Noise dampening tongues for use in a seat belt restraining system and methods of making the same

A method of manufacturing a noise dampening tongue assembly for use as part of a seat belt restraining system that incorporates a belt webbing to restrain the movement of a passenger in a vehicle, the method comprising:

• providing a base plate having a surface with a lower portion for engagement with a clamping member in the seat belt restraining system and an upper portion with a slot through which the belt webbing extends;
• wherein the lower portion defines a bottom perimeter for the tongue assembly;
• placing a cover material in contact with the surface of the base plate, such that the cover material defines at least a portion of a top perimeter, a front-side, and a back-side of the upper portion of the tongue assembly;
• and
• over-molding a soft touch material onto an external surface of the cover material such that the soft touch material defines at least a portion of a right perimeter and a left perimeter of the tongue assembly and extends horizontally across the surface of the cover material to connect the soft touch material located at the right and left perimeters;
• wherein the soft touch material and the cover material exhibit different hardnesses, such that the hardness of the cover material is greater than the hardness of the soft touch material.