Floating Harness Continuous Loop for Firefighter Turnout Gear
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Solution Overview
Problem
Firefighters face difficulties in easily accessing and adjusting personal fall protection equipment (PFE) integrated into their turnout suits, which can be cumbersome and time-consuming to don in emergency situations, and existing harnesses are not designed for comfort while providing adequate safety.
Innovation Solution
A floating harness design that includes a waist belt with adjustable fasteners, slideable continuous support straps, and leg straps that can move independently, allowing for ease of use, comfort, and integration into turnout gear without impeding access to the waist belt fastener, with features like keeper loops and D-rings for secure attachment to rescue gear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional personal fall protection equipment (ropes and climbing harness) is carried separately, then safety functionality is provided, but it becomes difficult and time-consuming to don in emergency situations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the personal fall protection equipment with the turnout suit by integrating the harness into the trousers. The harness includes a waist belt, leg straps, and a continuous support strap that are incorporated into the turnout suit structure, allowing firefighters to wear both the protective clothing and safety equipment simultaneously as a unified ensemble.
Solution Approach 2:
The harness is pre-integrated into the turnout suit during manufacturing, so that when the firefighter dons the turnout suit, the harness is already in place and ready for use. This eliminates the need to separately assemble or adjust the harness components in the field, enabling immediate deployment in emergency situations.
2Ease of operation
If traditional PFE is integrated into turnout suits, then ease of access is improved, but the equipment becomes cumbersome and restricts movement
Solution Approach 1:
The harness is divided into separate functional components: a waist belt with fastener, leg straps that encircle the thighs, and a continuous support strap with a front middle portion. Each component is independently positioned and can be adjusted separately, allowing firefighters to access and adjust the waist belt fastener without interference from other harness parts.
Solution Approach 2:
The continuous support strap is configured with sufficient slack to allow dynamic movement and adjustment. The strap can be positioned and adjusted independently of the waist belt fastener, enabling the firefighter to move and adjust equipment freely without the structure becoming constricting or impeding access to fastening mechanisms.
3Reliability
If the continuous support strap is positioned centrally, then attachment point is optimized, but it impedes access to the waist belt fastener
Solution Approach 1:
The harness front is segmented into distinct functional zones: the waist belt fastener is positioned at the waist level for access, while the continuous support strap with its front middle portion is positioned separately. This spatial segmentation allows the attachment point to be optimized for safety while maintaining unobstructed access to the waist belt fastener.
Solution Approach 2:
The continuous support strap is configured to extend vertically along the front of the harness rather than horizontally across the waist belt fastener. By positioning the strap in a vertical dimension and providing sufficient slack, the attachment function is optimized without impeding horizontal access to the waist belt fastener mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
A safety harness and techniques for integrating the safety harness into apparel such as a firefighter's turnout suit. The safety harness may include a waist belt having a fastener (e.g., buckle) for adjustably securing the waist belt around a wearer's waist, first and second leg straps for encircling a wearer's legs, and a continuous support strap fixed to each of the first and second leg straps and slideably attached to the waist belt. The continuous support strap has a front middle portion for coupling to a coupling mechanism (e.g., carabiner, ladder hook, knot, clamp, weld, or a combination thereof) and having sufficient slack so as to not impede access to the waist belt fastener. Under no-load conditions, the front middle portion of the continuous strap may hang down below the waist belt fastener, or may be stowed to one side of the waist belt fastener.