Break away tether strap assembly

摘要

A breakaway strap assembly for tethering a domestic animal such as a horse, employs two elongate straps separably attached by mating hook-and-loop surfaces. The mating hooks and loops resist longitudinal separation of the two straps. The hooks and loops are formed of resilient plastic material that permits them to unbend elastically so as to disengage from each other. Anchor clasps at one end of each strap allow the straps to be attached, respectively, to a fixed structure, such as a building and to a movable point such as the harness worn by a horse. The axial force resisting separation of the two straps can be varied from a low value to a relatively higher value by varying the longitudinal overlap of the two straps. In the disclosed embodiment, the movable strap member carries two loop surface elements, one on each of its oppositely facing longitudinal surfaces; and the fixed strap has a bifurcated shape having two coextensive parallel strap parts coupled together at one end of each, and having a common clasp member attached to the coupled-together ends, such that the two parts present two opposed inwardly facing surfaces for capturing the movable strap between them. The loops on the outer surfaces of the movable strap engage with the hooks on the opposed inwardly facing surfaces of the fixed strap to hold the two parts of the strap assembly 10 in assembled condition. The longitudinal force required to separate the strap assembly is dependent upon the length of overlap between the hook strips and the loop strips. The separation force may be further varied by a closely confining collar buckle that surrounds the outer periphery of the assembled straps and resists disengagement of the hook and loop surfaces as the straps are pulled apart. The axial breakaway restraining force i.e. "separation force" is increased as the restraining collar is moved closer to the free ends of the fixed strap.