Non-inertial release safety restraint belt buckle system
OwnerCharles Benedictinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Body restraint systems for vehicles that include buckles for latching and retaining latch plates associated with safety belts. The buckle of each system includes a pair of oppositely biased latching mechanisms that are operative in such a manner that an inertial force applied to release one latching mechanism from a latch plate inserted within the buckle creates an opposite and equal force against the opposite latching mechanism to thereby positively retain the latch plate within the buckle in a locked position. Release of a latch plate can only occur upon the simultaneous movement of both of the oppositely biased latching mechanisms away from one another by application of manual force on a slide release member.
Claims16
A non-inertial release restraint buckle assembly for a vehicle having a restraining belt, the buckle assembly comprising;
- a buckle including a frame and a housing at least partially covering said frame, said buckle having front and rear ends and opposite sides, a latch plate receiving channel defined within said housing, an opening in said front end of said housing communicating with said latch plate receiving channel and of a size to receive a latch plate therein, a latch plate having a locking tong including oppositely oriented end portions, a pair of latching mechanisms slidable mounted within said housing so as to be reciprocally movable in a guide channel defined within said housing and which extends transversely to a central longitudinal axis of said buckle which extends from said front to said rear ends, biasing means disposed on opposite sides of said pair of latching mechanisms for urging said latching mechanisms in opposite directions toward one another to a first inner locking position wherein said latching mechanisms are engageable with said locking tong of said latch plate when said latch plate is inserted in said housing, a release member engageable with said latching mechanisms for moving said latching mechanisms simultaneously outwardly away from said central axis of said buckle to second release positions wherein said latching mechanisms are disengaged from said locking tong of said latch plate so that said latch plate may be removed from said housing, and said biasing means constantly urging said latching mechanisms toward said first inner locking position with oppositely directed forces such that when one of said latching mechanisms is urged toward said second release position by an inertial force, a simultaneous increase in force is applied to retain the other latching mechanism in said first inner locking position thereof such that said latching mechanisms are only releaseable upon simultaneous application of forces to move said latching mechanisms from said first inner locking position to said second release position.
A method of providing a non-inertial safety restraint system for vehicles which system includes a latch plate having a generally centered locking tong, a buckle including a housing having an interior channel for selectively receiving the latch plate and a pair of oppositely oriented latching mechanisms movable within the housing from first locking positions engaging the locking tong of the latch plate to retain the latch plate within the housing to second release positions to permit insertion and removal of the latch plate relative to the interior channel of the housing, and wherein a release member is provided for simultaneously moving the latching mechanisms away from one another to the second release positions, the method including;
- a) continuously urging the pair of latching mechanisms toward one another to the first locking positions thereof by generally equal and opposite resilient forces,
- b) moving the pair of latching mechanisms from the first locking positions thereof outwardly to the second release positions thereof as the latch plate is being inserted within the housing and such that when the latch plate is fully inserted within the housing the pair of latching mechanisms are moved to the first locking positions thereof to prevent withdrawal of the latch plate from the buckle housing, and
- c) releasing the latch plate from the pair of latching mechanisms only upon the simultaneous application of force to each of the latching mechanisms by the release member to move them away from one another within the housing to the second release positions thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.