Patent ID: 7543363

Claim:
A seat belt buckle for use with a tongue of a seat belt, the seat belt buckle comprising: a frame portion; a latch being movably mounted to the frame portion for movement between a first position and a second position, the latch being configured to engage a portion of the tongue inserted into the frame as the latch moves from the first position to the second position; an ejector being slidably mounted to the frame portion for movement between a locking position and a release position, wherein movement toward the release position causes an opening force to be applied to the latch in order to move the latch from the second position towards the first position, wherein movement of the ejector towards the release position is caused by movement of a release button movably mounted to the seat belt buckle; an inertia locking device rotatably mounted to the release button for movement between a blocking position and an unblocking position, the inertia locking device being configured for rotation in a plane substantially parallel to a plane of movement of the latch, wherein a portion of the inertia locking device makes contact with the frame and prevents movement of the release button when the inertia locking device is in the blocking position; and a pair of springs integrally formed with the release button, the pair of springs being configured to provide a biasing force to the inertia locking device to rotate the inertia locking device to the unblocking position; wherein the inertia locking device comprises a mass rotatably mounted to the release button by a lobed portion that is rotatably snapped into a receiving portion of the release button, the mass further comprises a pin that depends outwardly from a pair of opposed surfaces of the mass and is movably received within a pair of openings in the release button and the frame, and further wherein the pair of springs make contact with the pin.