Buckles – buttons – clasps – etc. – Separable-fastener or required component thereof – Including member having distinct formations and mating...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-29
2003-04-01
Sandy, Robert J. (Department: 3677)
Buckles, buttons, clasps, etc.
Separable-fastener or required component thereof
Including member having distinct formations and mating...
C024S625000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06539595
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is generally directed to vehicle safety restraint systems including shoulder and lap-type seat belts and more particularly to such restraint systems which incorporate locking mechanisms for preventing release of latch plates from buckles of the restraint systems due to inertial forces created during vehicle accidents, such as in vehicle rollovers. The restraint systems can only be released by manually maneuvering mechanisms to consciously release the latch plates from the buckles of the restraint systems.
BRIEF DISCUSSION OF THE RELATED ART
Body restraint systems including seat belts, lap belts, shoulder harnesses and the like have been credited with saving numerous lives which otherwise would have been lost in vehicular accidents. The positive benefits obtained in body restraints systems has been so recognized that in the United States the use of seat belts is mandated in all states.
Since their inception, there have been numerous innovative advances made to improve upon the safety and reliability of vehicle body restraint systems. Improvements have been made to the belt and belt materials, the manner in which the belt restraint systems are mounted within vehicles, the manner in which such restraint systems may be automatically adjusted to provide proper tension and ease of adjustment to suit not only safety standards but to also provide for a measure of passenger comfort and further to improve upon the security of the locking devices or belt buckles associated with such systems.
Most conventional vehicle body restraint systems incorporate a belt which either crosses in front of the lap or diagonally across the body of the vehicle operator or passenger in such a manner to not adversely interfere with the region of an individual's neck. Belts are retained by latching assemblies including belt buckles into which latch plates carried by the belts can be inserted so as to automatically become locked to the buckles which are normally anchored relative to frames of vehicles. Conventional systems generally utilize two types of release mechanisms for allowing the latch plates to be removed from buckle housings such that drivers and passengers can disembark vehicles. A first or side release system includes an operating release button which is generally resiliently urged outwardly at an angle which is perpendicular to an axis or line of insertion of the latch plate into a buckle housing. A second type of conventional release system is known as an end release system wherein the operating lever or button for releasing the latch plate from the buckle housing is mounted at an end of the buckle housing.
Currently, virtually all types of latching mechanisms for body restraint systems in automotive vehicles are subject to premature release when subjected to at least one mode of inertial force which can be created under various conditions resulting from collisions, rollovers and other types of vehicle loss of control. Side release latching assemblies or mechanisms, such as referred to as Type
1
and Type
6
in the industry, will inertially release when subjected to lateral forces which are applied to a backside of a buckle during a vehicle collision or rollover. Such latching assemblies will also release by the release button being forceably engaged by an object in a vehicle accidently depressing the button during an accident, collision or rollover, thereby prematurely destroying the effectiveness of the restraint system which can cause severe or deadly injury to the person using the system.
End type release latching systems will inertially release due to the mass of the release buttons associated therewith when taken into consideration the mass of movement of the latch plate and the direction of rotational release of the latch plate when subjected to an upward or upward and lateral force opposite the locking direction of a latch dog associated with such a mechanism, especially during vehicle rollovers. This lateral mode of failure occurs when an occupant is more apt to be ejected from a vehicle and thus can result in severe bodily injury or death.
The above modes of failure are inherent in virtually all conventional side and end release latching mechanisms of conventional vehicle restraint systems. The side release buckle systems are generally simpler and have fewer moving parts and thus are more economical to construct and to install, whereas the end release systems are more complex having multiple moving parts and are thus more expensive to manufacture.
In view of the foregoing, there remains a need to further improve upon the reliability and effectiveness of vehicle body restraint safety belt systems to ensure that the latching mechanisms associated therewith cannot be accidently released during substantially any type of vehicular movement including vehicle rollovers caused during accidents, collisions or resulting from loss of control of a vehicle, such as by operator error or vehicle equipment failure. There is a further need to provide for improvements in vehicle body restraint systems which permit the latching assemblies to be more reliable and more economic to construct.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to vehicle body restraint systems which include buckles for latching and restraining latch plates. Several preferred embodiments of the invention will be disclosed. The embodiments are designed to prevent inertial release of safety restraint buckle or latching assemblies associated with vehicles by requiring intentional manual rotation of release mechanisms associated with the buckles to allow release of latch plates associated with the safety belt restraint systems.
In the embodiments of the invention, each safety belt of each restraint system is provided with a latch plate which is insertable so as to be locked and retained within a buckle having internal latching components for engaging and preventing the removal of the latch plate until manually released. Each system includes a belt buckle housing having an opening therein in which the latch plate is slidably received. Mounted interiorly of the buckle housing is a movable locking component which is operable in a first position to engage within an opening in the latch plate to thereby prevent the withdrawal of the latch plate until the locking component is moved from such opening.
In a first embodiment of the invention, the locking component is a latch member which is moved by a latch screw having threads which engage with threads of an opening or hole in the latch member. The latch member is pivotable within a buckle housing and includes a latch dog which is engageable with an edge of the latch plate defining the opening in the latch plate to thereby prevent lateral shifting or withdrawal of the latch plate once it has been inserted within the buckle housing. The latch screw is operatively connected to a pivotal release mechanism such as a knob which can be manually rotated in order to cause pivotal movement of the latch member to release the latch dog from engagement with the latch plate thereby allowing removal or ejection of the latch plate from the buckle housing.
In the first embodiment, a torsion spring is mounted about the latch screw and is secured to the latch screw in such a manner as to supply or apply a constant rotational force to the latch screw in a first direction such that, upon insertion of the latch plate within the buckle housing, the latch member locking dog is urged into engagement with the latch plate as soon as the opening of the latch plate passes the latch dog of the latch member. In this embodiment, the rotational loading of the latch screw torsion spring is caused by manual rotation of a pivotal release member such as a knob which is connected to the latch screw. As the latch screw is rotated, the latch member is moved from the first “locked” position engaging the latch plate to a second “release” position wherein the latch member is moved by the latch screw to permit release of the latch plate of the seat belt system. As the torsion
Dowell & Dowell , P.C.
Sandy Robert J.
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