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US 6,402,651 B1Granted
Emergency drive belt
OwnerChester Lee Shirleyinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An emergency belt for use on a motor drive unit that does not require tools for installation. A buckle on one end of the belt has an opening through which the opposite end of the belt is inserted. The buckle has a latching mechanism that engage notches formed on the under side of the belt. The latching mechanism allows tongue end of the belt to be inserted through the buckle in one direction yet prevents movement in the opposite direction. The belt is tightened by pulling the tongue end through the buckle.
Claims9
An emergency fan belt for a vehicle comprising:
- an elongate belt configured in cross section to fit a vehicle's fan belt pulleys, the belt having opposed ends fitted with a mated one way coupling, said coupling including a fastening mechanism that extends lengthwise along one of the ends to enable said one of the ends to be adjusted in an overlapping direction relative to the opposed end, and said coupling including a receiving buckle at the opposed end configured to have an entrance and an exit to receive and pass there through said one of the ends and further configured to have an upwardly and rearwardly curved bearing surface at the exit to allow said one of the ends as passed through the buckle to be slidably pulled in a direction back over the buckle enabling manual tightening of the belt with the belt mounted on the vehicle's pulleys.
A process for providing an emergency replacement drive belt on a vehicle which comprises:
- (a) providing a drive belt having outer and inner sides and opposed ends and a cross section fitted to the pulleys of the vehicle, one end provided with notches at an inner side of the belt and the other end fitted with a buckle having outer and inner sides and one way gripping protrusions that permit the one end to be inserted into the buckle with the notches facing the gripping protrusions and being allowed to pass over the protrusions in the direction of coupling and which prevents retraction of said one end out of the buckle, and an upwardly and rearwardly curved slidable bearing surface of the buckle at the outer side of the buckle and engaging the outer side of the belt;
- (b) placing the belt around the pulleys;
- (c) inserting the one end through the buckle;
- and
- (d) drawing the said one end through the buckle and back over the slidable bearing surface to force the buckle further onto the belt with said one end pulled in a direction back over the buckle until achieving a tightened condition.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.