Inflatable garment for crash protection

• US 3,930,667 A
• Filed: 02/14/1975
• Issued: 01/06/1976
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/1975
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Andrew J. Osuchowski, Robert S. Lulenski
• Original Assignee: Andrew J. Osuchowski, Robert S. Lulenski
• Inventors: Lulenski, Robert S., Osuchowski, Andrew J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Goodman, Philip
• Assistant Examiner(s): Siemens, Terrance L.
• Application Number:
  US05/550,153
• Time in Patent Office: 326 Days
• Field of Search: 244/122 R, 244/122 AG, 244/122 B, 244/143, 9/11 A, 9/330, 9/341, 2/DIG. 3, 297/384, 280/150 AB, 280/150 B, 280/150 SB, 280/290
• US Class Current: 280/730.1
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 13/018 inflatable automatically
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 2600/102 Motorcycling
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0088 Cycles, e.g. motorcycles
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/16 Inflatable occupant restraints or confinements designed to inflate upon impact or impending impact, e.g. air bags protective garments with automatically inflatable shock-absorbing means A41D13/018; connection of valves to inflatable elastic bodies B60C29/00
• CPC Class Codes: B62J 27/20 Airbags specially adapted for motorcycles or the like
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 2/03 Inflatable garment

Abstract

An inflatable garment or suit of clothing worn by a motorcycle rider is detachably connected with a source of pressurized gas operative to inflate the suit in response to a predetermined deceleration of the motorcycle, or manual operation of a trigger adjacent the motorcycle hand grip when a crash or spill appears to be inevitable. If the rider jumps or is thrown from the motorcycle, the suit will pull loose from the gas source by virtue of the detachable connection and will remain inflated for an appreciable time interval to protect the rider from multiple impacts. The detachable connection is also manually operative to permit the rider to disengage the suit in its non-inflated condition from the gas source without triggering the latter, and thereby to leave the motorcycle while still wearing the suit.

Claims

1. In a crash protection device for a rider who jumps or is thrown from a vehicle having a source of pressurized gas actuatable to release said gas in anticipation of predetermined deceleration of the vehicle, an inflatable garment adapted to be worn by the rider, hose means for connecting at one end with said source of gas, connecting means carried by said garment for releasably connecting the other end of said hose means with said garment to inflate the latter upon release of said gas from said source and being releasable from said other end by the pull of the garment thereon when the rider wearing said suit falls from the motorcycle, and one-way valve means cooperable with said connecting means to enable inflation of said garment by the gas from said source and to prevent escape of said gas from said garment via said connecting means.

2. In a device according to claim 1, said connecting means comprising a length of flexible hose secured at one end to said garment and having a first coupling member at its opposite end, said hose means having a second coupling member at said other end thereof for releasably coupling with said first coupling member, and means for pivotally connecting said second coupling member to said motorcycle for aligning said second coupling member with the direction of said pull.

3. In a device according to claim 2, said garment having inflatable arm and leg sections, and manually operative valve means adjacent the extremity of at least one of said sections for rapidly deflating said garment.

4. In a device according to claim 2, said coupling members having interlockable means movable between locking and unlocking positions for interlocking said members together and for releasing the same for separation from each other, and resilient means normally holding said interlockable means in the locking position when said members are coupled and being yieldable to the force of said pull for enabling movement of said interlockable means to the unlocking position.

5. In a device according to claim 1, said vehicle having a steering mechanism with a handgrip portion, and manually actuatable trigger means for selectively actuating said source to release said gas and mounted on said vehicle adjacent said handgrip portion.

6. In a device according to claim 5, said vehicle having a motorcycle type handle bar steering mechanism with said handgrip portions, and said trigger means being mounted on said handlebar adjacent one of said handgrip portions.

7. In a device according to claim 1, means for slowly dissipating gas from said garment to deflate the same approximately 50 percent from a fully inflated condition in a time interval amounting to more than several seconds and less than a minute.

8. In a device according to claim 1, said garment having a non-inflatable portion at the buttocks region comprising a shock absorbing cushion.

9. In a device according to claim 1, an exhaust port in said garment, valve means normally closing said exhaust port and manually operable for selectively opening the latter valve for deflating said garment, and means cooperable with the latter valve means to prevent said garment from closing said exhaust port during deflation of said garment comprising spacer means for spacing said garment from said exhaust port.

10. In a device according to claim 1, said garment having inflatable body and arm sections, said arm sections being inflatable to a lesser extent than said body section to facilitate movement of the inflated arm sections by said rider.