Detent action buckle

A buckle for receiving a tongue comprising:

• (a) a buckle having a first and second plate, each with a flat surface parallel to that of the other, said surfaces being spaced to accept the forward part of the tongue between them, said forward part of the tongue and said first plate each having an opening therethrough, which openings substantially coincide when the tongue is fully inserted between the surfaces, thereby forming a chamber;
• (b) a detent disposed within the chamber formed by the first plate and the tongue when the latter is fully inserted;
• (c) a tongue release member having a slideable surface in contact with the upper surface of the first plate, said slideable surface of the tongue release member having an elongated cavity which is longer than the opening in the first plate, said tongue release member limited in its slideable motion from a first position where a forepart of the elongated cavity substantially coincides with the opening in the first plate, and a second position wherein the rear part of the elongated cavity substantially coincides with the opening in the first plate, said forepart of the elongated cavity having a depth such that taken together with the opening in the first plate, the detent can be completely contained in the space formed thereby, without extending beyond the exposed surface of the first plate, and the rear part of the elongated cavity having a depth less than that of the forepart, such that when taken together with the opening in the first plate, the detent cannot be completely contained in the space formed thereby, but extends beyond the exposed surface of the first plate;
• and
• (d) an outwardly biased tongue ejecting member, slideably positioned between the first and second plate in the path of the inserted tongue, said ejecting member limited in its forward movement in response to its bias, to a position to block the opening in the first plate, thereby retaining the detent in the closed space produced by the forepart of the cavity of the tongue ejecting member together with the opening in the first plate;
• whereby the inserted tongue displaces the tongue ejector allowing the detent to enter said chamber formed by the coincidence of the opening in the first plate with that of the inserted tongue, thus latching the tongue when the tongue release member is moved to its second position, but resulting in the ejection of the tongue when the tongue release member is moved to its first position.