The present invention relates to a seat belt buckle assembly comprising an improved interrelationship between a buckle cover and a frame of the buckle assembly.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved seat belt buckle assembly.
Accordingly the invention comprises: a seat belt buckle assembly comprising: a locking assembly and an integrally formed, one-piece cover to receive the locking assembly, the cover and locking assembly include a plurality of guiding and stabilizing members configured to guide the locking frame and the cover into a preferred orientation and to prevent relative motion between the cover and the frame.
Many other objects and purposes of the invention will be clear from the following detailed description of the drawings.
a shows an alternate embodiment of the frame suitable for connection to a piece of seat belt webbing.
b shows an alternate embodiment of the frame suitable for connection to a length of cable.
a is a cross-sectional view through Section 4a-4a of
b is a front plan sectional view of the buckle assembly cover.
a is a cross-sectional view through section 5a-5a of
b is a cross-sectional view through section 5b-5b of
c is an enlarged view of a portion of
d and 5e show enlarged views of selected portions of the buckle.
Reference is made to
The locking assembly further includes an ejector 54 (which pushes the tongue out of the locking assembly), a tilting or rotatable locking element 56 with a projecting catch, tip or projection 58 receivable within the tongue aperture 25, a retaining element 60 configured as a bar for holding the latch element in place in its lock position, a rocker 62 that slides over the retaining element and places pressure upon the retaining element 60 and is hinged upon the ejector 54, and a single compression spring 66 cooperating with the rocker to bias the rocker and provide a bias force acting on the ejector 54. The arrangement and operation of the above elements are substantially the same as described in the above-referenced patent.
Historically, the locking assembly 22 in the above buckle 20 was received within and protected by a two-part plastic molded cover. This cover included two mating cover parts that interlatched with each other. Subsequently, the two mating cover parts, along mating faces, were sonically welded together. The utilization of a two-part cover complicates the buckle assembly process requiring the locking assembly to be first placed in a first one of the cover parts such as the lower cover and held in place, and then the other cover part such as the upper cover is carefully placed upon the locking assembly and the lower cover and secured in place. Plastic parts such as the prior cover, having a mating line, are susceptible to delatching along this mating line. Further, the dimensions of these prior two cover parts need to be precisely controlled to ensure a proper fit and finish therebetween, to properly hold the locking assembly in place, as well as to enhance the aesthetic styling of the cover, as an uneven mating line or seam is not aesthetically pleasing.
The use of a one-piece buckle cover of the present invention permits the tighter fit between the cover and the frame, eliminating rattle. Further, the one-piece cover has greater structural integrity than the prior art multi-piece cover; it is more pleasing to the eye as it does not have a seam and only one tool (as opposed to two) is needed to manufacture the cover, which contributes to achieving the tighter clearances between the various parts of the buckle 20.
The frame 50 includes various features to retain the ejector 54, latch element 56 and release button 52, and contains other features that permit the frame to be received by, secured to and properly aligned within the one-piece cover of the present invention. The frame 50 is made of a metal stamping and comprises a bottom 70 and sides 70a and 70b. The bottom 70 includes an aperture 74 (see
The strap 76 effectively extends the size of the frame and provides a bridge or connector to a vehicle mounting structure (such as a vehicle seat). The frame can also be attached to a secondary strap device such as mounting cable or length of seat belt webbing (which also functions loosely or flexibly mounts the buckle to a vehicle mounting structure). The strap 76 can take many shapes. As illustrated, the strap includes a first opening 82 into which is received a fastener such as a shoulder bolt (not shown) permitting a rotatable connection to the vehicle mounting structure and another opening 82a, which receives the rivet. Numeral 83 shows a central axis of the shoulder bolt. If a shoulder bolt is used the buckle assembly 20 is rotatable about the axis 83 of the shoulder bolt to different positions; this type of connection is known in the art. The strap opening can be configured to receive a length of seat belt webbing (see
Reference is briefly made to
The frame 50 (or 50a or 50b) includes features to retain the release button 52. More particularly, each forward part of frame side 72a and 72b includes a slot 84a and 84b, each of which receives a portion of a ledge or plate 90 formed on the button 52 (also see
The frame 50, in addition to the features mentioned above, also includes an integrally formed, interfering formation 100 (also referred to as a pointed barb 101) proximate the top of each side 72a and 72b. As will be seen from the description below, these formations 100 bite into and deform a cooperating formation 160 on a top inside surface of the button cover 26 and prevent the cover 26 from moving fore and aft as well as side-to-side on the frame. Further, formation 160 is effective during assembly to center the frame and cover relative to one another. The forward end 96 of frame 50 is formed with a flat profile as more clearly shown in
As can be seen from the
Reference is now made to
Each of the cover sides 124 and 126, proximate the rear of the cover, includes a guide member generally shown by numeral 140, and in particular a pair of upper and lower guiding and stabilizing elements such as upper wall pair 142a and lower wall pair 142b. Each of the pairs of upper and lower walls 142a and 142b generally extends longitudinally, front-to-back and parallel to a longitudinal axis 144 (see
Each wall 142a and 142b has a horizontally extending, obliquely or funnel shaped or tapered portion 150 located interior of the rear of the cover. The obliquely shaped or tapered portion 150 transitions to a horizontally extending axial portion 152 (parallel to axis 144) positioned rearward of portion 150. Obliquely shaped portion 150 guides the frame 50 toward the center (or the axis 144) of the cover during assembly. Each upper and lower wall 142a and 142b projects from one of the cover sides 124 or 126 and extends inwardly toward axis 144. The spacing between opposing axial wall portion 152 is substantially equal to the width W (see
As can be seen from
The bottom 122 of the cover 26 additionally includes lower guiding and locking formations. The bottom 122 includes a ramp 180 centrally positioned upon the bottom 122 at the mouth 130 of the cover 26. The forward surface 182 of the ramp is inclined and transitions to a horizontal flat section 184, which terminates in a vertical shoulder 186. When the frame 50 is in place within the cover as illustrated in
The cover 26 includes an additional pair of locking and guiding features generally shown by numerals 190. Each of these locking and guiding features 190 is located on the inner surface 138a at the rear of the cover generally proximate the intersection of surface 138a with each of the axially extending wall portions 152 (also see
Reference is again made to
Reference is again made to
From the above figures, in the embodiment where the strap 76 is used, the strap 76 leads the frame 50 into the cover and passes under the lower ribs 154. As an aside, if the strap 76 engages one or more of the wall portions 150, this action will beneficially tend to center the strap in the cover. As the strap 76 is urged further into the cover, the strap will extend through the rear opening 136. The various parts of the buckle are dimensioned so that as the strap exits opening 136, the sides 70a and 70b of the frame 50 become positioned against and between the opposing inner ribs 154 of the axially extending opposing wall portions 152. Further, in this condition the locking features 100 are positioned at the beginning (forward end) of the alignment features 160. As the frame 50, as well as the entire locking assembly 22, is moved (pushed or pulled) further into the cover 26, it will engage and slide between the axial wall portions 154 located on either side of the cover. These opposed, axial wall portions provide side-to-side stability and guidance for the frame and guide the frame and strap (if used) into their final positions into the cover 26. As the frame is moved inwardly, the frame sides deform each rib 154 and as mentioned, are laterally stabilized by the axial wall section 152 of the cover 26.
As shown in the various figures such as for example
The strap 76 is used when the buckle 26 is mounted directly to a supporting surface such as a frame of a vehicle seat. For those frames, such as 50a and 50b (see
As the frame 50 becomes fully seated within the cover 26, the angled surface 110 of groove 108a engages a corresponding guiding member 190. More particularly, the angle engagement surface 110 compressively engages and displaces material of the top surface of guiding member 190. This press-fit engagement prevents motion of the frame generally perpendicular to axis 144 relative to the cover in an up-and-down direction. As the frame 50 fully seats into the cover 26, the top rear portion of the cover 26 at the surface 198 (of element 194) engages the rear 75 of the frame 50. This engagement further stabilizes the rear of frame 50 from moving perpendicular to axis 144. As frame 50 slides over ramp 180, the front edge 96 of the frame 50 becomes positioned behind the wall (shoulder) 186, thereby preventing the frame from moving out of the cover 26.
The principal, illustrated embodiment of the invention shows a frame 50 with one side 70a having a notch, groove or shoulder 109, as well as a groove 108a with a corresponding angled surface 110 at the rear of the frame, which provides a degree of dissymmetry in the structure of the rear of the frame and shows that only the set of grooves (notch, shoulder) 109,109a and angle surface are needed. The side 70b can be made symmetrical to side 70a. In this manner groove 108b will also include an inclined surface such as 110a and side 70b will also include a shoulder (notch, groove) 109a, as shown in
As mentioned above, the forward direction of barbs 101 further prevents the forward (and aft) motion of the frame 50 relative to the cover 26, as any relative forward (or aft) motion will cause the barbs 101 to bite further into a corresponding ridge 162 located on undersurface of the top of the cover. Furthermore, the compressive loading of the barbs 101 prevents the forward part of the frame from moving perpendicular to axis 144 in a generally up-and-down fashion, as well as stabilizes the frame from moving perpendicular to axis 144 in a general side-to-side manner.
In view of the above features of the present invention, the one-piece, integrally formed cover provides for added strength in relation to a cover having separate upper and lower parts and is less susceptible to breaking as there are no artificial mating edges as in the case of the prior art. The integral features of the one-piece cover 26 provide a variety of stabilization features operating cooperatively with the frame to guide and hold the frame in place during and after assembly.
Many changes and modifications in the above-described embodiment of the invention can, of course, be carried out without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, that scope is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 60/710,935 filed on Aug. 24, 2005. The disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60710935 | Aug 2005 | US |