Fall protection suspension trauma relief assembly
There is provided a suspension trauma relief strap assembly for use in a fall protection harness comprising: a first housing integrally mounted within one side of the fall protection harness and configured to hold a strap, where the strap has a first end and a second end, and where the first end is operably connected to the first housing and the second end includes a connector; and a connection mechanism disposed on a second side of the fall protection harness, where the connection mechanism is configured to connect with the connector to form a connection assembly. There is also provided fall protection harnesses including these suspension trauma relief strap assemblies.
1 . A fall-protection harness comprising a suspension trauma relief strap assembly comprising:
a) a first housing integrally mounted within one side of the fall protection harness and configured to hold a strap,
a strap that is held within the first housing, wherein the strap has a first end and a second end, and wherein the first end is operably connected to the first housing and the second end includes a connector; and
b) a connection mechanism disposed on a second side of the fall protection harness,
wherein the connection mechanism is configured to connect with the connector to form a connection assembly;
and
wherein the first housing is non-removably fixed to a shoulder strap of the fall protection harness at a location where a seat strap of the harness intersects with the shoulder strap of the harness so that the first housing is sandwiched between the seat strap and the shoulder strap.
2 . The fall-protection harness of claim 1 , wherein the connection mechanism is removably disposed on the second side of the fall protection harness.
3 . The fall-protection harness of claim 1 , wherein the connection mechanism is integrally mounted within the second side of the fall protection harness.
4 . The fall-protection harness of claim 1 , wherein the connection mechanism is disposed within a second housing.
5 . The fall-protection harness of claim 4 , wherein the second housing is removably disposed on the second side of the fall protection harness.
6 . The fall-protection harness of claim 4 , wherein the second housing is integrally mounted within the second side of the fall protection harness.
7 . The fall-protection harness of claim 1 , wherein the connection assembly is selected from at least one of a suspender assembly, a clip and ring assembly, a slot assembly, and a guy-line assembly.
8 . The fall-protection harness of claim 7 , wherein the slot assembly is selected from at least one of a T-slot assembly and a ball joint assembly.
9 . The fall-protection harness of claim 7 , wherein the suspender assembly is selected from at least one of a circular suspender assembly, and a diamond suspender assembly.
10 . The fall-protection harness of claim 1 , wherein the strap may withstand at least 227 kilograms (500 pounds) of weight.
11 . The fall protection harness of claim 1 wherein the fall protection harness comprises shoulder straps, leg straps, a seat strap, and a dorsal D-ring, the dorsal D-ring being operatively connected to the shoulder straps proximate a rear portion of the fall protection harness, the seat strap interconnecting the shoulder straps, the leg straps being operatively connected to the seat strap, wherein a worker donning the fall protection harness is suspended in a relatively upright position by the dorsal D-ring when a fall occurs, the dorsal D-ring pulling the fall protection harness upward relative to the worker, the fall protection harness placing pressure on the worker.
12 . The suspension trauma relief strap assembly of claim 11 , wherein when the connection assembly is formed the worker can stand on the strap.
13 . The fall-protection harness of claim 1 wherein the first housing is non-removably fixed to the seat strap of the fall-protection harness.
14 . The fall-protection harness of claim 1 wherein the first housing is not fixed to the seat strap of the fall-protection harness.
15 . The fall-protection harness of claim 1 wherein the first housing comprises a first major face that is oriented toward the seat strap and a second, opposing major face that is oriented toward the shoulder strap, and wherein a side of the first housing that is between the first and second major faces of the first housing, comprises a slot that is openable to remove the strap from the first housing, the slot having a closure mechanism.
16 . The fall-protection harness of claim 15 wherein the closure mechanism of the slot in the side of the first housing comprises a zipper.
17 . The fall-protection harness of claim 15 wherein the connector at the second end of the strap is held within the first housing.
18 . The fall-protection harness of claim 17 further comprising a pull tab configured to pull the connector and the strap out of the slot in the side of the first housing.
19 . The fall-protection harness of claim 17 wherein the suspension trauma relief strap assembly is attached to the fall protection harness by being sewn directly to the fall protection harness.
20 . The fall-protection harness of claim 1 wherein the first end of the strap is permanently attached to the first housing.
21 . The fall-protection harness of claim 1 wherein the first housing is non-removably fixed to the shoulder strap by way of at least a side of the first housing being stitched to the shoulder strap of the fall protection harness.
22 . The fall-protection harness of claim 1 wherein the first housing comprises an upper side and a lower side, the upper side comprising first and second upper opposing end portions and the lower side comprising first and second lower opposing end portions, wherein:
the first upper opposing end portion of the upper side and the first lower opposing end portion of the lower side are stitched together;
the second upper opposing end portion of the upper side and the second lower opposing end portion of the lower side are stitched together;
and,
the upper side comprises an upper central portion and the lower side comprises a lower central portion, with the upper central portion of the upper side and the lower central portion of the lower side being spread apart from each other to provide an interior space of the first housing.