Buckle of a seat belt for a vehicle

A seat belt buckle including a buckle base, a generally rectangular latch member pivotably supported by said buckle base and having a latch portion, said buckle base having a flat portion and opposite side portions rising from opposed longitudinal side edges of said flat portion and having opposed holes for pivotably supporting said latch member, a tongue having an engaging portion for engaging said latch portion, said latch member having shorter opposite side edges extending outwardly through the opposed holes in the buckle base, said latch member being biased upwardly toward a tongue-locking position, in which said tongue is connected with said buckle base, while being pivotable substantially about a forward end surface of said shorter opposite side edges thereof, operating means for bringing said latch member from the tongue-locking position to a tongue-releasing position in which said tongue is released from said buckle base, said operating means including a member having leg portions and a lateral shaft, said leg portions engaging the opposite side edges of said latch member and being pushed downwardly about said lateral shaft integral therewith when said operating means is manually operated, thereby bringing said latch member to the tongue-releasing position about said forward end surface thereof, wherein at least one of the opposed holes of said buckle base has an extent lengthwise of the base that permits said latch member to pass therethrough.