Ratchet buckle

Claim 2

A ratchet buckle comprising a body, a winding drum journaled therein having means to attach a strap thereto, a ratchet on said drum, an operating lever journaled coaxially with said drum to swing alternately in opposite directions and having a driving pawl normally biased into engagement with the ratchet teeth to wind a strap under tension upon the drum upon swinging of the lever in one direction from a rest position, a back-stop pawl normally biased into engagement with the ratchet to prevent backward rotation of the drum, and means including coacting parts on said lever, said back-stop pawl, said body and said driving pawls to disengage the back-stop pawl and the driving pawls from the ratchet upon swinging of the lever in the opposite direction past said rest position to release the drum for loosening of the strap.

Claim 3

A ratchet buckle comprising a body including spaced apart side plates rigidly connected together at one end and having alined openings adjacent its other end in each of which is journaled one end portion of a winding drum having a web passage therethrough, a ratchet disk rigidly connected to said drum at each end thereof, an operating lever having rigidly connected side plates straddling said body and rotatably mounted on said drum and adapted to assume a normal rest position with each side plate in spaced relation to the corresponding body side plate, ratchet driving pawls each pivotally mounted on one of the lever side plates and normally biased into engagement with the teeth of one ratchet to drive the drum upon swinging of said lever in one direction from its rest position to tighten a weB attached to said drum, a back-stop pawl plate slidably mounted in said body side plates and normally biased into engagement with the ratchet teeth to prevent backward rotation of the drum, said lever side plates and said back-stop pawl plate having coacting portions to actuate said back-stop pawl plate out of engagement with the ratchet teeth and said body and said driving pawls having coacting portions to disengage said driving pawls from the ratchets upon swinging of the lever from its said rest position in the direction opposite that of its strap-tensioning movement, thereby to release the drum and loosen the strap.

Claim 4

A ratchet buckle comprising a body including spaced apart side plates rigidly connected together at one end and having alined openings adjacent its other end in each of which is journaled one end portion of a winding drum having a web passage therethrough, a ratchet disk rigidly connected to said drum at each end thereof, an operating lever having rigidly connected side plates straddling said body and rotatably mounted on said drum and adapted to assume a normal rest position with each side plate in spaced relation to the corresponding body side plate, ratchet driving pawls each pivotally mounted on one of the lever side plates and normally biased into engagement with the teeth of one ratchet to drive the drum upon swinging of said lever in one direction from its rest position to tighten a weB attached to said drum, a back-stop pawl plate slidably mounted in said body side plates and normally biased into engagement with the ratchet teeth to prevent backward rotation of the drum, said lever side plates and said back-stop pawl plate having coacting portions to actuate said back-stop pawl plate out of engagement with the ratchet teeth and said body and said driving pawls having coacting portions to disengage said driving pawls from the ratchets upon swinging of the lever from its said rest position in the direction opposite that of its strap-tensioning movement, thereby to release the drum and loosen the strap.

Claim 5

A ratchet buckle as defined in claim 2 wherein said coacting portions of the back-stop pawl and the lever side plates are lugs on the back-stop pawl and cam slots in the lever side plates each having an inclined side slidably engageable with one of said lugs.

Claim 6

A ratchet buckle as defined in claim 2 wherein said coacting portions on said body and said driving pawls comprise a lug on each pawl slidably engageable with an inclined cam surface on the adjacent body side plate.

Claim 7

A ratchet buckle as defined in claim 2, with the addition of manually operable means releasably locking the operating lever in its rest position.

Claim 8

A ratchet buckle as defined in claim 2, with the addition of manually operable means releasably locking the operating lever in its rest position and comprising a hole in at least one lever side plate, and a locking pin slidably mounted on said body and normally biased to snap into said hole when the hole registers with the pin.

Claim 9

A ratchet buckle as defined in claim 5 wherein the free end of said locking pin normally projects beyond the lever side plate when the lever is in its rest position and is engageable by the operator''s finger and thumb to press the pin out of said hole to release the lever.

Claim 10

A ratchet buckle as defined in claim 6, with the addition of means for sealing said pin against unauthorized disengagement from said hole.

Claim 11

A ratchet buckle as defined in claim 6, wherein the projecting end of said locking pin has a hole therethrough and with the addition of a wire threaded through said hole and having its ends sealed together.

Claim 12

A ratchet buckle as defined in claim 6, wherein there is a hole in each lever side plate in axial alinement with the hole in the other side plate, and there is a locking pin coactive with each hole.

Claim 13

A ratchet buckle as defined in claim 2 wherein said lever side plates are rigidly connected at their swinging ends by a hand-hold tie bar, the ends of said drum project beyond the corresponding lever side plates and have circumferential grooves in each of which is a split spring ring to hold the corresponding lever plate on said drum, and said back-stop pawl plate has portions slidably engaging the inner surfaces of said body side plates to hold said plates in spaced relation to each other.