Lumbar Support for Law Enforcement Officers

Abstract

Many law enforcement officers have lower back problems arising from the habitual wearing of what is generally known as a “Sam Browne” duty belt. Workmen's Compensation now presumes any lower back ailment suffered by a law enforcement officer was caused by a duty belt; and consequently, automatically covers such back problem. A duty belt seat accessory for minimizing excessive pressure on the lower back of a law enforcement officer when he wears a duty belt is disclosed. The seat accessory comprises: a lower back portion having a minimal thickness; an upper back portion having a thickness generally exceeding the thickness of the lower back portion and the equipped duty belt; and, a positioning and support means to maintain the back portion in an upright position adjacent to a seat. When the officer leans back his back is supported largely by the upper back portion of the seat accessory and there is no excessive back pressure on his lower back as a result of the equipped duty belt he is wearing.

Description

PRIORITY INFORMATION

This is a continuation of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to, U.S. Pat. No. 7,270,377 filed Jun. 25, 2002, the entire contents of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to low back problems arising from the use of duty belts worn by law enforcement officers. These duty belts are worn around the waist and are used to carry handcuffs and other paraphernalia used in law enforcement. More particularly this invention relates to a seat or seat attachment which neutralizes the injurious effect of a duty belt to the lower back of a law enforcement officer who is required to wear a duty belt in the course of his employment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One of the inventors is a Doctor of Chiropractic who has treated many law enforcement officers for lower back problems arising from the habitual wearing of what is generally known as a “Sam Browne” duty belt. The other of the inventors is a police Captain who has field familiarity with his officers who have suffered lower back pain. Officers are required to wear duty belts around their waists to carry handcuffs, flashlights, back up revolvers, and other varying selected equipment. Law enforcement officers expend extensive time periods sitting in and enforcement personnel which will substantially alleviate lower back pain.

One aspect of this invention provides for a duty belt seat accessory for minimizing excessive pressure on the lower back of a law enforcement officer when he is wearing an equipped duty belt. The seat accessory comprises: a lower back portion having a minimal thickness; an upper back portion having a thickness generally exceeding the thickness of the lower back portion and the equipped duty belt; and, a positioning and support means to maintain the back portion in an upright position adjacent to a seat. When the officer leans back, his back is supported largely by the upper back portion of the seat accessory and there is no excessive back pressure on his lower back as a result of the equipped duty belt he is wearing.

In a preferred aspect of this apparatus the seat accessory further comprises a bottom portion foldingly attached to the bottom edge portion of the lower back portion of the seat accessory. A rigid seat frame extending around a peripheral portion of the back portions and the bottom portion of the seat accessory. Hinges attach the back portion of the frame to the bottom portion of the frame.

Various other objects, advantages and features of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIGURES OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a seat accessory for attachment to a back portion of a seat.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the seat accessory shown in FIG. 1 as viewed along line 2-2 when folded into an operative position.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the seat accessory wherein the seat accessory comprises a replacement back portion of the seat 18.

The following is a discussion and description of the preferred specific embodiments of this invention, such being made with reference to the drawings, wherein the same reference numerals are used to indicate the same or similar parts and/or structure. It should be noted that such discussion and description is not meant to unduly limit the scope of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1 we have a perspective view of a seat duty belt accessory 20 for attachment to a back portion of a seat 18. FIG. 2 is a side view of the seat accessory 20 shown in FIG. 1 as viewed along line 2-2 when folded into an operative position. The seat accessory 20 minimizes excessive pressure on the lower back 16 of a law enforcement officer 14 when an equipped duty belt 12 is worn. The seat accessory comprises: an upper back portion 24 having a thickness generally exceeding the thickness of the equipped duty belt 12; a lower back portion 22 having a minimal thickness; and, a positioning and support means 26 to maintain the back portions 24, 22 in an upright position adjacent to a seat 18. When the officer 14 leans back, his back is supported largely by the upper back portion 24 of the seat accessory 20 and there is no excessive back pressure on his lower back as a result of the equipped duty belt 12 he is wearing.

Most preferably the positioning and support means 26 comprises a strap 27 which is configured to extend around a back portion of the seat 18. Alternatively, the positioning and support means 26 might comprise a seat cover (not shown) containing the back positions 24, 22.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the seat accessory wherein the seat accessory 20 comprises a replacement back portion of the seat 18. It is contemplated that the back portion of the seat 18 might be entirely replaced by a seat duty belt accessory 20. In this event the positioning and support means to maintain the back portions 22, 24 in an upright position adjacent to a seat 18 would be an adaption on the seat accessory 20 so that the seat accessory 20 could attach to the bottom portion of the seat 18 in a manner similar to the way in which the original back portion of the seat 18, which had been replaced, was attached to the bottom portion of the seat 18. Such a seat duty belt accessory 20 might be produced by either an original equipment manufacturer, or alternatively, a secondary market replacement equipment manufacturer.

In the most preferred embodiment of the invention the seat accessory 20 further comprises a bottom portion 28 foldingly attached to the bottom edge portion of the lower back portion 22 of the seat accessory 20. A rigid seat frame 30 extends around a peripheral portion of the back portions 22, 24 and the bottom portion 28 of the seat accessory 20. Hinges 32 attach the back portion of the frame 30 to the bottom portion of the frame 30. In the most preferred embodiment of the invention the frame 30 comprises flat bar which is ¾″×⅛″.

In has been found if the lower back portion 22 of the seat accessory 20 has a height of 10″ and generally a 0″ padding thickness and the upper portion of the back portion of the seat accessory 20 has a height of generally 13″ and a maximum 3″ padding thickness 44 then an equipped duty belt 12 does not press into an officer's 14 back with excessive pressure.

While the invention has been described with preferred specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that this description is intended to illustrate and not to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A seat back assembly forming a seat back of a bench vehicle seat having a seat bottom, the seat back assembly comprising:

a bottom edge portion;

a thoracic upper back portion having a substantial thickness;

a lumbar lower back portion disposed between the bottom edge portion and the thoracic upper back portion and having a thickness less than the thickness of the thoracic upper back portion, thereby creating a concavity adjacent the bottom edge portion and positioned so as to be behind the lumbar spine of a user seated on the seat bottom and against the seat back assembly, to accommodate an equipped duty belt and to relieve pressure on the lumbar back caused by equipped duty belt, wherein the concavity is about ten inches high, measured in a direction extending from the bottom edge portion toward the thoracic upper back portion, the concavity extending laterally across the lumbar lower back portion such that no portion of the concavity between the thoracic upper back portion and the bottom edge portion protrudes forwardly of the thoracic upper back portion when the user is sitting against the seat back assembly in a normal seating position; and

a support device configured to support the seat back assembly relative to the seat bottom.

2. A seat back assembly as in claim 1 wherein the seat back and the bottom portion are hinged together by hinges to accommodate varying slopes of the lower and upper back portions with respect to the bottom portion of the seat accessory.

3. A seat back assembly as in claim 1 wherein the upper and lower back portions of the seat back further comprise wings that are foldingly attached to side portions of the back portions of the seat back.

4. A seat back assembly as in claim 1 wherein the seat back further comprises magnets positioned centrally in the back portions of the seat accessory to reduce back pain.

5. A seat back assembly as in claim 1 further comprising an inflatable portion in the seat back.

6. A seat back assembly as in claim 5 further comprising a pump and a release valve so that volume and pressure of air in the inflatable portion can be controlled.

7. A seat back assembly as in claim 1, wherein the concavity is about 4 inches deep relative to the thoracic upper back portion.

8. A vehicle seat including a seat back assembly and a seat bottom, the seat back assembly comprising:

a bottom edge portion;

a thoracic upper back portion having a substantial thickness;

a lumbar lower back portion disposed between the bottom edge portion and the thoracic upper back portion and having a thickness less than the thickness of the thoracic upper back portion, thereby creating a concavity adjacent the bottom edge portion and positioned so as to be behind the lumbar spine of a user seated on the seat bottom and against the seat back assembly, to accommodate an equipped duty belt and to relieve pressure on the lumbar back caused by equipped duty belt, wherein the concavity is about ten inches high, measured in a direction extending from the bottom edge portion toward the thoracic upper back portion, the concavity extending laterally across the lumbar lower back portion such that no portion of the concavity between the thoracic upper back portion and the bottom edge portion protrudes forwardly of the thoracic upper back portion when the user is sitting against the seat back assembly in a normal seating position; and

a support device configured to support the seat back assembly relative to the seat bottom.

9. A vehicle seat as in claim 8 wherein the seat back and the bottom portion are hinged together by hinges to accommodate varying slopes of the lower and upper back portions with respect to the bottom portion of the seat accessory.

10. A vehicle seat as in claim 8 wherein the upper and lower back portions of the seat back further comprise wings that are foldingly attached to side portions of the back portions of the seat back.

11. A vehicle seat as in claim 8 wherein the seat back further comprises magnets positioned centrally in the back portions of the seat accessory to reduce back pain.

12. A vehicle seat as in claim 8 further comprising an inflatable portion in the seat back.

13. A vehicle seat as in claim 12 further comprising a pump and a release valve so that volume and pressure of air in the inflatable portion can be controlled.

14. A vehicle seat as in claim 8, wherein the concavity is about 4 inches deep relative to the thoracic upper back portion.

15. A vehicle seat as in claim 8, the vehicle seat being mounted to a police car.

16. A vehicle seat including a seat back assembly and a seat bottom, the seat back assembly comprising:

a bottom edge portion;

a thoracic upper back portion having a substantial thickness;

means for creating a concavity adjacent the bottom edge portion and positioned so as to be behind the lumbar spine of a user seated on the seat bottom and against the seat back assembly, to accommodate an equipped duty belt and to relieve pressure on the lumbar back caused by equipped duty belt, wherein the concavity is about ten inches high, measured in a direction extending from the bottom edge portion toward the thoracic upper back portion, the concavity extending laterally across the lumbar lower back portion such that no portion of the concavity between the thoracic upper back portion and the bottom edge portion protrudes forwardly of the thoracic upper back portion when the user is sitting against the seat back assembly in a normal seating position; and

a support device configured to support the seat back assembly relative to the seat bottom.