FIELD OF APPLICATION

This invention refers to a multipurpose rescue device, which can be used in particular by operators in charge of road rescue, of rescue in the event of fires or other emergency situations, such as Fire Brigade, Law Enforcement or others.

BACKGROUND ART

It is known that in the event of road accidents, fires, or other emergency situations, the operators in charge of the rescue, such as Fire Brigade, Law Enforcement or others, normally need various devices and tools to be able to intervene quickly and effectively, for example on a crashed vehicle, such as a car or other. Such interventions may involve breaking and removing glasses of the vehicle, or removing parts made of metallic, plastic, woody or other materials, cutting fabrics, such as seat belts, vehicle upholstery, or otherwise.

To date, a multipurpose device is not available that can guarantee robustness, reliability in a single instrument and that encloses the functions considered essential by the rescue operators, such as the possibility of cutting fabrics, breaking or sawing glasses, removing metallic, plastic parts from the car, or other.

Furthermore, the existing products falling within the categories of folding knives or fixed-blade knives are not normally provided with levers so robust that they can perform the required tasks satisfactorily.

US9676603B1 discloses a multifunction device comprising a plurality of tools normally used by a bartender, such as an element for removing the cover of a bottle of wine, a screw bottle opener and a lever bottle opener. The multifunction device and the tools included therein are configured to be used only with bottle caps and suchlike, which are lightweight and do not require high efforts for their removal, so they are not suitable for use by rescue operators in the application of their functions.

There is therefore a need to improve a multipurpose rescue device that can overcome at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art.

In particular, one object of the present invention is to realize a multipurpose rescue device that is reliable, compact and that can effectively perform the tasks required by rescue operators, for example cutting metallic, woody or other materials, materials of a crashed vehicle, for example plastic parts, fabric, glasses or others, and that can also be used with simplicity and effectiveness as a lever to carry out operations for removing or lifting parts of a vehicle or other.

A further object of the present invention is to realize a multipurpose rescue device that is endowed with high robustness, so that it can operate both as a lever and that is also provided with at least extractable cutting tools or suchlike.

A further object of the present invention is also the realization of a multipurpose rescue device that is safe and easy to use for the operators in charge of the rescue.

The Applicant has studied, tested and realized the present invention to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art, and to obtain the above as well as further objects and benefits.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is expressed and characterized in the independent claim. The dependent claims show other features of the present invention or variants of the main solution proposed.

In accordance with the aforementioned purposes, a multipurpose rescue device according to the present invention comprises a main body with an elongated shape which has at least one end profiled to act as a lever and at least one part for supporting a casing in which one or more extractable cutting tools are housed.

The present multipurpose device can then be used to cut metallic, woody or other materials, materials of a crashed vehicle, for example plastic parts, fabric, glasses or others, and can also be used with simplicity and effectiveness as a lever to carry out operations for removing or lifting parts of a vehicle or other.

According to another aspect of the invention, the main body is or comprises a metal bar, or other robust and stress-resistant material, which has a length greater than the casing for housing the cutting tools, preferably comprised between 1.8 and 2.2 times the length of the casing, so as to ensure both a good grip and an adequate transmission of the forces, when the multipurpose device needs to be used as a lever.

According to embodiments, the thickness of the main body is comprised between 2.5 and 5.5 mm. According to a further aspect of the invention, said main body is a steel bar with a thickness ranging from 3 to 5 mm and preferably equal to about 4 mm.

According to a further aspect of the invention, said end is pointed with respect to the thickness of said main body. In addition, at least one notch may be made at that end.

According to a further aspect of the invention, said casing is contained within the overall size of said main body.

According to a further aspect of the invention, a sharp recess is provided between said end and said casing.

According to a further aspect of the invention, said main body comprises, at an end opposite said end profiled to act as a lever, at least one glass breaker striker. Further, such an end may comprise one or more wrenches configured to engage with bolts, nuts or suchlike.

According to a further aspect of the invention, a through hole is made in said main body, configured to secure retractable cables or other retention systems.

According to a further aspect of the invention, such cutting tools are rotatable around corresponding pins for extraction from or insertion into such a casing.

According to a further aspect of the invention, said cutting tools are disposed side by side when inserted inside said casing.

ILLUSTRATION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become clear from the following disclosure of embodiments, provided merely by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

- Fig. 1 is a first axonometric view of a multipurpose rescue device according to the present invention;

- Fig. 2 is a plan view of the present multipurpose device with a blade extracted in the operational position;

- Fig. 3 is a further plan view of the present multipurpose device with a saw extracted in the operational position.

It should be noted that, in the present disclosure, the phraseology and terminology used, as well as the figures in the accompanying drawings, even as disclosed, have the sole purpose of illustrating and explaining the present invention, since their function is illustrative and not limited to the invention itself, the scope of protection thereof being defined by the claims.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numbers have been used, where possible, to identify identical common elements in the figures. It should be noted that elements and features of an embodiment can be conveniently combined or incorporated into other embodiments without further clarification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS

Detailed reference will now be made to the possible embodiments of the invention, one or more instances of which are shown in the attached figures by way of example only. The phraseology and terminology used herein is also exclusively for illustrative purposes.

With reference to the accompanying drawings, figures 1-3, a multipurpose rescue device 10 comprises a main body 11 with an elongated shape which has at least one end 12 profiled to act as a lever and at least one part 13 for supporting a casing 14 in which one or more extractable cutting tools 15, 16 are housed. Said casing 14 can be fixed to one side of said main body 11 by any known fixing means.

Said end 12 is useful, for example, to lift the inner plastics of the passenger compartment of a car and facilitate the inspection of the areas below and in general to easily carry out any operation in which the use of a lever is necessary.

Said end 12 can be pointed with respect to the thickness S of the rest of the main body 11, so that it can be easily introduced even in narrow spaces. Said end 12 may further envisage a substantially trapezoidal shape with respect to the width W of said main body 11 , then narrow down outwardly of the multipurpose device 10. Said end 12 may envisage at least one notch 19 that can be used, for example, to extract nails, pins or other.

According to embodiments, the main body 11 is or comprises a metal bar which has a length greater length than the casing 14 of the cutting tools 15, 16. Preferably, the length of the main body 11 is comprised between 1.8 and 2.2 times the length of the casing, so as to ensure a good grip when the multipurpose device needs to be used as a lever.

According to embodiments, the main body 11 has a thickness S comprised between 2.5 and 5.5 mm. According to one embodiment, said main body 11 is a steel bar with a thickness S ranging from 3 to 5 mm and preferably equal to about 4 mm.

According to further embodiments, the main body 11 has a length L ranging from about 20 cm to about 25 cm and a width W ranging from about 3 cm to about 5 cm.

Advantageously, said casing 14 is contained within the overall size of the main body 11, thus ensuring the multipurpose device 10 great compactness, solidity and ease of grip.

There is provided a sharp recess 20 between said end 12 and said casing 14 and which is useful for example to cut the safety belts normally present inside a car. Preferably, said sharp recess is made near said end 12.

Said main body 11 comprises, at an end 17 opposite said end 12 profiled to act as a lever, at least one glass breaker striker 18. Said striker 18 can be made of tungsten carbide or similar high hardness material.

Said end 17 further comprises one or more wrenches 21 and 22 configured to engage bolts, nuts or suchlike, for example to loosen the terminals of the batteries of the vehicle. A first wrench 21 may have a grip opening of 10 mm and a second wrench 22 may have a grip opening of 13 mm. Said wrenches 21 and 22 are preferably disposed on the sides of said striker 18, so that they can be easily used.

Said ends 12 and 17 could also be shaped differently from what is illustrated. For example, one of them could be configured to perform another function, like the function of a hammer, sheet metal cutter, or other.

A through hole 23 is moreover made in said main body 11, configured to secure retractable cables or other retention systems. Said through hole 23 can be made in a median area and near the edge of said main body 11.

On the opposite side with respect to the side where the casing 14 is positioned, said main body 11 can comprise a ruler 29, schematically dashed in fig. 2 and fig. 3. Said ruler 29 can be made by laser engraving of the surface of said main body 11. On said side it is also possible to apply a luminescent reference, not visible in the figures. Again on said side opposite the casing a spring clip may also be provided in order to be able to secure the multipurpose device 10 to a belt or other.

The cutting tool 15, see in particular fig. 1 and fig. 2, can be a blade, for example a smooth edge blade having a hook shape. Said configuration of the cutting tool 15 is optimal for cutting internal upholstery of a car, facilitating remedying pyrotechnic or gas charges. Said tool 15 has a slot 24 for gripping and extraction from said casing 14, even when wearing work gloves. Said slot 24 may be oval in shape or suchlike. The blade can of course also have any other suitable profile, for example a "drop-point" or other profile.

The multipurpose device 10 could also comprise other removable type tools, for example one or more steel elements with wrenches adapted to cooperate with nuts, bolts or suchlike, or other.

Said tool 15 can pass from the operational configuration of fig. 2 to the non- operational configuration of fig. 1, in which it is housed in the casing 14, or vice versa, by rotation around a pin 25.

The cutting tool 16, see in particular fig. 1 and fig. 3, can be a saw, for example a glass saw having a toothing configured for cutting laminated glasses, usually used in the windscreens of cars. Said cutting tool 16 is provided with a tip 26 configured to enter a hole made, for example, on the windscreen of a car by means of the striker 18 and the subsequent cutting takes place by traction. Said cutting tool 16 has a slot 27 for gripping and extraction from said casing 14, even when wearing work gloves. Said slot 27 may in particular be oval in shape or suchlike.

Said cutting tool 16 can also be a saw configured to cut different materials, for example wood, metals or other. This makes it possible to use this multipurpose device even in fire situations or other emergency situations, for example by helicopter operators or other rescue operators.

Said cutting tool 16 can pass from the operational configuration of fig. 3 to the non-operational configuration of fig. 1, in which it is housed in the casing 14, or vice versa, by rotation around a pin 28.

In the rest configuration of fig. 1, said cutting tools 15 and 16 are therefore substantially disposed side by side within the casing 14 and therefore do not overlap, advantageously maintaining the thickness of said casing 14 limited. Said cutting tools 15 and 16 are also placed on opposite sides of the casing 14, substantially parallel.

The casing 14 can be made by means of a fiberglass laminate and has the fiinction of covering the cutting tools 15, 16 in the closed position, preventing the operator from getting injured. Said casing 14 is provided with recesses 30, 31 to facilitate the extraction of said cutting tools 15, 16. Said recesses 30, 31 are made at the position in which the slots 24, 27 are located when said cutting tools 15, 16 are at rest, as in fig. 1, so as to allow the operator's thumb to easily reach said slots 24, 27. Said casing 14 is also provided on the surface thereof with an insert 32 in luminescent material.

Each of the cutting tools 15, 16 can be provided with a locking system 33, 34 for locking in the rest position, fig. 1, and in the working position, fig. 2 and fig. 3, or in intermediate positions. Each of said locking systems 33, 34 can be provided with a cylindrical element that automatically intercepts suitable recesses made at the ends of said cutting tools 15, 16 close to the pins 25, 28 to lock them in place. See, for example, the recess 36 of fig. 2 of the cutting tool 15 that will be engaged by the locking system 33 in the rest position, or the recess 37 of fig. 3 of the cutting tool 16 that will be engaged by the locking system 34 in the rest position. For example, it can be assumed that the cutting tools 15, 16 can be released from said being locked in place so as to pass from the positions of fig. 2 and fig. 3 to the positions of fig. 1, or vice versa, by pressing said buttons against the action of an elastic element, such as a spring or suchlike, which tends to keep said buttons in said recesses.

This multipurpose device 10 is therefore extremely compact, robust, easy to use, can be effectively used as a lever and also has several means that complete its operation, as it is able to cut safety belts, upholstery and any other fabric parts present in a car, break glasses, even laminated, such as windscreens or suchlike, act on the terminals of the batteries, be easily located and allow fixing for any retention systems and more.

It is clear that modifications and/or additions of parts may be made to the multipurpose rescue device described so far, without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims.

It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to some specific examples, a person skilled in the art will be able to make many other equivalent forms of a multipurpose rescue device having the features expressed in the claims and therefore all of which falling within the scope of protection defined thereby.

In the following claims, the references in parentheses have the sole purpose of facilitating reading and must not be considered as limiting factors of the scope of protection defined by the claims themselves.