Various attachment pieces, adaptors, and mechanical apparatuses exist for the purpose of coupling slings and other accessories to personal articles. One common type of accessory attachment is the kind used for coupling a flexible sling or a strap to a solid article for carrying. For example, some kind of coupling mechanism comprising an accessory attachment and a corresponding mount is usually required for coupling a sling or strap to a piece of luggage, a bag or briefcase, a tool, an instrument, or a weapon. Among these coupling mechanisms are various kinds of hooks, clips, buckles, locks, and detents. Similar coupling mechanisms are used for securing a tether, such as a rope or a cord, to an article to keep it nearby, or to support a weight. For example, coupling mechanisms include clasps for dog leashes or carabiners for supporting a climber's weight. Some coupling mechanisms have high load-bearing requirements (e.g., those used for securing a boat to a dock) and others have minimal requirements (e.g., those used for keychains).
Many of these coupling mechanisms are implemented specifically because they are detachable. For example, many bags have detachable shoulder straps because sometimes it is more desirable to hold the bag in a manner other than on a shoulder, and the long strap can get in the way if it is not detachable. For some applications, there exists a need to securely hold an accessory to an article while still being capable of quickly detaching. In the field of firearms accessories, for example, several types of “quick-detach,” or “QD” accessory attachments and corresponding mounts have been developed in order to facilitate the coupling and detachment of slings to various mounting points.
As noted, a common mechanism that allows the accessory attachments to couple to the QD mounts is a detent. Detents are well known in the art, and there are a number of ways in which a detent may be retracted, or disengaged from its protruded, or engaged, position. One common way for a detent to be retracted or disengaged is to press a button that is situated on top of the accessory attachment. This button must usually be pressed downward toward the article to which the accessory attachment is coupled. This downward pressing motion is suitable for coupling the accessory attachment to the article, but is awkward when trying to remove it. The user must press the button in the opposite direction that the user is pulling in order to remove the sling attachment. A user can do this by gripping the sides of the attachment with two fingers and pressing down on the button with a third finger (or thumb) in between the two. This type of manipulation may become difficult when a user is wearing gloves, or is trying to perform this task quickly. Alternatively, a user could press the button with one finger and pull the article away with the other hand. This method may be unsatisfactory if the user only has one hand available. One approach that has been used that doesn't require the user to push a button in the opposite direction of the pull is described in U.S. Patent Publication 2013/0305582, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, in which the user can press buttons inward, in an orthogonal direction relative to the push or pull of coupling or detaching an accessory attachment. However, it is also desirable to allow the user to operate the mechanism in other ways. Improvements are necessary to make accessory attachment or detachment easy to perform even with gloves or with one hand. The present disclosure is directed toward remedying such deficiencies in the prior art.