Patent Publication Number: US-6219890-B1

Title: Vehicle safety escape apparatus

Description:
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. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The foregoing and further and more specific objects and advantages of the instant invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is an isometric view of vehicle safety escape apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a view in top plan of the apparatus of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a view in side elevation of the apparatus of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is an isometric exploded view of the apparatus of FIG. 1, portions thereof broken away; 
     FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 1, portions thereof broken away; 
     FIG. 6 is an isometric exploded view of another embodiment of vehicle safety escape apparatus in accordance with the present invention, portions thereof broken away; 
     FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 6, portions thereof broken away; and 
     FIG. 8 is an isometric view illustrating a method of use of the vehicle safety escape apparatus in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     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.