EP0404730A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Belt buckle with interlocking dual tongue
Assignee: Indiana Mills and Manufacturing Inc
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Filing: 1990-06-21
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-06-21
Abstract
Abstract A seat belt buckle (11) with a pair of buckle tongues (100). The buckle (11) includes a spring mechanism (136-137) slidably movable within the buckle housing from a position blocking engagement of a latch (17) when a single tongue is inserted to a position away from the latch when both tongues are inserted allowing the latch to engage the tongues. An indicator (172) is slidably mounted to the buckle push button (32) in the buckle cover (31) and includes a lower end (176) contacting the latch (17). The indicator is movable from a position flush with the buckle push button when the latch is not engaged with the tongues to an upraised position over the button when the latch moves up and engages the tongues. The tongues have mating portions (116,121), but are separable.
Inventors
- 👤 James R. Anthony
- 👤 Michael A. Wiseman
- 👤 Allan R. Lortz
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 04:10
CPC Classifications
A; A44; A44B; A44B11/00; A44B11/25; A44B11/2503; A44B11/2546; A44B11/2549; A44B11/2507; A44B11/2511; A44B11/2561; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S24/00; Y10S24/30; Y10S24/31; Y10S24/35; Y10T; Y10T24/00; Y10T24/45; Y10T24/45005; Y10T24/45079; Y10T24/45084; Y10T24/45225; Y10T24/45602; Y10T24/45607; Y10T24/45613; Y10T24/45618; Y10T24/45623; Y10T24/4566; Y10T24/4567
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim
123 words
A belt buckle-tongue combination comprising: a buckle main body; tongue means insertable into and releasable lockable with said buckle main body; a latch positioned in said main body and held captive therein, said latch movable between a latched position with said tongue means and an unlatched position; first means operably associated with said latch to move said latch back and forth between said latched position and said unlatched position; and, movably mounted indicating means operable to move to a first indicating position when said latch is in said latched position and to move to a second position when said latch is in said unlatched position thereby said indicating means readily reveals when said tongue means is lockingly engaged with said buckle main body.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
123 words
A belt buckle-tongue combination comprising: a buckle main body; tongue means insertable into and releasable lockable with said buckle main body; a latch positioned in said main body and held captive therein, said latch movable between a latched position with said tongue means and an unlatched position; first means operably associated with said latch to move said latch back and forth between said latched position and said unlatched position; and, movably mounted indicating means operable to move to a first indicating position when said latch is in said latched position and to move to a second position when said latch is in said unlatched position thereby said indicating means readily reveals when said tongue means is lockingly engaged with said buckle main body.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
41 words
The combination of claim 1 wherein: said indicating means includes an elongated device with a first end engaged with said latch and an opposite end movable outwardly only when said tongue means is inserted into and locked with said main body.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
61 words
The combination of claim 2 wherein: said main body includes a housing and a cover mounted to said housing and further includes a push button slidably mounted to said cover and operably associated with said latch, said cover and said main body form a tongue receiving cavity with said latch projecting into said cavity to lock said tongue means inserted therein.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
57 words
The combination of claim 3 wherein; said tongue means includes a first tongue and a second tongue insertable simultaneously into said cavity; and, said elongated device has said first end positioned against said latch which moves said elongated device to said projecting position only when both tongues are inserted into said cavity and locked with said latch.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
187 words
A belt buckle-tongue combination comprising: buckle tongue means of elongate shape; a buckle main body having a cavity therein to slidably receive said tongue means; a movable latch mounted in said body for engaging said tongue means inserted in the body; manual operating means accessible at the exterior of the body and engaged with said latch being movable to move said latch relative to said tongue means; first spring means being operable to normally apply force against said movable latch to move same into engagement with said tongue means when inserted into the body in a first condition but yieldable to allow movement of said movable latch away from said tongue means; and, false latching means movably mounted in said body and contactable and moved by said tongue means when inserted into said body, said false latching means being operable to allow said latch to lockingly engage said tongue means when said tongue means is in a first condition and inserted into said body and further operable to hold said latch from locking engagement with said tongue means when said tongue means is in a second condition.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
187 words
A belt buckle-tongue combination comprising: buckle tongue means of elongate shape; a buckle main body having a cavity therein to slidably receive said tongue means; a movable latch mounted in said body for engaging said tongue means inserted in the body; manual operating means accessible at the exterior of the body and engaged with said latch being movable to move said latch relative to said tongue means; first spring means being operable to normally apply force against said movable latch to move same into engagement with said tongue means when inserted into the body in a first condition but yieldable to allow movement of said movable latch away from said tongue means; and, false latching means movably mounted in said body and contactable and moved by said tongue means when inserted into said body, said false latching means being operable to allow said latch to lockingly engage said tongue means when said tongue means is in a first condition and inserted into said body and further operable to hold said latch from locking engagement with said tongue means when said tongue means is in a second condition.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
71 words
The buckle of claim 5 wherein: said tongue means includes a pair of tongues including a first tongue and a second tongue, said first tongue and said second tongue are interlockable together when in said first condition but are separated apart when in said second condition; and said false latching means contacts and holds said latch from locking engagement when only one of said tongues is inserted into said main body.
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