U.S. patent application number 13/699553 was filed with the patent office on 2014-04-24 for buckle cap for a seat belt buckle and method of mounting same.
This patent application is currently assigned to Autoliv Development AB. The applicant listed for this patent is Joakim Blank, Jan Christoph Storch, Wolf-Ulrich Wachter. Invention is credited to Joakim Blank, Jan Christoph Storch, Wolf-Ulrich Wachter.
Application Number | 20140109349 13/699553 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44314222 |
Filed Date | 2014-04-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140109349 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Blank; Joakim ; et
al. |
April 24, 2014 |
Buckle Cap for a Seat Belt Buckle and Method of Mounting Same
Abstract
What is described is a buckle cap for a belt buckle having two
interconnected half-shells (10, 20) and connecting units which
connect both half-shells (10, 20) to one another. Each connecting
unit comprises at least one hole in each half-shell (10, 20) and a
connecting pin (30) which is ribbed at least in certain sections,
wherein one section of the connecting pin (30) is situated in the
hole of the first connecting unit (10) and a second section of the
connecting pin (30) is situated in the hole of the second
half-shell (20). In order to achieve an easy mounting capability
the hole in the first half-shell (10) is a through-hole (12)
through which the connecting pin (30, 30') extends completely, and
the connecting pin (30, 30') has a head (34, 34') which is
thickened with respect to the sections situated in the holes, said
head adjoining the section of the connecting pin (30) which extends
through the through-hole (12) and being situated outside the
through-hole (12).
Inventors: |
Blank; Joakim; (Hamburg,
DE) ; Wachter; Wolf-Ulrich; (Elmshorn, DE) ;
Storch; Jan Christoph; (Taunusstein, DE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Blank; Joakim
Wachter; Wolf-Ulrich
Storch; Jan Christoph |
Hamburg
Elmshorn
Taunusstein |
|
DE
DE
DE |
|
|
Assignee: |
Autoliv Development AB
SE-447 Vargarda
SE
|
Family ID: |
44314222 |
Appl. No.: |
13/699553 |
Filed: |
May 7, 2011 |
PCT Filed: |
May 7, 2011 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP11/02282 |
371 Date: |
January 7, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
24/164 ;
29/525.01 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A44B 11/00 20130101;
F16B 21/084 20130101; Y10T 24/4002 20150115; Y10T 29/49947
20150115; A44B 11/2546 20130101; A44B 11/2576 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
24/164 ;
29/525.01 |
International
Class: |
A44B 11/00 20060101
A44B011/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 27, 2010 |
DE |
10 2010 021 704.2 |
Claims
1. A buckle cap for a seat belt buckle having first and second
interconnected half-shells (10, 20) and at least one connecting
unit which connects the first and the second half-shells (10, 20)
to one another, comprising the at least one connecting unit having
one hole in each of the first and the second half-shells (10, 20)
and a connecting pin (30, 30') which has ribs in at least certain
sections thereof, one section of the connecting pin (30, 30') being
situated in the hole of the first half-shell (10) and a second
section of the connecting pin (30, 30') being situated in the hole
of the second half-shell (20), wherein the hole in the first
half-shell (10) is a through-hole (12, 12') that the connecting pin
(30, 30') extends completely through and the connecting pin (30,
30') has a head (34, 34') which is thickened with respect to the
connecting pin sections situated in the hole, the head adjoining
the one section of the connecting pin (30, 30') which extends
through the first half-shell through-hole (12, 12') and being
situated outside the first half-shell through-hole (12, 12').
2. The buckle cap according to claim 1, further comprising in that
the through-hole (12, 12') in the first half-shell (10) has a
larger diameter than the hole in the second half-shell.
3. The buckle cap according to claim 2, further comprising in that
the ribs are configured as a saw tooth profile.
4. The buckle cap according to claim 3, further comprising in that
the flat flanks (36) of the saw tooth profile point away from the
head.
5. A buckle cap according to claim 1 further comprising in that
there is a depressed region (14, 14') adjacent to the first
half-shell through-hole (12, 12') into which the head (34, 34') is
placed.
6. A buckle cap according to claim 1 further comprising in that the
connecting pin (30, 30') consists of metal.
7. The buckle cap according to claim 6, further comprising in that
the metal is a light metal.
8. A buckle cap according to claim 6, further comprising in that
the connecting pin (30, 30') is manufactured by means of an impact
extrusion process.
9. A buckle cap according to claim 1 further comprising in that the
head (34, 34') is covered by a cover element.
10. A method for mounting a seat belt buckle cap according
comprising the following steps: providing first and second
interconnected half-shells (10, 20), providing at least one
connecting unit having one hole in each of the first and the second
half-shell (10, 20), providing a connecting in (30, 30') which is
at least ribbed in certain sections thereof, one section of the
connecting in (30, 30') being situated in the hole of the first
first half-shell (10) and a second section of the connecting in
(30, 30') being situated in the hole of the second half-shell (20),
providing the hole in the first half-shell (10) as a through-hole
(12, 12'), that the connecting in (30, 30') extends completely
through and that the connecting in (30, 30') has a head (34, 34')
which is thickened with respect to the sections situated in the
holes, the head adjoining the section of the connecting in (30,
30') which extends through the first half-shell through-hole (12,
12') and being situated outside the first half-shell through-hole
(12, 12'), arranging both the first and the second half-shells (10,
20) on top of one another such that they take up their final
position relative to one another, and inserting the at least one
connecting pin (30, 30') into the through-hole (12, 12') of the
first half-shell (10) in a first direction, and pressing the
connecting pin (30, 30') into the hole of the second half-shell
(20) by further moving the connecting pin (30, 30') in the first
direction.
11. The buckle cap according to claim 3 further comprising the
portion of the connecting pin forming the sawtooth profile defines
a pin section having maximum diameter of the pin section, and
wherein the maximum diameter of the pins section is slightly less
than the diameter of the through hole in the first half-shell, and
is slightly greater than the diameter of the hole in the second
half-shell.
Description
[0001] The invention relates to a buckle cap for a belt buckle
according to the preamble of Claim 1 as well as a method for
mounting it according to Claim 9.
[0002] Almost any belt buckle for the safety belt system of a motor
vehicle has a buckle cap consisting of two half-shells, into which
the mechanism of the belt buckle is placed and held movable against
the release button. The release button in this case can be held
exclusively by the mechanism or in part by the buckle cap.
[0003] There are several known possibilities of interconnecting
both half-shells of the buckle cap.
[0004] Firstly, the known prior art is to screw both buckle caps
together, which, however, is a work step that can only be carried
out manually and takes up a relatively long time. Furthermore, a
final check as to whether all screws have been correctly tightened
can only be carried out at great expense.
[0005] It has also been known to interconnect both buckle caps by
welding, for example by means of ultrasound welding or friction
welding, which, however, requires a relatively complex welding
machine.
[0006] Finally, it has also been known to interconnect both
half-shells by means of snap connections, which, however, has the
disadvantage that both buckle caps as such must have a relatively
complicated shape, for which complex and expensive injection
molding tools are required.
[0007] A buckle cap for a belt buckle has been known from the
generic DE 10 2008 030 048 A1, in which both half-shells of the
buckle cap are interconnected via ribbed connecting pins. These
ribbed connecting pins have two sections pointing away from one
another, both sections having ribs extending in the opposite
direction. Each buckle cap has one hole per connecting pin whose
diameter in the unmounted state is slightly smaller than the
maximum diameter of the ribbed sections. The pins are pressed into
the holes upon mounting where they are held owing to the ribs. This
eliminates the need for the difficult to automate screw-in step;
the disadvantage, however, is that, at least during the final
mounting step, the respective sections of the connecting pins have
to be inserted into the holes of the half-shell at the same time
and in parallel. On the one hand, this requires large mounting
forces, and on the other hand, it is virtually impossible to use
different connection types in a buckle cap.
[0008] On this basis, the object of the present invention is to
improve a generic buckle cap such that the disadvantages described
above are overcome.
[0009] This object is attained by a buckle cap having the
characteristics of Claim 1 as well as by means of a method for
mounting it according to Claim 9.
[0010] The buckle cap according to the present invention comprises
a connecting pin which is ribbed at least in certain sections and
extends into holes in both half-shells. In this case, the hole of
the first half-shell is a through-hole which is completely
penetrated by the connecting pin. The connecting pin has a
thickened head which is thickened with respect to the sections
situated in the holes and is situated outside the through-hole.
This means that the connecting pin basically looks like a screw
with the difference that it has ribs instead of a thread. It is
also mounted similarly to a screwed buckle cap. At first, both
buckle caps are brought together in its later end position, and
subsequently the at least one connecting pin is first guided into
the through-hole reaching the hole of the second half-shell, this
obviously not occurring by rotation as on screwing but by pressing
in. It follows from this type of mounting that no parallel guidance
of both half-shells is necessary on mounting, from which it further
follows that the type of connection according to the present
invention can also be "mixed" with other types of connections. Such
types of connections can be in particular snap-in connections or
purely positive form locking
[0011] Preferred embodiments of the invention will become apparent
from the subclaims as well as from the exemplary embodiment below
which is described in more detail with reference to the figures.
The figures show:
[0012] FIG. 1: An exploded view of a buckle cap,
[0013] FIG. 2: The buckle cap from FIG. 1 in the mounted state
and
[0014] FIG. 3: A cross-sectional view through a connecting unit of
the buckle cap shown in FIG. 2.
[0015] The described buckle cap serves as the outer cover of a belt
buckle, a known locking mechanism being placed in the buckle cap.
The locking mechanism and its corresponding unlocking button are
not shown; such a mechanism is known from prior art.
[0016] The buckle cap consists of two half-shells 10, 20 and two
connecting pins 30, 30'. The connecting pins 30, 30' correspond to
connecting units, each of which consists of a connecting pin 30,
30', a through-hole 12, 12' in the first half-shell 10, and a blind
hole 22, 22' in the second half-shell 20. There are further
connecting units, each of which consists of a lug 16, 16', 16'' on
the first half-shell 10, and an edge 24 of the second half-shell 20
pointing backward. Both half-shells, 10, 20 respectively extend
along a longitudinal direction L. Relative to the longitudinal
direction L, the lugs 16, 16', 16'' are arranged on the first front
edge of the half-shell 10. In the longitudinal direction L, the
second half-shell 20 has a closed area 23 on the front end, its
upper back end having the edge 24 pointing backward. The
through-holes 12, 12' are situated at the back end of the first
half-shell 10 in the longitudinal direction L; likewise, the blind
holes 22, 22' are situated at the back end of the second half-shell
20. The through-holes 12, 12' align themselves with each depressed
region 14, 14' of the first half-shell 10.
[0017] Each connecting pin 30, 30' has a pin section 32, 32' and a
head 34, 34'. The pin sections 32, 32' have ribs in the form of a
saw tooth profile, the flanks 36 of the saw tooth profile pointing
away from the head (s. also FIG. 3 in this respect).
[0018] FIG. 3 shows the exact configuration of a connecting unit in
the mounted state. All that has been said in this regard is
analogously applicable to the other connecting unit. The pin
section 32 extends along the entire length of the through-hole 12
into the blind hole 22, and the head 34 is situated outside the
through-hole 12 on the depressed region 14. As is apparent from
FIG. 3, the diameter D1 of the through-hole 22 of the first
half-shell 10 is larger than the diameter D2 of the blind hole 22
of the second half-shell 20. In this case, the diameter D1 of the
through-hole 12 is slightly larger than the maximum diameter D3 of
the pin section 32, the diameter D2 of the blind hole 22 is
somewhat smaller than the maximum diameter D3 of the pin section
32. The diameter D4 of the head 34 is larger than the diameter D1
of the blind hole 22.
[0019] Mounting is as follows: At first, the first half-shell 10 is
arranged on the second half-shell 20, the last step of this
arrangement being a longitudinal displacement of the first
half-shell in the direction L so that the lugs 16, 16', 16'' come
to be situated below the edge 24 pointing downward. The placement
of the first half-shell 10 on the second half-shell 20 is thus
completed. The connecting pins 30, 30' are now each inserted into a
through-hole 12, 12' and pressed into the blind hole 22, 22' with a
considerable force, for example 850 N, until the head 34, 34' of
the connecting pin rests on the surface of the depressed region 14,
14'. In this final state, a first section 32a, 32a' of the pin
section 32, 32' is situated in the through-hole 12, 12', and a
second section 32b, 32b' of the pin section 32, 32' is situated in
the blind hole 22, 22'. Mounting is now completed.
[0020] The advantages of the buckle cap according to the present
invention are immediately apparent from the described mounting
method. On the one hand, it is possible to press in the connecting
pins 30, 30' consecutively, as a result of which a parallel
guidance of several connecting pins or of one of both half-shells
is not necessary during the pressing process, which results in a
reduced wear on the necessary equipment. It is further possible to
combine the connection method of the pressed-in connecting pins
with other connection methods--in this case a positive form locking
of the lugs with the edge pointing backward. For example, these
other connection methods can also comprise a snap-in method or the
like.
[0021] Both half-shells preferentially consist of plastic, and the
connecting pins of metal, in particular of a light metal like
aluminum. The connecting pins can be manufactured by means of an
impact extrusion process.
REFERENCE NUMERALS
[0022] 10 First Half-Shell [0023] 12,12' Through-Hole [0024] 14,14'
Depressed Region [0025] 16,16',16'' Lug [0026] 20 Second Half-Shell
[0027] 22, 22' Blind Hole [0028] 23 Closed Area [0029] 24 Backward
Pointing Edge [0030] 30, 30' Connecting Pin [0031] 32, 32' Pin
Section [0032] 32a, 32a' First Section [0033] 32b, 32b' Second
Section [0034] 34, 34' Head [0035] 36 Flank [0036] L Longitudinal
Direction
* * * * *