Vehicle safety escape apparatus

Method and apparatus for escaping from a vehicle include providing safety escape apparatus including a safety belt having a buckle on a free portion of the belt, the buckle having an exposed edge, and the free portion being long enough to allow the exposed edge of the buckle to be placed in contact with a window of the vehicle. A tip harder than glass is affixed to the exposed edge of the buckle so as to extend outwardly therefrom. Escape is performed by disengaging the seat belt from a safety engaged position around an occupant, gripping the buckle with the tip extending outwardly, and forcibly driving the tip into an adjacent window to break the window and allow egress through the window.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
 This invention relates to safety apparatus and method of use.
 More particularly, the present invention relates to safety apparatus for
 vehicles.
 In a further and more specific aspect, the instant invention concerns
 apparatus and methods for escaping from vehicles.
 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 In many instances occupants of a vehicle, such as an automobile, a truck,
 etc., may be trapped inside the vehicle with the doors and windows
 inoperative. This is especially true in modern vehicles operated to a
 great extent electrically. For example, when an automobile is submerged in
 water for some reason, the electrical system is immediately inoperative
 and if the windows are electrical they cannot be opened. Even in many
 types of crashes, the doors and windows may be physically jammed so they
 cannot be opened by normal methods.
 In such instances it is necessary to break a window so that egress or
 escape can be performed through the broken window. Windows in automobiles
 are constructed sufficiently thick and hard so that they cannot be
 inadvertently broken by slamming doors, minor bumps and crashes, etc.
 Thus, to break a window so that egress can be accomplished requires the
 use of some relatively heavy tool, such as a hammer, wrench, etc. The
 problem is that most people do not keep such equipment handy within their
 vehicles. While a tool specifically for this purpose could be stored in a
 convenient place within the vehicle, it could be difficult to acquire the
 tool under some circumstances. Also, at the specific times when such a
 tool is needed, because of the normal panic involved, it may be difficult
 to remember that the tool has been supplied or where it was stored.
 It would be highly advantageous, therefore, to remedy the foregoing and
 other deficiencies inherent in the prior art.
 Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide new and
 improved vehicle safety escape apparatus and a method of use.
 Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved vehicle
 safety escape apparatus and a method of use which is always handy and
 readily available.
 And another object of the invention is to provide new and improved vehicle
 safety escape apparatus which is inexpensive.
 Still another object of the present invention is to provide new and
 improved vehicle safety escape apparatus which is easily installed in new
 or already operating vehicles.
 Yet another object of the invention is to provide new and improved vehicle
 safety escape apparatus and a method of use which is incorporated into a
 normal operating procedure.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 Briefly, to achieve the desired objects of the instant invention in
 accordance with a preferred embodiment thereof, provided is a method and
 apparatus for escaping from a vehicle when windows and doors are difficult
 or impossible to open. Safety escape apparatus is provided which includes
 a safety belt having a buckle on a free portion of the belt long enough to
 allow an exposed edge of the buckle to be placed in contact with a window
 of the vehicle. The buckle has an exposed edge with a tip harder than
 glass affixed to the exposed edge so as to extend outwardly therefrom.
 Escape is performed by disengaging the seat belt from a safety engaged
 position around an occupant, gripping the buckle with the tip extending
 outwardly, and forcibly driving the tip into an adjacent window to break
 the window and allow egress through the window.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
 Turning now to the drawings in which like reference characters indicate
 corresponding elements throughout the several views, attention is first
 directed to FIG. 1 which illustrates vehicle safety escape apparatus 10 in
 accordance with the present invention. Apparatus 10 includes a safety belt
 11 having a buckle 12 on a free portion of the belt. Buckle 12 has an
 exposed edge 15, which is designed to fit into a buckle receiver (not
 shown) with safety belt 11 extending around an occupant of the vehicle, in
 a normal and well known manner. The free portion of safety belt 11 is
 sufficiently long to allow exposed edge 15 of buckle 12 to be placed in
 contact with a window of the vehicle. Safety belt 11, whether a simple lap
 belt, a shoulder belt, or a combined lap and shoulder belt, generally has
 sufficient free movement (free portion) to allow the required window
 contact.
 A tip 20 of material harder than glass is affixed to exposed edge 15 of
 buckle 12 so as to extend outwardly therefrom. Generally tip 20 is formed
 of some hard relatively unbreakable material such as a metal like steel,
 carbide, etc. In this preferred embodiment, tip 20 includes a base 21
 affixed to exposed edge 15 of buckle 12 and sharply tapered sides 22
 extending from base 21 outwardly to form an extended end 25. It is
 preferred that end 25 not be excessively sharp but rather culminate in a
 rounded surface so that force applied to buckle 12 will all be directed
 into the small area of end 25.
 Turning now to FIGS. 4 and 5, it can be seen that an opening 27 is formed
 in exposed edge 15 of buckle 12. Tip 20 includes an elongated portion 28
 that extends from base 21 in a direction opposite to end 25. Portion 28 is
 constructed to be frictionally engaged in opening 27. In the preferred
 embodiment, tip 20 is formed of carbide and is held in opening 27 by means
 of tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding. It will of course be understood that
 various adhesives or soldering may be utilized, if frictional engagement
 is not sufficient. Also, in original equipment, tip 20 could be formed
 integrally as an extension of buckle 12.
 Turning now to FIGS. 6 and 7, another embodiment is illustrated of vehicle
 safety escape apparatus 10' in which similar components are designated
 with similar numbers and a prime is added to indicate the different
 embodiment. Apparatus 10' includes a safety belt (not shown) having a
 buckle 12' on a free portion of the belt. Buckle 12' has an exposed edge
 15', which is designed to fit into a buckle receiver (not shown) with the
 safety belt extending around an occupant of the vehicle, in a normal and
 well known manner. The free portion of the safety belt is sufficiently
 long to allow exposed edge 15' of buckle 12' to be placed in contact with
 a window of the vehicle.
 A tip 20' of material harder than glass is affixed to exposed edge 15' of
 buckle 1' so as to extend outwardly therefrom. Generally, as explained
 above, tip 20' is formed of some hard relatively unbreakable material such
 as a metal like steel, carbide, etc. In this preferred embodiment, tip 20'
 includes a base 21' and sharply tapered sides 22' extending from base 21'
 outwardly to form an extended end 25'. Tip 20' includes a clamp 26' with a
 generally U-shaped cross-section and base 21' is affixed to clamp 26' with
 end 25' extending outwardly. Clamp 26' is constructed to be frictionally
 engaged over edge 15' of buckle 12' with end 25' extending outwardly
 therefrom away from edge 15' of buckle 12'. Additional holding means, such
 as adhesive (e.g. epoxy), soldering welding, etc. may be used if required.
 In a preferred method of escaping from a vehicle in which the occupant is
 trapped and cannot open the doors or windows normally the following steps
 are used. First, the vehicle must be one in which the above described
 safety apparatus is provided. In the preferred embodiment, the safety belt
 around the occupant includes a buckle with an exposed edge which is
 designed to fit into a buckle receiver with the safety belt extending
 around the occupant of the vehicle, in a normal and well known manner.
 Here it should be noted that in the preferred embodiment the tip is
 attached to the exposed edge so that it is completely covered by the
 buckle receiver and cannot cause damage during periods of nonuse. It
 should be understood however that the tip can be attached to other
 convenient edges of a safety belt buckle and the present embodiment is
 preferred because of its convenience.
 Next, the occupant disengages the seat belt from the safety engaged
 position around himself, which generally entails gripping the buckle and
 engaging a release device (e.g. pushing a button) in the buckle receiver.
 In most instances, the buckle is automatically gripped with the tip
 extending outwardly, generally as illustrated in FIG. 8. The occupant is
 then automatically in a position to forcibly drive the tip affixed to the
 edge of the buckle into an adjacent window to break the window and allow
 egress through the window. Because of the hardness of the tip and because
 the tip is constructed with a relatively small surface area, the force
 applied to the window at the tip is very large and the window easily and
 immediately breaks. Also, because the tip is a part of the safety belt
 which must be removed before the occupant can exit the vehicle, there is
 no need for the occupant to search for an instrument with which to break
 the window. Thus, time and possible confusion or panic are saved and the
 occupant can egress the vehicle quickly and safely.
 Various changes and modifications to the embodiments herein chosen for
 purposes of illustration will readily occur to those skilled in the art.
 To the extent that such modifications and variations do not depart from
 the spirit of the invention, they are intended to be included within the
 scope thereof which is assessed only by a fair interpretation of the
 following claims.