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:
Apr. 28, 1998
Filed:
Feb. 13, 1997
Applicant:
Inventors:
Steven G Corrion, Oxford, MI (US);
Scott B Gentry, Romeo, MI (US);
Brian K Blackburn, Rochester, MI (US);
Assignees:
TRW Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
TRW Vehicle Safety Systems Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A44B / ; B60R / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
24633 ; 24303 ; 24603 ; 24645 ; 180270 ;
Abstract
A seat belt buckle (12) includes a latch mechanism (20) and a Hall effect assembly (26). The latch mechanism (20) releasably interlocks with a seat belt tongue (16). The Hall effect assembly (26) has a first output if the seat belt tongue (16) is not interlocked with the latch mechanism (20) and has a second, different output if the seat belt tongue (16) is interlocked with the latch mechanism (20). The output of the Hall effect assembly (26) thus indicates whether or not the seat belt tongue (16) is interlocked with the latch mechanism (20).