US3165803A - Quick engaging buckle for safety belts - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 19, 1965 J. A. GAYLORD QUICK ENGAGING BUCKLE FOR SAFETY BELTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 20, 1963 INVENTOR. JOHN A. 6A YLORD ATTORNEY Jan. 19, 1965 .1. A. GAYLORD 3, 5,

QUICK ENGAGING BUCKLE FOR SAFETY BELTS F iled May 20, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JOHN A. GAYLORD ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,165,803 QUICK ENGAGING BUCKLE FOR SAFETY BELTS John A. Gaylord, San Rafael, Calif., assignor to H. Koch & Sons, Corte Madera, Calif., a corporation of California Filed May 20, 1963, Ser. No. 281,568 1 Claim. (Cl. 24-225) This invention relates to a quick engaging buckle for safety belts.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a very simple two-piece buckle for safety belts which can be quickly engaged without any elaborate manipulation or alignment and thereafter positively held in engaged position by the tension on the belt so that the puliing forces on the buckle tend to increase the tightness of the buckle connection; and which buckle can be easily and quickly disengaged in case of emergency by a simple over center movement of one part of the buckle relatively to the other so that the tension on the straps or belt portions will facilitate the disengagement and releasing of the buckle parts from one another.

I am aware that some changes may be made. in the general arrangements and combinations of the several devices and parts, as well as in the details of the construction thereof without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following specification, and as defined in the following claim; hence I do not limit my invention to the exact arrangements and combinations of the said device and parts as described in the said specification, nor do I confine myself to the .exact details of the construction of the said parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be made manifest in the following detailed description, reference is had to the accompanying drawings for the illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the front of the buckle in engaged position.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rear or body-side of the buckle in engaged position.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the buckle parts in disengaged position.

FIG. 4 is a top plan View of the buckle in engaged position.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the buckle in engaged position, the section being taken substantiaily on the lines 55 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the buckle parts in disengaged position, and

FIG. 7 is a top sectional view of a simplified form of the buckle parts engaged.

The buckle consists of a male part 1 and a female part 2. The male part has an elongated flat body 3 with a loop 4 formed at one end, through which loop 4 ex- Patented Jan. 19, 1-965 the inner surface 13 of the flange 12 is in registry with the bottom or base of the hook '8. The flange 12 also has apertures 14 therein to facilitate its engagement by the fingers of the user for pulling the hook 8 out of engagement from the female member 2.

The female part 2 of the buckle consists of a single plate with an elongated slit 15 for engagement by a web loop 16 of the second web 17 of the safety belt. A keeper slot 18 is formed in the female member 2 generallyparaliel with the slit 15 and spaced from the end 19 of the female member 2. The keeper slot 18 fits over the hook 8 and its wall or edge 21 adjacent the free end 19 of the female member 2 is rounded to facilitate insertion and removal of the hook 8.

The keeper slot 18 of the female member 2 fits over the hook 8 so that it engages the bottom of the hook 8 in the cylindrical inner periphery 9 past the center line 11 of the male body 3 so that the pulling force exerted on the webs 7 and 17 will tend to push the hook 8 inwardly of the keeper slot 18 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

In operation the person using the safety belt simply inserts the hook 8 into the slot 18 and pulls the webs 7 and 17 apart, whereupon the buckle is firmly locked. The hook 8 turns around the keeper slot 18 so that the tip edge 22 of the wide hook 8 in the closed position of the buckle is positioned beyond the rounded edge 21 of the keeper slot 18. By reason of the particular proportions and angle of arrangements, accidental disengagement of the buckle parts from one another is prevented. For disengagement of the buckle it is necessary for the person to pull the flange 12 away from the female member 2 so as to withdraw the hook .8 from the keeper slot 18 .sufiiciently'far to permit the keeper slot 18 to slide off of the hook 8. I

In the modified for-m shown in FIG. 7, the male member 25 is formed by a comparatively light plate-like body portion 26 having a loop portion 27 from which is offset to one side the handle 28 out of which is formed the oif-set hook 29. The female member 31 is also formed of a tends a suitable web loop 6 of a web 7 of a safety belt;

light plate and has the loop slit 32 for the web loop and it has the keeper slot 33 engageable by the hook 29 in the relative position, as shown in FIG. 7, offset to one side of the plane or the center line of the part of the male member 25 in which the loop 27 is located. In operation this modified form of the loop functions in the same way as the first described form. In both forms the length of the webs of the safety belt may be predetermined or fitted or may be adjustable in any usual manner.

I claim: a A buckle comprising (a) a male part formed of a transversely elongated substantially flat body having a loop at one end for a web, (1')) an elongated hook formed transversely on one side and spaced from the respective side edges o said elongated flat body, (c) the inside periphery of said elongated hook defining substantially about five-eighths of a cylinder and the bottom of said periphery projecting partly to oneside of said flat body and the curved hook point of said hook being turned back toward said loop and projecting beyond the other side of said flat body, (d) a lifting flange extended generally in the plane of the bottom of said hook, and

(e) a female part formed of a substantially flat member with a pair of transverse parallel slits, one of said slits being engageable by another web, the other slit forming a keeper for said hook,

(f) the thickness of said female part at said other slit fitting against the inner periphery of said hook under said turned hook point in substantial registry with the plane of said flat body of said male part and in locked position overlying said lifting flange.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Harrison Oct. 10, 1893 Bodwell July 25, 1899 McGlashan May 20, 1924 Hoffman Jan. 18, 1938 Winkler Apr. 18, 1944 Meeker Apr. 26, 1960

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