Fluid actuated handcuff
First Claim
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1. A handcuff comprising:
- a cuff assembly shaped and dimensioned to encircle a human wrist and movable between an open position and a variable closed position, anda fluid-actuated locking mechanism operatively associated with the cuff assembly operable to lock the cuff assembly in the closed position and to unlock the cuff assembly for movement to the open position.
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Abstract
A handcuff includes a pair of arcuate cuff bow arranged to encircle a human wrist. A locking mechanism on one of the cuff bows releasably engages the other bow to secure the bows around a wrist. A fluid actuated cylinder coupled to the locking mechanism releases the locking mechanism when pressurized fluid, such as air, is applied. The fluid actuated cylinder avoids the use of keys, resulting in a more enclosed structure that is more difficult to pick than prior key-based mechanisms. Use of the fluid actuated cylinder further improves security by making ordinary handcuff keys, which are frequently possessed by or available to prisoners, ineffective to open the handcuffs.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A handcuff comprising:
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a cuff assembly shaped and dimensioned to encircle a human wrist and movable between an open position and a variable closed position, and a fluid-actuated locking mechanism operatively associated with the cuff assembly operable to lock the cuff assembly in the closed position and to unlock the cuff assembly for movement to the open position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A fluid actuated handcuff comprising:
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a cuff assembly including a pair of bows shaped and dimensioned to encircle a human wrist and movable relative to each other so as to facilitate placement around a human wrist, a locking mechanism associated with one of the bows operable to engage and selectively retain the other of the bows in a closed loop configuration of variable dimension so as to fit snugly around a human wrist, and an actuator coupled to the locking mechanism operable to release the locking mechanism and thereby permit disengaging movement of the bows relative to each other, the actuator being operable through the application of a pressurized fluid to the actuator. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A fluid-actuated handcuff comprising:
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a first arcuate cuff bow having an upper end and a lower end defining a lock mechanism housing, a second arcuate cuff bow having an upper end pivotally joined to the upper end of the first cuff bow and having a lower end movable into the lock mechanism housing, a pawl in the lock mechanism housing mounted for movement toward and away from engagement with the lower end of the second cuff bow, a bias member coupled to the pawl for biasing the pawl toward from the lower end of the second cuff bow, a pawl block within the lock mechanism housing movable among a release position wherein the pawl block displaces the pawl away from the lower end of the second cuff bow against the bias of the bias member, a single lock position wherein the pawl is biased by the bias member into engagement with the lower end of the second cuff bow but is free to move away from the lower end of the second cuff bow, and a double lock position wherein the pawl is in engagement with the lower end of the second cuff bow and the pawl block blocks movement of the pawl away from the lower end of the second cuff bow, and a fluid actuator within the lock mechanism housing and coupled to the pawl block operable to move the pawl block among the release, single lock and double lock positions. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A fluid-actuated restraint comprising,
a cuff assembly shaped and dimensioned to encircle a human limb and movable between an open position and a variable closed position, and a fluid-actuated locking mechanism operatively associated with the cuff assembly operable to lock the cuff assembly in the closed position and to unlock the cuff assembly for movement to the open position.
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22. A fluid-actuated restraint system comprising,
a cuff assembly shaped and dimensioned to encircle a human limb and movable between an open position and a variable closed position, a fluid-actuated locking mechanism operatively associated with the cuff assembly operable to lock the cuff assembly in the closed position and to unlock the cuff assembly for movement to the open position, and a release device operable to apply pressurized fluid to the locking mechanism to unlock the cuff assembly.
Specification