GB2537344A - Equiprotex RTE body protector EN13158:2009 Level 3 and EN1150 - Google Patents

Abstract

A reversible body protector for horse riding comprises a body protector which has a dark fabric on one side for competition and a high visibility surface on the other for hacking. The protector has two pieces; a body and a removable, coccyx protecting tail section. The body protector is fully adjustable at the shoulder and at the side, and has a reversible zip fastener at the front. The tail section comes in a number of sizes and uses hook and loop fabric to hold the tail in place. An airbag may be attached to the protector by a zip fastener.

Description

EQUIPROTEX REVERSIBLE BODY PROTECTOR, WITH ZIP-OFF TAIL BS EN13158: 2009 LEVEL 3 and EN1150 HIGH VISIBILITY STANDARD Design also available in Level 2 and Level 1 BS EN 13158:2009 (European standard for 'Protective Jackets, Body Lio Shoulder Protectors for Horse Riders). Also CE market showing their conformation to the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Directive 89/686/EEC.

The Equiprotex RTE Body Protector (EBP) is a world first. It is fully adjustable, reversible and has a removable back tail (RTE) that covers and protects the base of the riders back. This tail section is removable by zip or by hook and loop. When the RTE is taken off the body protector the body protector still passes BS EN 13158:2009 Level 3 We offer the rider 2 different styles of Body Protector.

1. A two tone reversible BP with or without a removable tail.

2. A one tone non reversible body protector that has a removable tail.

The two colour-ways allows the rider the option of riding out wearing the EN1150 OR EN471 high visibility option or reversing it to allow it to be worn in competition colours, for example black or navy.

The BP passes BS EN13158:2009 Level 3 even when it is reversed. Features: 1. Shoulders come with 3 different designs, la. Adjustable with hook and loop fastening, or adjustable buckels.

lb. No adjustment lc. Shoulder covers that can be used on adjustable or not adjustable shoulders.

2. Fully adjustable at the side with the following -hook and loop and/or webbing and clips.

Red hook and loop shows at the areas that need to be full covered. Around the waist and shoulders, to give the perfect fit.

3. The EBP has been shaped lower at the back to protect the lower section of the riders back and the Coccyx area. This section is removable. Which is a brand new design idea, that no one has designed or manufactured before in the world.

4. The removable Coccyx tail piece is available in Child, XShort, Short, Medium, Long, Xlong and >0(Long lengths in order to suit all body lengths. The idea behind this invention is that the shop will never lose a sale. The shop will stock every sized tail, this is cheaper and takes up less room than stocking every single size of body protector.

5. The Coccyx tail piece is attached to the Body Protector by zip or by hook and loop fastening. The zip or hook and loop strip is attached to the main body of the Body Protector to ensure the fit is strong and secure. It can also have extra attachments on the Body Protector to make sure it is extra secure.

Fig 1: An example of the zipped version. This version comes with a rectangle foam fitted in the middle to ensure it still passes the Body Protector Safety Test. Due to the depth of foam required around the body.

This photo is a first sample image dated 04/04/2014. As you can see the tail can be removed, so that a longer or shorter version can be fitted to make sure the Coccyx area is covered correctly Fig 2: A strip of foam will be required underneath the zip. The same as the front opening zip, here shown below.

Fig 3: The outer of the EBP is held down at the sides either by strong hook and loop fastening (as can be seen), or by fabric straps. This side is where the user (rider) makes the adjustments to ensure the EBP fits correctly and safely. Once these adjustments have been made there should be no need to repeat this procedure. The Body Protector is opened from the front central zip.

Fig 4: This image shows the inside of the Body Protector. The side adjustments have already been fitted correctly. The inside will be held down securely with hook and loop fastenings.

Fig 5: Additional straps could be included to stop straps from lifting up and leaving the sides unprotected.

The Reversible Equiprotex Body Protector.

This is a brand new idea in the body protector international market and never been seen before.

The idea is to give the rider a choice of colours. Body protectors are expensive piece of safety equipment and if we can offer the rider a Body Protector that can give them 2 different colours, whilst passing BS EN13158:2009 Level 3,then the customer gets a valuable added extra in the design.

Features.

The idea is that on the high viz side you fit your Body Protector to the correct fitting of your body, making sure that you can't keep the red hook loop. The Body Protector is then a correct fit to the riders body.

If the rider then wants to reverse it for a competition for example, he or she then turns it inside out. There is no need to change on adjustments on the body. The sides on the inside of the Body Protector have an inside hook and loop panel that keeps the side secure and rounded to the body.

There can also be extra fastening to assure the rider that the garment won't open, this will have to be kept flat for the rider comfort, so we would use webbing and hook and loop, for the extra security.

Front Zip.

The front reversible zip is designed so that the zip head puller can swivel over the top of the zip head and used on the other side, thus making it easy for the rider to zip up the Body Protector from either side. There is rectangle foam piece at the front (as required by the standards) which one reversed (black side) is held in position by a folded piece of fabric held down by hook and loop. This is designed to look smart and is practical in keeping the foam and zip out of the way of the rider, giving a smooth appearance.

Fabric.

The fabric used will be either Lycra, any stretched fabric, or any man-made fabric such as Nylon or Polyester.

We also use mesh fabric for the extra breathability and high viz BS EN1150 or BS EN20471 fabric. We also use retro reflective tape in silver fabric and plastic retro reflective tape.

BS EN1150 High Visibility We have designed the high visibility Body Protector to pass BS EN1150, There is no other manufacture making a Body Protector to this standard.

The Body Protector can also be designed to pass BS EN 20471 It comes in the following colours -High Viz Pink, High Viz Yellow, High Viz Green, High Viz Orange and High Viz Red.

The fabric passes all EU Standards and so does the reflective tape.

Air Bag system -We are working with HELITE We have designed a new way of attaching the HELITE air bag system onto the body protector. No other company has designed this way of attaching the air bag to the Body Protector.

We have attached a zip to the air bag and a zip to the body protector. The zip starts at the bottom middle front of the Body Protector, and works up to the neck, around the neck and down the other side of the Body Protector.

The zip on the air bag is attached the same way. The air bag is then easierly zipped onto the Body Protector and held firmly in place. The zip is made from plastic, coil or metal.

There is a small amount of hook and loop at the back of the body protector which will attach to the back of the air bag to hold it in place when it is not in use and flat.

Drawings Key

FRONT DESIGN OF BODY PROTECTOR

The EN13151:2009 Standard has certain rules that must be met and are common on all body protectors, but this body protector has 3 brand new ideas in the body protector world.

1. Reversible 2. Removable tail extender 3. EN1150 High Viz" a) Adjustable at the sides when the wearer wants to reverse the body protector b) Removable tail extender c) Zip for the removable tail extender to be attached to

THE REVERSE OF THE BODY PROTECTOR

The wearer can wear it with the high viz colour showing or the darker colour.

The shoulder and side adjustments do not move, the wearer does not need to adjust them again d) A hidden zip behind binding is for the HELITE Air bag to be zipped onto e) Adjustable at the side if required, red hook and loop showing for body protector standards once it has been fitted correctly, there is no need to change the fitting when the item is reversed f) Removable tail extender, fasten by a zip or hook & loop this is hidden by binding so it looks smarter and stops the zip from rubbing the wearer. The tail piece at the bottom comes off and a longer or shorter version can be added.