Buckles for safety belts

Claim 1

A buckle for safety belts for use in vehicles, preferably automobiles, aircraft and seacraft, one part of the buckle being a locking tongue and the other part a buckle body having a pocket-shaped opening for the insertion of said locking tongue thereinto, said pocket being defined in said buckle body by two fixed side plates which are spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the thickness of said locking tongue and by guides connected to said side plates co-acting with two longitudinal edge portions of said locking tongue, said buckle body including a spring-actuated latch serving as a locking means, a spring and said latch being mounted to a first one of said side plates and adapted, by spring action, to be kept in locking position in which it preferably bears against the other of said side plates, at least one shoulder of said latch being situated in said locking tongue insertion pocket for engagement with a corresponding shoulder of said locking tongue, an operating means in said buckle body located for engagement with said latch, said latch with its said shoulder positioned for movement with the aid of said operating means, against spring action, out of the locking position in said pocket to be accommodated, together with latch portions adjoining said shoulders, in a recess in the first one of said side plates, thereby releasing said locking tongue, said recess in said first side plate formed by a pressed-out portion of said plate, the upper edge of said recess constituting a mounting for said latch in that said latch pivotally bears against said upper edge, and said first side plate is provided both at the upper and the lower edges of said recess with through openings for outwardly bent portions of said latch, an upper, outwardly bent end portion of said latch co-acting with a spring of said latch, while a lower, outwardly bent end portion of said latch co-acts with said operating means for moving said latch out of locking position against the action of said spring of said latch whereby said latch in released position lies adjacent that side pocket defined by said first side plate.