US3806999A

US3806999A - Safety-belt buckle

Info

Publication number: US3806999A
Application number: US00149206A
Authority: US
Inventors: W Fieni
Original assignee: Francaise du Ferodo SA
Current assignee: Valeo SE
Priority date: 1971-06-02
Filing date: 1971-06-02
Publication date: 1974-04-30
Anticipated expiration: 1991-04-30

Abstract

A safety-belt buckle comprising first and second parts adapted to slide relative to one another. The first part called a catch casing includes an opening for receiving the nose of a latch in the closed position of the buckle. The second part includes a socalled latch support plate on which thh latch is pivotally mounted. A lever is provided for the actuation of the buckle and is pivotally connected to the latch against the action of spring carried by the latch support plate and urging the latch to its closed position. The lever has a pivot formed by an edge disposed between its mounting on the latch and its free end, the buckle being therefore capable of being opened by upward, downward or translatory movement of the actuating lever.

Description

Fieni SAFETY-BELT BUCKLE [75] Inventor:

[73] Assignee: Societe Anonyme Francaise Du Ferodo, Paris, France [22] Filed: June 2, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 149,206

Walter Fieni, Paris, France [52] US. Cl. 24/230 A, 24/230 AK, 297/388 [51] Int. Cl A44b 11/26 [58] Field of Search..... 24/230 A, 230 AP, 230 AV; 297/384-388 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,427,694 2/1969 Bullock 24/230 A 3,579,750 5/1971 Carbon 24/230 A 3,693,221 9/1972 Cunningham..' 24/230 A 3,153,270 10/1964 Lindblad 24/230 AK 3,131,446 5/1964 Davis 24/230 A 3,255,502 6/1966 Hol1ins.-; 24/230 A X 2,876,516 3/1959 Cummings 24/230 A X 2,893,088 7/1959 Harper et a1; 24/230 A X 1,466,975 9/1923 Toelcke et al. 24/230 A 3,075,270 1/1963 Elsner 24/230 A Apr. 30, 1974 FORElGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,394,603 0/1965 France 24/230 AK 254,676 8/1927 Italy 24/230 A Primary Examiner-Paul R. Gilliam I Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Waters Roditi, Schwartz Nissen [57] ABSTRACT A safety-belt buckle comprising first and second parts adapted to slide relative to one another. The first part calleda catch casing includes an opening for receiving the nose of a latch in the closed position of the buckle. The second part includes a so-called latch support plate on which thh latch is pivotally mounted. A lever is provided for the actuation of the buckle and is pivotally connected to the latch against the action of spring carried by the latch support plate and urging the latch to its closed position. The lever has a pivot formed by an edge disposed between its mounting on the latch and its free end, the buckle being therefore capable of being opened by upward, downward or translatory movement of the actuating lever.

4 Claims, 26 Drawing Figures @MENTEDAPR 3 0 I974 SHEET 1 [1F 6 figL SAFETY-BELT BUCKLE The present invention concerns a buckle for safetybelts, having two parts adapted to slide in each other. A first buckle part or catch casing has an opening in which the nose of a latch carried by the second buckle part is engaged in a closed position, the latch being pivotally mounted about an edge on a latch support plate carried by the second part. The operation of the buckle is controlled by means of a lever pivoted on the latch against the action of a spring carried by the latch support plate, urging the latch to its closed position.

Safety-belt buckles must satisfy numerous conditions amongst which one of the most important is the ease of opening. Indeed it is essential in the case of emergency that the buckle be able to be opened without difficulty.

However, there exists various types of buckles that are distinguished from one another by their opening operation and as a result, in a case of emergency, notably when the buckle must be opened by a person who does not know the opening operation, unsuccessful attempts may occur before the effective opening, which under certain circumstances could have serious consequences.

The safety-belt buckle according to the present invention overcomes this difficulty. In fact this buckle can be opened by one or more of a plurality of modes of actuation such that its opening is effected immediately by any person.

The buckle according to the present invention consists in a buckle of the above mentioned type in which there is provided for the lever a pivoting edge between its mounting on the latch and its actuating free end.

The opening of the buckle can therefore be obtained by either lifting or depressing the lever.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the lever is pivotally mounted on the latch by means of a pivot pin carried thereon and which cooperates with at least one inclined surface provided on the lever such that translatory movement of said lever relative to the buckle body also effects the release of the latch, thus opening the buckle.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the buckle according to the invention, the buckle part carrying the latch comprises a casing fixed to the latch support plate covering the actuating lever whose end remote from the pivoting end on the latch faces an opening in the casing, whereby by exerting pressure on the portion of the lever in line with the said opening in the manner of actuating a push button, the opening of the buckle is effected.

The description which follows is made by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a plan view of one buckle part FIG. 2 is an end view of the buckle part shown in FIG. 1

FIG. 3'is a plan view of the other buckle part carrying the latch FIG. 4 is a corresponding end view FIG. Sis a plan view of the buckle according to the invention in its closed position FIG. 6 is a view in section along the line 6-6 of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to that of FIG. 6 but in the open position the opening is effected by a different actuating movement FIG. 9 is a view similar to the two preceding views but wherein the opening is effected by still another actuating movement FIG. 10 is a view similar to the three preceding views but wherein the opening is effected by yet another actuating movement FIG. 11 is a view similar to that of FIG. 6 but for an alternative embodiment FIG. 12 is a view similar to that of FIG. 6 but for a further alternative embodiment FIG. 13 is a partial schematic view of a lever according to a modified embodiment FIG. 14 is a view similar to that of FIG. 13 but for another modified embodiment FIG. 15 is a view in longitudinal section of a buckle part carrying the latch of the buckle, for a further embodiment FIG. 16 is a top view partly in section and partly in elevation FIG. 17 is a partialview similar to that of FIG. 15 showing the two parts of the buckle in the closed position FIG. 18 is a half top view corresponding to that of FIG. 17 and partially cut away FIG. 19 is a view similar to that of FIG. 17 but for the open position FIG. 20 is a top view of a buckle actuating member;

FIG. 21 is a view in section along line 2l-2l in FIG. 20

FIG. 22 is a top view of a plate carrying the latch of a buckle along the lone 25-25 of The safety-belt buckle comprises a first part or member 11 (FIG. 1), hereinafter referred to as the catch casing, being generally rectangular and U-shaped in cross-section (FIG. 2), and having a base 12 including an aperture 13 for receiving a strap and

arms

14 and 15 having

flanges

17 and 18 extending inwardly. The base 12 between an interior edge 16 of the buckle member and the aperture 13 includes an opening 19 for receiving a nose 20 of a latch 21 (FIG. 6).

The latch is a solid block having a generally rectangular shape (FIGS. 3 and 6) with two lateral

longitudinal faces

22 and 23 and an upper face 24. The nose 20 is limited by a front face 25, an oblique face 26 and a rear face 27 defining with the face 26 a flat 28. The latch has a rear face 29. I

The rear portion of the latch 21 is formed as a shank with a projection 30 by which the latch is pivotally mounted on a base 31 of a plate 32 (FIGS. 3,4 and 6) of a second buckle part or member 33, hereinafter referred to as a latch support plate, a leaf spring 34 being engaged between a rear face 35 of the rear portion 29 and an edge 36 of an aperture 38 in the plate 32 and being hooked by its end 39 on an edge 40 of a slot 41 provided for receiving a strap.

At the interconnection between the front face 25 of the latch 21 and the upper face 24, the latch has a seating portion 43 for a pin 44 which extends at both its ends beyond the

lateral faces

22 and 23. The said ends are received in

slots

45 and 46 provided in lateral faces 49 and 50 (FIG. 4) of alever or control member 51 formed as a shell.

The slot 45 (FIG. 6) has a generally triangular shape with an upper side 52 substantially parallel to the upper surface of the lever 51 and two

oblique sides

54 and 55 meeting each other at an apex 56 of the triangle. An upper wall 53 of the lever 51 has from a forward wall 59, a planar portion 57 substantially perpendicular to the said forward wall and continues as an oblique portion 58 making an obtuse angle with the portion 57.

Each

lateral wall

49, 50 of the lever is limited by a lower side 61 (FIG. 7) parallel to the upper face 53 only along part of length of the lever but up to a point 62, the said lower side is extended by an upwardly extending oblique portion 63 until it reaches a rear face 64.

Starting from the closed position shown in FIG. 6 the normal actuation of the lever 51 includes grasping its rear portion and exerting a force in the direction of the arrow f (FIG. 7) effecting the cooperation of a forward portion 66 of the lower face of the lever 51 with the plate 32 which causes the upward movement of the pin 44 thereby releasing the nose from the opening 19 or catch and allowing the separation of the buckle parts, i.e. the opening of the belt.

But besides this manner of actuation, an actuation which assures the translatory movement of the lever 51 in a direction indicated in FIG. 8 or in the other direction indicated in FIG. 9, parallel to the longitudinal axis of the buckle body, assures by the cooperation of the ends of the axis of pin 44 with either the

inclined surfaces

54 or 55 the upward movement of the pin 44, thereby the release of the nose 21 from the aperture 19, thus permitting the opening of the belt.

Also a force exerted against the rear portion of the lever 51 in the opposite direction to that shown by the arrow f, by swinging the said lever about its solid angle passing through points 62, directly moves the pin upwardly (FIG. 10), which rests in the apices 56 of the

triangular slots

45, 46 ans assures the release of the nose 20 of latch 21 from the aperture 19 and therefore permits the opening of the belt.

In an alternative embodiment the lateral portions of the lever 51 instead of having a passage with two inclined portions have a slot with a single inclined surface. In FIG. 11 a slot 71 is shown having a single inclined surface 72 which assures the release of the latch from the catch casing.

In FIG. 12 is shown a passage 73 of triangular shape with a single inclined surface 74 having a slope opposite to the inclined surface 72. A buckle provided with such a slot may be opened by translatory movement of the lever relative to the catch casing in the direction from left to right in FIG. 12.

For assuring a definite rest position of the pin 44 as well as for providing a hard passage point upon translatory actuation of the lever 51, the buckle preferably has a slight cut-out or notch (FIG. 13) in one or both of the inclined surfaces in the lateral portions of the lever and at the end(s) thereof adjacent to the rest position of the pin 44.

Such a notch in the inclined surface may also be provided when the inclined surface is of cirvilinear configuration as shown in FIG. 14 instead of the rectilinear configuration as in the previous embodiment.

In the embodiments previously described a closing of the buckle is possible even if, during the simultaneous moving of the two buckle parts or members relative to each other, the operator holds the lever owing to the freedom of movement allowed by the pin 44 in the slots such as 45, 46, 71 and 73 perpendicular to the sliding direction. 1

In other embodiments in which this feature is not desired the passages provided for the pin 44 in the lateral portions of the lever 51 are formed by grooves whose dimension transverse to the direction of sliding is substantially that of the diameter of the pin 44.

Reference will now be made to FIGS. 1526 concerning another embodiment. I

The safety-belt buckle comprises in this embodiment a buckle body (FIG. 15) comprising the assembly ofa casing 101 and a plate 102 (FIGS. 22 and 23), constituting body members, in which is pivotally mounted a latch 103.

The casing preferably comprises an assembly of two

shells

106 and 107, for example of plastics material, of which the first is formed as a generally rectangular flat plate with the longitudinal sides such as 108 (FIG. 16 having retaining portions along a portion of which are provided housings 109 for receiving resilient means, for example springs 110. An opening 119 is constituted by

shells

106, 107, as will be explained in more detail later.

The shell 107 is generally trough-shaped and comprises a planar portion or cover 111 in which is pro vided a central opening 112 and oblique

lateral walls

113 and 114.

In the lateral longitudinal walls as well as in the rear lateral walls of the

shells

106 and 107 are provided tongue means with shoulders adapted to cooperate with the mating openings as schematically illustrated at 115, 116 and 117 (FIG. 16) for fixing the shells to one another in order to form the casing 101 having in addition to the opening 112 in the cover 111 an opening 118 in the rear wall and a forward cover.

The base of the shell 106, as shown schematically at 120, supports means for fixing to said shell of the latch support plate 102 having a forward portion 140 offset relative to the rest of the plate and bordered by two

lateral arms

141 and 142. The plate 102 comprises means for securing the safety-belt to the buckle it is intended to be fitted, an aperture 104 for receiving a strap 105, cable or the like, a mounting aperture 121 for a rear portion 123 of the latch 103, an aperture 124 between the

apertures

104 and 121 for hooking a generally Z- shaped leaf spring 125 whose upper leg 126 (in the Figures) rests on an upper flat surface 127 of the solid block forming the latch 103. A rectangular aperture 143 arranged in the portion of the plate 102 contributes to the positioning of the latch support plate relative to the lower shell 106 by a rib 144.

The latch 103 with a nose has at the interconnection of its upper face 127 with its front face 128 a seating portion 129 for a pin 130 having ends extending beyond the lateral faces such as 122 (FIG. 16) of the latch which are received in

slots

131 and 132 in

parallel arms

133 and 134 of an actuating lever 135 or control member (FIGS. 20 and 21).

The

arms

133 and 134 are spaced apart a distance which is very slightly greater than that separating the lateral faces of the latch and are connected to their rear upper portion by a flat or cross-member 136, each of the arms having at the connection of a lower edge 137 and a rear oblique edge 138 a rounded portion 139 projecting relative to the edge 137. The lever 135 is pivotally mounted on the latch support plate 102 by these rounded portion.

With the buckle body 100 comprising the casing with

shells

106 and 107, the latch support plate 102 and the actuating lever 135 are adapted to cooperate with a buckle body 150 (FIGS. 17 and 18) comprising a plate 151 in which is provided an opening or catch 152 for receiving the nose 145 of the latch 103. The buckle body 150 may be either fixed directly to an anchoring point of the safety belt on the vehicle on which it is fitted or connected to the said belt by a strip, cable or the like, for example, a flexible or non-flexible arm.

The thickness of the plate 151 is slightly less than the distance separating the upper surface of the offset portion 140 of the latch support plate 102 from the lower face of the

lateral arms

141 and 142 of the said plate,

the position of the opening being such that in the closed position of the buckle it is in line with the nose 145 when an edge 153 of this plate 151 is in abutment against a step 154 arranged at the connection of the offset portion 140 of the latch support plate 102 and the plate per se.

The operation of the buckle according to this embodiment is as follows:

Starting from the closed position of the buckle shown in FIG. 17, a force is exerted in the direction of the arrow p on the cross-member 136 of the lever 135 which then pivots in the direction of the arrowf(FIG. 19) being supported by the projections 139 on the

arms

133 and 134 on the latch support plate 102 which causes the upward movement of the pin 130 and thus the nose 145 of the latch which is released from opening or catch 152 permitting the separation of the first and second buckle parts and thus the opening the buckle.

This separation of the two parts of the buckle is preferably effected by resilient means 110 previously put under tension on the closing of the buckle by cooperation with the said edge 153 of the plate 151 on which is provided the catch 152.

As soon as the two parts of the buckle are separated, the spring 125 effects the swinging of the latch 103 and the lever following a movement in the direction opposite to that shown in FIG. in which the flat portion 136 of the lever 135 is under the opening 112 substantially parallel to the upper cover face 111 of the shell 107. The nose 145 of the latch 103 is then partially engaged in the aperture of the latch support plate.

By closing of the buckle the plate 152 is positioned opposite the opening 119 which the

shells

106 and 107 provide, then displaced relative to the buckle body 100 with a movement along the direction of the arrow l; the edge 153 of the plate then cooperates with the bevelled face 160 of the latch for effecting the swinging thereof in the direction of the arrow f as well as re-tensioning the spring means 110. When the catch 152 is in line with the latch the spring 125 returns it to the closed posrtion.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 24 and 25, the resilient means effecting the automatic opening of the buckle upon pressing on the push button in the opening provided in the casing are not disposed laterally but are arranged in the centre of the casing and a latch support plate 183. The latch support plate 183 has at its forward portion two lateral arms and 181 offset relative to its body 182. Under the portion of the body 182 between the two

arms

180 and 181 is arranged a spring, 186, in the illustrated example a leaf spring whose ends are hooked substantially in line with the connection of the

arms

180 and 181 to the body 182 on two

lugs

184 and 185. A hole 187 is provided for fixing the plate to an element of the safety belt that the buckle is intended to be fitted with, for example a semi-rigid section, a cable with crimped ferrules, a steel blade or the like.

In a modification shown in FIG. 26 the resilient means urging the separation of the parts of the buckles relative to each other comprises a C-shaped leaf spring 188 placed at the center of the casing and the latch support plate and having

arms

189 and 190 with inwardly curved end portions facing the place in which the catch is arranged.

The spring 188 is maintained in position by lugs 191 192 and 193 provided on the latch support plate or one of the shells forming the casing of the buckle body which houses the latch.

What I claim is:

1. A safety-belt buckle comprising, in combination, a plate-like first body member having a window formed therein for sliding movement in a second body member so as to be positively joined therewith; a plate integral with one of said body members, having therein a passage limited by an edge; a solid latch having a head portion adapted to penetrate into said window and a tail portion, the latter being lodged in said passage and mounted for pivotal movement by cooperation of said tail portion with said edge; a spring carried by said plate, which constantly urges said latch into a position corresponding to the closing of the buckle and which also urges said tail portion against said edge; a manually movable control member for opening the buckle by separating said body members when said control member is actuated by depression thereof; the latter having two end portions and a pivoting edge between said end portions, for cooperation with said plate; pivot means on said control member for said head portion, said latter being separated from said plate when one of said end portions of the control member, which is opposite said pivot means in respect of said pivoting edge, is selectively brought close to said plate and is removed therefrom; a casing wherein said plate, said latch and said control member are lodged, said casing being open at one of its ends for introducing therein said first body member, said casing having a face substantially in parallel to said plate, remote therefrom and provided with an opening, and a surface portion of said control member being disposed in alignment with said opening within said casing, said control member being pivotable about said pivoting edge upon said surface portion being depressed so as to open said buckle; and spring means housed in said casing tensioned by said sliding movement, said spring means automatically effecting the separation of said body members upon said control member being depressed.

2. A buckle as claimed in claim 1, said pivoting edge of the control member being formed at the juncture of member in alignment with said opening of the casing face extending parallel to said plate.

4. A buckle as claimed in claim 1, said plate including a terminal portion which is offset with respect to the remainder of said plate, said terminal portion being bordered, along the longitudinal extension of said plate, by two paws which extend the length of the remainder of said plate.

Claims

2. A buckle as claimed in claim 1, said pivoting edge of the control member being formed at the juncture of respective portions of said control member, one of said portions extending parallel to said plate, and the other of said portions being inclined with respect to said plate.

3. A buckle as claimed in claim 1, said control member comprising two arms extending at both sides of said latch, opposing ends of said arms carrying said pivot means, and a cross member connecting said opposing ends, said cross member having an elongated portion forming said depressable surface portion of the control member in alignment with said opening of the casing face extending parallel to said plate.