EP0211718B1 - Buckle, especially for a safety belt in a motor vehicle - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to devices intended to retain a passenger in a motor vehicle in his seat in the event of sudden deceleration thereof, for example during emergency braking or a collision.

More particularly, the invention relates to a loop which, in a device of the type indicated, is intended to removably fix a strand of a safety strap to a fixed point on the vehicle body, for example by means of '' a tab forming a bolt bolt.

Known in the prior art, loops comprising a housing in which is placed a bracket in the form of a stirrup which is intended to be fixed to a retaining means fixed relative to the body of the vehicle and which defines between its wings, a guide corridor for the bolt opening at one end of this stirrup. These loops further comprise a locking member mounted oscillating in the stirrup around an axis which is perpendicular to the wings of this stirrup as well as a stop member mounted sliding in these wings and erasable by means of a button. control, against the action of an elastic return device.

In this type of loop, the bolt is retained in the loop by a projecting part of the locking member which prevents the withdrawal of the bolt from the locking passage, for example by entering an opening in the bolt. During a strong traction on the strap tending to remove the bolt from the buckle, this projecting part comes to cooperate with a stop edge formed in the bottom of the support stirrup, possibly by elastic deformation of the axis of oscillation of the locking member in the stirrup, which makes it possible to obtain a high efficiency of the buckle and a considerable retaining force of the bolt.

Also known from document FR-2 482 430, a buckle for a seat belt comprising a support intended to be fixed to a retaining means and defining a rectilinear passage into which the bolt can be introduced and which defines a point of sliding for this one. The bolt locking member is articulated on the support around an axis which extends parallel to the plane of the passage. This locking member may have a first abutment surface retaining the bolt and extending perpendicular to the plane of the passage, being transverse with respect thereto, in the locked position of the loop while the locking member may also have at least a second abutment surface which is intended, in the locked position of the loop, to come into contact with a stop member mounted movable in translation on the support, in a direction perpendicular to the axis of articulation of the locking member. The movement of this stop member releases the locking member and therefore the pin when opening the loop which is controlled by an operating button mounted on the support so as to be able to move in the same direction as the stop device.

Return springs are provided to act on the locking member, the stop member and the operating button. The stop member is formed by a one-piece body having means for guiding and holding the springs extending on either side of this body in opposite directions perpendicular to the axis of articulation of the member. lock.

The construction of such devices has a certain number of drawbacks, in particular as regards compliance with fairly tight tolerances during manufacture, which increases the cost prices of such devices. Furthermore, in modern automotive technology, it is desired to reduce as much as possible the weight and size of the equipment and this at all levels and in particular in the field of safety equipment without, of course, sacrificing efficiency of this equipment.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide a seat belt buckle whose construction is simple and easy assembly, by reducing the number of members involved in the constitution of such a buckle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a seat belt buckle which is smaller and lighter than the buckles of the prior art and the manufacture of which can be undertaken without respecting tight tolerances.

To this end, the subject of the invention is a buckle, in particular a seat belt for a motor vehicle, intended to removably fix a strand thereof to a fixed point on the vehicle body, comprising a set of keepers and a bolt secured to the strand to be fixed, the strike assembly comprising, housed in a housing, a body intended to be fixed to a retaining means secured to the vehicle and which delimits a passage and a sliding plane for said bolt, a member locking bolt comprising an active part which engages in a recess in the bolt, in the locking position of the latter and articulated on the body so as to be able to tilt about an axis approximately parallel to the sliding plane and perpendicular to the direction of movement of the bolt, between a locking position and an unlocking position of said bolt, a slide mounted in said body so as to be able to move in the direction of movement of the bolt and which cooperates on the one hand with a front face of the bolt and on the other hand with a bolt ejection spring, means urging the locking member towards its bolt locking position and unlocking control means for moving the locking member to its bolt unlocking position, characterized in that said slide is mounted movable between a front position, in which a first surface range of the locking member is in abutment against this slide, corresponding to the unlocking position of the bolt and a rear position, in which the locking member to oscillate relative to said body so that a second bearing surface of the locking member is in abutment against the slide, corresponding to the bolt locking position.

• les Fig. 1 à 4 illustrent le fonctionnement d'une boucle de ceinture de sécurité selon l'invention ;
• la Fig. 5 représente un mode de réalisation d'un coulisseau entrant dans la constitution d'une boucle de ceinture de sécurité selon l'invention ;
• la Fig. 6 représente un premier mode de réalisation d'un corps entrant dans la constitution d'une boucle de ceinture de sécurité selon l'invention ;
• la Fig. 7 représente un premier mode de réalisation d'un organe de verrouillage pouvant être utilisé avec le corps représenté sur la Fig. 6 ;
• la Fig. 8 représente un second mode de réalisation d'un corps entrant dans la constitution d'une boucle de ceinture de sécurité selon l'invention ; et
• la Fig. 9 représente un second mode de réalisation d'un organe de verrouillage pouvant être utilisé avec le corps représenté sur la Fig. 8.

The invention will be better understood with the aid of the description which follows, given solely by way of example and made with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

• Figs. 1 to 4 illustrate the operation of a seat belt buckle according to the invention;
• Fig. 5 shows an embodiment of a slider forming part of a seat belt buckle according to the invention;
• Fig. 6 shows a first embodiment of a body forming part of a seat belt buckle according to the invention;
• Fig. 7 shows a first embodiment of a locking member which can be used with the body shown in FIG. 6;
• Fig. 8 shows a second embodiment of a body forming part of a seat belt buckle according to the invention; and
• Fig. 9 shows a second embodiment of a locking member which can be used with the body shown in FIG. 8.

As shown in FIG. 1, a seat belt buckle according to the invention comprises a housing 1 constituted in a manner known per se, of an upper element 2 and of a lower element 3. Inside this housing 1 is arranged a set of keeper having a body 4 of general U-shaped section. A locking member 5, in the form of a metal blade and which will be described in more detail below, is housed inside this body 4 An unlocking control member 6 is mounted movable between the body 4 and the upper element 2 of the housing.

The upper element 2 of the housing 1 has a slot 7 into which opens one end of the unlocking control member 6 so that the user of the seat belt buckle has access to this member 6 to control the unlocking of the loop.

The housing 1 also includes a first opening 8 whose walls are inclined, opening into the body 4, which defines a passage and a sliding plane for, for example, a tongue forming a bolt bolt, secured to a strand to be fixed seat belt.

The housing 1 also includes a second opening 9 formed in the end of the housing, opposite the end in which the opening 8 is made. This opening 9 is formed opposite one end of the body 4 and is intended, for example, to allow the passage of a retaining means (not shown), one end of which is fixed to the vehicle and the other end of which is fixed to the body 4 by means, for example, of a recess 4a formed , therein, so as to make the body 4 integral with the vehicle.

According to another embodiment of the seat belt buckle according to. the invention, a part of the body 4 can protrude outside the housing 1 through the opening 9, so as to allow the mounting of an assembled loop on a vehicle. This construction of the loop makes it possible to obtain greater versatility thereof.

The seat belt buckle according to the invention also comprises a slider 10 mounted movable to slide between a front position and a rear position as will be seen later, in said body 4, in the direction of movement of the bolt. This slide comprises a centering stud 11 intended to receive one end of a spring 12 for ejecting the bolt, the other end of which is centered on a stud 13 secured to the body 4.

The body 4 also includes a tongue 14 extending approximately at a right angle therefrom, one end of this tongue 14 being integral with the body 4 and the other projecting into a recess 15 of the member locking 5. A spring 16 is arranged around this tongue 14, one of its ends bearing on the body 4 and the other, on a first bearing surface of the locking member, constituted by the flanges of the recess 15.

The locking member 5 has a second bearing surface 17 constituted by a shoulder formed at one of the ends of this locking member. As will be seen later, this shoulder is intended to cooperate with the unlocking control member 6 so as to unlock the seat belt buckle according to the invention.

The locking member 5 has in its central part a boss 18, one wall of which acts as an articulation surface of the locking member 5 and is brought to bear, under the effect of the spring 16, on an axis 19 integral with the body 4 and approximately parallel to the sliding plane and perpendicular to the direction of movement of the bolt in the loop as will be described later.

The locking member 5 also includes an active part ensuring the retention of the bolt in the loop, this active part being, for example, constituted by a projection 20 formed at one of the ends of the locking member 5, this end being opposite the end of the locking member in which the shoulder 17 is formed.

It should be noted that the first bearing surface of the locking member, formed by the edges of the recess 15, is disposed between the second bearing surface formed by the shoulder 17 and the articulation surface formed by a wall of the boss 18.

The slide 10 also has projecting parts 10a which will be described in more detail below and constituting a surface supporting the slide on which the projecting part 20 comes to bear, constituting a first bearing surface of the locking member, in the unlocked position of the buckle. Indeed, the spring 12 constituting the bolt ejection spring exerts an action on the slide so as to bring it into the front position shown in FIG. 1, so that the locking member 5, one end of which is biased by the spring 16, tends to tilt around the axis 19 to come into the locking position of the loop, this tilting being limited by the coming into abutment of the projection 20 on the protruding parts 10a of the slide 10.

". When a bolt 21 (Fig. 2) having a recess 22, is introduced into the seat belt buckle, the front face of the latter comes to bear against a bearing face 10b of the slide 10, arranged at below the protruding parts 10a of this slider, these protruding parts also constituting means for guiding the bolt during its movement in the loop. The slider 10 then moves under the effect of the introduction of the bolt in the loop , against the spring 12 so that the projecting part 20 of the locking member 5 is released and that the spring 16 causes the locking member 5 to switch to its locking position. protruding part 20 has passed through the recess 22 of the bolt 21 and cooperates with a stop edge of the body, constituted by a flange of a lumen 23 formed in the body 4, to retain the bolt in the locked position in the loop A second bearing surface of the locking member, constituted by a portion 22a of the metal blade constituting the locking member and disposed between the projection 20 and the boss 18 thereof, then comes to bear against the slide 10 and more particularly against the protruding parts 10a thereof , to limit the tilting movement of the locking member.

Thus, for example, when an effort F tending to cause the bolt to come out of the loop, is exerted on the latter, the locking member 5 can move slightly forward so that the projection 20 thereof cooperates with a rim of the recess 22 and with a rim of the light 23 to retain the bolt.

When a force D (Fig. 3) is exerted on the unlocking control member 6 by a user who wishes to unlock the seat belt buckle according to the invention, one end 6a of it comes to bear against the second bearing surface of the locking member 5, constituted by the shoulder 17, to exert an action on this member, going against that exerted by the spring 16. This causes the locking member to tilt around the articulation axis 19 and causes the projecting part 20 thereof to disengage from the lumen 23 of the body 4 and the recess 22 of the bolt 21, so as to release the latter. The slide 10 then moves under the action of the spring 12 for ejecting the bolt, so that the bolt 21 is ejected from the loop, as shown in FIG. 4.

The movement of the slide 10 continues as long as the projecting parts 10a have not come to bear against the projection 20 of the locking member 5.

The slider is therefore mounted movable between a position before unlocking the buckle, in which the first bearing surface of the locking member, constituted by the projection 20, is in abutment against the slider, and a rear position, under the effect of the introduction of the bolt into the loop, corresponding to the bolt locking position and in which the second bearing surface of the locking member, constituted by the portion 22a of the metal blade constituting the latter, arranged between the projection 20 and the boss 18, is in abutment against the slide.

As can be seen in Fig. 5, the slider 10 has projecting parts 10a (only one of which is shown) extending above the bearing face 10b thereof, intended to cooperate with the front face of the bolt during its introduction or from its release from the seat belt buckle. The slide 10 also comprises a centering pin 11 intended to receive one end of the spring 12. This slide also comprises two grooves 24 and 25 and two lateral guide shoes, only one of which, 26, is shown, intended to cooperate with surfaces guide integral with the body, so as to guide the latter during its various displacements in said body.

In Fig. 6, there is shown an embodiment of a body 4 forming part of a seat belt buckle according to the invention. As we have already seen, this body 4 has a passage for the end of the bolt, this passage being delimited by two flanges of which only one, 27, is shown, formed in the two branches of the U constituting said body. This body 4 has in its central part the lumen 23 having two guide edges 28 intended to cooperate with the grooves 24 and 25 and the pads 26 for guiding the slide. This body 4 also includes the stud 13 protruding into the lumen 23 and the tongue 14 intended to receive the spring 16. At its end opposite to the lumen 23, the body 4 has the recess 4a intended to allow the fixing of a means of retaining integral with the vehicle, on the body, so as to secure the seat belt buckle on the vehicle.

The hinge pin 19 is constituted in this embodiment, by a rod extending between the branches of the body and the ends of which are engaged in recesses 29 formed in the two branches of this body.

The locking member shown in FIG. 7 comprises at one of its ends the projection 20, constituting the active part thereof, in its central part, the boss 18, one of the walls of which constitutes the articulation surface of this locking member and at its other end the shoulder 17 constituting the second bearing surface intended to cooperate with the member loop unlocking command. The recess 15 which may for example be square and the edges of which constitute the first bearing surface intended to receive one end of the spring 16, is disposed between said second bearing surface formed by the shoulder 17 and the surface of articulation formed by one of the walls of the boss 18. The locking member 5 can also have two projecting parts 5a and 5b extending on either side of this recess 15.

According to another embodiment shown in FIG. 8, a body 30 can have a general shape similar to that shown in FIG. 6, that is to say comprising a recess 30a for fixing the body to the body of the vehicle, a tongue 31 extending substantially at right angles from this body, and on which can be arranged the means urging the 'locking member to its locking position, a slot 32 having guide edges 33 for the slide and a centering pin 34 for receiving one end of the bolt ejection means. In the two wings of the U constituting the body, there are also formed flanges 35 defining the passage for the bolt and two projecting parts 36 extending substantially at right angles from these wings, towards the inside of the body, so to constitute an articulation axis on which can bear the articulation surface of the locking member.

This locking member shown in FIG. 9 and generally designated by the reference 37 comprises a locking projection 38, a shoulder 39 defining the second bearing surface thereof, a recess 40 intended to receive the end of the tongue 31 and a boss 41 intended defining a hinge surface of the locking member on the projecting parts 36 of the body. On either side of this articulation surface are arranged wings 4la and 41b intended to compensate for the decrease in length of the protruding parts 36 relative to an axis constituted by a rod extending between the two branches of the body.

Claims (15)

1. Buckle, especially for a safety belt for a motor vehicle, intended for removably fixing a length of said belt to a fixed point of the vehicle body, comprising a bolt (21) which is fixed to the length of belt to be secured and which is pierced by a cavity (22), and a catch assembly which comprises, housed in a casing (1), a body (4; 30) intended to be fixed to retaining means secured to the vehicle, said body defining a passage and a sliding plane for the bolt (21), means (5 ; 37) for locking the bolt, which comprise an operative part (20; 38) adapted to engage in the cavity (22) of the bolt and articulated on the body (4 ; 30) about a pivot (19 ; 36) substantially parallel to this plane of sliding and perpendicular to the direction of movement of the bolt (21), so as to be capable of pivoting between a locking position in which this operative part (20 ; 28) engages in this cavity (22) and a release position in which this operative part (20 ; 38) does not engage in this cavity (22), a slide member (10) which comprises a contact surface (10b) intended to cooperate with an end face of the bolt (21) and which is movably mounted in the body (4; 30) so as to be capable of moving therein in the direction of travel of the bolt (21) between a front position and a rear position, a spring (12) biasing the slide member (10) towards its front position, means (16) biasing the locking member (5 ; 37) towards one of its two positions and locking control means (6) for displacing the locking member (5; 37) towards its release position, said buckle being characterised in that the means (16) for biasing the locking member (5 ; 37) tend to urge it towards its locking position, that the slide member (10) comprises at least one projecting surface (10a) and that this projecting surface (10a) serves as a support, on the one hand, for the operative part (20 ; 38) of the locking member (5 ; 37) when the latter is in its release position and the slide member (10) is in its front position and, on the other hand, for a bearing surface (22a) of this locking member (5; 37) when the latter is in the locking position and the slide member (10) is in its rear position.

2. Buckle according to claim 1, wherein the locking member (5; 37) is in the form of a metal blade comprising, at one end, a locking projection (20 ; 38) constituting the operative part thereof, and cooperating, in the locking position, with an edge of the cavity (22) in the bolt and with a stop edge of the body (4; 30) in order to hold the bolt in the locking position, characterised in that this member comprises a central part with an articulation surface cooperating with said articulation pivot (9 ; 36) so as to permit displacement of said locking member (5 ; 37), and at its other end, said locking member has a first support surface (15) for means (16) which bias the locking member towards its locking position and a second support surface (17; 39) intended to cooperate with a release control member (6) for displacing said locking member into its release position.

3. Buckle according to claim 2, characterised in that the first support surface (15) is disposed between the articulation surface (18) and the second support surface (17).

4. Buckle according to claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the first support surface consists of the edges of a cavity (15 ; 40) provided in said locking member (5; 37) and into which projects one end of a tongue (14; 31), the other end of which is integral with the body (4; 30) and on which is disposed a spring (16), constituting the means biasing the locking member towards its . locking position, one end of which bears on the body whilst the other end bears on the said first support surface of the locking member.

5. Buckle according to claim 2, 3 or 4, characterised in that said articulation surface is formed by one wall of a projection (18; 41) formed in the central part of the locking member.

6. Buckle according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterised in that the second support surface consists of a shoulder (17 ; 39) formed in said metal blade.

7. Buckle according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the first bearing surface of the locking member consists of the operative part (20 ; 38) thereof and in that the second bearing surface consists of a portion (22a) of the metal blade, located between said operative part and said articulation surface.

8. Buckle according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said body is U-shaped in cross-section, characterised in that the articulation pivot consists of a rod (19) the ends of which engage in recesses (29) formed in the arms of the U.

9. Buckle according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein said body is U-shaped in cross-section, characterised in that said articulation pivot consists of two projecting portions (36) extending from the arms of the U towards the interior of the body, above said locking member.

10. Buckle according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the said member (10) has guide grooves (24, 25) and skids (26) intended to cooperate with guide surfaces on the body (4 ; 30).

11. Buckle according to claim 10, characterised in that said guide surfaces consist of guide edges (28 ; 33) integral with an opening (23 ; 32) provided in said body (4 ; 30).

12. Buckle according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the slide member has means for guiding the end face of the bolt when it is introduced into or ejected from said buckle.

13. Buckle according to claim 12, characterised in that said guide means consist of projecting portions (10a) extending above a support surface (10b) of the slide member intended to cooperate with the end face of the bolt (21) when it is introduced into or ejected from the buckle.

14. Buckle according to claim 13, characterised in that said first and second bearing surfaces of the locking member abut on said projecting portions (10a) of the slide member (10).

15. Buckle according to claim 14, characterised in that the stop edge consists of an edge of the opening (23 ; 32) provided in said body (4 ; 30).

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