Buckle for seatbelt device

A buckle for a seatbelt apparatus comprising:

• a buckle stay that has a fixation portion provided at a base end of the buckle stay and adapted to be fixed to a vehicle body, and a coupling plate portion provided at a leading end of the buckle stay and having a first through-hole;
• a buckle base having a bottom plate portion and a pair of side plate portions standing up from opposite side edges of the bottom plate portion, the buckle base also having a second through-hole formed at one end of the bottom plate portion;
• a support shaft inserted through the first and the second through-holes, the support shaft being loosely inserted through the first through-hole in the coupling plate portion, to allow the buckle base to be coupled to the buckle stay so as to be able to tilt with respect to the buckle stay through a predetermined angle in a first direction perpendicular to a plate surface of the bottom plate portion and further so as to be able to pivot with respect to the buckle stay, through a predetermined angle in a second direction parallel to the plate surface of the bottom plate portion;
• an elastic member that when the buckle base tilts in the first direction and pivots in the second direction, urges the buckle stay to return the buckle base from a deflected position to an original position,
• the support shaft integrally forming a pair of arm portions provided at an upper portion of the support shaft and extending in a lateral direction, the arm portions trapping the buckle stay between the arm portions and the buckle base, and
• tip portions of the pair of arm portions are coupled into respective engagement grooves formed in the pair of side plate portions of the buckle base, the engagement grooves cooperating with the pair of arm portions to fix the rotational position of the support shaft relative to the buckle base, the support shaft fixed to the buckle base adjacent to the second through-hole to fixedly mount the support shaft to the buckle base bottom plate portion.