Abstract: The invention relates to a descent control unit of the kind used for lowering an injured person on a rope. The unit consists essentially of bar around which the rope is wound and a gate arrangement which is hinged to one end of the bar and is detachably secured to the other end of the bar by a locking pin. The bar and gate thus combine to form, in use, a closed loop through which the rope passes. The gate arrangement is formed so as to have a hook which extends beyond the other end of the bar to facilitate a lifting operation using the free end of the rope and a groove is provided in the gate arrangement to guide the free end and facilitate control of the descent rate. A snap hook on the gate provides for connection of the unit to a harness on the injured person and the snap hook is provided with an arm which extends across the groove to retain the rope therein when the unit is under load.

Abstract: The invention relates to plate type buckles for safety belts of the kind formed of flat webbing and is particularly concerned with such a buckle wherein engagement between the two parts can only occur when the webbing is not twisted in a way which would lead to slipping occurring when a load is applied to the belt. The buckle comprises a main plate which is attached to one end of the belt and a top plate which is slidably attached in a manner allowing adjustment of the working length of the belt. The belt is turned back in a loop around a webbing bar in the top plate and the main plate has an aperture therethrough capable of passing the loop and a slot in each of opposed longitudinally extending sides of said aperture to extend the width of the aperture for facilitating passage of said top plate in edgewise orientation with respect to said main plate.