Tongue for a seat belt

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11930893-B2
Application number	US-202017601938-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 9, 2020
Priority date	Apr 12, 2019
Publication date	Mar 19, 2024
Grant date	Mar 19, 2024

Abstract

A plug-in tongue for a seatbelt includes a plug-in tongue component ( 10 ) and a clamping member ( 12 ) mounted thereto, wherein a belt guide passage ( 30 ) is delimited between the plug-in tongue component ( 10 ) and the clamping member ( 12 ), and the clamping member ( 12 ) comprises a center part ( 18 ) and two lateral parts ( 20 ) extending from the two ends of the center part ( 18 ) transversely to the latter. The plug-in tongue is characterized in that the center part ( 18 ) includes a central guide surface ( 32 ) located between the two lateral parts ( 20 ), and the two lateral parts ( 20 ) include lateral guide surfaces ( 34 ) facing each other, the guide surfaces ( 32, 34 ) constituting limitations of the belt guide passage ( 30 ).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A plug-in tongue for a seatbelt, comprising a plug-in tongue component ( 10 ) and a clamping member ( 12 ) attached thereto, wherein a belt guide passage ( 30 ) is delimited between the plug-in tongue component ( 10 ) and the clamping member ( 12 ), the clamping member ( 12 ) comprising a center part ( 18 ) and two lateral parts ( 20 ) extending from two ends of the center part ( 18 ) transversely to the center part ( 18 ), wherein the two lateral parts ( 20 ) include lateral guide surfaces ( 34 ) facing each other, the center part ( 18 ) including a clamping surface ( 36 ) that directly contacts the seatbelt ( 38 ) when a load on the seatbelt ( 38 ) is above a load threshold, the clamping surface ( 36 ) being separated from the two lateral parts ( 20 ) along a longitudinal length of the center part ( 18 ), the center part ( 18 ) and the two lateral guide surfaces ( 34 ) being limitations of the belt guide passage ( 30 ).

2. The plug-in tongue according to claim 1 , wherein the two lateral parts ( 20 ) are designed to be at least partially wedge-shaped and/or rounded.

3. The plug-in tongue according to claim 1 , wherein the clamping surface ( 36 ) is disposed centrally between the two lateral parts ( 20 ).

4. The plug-in tongue according to claim 3 , wherein the clamping surface ( 36 ) has a roughened surface structure.

5. The plug-in tongue according to claim 3 , wherein the clamping surface ( 36 ) is separated from each of the two lateral parts ( 20 ) by a concave recess ( 42 ).

6. The plug-in tongue according to claim 1 , wherein the clamping member ( 12 ) is movably mounted to the plug-in tongue component ( 10 ) by a safety element ( 14 ).

7. The plug-in tongue according to claim 6 , wherein the safety element ( 14 ) is a retaining pin.

8. The plug-in tongue according to claim 1 , wherein each of the lateral parts ( 20 ) includes an opening ( 26 ) provided for movably mounting the clamping member ( 12 ) to the plug-in tongue component ( 10 ) by means of a safety element ( 14 ), wherein the openings ( 26 ) of the lateral parts ( 20 ) face each other on a joint axis which is in parallel to a longitudinal axis of the center part ( 18 ).

9. The plug-in tongue according to claim 8 , wherein the safety element ( 14 ) is a retaining pin.

10. The plug-in tongue according to claim 1 , wherein a longitudinal length of the clamping surface ( 36 ) is less than a width of the seatbelt ( 38 ).

Assignees

• Zf Automotive Germany Gmbh

Inventors

• Knoedl Ralf
• Seitzer Dominik
• Betz Hans-Peter

Classifications

• A44B11/2561 Primary

  Tongue elements · CPC title

• B60R22/185

  with stopping means for acting directly upon the belt in an emergency, e.g. by clamping or friction {(B60R22/195 takes precedence; combined with the retractor B60R22/42)} · CPC title

• B60R2022/1812

  Connections between seat belt and buckle tongue · CPC title

• B60R22/18 Primary

  Anchoring devices · CPC title