Buckles – buttons – clasps – etc. – Separable-fastener or required component thereof – Including member having distinct formations and mating...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-14
2001-03-27
Sakran, Victor N. (Department: 3626)
Buckles, buttons, clasps, etc.
Separable-fastener or required component thereof
Including member having distinct formations and mating...
C024S637000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06205628
ABSTRACT:
DESCRIPTION
The present invention relates to a buckle for a vehicle safety restraint seat belt. The invention particularly relates to a buckle which is resistant to spurious opening when subjected to the high acceleration forces incident in a crash situation and particularly to the high acceleration forces generated in a crash situation when a pretensioner is fitted to a seat belt at the buckle end.
Pretensioners are used in modern safety restraints to rapidly take up any slack in the seat belt to more securely hold a vehicle occupant in the seat and to more correctly position him, for example for optimum effect of a passive protection device such as an airbag. They operate in the first milliseconds of a crash, before the impact forces come into full effect and when they operate at the buckle end of the belt they subject the buckle to extremely high g-forces. Traditional buckles tend to come unlatched at the end of the pretensioning stroke as a result of the inertia of the buckle release button which causes it to keep moving in the release direction after the fixed buckle parts have been halted. Instances of spurious release can also occur as the pretensioner comes into effect due to the high acceleration g-forces.
Known ways of reducing the effect of the g-forces include either preventing release by blocking the moving parts in a buckle or introducing balancing masses into the buckle mechanism to counteract the effects of the g-forces on the moving parts of the buckle. However known mechanisms do not always work satisfactorily, especially at the high forces required to satisfy modern safety standards.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved g-proof buckle for use with a buckle pretensioner.
According to the present invention there is provided a buckle for a vehicle safety restraint seat belt comprising:
a housing,
a buckling part connected to one end of a seat belt and having a passage for receiving an interlocking tongue part connected to another end of a seat belt,
a pivoting carrier element carrying a latching element arranged to engage with the tongue part to lock the tongue part in the passage,
a release button operatively coupled via a ramp surface to move the latching element from an engaging position in which the buckle is fastened to the tongue, to a release position in which the buckle is unfastened,
a counterbalance mass slidably mounted in the housing so that its inertia acts on the latching element to keep the latching element in the tongue engaging position under forces of acceleration and of deceleration acting on the buckle, the inertia acting in a first direction under acceleration and in a second direction under deceleration thereby substantially to counteract the effects of button inertia on the operation of the buckle.
Preferably the counterbalance mass is resiliently connected to the release button, and even more preferably comprises a slidably mounted spring carrier having a boss for one end of the button return spring. The spring carrier may be formed with channels which engage support brackets riveted to the buckle frame or housing so as to constrain the spring carrier against pivotal movement.
Preferably the carrier element is pivotally attached with respect to the buckle housing.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4766654 (1988-08-01), Sugimoto
patent: 5496068 (1996-03-01), Ball et al.
patent: 4401291 (1995-11-01), None
patent: 0368277 (1990-05-01), None
patent: 0384703 (1990-08-01), None
patent: 0679348 (1995-11-01), None
patent: 2145766 (1985-04-01), None
patent: 2173243 (1986-10-01), None
patent: 2289308 (1995-11-01), None
Breed Automotive Technology Inc.
Sakran Victor N.
Seitzman Markell
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