Rotatable seatbelt buckle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12358450-B2
Application number	US-202318473631-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 25, 2023
Priority date	Sep 25, 2023
Publication date	Jul 15, 2025
Grant date	Jul 15, 2025

Abstract

A vehicle includes a vehicle seat and a plate fixed relative to the vehicle seat. A seatbelt buckle is rotatably supported by the vehicle seat. The seatbelt buckle is rotatable relative to the plate from a first position to a second position. A slot is in one of the plate and the seatbelt buckle and a pin is supported by the other of the plate and the seatbelt buckle. The pin is moveable relative to the other of the plate and the seatbelt buckle from a retracted position to an extended position. The pin is spaced from the slot and in the retracted position when the seatbelt buckle is in the first position. The pin is in the extended position and extends into the slot when the seatbelt buckle is in the second position. A pyrotechnic device is operatively coupled to the seatbelt buckle to rotate the seatbelt buckle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
a vehicle seat;
a plate fixed relative to the vehicle seat;
a seatbelt buckle rotatably supported by the vehicle seat, the seatbelt buckle being rotatable relative to the plate from a first position to a second position;
a slot in one of the plate and the seatbelt buckle and a pin supported by the other of the plate and the seatbelt buckle, the pin being moveable relative to the other of the plate and the seatbelt buckle from a retracted position to an extended position;
the pin being spaced from the slot and in the retracted position when the seatbelt buckle is in the first position;
the pin being in the extended position and extending into the slot when the seatbelt buckle is in the second position; and

a pyrotechnic device operatively coupled to the seatbelt buckle to rotate the seatbelt buckle from the first position to the second position.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle seat includes a seatback, the seatbelt buckle being rotatable away from the seatback from the first position to the second position.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle seat includes a seat bottom, the plate being fixed relative to the seat bottom and the seatbelt buckle being rotatable relative to the seat bottom.

4. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the seatbelt buckle is rotatable relative to the vehicle seat in a seat-forward direction.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the seatbelt buckle is rotatable about a rotational axis parallel to a cross-seat axis.

6. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the pin is spaced from the rotational axis.

7. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a latch plate engageable with the seatbelt buckle, the pin being moveable from the retracted position to a second retracted position when the latch plate is engaged with the seatbelt buckle.

8. The vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the pin abuts the other of the plate and the seatbelt buckle in the second retracted position, the pin being slidable along the other of the plate and the seatbelt buckle as the seatbelt buckle moves from the first position to the second position.

9. The vehicle of claim 7 , further comprising a webbing, the latch plate being moveable along the webbing to define a lap portion, the lap portion being moveable in a seat-forward direction as the seatbelt buckle moves from the first position to the second position.

10. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising:
a latch plate engageable with the seatbelt buckle; and
an actuator biasing the pin toward the extended position in response to detected engagement of the latch plate with the seatbelt buckle.

11. The vehicle of claim 10 , further comprising a computer including a processor and a memory storing instructions executable by the processor to bias the pin toward the extended position in response to detected engagement of the latch plate with the seatbelt buckle and to bias the pin to the retracted position in response to detected disengagement of the latch plate with the seatbelt buckle.

12. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the processor to actuate the pyrotechnic device to rotate the seatbelt buckle from the first position to the second position in response to detection of certain vehicle impacts.

13. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the pin abuts the other of the plate and the seatbelt buckle in the retracted position.

14. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the pin moves in a cross-seat direction from the retracted position to the extended position.

15. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the seatbelt buckle is rotatable about a rotational axis, the pin being spaced from the rotational axis along the seatbelt buckle and the slot is spaced from the rotational axis along the plate.

16. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a solenoid including the pin.

17. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the pin is biased toward the slot in the extended position.

18. The vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a computer including a processor and a memory storing instructions executable by the processor to actuate the pyrotechnic device to rotate the seatbelt buckle from the first position to the second position in response to detection of certain vehicle impacts.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Sundaram Ramasamy Murugan
• Kadam Mangesh
• Malapati Srinivas Reddy

Classifications

• B60R2022/1806

  for buckles · CPC title

• B60R2021/01286

  Electronic control units · CPC title

• B60R2022/1812

  Connections between seat belt and buckle tongue · CPC title

• B60R2021/01265

  Seat belts · CPC title

• B60R22/26 Primary

  secured to the seat · CPC title