IP Library Granted Patent US 12662080
Granted Patent B2
US 12662080 · App. 19/313,435 · Granted Jun 23, 2026

Locking tongue for seat belt and seat belt device

Inventors: Toru Hirai (Osaka, JP); Tomoe Nakayama (Osaka, JP)
Assignee: ASHIMORI INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
B60R22/1855B60R2022/1812
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12662080
App. No.
19/313,435
Granted
Jun 23, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A locking tongue for a seat belt of a vehicle according to one embodiment includes: a tongue body including a main wall and a pair of side walls; a clamp member slidable in a direction toward the main wall; a rotating member rotatably supported by the side walls; and an urging member that urges the clamp member in a direction away from the main wall. In a normal state, a gap larger than a thickness of a webbing that is the seat belt is formed between the clamp member and the main wall. In an emergency of the vehicle, tension of a lap belt becomes greater than tension of a shoulder belt, causing the rotating member to rotate in a direction from the shoulder belt toward the lap belt against urging force of the urging member, such that the webbing is clamped between the clamp member and the main wall.

Claims (23)

1 . A locking tongue for a seat belt of a vehicle, the locking tongue being operated to switch a state of a webbing that is the seat belt between an unfastened state in which the webbing is extended and a fastened state in which the webbing is folded back to form a shoulder belt and a lap belt, the locking tongue being configured such that when the webbing is in the fastened state, in a normal state, the locking tongue allows the webbing to pass therethrough, whereas in an emergency of the vehicle, the locking tongue clamps the webbing, the locking tongue comprising:

a tongue body including a main wall, a pair of side walls, and an insertion portion,

the main wall being positioned at a front side of the webbing when the webbing is in the unfastened state,

the pair of side walls protruding from both end portions of the main wall in a width direction of the webbing to a back side of the webbing,

the insertion portion extending from the main wall and being a portion to be inserted in a buckle for the seat belt;

a clamp member that is, when the webbing is in the unfastened state, positioned at the back side of the webbing and engaged with guides that are provided on the pair of side walls, respectively, such that the clamp member is slidable in a direction toward the main wall;

a rotating member that is rotatably supported by the pair of side walls at the back side of the webbing when the webbing is in the unfastened state, wherein when the webbing is in the fastened state, the webbing is wound around the rotating member such that the webbing is folded back to form the shoulder belt and the lap belt, and the rotating member rotates in a direction from the shoulder belt toward the lap belt to press the clamp member such that the clamp member slides in the direction toward the main wall; and

an urging member that urges the clamp member in a direction away from the main wall, wherein

in the normal state, a gap larger than a thickness of the webbing is formed between the clamp member and the main wall, and

in the emergency of the vehicle, tension of the lap belt becomes greater than tension of the shoulder belt, causing the rotating member to rotate in the direction from the shoulder belt toward the lap belt against urging force of the urging member, such that the webbing is clamped between the clamp member and the main wall.

2 . The locking tongue according to claim 1 , wherein

the clamp member slides linearly.

3 . The locking tongue according to claim 2 , wherein

the clamp member slides in a thickness direction of the main wall.

4 . The locking tongue according to claim 1 , wherein

the clamp member is, in a direction along the main wall, positioned at an opposite side to the insertion portion with respect to a center of rotation of the rotating member.

5 . The locking tongue according to claim 1 , wherein

the main wall or the pair of side walls include restrictors that, when the clamp member has slid in the direction toward the main wall, come into contact with the clamp member to restrict an amount of clamping by which the webbing is clamped by the clamp member.

6 . A seat belt device comprising:

the locking tongue according to claim 1 ;

the buckle for the seat belt, the buckle being fixed to the vehicle and to be engaged with the locking tongue;

the webbing that penetrates the locking tongue and whose one end side is fixed to the vehicle; and

a retractor that accommodates therein the other end side of the webbing in such a manner that the other end side of the webbing is pullable out of the retractor.