High security buckle assembly

Buckles – buttons – clasps – etc. – Separable-fastener or required component thereof – Including member having distinct formations and mating...

Reexamination Certificate

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Reexamination Certificate

active

06311374

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a high security buckle for many different uses. In particular, this invention relates to a plug and socket type buckle that requires two hands to release.
2. The Prior Art
Plug and socket type buckles have many different uses. For example, they are used as restraining belts for infants in high chairs, car seats and shopping carts, as well as for belt buckles for adult use. One type of plug and socket type buckle is a side release buckle, in which two sections of the plug extend through two side apertures on either side of the socket. Pressing the plug sections inward releases the plug from the socket. This maneuver can generally be accomplished with one hand. Another type of plug and socket buckle is a center push buckle. In a center push buckle, the socket has a button on its center top surface, either integral with the socket, or extending upward from the plug. Pushing the button releases the plug from the socket. In this case as well, the releasing operation can generally be accomplished with one hand.
There are situations, however, when it would be desirable to have a buckle that cannot be disengaged as easily. This is true especially with restraining devices for infants and toddlers, who may be able to figure out how to release the buckle by watching adults. Another situation would involve a belt buckle for a police or corrections officer, who might be engaged in physical contact with another person who could attempt to release the buckle.
For these reasons, there have been attempts to provide plug and socket type buckles that cannot be disengaged easily. U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,956 to French discloses a plug and socket type buckle that has both side-release latches and an additional center push button on the top of the socket portion. The center push button is part of the plug portion and extends through a hole in the socket. To release the buckle, both the side latches and the center button must be pressed in toward the interior of the socket at the same time. The center button must be pressed downward sufficiently so that it will clear the hole in the socket and allow the plug to slide out of the socket.
Another buckle of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,985 to Galbreath. This buckle also has both side release latches and a center push button. In this patent, the center push button is part of the socket portion. Pressing the button causes a latch underneath the button to disengage from a corresponding latch on the plug portion and releases the plug from the socket when the side release latches are simultaneously pressed with the center button.
While these patents show buckles that are not as easily released as traditional side release or center push buckles, they still could be released with one hand, due to the location of the center button near the closed end of the socket. This location places the center push button very near the side release latches and allows a person to press the side release latches with the thumb and middle finger while simultaneously depressing the center button with the index finger.
In addition, the center latching mechanism on both of these patents cannot withstand large amounts of stresses, because the pull against the locking section is away from the pivot point on the release levers of each of the two patented buckles. This causes the center locking mechanism to release prematurely, i.e., before the button is fully depressed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a plug and socket type buckle that can only be released with two hands.
It is another object of the invention to provide a plug and socket type buckle having a center push button whose latching mechanism cannot be released before the button is fully depressed.
These and other objects of the invention are accomplished by a buckle assembly comprising a plug portion and a socket portion. The plug portion has a base, a pair of flexible parallel side arms attached to and extending away from the base, and a center arm disposed between the side arms and connected to the base as well. The center arm has a push button disposed adjacent the base and a catch disposed adjacent the push button. Both the catch and push button extend upward from the center arm.
The socket portion has a top surface, a bottom surface, two sides and an open end for receiving the plug portion. Each side has an aperture for receiving an end of one of the side arms, and the top surface has a first space and a second space therethrough to allow the push button and catch to protrude through the spaces, respectively, when the plug portion is inserted in the socket portion.
The buckle assembly is locked by inserting the plug portion into the open end of the socket portion until the side arms protrude through the apertures and the push button and catch protrude through the spaces. The buckle assembly can only be disengaged by simultaneously pressing the center push button downward and the side arms inward until the catch clears the second space and the side arms clear the apertures in the socket portion. This way, the buckle cannot be disengaged by a clever infant, or during a struggle with another person. Pressing the push button downward causes the catch to move downward as well, to clear the space on the socket portion and allow the buckle to be released.
The plug and socket portions each have a strap retaining bar thereon to attach the buckle assembly to one or more straps. The push button is disposed adjacent the open end of the socket portion when the plug portion is inserted in the socket portion. In a preferred embodiment, the first space comprises an indentation along an edge of the open end of the socket portion, so that the push button abuts the edge of the socket portion. This arrangement is preferable over the arrangement of the prior art buckles, because it places the push button as far back as possible from the side release arms. This way, the buckle cannot be disengaged by using the index finger to press the button downward while the thumb and middle fingers press the side arms inward.
To make the button operable, the center arm has a lever on which the push button and catch are disposed. The free end of the lever terminates adjacent the base and the push button is disposed at the free end of the lever. The lever has a fulcrum disposed approximately halfway between the base and the free end of the center arm to allow the lever to pivot when the push button is pressed.
The lever is preferably integrally formed with the center arm via a substantially U-shaped cutout in the center arm, with the bottom of the U adjacent the base. The fulcrum of the lever is then the top of the U and comprises a portion of the center arm that is thinner than the rest of the center arm, i.e., a living hinge, to allow the lever portion to flex against the center arm.
The catch preferably has a triangular cross-section so one side extends perpendicular to the top surface of the plug portion and another side slopes upward from the top surface of the plug portion. The perpendicular side faces the push button and the sloped side faces away from the push button. This way, the plug portion easily slides into the socket portion with the sloped side of the catch sliding into the space in the socket. The catch cannot then slide out of the space in the same way, because the perpendicular side of the catch abuts the side of the space and prevents any backward lateral movement of the plug in the socket.
Each side arm has a catching member disposed at its free end. Inserting the plug portion into the socket portion causes the catching members to protrude through the apertures and lock the plug portion into the socket portion. These catching members are preferably in the form of enlarged lobes at the end of the side arms, with a ledge at the end of the lobe nearest the base. This ledge catches on the aperture in the socket portion and also prevents backward lateral movement of the plug in the socket once the b

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