Buckle
US6205628A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 14, 1999 |
| Grant date | Mar 27, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 14, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T24/45644
- WIPO fieldOther consumer goods
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
The buckle of the invention comprises a housing, a buckle part connected to one end of a seat belt and having a passage for receiving an interlocking tongue part connected to another end of a seat belt, a pivoting carrier element carrying a latching element arranged to engage with the tongue part to lock the tongue part in the passage, a release button operatively coupled via a ramp surface to move the latching element from an engaging position in which the buckle is fastened to the tongue, to a release position in which the buckle is unfastened, a counterbalance mass slidably mounted in the housing so that its inertia acts on the latching element to keep the latching element in the tongue engaging position under forces of acceleration and of deceleration acting on the buckle, the inertia acting in a first direction under acceleration and in a second direction under deceleration thereby substantially to counteract the effects of button inertia on the operation of the buckle. This arrangement provides a buckle restraint to spurious release even under high pretensioning forces.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.