Seat belt assembly

Abstract

A seat belt assembly which requires an operator to buckle the seat belt straps together in front of him when he is seated. The seat belt straps are inserted through flexible shields on opposed sides of an operator's chair with leaf springs extending from the ends of the shields to positions beneath and slightly inwardly of the chair arms. If the operator attempts to leave the straps unbuckled or to buckle the straps behind him, the leaf springs cause sufficient discomfort to prevent this non-use or misuse of the seat belt assembly. Further, the straps may be provided with projections adjacent their secured ends which also cause discomfort to the operator if the straps are not buckled properly. The seat belt assembly also includes a switch which is secured to a mounting bracket on the floor of the operator's compartment. A support member is rotatably secured to the mounting bracket with a leaf spring actuator member being connected to the support member for actuating the switch when the support member is rotated in response to the buckling of the seat belt straps. If the ends of the seat belt straps are buckled properly, the support member is rotated thereby bringing the leaf spring actuator member into engagement with the switch for closing the switch.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.