The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 02, 1976
Filed:
Nov. 21, 1974
Hubert Peter Blom, Royal Oak, MI (US);
General Motors Corporation, Detroit, MI (US);
Abstract
A buckle component of a vehicle occupant restraint belt system is slidably disposed on a restraint belt of the system in an improved manner. The buckle component may take the form of a female buckle or a male D-ring that secures the belt in an occupant restraining position. The buckle component includes a housing with an outwardly facing rectilinear locking portion extending transversely with respect to the elongated direction of the belt. An external lock bar extends alongside the locking portion with the belt received therebetween. The lock bar has a slightly greater length than the width of the belt and has end portions extending about the side edges of the belt and back toward each other in generally U-shaped configurations. These end portions are pivotally mounted on the housing of the buckle component. When the buckle component secures the belt in an occupant restraining position, two sides of the belt extend from the lock bar alongside each other and a manually applied tension on one of these sides pivots the lock bar away from the locking portion to permit sliding adjustment of the belt through the buckle component so that the other side is tensioned. This tensioning of the other side of the belt pivots the lock bar toward the locking portion and clamps the belt against the locking portion so that the buckle component is located along the belt and enables the belt to provide its occupant restraining function. The buckle component may be used in the restraint belt system to define the belt into angularly disposed lap and shoulder belt portions. Due to the external condition of the lock bar, the width of the housing may be the same as or less than the width of the belt, and the angularly disposed lap and shoulder belt portions may extend from their common juncture at the lock bar with rectilinear configurations.