Strap forming a belt and/or pair of thigh straps of a roping harness, and roping harness

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10675490-B2
Application number	US-201615196660-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 29, 2016
Priority date	Jun 29, 2015
Publication date	Jun 9, 2020
Grant date	Jun 9, 2020

Abstract

A strap includes at least a first and second area, the first and second areas being consecutive along a longitudinal axis of the strap. The strap is woven from at least the first, second and third groups of warp threads and at least one weft thread, the strap being devoid of the second group in the second area, and of the third group in the first area, the first group passing through the first and second areas. The first group and second group of warp threads are distributed over the width of the strap in the first area.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A strap comprising:
a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end opposite to the first longitudinal end along a longitudinal axis of the strap;
a first transversal end and a second transversal end opposite to the first transversal end along a transversal direction orthogonal to the longitudinal axis;
at least one weft thread;
a plurality of different warp threads having different mechanical characteristics, the plurality of different warp threads extending along the longitudinal axis, the plurality of different warp threads comprising:
a first group of warp threads extending continuously from the first longitudinal end to the second longitudinal end,
a second group of warp threads different from the first group of warp threads, the second group of warp threads being cut between the first longitudinal end and the second longitudinal end, and
a third group of warp threads different from the first and second groups of warp threads, the third group of warp threads not continuously extending from the first longitudinal end to the second longitudinal end;

a first woven area formed of the first group of warp threads and the second group of warp threads woven with the at least one weft thread, the first woven area being devoid of the third group of warp threads, the first area extending from the first transversal end to the second transversal end,
wherein in the transversal direction, at least one warp thread of the second group of warp threads separates two consecutive warp threads of the first group of warp threads and at least one warp thread of the first group of warp threads separates two consecutive warp threads of the second group of warp threads; and

a second woven area formed of the first group of warp threads and the third group of warp threads woven with the at least one weft thread, the second woven area being devoid of the second group of warp threads, the second woven area extending from the first transversal end to the second transversal end,
wherein in the transversal direction, at least one warp thread of the third group of warp threads separates two consecutive warp threads of the first group of warp threads and at least one warp thread of the first group of warp threads separates two consecutive warp threads of the third group of warp threads,
wherein the first woven area and the second woven area are adjacent along the longitudinal axis of the strap, the second woven area having different mechanical characteristics than the first woven area, and
wherein the first group of warp threads, the second group of warp threads and the third group of warp threads have no warp thread in common.

2. The strap according to claim 1 , wherein the first group of warp threads and the second group of warp threads are both uniformly distributed in the transversal direction in the first woven area, the first group of warp threads comprising first warp threads and the second group of warp threads comprising second warp threads, two consecutive first warp threads being separated by second warp threads along the transversal direction.

3. The strap according to claim 1 , comprising at least a third woven area formed of the first group of warp threads, the second group of warp threads and the third group of warp threads woven with the at least one weft thread, the third woven area separating the first woven area and the second woven area along the longitudinal axis of the strap, the third woven area having different mechanical characteristics than the second area and the first area.

4. The strap according to claim 1 , wherein the first woven area is wider than the second woven area along the transversal direction.

5. The strap according to claim 1 , wherein the first group of warp threads comprises first warp threads regularly distributed along the transversal direction from the first transversal end to the second transversal end and the second group of warp threads comprises second warp threads regularly distributed along the transversal direction from the first transversal end to the second transversal end, the second warp threads having different mechanical properties than the first warp threads and two consecutive first warp threads being separated by second warp threads along the transversal direction.

6. The strap according to claim 1 , wherein:
the first group of warp threads mainly comprises first warp threads made from a first material,
the second group of warp threads mainly comprises second warp threads made from a second material different from the first material, and
the third group of warp threads mainly comprises third warp threads made from a third material different from the first material and from the second material.

7. The strap according to claim 6 , wherein the first group of warp threads has first warp threads having a low friction coefficient and wherein the third group of warp threads is arranged to provide an additional thickness with respect to the first warp threads in the second woven area, the second area cooperating with an adjustment device configured to adjust a length of the strap.

8. The strap according to claim 7 , wherein the second area is configured to collaborate with a loop of the adjustment device.

9. The strap according to claim 1 , wherein the first woven area is formed of the first group of warp threads and the second group of warp threads mainly woven with a first weft thread, and wherein the second woven area is formed of the first group of warp threads and the group of warp threads mainly woven with a second weft thread.

10. The strap according to claim 9 , wherein the first weft thread is a monofilament made from a material having a base formed by polyester, polyamide, or polypropylene.

11. The strap according to claim 10 , wherein the second weft thread is made from polyamide or from polyester having at least 100,000 monomers per molecule.

12. A roping harness comprising a belt, a pair of thigh straps and a first strap formed from the strap according to claim 1 , the first strap forming the belt.

13. The roping harness according to claim 12 , further comprising at least an adjustment device configured to adjust a length of the first strap, the adjustment device being fixed to two of the second woven area, the two second woven areas being separated by the first woven area, the two second woven areas and the first woven area being aligned along the longitudinal axis of the first strap.

14. The roping harness according to claim 13 , further comprising:
a second strap that is a first thigh strap of the pair of thigh straps formed by the strap, and the second strap is terminated by a second woven area, the second woven area of the second strap being sewn onto a second woven area of the first strap.

15. The strap according to claim 1 , wherein the first group of warp threads is mechanically stronger than the second group of warp threads and the third group of warp threads.

16. The strap according to claim 1 , wherein the first group of warp threads comprises first warp threads made from a material having a Young's modulus of more than 130 GPa and the second group of warp threads is mainly constituted by second warp threads ten times lighter than the first warp threads.

17. The strap according to claim 1 , comprising an additional second woven area made by the first group of warp threads and the third group of warp threads woven with the at least one weft thread, the additional second woven area being devoid of the second group of warp threads, the first woven area separating the second woven area a

Assignees

• Zedel

Inventors

• Blondeau Loïc

Classifications

• D07B1/22

  Flat or flat-sided ropes; Sets of ropes consisting of a series of parallel ropes · CPC title

• A62B35/0006 Primary

  Harnesses; Accessories therefor · CPC title

• A62B35/0025 Primary

  Details and accessories · CPC title

• D03D3/005

  Tapes or ribbons not otherwise provided for (D03D1/0005, D03D1/0011, D03D1/06, D03D1/08, D03D1/0094 take precedence) · CPC title

• A63B29/02 Primary

  Mountain guy-ropes or accessories, e.g. avalanche ropes; Means for indicating the location of accidentally buried, e.g. snow-buried, persons · CPC title