Buckle and seat belt device

Abstract

To provide a buckle and a seat belt device having the buckle that can be reduced in the size and cost.SOLUTION: A buckle 10 includes: a base 11; a latch member 12 which has a claw portion 12d that engages with a tongue; a slider lock member 14 that prevents movement of the latch member 12 in the latch-release direction when the tongue is latched to the latch member 12; a slider spring 17 which is contracted and provided between the slider lock member 14 and the latch member 12; an ejector 15 which disengages the tongue; and an ejector spring that biases the ejector 15 in the direction of disengaging the tongue. The ejector spring includes ejector spring 18a and ejector spring 18b which are arranged in parallel at the central portion in the short side direction of the base 11.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a seat belt device installed in a seat of an automobile or the like, and a buckle for the seat belt device. [Background technology]

[0002] Vehicles such as automobiles are generally provided with a seat belt device for restraining an occupant in a seat that has a seat bottom on which the occupant sits and a backrest (seat back) located behind the occupant. The seat belt device includes a webbing for restraining the occupant, a retractor for winding up the webbing, a buckle disposed on the side of the seat, and a tongue movably supported on the webbing, and restrains the occupant in the seat by fitting the tongue into the buckle.

[0003] A conventional buckle has a latch member that enters the locking hole of the inserted tongue and locks the tongue, an operation button that causes the latch member to escape from the locking hole of the tongue and release the lock with the tongue, an ejector that presses the tongue in a direction to disengage from the buckle when the latch member releases the lock with the tongue, and an ejector spring that constantly biases the ejector in the direction to disengage the tongue from the buckle.

[0004] In order to generate the spring force required for the buckle's performance, an ejector spring is used that has a certain length in the longitudinal direction. This makes the buckle relatively long in the longitudinal direction (the tongue insertion direction), making it difficult to reduce the size of the buckle.

[0005] Patent Document 1 discloses a buckle in which a first ejector spring is disposed outside one side wall of the base and a second ejector spring is disposed outside the other side wall of the base, thereby shortening the length in the tongue insertion direction. However, because the ejector springs are disposed outside the side walls of the base, the size of the buckle in the short direction (width direction) perpendicular to the tongue insertion direction is large. In addition, additional parts are required to hold the ejector springs in the area outside the side walls of the base, which increases costs. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2012 / 081189 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and has an object to provide a buckle that can be made small in size and at a reduced cost, and a seat belt device including the buckle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The buckle of the present invention comprises a base having a bottom and a pair of side walls rising from a pair of side edges of the bottom, a latch member supported on the side walls to be rotatable between a non-latching position and a latching position, and having a claw portion that rotates to the latching position and engages with the tongue when the tongue is inserted into a predetermined position, a slider lock member that prevents the latch member from moving in the unlatch direction when the tongue and the latch member are latched, a slider spring compressed between the slider lock member and the latch member, an ejector that releases the tongue, an ejector spring that urges the ejector in a direction to release the tongue, and a release button that is provided on the side walls of the base to be movably in the longitudinal direction, and that presses the slider lock member in an unlatch operation to allow the latch member to move in the unlatch direction, and the ejector spring includes a first ejector spring and a second ejector spring that are arranged in parallel in the center of the short side of the base.

[0009] In one aspect of the present invention, the first ejector spring and the second ejector spring are connected at one end side.

[0010] The seat belt device of the present invention includes a seat belt to be worn by an occupant, a tongue movably supported on the seat belt, and the buckle of the present invention to which the tongue is engaged. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, the buckle can be made smaller and the cost can be reduced. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a component exploded view showing the buckle according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the buckle in a tongue-disengaged state. [Figure 4]FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the buckle in a state before latching begins when the tongue is inserted. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the buckle in a state after latching has started. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0014] Fig. 1 is a component exploded view showing a buckle 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the buckle 10 includes a base 11 made of a U-shaped frame having a bottom and a pair of left and right side walls rising from a pair of side edges of the bottom, a latch member 12 rotatably supported on both side walls of the base 11 and having a claw portion 12d engageable with an opening 5 (see Fig. 4) of a tongue plate 4, a slider lock member 14 supported relatively movably on an upper surface of the latch member 12 and preventing the latch member 12 from moving in a disengagement direction when the opening 5 of the tongue plate 4 and the latch member 12 are engaged with each other, and a slider spring 17 compressed between the slider lock member 14 and the latch member 12 to constantly urge the slider lock member 14 toward the latch member 12. That is, the slider spring 17 is wound around a rod-shaped guide portion 14A at the lower end of the slider lock member 14 and loosely fitted into a guide hole 12c of the latch member 12.

[0015] The buckle 10 also includes a lock pin 16 that is supported in holes in both side walls of the base 11 and presses down on the upper surface of a slider lock member 14 that prevents the latch member 12 from moving in the disengagement direction when the tongue plate 4 and the latch member 12 are engaged, a buckle button 13 that functions as a release button that is provided movably in the longitudinal direction on both side walls of the base 11, and an inertia lever 19 that is located between the buckle button 13 and the latch member 12 and rotatably supported in grooves in both side walls of the base 11. The inertia lever 19 has a lever-side engagement connecting portion 19a that is shaped like a round pin and has a circular cross section.

[0016] Furthermore, the buckle 10 includes an ejector 15 that is slidably mounted on the bottom of the base 11 in the longitudinal direction of the base 11 and disengages the tongue plate 4 from the buckle 10, ejector springs 18a, 18b that constantly bias the ejector 15 in the direction to disengage the tongue plate 4 from the buckle 10, and an upper cover 20 and a lower cover 21 that contain them so as to cover them from above and below.

[0017] Two ejector springs 18a, 18b for biasing the ejector 15 are arranged in parallel in the center of the base 11 in the short direction. One end of each of the ejector springs 18a, 18b abuts against the ejector 15, and the other end abuts against the bottom of the base 11. The ejector springs 18a, 18b may be separated as shown in FIG. 1, or may be connected at one end as shown in FIG. 2. By using the integrated ejector springs 18a, 18b as shown in FIG. 2, it becomes easier to maintain the distance between the two springs, and it is possible to prevent the springs from entangling when the buckle is operated. When the spring seat is configured as a protrusion shape from the base 11, it is necessary to ensure a clearance between the inner diameter of the spring and the base protrusion, and in order to prevent the springs from colliding with each other, the distance between the two springs is set large, which places more restrictions on the design of the buckle 10 in the width direction. By using the integrated ejector springs 18a and 18b, the distance between the two springs can be kept constant, so that the distance can be narrowed and tangling can be prevented. The material of the ejector springs 18a and 18b can be, for example, SUS. The wire diameter, pitch, center diameter, etc. of the ejector springs 18a and 18b are set based on the required load.

[0018] Next, an engagement operation between the buckle 10 and the tongue plate configured as above will be described. Note that up and down in the following description correspond to up and down in a state in which the buckle 10 is mounted on a vehicle.

[0019] First, in the disengaged (disengaged) state of the buckle 10 where the tongue plate is not inserted, the ejector 15 is set to the uppermost position by the spring force of the ejector springs 18a and 18b as shown in Fig. 3. In this uppermost position of the ejector 15, the latch member 12 rotates upward (clockwise from the latched state) due to the relationship between the slider lock member 14, the lock pin 16, and the slider spring 17. At this time, the slider lock member 14 is disengaged from the lock pin 16 and rotated to the right, the upper surface of the latch member 12 abuts against the lever side engagement connecting portion 19a of the inertia lever 19, and the rear surface of the latch member 12 abuts against the front surface of the lock pin 16. In this state, the latch member 12 is set to the disengaged position where the claw portion 12d is disengaged from the tongue insertion passage and does not engage with the tongue plate.

[0020] 4, when the tongue plate 4 is inserted from the tongue insertion opening 20A provided at one end of the upper cover 20 of the buckle 10, the lower end of the tongue plate 4 comes into contact with the upper end of the ejector 15, and the ejector 15 is pressed downward. Then, the ejector 15 moves downward while compressing the ejector springs 18a, 18b in response to the insertion of the tongue plate 4, so that the suppressing portions 15a, 15b (see FIG. 1) of the ejector 15 press the pressed portions 12a, 12b (see FIG. 1) of the latch member 12 downward, causing the latch member 12 to rotate in the counterclockwise direction.

[0021] As a result, the claw portion 12d of the latch member 12 enters the movement path of the tongue and fits into the locking hole 5 of the tongue plate 4, and the latch member 12 is in the engaged position. When the insertion force of the tongue plate 4 is released, the ejector 15 presses the lower end of the tongue by the spring force of the ejector springs 18a, 18b, and the inner edge of the lower end of the locking hole 5 of the tongue plate 4 engages with the claw portion 12d, so that the tongue plate 4 is engaged with the buckle 10, and the tongue plate 4 and the buckle 10 are in the engaged state shown in FIG.

[0022] At this time, the spring force of the slider spring 17 causes the slider lock member 14 to enter between the rear surface of the latch member 12 and the front surface of the lock pin 16, and its rear surface is pressed against the lock pin 16. As a result, the slider lock member 14 holds the latch member 12 in the engaged position, so that the latch member 12 does not come out of the locking hole 5 of the tongue plate 4, and the latch between the tongue plate 4 and the buckle 10 is firmly held.

[0023] When the buckle button 13 is pressed downward to release the tongue plate 4 from the buckle 10, the buckle button 13 moves downward. Then, the buckle button 13 presses the slider lock member 14 downward, and the slider lock member 14 moves downward against the biasing force of the slider spring 17 relative to the latch member 12. Then, the slider lock member 14 is disengaged from the lock pin 16, and is no longer held down by the lock pin 16. Then, the slider lock member 14 and the latch member 12 rotate clockwise, and the claw portion 12d moves rightward. Since the ejector 15 is biased in the disengagement direction by the spring force of the ejector springs 18a, 18b, the ejector 15 repels the latch member 12 to the right via the tongue plate 4, and the latch member 12 and the slider lock member 14 further rotate clockwise, causing the claw portion 12d to escape from the engagement hole 5 of the tongue plate 4, and at the same time, pushing the tongue plate 1 out upward.

[0024] When the latch member 12 abuts against the lock pin 16, the clockwise rotation of the latch member 12 and the slider lock member 14 stops. At this time, the slider lock member 14 abuts against the lock pin 16 due to the biasing force of the slider spring 17. Finally, the ejector 15 reaches the upper limit position, the latch member 12 reaches the disengaged position, and the buckle 10 reaches a disengaged state with the tongue plate 4 disengaged (see FIG. 3).

[0025] In this embodiment, two ejector springs 18a, 18b arranged in parallel constantly urge the ejector 15 in a direction to separate the tongue plate 4 from the buckle 10. By using two ejector springs, the length of each spring can be shortened compared to the case of using one ejector spring, and the spring force required to urge the ejector 15 can be generated.

[0026] Since the short ejector springs 18a, 18b are disposed in the center of the base in the short side direction, it is possible to reduce the longitudinal size while reducing the short side size of the buckle 10. In addition, no additional parts are required to hold the two ejector springs 18a, 18b, which reduces costs.

[0027] By providing two ejector springs 18a, 18b, the load required to be generated per ejector spring is reduced to half compared to the case where one ejector spring is used, and durability can be improved.

[0028] In the above embodiment, three or more ejector springs may be arranged in parallel, but in consideration of the standard dimensions of the buckle 10, etc., it is preferable to have two ejector springs.

[0029] In the above embodiment, the configuration of the buckle 10 other than the ejector springs 18a, 18b is merely an example, and is not limited to the configuration shown in the drawings.

[0030] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 4 Tongue plate 10 Buckle 11. Base 12 Latch member 15 Ejector 18a, 18b Ejector spring

Claims

1. a base having a bottom and a pair of side walls rising from a pair of side edges of the bottom; a latch member supported on the side wall so as to be rotatable between a non-latching position and a latching position, and having a claw portion which rotates to the latching position and engages with the tongue when the tongue is inserted into a predetermined position; a slider lock member that prevents the latch member from moving in a direction to release the latch when the tongue and the latch member are latched; a slider spring compressed between the slider lock member and the latch member; an ejector for releasing the tongue; an ejector spring that biases the ejector in a direction to release the tongue; a release button that is provided on the side wall of the base so as to be movable in a longitudinal direction, the release button pressing the slider lock member in an unlatching operation to allow the latch member to move in an unlatching direction; Equipped with The buckle includes a first ejector spring and a second ejector spring arranged in parallel in a central portion of the base in a short side direction.

2. The buckle according to claim 1 , wherein one end of the first ejector spring and one end of the second ejector spring are connected to each other.

3. Seat belts worn by passengers; A tongue movably supported on the seat belt; The buckle according to claim 1 or 2, in which the tongue is locked; A seat belt device comprising:

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