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. 06, 1999
Filed:
Nov. 08, 1996
Applicant:
Inventors:
Brian K Blackburn, Rochester, MI (US);
Scott B Gentry, Romeo, MI (US);
Barney J Bauer, Fenton, MI (US);
Assignees:
TRW Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
TRW Vehicle Safety, System Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
B60Q / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
3404571 ; 340686 ; 34081542 ; 24633 ; 24639 ; 180268 ; 180270 ; 25022711 ; 2808011 ; 362 32 ; 362 61 ; 385115 ; 385901 ; 359151 ; 359173 ;
Abstract
A seat belt buckle (12) has a light-transmitting portion (26) which is visible to a vehicle occupant. The buckle (12) includes a housing (60) containing a latch mechanism (20) which releasably locks a seat belt tongue (16) in the housing (60). The housing (60) further contains a light source (70) and optical fibers (72) for conducting light from the source (70) to the light-transmitting portion (26) of the buckle (12).