Seat belt buckle

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a seat belt buckle, comprising: a housing having an annular open end for insertion of a lock tongue, the housing being provided with a housing cover, and the housing cover being detachably buckled at the open end and defining a light-transmitting space with the outer peripheral wall of the open end; and a light-emitting assembly enclosed in the light-transmitting space, wherein the housing cover is provided with a diffuser, the diffuser is directly injection-molded and fixed on the inner peripheral surface of the housing cover by means of a two-shot injection-molding process, and light emitted by the light-emitting assembly is directly diffused to the outside of the housing by means of the diffuser. The diffuser directly injection-molded on the inner peripheral surface of the housing cover by means of the two-shot injection-molding process can be closely attached to the inner peripheral surface of the housing cover, thereby avoiding light leakage caused by a mounting gap between the diffuser and the housing cover. A connecting structure between the diffuser and the housing cover is omitted and existing light-transmitting covers are omitted, and the light from the light-emitting assembly is directly diffused to the outside of the housing by means of the diffuser, so that the diffusion uniformity of light is better, the number of parts is reduced, and costs are reduced.

Description

Safety belt buckle TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of safety belt accessories, and in particular to a safety belt buckle. BACKGROUND

[0002] A safety belt buckle is part of a safety device in a vehicle, which is fixedly connected with a vehicle body. A safety belt is arranged on a lock tongue, and the lock tongue is used to be inserted into a socket of the safety belt buckle to fix the safety belt on a vehicle seat. When the lock tongue is inserted into the socket of the safety belt buckle, the safety belt will surround a passenger to fix the passenger on the vehicle seat when the vehicle is sharply decelerated.

[0003] In order that the passenger can quickly find the safety belt buckle, the safety belt buckle can also be provided with a light-emitting device to mark the area for inserting the lock tongue. However, considering that the safety belt buckle is usually small, it is expected that the light-emitting device is arranged in a compact structure and with fewer components to adapt to the limited installation space; and it is also expected that the light-emitting device has an aesthetic and uniform light-emitting effect. SUMMARY

[0004] To overcome the problems in the related art, the present application provides a safety belt buckle.

[0005] According to a first aspect of the embodiments of the present application, the present application provides a safety belt buckle, comprising: a housing having a ring-shaped open end for inserting a lock tongue, the housing being provided with a housing cover which is detachably capped at the open end and cooperates with an outer peripheral wall of the open end to form a light-transmitting space; and a light-emitting assembly enclosed in the light-transmitting space, wherein the housing cover is provided with a diffuser which is directly injection molded on an inner peripheral surface of the housing cover by a two-color injection molding process, and light emitted by the light-emitting assembly is directly diffused to the outside of the housing through the diffuser.

[0006] In some embodiments, along an insertion direction of the lock tongue, an upper end surface of the diffuser is flush with or lower than an upper end surface of the housing cover.

[0007] In some embodiments, along the insertion direction of the lock tongue, a lower end surface of the diffuser is provided with a wave structure.

[0008] In some embodiments, the open end of the housing is provided with a narrowed section, the housing forms a stepped surface at the narrowed section, the light-emitting assembly is sleeved outside the narrowed section, and is fixed on the stepped surface.

[0009] In some embodiments, the diffuser is buckled together with the housing at the open end, and an inner peripheral surface of the diffuser is fitted with an outer peripheral surface of the narrowed section.

[0010] In some embodiments, the housing is provided with an annular clamping slot or clamping claw at the step surface, and the light-emitting assembly is clamped in the clamping slot or clamping claw.

[0011] In some embodiments, the edge of the light-emitting assembly is provided with a protrusion protruding radially, the housing cover is provided with a fixing groove corresponding to the position of the protrusion, and when the housing cover is capped at the open end of the housing, the protrusion is fitted into the fixing groove to fix the light-emitting assembly at the step surface of the housing.

[0012] In some embodiments, the housing comprises a first housing and a second housing, which are detachably connected along a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction of the latch tongue, wherein the first housing is provided with the narrowed section and forms the step surface.

[0013] In some embodiments, the light-emitting assembly comprises a PCB board provided with a conductive circuit thereon, and a plurality of LED chips electrically connected to the conductive circuit, and the plurality of LED chips are arranged at equal intervals along the circumference of the PCB board.

[0014] The technical scheme provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can have the following beneficial effects: by adopting a double-color injection molding process to directly injection mold the diffuser on the inner circumferential surface of the housing cover, the diffuser is ensured to be tightly fitted with the inner circumferential wall of the housing cover, effectively avoiding the light leakage phenomenon caused by the installation gap therebetween, and additionally omitting the connecting structure between the diffuser and the housing cover, simplifying the installation mode. In addition, the light-transmitting cover is no longer arranged in the direction away from the light-emitting assembly, so that the light of the light-emitting assembly can be directly diffused to the outside of the housing through the diffuser, not only achieving better light diffusion uniformity, but also reducing the number of parts and reducing the cost. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0015] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form part of the specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a safety belt buckle according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0017] FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the safety belt buckle in FIG. 1 at the open end;

[0018] FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the safety belt buckle in FIG. 1 at the protrusion of the open end;

[0019] FIG. 4 is a partial top view of the safety belt buckle in FIG. 1 after the light-emitting assembly is installed at the step surface;

[0020] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the entire open end of the safety belt buckle in FIG. 1. Detailed Implementation

[0021] Exemplary embodiments will now be described in detail, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description relates to the drawings, unless otherwise indicated, the same numerals in different drawings denote the same or similar elements. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with this disclosure. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatuses and methods consistent with some aspects of this disclosure as detailed in the appended claims.

[0022] This disclosure provides a seatbelt buckle 100, which is typically fixed to the frame of a vehicle and located on the outer lower side of the seat.

[0023] As shown in Figure 1, the seatbelt buckle 100 typically includes a housing 10, a light-emitting component 20, and other structures such as a locking component (not shown) and an unlocking component (not shown) located within the housing 10. The housing 10 has an open end 122 for inserting a latch (not shown).

[0024] When the seatbelt is pulled out, the latch inserts into the opening 122 inside the housing 10 and is acted upon by the spring force of the locking assembly inside the housing 10, thus ensuring that the latch is locked. To unlock the seatbelt, the passenger needs to press the button on the unlocking assembly, thereby releasing the pressure of the spring in the locking assembly, causing the latch to pop out of the housing 10, thus releasing the latch.

[0025] The locking component of the seatbelt buckle 100 ensures that the seatbelt buckle 100 can reliably and effectively secure the passenger to the seat in both normal use and emergency situations, preventing serious injury and protecting the passenger's safety. The unlocking component of the seatbelt buckle 100 allows the passenger to freely and quickly remove the seatbelt, ensuring convenient and quick use of the seatbelt.

[0026] The luminous component 20 is typically installed at the opening end 122 of the housing 10 of the seatbelt buckle 100 so that passengers can quickly locate the opening end 122 of the seatbelt buckle 100 in low light or poor visibility conditions and accurately insert the latch into it.

[0027] In some embodiments, the light-emitting component 20 can also be directly disposed on the exterior of the housing 10, which allows light to be emitted more directly and improves the light propagation efficiency. However, directly disposing the light-emitting component 20 on the exterior of the housing 10 may make it more susceptible to impacts, leading to damage to the light-emitting component 20 and negatively impacting the maintenance of the light-emitting performance of the seatbelt buckle 100. Furthermore, the light emitted directly from the light-emitting component 20 may be inconsistent in direction and not uniform enough.

[0028] To this end, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the shell 10 further comprises a shell cover 11 which is detachably buckled at the open end 122 and cooperates with the outer peripheral wall of the shell 10 at the open end 122 to form a light-transmitting space, and the light-emitting assembly 20 is enclosed in the light-transmitting space. As can be seen, the light-emitting assembly 20 is located inside the light-transmitting space of the shell 10 and can be protected by the shell cover 11 of the shell 10, thereby effectively avoiding damage to the light-emitting assembly 20 due to collision or abrasion.

[0029] Further, the shell cover 11 has a ring-shaped light-transmitting region so as not to affect the emission of light by the light-emitting assembly 20 and to make the light emitted by the light-emitting assembly 20 more uniform. When the shell cover 11 is buckled at the open end 122, the ring-shaped light-transmitting region allows the light emitted by the light-emitting assembly 20 located in the light-transmitting space to be effectively transmitted. In addition, a diffuser 111 and a light-transmitting cover are usually provided on the shell cover 11. The diffuser 111 is used to convert the collimated input light beam of the light-emitting assembly 20 into an output light beam with uniform intensity, and the light-transmitting cover is used to cover the end of the diffuser away from the light-emitting assembly, thereby protecting the diffuser and transmitting light.

[0030] However, in the related art, the diffuser and the light-transmitting cover need to be fixed on the shell cover 11 by additional connecting structures such as buckles, clamping grooves, clamping jaws, etc., or by pasting, welding, etc. Not only are there many installation parts and the process is complex, but the process steps are also many and difficult. Moreover, some light-transmitting covers need to be engraved on the surface of the diffuser 111 by painting, which is expensive.

[0031] Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the diffuser 111 of the shell cover 11 in the present disclosure is directly injection molded on the inner peripheral surface of the shell cover 11 by a two-color injection molding process, thereby forming a ring-shaped light-transmitting region, and the light emitted by the light-emitting assembly 20 is directly diffused to the outside of the shell 10 through the diffuser 111.

[0032] By directly injection molding the diffuser 111 on the inner peripheral surface of the shell cover 11 by a two-color injection molding process, the manufacturing process is simplified, and the adaptability is improved. Even if the inner peripheral surface of the shell cover 11 is irregular, the diffuser 111 can be ensured to have no installation gap with the inner peripheral surface of the shell cover 11. Not only is the diffuser 111 tightly attached to the inner peripheral wall of the shell cover 11, effectively avoiding the light leakage phenomenon caused by the installation gap between the two, but also the additional connecting structure between the diffuser 111 and the shell cover 11 is omitted, simplifying the structure and the installation method.

[0033] In addition, the light-transmitting cover is not required to be arranged in the direction away from the light-emitting assembly of the diffuser, so that the light of the light-emitting assembly can be directly diffused to the outside of the shell through the diffuser, not only achieving better light diffusion uniformity, but also significantly reducing the number of parts and production cost. The overall performance of the seat belt buckle is improved, and the manufacturing of the seat belt buckle is more efficient, easy to maintain and replace.

[0034] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 5, the lower end surface of the diffuser 111 is provided with a wave structure 113 in the insertion direction of the latch tongue. In other words, the side surface of the diffuser 111 close to the light-emitting assembly 20 presents a wave-shaped or jagged structure. The wave structure 113 can disperse light, so that the light is reflected and refracted multiple times in the diffuser 111, thereby improving the uniformity of the light and helping to eliminate the phenomenon of uneven brightness, so that the light of the entire light-emitting area is more uniform.

[0035] By improving the uniformity of the light, a smaller number of LED chips 22 can be used to achieve the same lighting effect, thereby reducing the material cost. Fewer LED chips mean lower power consumption and heat generation, improving the overall lighting efficiency and service life of the entire seat belt buckle 100. At the same time, fewer LED chips mean a simpler circuit design, which is convenient for troubleshooting and maintenance, reducing maintenance costs.

[0036] In addition, the wave structure 113 not only improves the uniformity of the light, but also brings a more beautiful appearance to the entire seat belt buckle 100.

[0037] Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the opening end 122 of the shell 10 is provided with a narrowed section 121, the caliber of the narrowed section 121 is smaller than the size of the outer peripheral surface of the entire shell 10, and the inner peripheral surface of the narrowed section 121 defines the shape and size of the opening end 122. The outer peripheral surface of the narrowed section 121 and the outer peripheral surface of the shell 10 form a stepped surface 123, and the stepped surface 123 can be parallel to the plane where the opening end 122 is located.

[0038] The shell cover 11 is sleeved outside the narrowed section 121, the shell cover 11, the outer peripheral wall of the narrowed section 121 and the stepped surface 123 jointly enclose a light-transmitting space, the light-emitting assembly 20 is sleeved on the outer peripheral surface of the narrowed section 121, and the light-emitting assembly 20 is surrounded in the light-transmitting space, and at the same time, the light-emitting assembly 20 is fixed on the stepped surface 123.

[0039] As can be seen from the above, the inner circumferential surface of the shell cover 11 is formed with the diffuser 111 by means of a two-color injection molding process. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, in some embodiments, the diffuser 111 is snap-fitted together with the shell 10 as a whole at the open end 122, the diffuser 111 is located above the light-emitting assembly 20, and the projection of the diffuser 111 along the insertion direction of the latch tongue at least coincides with the light-emitting assembly 20, so as to ensure that the light emitted by the light-emitting assembly 20 can be emitted through the diffuser 111. As shown in FIG. 2, the inner circumferential surface of the diffuser 111 is in abutment with the outer circumferential surface of the narrowed section 121, so as to avoid light leakage from the gap between the inner circumferential surface of the diffuser 111 and the outer circumferential surface of the narrowed section 121.

[0040] As can be further seen from FIG. 2, the upper end surface of the shell cover 11 can be flush with the upper end surface of the narrowed section 121 of the shell 10. Furthermore, the upper end surface of the diffuser 111 is flush with or lower than the upper end surface of the shell cover 11 along the insertion direction of the latch tongue. In this embodiment, the upper end surface of the diffuser 111 is flush with the upper end surface of the shell cover 11. In this way, not only is the overall appearance quality of the seat belt buckle 100 improved, but the continuity of the touch is also ensured, thereby providing a more elegant and comfortable use experience for the passenger.

[0041] In this embodiment, the light-emitting assembly 20 can further include a PCB board 21 and a plurality of LED chips 22. The PCB board 21 is provided with a conductive circuit, and the plurality of LED chips 22 are electrically connected to the conductive circuit and are arranged at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of the PCB board 21. The plurality of LED chips 22 are arranged at equal intervals to form a uniform and continuous annular light-emitting strip, which surrounds the outside of the open end. This improves the uniformity and brightness of the light, and is conducive to the uniform output and illumination of the light of the seat belt buckle.

[0042] In this embodiment, the light emitted by the LED chip 22 can be parallel to the insertion direction of the latch tongue, i.e., the light emitted by the LED chip 22 is perpendicular to the plane in which the open end 122 is located. Specifically, the PCB board 21 is fixed to the stepped surface 123. Therefore, the upper surface of the PCB board 21 is parallel to the plane in which the open end 122 is located, so that the light emitted by the LED chip 22 on the PCB board 21 is parallel to the insertion direction of the latch tongue.

[0043] In this way, it can be ensured that the light emitted by the LED chip 22 is emitted along the insertion direction of the latch tongue, the consistency of the output direction is maintained, the emitted light is more concentrated, and the light is brightest in the direction towards the passenger, so as to facilitate the passenger to accurately and quickly find the position of the open end 122 of the seat belt buckle 100.

[0044] In some other embodiments, the stepped surface 123 can also be non-parallel to the plane where the opening end 122 is located, so that the light emitted by the LED chips 22 on the PCB board 21 has a certain angle with the insertion direction of the lock tongue, i.e. the light emitted by the LED chips 22 is non-parallel to the insertion direction of the lock tongue. The angle between the light and the insertion direction of the lock tongue helps to reduce the light directly entering the eyes of the passengers, reduce the glare effect, and improve the comfort of use.

[0045] In the present embodiment, the PCB board 21 of the light-emitting assembly 20 is fixed on the stepped surface 123 of the housing 10. In a specific embodiment, the housing 10 is provided with an annular clamping groove or clamping claw at the stepped surface 123, and the PCB board 21 can be fixed by clamping in the clamping groove or clamping claw.

[0046] In another specific embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the outer edge of the PCB board 21 of the light-emitting assembly 20 is provided with a protrusion 211 protruding radially (i.e. away from the narrowed section 121). The protrusion 211 can be flush with the upper end surface of the PCB board 21, or the protrusion 211 can be higher than the upper end surface of the PCB board 21, which is not specifically limited here.

[0047] Correspondingly, the housing cover 11 is provided with a fixing groove 112 corresponding to the position of the protrusion 211, which is arranged on the inner circumferential surface of the housing cover 11 in the direction of the insertion of the lock tongue. After the housing cover 11 is buckled at the opening end 122 of the housing 10, the protrusion 211 is fitted into the fixing groove 112, and the lower end surface of the fixing groove 112 abuts against the upper end surface of the protrusion 211, thereby limiting the movement of the PCB board 21 of the light-emitting assembly 20 in the direction of the insertion of the lock tongue, so as to limit and fix the PCB board 21 of the light-emitting assembly 20 at the stepped surface 123 in the light-transmitting space of the housing 10.

[0048] Further, a plurality of protrusions 211 can be arranged at equal intervals along the circumference of the PCB board 21, and the protrusions 211 can be triangular, trapezoidal, square or any shape, which is not specifically limited here. Correspondingly, the housing cover 11 is also provided with a plurality of fixing grooves 112 in the circumference.

[0049] In this way, the installation of the PCB board 21 can be quickly and conveniently completed by clamping with the annular clamping groove or clamping claw, and the cooperation of the protrusion and the fixing groove, which simplifies the assembly process, provides more stable fixing effect, and ensures that the PCB board 21 is not easy to loosen or fall off in a long time use. The clamping with the annular clamping groove or clamping claw, or the combination of the protrusion and the fixing groove, makes it easy to disassemble when the PCB board 21 needs to be replaced or maintained, improving the convenience of maintenance.

[0050] It should be noted that the fixing mode of the PCB 21 and the shell 10 is only exemplary, and is not intended to limit the protection scope of the present disclosure. In other embodiments, the PCB 21 can also be fixed on the shell 10 by bonding or welding, and the like, which will not be listed one by one here.

[0051] In other embodiments, the PCB 21 can also be fixed on the outer circumferential surface of the narrowed section 121 by a clamping groove, a clamping jaw, bonding or welding, and the like, which will not be described here.

[0052] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1, the shell 10 includes a first shell 12 and a second shell, which are detachably connected along a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction of the latch tongue, wherein the first shell 12 is provided with a narrowed section 121. The detachable first shell 12 and the second shell make the installation and replacement of other components such as the locking assembly and the unlocking assembly inside the shell 10 more convenient.

[0053] It can be understood that "multiple" in the present disclosure refers to two or more, and other quantifiers are similar. The "and / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. The character " / " generally represents that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. The singular form "a", "said" and "the" are also intended to include the plural form, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0054] It can be further understood that the terms "upper", "lower", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer" and the like indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present embodiment and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation.

[0055] It can be further understood that, unless otherwise specified, "connection" includes direct connection between the two without other components, and also includes indirect connection between the two with other elements.

[0056] Other embodiments of the present disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon considering the specification and practice of the disclosure herein. The present application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptive changes of the present disclosure that follow the general principles of the present disclosure and include common knowledge or conventional technical means in the art that are not disclosed by the present disclosure. The specification and examples are only considered as exemplary, and the true scope and spirit of the present disclosure are indicated by the following claims.

[0057] It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the precise construction that has been described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, and that various modifications and changes can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A seat belt buckle (100), characterized in that, The safety belt buckle (100) comprises: a housing (10) having a ring-shaped open end (122) for insertion of a latch tongue, the housing (10) being provided with a housing cover (11) detachably buckled at the open end (122) and forming a light-transmitting space with the outer peripheral wall of the open end (122); and a light-emitting assembly (20) enclosed in the light-transmitting space, wherein the housing cover (11) is provided with a diffuser (111) directly injection molded on the inner peripheral surface of the housing cover (11) by a two-color injection molding process, and the light emitted by the light-emitting assembly (20) is directly diffused to the outside of the housing (10) through the diffuser (111).

2. The safety belt buckle (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that: an upper end surface of the diffuser (111) is flush with or lower than an upper end surface of the housing cover (11) in the insertion direction of the latch tongue.

3. The safety belt buckle (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that: a lower end surface of the diffuser (111) is provided with a wavy structure (113) in the insertion direction of the latch tongue.

4. The safety belt buckle (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that: the open end (122) of the housing (10) is provided with a narrowed section (121), the housing (10) forms a stepped surface (123) at the narrowed section (121), the light-emitting assembly (20) is sleeved outside the narrowed section (121) and fixed on the stepped surface (123).

5. The safety belt buckle (100) according to claim 4, characterized in that: the diffuser (111) is buckled with the housing (10) at the open end (122), and an inner peripheral surface of the diffuser (111) is fitted with an outer peripheral surface of the narrowed section (121).

6. The safety belt buckle (100) according to claim 4, characterized in that: the housing (10) is provided with a ring-shaped clamping groove or clamping claw at the stepped surface (123), and the light-emitting assembly (20) is clamped in the clamping groove or the clamping claw.

7. The safety belt buckle (100) according to claim 4, characterized in that: an outer edge of the light-emitting assembly (20) is provided with a protrusion (211) protruding radially, the housing cover (11) is provided with a fixing groove (112) corresponding to the position of the protrusion (211), and after the housing cover (11) is buckled at the open end (122) of the housing (10), the protrusion (211) is fitted into the fixing groove (112) to fix the light-emitting assembly (20) on the stepped surface (123) of the housing (10).

8. The safety belt buckle (100) according to claim 4, characterized in that: the housing (10) comprises a first housing (12) and a second housing, the first housing (12) and the second housing are detachably connected in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction of the latch tongue, and the first housing (12) is provided with the narrowed section (121) and forms the stepped surface (123).

9. The seat belt buckle (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that, the light-emitting assembly (20) comprises: a PCB board (21) provided with a conductive circuit; and a plurality of LED chips (22) electrically connected with the conductive circuit, and the plurality of LED chips (22) are arranged at equal intervals along the circumference of the PCB board (21).

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