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A seat belt buckle for use with a tongue of a seat belt, the seat belt buckle comprising: a frame portion; a latch being movably mounted to the frame portion for movement between a first position and a second position, the latch being configured to engage a portion of the tongue as the latch moves f

A seat belt buckle for use with a tongue of a seat belt, the seat belt buckle comprising: a frame portion; a latch being movably mounted to the frame portion for movement between a first position and a second position, the latch being configured to engage a portion of the tongue as the latch moves from the first position to the second position; an ejector being slidably mounted to the frame portion for movement between a locking position and a release position, wherein movement toward the release position causes an opening force to be applied to the latch in order to move the latch from the second position towards the first position, wherein movement of the ejector towards the release position is caused by movement of a release button movably mounted to the seat belt buckle; an inertia locking device rotatably mounted to the release button for movement between a blocking position and an unblocking position, the inertia locking device being configured for rotation in a plane substantially parallel to a plane of movement of the latch, wherein a portion of the inertia locking device makes contact with the frame and prevents movement of the release button when the inertia locking device is in the blocking position; and a pair of springs integrally formed with the release button, the pair of springs being configured to provide a biasing force to the inertia locking device.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A seat belt buckle for use with a tongue of a seat belt, the seat belt buckle comprising: a frame portion; a latch being movably mounted to the frame portion for movement between a first position and a second position, the latch being configured to engage a portion of the ton

What is claimed is: 1. A seat belt buckle for use with a tongue of a seat belt, the seat belt buckle comprising: a frame portion; a latch being movably mounted to the frame portion for movement between a first position and a second position, the latch being configured to engage a portion of the tongue inserted into the frame as the latch moves from the first position to the second position; an ejector being slidably mounted to the frame portion for movement between a locking position and a release position, wherein movement toward the release position causes an opening force to be applied to the latch in order to move the latch from the second position towards the first position, wherein movement of the ejector towards the release position is caused by movement of a release button movably mounted to the seat belt buckle; an inertia locking device rotatably mounted to the release button for movement between a blocking position and an unblocking position, the inertia locking device being configured for rotation in a plane substantially parallel to a plane of movement of the latch, wherein a portion of the inertia locking device makes contact with the frame and prevents movement of the release button when the inertia locking device is in the blocking position; and a pair of springs integrally formed with the release button, the pair of springs being configured to provide a biasing force to the inertia locking device to rotate the inertia locking device to the unblocking position; wherein the inertia locking device comprises a mass rotatably mounted to the release button by a lobed portion that is rotatably snapped into a receiving portion of the release button, the mass further comprises a pin that depends outwardly from a pair of opposed surfaces of the mass and is movably received within a pair of openings in the release button and the frame, and further wherein the pair of springs make contact with the pin. 2. The seat belt buckle as in claim 1, wherein the pair of springs are a pair of leaf springs, one of the pair of leaf springs being disposed on one side of the release button and the other one of the pair of leaf springs is disposed on another side of the release button, wherein the frame is disposed within the pair of leaf springs. 3. The seat belt buckle as in claim 2, wherein the pair of leaf springs bias the inertia locking device via the pin into the unblocking position, wherein the unblocking position allows the pin to travel through the pair of openings in the frame as the release button is depressed into the seat belt buckle, wherein the release button causes a force to be applied to the ejector as the release button is depressed into the seat belt buckle and wherein the pin prevents the release button from being depressed into the seat belt buckle when the mass is rotated by a force greater than the biasing force and the inertia locking device is moved from the unblocking position to the blocking position and the pin makes contact with a portion of the frame and prevents movement of the release button. 4. The seat belt buckle as in claim 3, wherein the frame proximate to the pair of openings is configured to provide a cam surface that allows the release button to be depressed into the seat belt buckle in the event of a failure of the pair of leaf springs and more than half of a diameter of the pin is aligned with the pair of openings when the inertia locking device is in the unblocking position. 5. The seat belt buckle as in claim 1, wherein the frame portion is configured to be anchored to a vehicle. 6. The seat belt buckle as in claim 1, wherein the mass has a center of gravity below a pivot point of the mass with respect to the release button, wherein the pivot point is defined by the lobed portion that is rotatably snapped into the receiving portion of the release button. 7. The seat belt buckle as in claim 1, wherein the inertia locking device has a center of gravity below a pivot point of the inertia locking device with respect to the release button, wherein the center of gravity is not aligned with the pivot point of the inertia locking device. 8. A restraint system for a vehicle, comprising: a seat belt buckle for use with a tongue of a seat belt, the seat belt buckle comprising: a frame portion; a latch being movably mounted to the frame portion for movement between a first position and a second position, the latch being configured to engage a portion of the tongue inserted into the frame as the latch moves from the first position to the second position; an ejector being slidably mounted to the frame portion for movement between a locking position and a release position, wherein movement toward the release position causes an opening force to be applied to the latch in order to move the latch from the second position towards the first position, wherein movement of the ejector towards the release position is caused by movement of a release button movably mounted to the seat belt buckle; an inertia locking device rotatably mounted to the release button for movement between a blocking position and an unblocking position, the inertia locking device being configured for rotation in a plane substantially parallel to a plane of movement of the latch, wherein a portion of the inertia locking device makes contact with the frame and prevents movement of the release button when the inertia locking device is in the blocking position; a pair of springs integrally formed with the release button, the pair of springs being configured to provide a biasing force to the inertia locking device to rotate the inertia locking device to the unblocking position; and a pre-tensioning device for removing slack from the seat belt in accordance with a predetermined event; wherein the inertia locking device comprises a mass rotatably mounted to the release button by a lobed portion that is rotatably snapped into a receiving portion of the release button, the mass further comprising a pin that depends outwardly from a pair of opposed surfaces of the mass and is movably received within a pair of openings in the release button and the frame, and further wherein the pair of springs make contact with the pin. 9. The restraint system as in claim 8, wherein the pair of springs are a pair of leaf springs, one of the pair of leaf springs being disposed on one side of the release button and the other one of the pair of springs is disposed on another side of the release button. 10. The restraint system as in claim 9, wherein the pair of leaf springs bias the inertia locking device via the pin into the unblocking position, wherein the unblocking position allows the pin to travel through the pair of openings in the frame as the release button is depressed into the seat belt buckle, wherein the release button causes a force to be applied to the ejector as the release button is depressed into the seat belt buckle and wherein the pin prevents the release button from being depressed into the seat belt buckle when the mass is rotated by a force greater than the biasing force and the inertia locking device is moved from the unblocking position to the blocking position and the pin makes contact with a portion of the frame and prevents movement of the release button. 11. The restraint system as in claim 10, wherein the frame proximate to the pair of openings is configured to provide a cam surface that allows the release button to be depressed into the seat belt buckle in the event of a failure of the pair of leaf springs and more than half of a diameter of the pin is aligned with the pair of openings when the inertia locking device is in the unblocking position. 12. The restraint system as in claim 8, wherein the frame portion is configured to be anchored to a vehicle. 13. The restraint system as in claim 8, wherein the mass has a center of gravity below a pivot point of the mass with respect to the release button, wherein the pivot point is defined by the lobed portion that is rotatably snapped into the receiving portion of the release button and the center of gravity of the mass is not aligned with the pivot point of the inertia locking device. 14. The restraint system as in claim 8, wherein the inertia locking device has a center of gravity below a pivot point of the inertia locking device with respect to the release button, wherein the center of gravity is not aligned with the pivot point of the inertia locking device. 15. A method for limiting acceleration forces applied to a release mechanism of a seat belt buckle, the method comprising: rotatably mounting a mass to a release button of the seat belt buckle by inserting a lobed portion into a receiving area of the release button and positioning a pin of the mass into a pair of openings in the release button, the pin being biased in a first position by a pair of springs integrally formed with the release button, wherein the first position allows the pin to travel through a pair of slots in a frame of the seat belt buckle as the release button is slidably moved with respect to the frame from a locked position to an unlocked position wherein the release button causes a force to be applied to an ejector as the release button moves to the unlocked position and wherein the pin prevents movement of the release button from the locked position to the unlocked position when the mass is rotated from the first position and the pin makes contact with a surface of the frame; wherein the pair of springs are a pair of leaf springs, one of the pair of leaf springs being disposed on one side of the release button and the other one of the pair of springs is disposed on another side of the release button and wherein the mass has a center of gravity below a pivot point of the mass with respect to the release button, wherein the pivot point is defined by the lobed portion that is rotatably snapped into the receiving portion of the release button. 16. The method as in claim 15, wherein an acceleration force for moving the mass from the first position is less than an acceleration force for moving the release button from the locked position to the unlocked position.