| 摘要 |
A vehicle occupant restraint belt buckle (24) for detachably securing a keeper (26) to secure a belt portion (22) is disclosed as including a hollow housing (32) including a translucent portion (38) and receiving a latch member (40) that is moved between latched and unlatched positions to detachably secure the keeper. An electrically energized light source (52) is mounted within the housing (32) to provide illumination through the translucent portion (38). Electrical connectors (64,65) within the housing (32) connect the light source (52) to a power supply so as to thereby energize the light source and provide illumination through the translucent portion (38). In one construction, the translucent portion (38) comprises a plastic button (68) that operates the latch member and, in another construction, the translucent portion (38) is spaced from the button that controls the latch member and is embodied either by an extremity of the light source or a separate component. A switch (74) is also preferably incorporated into the buckle and controls light source energization in response to the secured or detached condition of the keeper (26) by the latch member (40). Different embodiments of the restraint belt buckle include a single light source (52) and a pair of light sources (52,54) which may be embodied by electrical bulbs, light emitting diodes that each emit light of a single color, or a bipolar light emitting diode that selectively and alternately emits light of two different colors. |
