European Components Co. Limited

Michael John Jackson

Mark John Harrison

Cecil Owens

Kotaro Kitai

A seat belt buckle of the general type disclosed in GB-A-2238074 in which the slider (,) has extending downwardly from its body (,) clips (,) having side flanges (,), the flanges being formed with chamfers (,). The body (,) of the locking member (,) is provided with elongate slots (,), into which the clips (,) can be pressed, the flanges (,) retaining the slider in place. The length of the slots (,) and of the clips (,) is chosen to allow adequate sliding movement of the slider (,).

Seat belt buckle

A seat belt buckle for use with a tongue 16, associated with a seat belt, includes a frame 10, in which is mounted an ejector 20, operable by an ejector spring 22. Insertion of the tongue pushes a retainer 30 down a track 26, against the action of a retainer spring 32. The track is inclined at an angle .alpha. to the path 15 of the tongue and extends outwardly away from the path in the direction of insertion of the tongue. When the tongue has been inserted an adequate amount, the retainer 30, e.g. a ball returns up the ramp under the influence of the spring 32 and engages in an aperture 18 in the tongue to retain the tongue in the locked condition. Operation of a release mechanism 42 disengages the retainer from the aperture thereby to release the tongue.

A seat belt buckle which is adapted to releasably engage a latch plate 42 having an aperture 40 therein. The buckle comprises a rigid frame 10 including a base 12 and upstanding side walls 14 adapted to guide the latch plate 42 longitudinally of the frame 10. A locking member 24 is mounted on the frame and carries a downwardly projecting locking element 38. The locking member 24 is pivotable between a lower latched position in which the locking element 38 engages the aperture 40 in the latch plate 42 to retain the latch plate in place, and an upper unlatched position. A pair of wings 30 extend laterally from the locking member 24 and engage in the side walls 14 to pivotally and resiliently mount the locking member 24 for movement between its upper and lower positions. The wings 30 are capable of elastic flexing upon axial loading of the locking member 24 by the latch plate 40. At least one stop member 34 extends laterally from the locking member 24 and engages abutments on the rigid frame 10, at least when the locking member 24 is in its lower position, to prevent flexing of the wings 30 beyond their elastic limit and the at least one stop member 34 is joined to an adjacent one of the wings 30 outside the side walls 14 of the frame 10.

A buckle for a seat belt of a motor vehicle has a frame 10 including a base and upstanding side walls, a lock pin 12 extending between the side walls, a lock bar 18 engagable in an aperture 26 in a latch plate 24 associated with the seat belt, a slider 16 connected with the lock bar 18, said slider 16 being retained under the lock pin 12 when the lock bar 18 is engaged in a latch plate aperture 26, a release button 20 for releasing said slider 16 from the lock pin 12 and thus releasing the lock bar 18 from engagement with the aperture 26 in the latch plate 24. At least one portion of the lock pin 12 contacted by the slider 16 is rotatably mounted within the buckle and is rotated by the motion of the slider 16 during the course of insertion into and/or release from the buckle of a latch plate 24.

A buckle for a seat belt of a motor vehicle includes a release button (24) which is provided to release the latch plate from the locking means. A resilient protrusion or protrusions on the button presses the latch plate, when inserted in the buckle, against the frame of the buckle thereby reducing the tendency of the latch plate and frame to rattle against each other and consequently the noise generated by vibration of the buckle is reduced.

A buckle for a seat belt of a motor vehicle includes a lockbar 18 engagable in an aperture 26 in a latch plate 24, which is inserted into the buckle. A slider 16 connected with the lockbar 18 is retained under a lockpin 12 to prevent the lockbar 18 from disengaging the aperture 26 in the latch plate 24, except when a release button 20 is depressed. The surface of the lockpin 12 confronting the slider 16, when the lockbar 18 is engaged in an aperture 26 in a latch plate 24, is provided with one or more protuberances 28 such that when under high load the lockpin 12 becomes embedded in the slider 16 to prevent the slider 16. from sliding with respect to the lockpin 12 and inadvertently releasing the latch plate 24 from the buckle.

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Cullybackey, United Kingdom

Michael John Jackson