Illuminated seat belt buckle

摘要

A buckle (10) for a vehicle seat belt system (12) comprises a latch mechanism (26) for connection with a tongue assembly (14) of the seat belt system. The latch mechanism (26) has a latched condition and a released condition. The buckle (10) also comprises a manually engageable pushbutton (40) connected with the latch mechanism (26). The pushbutton (40) is movable between a first position in which the latch mechanism is in the latched condition and a second position in which the latch mechanism is in the released condition. The buckle (10) contains an illumination mechanism (46) comprising an electroluminescent panel (50) which may or may not be movable with the pushbutton when the pushbutton moves between the first and second positions.