Laminated buckle with no false latch

Claim 1

A buckle comprising: a plurality of plates secured together, each of said plates having a cavity in the central portion thereof, said cavities being in substantial alignment with one another; at least one of said plates including guide means extending from an exterior forward end of said plate to its cavity for guiding a tongue into the buckle; movable latch means for engaging the tongue, a portion of said latch means extending in and movable within said cavity of at least one of said plates; manually operable actuation means for actuating said latch means, a portion of said actuation means extending in and movable in said cavity of at least one of said plates; and a unitary biasing means disposed in said buckle near the fully inserted position of said tongue for moving said latch means into engagement with said tongue when said tongue is substantially fully inserted into said buckle and for ejecting said tongue upon movement of said latch means by said actuation means, said buckle offering low resistace to the insertion of said tongue until said tongue nears its fully inserted position in said buckle, said biasing means having a tongue engaging portion, an energy storage portion and a latch engaging portion; said tongue engaging portion, upon movement by said tongue, causing storage of energy in said energy storage portion, said energy storage portion, upon storage of a sufficient amount of energy, moving said latch means to engage said tongue in said buckle; said tongue engaging portion comprising at least one upper arm extending through an opening in a second plate; said energy storage portion comprising at least one torsion spring attached to a third plate, said latch engaging portion comprising at least one lower arm, said lower arm extending under said latch means; said tongue, upon nearing its fully inserted position in said buckle, pushing said upper arm in a first direction substantially parallel to movement of said tongue as said tongue enters said buckle, said movement of said upper arm in said first direction developing tension in said torsion spring, said spring raising said lower arm and said latch means when sufficient tension develops in said spring.