US3763523A

US3763523A - Safety belt buckle

Info

Publication number: US3763523A
Application number: US00205107A
Authority: US
Inventors: S Lindblad
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1970-12-04
Filing date: 1971-12-06
Publication date: 1973-10-09
Anticipated expiration: 1990-10-09
Also published as: DE2160089A1; BE846960Q; SE359448B; ES200780U; DE2160089B2; JPS524985B1; ES200780Y; DE7145614U; DE2160089C3

Abstract

A safety belt buckle having a coupling member connected to one part of the safety belt assembly and including a spring loaded locking member, a tongue is connected to another part of the belt assembly which tongue can be inserted in said coupling member raising said locking member until said locking member snaps into its locking position retaining said tongue and means are provided for raising said locking member to release said tongue to permit its withdrawing from said coupling member to separate the belt assembly when desired.

Description

United States Patent [191 Lindblad @cto 9, 1973 SAFETY BELT BUCKLE Primary Examiner-Hemard A. Gelak [76] Inventor: Stig Martin Lindblad,Varga1-da,

440 20 Sweden [22] Filed: Dec. 6, 1971 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.: 205,107 A safety belt buckle having a coupling member connected to one part of the safety belt assembly and including a spring loaded locking member, a tongue is [30] Forelgn Pnonty Data 7 connected to another part of the belt assembly which Dec. 4, 1970 Sweden 16434/70 t ng e an be inserted in said coupling member i I ing said locking member until said locking member [52] ILLS. Cl. 24/230 AlL snaps into its locking position retaining said tongue [51] Int. Cl A44b 11/26 and means are provided for raising said locking mem- Field of Search 24/230 230 her to release said tongue to permit its withdrawing 24/230 AN, 230 AT, 230 NP; 292/150 from said coupling member to separate the belt assembly when desired. [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2 Ualms, 7 Drawing Figures 3,201,840 8/1965 Jantzen 24/230 AN 3,555.632 l/l97l Lindblad 24/230 AL SAFETY BELT BUCKLE The present invention relates to safety belt buckles of the kind comprising a coupling member connected to one part of the safety belt assembly and provided with a spring loaded locking member, and a tongue connected to another part of the belt, said tongue being insertable into said coupling member and adapted upon insertion to raise the locking member against the action of a spring, until the locking member snaps into its locking position and retains the tongue, manually operable means being provided for raising said locking member in order to release said tongue.

The object of the invention is to provide a buckle of the kind set forth above which is reliable and easy to use and which is constructed from a small number of parts which are cheap to manufacture.

A buckle according to the invention is mainly characterized in that the tongue has a front edge portion which is inclined in the plane of the tongue relative to the direction of insertion, the locking member being displaceable between its locking position and its releasing position in a direction which forms a considerable angle to the plane of the tongue and is provided with guide edges which upon insertion of the tongue will slide against said tongue front edge, said guide edges being inclined in such a direction that upon insertion of the tongue the locking member will be displaced against the action of the spring towards its releasing position, the tongue being provided with an abutment behind which the locking member will fall down at the end of the insertion movement.

One embodiment of the invention will be described herebelow with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through the buckle and FIGS. 2 6 inclusive, illustrate various parts of the buckle which will be described more closely herebelow.

In FIG. 1 numeral 1 indicates a buckle housing formed at one end as a sleeve 3 which is placed around one part 2 of the safety belt arrangement. In the example shown the part 2 is not a piece of belt proper but a semirigid connecting member comprising a steel wire 4 surrounded by a flexible plastic tube 5. One end of the wire 4 is secured in a sleeve 6 which is made in one piece with a plate 7. The opposite end of the connecting member 2 may for instance be provided with a suitable fitting for securing the connecting member in the floor or some other part of the vehicle. The plate 7 connected with the sleeve 6 is connected by means of a rivet 12 with two guide plates 13 and I4. A locking member 15 which is more clearly shown in FIG. 4 is journalled in the two guide plates 13 and I4 and is displaceable against the action of a spring 16. The locking member l5is in the form of a plate with various portions of different width. As is more clearly illustrated in FIG. 5 the two guide plates 13 and 14 are interconnected apart from by the rivet 12 also by a rivet 27. The

The portion 34 has a width which is slightly less than the length of the aperture 30 and the portion indicated at 35 has a downwardly tapering form. The portion 36 has a width which is slightly less than the length of the aperture 31 in the guide plate 14 and such a height that it will be located in the aperture 31 even in the raised position of the locking member 15. One belt part (not shown) of the safety belt is connected with a tongue 25 which is shown in FIG. I inserted into the buckle housing and interlocked therewith. As will be clear from FIG. 2 the front portion of the tongue is provided with a tapering slot 37 which at its inner narrower end connects to a wider opening 33, the width of which exeeds the width of the portion 34 of the locking member 15. When the tongue 25 is inserted between the guide plates 13 and 114 the inclined edges of the slot 37 will slide against the inclined edges of the portion 35 of the locking member so that the locking member will be raised against the action of the spring I6. Numeral 39 indicates a cross member displaceably guided between the guide plates 13 and 14. The cross member 39 has guide portions 40 which extend into slots 41 and 42 in the guide plates 13 and 114 respectively. The cross member 39 also has a projection 44 which forms a guide for a coil spring 43 which has its other end lying against the rear edges of the slots 41 and 42. Upon insertion of the tongue 25 the cross member 39 will be displaced against the action of the spring 43. The locking member 15 has its portion 33 resting against one leg 19 of a substantially Z-shaped release lever 20 which is supported on the plate I3 and which has a transverse edge around which the lever may be pivoted for the purpose of releasing the release member. The other leg 22 of the release lever 20 is the part of the lever which is manually operated for releasing the locking member. In the embodiment shown the leg 22 is in the form of a plate provided inside the buckle housing I and accessible through an opening 33 in the wall of the housing. If the operating plate 22 is subjected to pressure the release lever will pivot around the edge 21 and will thereby displace the locking member 15 upwardly, i.e. towards the release position. If the opening 23 in FIG.

I should be made to extend further to the right so that the right hand edge of the operating portion of the release lever will be accessible through the opening, then the buckle may also be released by raising the operating lever so that it pivots in a counter clockwise direction around the edge 21 which will also result in the locking member I5 being raised and the buckle thereby released. During the release operation the cross member 39 serves to eject the tongue 25. Between the release lever leg 22 and the guide plate I3 there is provided a piece 45 of elastic material which will be compressed upon operation of the release lever and which will tend to return the lever 20 to its inoperative position. The lever 20 is shown in FIG. 6 seen from above according to FIG. ll. As will appear from FIG. 6 the opening 46 in the release lever for the locking member is open towards the front edge of the lever via a narrower portion 47 for the purpose of facilitating mounting the various parts together.

The connecting member 2 may preferably be made in such a way that after it has been bent to a desired position it will remain in that position. This may be attained for instance by surrounding the member 2 with a further piece of tubing which is flexible but nonelastic.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment which has been described hereinbefore and shown in the drawing as an example only, said embodiment being capable of modifications with respect to its details within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A safety belt buckle of the kind comprising a coupling member connected to one part of the safety belt assembly and provided with a spring loaded locking member and a tongue connected to another part of the belt, said tongue being insertable into said coupling member and adapted upon insertion to raise the locking member against the action ofa spring until the locking member snaps into its locking position and retains the tongue, manually operable means being provided for raising said locking member in order to release said tongue, characterized in that the tongue (25) has a front edge portion which is inclined in the plane of the tongue relative to the direction of insertion, the locking member (15) being displaceable between its locking position and its releasing position in a direction which forms a considerable angle to the plane of the tongue and is provided with guide edges which upon insertion of the tongue will slide against said tongue front edge, said guide edges being inclined in such a direction that upon insertion of the tongue the locking member will be displaced against the action of the spring towards its releasing position, the tongue being provided with an abutment behind which the locking member will fall down at the end of the insertion movement.

2. A buckle as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the locking member is in the form of a plate located in a plane transverse to the direction of insertion of the tongue and forms a considerable angle with said tongue, the side edges of said plate forming said inclined guide.

Claims

1. A safety belt buckle of the kind comprising a coupling member connected to one part of the safety belt assembly and provided with a spring loaded locking member and a tongue connected to another part of the belt, said tongue being insertable into said coupling member and adapted upon insertion to raise the locking member against the action of a spring until the locking member snaps into its locking position and retains the tongue, manually operable means being provided for raising said locking member in order to release said tongue, characterized in that the tongue (25) has a front edge portion which is inclined in the plane of the tongue relative to the direction of insertion, the locking member (15) being displaceable between its locking position and its releasing position in a direction which forms a considerable angle to the plane of the tongue and is provided with guide edges which upon insertion of the tongue will slide against said tongue front edge, said guide edges being inclined in such a direction that upon insertion of the tongue the locking member will be displaced against the action of the spring towards its releasing position, the tongue being provided with an abutment behind which the locking member will fall down at the end of the insertion movement.