Patent Publication Number: US-6662414-B1

Title: Buckle

Description:
The present invention relates generally to improvements in male and female components of a buckle, the improvements more particularly obviating flexuring movements required in the interconnecting of the male and female component from occurring to an extent which causes, over time, a rupture of the plastic construction material of the buckle partaking of the flexuring movements. 
     EXAMPLE OF THE PRIOR ART 
     A buckle of the nature involved is exemplified by the buckle of U.S. Pat. No. 6,263,549 issued for “BUCKLE WITH REINFORCING RIDGE AND GROOVE” to Ryoichiro Vehara on Jul. 24, 2201. The operating mode of the ′549 buckle and all other known similarly functioning buckles contemplate the use of flexuring plastic construction material to allow traverses in interconnecting structures on male arms or legs in relation to cooperating recesses in the female component to thusly provide the buckling and unbuckling functions, i.e., the seating and unseating of the male and female connectors. While generally useful for the purposes intended, a drawback of these prior art buckles is that the extent of the flexuring transverses is confined within limits that will obviate rupture of the plastic construction material or condition of buckle use that is reasonable, but not if the buckle use is unavoidably excessive or abused by the user. Thus, a flexuring male connection-establishing arm can be strengthened by ribs or the like and thus resist, certainly initially, rupture, but over a duration of time not anticipated, or buckling and unbuckling during this duration of time in a manner also not accounted for in the design of the strength-imparting rib(s), rupture of plastic construction material will render the buckle unusable. 
     Broadly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a plastic buckle of the nature of the ′549 patent overcoming the foregoing and other shortcomings of the prior art. 
     More particularly, it is an object to restrict the flexuring in the operation of the buckle to a range between a nominal to a maximum extent, the former being only the extent required to unseat the male and female connectors-to provide the unbuckling function, and the latter of an extent that minimizes any rupturing consequence and being the result of an abutment in the path of the flexuring movement and thus not dependent on a time interval or abuse or lack of abuse during use of the buckle, all as will be better understood as the description proceeds. 
    
    
     The description of the invention which follows, together with the accompanying drawings should not be construed as limiting the invention to the example shown and described, because those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains will be able to devise other forms thereof within the ambit of the appended claims. 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of male and female components of a buckle according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a plan view of the components of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional view, in cross section, as taken along line  3 — 3  of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional view, in cross section, as taken along line  4 — 4  of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but of the components of FIG. 2 in assembled condition; and 
     FIG. 6 is another view similar to FIG. 2, but illustrating the components of FIG. 2 about to be disassembled. 
    
    
     The drawings illustrate a buckle, generally designated  10 , which is an improvement of a known type using an interconnecting male plug member and female socket member, each respectively generally designated  12  and  14 , which in use form a closed loop (not shown) of length portions of straps or flaps interconnected by the buckle  10 . A common example of this end use is a safety belt for the driver and passengers of a vehicle or that similarly used for a seated passenger on an airplane. 
     The male plug  12  includes a pair of outboard first  16  and second  18  legs or arms of flexuring construction material each extending from sites of attachment, as noted at  20 , from a base  22  of the male plug  12  so as to extend in cantilever relation forwardly a selected distance, as noted at  24 , and terminating in free ends  26  and  28 . The distance  24  is of a selected extent to be projected within the confines of the female socket  14  and, to be noted the legs  16  and  18  bound an appropriate width  30  therebetween to also be accommodated within the female socket  14 , and any adjustments in this width  30  for this positioning of the male plug  12  within the female socket  14  is readily achieved by flexuring movements  32  of the legs free ends  26 ,  28 , which movements  32  also facilitate the interconnecting and disengaging of the male plug  12  and female socket  14  from each other, all as will be better understood as the description proceeds. 
     The leg free ends  26  and  28  have a connection-establishing shaped configuration  34  and  36 , both soon to be described in more detail, which it is important to note are offset from a cooperating leg  16  and  18 , the leg configuration  34  being in depending relation, as noted at  38 , from the upper leg  16  and the leg configuration  36  being in an ascending relation, as noted at  40 , from the lower leg  18 . 
     Cooperating with the connection-establishing configurations  34  and  36  are first  42  and second  44  connection-establishing members on the female socket  14  at locations, noted at  46  and  48 , which are adjacently outwardly of a distance  50  from a base  52  of the female socket  14  and along a path of movement  54  imparted by manual insertion of the male plug  12  within the female socket  14 . During movement  54 , an angled surface  56  on each male plug configurations  34 ,  36  slip past an edge  58  and  60  of a recessed shoulder  62 ,  64  of the connection-establishing members  42 ,  44 , and interengage one with the other, at sites of engagement, as noted at  66  and  68 . Just prior to the engagement sites  66  and  68 , contact is made with angled surfaces  70  and  72  on the engagement-establishing members  42  and  44  and this contact produces a camming action in the direction of the surface angle in a depending direction for the leg configuration  34  and in an ascending direction for the leg configuration  36 , which are directional movements as permitted by the flexuring construction material of the legs  16  and  18 . Once past the edges  58  and  60 , an urgency of the flexuring construction material reverses the directional movements of the engagement-establishing configurations  34  and  36 , and effectively seats the configurations in the shoulder recesses  62  and  64 . 
     Completing the construction of the male plug  12  and female socket  14  are tracking guides, one such guide  78  consisting of adjacent extensions  80  and  82  extending from the base  52  of the female socket  14 , and a cooperating guide  84  consisting of adjacent extensions  86  and  88  extending from the base  22  of the male plug  12 , the width  90  between the extensions  86  and  88  being sized to slip about tracking guide  78 . 
     The directional disengaging movements  98  and  100  of the male plug legs  16  and  18  from the female socket shoulder recesses  62  and  64  is to be understood to be of a nominal extent, say {fraction (3/16)} of an inch, well within the flexuring capacity of the leg construction material without rupturing or causing a failure of the construction material. This is assured to a significant extent by embodying an upper and lower push button  104  and  106  of a height  108  on the legs  16  and  18 , which buttons  104 ,  106  are respectively raised and lowered by the urgency of the leg construction material through access slots  110  and  112 , each bounded by edges, individually and collectively designated  114 , in opposite sides  116  and  118  of the female socket  14 . Thus the height size  108  limits the extent to which the free ends  26  and  28  will downwardly traverse or flexure. 
     However, during handling of the male plug  12  preparatory to insertion into the female socket  14 , it has been: found in practice that a user might inadvertently press the buttons  104 ,  106  in closing movement  120  which, being unrestrained in prior art buckles, is of an extent which exceeds the flexuring capacity of the construction material of the legs  16 ,  18  and thus causes a rupturing of a leg  16 ,  18  of the male plug  12 . This is a significant prior art shortcoming particularly because of the repetitious buckling of the male plug  12  within the female socket  14  and the progressive weakening of the construction material at the attachment sites  20 . 
     To obviate breakage or rupture of the legs  16 ,  18 , the forward extending distance  122  of the tracking extensions  86 ,  88  is selected to advantageously position each end  26 ,  28  in the path of the closing movement  120  of the surfaces  56  and, as a result, the track ends  126 ,  128  effectively serve as stops, as noted in phantom in FIG. 2, limiting the closing movement  120  to traverses well within the restrained extents as when the buttons  104 ,  106  are used in unbuckling the male plug  12  from the female socket  14 . 
     While the buckle, as well as the method of use thereof as shown and disclosed in detail, is fully capable of attaining the objects and providing the advantages hereinbefore stated, it is to be understood that it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention and that no limitations are intended to the detail of construction or design herein shown other than as defined in the appended claims.