Seat belt buckle for use with pretensioner

• Main Authors: WEBBER JAMES L, HLAVATY DAVID G
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 09.06.2009
• Subjects: BUTTONS, PINS, BUCKLES, SLIDE FASTENERS, OR THE LIKE; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; HABERDASHERY; HUMAN NECESSITIES; JEWELLERY; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS

A seat belt buckle for use with a tongue of a seat belt, the seat belt buckle comprising: a frame portion; a latch being movably mounted to the frame portion for movement between a first position and a second position, the latch being configured to engage a portion of the tongue as the latch moves from the first position to the second position; an ejector being slidably mounted to the frame portion for movement between a locking position and a release position, wherein movement toward the release position causes an opening force to be applied to the latch in order to move the latch from the second position towards the first position, wherein movement of the ejector towards the release position is caused by movement of a release button movably mounted to the seat belt buckle; an inertia locking device rotatably mounted to the release button for movement between a blocking position and an unblocking position, the inertia locking device being configured for rotation in a plane substantially parallel to a plane of movement of the latch, wherein a portion of the inertia locking device makes contact with the frame and prevents movement of the release button when the inertia locking device is in the blocking position; and a pair of springs integrally formed with the release button, the pair of springs being configured to provide a biasing force to the inertia locking device.