초록 ▼

A hip harness for supporting upper body armor. The harness includes a hip belt, a frame, and a coupler. The hip belt is securable about the hips of a user of the body armor. The frame provides flexible support and has a lower end secured to the rear portion of the hip belt. The coupler is adjustably

A hip harness for supporting upper body armor. The harness includes a hip belt, a frame, and a coupler. The hip belt is securable about the hips of a user of the body armor. The frame provides flexible support and has a lower end secured to the rear portion of the hip belt. The coupler is adjustably securable to the upper end of the frame. It has strips that fit through attachment loops on the back of the body armor to secure the harness to the armor.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A harness that supports body armor having a back protective element with a forward facing side facing a back of a user and a rearward facing side facing away from the user, the harness comprising: a hip belt having a rear portion, a clasp configured to secure the harness about the user, and a pad

1. A harness that supports body armor having a back protective element with a forward facing side facing a back of a user and a rearward facing side facing away from the user, the harness comprising: a hip belt having a rear portion, a clasp configured to secure the harness about the user, and a pad configured to provide cushioned positioning on the user, wherein the rear portion includes an opening at a top portion of the hip belt and a fastener positioned within the opening;a coupler that is attached to the body armor on the rearward side of the back protective element; anda frame that includes a lower frame portion received in the opening at the top portion of the rear portion of the hip belt and attached to the fastener within the opening to couple the frame to the hip belt and another frame portion that is secured to the coupler and configured to extend adjacent the rearward facing side of the back protective element such that the fastener transfers at least a portion of a load from the body armor to the hip belt and the back protective element includes an armored element and is configured to be disposed intermediate the back of the user and the frame when the pad provides cushioned positioning on the user. 2. The harness of claim 1, wherein the frame is adjustably secured to the coupler, the coupler being positionable in a plurality of vertical positions relative to the frame and to the hip belt. 3. The harness of claim 1, wherein the frame is adjustably secured to the hip belt, the frame being positionable in a plurality of vertical positions relative to the hip belt. 4. The harness of claim 1, wherein the frame includes frame stays extending generally vertically along most of the length of the frame, the frame stays being flexible. 5. The harness of claim 4, wherein the frame stays comprise composite material. 6. The harness of claim 1, wherein the frame includes a plastic panel at least partially covered by a fabric. 7. The harness of claim 1, wherein the coupler comprises a sleeve into which the frame is secured. 8. The harness of claim 1, wherein the rearward facing side of the armor is coupled to attachment loops and wherein the coupler includes strips that extend through the attachment loops to secure the coupler to the armor. 9. The harness of claim 1, wherein the coupler includes a sleeve into which the frame extends, the coupler including a semi-rigid panel supporting a shape of the coupler. 10. The harness of claim 1, wherein the hip belt includes a sleeve that includes the opening that receives the lower frame portion. 11. A harness that supports body armor having front and back protective plates enveloped in a cover, the cover having a back panel over a rear of the back protective plate, the back panel having attachment loops, the harness comprising: a hip belt that includes a clasp configured to secure the harness about a user and a pad configured to provide cushioned positioning on the user, wherein a rear portion of the hip belt includes an opening at a top portion of the hip belt and a fastener positioned within the opening; anda frame that includes a lower frame portion that is received in the opening at the top portion of the rear portion of the hip belt and attached to the fastener within the opening to couple the frame to the hip belt and another frame portion extending upwardly from the hip belt and having a support structure and a coupler structure that secures the body armor cover to the another frame portion such that the fastener transfers at least a portion of a load from the body armor to the hip belt and the back protective plate is configured to be disposed intermediate the user's back and the frame when the pad provides cushioned positioning on the user. 12. The harness of claim 11, wherein the hip belt includes a sleeve that includes the opening that receives the lower frame portion. 13. The harness of claim 12, wherein the fastener positioned within the opening is a hook-and-loop fastener and the frame is adjustably securable within the hip belt sleeve with the hook-and-loop fastener. 14. The harness of claim 11, wherein the frame coupler structure is adjustable relative to the hip belt. 15. The harness of claim 14, wherein the coupler structure includes another sleeve into which the frame extends, the frame being secured within the another sleeve of the coupler structure with another hook-and-loop fastener. 16. The harness of claim 15, wherein the coupler structure includes a plastic panel that supports a shape of the coupler structure. 17. The harness of claim 11, wherein the frame includes vertically extending frame stays. 18. The harness of claim 17, wherein the frame further includes a plastic panel extending along the frame stays and supporting a shape of the frame. 19. The harness of claim 11, wherein the coupler includes strips sized to fit within the attachment loops of the back panel and connect thereto. 20. The harness of claim 19, wherein the coupler further includes other attachment loops disposed on an outer face thereof. 21. A harness that supports an upper body armor, the body armor having a rear armor plate held within an outer shell having a rear face, at least a portion of the rear face of the outer shell having attachment loops, the harness comprising: a hip belt securable about the hips of a user of the body armor, the hip belt having a rear portion, a clasp configured to secure the harness about the user, and a pad configured to provide cushioned positioning on the user, wherein the rear portion includes an opening at a top portion of the hip belt and a fastener positioned within the opening;a coupler having strips that fit through the attachment loops and secure the coupler to the rear face of the armor outer shell; anda frame having a lower end and an upper end adjustably secured to the coupler, the lower end being received by the opening at the top portion of the rear portion of the hip belt and secured to the fastener within the opening to couple the frame to the hip belt, the frame including a support structure such that the fastener transfers at least a portion of a load from the body armor to the hip belt and the rear armor plate is configured to be disposed intermediate the user's back and the frame when the pad provides cushioned positioning on the user. 22. A harness that supports body armor having a back protective element with a forward facing side facing a back of a user and a rearward facing side facing away from the user, the harness comprising: a hip belt having a first sleeve in a rear portion, a clasp configured to secure the harness about the user, and a pad configured to provide cushioned positioning on the user;a frame having a frame sheet with an upper and a lower end, the lower end of the frame sheet is received by and coupled to the first sleeve in the rear portion of the hip belt, the frame sheet being configured to extend adjacent the rearward facing side of the back protective element such that at least a portion of a load from the body armor is transferred to the hip belt and the back protective element is configured to be disposed intermediate the back of the user and the frame; anda coupler having a plurality of straps and a second sleeve that is open at both an upper and a lower end of the coupler, the coupler being configured to receive the upper end of the frame sheet through the lower end and out of the upper end of the second sleeve such that the coupler is configured to be secured to a front side of the upper end of the frame sheet and the coupler is configured to be attached to the body armor by intertwining the plurality of straps with attachment loops positioned on the rearward side of the back protective element. 23. The harness of claim 22, wherein the frame is adjustably secured to the coupler, the coupler being positionable in a plurality of vertical positions relative to the frame and to the hip belt. 24. The harness of claim 22, wherein the frame includes frame stays extending generally vertically along most of the length of the frame, the frame stays being flexible. 25. The harness of claim 24, wherein the frame stays comprise composite material. 26. The harness of claim 22, wherein the frame includes a plastic panel at least partially covered by a fabric.