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:
Feb. 07, 2012
Filed:
Jun. 19, 2007
Chandrashekhar K. Thorbole, Fayetteville, AR (US);
David Renfroe, Fayetteville, AR (US);
Chandrashekhar K. Thorbole, Fayetteville, AR (US);
David Renfroe, Fayetteville, AR (US);
Other;
Abstract
A buckle for a seat belt that resists unintentional unlatching when subjected to rapid acceleration or deceleration. The buckle assembly includes a female buckle and a removable male tongue plate. The female buckle includes a spring-loaded pawl that lockingly engages a slot in the removable tongue plate. The spring urges the pawl into locking engagement with the slot in the tongue plate. The present invention discloses a pawl-loading spring made from a material that resists elastic deformation when the buckle is subjected to a force perturbation such as the sudden acceleration or deceleration of the buckle that occurs during a crash. The spring material exhibits resistance to deformation when loaded at a high loading rate.