually adherent strips respectively provided thereon, separation of the two portions being effected by pulling in a longitudinal direction, wherein the strip on one of the portions consists of a plurality of relatively short longitudinal sections each attached to the portion on or adjacent one transverse edge, so as to form a plurality of flaps, all pointing in the same longitudinal direction.

2. A closure arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the short sections are fixed to their respective portion by stitching.

3. A closure arrangement as claimed in claim 2 wherein the short sections are components of what was originally a single adherent strip, which is secured to the respective portion by longitudinally spaced seams and is divided into the flaps by cutting.

4. A closure arrangement as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein one portion is part of the body of the pack and the other portion comprises an independent removable closure member and carries the short sections.

5. A closure arrangement as claimed in claim 4, wherein the closure member is provided at each end with means for pulling the closure strip and removing it from the body of the pack.

6. A closure arrangement as claimed in claim 4 or 5, wherein the closure member is releasably secured to two adherent strips arranged parallel and side by side on two portions each being part of the body of the pack.

7. A closure arrangement as claimed in claim 6, wherein the closure member is releasably secured to further adherent strips on further portions of the pack.

8. A closure arrangement as claimed in claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein either or both of the pulling means has an associated power source.

9. A closure arrangement as claimed in claim 8, wherein the associated power source is a steel spring.

10. A closure arrangement as claimed in claim 8, wherein the power source is a pyrotechnic device.

11. A closure arrangement as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the adherent strips consist of burr strip.

12. A closure arrangement for pack covers substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.

1 3. A closure member for use in an arrangement as claimed in claim 4 comprising a strip of adherent material divided into a plurality of relatively short longitudinal sections each attached to the member on or adjacent one transverse edge, so as to form a plurality of flaps, all pointing in the same longitudinal direction.

14. A closure member for a pack cover as claimed in claim 1 3 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.