Rotation device of a buckle for use in an vehicle seat belt

Details Rotation device of a buckle for use in an vehicle seat belt Rotation device of a buckle for use in an vehicle seat belt

2001-09-21

2004-12-14

Cottingham, John R. (Department: 3679)

Joints and connections

Articulated members

Pivoted

C280S801100

Reexamination Certificate

active

06830406

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a rotation device of a buckle for use in an automobile seat belt; and, more particularly, to a rotation device of a buckle for used in an automobile or a vehicle having a reduced noise level during a rotation of a main body of the buckle and constructed to be easily assembled.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
In general, an automobile or a vehicle is provided with a seat belt device for limiting the forwarding movement of the vehicle occupant, in an emergency situation, e.g., a collision or a crash, wherein a belt webbing whose one end is wound around a retractor mounted inside lower portion of pillar is introduced into the driver's compartment through an internal space of the pillar and a tongue provided in the other end through an anchor mounted on the pillar is insertable into a buckle fixed on a seat frame.
The buckle is rotatable in a predetermined angle through a rotation device. In
FIG. 1
, a conventional buckle is shown. As shown, the buckle is provided with a buckle main body
2
locking or releasing a tongue plate provided in a belt webbing (not shown), a stalk
3
rotatably connected to a rear portion of the main body
2
at its one end and fixed to a seat frame at the other end.
The main body
2
is made of resin and is provided with an insert hole (not shown) into which the tongue plate is insertable and has a push button (not shown) for releasing the tongue plate engaged into the insert hole.
The main body
2
constructed in this manner is connected to one end of the stalk
3
to be rotatable by a rotation device
4
mounted in a rear inner portion of the main body
2
.
In other words, the rotation device
4
includes a bottom plate
5
a
made of a steel plate and seated on an inner bottom surface of the main body
2
, a pair of side plates
5
b
formed by an upward bending process from the bottom plate
5
a
and having a pair of lugs
5
b
-l bent inwardly, respectively, a buckle base
5
provided with a circular plate portion integrally formed with one end of the bottom plate
5
a
and having a through hole
5
d
formed therethrough, a collar
6
having a cylindrical shape
6
b
, a flange
6
a
integrally formed with one end of the cylindrical shape
6
b
, which is seated on the circular plate portion
5
c
of the buckle base
5
to support the buckle base
5
, allowing the buckle base
5
to pivot with respect to the stalk
3
in a width direction of the seat, a pair of guide portions
6
c
formed at both ends of the flange
6
a
, the guiding portion
6
c
surrounding a peripheral surface of the circular plate portion
5
c
and a protrusion portion
6
d
protruding from a portion from a center to a bottom of the cylindrical shape
6
b
to be eccentric, a stalk
3
having an insertion hole
3
d
into which the cylindrical shape
6
b
of the collar
6
is inserted, an elastic spring
7
positioned on an upper surface of the stalk
3
to allow the cylindrical shape
6
b
of the collar
6
to be inserted into the insertion hole
3
a
, a rivet
8
inserted into through hole
5
d
of the circular plate portion
5
c
of the buckle base
5
, the collar
6
, the stalk
3
, and the elastic spring
7
, and a fixing cap
9
having a hole
9
a
for receiving an upper portion of the rivet
8
to fix the components therebetween and a lug
9
b
engagable with the lug
5
b
-l formed with the side plates
5
b
of the buckle base
5
.
On the other hand, there are shown another prior art buckle in
FIGS. 3 and 4
which has a same function as that of the buckle shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
. As shown, the buckle
10
is provided with a main body
11
for locking or releasing a tongue plate provided in a belt webbing, and a stalk
12
being rotatable at its one end, while the other end is fixed to a seat frame.
The main body
11
is made of resin and is provided with an insert hole (not shown) into which the tongue plate is insertable and a push button (
11
a
) for releasing the tongue plate engaged into the insert hole.
The main body
11
constructed in this manner is connected to one end of the stalk
12
to be rotatable by a rotation device
13
mounted in a rear inner portion of the main body
11
.
That is, the rotation device
13
includes a bottom plate
14
a
made of a steel plate and seated on an inner bottom surface of the main body
11
, a pair of side plates
14
b
formed by an upward bending process from the bottom plate
14
a
and having a pair of cutouts
14
b
-l into which one end of the fixing cap
18
is engaged, a buckle base
14
provided with a circular plate portion
14
d
integrally formed with one end of the bottom plate
14
a
and having a through hole
14
c
formed therethrough and a pair of lugs
14
e
for an engagement with a collar
15
to be described later protruding from both ends of the circular plate portion
14
d
, a collar
15
having a cylindrical shape
15
b
, a flange
15
a
formed at one end of the cylindrical shape
15
b
, the flange
15
a
being seated on the circular plate portion
14
d
of the buckle base
14
to support the buckle base
14
, allowing the buckle base
14
to pivot with respect to the stalk
12
in a width direction of the seat and a pair of recesses
15
c
for receiving the lugs
14
e
formed on the circular plate portion
14
d
of the buckle base
14
, a stalk
12
having an insertion hole
12
a
into which the cylindrical shape
15
b
of the collar
15
is inserted and a pair of protrusions
12
b
outwardly extending from a peripheral surface, an elastic spring
16
positioned on an upper surface of the stalk
12
to allow the cylindrical shape
15
b
to be inserted into the insertion hole
12
a
, one end of the elastic spring
16
being engaged with the protrusion
12
b
, and the other end being fixed with respect to the fixing cap
18
described later, a rivet
17
inserted into through hole
14
c
of the circular plate portion
14
d
of the buckle base
14
, the collar
15
, the stalk
12
, and the elastic spring
16
, and a fixing cap
18
having a hole
18
a
for receiving an upper portion of the rivet
17
to fix the components therebetween, a pair of concave portions
18
b
formed around the fixing cap
18
to receive the other end of the elastic spring
16
, and a lug
9
b
engagable into the cutouts
14
b-l
formed through the side plates
14
b
of the buckle base
14
.
By the rotation device
4
,
13
mounted in the buckle
1
,
10
shown in
FIGS. 1 through 4
, the main body
2
,
11
of the buckle
1
,
10
is rotatable with respect to the seat and returned to an initial state.
That is, by the elastic spring
7
,
16
provided in the rotation device
4
,
13
of the buckle
1
,
10
, the main body
2
,
11
is elastically rotated toward the vehicle occupant. At the moment, the operation of the elastic spring
7
,
16
and the returning action resulted therefrom are performed through the collar
6
,
15
. The collar
6
,
15
not only causes an increase of the manufacturing cost and the manufacturing time but also results in noise when it comes into contact with the elastic spring.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, a primary object of the invention to provide a rotation device of a buckle for use in an automobile having an elastic spring without necessitating a collar or any equivalent therefor for its operation, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost, the manufacturing time and the occurrence of the noise.
In order to achieve the object, the present invention provides a rotation device of a buckle for use in an automobile seat belt is provided with a base having a plate-like shape to be mounted on a bottom surface of a main body and provided with a circular plate portion at its one end, the circular plate portion provided with a through hole formed therethrough, and a pair of side walls bent upwardly each of which has a lug bent inwardly to be integrally formed with the circular plate portion as well as the pair of side walls, a stalk whose one end is rotatably mounted on an upper surface of the circular plate portion of the base and has a hole formed theret

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