US2784472A - Buckle - Google Patents

Description

United States Pate BUCKLE John B. Freysinger, New Britain, Conn., assignor to North & Judd Manufacturing Company, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application March 23, 1954, Serial No. 418,005

3 Claims. (Cl. 24-197) This invention relates to an improved buckle having two component parts which are adapted to be manually engaged and disengaged, and are particularly arranged to provide a disengagement of the quick release type.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a two-piece buckle for a belt or the like which is easy to buckle up, utilizes the tension force in the buckled belt to retain itself securely in buckled relation, and is particularly arranged to unbuckle to a completely disconnected position smoothly and abruptly upon actuation of its manual release.

Another object is to provide a buckle which, by reason of the aforesaid characteristics, is particularly suited for use as a fastening means where both extreme reliability and quick manual disconnection are desired, as in a safety belt. t

Another object is to provide a buckle which afi'ords sure and dependable disengagement of its interlocking components in response to manual release of the same.

Another object is to provide a buckle of the character described which is simple and sturdy in construction and can be fabricated easily and economically. 3

Another object is to provide a buckle of the quick release type which is structurally simple and whose man.- ner of operation can be readily understood at a glance.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a plan view of the frame portion of a buckle constructed in accordance with the present inf vention; V v

Figure 2 is a plan view of a slide portion of the buckle adapted to engage with the frame portion of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view of a modified version of the slide;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the buckle assembly in its buckled-up condition;

Figure 5 is a view taken on the line 55 of Figure 4, showing the relative position of the buckle parts as the buckle assembly is being disengaged; and I Figure 6 is a view like Figure 5, showing the buckle parts just before complete disengagement.

Referring to the drawings, a preferred embodiment of a twoapiece buckle constructed in accordance with the present invention includes a frame 2 to which one end 4 of a flexible strap or belt may be secured, and a slide 6 to which the other end 8 of the strap, or the opposed end of another strap or the like may be connected. .The slide is interengageable with the frame to form a secure and dependable buckled connection for the opposing strap ends, in a manner which will hereinafter be described.

The frame 2 consists of a generally flat plate-like member having a pair of transverse bars 10, 12 connected at their extremities by longitudinallyextending side bars .14,

, frame is cut away or relieved at its ends to form a pair of longitudinally extending notches or recesses 22, 24, defining a forwardly extending ledge 25. The inner or rearwardly extending edge 26 of the other bar 12 of frame 2 is likewise relieved to form other longitudinally extending recesses 28, 30 which, together with the first recesses22, 24, define a pair of longitudinally extending slots 32, 34. Connecting the slots intermediate their ends is a transverse aperture 36 in the frame defined by the opposed inner edges 20, 26 of the transverse bars 10, 12. The inner edge of bar 10 is slightly downwardly bent or curved along a transverse axis to provide an inclined transverse forwardly extending pivot ledge 40. The slots 32, 34 and the transversely extending aperture 36 between the sides therefore form a generally H-shaped aperture in the frame, the spaced inner edges 20, 26 of the transverse bars 10, 12 forming opposed tongues or bosses.

The slide 6 includes a transversely extending rear cross bar 50 and a longitudinally spaced front cross bar 52. The cross bars 50, 52 are spaced apart wider than the spacing of the ledge and bar 12 of frame 2, and are adapted to seat thereon, respectively, when the fastening means is buckled up.' Cross bar 54 may be enclosed within a roller 53, as shown in the alternative embodiment of Figure 3. The cross bars 59, 52 of slide 6 are connected at their extremities by longitudinally extending side bars 54, 56, and the cross bars are shorter than the transverse dimension of the aperture 36 in frame 2 so as to permit insertion of the slide 6 upwardly therethrough in an edgewise manner when buckling up the device. Each side bar of'slide 6 is downwardly bent about a longitudinal axis to provide down-turned flanges 60, 62

which are adapted to seat or engage in the respective slots 32, 34 in the frame when the cross bars 50, 52 0f slide 6 are in seated engagement with the ledge 40 and ledge 25 of frame 2, respectively. The 'side bars 54, 56'

are also provided with downwardly extending earns 64,

66, preferably formed integrally with flanges 60, 62. The cams 64, 66 have a lift, as shown in Figures 5 and 6,

slightly greater than the length of recesses 28, 30 and are adapted to bottom in the forward ends 65, 67 of recesses 28, 30, respectively, as the buckle assembly is being disconnected, for a purpose hereinafter described.

Intermediate cross bars 50, 52, the slide is provided with another transversely extending cross bar 68, which i is adapted to be looped by the other end 8 of the strap or the like with which the buckle is used to provide an anchortherefon- The intermediate cross bar 68 forms with the side bars and front and rear cross bars of the slide a pair of transversely extending slots 70, 72 which preferably are of suflicient length and width to permit easy threading ofthe strap therethrough during looping of the strap .around cross bar 68. The end 8 of the strap is preferably connected to the slide by'threading its free end upwardly through slot 79, over the top of cross bar68, anddownwardly through slot 72.. Cross bar 68 is longitudinally spaced from cross bars 50, 52 of the slide sufi'iciently closely so as toclamp or secure the portion of the strap passing through the slot 72 between the cross bar'68 and the adjacent inner edge 26 of transverse bar 12 of'frame '2 when the buckle is assembled. In this way tension inthe strap serves both" to maintain slide 6 in seated engagement with'fra'me '2 and to prevent the strap end 8 from slipping out of loop;

ing engagement with the cross bar 68.

a slide, said slide having a pair of spaced-apart side bars, a rear cross bar, an intermediate cross bar about which a strap end is adapted to be looped, a front cross bar, and a roller about said rear cross bar, said side bars having flanges disposed at right angles to the plane of the slide, said frame comprising a pair of spaced-apart longitudinally extending bars connected at their ends by a rear transverse bar and a front transverse bar to form an opening through which said slide may be inserted, anchor means associated with the frame about which another strap end is adapted to be looped, a rearwardly extending ledge on the front transverse bar for supporting the front cross bar of the slide, a forwardly extending ledge on the rear transverse bar upon which said roller is adapted to rest when the buckle is connected and off which the roller is adapted to roll during disconnection of the buckle, said ledges terminating short of said longitudinally extending bars to provide notches dimensioned to receive the ends of said flanges, and cams on the side bars of said slide dimensioned to bottom in the notches of said front transverse bar during disconnection of said buckle to prevent said re'arwardly extending ledge from becoming inserted between said intermediate and front cross bars.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 447,070 Henry Feb. 24, 1891 1,514,462 Ritter Nov. 4, 1924 FOREIGN PATENTS 39,080 Sweden July 14, 1915

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