Seat belt buckle assembly

Inactive Publication Date: 2005-07-21
KEY SAFETY SYST
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, this can cause discomfort to a rear seat passenger particularly in certain seating positions.
In addition the steel strap makes it more difficult to fold the seat down smoothly when access to a rear storage compartment is required because the steel inhibits the buckle from folding with the seat.
Steel straps also do not flex easily around the side of a child seat resulting in the buckle being pulled at an offset angle and ultimately weakening the buckle mechanism and degrading its performance.
The strong woven webbing traditionally used for the seat belt itself has been tried but it has not been satisfactory because traditional arrangements require a minimum length of at least 200 mm to ensure sufficient space to attach the webbing to both the buckle head and the mounting effectively and safely, and this tends to be too long to allow the strap to fit easily into the stow pocket.

Method used

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  • Seat belt buckle assembly
  • Seat belt buckle assembly
  • Seat belt buckle assembly

Examples

Experimental program
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Embodiment Construction

[0011] In the known arrangement of FIG. 1 a buckle head 1 is shown attached to a buckle attachment bracket 2 and connected to a vehicle mounting bracket 3 by a strap comprising a length of traditional seat belt webbing 4. The webbing 4 passes through holes in each of the two brackets 2, 3 and is stitched through three layers in a stitch pattern 5. The webbing 4 is wider than the buckle head 1 and the mounting brackets and is folded across its width in the region of the brackets so that it fits through the holes. This restricts movement of the buckle head 1 in a lateral direction and limits the space available for the stitch pattern 5. Traditionally the webbing 4 is about 48 mm wide and about 1.15 mm thick. The stitches in the stitch patterns would typically be about 37 mm long in the direction of weft fibres, i.e. across the webbing, and about 28 mm in the warp direction (along the webbing length) and the pattern comprises ten rows each of ten or eleven stitches across the webbing a...

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Abstract

A seat belt buckle assembly has a buckle head having an attachment member and a strap comprising a predetermined length of flexible woven webbing material fastened to the attachment member and comprising a loop spaced from the attachment member. Two such buckle heads may be mounted to a mounting bracket for attachment to a vehicle and hook and loop fasteners may connect them back to back. This buckle head is more compact and versatile then previously known arrangements.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to a seat belt buckle assembly, and is particularly applicable for use in the rear passenger seat of a vehicle. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Traditionally rear seat belt buckles are mounted to the floor pan of a vehicle and the buckle head is stowed in a pocket in the seat cushion. The mounting must be strong enough to withstand crash forces and the buckle head is usually attached to the floor pan mounting by a steel strap or cable. However, this can cause discomfort to a rear seat passenger particularly in certain seating positions. In addition the steel strap makes it more difficult to fold the seat down smoothly when access to a rear storage compartment is required because the steel inhibits the buckle from folding with the seat. Steel straps also do not flex easily around the side of a child seat resulting in the buckle being pulled at an offset angle and ultimately weakening the buckle mechanism and degrading its...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): B60R22/18B60R22/22
CPCB60R22/18B60R22/22Y10T24/45623Y10T24/318B60R2022/1806
InventorBELL, JOHN
OwnerKEY SAFETY SYST