Safety belt buckle

• US 9,578,929 B2
• Filed: 03/03/2014
• Issued: 02/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yoke Industrial Corp.
• Original Assignee: Yoke Industrial Corp.
• Inventors: Hung, Wei-Chieh
• Primary Examiner(s): Sandy, Robert J
• Assistant Examiner(s): San, Jason W
• Application Number:
  US14/195,039
• Publication Number:
  US 20150074958A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,093 Days
• Field of Search: 246/48, 246/34, 246/25, 245/941, 245/931
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A44B 11/2511 acting perpendicularly to the main plane of the buckle, e.g. placed on the front face of the buckle
• CPC Class Codes: A44B 11/2546 Details
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 24/45251 Resilient element [e.g., with spring]

Abstract

A safety belt buckle, which includes a buckle member, a hook, a stop member, a latch member and a release button, wherein the latch member has a tongue plate which enters a chamber of the buckle member through a lateral opening of the buckle member, and pushes the stop member to a predetermined position; when the stop member stays at the predetermined position, the hook is restricted by the stop member, and stopped at another predetermined position to engage the tongue plate, which makes the latch member unable to separate from the buckle member. By pushing the release button connected to the stop member, the hook can pivot unrestrictedly, therefore the tongue plate is no longer engaged by the hook, and the latch member and the buckle member can separate from each other.

Claims

1. A safety belt buckle, comprising:

a buckle member having a chamber therein and a lateral opening on a side, wherein the lateral opening is communicated with the chamber;

a hook provided in the chamber of the buckle member to be moved between a first position and a second position, wherein the hook stays at the first position under a normal condition, and the hook is moved along a moving trace between the first position and the second position;

a stop member provided in the chamber of the buckle member to be moved between a third position and a fourth position different from the third position, wherein the stop member stays at the third position under the normal condition, and when the stop member is moved to the fourth position, a part of the stop member is on the moving trace of the hook to stop the hook from being moved to the second position from the first position;

when the stop member is at the third position, the part of the stop member leaves the moving trace of the hook, so that the hook is movable from the first position to the second position along the moving trace;

a latch member having a tongue plate to be detachably inserted into the chamber of the buckle member through the lateral opening, wherein when the tongue plate enters the chamber of the buckle member, the hook which is at the first position under the normal condition engages the tongue plate to prevent the latch member from disengaging from the buckle member;

wherein, when the hook is at the second position, the tongue plate is not engaged by the hook, so that the latch member is detachable from the buckle member;

a release button provided on the buckle member, wherein the release button moves the stop member to the third position from the fourth position when the release button is moved;

wherein, the stop member is in the third position under the normal condition, and is moved to the fourth position by being pushed by the tongue plate when the tongue plate enters the chamber of the buckle member through the lateral opening;

the movement of the stop member from the third position to the fourth position is driven by the tongue plate instead of being driven by the hook;

when the stop member is in the fourth position, the part of the stop member is on the moving trace of the hook to restrict the hook from being moved from the first position to the second position, so that the tongue plate keeps being engaged by the hook;

when the release button is moved to move the stop member from the fourth position to the third position, the part of the stop member leaves the moving trace of the hook, so that the hook is movable from the first position to the second position along the moving trace to stop engaging the tongue plate, whereby the latch member is detachable from the buckle member;

the hook has a hooking portion at an end thereof;

the tongue plate of the latch member has a recess;

the hooking portion engages the recess when the tongue plate is inserted in the chamber, and the hook is at the first position to secure the tongue plate in the chamber;

the hook has a contact portion opposite to the hooking portion;

the contact portion extends out of the buckle member to be pressed to move the hook;

the safety belt buckle further comprises a transmission member, wherein the tongue plate of the latch member moves the stop member to the fourth position from the third position by using the transmission member; and

the transmission member has a torsional spring mounted on a post in the chamber of the buckle, and the torsional spring has a first end and a second end, wherein the first end presses against a contact face of the stop member, and the tongue plate of the latch member touches the second end of the torsional spring;

the torsional spring is twisted and move the stop member to the fourth position from the third position when the tongue plate of the latch member enters the chamber of the buckle member.

2. The safety belt buckle of claim 1, wherein the stop member has a stop face, and the hook has an end face;

the stop face of the stop member is on the moving trace of the hook and touches the end face of the hook when the stop member is moved to the fourth position, and therefore stops the hook from being moved to the second position from the first position.

3. The safety belt buckle of claim 1, wherein the tongue plate of the latch member moves in a direction toward the chamber to move the stop member from the third position to the fourth position in an opposite direction opposite to the direction by using the transmission member.

4. The safety belt buckle of claim 1, further comprising a first elastic member received in the chamber of the buckle member to urge the hook to the first position.

5. The safety belt buckle of claim 1, further comprising a second elastic member received in the chamber of the buckle member to urge the hook to the third position.