Buckle assembly for seat belt

Claim 1

A buckle assembly for seat belt including: cover means comprising a first cover member having a push button operation opening therein and first supporting means adjacent to the push button operation opening, and a second cover member having a tongue insertion opening therein and second supporting means adjacent the tongue insertion opening, said cover means being disposed to form a hollow chamber in communication with said two openings; a latch member movable in a direction normal to a tongue inserting direction between tongue latching position and tongue unlatching position and being normally biased toward said tongue latching position; a base member mounted in said second cover member, said base member extending in the tongue inserting direction to form a tongue guide passage in communication with said tongue insertion opening and movably supporting said latch member; and latch member operating means disposed within said cover means and being always biased to take a condition in which said operating means has no effect on said latch member, said latch member operating means including a push button mounted in said first cover member for sliding in a direction parallel with the tongue inserting direction, and a lever member disposed rotatably about an axis extending normally to both of the tongue inserting direction and latch member sliding direction, the lever member being supported between said first and second supporting means, and said lever member having a first engaging portion for engagement with said push button and a second engaging portion for engagement with said latch member, whereby a sliding motion of said push button against said bias causing, through a rotational movement of said lever member, a movement of said latch member from the tongue latching position to tongue unlatching position.