KR20200064886A - Seat belt buckle - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a seat belt buckle which can prevent failure in unlocking a tongue plate by preventing deformation of a latch member when a sudden load is generated in the seat belt buckle due to a vehicle collision in the locked state of the tongue plate.

Description

Seat belt buckle {SEAT BELT BUCKLE}

The present invention relates to a seat belt buckle, and more particularly, to a seat belt buckle that can be easily released by the passenger even when a sudden load occurs due to a collision.

In general, a vehicle is equipped with a seat belt in a vehicle seat to secure driving safety of a driver such as a driver. The seat belt installed in the vehicle is configured to constrain the occupant's body in the event of an automobile collision to prevent secondary collisions and mitigate shock while preventing the occupant from jumping out of the vehicle body.

The most common form of such a seat belt device is a three-point seat belt device in which a shoulder belt for shoulder restraint and a lap belt for waist restraint are combined.

The seat belt device is equipped with a seat belt woven in the shape of a synthetic fiber such as nylon or polyester, a seat belt that is not used, or is equipped with a retractor or seat belt for storing the seat belt when the belt length is adjusted according to the seating position of the occupant or It may include a buckle for release, a tongue plate, and a seat belt guide for fixing one end of the seat belt to the vehicle body.

When not using a seat belt, the seat belt's belt tongue is positioned between the pillar trim and seat while hanging in the middle of the belt.

In general, when exporting a car, the car certification required by the relevant region or country is required, and the manufacturer is issued a certificate after performing the application and certification process at the certification authority. The labeling process is carried out by attaching a label indicating information about the certification, for example, certification authority, certification number, certification date, etc., to the seat belt anchor or imprinting on the grip portion of the seat belt tongue.

A latch hole is formed in the center of the tongue plate of the seat belt, and a locking piece bent downward toward the tip of the latch member inside the buckle is inserted into the latch hole to fix the tongue plate.

Republic of Korea Patent Registration No. 10-1504228 (announced on March 19, 2015)

However, in the seat belt according to the prior art, when an occupant's load is transmitted to the belt due to an accident or the like, an instantaneous strong force acts in the direction of the arrow in the drawing, and this force causes deformation in the locking piece of the latch member.

When the latch member is deformed as described above, even if the occupant operates the release button to release the seat belt, the deformed locking piece is caught and not detached from the latch hole.

In addition, even if the locking piece is not caught in the latch hole, the interior of the seat belt buckle is in a state in which various parts are integrated for miniaturization, so the deformation of the latch member for load may cause interference with other parts, and the belt It may cause a failure, such as a state in which the release of the seat belt is impossible, and the locking piece may be unstablely coupled to the latch hole due to the tension acting in the vertical and horizontal directions on the webbing of the seat belt in the locked state of the seat belt.

In order to solve this problem, in Patent Document 1, when a tension occurs in a stable coupling and a webbing of a load-supporting protrusion protruding inward to both side walls of the frame and a buckle of the tongue, the tongue is in contact with the buckle. A load support protrusion member integrally formed with a tongue stopper that prevents deformation occurring in the direction, and when loads are generated in the direction of pulling the latch member by forming load supports on both sides of the latch member, the load support contacts the load support protrusion member A seat belt buckle configuration that prevents deformation of the latch member by distributing the load is described.

However, when forming the load supporting projection member and the load support on the frame and the latch member, respectively, as in Patent Document 1, when the latch member collides with the load supporting projection member together with the deformation of the locking piece, the latch member is instantly deformed upward or downward. It might be.

Therefore, even if Patent Document 1 is applied, there is a limit to prevent deformation of the latch member due to the load applied to the tongue plate.

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems as described above, to provide a vehicle seat belt device for a passenger to easily release the buckle even in the event of a sudden load on the seat belt buckle due to a collision.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an automobile seat belt device capable of elastically deforming a latch member in a stepwise manner when a load due to a collision is applied, and restoring it to an original stable shape when the load is removed.

In order to achieve the above object, the seat belt buckle according to the present invention includes a buckle assembly for locking or releasing the tongue plate and an upper and lower cover in which the buckle assembly is embedded, wherein the buckle assembly is the lower A base frame seated on a cover and coupled to both sides of the base frame, one end is rotatably supported, and includes a latch member for locking or releasing the tongue plate, wherein the latch member is a body disposed along a horizontal direction, the It is formed to bend downward on the front end of the body, and is formed on the rear side of the body and the locking piece which is coupled to or released from the latch hole formed on the tongue plate, and a load is generated in the direction of discharging the tongue plate in the locked state of the tongue plate. When the load is removed, it is elastically deformed into a flat plate shape, and includes an elastic deformable portion that is restored to an original inclined shape. On both side walls of the base frame, a pair of supports toward the inside of the base frame at positions symmetrical to each other It is characterized in that the protruding member protrudes.

As described above, according to the seat belt buckle according to the present invention, when a sudden load is generated in the seat belt buckle due to a collision of the vehicle in the locked state of the tongue plate, the latch member is elastically deformed into a flat plate shape and the load is removed. The effect that it can be restored to its original shape is obtained.

Accordingly, according to the present invention, when a sudden load is applied due to a collision or the like, the problem that the latch member cannot be unlocked while the latch member is deformed is solved, thereby obtaining the effect that the passenger can easily release the buckle. .

In addition, according to the present invention, by limiting the downward movement of the locking piece during the load action, the effect that the locking piece can be prevented from being damaged or damaged when projecting to the lower portion of the base frame is obtained.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the tongue plate is coupled to the buckle assembly of the seat belt buckle according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention,
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the tongue plate is separated,
3 is a block diagram of the base frame and the latch member shown in FIG. 1,
4 to 7 is an exemplary view for explaining the operation method of the seat belt buckle.

Hereinafter, a seat belt buckle according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the tongue plate is coupled to the buckle assembly of the seat belt buckle according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the state in which the tongue plate is separated, and FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. 1 It is a block diagram of the base frame and the latch member.

Hereinafter, the direction in which the tongue plate is disposed based on the buckle assembly is referred to as'front', and the opposite direction is referred to as'rear'. In addition, terms referring to directions, that is,'upper','downward','left' and'right' are described as indicating respective directions based on the front and rear.

Seat belt buckle 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the buckle assembly 14 for locking/unlocking the tongue plate 13 and the buckle assembly 14 therein It includes built-in upper and lower covers (11,12).

Buckle assembly 14 is seated on the lower cover 12, the base frame 20 is coupled, one end is rotatably supported on both sides of the base frame 20 is fitted to the latch hole 15 of the tongue plate 13 The paper includes an ejector assembly 40 that locks or unlocks the latch member 30 by an operation applied to the latch member 30 and the release button 50.

In this embodiment, a description will be given focusing on the configuration of the base frame 20 and the latch member 30 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

That is, the present invention improves the shape and structure of the base frame 20 and the latch member 30 to prevent deformation of the latch member 30 due to a load applied to the latch member 30 due to a collision, and thus, the latch member Due to the deformation of the (30), it prevents a failure such as a state in which the seat belt buckle 10 and the tongue plate 13 cannot be unlocked.

Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, the configuration of the buckle assembly 14 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is described, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and each device provided in the buckle assembly 14, that is, the base frame ( 20) It should be noted that the shape and structure of the latch member 30, the ejector assembly 40 and the release button 50 can be variously changed.

The base frame 20 may include a bottom plate 21 and both side walls 22 formed along the vertical direction at both ends of the bottom plate 21 in a cross-section of approximately'└'.

The bottom plate 21 is coupled with the lower end of the locking piece 32 in a state where the locking piece 32 of the latch member 30 to be described below penetrates through the latch hole 15 of the tongue plate 13. The coupling space 23 may be formed.

The front wall of the engaging space 23 may perform a stopper function to limit the forward movement of the locking piece 32.

Of course, the present invention may be modified to increase the force limiting the movement of the locking piece, so as to protrude the stopper upwardly on the upper front wall of the coupling space formed in the bottom plate.

Here, the front wall of the coupling space 23 and the stopper may be formed to be spaced apart by a predetermined set distance from the front end surface of the locking piece 32 of the latch member 30.

When the set distance is increased, the amount of deformation of the latch member 30 due to the load may be increased.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the distance between the front wall of the engaging space 23 and the locking piece 31 can be set by considering the movement of the tip of the locking piece 32.

A pair of engaging grooves 24 are formed at the rear ends of both side walls 22 to be rotatably coupled to both ends of the elastic support portion 33 formed on the rear side of the latch member 30 to be described below.

Each coupling groove 24 is formed so that the elastic support portion 33 coupled therein can rotate to lock or unlock the tongue plate 13, the front end surface of the coupling groove 24 is formed vertically, the coupling groove ( The rear end surface of 24) may be formed to be inclined toward the rear side upward by an angle corresponding to the rotation angle of the elastic support portion 33.

As described above, the present invention forms coupling grooves at the rear end portions of both side walls to rotatably couple both ends of the elastic support portion, and when the latch member moves forward by a load, the front wall of the coupling groove is formed vertically. The elastic support can be securely fixed so as not to move forward.

In addition, a pair of ejector slots 25 into which both ends of the moving member 43 provided in the ejector assembly 40 are inserted may be formed in the front and rear directions of both side walls 22 along the front-rear direction.

Along with this, a pair of support projection members 28 are formed on both side walls 22 with the support projections 26 and the tongue guides 27 protruding toward the inside of the base frame 20 at positions symmetrical to each other.

The support protrusion 26 is provided with a stopper function to limit the position where the tongue plate 13 is coupled to the buckle 10, and when a sudden load occurs on the seat belt buckle 10 due to a collision, the tongue plate 13 The combined latch member 30 functions to limit the distance to move forward.

The tongue guide 27 functions to guide the tongue plate 13 coupled into the buckle 10.

Each of the pair of support projection members 28 may be molded in an embossing manner so as to protrude from the outside of both side walls 22 toward the inside rear.

To this end, the front end of each support protrusion 26 is bent inward from both side walls 22, and the rear end of each support protrusion 26 can support both front end parts 38 of the body 31. It can be sheared from both side walls 22.

Here, the pair of support protrusions 26 are normally spaced apart by a predetermined set distance G from both front end parts 38 of the body 31 of the latch member 30.

In addition, the pair of support protrusions 26 abut the front end portions 38 on both sides of the body 31 moving forward by the elastic deformation of the latch member 30.

For example, the set interval G takes into account the amount of elastic deformation of the elastic support portion 33 and the elastic deformation portion 34 provided on the latch member 30 to be described below by the load generated when the vehicle crashes. Can be set to a certain distance.

As described above, the present invention forms a pair of support protrusions on both side walls of the base frame, forms a coupling space on the bottom plate, and uses a pair of support protrusions and a front wall of the coupling space when a load is applied to the belt. By supporting the both ends of the latch member and the lower end of the locking piece.

Accordingly, the present invention can be prevented from being deformed by the load by limiting the both ends of the latch member and the locking piece to no longer move forward.

The latch member 30 is formed to be bent downward on the front end of the body 31 and the body 31 disposed along the horizontal direction, and is bent downward on the front end of the body 31 and formed on the tongue plate 13 It is provided at the rear end of the locking piece 32, the body 31, which is coupled or released to the latch hole 15, and both ends are coupled to both side walls 22 of the base frame 20 so that the latch member 30 is rotatable. It is provided between the elastic support portion 33 and the body 31 and the elastic support portion 33 and is formed to be inclined upward toward the rear side, and when a load is applied, it is elastically deformed into a flat plate shape, and then the original inclined shape when the load is removed It may include an elastic deformation portion 34 to be restored.

An installation space 35 in which a latch spring 36 providing a restoring force to the ejector assembly 40 is installed is formed in the central portion of the body 31 to be formed in a substantially rectangular frame shape when viewed from the top.

The locking protrusions 37 serving as stoppers of the tongue plates 13 may be formed at the central portions on both sides of the body 31, respectively, to bend downward.

The locking projection 37 defines a position where the tongue plate 13 is inserted inside the buckle assembly 14, and thus, due to excessive insertion of the tongue plate 13, plastics, etc., are ejected from the ejector assembly 40 and the release button 50. It serves to prevent damage or breakage of parts made of synthetic resin materials.

Along with this, the locking projection 37 is an elastic deformation that limits the downward movement of the latch member 30 when a sudden load occurs on the seat belt buckle 10 due to a collision of the vehicle in the locked state of the tongue plate 13 It functions as a limiting member.

That is, as the latch member 30 elastically deforms and the body 31 of the latch member 30 moves downward, the locking protrusion 37 moves inclined toward the front side downward.

At this time, since the tongue plate 13 is coupled between the latch member 30 and the bottom plate 21 of the base frame 20, the maximum downward movement position of the latch member 30 is the thickness of the tongue plate 13 It is limited to.

As described above, the present invention provides a case in which an external force acts in the direction of separating the tongue plate in the event of a collision of a vehicle, limiting the distance of movement of the latch member downward, and the locking piece formed at the tip of the latch member protrudes downward from the base frame Damage or breakage can be prevented.

On the other hand, the locking piece 32 is formed protruding from the center of the front end of the body 31 compared to both sides, it can be bent at a vertical or near vertical angle toward the downward.

As described above, the present invention can improve the durability of the latch member, particularly the locking piece, as the locking piece is bent downwardly at the tip of the body.

So, the locking piece 32 is a direction in which the tongue plate 13 is discharged in the locked state of the tongue plate 13, that is, when a load is generated in the front, the lower end of the locking piece 32 is the bottom plate of the base frame 20 It is fixed by the front wall and the stopper of the coupling space 23 formed in (21).

The elastic support portion 33 is vertically formed along the vertical direction, and both ends of the elastic support portion 33 can be rotatably coupled to the coupling grooves 24 formed at the rear ends of both side walls 22 of the base frame 20. have.

The elastic support portion 33 is in the direction of discharging the tongue plate 13 in the locked state of the tongue plate 13, that is, when a load is generated in the front, both ends are coupled to the engaging groove 24 of the base frame 20 Since it is a state, the central portion of the elastic support portion 33 is elastically deformed convexly toward the front, and is restored to its original shape when the load is removed.

The elastic deformation portion 34 is elastically deformed into a flat plate shape when a load is generated forward from the latch member 30, and is restored to its original shape when the load is removed.

To this end, the elastic deformation portion 34 is formed to be inclined by a predetermined angle between the body 31 and the elastic support portion 33.

Ejector assembly 40 is inserted into the moving space formed in the bottom plate 21 of the base frame 20, the moving member 43 moving in the front-rear direction, a pair formed on both side walls 22 of the base frame 21 Ejector 42 which rotates to press the locking bar 41 by the restoring force of the latch spring 36 is axially coupled to the locking bar 41 and the moving member 43 coupled across the ejector slot 25 of the It may include.

Here, the ejector 42 is axially coupled to the top of the moving member 43 to rotate and press or release the locking bar 41.

So, the moving member 43 moves forward by the elastic force provided by the latch spring 36 when the tongue plate 13 is separated. At this time, the moving member 43 is disposed under the locking piece 32 formed at the tip of the latch member 30.

In addition, the moving member 43 is moved to the rear when the tongue plate 13 is engaged, and is disposed under the pair of locking protrusions 37 formed on both sides of the latch member 30.

The release button 52 is mounted on the front of the ejector assembly 40 so as to be movable along the front-rear direction of the base frame 20, and is pushed rearward when the belt wearer wants to unlock the tongue plate 13. It serves to release the locked state of the plate 13 and the latch member 30.

The release button 50 is axially coupled to the rear end of the pressing portion 51 and the pressing portion 51 that presses the locking bar 41 provided on the ejector assembly 40 by the belt wearer's operation. 41) may include a rotating member 52 that rotates to fix or release.

Next, with reference to Figures 4 to 7 will be described in detail the coupling relationship and operation method of the seat belt buckle according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

4 to 7 is an exemplary view for explaining the operation method of the seat belt buckle.

4 and 5 show a plan view and a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the tongue plate is coupled, respectively, and FIGS. 6 and 7 show an operating state of the latch member when a load occurs in the direction of discharging the tongue plate, respectively. Top views and cross-sections are shown.

When the tongue plate 13 is inserted into the buckle assembly 14, the latch member 30 rotates counterclockwise around the elastic support 33, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and the latch member The locking piece 32 formed bent at the tip of the 30 penetrates the latch hole 15 of the tongue plate 13 and is coupled to the coupling space 23 formed in the bottom plate 21 of the base frame 20.

At this time, a pair of locking protrusions 37 protruding downward from both side ends of the latch member 30 are in contact with the tip of the tongue plate 13 so that the tongue plate 13 is inserted into the buckle assembly 14 Is limited.

By the rotation operation of the latch member 30 described above, the tongue plate 13 is locked.

When a load occurs in the direction of discharging the tongue plate 13 along the direction of arrow A shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 due to a collision of the vehicle in the locked state of the tongue plate 13, the latch of the tongue plate 13 A force pulling the locking piece 32 coupled to the hole 15 in the direction of arrow A acts.

Then, the elastic support portion 33 of the latch member 30 is convexly elastic toward the front with the center portion (P1) coupled to the coupling grooves 24 formed at both side walls 22 of the base frame 20. Is transformed.

In addition, the elastic deformation portion 34 of the latch member 30 is elastically deformed so as to have a flat shape along the direction of arrow C shown in FIG. 7 in a state inclined toward the rear side upward.

At this time, the elastic support portion 33 serves to support the elastic deformation portion 34 to be elastically deformed.

And the lower end of the front end portion 38 and the locking piece 32 of the body 31, respectively, the coupling space formed on the support projection member 28 and the bottom plate 21 formed on both side walls 22 of the base frame 20 The front movement of the 23 and the stopper (P3, P2) is prevented from moving forward.

At the same time, the latch member 30 is supported by the locking protrusions 37 formed on both sides of the body 31 so as to function as an elastic deformation limiting member (P4), and downward movement is limited.

That is, the latch member 30 has both side walls 22 and a coupling space 23 of the base frame 20, a supporting projection member 28, and four points P1 to P4 shown in FIGS. It is in contact with and supported by the locking projections 37 of the body 31.

When the load is removed again, the elastic deformation portion 34 is restored to the original inclined upward direction, and the elastic support portion 33 is restored to the original vertical wall shape.

As such, even if a load is applied to the latch member 30 in the direction in which the tongue plate 13 is discharged, deformation such as bending of the lower end of the locking piece 32 upward may be prevented.

On the other hand, when the load acts on the locking piece 32, the locking projections 37 formed on both sides of the latch member 30 move downward by the load.

At this time, since the latch member 30 is in a state where the tongue plate 13 is disposed between the latch member 30 and the bottom plate 21 of the base frame 20, the downward movement is caused by the thickness of the tongue plate 13. Is limited.

Through the process as described above, the present invention, when a sudden load occurs on the seat belt buckle due to the collision of the vehicle in the locked state of the tongue plate, elastically deforms the latch member into a flat plate shape and restores the original shape when the load is removed. I can do it.

Accordingly, according to the present invention, when a sudden load is applied due to a collision or the like, the latch member is deformed and the problem that the tongue plate cannot be unlocked can be solved, so that the passenger can easily release the buckle.

In addition, the present invention can prevent damage or damage to the case that occurs when the locking piece protrudes to the lower portion of the base frame by limiting the downward movement of the locking piece using an elastic deformation limiting member when a sudden load is applied.

Although the invention made by the present inventors has been described in detail according to the above-described embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made without departing from its gist.

The present invention is applied to the seat belt buckle technology that prevents the failure of unlocking the tongue plate by preventing deformation of the latch member when a sudden load is generated on the seat belt buckle due to a vehicle collision in the locked state of the tongue plate. do.

10: seat belt buckle
11, 12: upper and lower cover 13: tongue plate
14: buckle assembly 15: latch hole
20: base frame 21: bottom plate
22: side wall 23: joining space
24: Coupling groove 25: Ejector slot
26: support projection 27: tongue stopper
28: support projection member
30: latch member 31: body
311: second slope 32: locking piece
33: elastic support 34: elastic deformation
35: Installation space 36: Latch spring
37: engaging projection 38: both ends of the body
40: ejector assembly 41: locking bar
42: ejector 43: moving member
50: release button 51: pressing part
52: rotating member

Claims (8)

A buckle assembly that locks or unlocks the tongue plate and
Includes upper and lower covers inside the buckle assembly,
The buckle assembly is seated and coupled to the lower cover base frame and
One end is rotatably supported on both side walls of the base frame, and includes a latch member for locking or unlocking the tongue plate,
The latch member is a body disposed in a horizontal direction,
The locking piece is bent downwardly formed at the front end of the body, and coupled to or released from a latch hole formed in the tongue plate.
It is formed on the rear side of the body, and when the load is generated in the direction of discharging the tongue plate in the locked state of the tongue plate, it is elastically deformed into a flat shape, and when the load is removed, it includes an elastic deformable portion that is restored to its original inclined shape. And
Seat belt buckles, characterized in that a pair of support protrusion members protrude toward the inside of the base frame at positions symmetrical to each other on both side walls of the base frame. The method of claim 1, wherein the latch member
It is provided on the rear end of the body and further includes support portions at which both ends are coupled to both side walls of the base frame so that the latch member is rotatable.
The elastic deformation portion is seat belt buckle, characterized in that formed inclined toward the rear side upward between the body and the support. According to claim 2,
When the load is applied to the body, seat belt buckles, characterized in that the front end portions of both sides are caught by the pair of support projection members and movement to the front is restricted. According to claim 2,
In the bottom plate of the base frame, an engaging space is formed in which the lower end of the locking piece coupled to the latch hole of the tongue plate is engaged,
When the load is applied to the body, the seat belt buckle is characterized in that the locking piece is caught in the front wall of the coupling space and movement to the front is restricted. According to claim 2,
On both sides of the base frame, a pair of support projections toward the inside of the base frame at positions symmetrical to each other, and a tongue guide for guiding the movement of the tongue plate coupled to the buckle are projected,
In the bottom plate of the base frame, an engaging space is formed in which the lower end of the locking piece coupled to the latch hole of the tongue plate is engaged,
The body is seat belt buckle, characterized in that when the load is applied, both ends are caught by the pair of support projections, and the locking piece is caught by the front wall of the coupling space and movement to the front is restricted. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5,
On both sides of the body, a pair of locking protrusions are bent downward to define the insertion position of the tongue plate,
The locking protrusion is in contact with the base frame during the load action, seat belt buckle characterized in that it functions as an elastic deformation limiting member to limit the downward movement of the latch member. The method of claim 3 or 5,
The front end of the support projection is bent inward from both side walls (bend),
Seat belt buckle, characterized in that the rear end of the support projection is sheared from both side walls. The method of claim 5,
When the load is applied to the body, the body moves downward along the lower rear portion of the support protrusion,
The locking piece is hung on the front wall of the engaging space, the seat belt buckle characterized in that the movement to the front is limited.

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