DESC:FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)

Title of invention:
MECHANICAL COLLAPSIBLE BUCKLE

Applicant:
Tata Motors Limited
A company Incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 1956
Having address:
Bombay House, 24 Homi Mody Street, Hutatma Chowk,
Mumbai - 400001, Maharashtra, India

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PRIORITY
[001] The present application claims priority from Indian Patent application no. (202121012263) filed on 22nd March, 2021.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[002] The present subject matter described herein, in general, relates to a mechanical collapsible buckle and more particularly an assembly of the mechanical collapsible buckle for automotive vehicles.
BACKGROUND
[003] In automotive vehicles, safety of occupants is always topmost priority. Automobile industry is quite active in providing protective devices to ensure the safety and security of the occupants.
[004] In case of any accidental situation or sudden vehicle crash, there is a high chance of occupant’s rolling or dashing leading to huge damage and loss of life and resource. To avoid such accidental scenarios, seat belts are provided with additional protection devices for restraining the occupant through pulling force enabled through the seat belt. Such pulling force keeps the occupant tied to a seating position ensuring safety in case of any accidental situation.
[005] However, the existing solutions are very complex in nature and less cost effective. Thus, there is a need of safety device, which is simple in natural and ensures safety aspects.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
[006] It is a main object of the present invention to provide mechanically operated pre-tensioner to restrict the forward motion of an occupant.
[007] It is an object of the present invention to reduce the effective buckle height upon experiencing inertial load.
[008] It is another object of the present invention to enhance a safety of the occupant.
SUMMARY
[009] Before the present system and method are described, it is to be understood that this application is not limited to the particular machine or apparatus, and methodologies described, as there can be multiple possible embodiments that are not expressly illustrated in the present disclosures. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular versions or embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. This summary is provided to introduce aspects related mechanical collapsible buckle. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the proposed subject matter nor is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the proposed subject matter.
[0010] In an embodiment, an assembly of a mechanical collapsible buckle is disclosed. The mechanical collapsible buckle aims to restrict a forward motion of occupant in case of vehicle crash or an accident. The mechanical collapsible buckle comprises a buckle stem configured to be slidably mounted on a seat bracket. Further, atleast a tensile spring configured to be mounted on the buckle stem at one end and the seat bracket at another end. Furthermore, a spring-loaded bolt configured to be mounted on one end of the buckle stem and the seat bracket to retain the buckle stem and the seat bracket in a fully extended position against the tensile spring. The spring-loaded bolt is configured with a weaker section for shearing off, on a frontal impact of the vehicle to pull the buckle stem towards a bottom end of the seat bracket to reduce an effective height of the buckle stem.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawing. For the purpose of illustrating the disclosure, example constructions of the disclosure are shown in the present document, however, the disclosure is not limited to the specific methods and apparatus disclosed in the document and the drawing.
[0012] The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figure. In the figure, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawing to refer like features and components.
[0013] Figure 1 illustrates an initial position of a seat bracket and a buckle stem provided in an assembly of a mechanical collapsible buckle, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
[0014] Figure 2 illustrates a spring-loaded bolt gets loosen up in direction of inertia, configured in the assembly of a mechanical collapsible buckle, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
[0015] Figure 3 illustrates a unidirectional movement of the buckle stem configured in the assembly of a mechanical collapsible buckle in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
[0016] Figure 4 illustrates a rest or equilibrium or final position of the buckle stem on inertial loads configured in assembly of a mechanical collapsible buckle, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
[0017] The figure depicts various embodiments of the present disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognise from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words "comprising", “having”, and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. Although any system and method similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present disclosure, the exemplary, systems and methods are now described. The disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the disclosure, which may be embodied in various forms.
[0019] Various modifications to the embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments illustrated, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.
[0020] The present subject matter particularly discloses a mechanical collapsible buckle, which is mechanically operated pre-tensioner to restrict the forward motion of an occupant, and reduces injuries causes by hard contacts with forward components.
[0021] Referring to Figure 1, wherein an initial position of a seat bracket (108) and a buckle stem (102) configured in an assembly of a mechanical collapsible buckle, is illustrated. The mechanical collapsible buckle configured with the buckle stem (102) slidably mounted on the seat bracket (108), a spring-loaded bolt (104), plurality of tensile springs (106) to provide relative motion between the buckle stem (102) and the seat bracket (108). A washer is disposed in between the spring-loaded bolt (104), the buckle stem (102) and is connected to the buckle stem (102) through rivet joint. At an initial state the mechanical buckle is configured with the buckle stem (102) and the seat bracket (108) connected by the torqued spring-loaded bolt (104) locked with the help of rivet joint on the buckle stem (102). The tensile springs (106) connected to the spring-loaded bolt (104) at one end and the seat bracket (108) at another end. An elastic potential energy is stored in the tensile springs (106) at initial position. The spring-loaded bolt (104) between the tensile springs (106) and the buckle stem (102) is torqued to its maximum at the initial position, wherein the torque in the spring-loaded bolt (104) is applied in clockwise direction.
[0022] Further, as per the present invention, in normal condition (herein referred as Figure 1), the position of a lower end of the buckle stem (102) is maintained towards a top end of a buckle bracket by fastening means. As per the exemplary embodiment fastening means by weaker sections like rivet, fluted bolt, and dowel pin with groves to provide the weaker section. At the aforesaid normal condition, the tensile spring is in stretched position, wherein an upper end of the tensile spring (106) is mounted at the bottom of the buckle stem (102) and a lower end of the tensile spring (106) is mounted on the bottom end of the seat bracket (102).
[0023] Referring to Figure 2, which shows the buckle stem (102) held in the fully extended position against the tensile spring by the fastening means having the weaker section. In case of an accident or a crash of the vehicle, the buckle section experiences an inertial load or a torsional load, due to which fastening means having the weaker section shears away, thereby pulling the buckle stem (102) towards the seat bracket (108) and the spring-loaded bolt (104) gets loosen up in direction of an inertia and a gap between the washer and the seat bracket (108) gets reduced, thereby reducing the torque on the tensile spring (106).
[0024] Referring to Figure 3, wherein unidirectional movement of the buckle stem is shown. Once the torque of the spring loaded bolt (104) gets reduced, the tensile springs connected with the spring loaded bolt (104) gets released to the rest position and results in pulling of the buckle stem (102) in a backward direction, thereby reducing the effective buckle height. This action absorb the force and tighten the seat belt, which leads to increase the distance between the human body and the stationary dashboard of the vehicle, thereby less the impact of the human body on the vehicle. A hole of the buckle arm (112) is also illustrated in Figure 3.
[0025] Referring to Figure 4, wherein a rest, equilibrium or final position of the buckle stem is shown. At the rest position, the tensile springs (106) are under compression form and the maximum portion of the buckle stem (102) is converted into the seat bracket (108).
[0026] Again referring to the Figure 2, 3 and 4 in combination, in case of the frontal impact, because of the inertia, the fastening means section gets sheared off or is broken and the buckle stem (112) is pulled downwards towards the bottom end of the seat bracket (108) to reducing the effective height of the buckle stem (112). Thereby absorbing the impact force and tighten the seat belt. Tightening of the seat belt leads to increase the distance between the human body and the stationary dashboard of the vehicle, thereby less the impact of the human body on the vehicle.
[0027] In another embodiment, the mechanical collapsible buckle comprises a buckle stem (102) configured to be slidably mounted on a seat bracket (108). Further, atleast a tensile spring (106) configured to be mounted on the buckle stem (102) at one end and the seat bracket (108) at another end. Furthermore, a spring-loaded bolt (104) configured to be mounted on one end of the buckle stem (102) and the seat bracket (108) to retain the buckle stem (102) and the seat bracket (108) in a fully extended position against the tensile spring (106).
[0028] The spring-loaded bolt (104) is configured to shear for providing relative motion between the buckle stem (102) and the seat bracket (108) against the tensile spring (106). Further, the spring-loaded bolt (104) is configured with a weaker section for shearing off, on a frontal impact of the vehicle to pull the buckle stem (102) towards a bottom end of the seat bracket (108) to reduce an effective height of the buckle stem (102). The weaker section is configured to be formed by rivet, fluted bolt, and dowel pin with groves.
[0029] Exemplary embodiments discussed above may provide certain advantages. Though not required to practice aspects of the disclosure, these advantages may include those provided by the following features.
[0030] The present invention restricts the forward motion of an occupant during accidental situations.
[0031] The present invention reduce the effective buckle height upon experiencing inertial load.
[0032] The present invention ensures safety of the occupant.
[0033] Following is the list of reference numerals used throughout the figures to refer like features and components:
Reference Numeral Part Name
102 Buckle stem
104 Spring loaded bolt
106 Tensile springs
108 Seat bracket
110 Hole of buckle arm

,CLAIMS:

1. A mechanical collapsible buckle comprising:
a buckle stem (102) configured to be slidably mounted on a seat bracket (108);
atleast a tensile spring (106) configured to be mounted on the buckle stem (102) at one end and the seat bracket (108) at another end; and
a spring-loaded bolt (104) configured to be mounted on one end of the buckle stem (102) and the seat bracket (108) to retain the buckle stem (102) and the seat bracket (108) in a fully extended position against the tensile spring (106).

2. The mechanical collapsible buckle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spring-loaded bolt (104) is configured to shear for providing relative motion between the buckle stem (102) and the seat bracket (108) against the tensile spring (106).
3. The mechanical collapsible buckle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spring-loaded bolt (104) is configured with a weaker section for shearing off, on a frontal impact of the vehicle to pull the buckle stem (102) towards a bottom end of the seat bracket (108) to reduce an effective height of the buckle stem (102).
4. The mechanical collapsible buckle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the weaker section is configured to be formed by rivet, fluted bolt, and dowel pin with groves.