Patent ID: 7150082

Claim:
In a buckle including an auxiliary locking feature: a female buckle part including belt or strap receiving portion, and a body portion defining a recess for receiving a mating portion of a male buckle part; a male buckle part including a belt or strap receiving portion and a female buckle engaging part; the body portion of said female buckle part including a pair of edge recesses; the female buckle engaging part of said male buckle part including a pair of flexible prongs for insertion into the recess of said female buckle part and for engaging said female buckle part to secure the buckle parts together; said prongs being accessible through said edge recesses for manually releasing said prongs to allow said male and female parts to separate; a manually controlled member integral with said male buckle part engaging the prongs of said male buckle part for selectively preventing the flexing of said prongs and release of said buckle parts; and wherein the improvement comprises: at least one tapered surface on one of said manually controlled member and said prongs; and a pair of tapered surfaces on another of said manually controlled member and said prongs aligned with said at least one tapered surface; such that movement of said prongs in a disengaging direction places said at least one tapered surface in engagement with said pair of tapered surfaces preventing release of said male and female parts; and wherein said manually controlled member is movable perpendicularly with respect to the plane of movement of said prongs to permit flexing of said prongs and release of such buckle parts.