Impact resistant seat belt buckle
OwnerChandrashekhar K. Thorbole, David Renfroeinventors
Life of this patent
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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.
Claims6
A seat belt buckle assembly operable for resisting unintentional opening when subjected to rapid acceleration or deceleration comprising a female buckle and a removable male tongue plate, said male tongue plate being a substantially planar member having a slot therein, said female buckle having a casing with an open end adapted to receive a portion of said tongue blade having said slot therein, and a spring-loaded pawl assembly housed within said casing, said spring-loaded pawl assembly comprising a pawl dimensioned to fit within said slot in said tongue plate and a spring disposed between said casing and said pawl, said spring being elastically deformable and operable for urging said pawl into said slot, said spring being minimally deformable when subjected to a change in force applied to said pawl wherein said force has a duration of 1-5 milliseconds.
A seat belt buckle assembly operable for resisting unintentional opening when subjected to rapid acceleration or deceleration, said seat belt assembly comprising a female buckle and a removable male tongue plate, said male tongue plate being a substantially planar member having a slot therein, said female buckle having a casing with an open end adapted to receive a portion of said tongue blade having said slot therein, and a spring-loaded pawl assembly housed within said casing, said spring-loaded pawl assembly comprising a pawl dimensioned to fit within said slot in said tongue plate and a spring disposed between said casing and said pawl, said spring being elastically deformable and operable for urging said pawl into said slot, said female buckle further comprising a damping device disposed between said pawl and said casing, said damping device being operable for resisting elastic deformation of said spring and translational motion of said pawl when said pawl is subjected to a change in force having a duration of 1-5 milliseconds.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.