CA1089201A - Safety belt buckle - Google Patents
Safety belt buckleInfo
- Publication number
- CA1089201A CA1089201A CA283,378A CA283378A CA1089201A CA 1089201 A CA1089201 A CA 1089201A CA 283378 A CA283378 A CA 283378A CA 1089201 A CA1089201 A CA 1089201A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- buckle
- latch lever
- latch
- pivot
- plate
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A44—HABERDASHERY; JEWELLERY
- A44B—BUTTONS, PINS, BUCKLES, SLIDE FASTENERS, OR THE LIKE
- A44B11/00—Buckles; Similar fasteners for interconnecting straps or the like, e.g. for safety belts
- A44B11/25—Buckles; Similar fasteners for interconnecting straps or the like, e.g. for safety belts with two or more separable parts
- A44B11/2503—Safety buckles
- A44B11/2507—Safety buckles actuated by a push-button
- A44B11/2511—Safety buckles actuated by a push-button acting perpendicularly to the main plane of the buckle, e.g. placed on the front face of the buckle
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
- Y10T24/00—Buckles, buttons, clasps, etc.
- Y10T24/45—Separable-fastener or required component thereof [e.g., projection and cavity to complete interlock]
- Y10T24/45225—Separable-fastener or required component thereof [e.g., projection and cavity to complete interlock] including member having distinct formations and mating member selectively interlocking therewith
- Y10T24/45602—Receiving member includes either movable connection between interlocking components or variable configuration cavity
- Y10T24/45675—Receiving member includes either movable connection between interlocking components or variable configuration cavity having pivotally connected interlocking component
- Y10T24/45696—Requiring manual force thereon to interlock or disengage
- Y10T24/45712—Requiring manual force thereon to interlock or disengage having interlocking portion thereof housed continuously within cavity
Abstract
ABSTRACT
An inexpensive safety belt buckle of relatively small size and lightweight, yet capable of meeting the legal require-ments of safety, is disclosed. The buckle includes a latch plate attached to one portion of the safety belt or structural member for insertion with reduced effort into a buckle body attached to another portion of the safety belt or structural member. The length of the buckle is foreshortened by a bent latch lever pivotally mounted on the buckle body and biased for engagement with the latch plate to prevent withdrawal of the latch plate from the buckle body. The height of the buckle is reduced by pivoting the latch lever downward to a release position which is below the plane generally defined by an upper surface of the base plate.
The buckle is readily assembled without expanding the side flanges of the base member.
An inexpensive safety belt buckle of relatively small size and lightweight, yet capable of meeting the legal require-ments of safety, is disclosed. The buckle includes a latch plate attached to one portion of the safety belt or structural member for insertion with reduced effort into a buckle body attached to another portion of the safety belt or structural member. The length of the buckle is foreshortened by a bent latch lever pivotally mounted on the buckle body and biased for engagement with the latch plate to prevent withdrawal of the latch plate from the buckle body. The height of the buckle is reduced by pivoting the latch lever downward to a release position which is below the plane generally defined by an upper surface of the base plate.
The buckle is readily assembled without expanding the side flanges of the base member.
Description
~01~9Z~)l This invention relates generally to saEety belt buckles which are used to fasten safety belts about the occupants of airplanes, automobiles, trains or the like.
More specifically, the present invention relates to safety belt buckles having a push-button type release mechanism for unfastening the buckle.
Safety belt buckles have long been used for securing seat or safety belts around the occupants of automobiles, airplanes and other vehicles, and many belt buckles have been used which latch securely about the occupant to prevent injury in case of accident or emergency.
Usually these buckles include a latch plate or D-ring attached to one-balE of a saety belt for insertion into a buckle body attached to the other half of the safety i5 belt or to a structural member. In the past, these buckles have often been large, bulky and unsightly. In vehicles where the buckle rests on the passenger's lap, the extra weight and siæe often contributed to passenger discomfort, and efforts to improve the appearance, such as by chrome plating the latch plate and buckle body significantly added to the cost of the buckle. In addition, these buckles often contained many functioning parts and required complicated and expensive assembly operations and even after installa-tion, the buckles were sometimes not used by the passengers.
In some buckles, a substantial effort is required ; to properly insert the latch plate into the buckle body.
More specifically, the present invention relates to safety belt buckles having a push-button type release mechanism for unfastening the buckle.
Safety belt buckles have long been used for securing seat or safety belts around the occupants of automobiles, airplanes and other vehicles, and many belt buckles have been used which latch securely about the occupant to prevent injury in case of accident or emergency.
Usually these buckles include a latch plate or D-ring attached to one-balE of a saety belt for insertion into a buckle body attached to the other half of the safety i5 belt or to a structural member. In the past, these buckles have often been large, bulky and unsightly. In vehicles where the buckle rests on the passenger's lap, the extra weight and siæe often contributed to passenger discomfort, and efforts to improve the appearance, such as by chrome plating the latch plate and buckle body significantly added to the cost of the buckle. In addition, these buckles often contained many functioning parts and required complicated and expensive assembly operations and even after installa-tion, the buckles were sometimes not used by the passengers.
In some buckles, a substantial effort is required ; to properly insert the latch plate into the buckle body.
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~ore recently, emphasis has been on lmproving the latching mechanisms to provide for easier latching, enhancing the aesthetics and lowering the manufacturing costs. Of course, since safety belt buckles must meet government imposed re-quirements for strength and for resistance to the various forces which may be encountered, any improvements or changes must not impair or restrict the latching operation of the buckle, which is its most important function.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a safety belt buckle which does not suffer from the deficiencies existing in "prior art" buckles.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an attractive saEe-ty belt buckle that is relatively small and may be simply constructed from relatively few pieces. A further object of the present invention is to provide a saEety belt buckle in which the latch plate may be inserted into the buckle body with minimum effort.
These objects are met by the present invention by providing an improvement in a safety belt buckle having a channel-shaped buckle body having a base and a pair of upstanding walls connected -to opposite sides of -the base pivotally receiving opposice pivot arms on a latch lever pivotally mounting the latch lever for pivoting by a push-button means against the biasing force of a spring means urging the latching lever up-wardly to its latching position, the improvement for reducing the height and length of the buckle body comprising pivot arm receiving openings in the upstanding sidewalls at locations at substantially the plane of the buckle base of the channel-shaped buckle body receiving the pivot arms and locating a pivot axis adjacent the buckle base, openings in the buckle base allowing portions of the latch lever to pivot downwardly into rw/-92~
the openings when the latch lever is operated by the push-button means, and a cover means attached to t,he channel- :
shaped buckle body and extending across the openings in the buckle base and covering the latter and the portions of the latch lever.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention are more particularly set forth in the following detailed description and accompanying drawings of which: ~
FIGURE 1 is a top view, with a top cover par- , tially removed, of a safety belt buckle embodying the present invention;
FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view along the longitudinal centerline of the buckle in FIGURE l;
FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view along the line 3-3 of F:[GURE 2;
FIGURE 4 is a top view of a buckle body of the safety belt buckle made in accordance with the present invention;
FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional view along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4;
FIGURE 6 is an end view taken along the line 6-6 in FIGURE 4 of the buckle body shown in FIGURE 4;
FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the biasin.g ;. spring used in the present invention; and FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of the one-piece '' latch lever and push-button used in the present invention.
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The present invcntion is generally embodied in a safety belt buckle 10 for attaching safety belts about the occupants or passengers of moving vehicles. The buckle includes a buckle body 12 attached to a one half of a safety belt 14 or somc other structural member and a latch plate 16 for attachment to a second belt half or other structural member. The sa~ety belt may be fastened about a passenger or occupant by inserting the latch plate into an end slot 18 in the buckle body until a raised latch surface 20 of a latch lever 22 which is pivotally mounted on the buckle body snaps into an opening 24 in the latch plate, thereby pre-venting withdrawal of the latch plate from the buckle body.
Thc buckle m~y b~ released by depressing the push~button to pivot the latch lever downwardl~ until the raised latch surface 20 is withdrawn from the opening in the latch plate, thus permitting withdrawal of the plate.
In accordance with the present invention a small, streamlined safety belt buckle is achieved by fore-sh~rtening the latch lever 22 and mounting the same for ~0 pivoting about an axis jus,t above the buckle body base plate 26. Although the latch lever pivots about a horizontal axis close to the base plate 26, the latch lever may be displaced downwardly to the necessary extent to an un~atching position as opening means including indentations and a pair of spaced openings 28 in the base plate allow portions of the latch to pivot therein thereby permitting the buckle to be constructed with a lower profile. To facilitate 26)~L
assembly of -the buckle without bending one o~ the upstanding side walls 34 and 35 of the buckle body, a slot 36 is formed in the buckle body to allow swinging of one of a pair o~
lateral pivot arms 30 of the latch lever into its operative position adjacent -the base plate. A minimum'effort is needed to insert the plate 16 through the end slot 18 o~
the buckle body into its latched position because a gently sloped surface 38 on the base plate and a curved fron,tal - side 39 of the raised stop surface 20 guide the latch plate upwardly alony the top of latch lever. The latch plate is further guided to the latching position and the insertion force is uxther reduced by an upwa,rd tur,ned corner 48 o~
the slot de~ined by the walls 58 in one o~ the s;icle channels guiding the latch plate down OlltO the latch lever.
L5 The upturned corner provides a small amount of play in the latch plate permitting it to raise sligh-tly to slide more easily over the raised latch surface. Upon further insertion oE the latch plate, the curved underside oE the corner 48 acts to cam the latch plate downward over the . .
latch sur~ace. The buckle body need not be chrome plated and the openings 28 in the base plate are not exposed ; 'because they are covered by a cover means. The latter comprises a plastic shell 42 on the bottom and sides and ,, a stamped metal cover 44 on the top, which includes a central opening 43 ~or access to a push-button section 45 on the one piece latch lever 22.
Turning now to a more detailed description of ~' .
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the preferred embodLment of the present invention, which is illustrated in the attached drawings, khe buckle body 12, which includes the central base plate portion 26, is a generally flat, rectangular plate of sufficient strength, preferably metallic, for transmitting the lbads and forces which may arise when a passenger is subjected to shock or vibration. ~s best seen in FIGURE 4, any force or load is transmitted from the buckle body to a structural member (not shown) via the safety belt webbing which is looped through a slot 41 in one end of the buckle body. As an alternative, the buckle body may be directly attached to a structural member. In the latter case, the sea-t belt which is attached to the latch plate lG must be of suficient length to extend completely across the passenger or occu-pant to attach to the buckle body 12.
At the other end of the buckle body 12, theupstanding side walls 34 and 35 are upwardly bent from and are integral with the base plate 26 and may be formed with portions 46 and 47, which overlie the central base plate, by simple bending operations. The side walls 34 and 35 extend along the side oE the buckle body for slightly less than two-thirds (2~3~ of the length of the buckle body, to adjacent the area of the safety belt attachment. The inwardly turned, overlying portions 46 and 47 on the side walls preferably extend only as far along the buckle body as the latch plate 16 is likely to be inserted. By way of - example of the small size attained for the pFeferred buckle .
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lO~9ZOl body, it may be only about 2.76 inches long and 1.70 inches wide. The upstanding side walls 34 and 35 are about 1.86 inches in length and provide a buckle body thickness of about 0.5 inches. The inwardly turned portions on the side walls extend slightly less than 1.0 inches from the front or slotted end of the buckle body.
In many of the prior art commercial buckles, the buckle bocly is significantly heavier and, because these prior art buckle bodies are exposed to user, they are chrome plated for aesthetlc reasons. Chrome plating is a siqnificant expense and is preferably eliminated in the present invention by covering it with a cover means formed of the bottom shell 42 and ~he top cover ~. Because o~
the foreshorteniny latch lever 22 and the simple guidiny and aligning unctions achieved by the overlying projection means 46 and 47, the buckle body has eliminated the long inturned flange walls which extended the full length of the side walls in these prior art buckles and which are parallel to the buckle base wall. Also, such prior buckles have a reversely turned flange at the front end of the buckle to pivotally mount the latch lever and this ; adds additional metal and weight to the buckle body. Thus, it will be seen that buckle body of the present invention may be small, light weight and left unchromed.
The latch lever 22 is preferably a one-piece, preferably metallic, construction and is formed by stamping from a single piece of steel or other metal o . ~ ~
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1089Z(~l sufficient strenyth. The latch lever, which is best seen in FIGURE 8, includes the rectangular push-button section 45 held upwardly and rearwardly of a frontal pivot plate 50 by a pair of parallel cantilevered arms 54 which extend rearwardly from the pivot plate and then upturn to attach to each side of the push~button section,. The latch lever 22 is formed by stamping a single piece of metal and bending the stamped metal. That is, the upturned canti-lever arms are formed to cause a foreshortening of the latch lever metal piece by drawing,the push-but-ton section 48 longitudinally closex to the pivot plate 50 when the arms are bent upwardly from a 1at sheet position.
Preferably, the latch lever is foreshortened suEficiently that a front edge 53 of the push-button section 45 is aligned above the latch surface 20 on the pivot plate S0. Herein, the latch lever is only about 1.37 inches in total length and about .49 inches high. The pivot arms 30 which mount the latch lever on the buckle body , 12 are laterally extending portions of the pivot plate 50 and, xom tip to tip, are approximately the width of the buckle body between the outside edges of the upstanding channels 34. A xearwaxd edge of the pivot plate 50 is '- bent upwardly to form the raised latch surface 20 which , actually engages the latch plate 16 when it is inserted into the buekle body. The front sloping side of the raised ~' latch surface has a large xadius of curvature to help guide the tongue plate 16 over the latch suxface wit~ a minimum of effort.
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~08~0~, To provide a low proile for the buckle, the one~piece push-button and latch lever 22 is preferably mounted just above a top surface 54 of the base plate 26 when the pivot arms 30 are projected into the openinys 32 in the upstanding, side channels 34. The openings 32 are positioned so that when the latch lever is in the upright, latched position, as shown in FIGURE 2, the flat undersurface of the pivot plate 50 is just above the plane defined by the top surface 54 o the base plate 10 Thus, when the tongue plate 16 is inserted into the :
front end slot 18 in the buckle body 12, it slides over the plvot pla~e 50 and the raised latch surface 20 formed thereon. As noted earlier, the latch lever is spring biased in the upright position, and when the tongue plate 16 is inserted, it engages a front sloped side of the raised latch surface 20, depressing the latch surface as the tongue plate passes over it. When the latch plate is inserted sufficiently far that the opening 24 in the tongue plate passes over the raised latch surface, the spring bias causes the latch lever ;to pivot upwardly and the raised latch surface to extend upwardly into the opening 24 to prevent withdrawal of the tongue plate.
To facilitate insertion of the lateral pivot : arms 30 into the openings 32 in the upstanding side walls 34 and 35, inturned projections 46 and 56 are spaced from each other by a slot 36 just above one of the openings 32.
The slot i.s defined by walls 58. The latch lever may be .' ' ~085~2~
simply and easily mounted on ~he buckle body 12 by first insertiny one of the pivot arms at a dow:nward angle into the opening 32 in the side wall 35, the pivot arms 30 being of sufficient length that the inserted arm may actually be pushed through. this opening 32 in an amount to permit the other pivot arm to pass through the slot 36 between the projections 46 and 56. The pivot plate 50 is then rotated do~nwardly toward the surface 54 o the base plate 26.
After the other pivot arm is aligned with the opening 32 in the side walIs 34 ~elow the slot 36, the latch lever is laterally adjusted so that each pivot arm 30 is r~ceived within one of the openings 32 in the side walls 34 and 35 so as to transmit any forces imposed on the latch lever to the buckle body.
To further facilitate the insertion of the tongue plate 16 into the buckle body 12, a forwara corner 40 on the projection 46 is upturned to form a small ear.
When the latch plate is inserted, the upturned corner 40 ~ not only prevents the leading edge of the tongue plate ; 20 ~rom catching or snagging on the edge of the projection 46, but also allows a small amount of upward movement ini-tially so that latch plate can be lifted slightly to slide more easily over the raised abutment surface 20 on the pivot plate 5Q. Upon further insertion of the latch ::
plate 16 into the buckle body 12, a curved undersurface 60 of the corner ear acts as a cam to guide the tongue plate downwa`rdly into engagement with the raised abutment ;' - ' :' .' ' ~.
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1089ZQl surface 20. In the illustrated embodimen-t,.substantially less force, as contrasted to some prior art buckles, is needed to insert the tongue plate into latching posi.tion ~
on the buckle body. ..
Under extreme force loading of the latch lever 20 and the buckle body 12, a front edge 63 on the pivot plate 50 of the latch lever may be made to engage upstanding .
wall 65 of the tongue plate guide wall 38. As previously explained, this guide wall 38 is gently sloped to guide the tongue plate 16 over the pivot plate 50 o the latch lever 22 when it is inserted in-to the end slot 18 in the b~lckle body 12.
To bias the one-piece latch lever 22 in the latching po~ ion so that the r~ised latch surface 20 snaps upwardly into the opening 24 in the latch plate 16 when it is inserted over the pivot plate 50, a biasing means in the form of spring 62 is carried by the buckle body 12 and herein engages an undersurface o the push-button 45 to bias it in the raised position. The spring 62 is cut from a single piece oE spring steel. It in-cludes a generally ~lat central portion 6~ with a depending insert 66 and hook 68 which engage the base plate 26 through openings 70 and 72 respectively to secure the spring 62 in a substantially centered position on the base plate sur~ace 54. The front end of the central portion - :
of the spring is sufficiently forward to underlie the latch plate 16 when it is inserted into the buckle body 12, ~12-~089Zq)~.
and is formed with an upstanding curved section 72 res-ting on the base plate 26.
The spring 62 biases the latch lever 20 into an upright or latched position by a pair o cantilever spring arms 74 which extend at an angle upwardly from the base of the spring to the undersurface of the push button section 45, which curved free ends 75 of the spring arms slidingly engage, That is, ends 75 of the spring arms are turned downwardly to form a smoo-th contact shoulder for sliding engagement with the undersurface.
As described briefly earlier, when the tongue plate 16 is inserted .into the end slot 18 of the buckle body, i~ may ~irs~ engaye a forward filo~ed surface 38 o~ the raised stop 59 on the base plate which guides the tongue plate over the pivot plate 50 o the latch lever 22 and to the curved frontal side of the raised latch surface 20.
As the latch plate is urther inserted, it depresses the raised latch surface and slides over the pivot plate 50.
The upturned corner 48 of one of the side channels permits ;
additional play in at least one side of the latch plate as it is inserted, allowing it to slide more easily over the raised latch surface. The curved undersurface 60 of the corner 48 cams the latch plate downwardly upon further insertion until the raised latch surface can snap upwardly, due to the bias o the spring 62, in~o the opening 24 in the latch plate. Withdrawal of the latch plate is then pxevented by engagement between the raised ., ,:
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latch surface 20 and the front edge of the opening 24 in the :
latch plate which.acts to abut the latch surface. .
To release the tongue pla~e 16, the push button section 45 of the latch lever 22 is depressed to pivot the 5 latch lever downwardly, abou-t its frontal edge 63, until ..
the latch surface 20 is withdrawn from the opening 24 in the tongue plate,. thereby releasing the latch plate for withdrawal. To accommodate the downward pivoting of the .
latch lever 22, which is mounted just above the plane o the surface 54 of the base plate 26, opening means and do~mwardly sloped portions of the base plate 26 are formed to allow the lower ends 75 of the upstanding lever arms 52 to pivot to positions lower than the upper surface 54 of the base plate. Also, portions of the lateral arms 30 pivot below the surface 54. Moxe speciEically, and as best seen in FIGURE 5, the base wall 26 is formed with a non-planar complex shape beneath the latch lever and in-cludes a downwardly and rearwardly sloped section 77 extending at its forward end from the pivot mounting . 20 slots 32 and wall 65 to forward edges 78 of the openings 28. Furthermore, the openings 32 in the side walls 34 ,.. .
, and 35 also extend into the s~oped section 77 and terminate .~ at walls 79 (FIGURE 4~ and the portions of the openings 32 in the base plate 46 permit lower rearward edges 80 -.~ 25 (FIGURE 8) of the pivot arms 30 to pivot a position lower than the plane of the rearward surface of the base plate 46. ~ central web 85 (FIGURES 4 and 5) is formed in the , .
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base plate and is joined to the lower and rearward end of the downwardly inclined section 77 and is sloped upwardly toward and joins the rearward planar portion of the base at the ends of the openings 28. In this manner, and because the latch lever is mounted just aboue the planar surface of the base plate, portions of the latch lever pivot plate S0, pivot arms 30 and cantilever arms 52 actually move to a position below the plane generally defined by the upper planar portion of the base plate when - 10 the latch lever is pivoted to a release position. This construction aids in providing a buckle body 12 with a streamlined and unobtrusive profile.
The open base plate has other advantages.
Access through ~he openings 28 would permit the i.nsertion of a switch eeler or contact Eor sensing when the saEety belt is buckled. This switch may in turn be con-nected to an ignition switch or to a warning light or buzzer to alert the occupant if the buckle is not fastened.
The buckle body 12 and latch lever 20 are mounted in a cover means which comprises the plastic cov~r 42 secured to the underside of the body and the cover ~4 carrled on top. The plastic cover ~2 inclucles a bottom wall 90 (FIGURE 3) and a pair of slde walls 92 (See FIGURE 3). The bottom wall is slotted for registering with the seat belt attachment slot 41 in the buckle body. The plastic cover includes a front lip 94 (FIGURE 2) which overlaps the front edge o~ the buckle body : . .
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and a rearward upstanding plastic hook 96 with an enlarged head 97 which snaps through an opening 98 in the base plate 26 to secure the cover 42 thereto. The plastic cover should be assembled after the latch lever 22 has been inserted since the side of the cover would not permit the pivot arms 30 to be inserted sufficiently through the openings 32 as described earlier. The cover 42 is fastened to the buckle body by pushing the frontal edge of the body down into the plastic cover under the lip 94 and then pressing the rear portion o the base plate downward until the plastic hook 96 of the cover snaps upward through the;opening 98 in the base plate. The plastic cover 42 also functions to retain and center the latch lever pivot arms 30 which are sl:idable laterally. More ~ 15 specifically, either oE the outer end walls 101 on ~he ;~ pivot arms will abut an upstanding side wall 92 of the plastic cover if the latch lever 20 should shi~t laterally along the base. Thus, the cover side walls will prevent a pivot arm from sllding laterally to a position where it would leave its opening 32 in a sidewall 3~ or 35.
Furthermore, the cover bottom wall 90 covers the openings 28 and prevents snagging of the occupant's clothes by any - portion of the buckle body or latch lever.
The cover 44 which overlies the top of the buckle body is similarly secured. Although it might also be constructed of plastic or other suitable material, it is preferably of polished metal. As best seen in FIGURE 2, an inwardly turned front lip 105 on the aluminum cover hooks onto projections 56 and 106 which .. . .
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extend inwardly from the upstanding side walls 34 and 35.
T~e underside of each projection is provided with a recess 109 to receive the lip 105 and a rearward clip 107 depends from the cover to snap into the same opening 98 as does the plastic hook 96 o the bottom cover. As may be - seen in FIGURE 3, the lower edges of the cover 44 ma~ abut the upper-edges of the plastic cover 42 to provide a substantially continuous and smooth cover around the base plate. And to permit access to the push-button section 45 of the latch lever 22, the cover 44 includes a generally rectangular top opening, the edges of which engage and overlie the ;
periphery of the push-button section 45. With the top and bottom covers in place, the buckle has an overall width o about 1.82 inches, an overall height of about 0.89 inclles and an overall length o~ about 2.89 inche5, The tongue plate 16 is of typical safety belt D-ring construction and is made o a generally 1at metallic plate, one end of which is attached to a seat belt portion or to a structural member and the other end of which comprises a D-ring or tongue plate with the opening 24 for insertion,into the buckle body. The D-rin~ is to be inserted throuyh the end slot 18 in the buckle body 12 and between the projections on the upstanding side walls 34 and 35. This guides the latch plate over the top of the pivot plate 50 o~ the latch lever 22. The D-ring portion of the latch plate is of sufficient width to extend substantially rom one inside surface of side wall 34 to . ~ , .
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the inside surface of the other side wall 35 on the other side of the buckle body. The center opening 24 is provided to permit the raised latched surface 20 on the latch lever ~ -to snap upwardly after the tongue plate is inserted, thereby preventing withdrawal of the tongue plate by direct engage-ment between the raised latch surface and a facing edge of the opening which acts as an abutment surface against the raised latch surface. .
Although the buckle body 12 and latch lever 22 are small, they have been designed to withstand hsavy tensile force loadings of 5000 pounds or greater. To this end, the buckle base plate 26 is stiffened by the upstanding wall 65 which, under such loadings, abuts a relativel~ long extent o~ the edge 63 of the plate 50 oE the latch lever 22 to .prevent bending failure of the plate 50 or of the ~orward portion of the buckle base plate 26. More specifically, under such heavy loadings, the front edge 63 of the latch lever 22 engages the vertically extending wall 65 on the base plate to transmit loading from the latch lever 22 directly to the buckle body 12 at and along the central portions of the latch lever and base plate 26 as well as at the ends where the pi.vot arms 30 engage the upstanding side walls 34 and 35 o~ the buckle base. Preferably, the upstanding wall 65 has a flat vertical surface to provide 25 good contacting engagement with the flat vertical wall surface defining the front edge 63 of the latch lever so as to provent a camming of the front edge 63 over the : , , , . .. .
~Q8~Z~l wall 65 when very heavy loads are applied to the buckle.
Together the sloping su~face 3~ and the upstanding wall 65 on the buckle base provide a xeinforci.ng or stiffening configuration to the front end portion of the huckle body ~.
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base plate 26 which allows a foreshortening of the buckle .:
~ase plate. That is, the extent of this forward portion of the base plate 26 need not be as long as it would need to be if it were not stif~ened by the upward deformation of .~. .
the metal to form the wall 65 and surface 38. This is in .:
contrast to prior art buckles which lac]c such a stiffening and have a flat longer plate portion to provide more metal to ~.
resist deformation under beam loads than does a bent metal plate, which has been bent to resist such beam loadings.
I~ either the sloped sur~ace 38 or the upstanding wall 65 w~e perEorated, then the æti~Eening provided b~ this con- . :
. figuration would he reduced because under high loadings the .
base plate could begin to bend at the perforation.
: It can therefore be seen that the present inven- ;
tion provides a short, low profile safety belt buckle that is uniquely simple and easy to assemble at a minimum cost.
The latch lever 22 is of one-piece foreshortened cons-truction, including a push-buk-ton section and i5 mounted just above the surface 54 o the buckle body base plate 26 to provide a low profile. Opening means in the base plate below the :'!
25 latch leYer cooperate with the mounting described above to ~; :
permit the latch lever to be pivoted downwardly into a recess and into a pair of spaced openings in the base plate to a .....
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release position. The latch lever is simply mounted on the base plate by the pair of laterally extend:ing plvot arms which are inserted into the openings 32 in upstandinc3 side channels 3~ by tilting -the pivot plate 50, inserting one arm in an opening 32 and rotating the latch lever down-ward for the other arm to pass through an access slot 36 between projections on one side wall. M:inimum force is needed to insert the la-tch pla-te into the buckle body because gently sloped front sides on tllf3 stop surface and the raised abutment surface 20 combine wi,th the upturned corner 40 to guide and cam the latch plate over and down behind the raised latch surface.
The present invention has been de~cribecl in terms of the preferred embodiment, but c~rta.in changes may be made, some of which may immcdiately be app~rent ancl others of which may be apparent only after some study, without departure from this invention.' . --lg--
~ore recently, emphasis has been on lmproving the latching mechanisms to provide for easier latching, enhancing the aesthetics and lowering the manufacturing costs. Of course, since safety belt buckles must meet government imposed re-quirements for strength and for resistance to the various forces which may be encountered, any improvements or changes must not impair or restrict the latching operation of the buckle, which is its most important function.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a safety belt buckle which does not suffer from the deficiencies existing in "prior art" buckles.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an attractive saEe-ty belt buckle that is relatively small and may be simply constructed from relatively few pieces. A further object of the present invention is to provide a saEety belt buckle in which the latch plate may be inserted into the buckle body with minimum effort.
These objects are met by the present invention by providing an improvement in a safety belt buckle having a channel-shaped buckle body having a base and a pair of upstanding walls connected -to opposite sides of -the base pivotally receiving opposice pivot arms on a latch lever pivotally mounting the latch lever for pivoting by a push-button means against the biasing force of a spring means urging the latching lever up-wardly to its latching position, the improvement for reducing the height and length of the buckle body comprising pivot arm receiving openings in the upstanding sidewalls at locations at substantially the plane of the buckle base of the channel-shaped buckle body receiving the pivot arms and locating a pivot axis adjacent the buckle base, openings in the buckle base allowing portions of the latch lever to pivot downwardly into rw/-92~
the openings when the latch lever is operated by the push-button means, and a cover means attached to t,he channel- :
shaped buckle body and extending across the openings in the buckle base and covering the latter and the portions of the latch lever.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention are more particularly set forth in the following detailed description and accompanying drawings of which: ~
FIGURE 1 is a top view, with a top cover par- , tially removed, of a safety belt buckle embodying the present invention;
FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view along the longitudinal centerline of the buckle in FIGURE l;
FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view along the line 3-3 of F:[GURE 2;
FIGURE 4 is a top view of a buckle body of the safety belt buckle made in accordance with the present invention;
FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional view along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4;
FIGURE 6 is an end view taken along the line 6-6 in FIGURE 4 of the buckle body shown in FIGURE 4;
FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the biasin.g ;. spring used in the present invention; and FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of the one-piece '' latch lever and push-button used in the present invention.
' .:
:
' rw- ' ~)892 01~
The present invcntion is generally embodied in a safety belt buckle 10 for attaching safety belts about the occupants or passengers of moving vehicles. The buckle includes a buckle body 12 attached to a one half of a safety belt 14 or somc other structural member and a latch plate 16 for attachment to a second belt half or other structural member. The sa~ety belt may be fastened about a passenger or occupant by inserting the latch plate into an end slot 18 in the buckle body until a raised latch surface 20 of a latch lever 22 which is pivotally mounted on the buckle body snaps into an opening 24 in the latch plate, thereby pre-venting withdrawal of the latch plate from the buckle body.
Thc buckle m~y b~ released by depressing the push~button to pivot the latch lever downwardl~ until the raised latch surface 20 is withdrawn from the opening in the latch plate, thus permitting withdrawal of the plate.
In accordance with the present invention a small, streamlined safety belt buckle is achieved by fore-sh~rtening the latch lever 22 and mounting the same for ~0 pivoting about an axis jus,t above the buckle body base plate 26. Although the latch lever pivots about a horizontal axis close to the base plate 26, the latch lever may be displaced downwardly to the necessary extent to an un~atching position as opening means including indentations and a pair of spaced openings 28 in the base plate allow portions of the latch to pivot therein thereby permitting the buckle to be constructed with a lower profile. To facilitate 26)~L
assembly of -the buckle without bending one o~ the upstanding side walls 34 and 35 of the buckle body, a slot 36 is formed in the buckle body to allow swinging of one of a pair o~
lateral pivot arms 30 of the latch lever into its operative position adjacent -the base plate. A minimum'effort is needed to insert the plate 16 through the end slot 18 o~
the buckle body into its latched position because a gently sloped surface 38 on the base plate and a curved fron,tal - side 39 of the raised stop surface 20 guide the latch plate upwardly alony the top of latch lever. The latch plate is further guided to the latching position and the insertion force is uxther reduced by an upwa,rd tur,ned corner 48 o~
the slot de~ined by the walls 58 in one o~ the s;icle channels guiding the latch plate down OlltO the latch lever.
L5 The upturned corner provides a small amount of play in the latch plate permitting it to raise sligh-tly to slide more easily over the raised latch surface. Upon further insertion oE the latch plate, the curved underside oE the corner 48 acts to cam the latch plate downward over the . .
latch sur~ace. The buckle body need not be chrome plated and the openings 28 in the base plate are not exposed ; 'because they are covered by a cover means. The latter comprises a plastic shell 42 on the bottom and sides and ,, a stamped metal cover 44 on the top, which includes a central opening 43 ~or access to a push-button section 45 on the one piece latch lever 22.
Turning now to a more detailed description of ~' .
';
,, -6-' . ..... ..
~08920~1L
the preferred embodLment of the present invention, which is illustrated in the attached drawings, khe buckle body 12, which includes the central base plate portion 26, is a generally flat, rectangular plate of sufficient strength, preferably metallic, for transmitting the lbads and forces which may arise when a passenger is subjected to shock or vibration. ~s best seen in FIGURE 4, any force or load is transmitted from the buckle body to a structural member (not shown) via the safety belt webbing which is looped through a slot 41 in one end of the buckle body. As an alternative, the buckle body may be directly attached to a structural member. In the latter case, the sea-t belt which is attached to the latch plate lG must be of suficient length to extend completely across the passenger or occu-pant to attach to the buckle body 12.
At the other end of the buckle body 12, theupstanding side walls 34 and 35 are upwardly bent from and are integral with the base plate 26 and may be formed with portions 46 and 47, which overlie the central base plate, by simple bending operations. The side walls 34 and 35 extend along the side oE the buckle body for slightly less than two-thirds (2~3~ of the length of the buckle body, to adjacent the area of the safety belt attachment. The inwardly turned, overlying portions 46 and 47 on the side walls preferably extend only as far along the buckle body as the latch plate 16 is likely to be inserted. By way of - example of the small size attained for the pFeferred buckle .
.
lO~9ZOl body, it may be only about 2.76 inches long and 1.70 inches wide. The upstanding side walls 34 and 35 are about 1.86 inches in length and provide a buckle body thickness of about 0.5 inches. The inwardly turned portions on the side walls extend slightly less than 1.0 inches from the front or slotted end of the buckle body.
In many of the prior art commercial buckles, the buckle bocly is significantly heavier and, because these prior art buckle bodies are exposed to user, they are chrome plated for aesthetlc reasons. Chrome plating is a siqnificant expense and is preferably eliminated in the present invention by covering it with a cover means formed of the bottom shell 42 and ~he top cover ~. Because o~
the foreshorteniny latch lever 22 and the simple guidiny and aligning unctions achieved by the overlying projection means 46 and 47, the buckle body has eliminated the long inturned flange walls which extended the full length of the side walls in these prior art buckles and which are parallel to the buckle base wall. Also, such prior buckles have a reversely turned flange at the front end of the buckle to pivotally mount the latch lever and this ; adds additional metal and weight to the buckle body. Thus, it will be seen that buckle body of the present invention may be small, light weight and left unchromed.
The latch lever 22 is preferably a one-piece, preferably metallic, construction and is formed by stamping from a single piece of steel or other metal o . ~ ~
. . .
, . .
1089Z(~l sufficient strenyth. The latch lever, which is best seen in FIGURE 8, includes the rectangular push-button section 45 held upwardly and rearwardly of a frontal pivot plate 50 by a pair of parallel cantilevered arms 54 which extend rearwardly from the pivot plate and then upturn to attach to each side of the push~button section,. The latch lever 22 is formed by stamping a single piece of metal and bending the stamped metal. That is, the upturned canti-lever arms are formed to cause a foreshortening of the latch lever metal piece by drawing,the push-but-ton section 48 longitudinally closex to the pivot plate 50 when the arms are bent upwardly from a 1at sheet position.
Preferably, the latch lever is foreshortened suEficiently that a front edge 53 of the push-button section 45 is aligned above the latch surface 20 on the pivot plate S0. Herein, the latch lever is only about 1.37 inches in total length and about .49 inches high. The pivot arms 30 which mount the latch lever on the buckle body , 12 are laterally extending portions of the pivot plate 50 and, xom tip to tip, are approximately the width of the buckle body between the outside edges of the upstanding channels 34. A xearwaxd edge of the pivot plate 50 is '- bent upwardly to form the raised latch surface 20 which , actually engages the latch plate 16 when it is inserted into the buekle body. The front sloping side of the raised ~' latch surface has a large xadius of curvature to help guide the tongue plate 16 over the latch suxface wit~ a minimum of effort.
'' ,~
... ' ~.
.~ . .
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~08~0~, To provide a low proile for the buckle, the one~piece push-button and latch lever 22 is preferably mounted just above a top surface 54 of the base plate 26 when the pivot arms 30 are projected into the openinys 32 in the upstanding, side channels 34. The openings 32 are positioned so that when the latch lever is in the upright, latched position, as shown in FIGURE 2, the flat undersurface of the pivot plate 50 is just above the plane defined by the top surface 54 o the base plate 10 Thus, when the tongue plate 16 is inserted into the :
front end slot 18 in the buckle body 12, it slides over the plvot pla~e 50 and the raised latch surface 20 formed thereon. As noted earlier, the latch lever is spring biased in the upright position, and when the tongue plate 16 is inserted, it engages a front sloped side of the raised latch surface 20, depressing the latch surface as the tongue plate passes over it. When the latch plate is inserted sufficiently far that the opening 24 in the tongue plate passes over the raised latch surface, the spring bias causes the latch lever ;to pivot upwardly and the raised latch surface to extend upwardly into the opening 24 to prevent withdrawal of the tongue plate.
To facilitate insertion of the lateral pivot : arms 30 into the openings 32 in the upstanding side walls 34 and 35, inturned projections 46 and 56 are spaced from each other by a slot 36 just above one of the openings 32.
The slot i.s defined by walls 58. The latch lever may be .' ' ~085~2~
simply and easily mounted on ~he buckle body 12 by first insertiny one of the pivot arms at a dow:nward angle into the opening 32 in the side wall 35, the pivot arms 30 being of sufficient length that the inserted arm may actually be pushed through. this opening 32 in an amount to permit the other pivot arm to pass through the slot 36 between the projections 46 and 56. The pivot plate 50 is then rotated do~nwardly toward the surface 54 o the base plate 26.
After the other pivot arm is aligned with the opening 32 in the side walIs 34 ~elow the slot 36, the latch lever is laterally adjusted so that each pivot arm 30 is r~ceived within one of the openings 32 in the side walls 34 and 35 so as to transmit any forces imposed on the latch lever to the buckle body.
To further facilitate the insertion of the tongue plate 16 into the buckle body 12, a forwara corner 40 on the projection 46 is upturned to form a small ear.
When the latch plate is inserted, the upturned corner 40 ~ not only prevents the leading edge of the tongue plate ; 20 ~rom catching or snagging on the edge of the projection 46, but also allows a small amount of upward movement ini-tially so that latch plate can be lifted slightly to slide more easily over the raised abutment surface 20 on the pivot plate 5Q. Upon further insertion of the latch ::
plate 16 into the buckle body 12, a curved undersurface 60 of the corner ear acts as a cam to guide the tongue plate downwa`rdly into engagement with the raised abutment ;' - ' :' .' ' ~.
' .
1089ZQl surface 20. In the illustrated embodimen-t,.substantially less force, as contrasted to some prior art buckles, is needed to insert the tongue plate into latching posi.tion ~
on the buckle body. ..
Under extreme force loading of the latch lever 20 and the buckle body 12, a front edge 63 on the pivot plate 50 of the latch lever may be made to engage upstanding .
wall 65 of the tongue plate guide wall 38. As previously explained, this guide wall 38 is gently sloped to guide the tongue plate 16 over the pivot plate 50 o the latch lever 22 when it is inserted in-to the end slot 18 in the b~lckle body 12.
To bias the one-piece latch lever 22 in the latching po~ ion so that the r~ised latch surface 20 snaps upwardly into the opening 24 in the latch plate 16 when it is inserted over the pivot plate 50, a biasing means in the form of spring 62 is carried by the buckle body 12 and herein engages an undersurface o the push-button 45 to bias it in the raised position. The spring 62 is cut from a single piece oE spring steel. It in-cludes a generally ~lat central portion 6~ with a depending insert 66 and hook 68 which engage the base plate 26 through openings 70 and 72 respectively to secure the spring 62 in a substantially centered position on the base plate sur~ace 54. The front end of the central portion - :
of the spring is sufficiently forward to underlie the latch plate 16 when it is inserted into the buckle body 12, ~12-~089Zq)~.
and is formed with an upstanding curved section 72 res-ting on the base plate 26.
The spring 62 biases the latch lever 20 into an upright or latched position by a pair o cantilever spring arms 74 which extend at an angle upwardly from the base of the spring to the undersurface of the push button section 45, which curved free ends 75 of the spring arms slidingly engage, That is, ends 75 of the spring arms are turned downwardly to form a smoo-th contact shoulder for sliding engagement with the undersurface.
As described briefly earlier, when the tongue plate 16 is inserted .into the end slot 18 of the buckle body, i~ may ~irs~ engaye a forward filo~ed surface 38 o~ the raised stop 59 on the base plate which guides the tongue plate over the pivot plate 50 o the latch lever 22 and to the curved frontal side of the raised latch surface 20.
As the latch plate is urther inserted, it depresses the raised latch surface and slides over the pivot plate 50.
The upturned corner 48 of one of the side channels permits ;
additional play in at least one side of the latch plate as it is inserted, allowing it to slide more easily over the raised latch surface. The curved undersurface 60 of the corner 48 cams the latch plate downwardly upon further insertion until the raised latch surface can snap upwardly, due to the bias o the spring 62, in~o the opening 24 in the latch plate. Withdrawal of the latch plate is then pxevented by engagement between the raised ., ,:
... . . . . . . . . .
~089Z(l~
latch surface 20 and the front edge of the opening 24 in the :
latch plate which.acts to abut the latch surface. .
To release the tongue pla~e 16, the push button section 45 of the latch lever 22 is depressed to pivot the 5 latch lever downwardly, abou-t its frontal edge 63, until ..
the latch surface 20 is withdrawn from the opening 24 in the tongue plate,. thereby releasing the latch plate for withdrawal. To accommodate the downward pivoting of the .
latch lever 22, which is mounted just above the plane o the surface 54 of the base plate 26, opening means and do~mwardly sloped portions of the base plate 26 are formed to allow the lower ends 75 of the upstanding lever arms 52 to pivot to positions lower than the upper surface 54 of the base plate. Also, portions of the lateral arms 30 pivot below the surface 54. Moxe speciEically, and as best seen in FIGURE 5, the base wall 26 is formed with a non-planar complex shape beneath the latch lever and in-cludes a downwardly and rearwardly sloped section 77 extending at its forward end from the pivot mounting . 20 slots 32 and wall 65 to forward edges 78 of the openings 28. Furthermore, the openings 32 in the side walls 34 ,.. .
, and 35 also extend into the s~oped section 77 and terminate .~ at walls 79 (FIGURE 4~ and the portions of the openings 32 in the base plate 46 permit lower rearward edges 80 -.~ 25 (FIGURE 8) of the pivot arms 30 to pivot a position lower than the plane of the rearward surface of the base plate 46. ~ central web 85 (FIGURES 4 and 5) is formed in the , .
~, . . ..
., , ~ . .
.', . . .
9ZO:~L
base plate and is joined to the lower and rearward end of the downwardly inclined section 77 and is sloped upwardly toward and joins the rearward planar portion of the base at the ends of the openings 28. In this manner, and because the latch lever is mounted just aboue the planar surface of the base plate, portions of the latch lever pivot plate S0, pivot arms 30 and cantilever arms 52 actually move to a position below the plane generally defined by the upper planar portion of the base plate when - 10 the latch lever is pivoted to a release position. This construction aids in providing a buckle body 12 with a streamlined and unobtrusive profile.
The open base plate has other advantages.
Access through ~he openings 28 would permit the i.nsertion of a switch eeler or contact Eor sensing when the saEety belt is buckled. This switch may in turn be con-nected to an ignition switch or to a warning light or buzzer to alert the occupant if the buckle is not fastened.
The buckle body 12 and latch lever 20 are mounted in a cover means which comprises the plastic cov~r 42 secured to the underside of the body and the cover ~4 carrled on top. The plastic cover ~2 inclucles a bottom wall 90 (FIGURE 3) and a pair of slde walls 92 (See FIGURE 3). The bottom wall is slotted for registering with the seat belt attachment slot 41 in the buckle body. The plastic cover includes a front lip 94 (FIGURE 2) which overlaps the front edge o~ the buckle body : . .
~Q~39ZO~L
and a rearward upstanding plastic hook 96 with an enlarged head 97 which snaps through an opening 98 in the base plate 26 to secure the cover 42 thereto. The plastic cover should be assembled after the latch lever 22 has been inserted since the side of the cover would not permit the pivot arms 30 to be inserted sufficiently through the openings 32 as described earlier. The cover 42 is fastened to the buckle body by pushing the frontal edge of the body down into the plastic cover under the lip 94 and then pressing the rear portion o the base plate downward until the plastic hook 96 of the cover snaps upward through the;opening 98 in the base plate. The plastic cover 42 also functions to retain and center the latch lever pivot arms 30 which are sl:idable laterally. More ~ 15 specifically, either oE the outer end walls 101 on ~he ;~ pivot arms will abut an upstanding side wall 92 of the plastic cover if the latch lever 20 should shi~t laterally along the base. Thus, the cover side walls will prevent a pivot arm from sllding laterally to a position where it would leave its opening 32 in a sidewall 3~ or 35.
Furthermore, the cover bottom wall 90 covers the openings 28 and prevents snagging of the occupant's clothes by any - portion of the buckle body or latch lever.
The cover 44 which overlies the top of the buckle body is similarly secured. Although it might also be constructed of plastic or other suitable material, it is preferably of polished metal. As best seen in FIGURE 2, an inwardly turned front lip 105 on the aluminum cover hooks onto projections 56 and 106 which .. . .
1~8920~ ~
extend inwardly from the upstanding side walls 34 and 35.
T~e underside of each projection is provided with a recess 109 to receive the lip 105 and a rearward clip 107 depends from the cover to snap into the same opening 98 as does the plastic hook 96 o the bottom cover. As may be - seen in FIGURE 3, the lower edges of the cover 44 ma~ abut the upper-edges of the plastic cover 42 to provide a substantially continuous and smooth cover around the base plate. And to permit access to the push-button section 45 of the latch lever 22, the cover 44 includes a generally rectangular top opening, the edges of which engage and overlie the ;
periphery of the push-button section 45. With the top and bottom covers in place, the buckle has an overall width o about 1.82 inches, an overall height of about 0.89 inclles and an overall length o~ about 2.89 inche5, The tongue plate 16 is of typical safety belt D-ring construction and is made o a generally 1at metallic plate, one end of which is attached to a seat belt portion or to a structural member and the other end of which comprises a D-ring or tongue plate with the opening 24 for insertion,into the buckle body. The D-rin~ is to be inserted throuyh the end slot 18 in the buckle body 12 and between the projections on the upstanding side walls 34 and 35. This guides the latch plate over the top of the pivot plate 50 o~ the latch lever 22. The D-ring portion of the latch plate is of sufficient width to extend substantially rom one inside surface of side wall 34 to . ~ , .
....
.' :
~0892Q~ ~
the inside surface of the other side wall 35 on the other side of the buckle body. The center opening 24 is provided to permit the raised latched surface 20 on the latch lever ~ -to snap upwardly after the tongue plate is inserted, thereby preventing withdrawal of the tongue plate by direct engage-ment between the raised latch surface and a facing edge of the opening which acts as an abutment surface against the raised latch surface. .
Although the buckle body 12 and latch lever 22 are small, they have been designed to withstand hsavy tensile force loadings of 5000 pounds or greater. To this end, the buckle base plate 26 is stiffened by the upstanding wall 65 which, under such loadings, abuts a relativel~ long extent o~ the edge 63 of the plate 50 oE the latch lever 22 to .prevent bending failure of the plate 50 or of the ~orward portion of the buckle base plate 26. More specifically, under such heavy loadings, the front edge 63 of the latch lever 22 engages the vertically extending wall 65 on the base plate to transmit loading from the latch lever 22 directly to the buckle body 12 at and along the central portions of the latch lever and base plate 26 as well as at the ends where the pi.vot arms 30 engage the upstanding side walls 34 and 35 o~ the buckle base. Preferably, the upstanding wall 65 has a flat vertical surface to provide 25 good contacting engagement with the flat vertical wall surface defining the front edge 63 of the latch lever so as to provent a camming of the front edge 63 over the : , , , . .. .
~Q8~Z~l wall 65 when very heavy loads are applied to the buckle.
Together the sloping su~face 3~ and the upstanding wall 65 on the buckle base provide a xeinforci.ng or stiffening configuration to the front end portion of the huckle body ~.
.
base plate 26 which allows a foreshortening of the buckle .:
~ase plate. That is, the extent of this forward portion of the base plate 26 need not be as long as it would need to be if it were not stif~ened by the upward deformation of .~. .
the metal to form the wall 65 and surface 38. This is in .:
contrast to prior art buckles which lac]c such a stiffening and have a flat longer plate portion to provide more metal to ~.
resist deformation under beam loads than does a bent metal plate, which has been bent to resist such beam loadings.
I~ either the sloped sur~ace 38 or the upstanding wall 65 w~e perEorated, then the æti~Eening provided b~ this con- . :
. figuration would he reduced because under high loadings the .
base plate could begin to bend at the perforation.
: It can therefore be seen that the present inven- ;
tion provides a short, low profile safety belt buckle that is uniquely simple and easy to assemble at a minimum cost.
The latch lever 22 is of one-piece foreshortened cons-truction, including a push-buk-ton section and i5 mounted just above the surface 54 o the buckle body base plate 26 to provide a low profile. Opening means in the base plate below the :'!
25 latch leYer cooperate with the mounting described above to ~; :
permit the latch lever to be pivoted downwardly into a recess and into a pair of spaced openings in the base plate to a .....
.. .
.''' . :' . ' ,.',.,~ . .
... . . . . . .
.. , , .: .
8~2C~
release position. The latch lever is simply mounted on the base plate by the pair of laterally extend:ing plvot arms which are inserted into the openings 32 in upstandinc3 side channels 3~ by tilting -the pivot plate 50, inserting one arm in an opening 32 and rotating the latch lever down-ward for the other arm to pass through an access slot 36 between projections on one side wall. M:inimum force is needed to insert the la-tch pla-te into the buckle body because gently sloped front sides on tllf3 stop surface and the raised abutment surface 20 combine wi,th the upturned corner 40 to guide and cam the latch plate over and down behind the raised latch surface.
The present invention has been de~cribecl in terms of the preferred embodiment, but c~rta.in changes may be made, some of which may immcdiately be app~rent ancl others of which may be apparent only after some study, without departure from this invention.' . --lg--
Claims (5)
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. In a safety belt buckle having a channel-shaped buckle body having a base and a pair of upstanding walls connected to opposite sides of said base pivotally receiving opposite pivot arms on a latch lever pivotally mounting the latch lever for pivoting by a push-buttom means against the biasing force of a spring means urging the latching lever upwardly to its latching position, the improvement for reducing the height and length of the buckle body comprising pivot arm receiving openings in said upstanding sidewalls at locations at substantially the plane of the buckle base of said channel-shaped buckle body receiving said pivot arms and locating a pivot axis adjacent said buckle base, openings in said buckle base allowing portions of said latch lever to pivot downwardly into said openings when said latch lever is operated by said push-button means, and a cover means attached to said channel-shaped buckle body and extending across said openings in said buckle base and covering the latter and said portions of said latch lever.
2. A safety belt buckle in accordance with claim 1 in which said latch lever is a single piece and comprises a substantially flat planar portion having said pivot arms, an upwardly projecting latch surface on said planar portion located rearwardly of said pivot arms, a pair of upwardly bent arms connected to rearward portions of said planar portion, and an integral push-buttom section connected to the upper ends of said arms and extending forwardly to position a portion thereof adjacent and overlying said latch dog.
3. A safety belt buckle in accordance with claim 1 in which said openings in said upstanding side walls receiving said latch lever pivot arms extend into said buckle base, and rearward edges of said latch lever arms pivot downwardly into said buckle base at said extended openings therein.
4. A safety belt buckle in accordance with claim 1 in which a pair of spaced projections are formed on the upper end of one of said side walls and define therebetween a slot through which may pass one of said latch lever pivot arms.
5. A safety belt buckle in accordance with claim 4 in which side wall portions of said cover means are positioned adjacent outer ends of said latch lever pivot arms to prevent lateral movement of said latch lever from a centered position on said buckle body.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US05/727,181 US4064603A (en) | 1976-09-29 | 1976-09-29 | Safety belt buckle |
| US727,181 | 1976-09-29 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1089201A true CA1089201A (en) | 1980-11-11 |
Family
ID=24921655
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA283,378A Expired CA1089201A (en) | 1976-09-29 | 1977-07-22 | Safety belt buckle |
Country Status (10)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US4064603A (en) |
| JP (1) | JPS5342957A (en) |
| AU (1) | AU510080B2 (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1089201A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE2740200C2 (en) |
| FR (1) | FR2365976A1 (en) |
| GB (1) | GB1560322A (en) |
| IT (1) | IT1079441B (en) |
| MX (1) | MX144407A (en) |
| SE (1) | SE419156B (en) |
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| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE2730885B1 (en) * | 1977-07-08 | 1979-02-08 | Hugo Kern Und Liebers & Co Platinen- Und Federnfabrik, 7230 Schramberg | Lock for seat belts |
| US4163128A (en) * | 1977-09-19 | 1979-07-31 | Gateway Industries, Inc. | Safety buckle with switch |
| US4197619A (en) * | 1978-09-22 | 1980-04-15 | Britax (Wingard) Limited | Tongue and buckle fastener for a safety belt harness |
| US4566160A (en) * | 1981-04-13 | 1986-01-28 | Irvin Industries, Inc. | End release inverse clevis buckle |
| US4535514A (en) * | 1982-09-27 | 1985-08-20 | Gateway Industries, Inc. | Seat belt with plastic cover |
| JPS59123408U (en) * | 1983-02-07 | 1984-08-20 | 株式会社東海理化電機製作所 | Buckle device |
| US4638533A (en) * | 1985-04-15 | 1987-01-27 | General Motors Corporation | Variable release seat belt buckle |
| US4575908A (en) * | 1985-07-05 | 1986-03-18 | General Motors Corporation | Lock for seat belt buckle |
| GB2218457B (en) * | 1988-05-11 | 1992-03-18 | Gen Motors Corp | Seat belt buckle. |
| GB2238074A (en) * | 1989-11-06 | 1991-05-22 | Europ Components Corp | Seat belt buckle. |
| US5210915A (en) * | 1989-11-06 | 1993-05-18 | European Components Corporation | Seat belt buckle |
| EP0492221B1 (en) * | 1990-12-28 | 1994-12-14 | Ykk Corporation | Buckle |
| US5181773A (en) * | 1991-03-28 | 1993-01-26 | Colvin David S | Vehicle occupant restraint belt buckle including illumination |
| US7296825B1 (en) | 1999-05-11 | 2007-11-20 | Autoliv Asp, Inc. | Multiple output buckle switch |
| US6502860B1 (en) * | 1999-10-08 | 2003-01-07 | Delphi Technologies, Inc. | Tension sensing switch assembly |
| US6837519B2 (en) * | 2002-06-21 | 2005-01-04 | General Motors Corporation | Seat belt latch plate and method of making same |
| JP4480426B2 (en) * | 2004-03-09 | 2010-06-16 | 芦森工業株式会社 | Seat belt device |
| JP2006097663A (en) * | 2004-09-30 | 2006-04-13 | Toyo Roki Mfg Co Ltd | Hinge mechanism for air cleaner |
| US9009931B2 (en) | 2012-03-01 | 2015-04-21 | Matthew Jensen | Versatile, convertible messenger bag |
Family Cites Families (10)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US3256576A (en) * | 1964-04-29 | 1966-06-21 | Gen Motors Corp | Seat belt buckle |
| FR1490780A (en) * | 1965-08-20 | 1967-08-04 | Britax London Ltd | Buckle for seat belt |
| US3353234A (en) * | 1965-09-20 | 1967-11-21 | Borg Warner | Safety belt buckle |
| US3574902A (en) * | 1969-09-04 | 1971-04-13 | Gen Motors Corp | Pushbutton buckle |
| US3686720A (en) * | 1970-02-09 | 1972-08-29 | William C Wehner | Safety belt buckle |
| FR2093138A5 (en) * | 1970-06-03 | 1972-01-28 | Ferodo Sa | |
| SE360017B (en) * | 1971-04-13 | 1973-09-17 | Holmberg Gote Eskil Yngve | |
| US4015094A (en) * | 1974-02-05 | 1977-03-29 | Irvin Industries, Inc. | Safety seat belt buckle switch with coil spring contact |
| US3921262A (en) * | 1974-02-26 | 1975-11-25 | American Safety Equip | Load bearing safety belt buckle construction |
| JPS51442A (en) * | 1974-06-21 | 1976-01-06 | Nsk Warner Kk | SHIITOBERUTOBATSUKURU |
-
1976
- 1976-09-29 US US05/727,181 patent/US4064603A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
-
1977
- 1977-07-22 CA CA283,378A patent/CA1089201A/en not_active Expired
- 1977-07-25 AU AU27270/77A patent/AU510080B2/en not_active Expired
- 1977-07-25 GB GB31103/77A patent/GB1560322A/en not_active Expired
- 1977-08-11 IT IT50654/77A patent/IT1079441B/en active
- 1977-08-16 MX MX170260A patent/MX144407A/en unknown
- 1977-09-07 DE DE2740200A patent/DE2740200C2/en not_active Expired
- 1977-09-19 JP JP11251577A patent/JPS5342957A/en active Granted
- 1977-09-26 FR FR7728865A patent/FR2365976A1/en active Granted
- 1977-09-27 SE SE7710794A patent/SE419156B/en not_active IP Right Cessation
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| DE2740200A1 (en) | 1978-03-30 |
| IT1079441B (en) | 1985-05-13 |
| AU2727077A (en) | 1979-02-01 |
| DE2740200C2 (en) | 1986-11-20 |
| SE419156B (en) | 1981-07-20 |
| JPS5342957A (en) | 1978-04-18 |
| SE7710794L (en) | 1978-03-30 |
| MX144407A (en) | 1981-10-09 |
| GB1560322A (en) | 1980-02-06 |
| FR2365976A1 (en) | 1978-04-28 |
| JPH0124481B2 (en) | 1989-05-11 |
| FR2365976B1 (en) | 1983-04-15 |
| AU510080B2 (en) | 1980-06-05 |
| US4064603A (en) | 1977-12-27 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |