Buckle for seatbelt device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10188178-B2
Application number	US-201715814915-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 16, 2017
Priority date	Apr 18, 2013
Publication date	Jan 29, 2019
Grant date	Jan 29, 2019

Abstract

A buckle in a seatbelt apparatus includes a buckle stay (20), a buckle base (10) coupled to the buckle stay so as to be able to tilt in a first direction X and to pivot in a second direction Y, with respect to the buckle stay (20), and an elastic member that returns the buckle base (10) tilted in the first direction X and the buckle base (10) pivoted in the second direction Y to an original position. A support shaft (30) has a pair of arm portions (32) provided at an upper portion (31) of the support shaft (30) and extending in a lateral direction. Tip portions of the arm portions (32) are coupled into respective engagement grooves (16) formed in a pair of side plate portions (12) of the buckle base (10).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A buckle for a seatbelt apparatus comprising:
a buckle stay that has a fixation portion provided at a base end of the buckle stay and adapted to be fixed to a vehicle body, and a coupling plate portion provided at a leading end of the buckle stay and having a first through-hole;
a buckle base having a bottom plate portion and a pair of side plate portions standing up from opposite side edges of the bottom plate portion, the buckle base also having a second through-hole formed at one end of the bottom plate portion, the side plate portions extending in a longitudinal direction along the bottom plate to overlie a longitudinal position of the second through hole;
a support shaft inserted through the first and the second through-holes, the support shaft being loosely inserted through the first through-hole in the coupling plate portion, to allow the buckle base to be coupled to the buckle stay so as to be able to tilt with respect to the buckle stay through a predetermined angle in a first direction perpendicular to a plate surface of the bottom plate portion and further so as to be able to pivot with respect to the buckle stay, through a predetermined angle in a second direction parallel to the plate surface of the bottom plate portion;
an elastic member that when the buckle base tilts in the first direction and pivots in the second direction, urges the buckle stay to return the buckle base from a deflected position to an original position,
the support shaft integrally forming a generally cylindrical shaft main body and a pair of arm portions provided at an upper portion of the support shaft and extending from a longitudinal axis of the main body in opposing lateral directions, a lower end of the support shaft main body is collapsed against a lower surface of the bottom plate portion of the buckle base to fix the support shaft to the buckle base, the arm portions trapping the buckle stay between the arm portions and the buckle base, and
tip portions of the pair of arm portions are coupled into respective engagement grooves formed in the pair of side plate portions of the buckle base, the engagement grooves cooperating with the pair of arm portions to fix a rotational position of the support shaft relative to the buckle base, the support shaft fixed to the buckle base adjacent to the second through-hole to fixedly mount the support shaft to the buckle base bottom plate portion.

2. The buckle for the seatbelt apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising wherein the elastic member is a coil spring.

3. The buckle for the seatbelt apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising wherein:
the buckle stay includes a stay main body formed of a metallic plate and a collar made of a resin molded at a leading end of the stay main body,
a spring housing groove formed in the collar around the first through-hole in the buckle stay and along a circumferential direction of the first through-hole, and
the coil spring is fitted into the spring housing groove when the buckle base tilts in the first direction with respect to the buckle stay.

4. The buckle for the seatbelt apparatus according to claim 3 , further comprising wherein the spring housing groove is formed to be laterally asymmetric with respect to a longitudinal center line of the buckle stay passing through a center of the first through-hole in the buckle stay.

5. The buckle for the seatbelt apparatus according to claim 3 , further comprising a fixation hole in which an end of the coil spring is fixed is formed in the buckle stay, and
the spring housing groove is formed to extend from a position adjacent to the fixation hole toward a front of the first through-hole along the circumferential direction of the first through-hole and at least beyond the front of the first through-hole.

6. The buckle for the seatbelt apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising wherein the elastic member is a damper member made of rubber.

7. The buckle for the seatbelt apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising wherein:
the elastic member is a flat spring including an upper plate portion and a lower plate portion that contact the arm portions and the buckle stay, respectively, and a vertical coupling portion that couples the upper plate portion and the lower plate portion together, and
the lower plate portion has a spring portion that, when the buckle base pivots in the second direction with respect to the buckle stay, is pushed by the buckle stay and is deformed and bent in the second direction so as to return the buckle base to the original position.

8. The seatbelt apparatus comprising the buckle according to claim 1 .

9. The buckle for the seatbelt apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a collar formed of a resin and formed at the leading end of the buckle stay, the collar forming an inner peripheral wall of the first through-hole.

10. The buckle for the seatbelt apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising, a stopper formed at the leading end of the buckle stay which regulates the buckle stay such that the buckle stay can pivot toward a first side relative to the buckle base but is prevented from pivoting toward a second side relative to the buckle base.

Assignees

• Autoliv Dev

Inventors

• Murase Yushi

Classifications

• B60R2022/021

  Means for holding the tongue or buckle in a non-use position, e.g. for easy access by the user · CPC title

• A44B11/2538 Primary

  with a pivoting bar retaining a loop of the strap itself · CPC title

• B60R22/02 Primary

  Semi-passive restraint systems, e.g. systems applied or removed automatically but not both {; Manual restraint systems (knee, leg or head belts B60R22/001; devices for releasing in an emergency, remote or automatic unbuckling devices B60R22/32)} · CPC title

• A44B11/2546

  Details · CPC title