Patent Application
20210345734
This application claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 119(a) of German Patent Application No. 102020112406.6, filed May 06, 2020, which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to a buckle tongue having a blocking element.
A buckle tongue with the aforementioned features is known from DE 10 2013 216 326 A1, wherein the tongue body has depressions that are oriented in the longitudinal direction of the belt strap and against which the belt strap already rests in the pass-through position. In particular if the recesses are formed as cross grooves or the surface having the recesses also has a high coefficient of friction in the longitudinal direction of the belt strap, the tongue body can negatively counteract a simple movement of the buckle tongue along the belt strap in the pass-through position.
The present invention relates to a buckle tongue comprising a tongue body, wherein the tongue body extends in an insertion direction, forms a belt slot that extends transversely to the insertion direction and is provided for guiding a belt strap through it, and has a contact section, wherein the belt strap rests against the contact section at least in a load position, and wherein the contact section has several recesses, which in the load position minimize the belt strap slipping transversely to the insertion direction or preferably even completely prevent it from doing so, and with a blocking element that is movably arranged in the tongue body, wherein in an unloaded pass-through position of the blocking element, the belt strap can be moved through the belt slot, and in the load position brought about by a tensile force introduced into the belt strap, the movability of the belt strap is at least inhibited by means of the blocking element.
The object of the present invention is therefore to eliminate the disadvantages described with reference to the prior art and in particular to specify a buckle tongue that can be moved along the belt strap in a simple manner, i.e., without much resistance, in the pass-through position, whereas in the load position and in particular before a complete clamping of the belt strap is reached, a the belt strap is not movable transversely to the insertion direction along the tongue body.
The object is achieved by a buckle tongue with the features of the independent claim. Advantageous developments of the buckle tongue are specified in the dependent claims and in the description, wherein individual features of the advantageous developments can be combined with one another as desired in a technically sensible manner.
The object is achieved in particular by a buckle tongue having the features mentioned at the outset and with which the blocking element is arranged in the pass-through position between the belt strap and the contact section having the recesses, so that the belt strap does not rest against the recesses in the pass-through position.
The basic idea of the invention thus provides that the belt strap is spaced from the recesses by the blocking element in the pass-through position of the blocking element, whereas after a deflection of the blocking element from the pass-through position in the direction of the load position and at the latest shortly before reaching the maximum load position, the belt strap comes into contact with the recesses and in particular is drawn into them. The interaction between the belt strap loaded with a relatively high tensile force and the recesses prevents the belt strap from slipping transversely to the insertion direction along the tongue body. Such slipping of the belt strap in the belt slot transversely to the insertion direction is also referred to as “bunching.” Thus, several (at least two), preferably at least three or even at least four, recesses that are arranged next to one another, into which the belt strap is drawn in the load position, are provided in the contact section.
The tongue body consists, for example, of a metal tongue plate and of a plastic cover partially surrounding the tongue plate, in particular in the region of the belt slot, wherein the cover has the recesses in a preferred embodiment.
The blocking element can, for example, be mounted so as to be linearly movable (displaceable) in/on the tongue body. However, it is preferred that the blocking element is mounted pivotably in/on the tongue body. Thereby, the blocking element is pivoted from the pass-through position into the load position by the belt strap.
In the buckled state, the end tongue deflects the belt strap in a loop-like manner, so that the belt strap is divided into a shoulder belt section and a lap belt section. In the case of a load, this section of the belt strap deflected in a loop-like manner acts with a tensile force from the shoulder belt section and/or from the lap belt section onto the blocking element and transfers it from the pass-through position into the load position.
The blocking element has, in particular, a clamping section and an actuating section, wherein the belt strap transfers the blocking element from the pass-through position into the load position by acting on the actuating section, and wherein the belt strap is clamped in the load position between the tongue body and the clamping section of the blocking element. The clamping section and the actuating section are in particular integrally formed on a common component. In the pass-through position, the clamping section is spaced from a pressing section formed by a surface section of the tongue body, such that the belt strap guided through between the clamping section and the pressing section is freely movable in the pass-through position. When the blocking element is deflected by the belt strap acting on the actuating section, the clamping section moves toward the pressing section of the tongue body and finally presses the belt strap arranged therebetween onto the pressing section.
In order to prevent the belt strap from already resting against the recesses of the contact section in the pass-through position, it is provided in one embodiment that the actuating section of the blocking element is arranged between the belt strap and the contact section. In particular when the blocking element is pivotably mounted in/on the tongue body, a recess is formed between the clamping section and the actuating section of the blocking element, wherein the blocking element in the load position assumes such a position that the tongue body is arranged in this recess between the clamping section and the actuating section in the load position, so that the contact section having the recess extends through the blocking element.
The recesses are in particular arranged in such a way that they delimit the belt slot. The recesses that delimit the belt slot are thus arranged in such a section (for example on an edge or surface) of the tongue body. The depths of the depressions formed by the recesses thus extend in the insertion direction, while the recesses do not have any substantial extent in the longitudinal direction of the belt strap, i.e., transversely to the belt slot. The regions of the contact section between the recesses thus together form a plurality of tooth-shaped projections. In this way, the recesses are arranged at a point at which particularly large tensile forces draw the belt strap into the recesses. The belt strap is thus prevented particularly effectively from slipping transversely to the insertion direction. This specific arrangement of the recesses is also considered a separate invention without the features of the solution described above. Thus, in particular, several recesses arranged next to one another can be utilized at a section of the tongue body extending through the blocking element, wherein the recesses directly delimit the belt slot without the spacing of the belt strap having to be utilized by the blocking element in the pass-through position.
The invention and the technical environment are explained below by way of example with reference to the figures. The following are shown schematically:
The cover 6 forms a contact section 8 that delimits the belt slot 4 and has several recesses 9.
The buckle tongue 1 also comprises a blocking element 7 that is shown in
As can be seen from
When a tensile force is introduced into the belt strap, the belt strap 12 acts on the actuating section 11 of the blocking element 7, whereby the blocking element 7 is pivoted into the load position. In the load position, the belt strap 12 is pressed by the clamping section 10 of the blocking element 7 onto a pressing section of the tongue body 3, whereby the mobility of the belt strap 12 is decreased or completely reduced. At the same time, the recesses 9 are released by the pivoting of the actuating section 11, wherein the belt strap 12 comes into contact with the contact section 8 and is drawn into the recesses 9 as indicated in
By the pivoting of the blocking element 7, the contact section 8 with the recesses 9 extends through the blocking element 11 so to speak, whereby the contact section 8 with the recesses 9 comes into contact with the belt strap 12. Since the recesses 9 delimit the belt slot 4 at least in the load position, the belt strap 12 with its section deflected in a loop-like manner acts on the recesses 9, so that the belt strap 12 is drawn into the recesses 9 with a high force. In their depths, the recesses 9 therefore extend in the insertion direction 2 and not substantially in the belt strap profile direction, so that the contact section 8 forms tooth-like projections between the recesses 9. Slipping of the belt strap 12 transversely to the insertion direction 2 is thus effectively avoided.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102020112406.6 | May 2020 | DE | national |
