ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 25 -- United States Patent no. 12,479,398, issued on Nov. 25, was assigned to Ford Global Technologies LLC (Dearborn, Mich.).
"Locking seatbelt buckle" was invented by Yesica Yosselin Zaragoza Obregon (Cuautitlan Izcalli, Mexico) and Erick Mendoza Rodriguez (Cuautitlan Izcalli, Mexico).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A seatbelt buckle includes a frame operable to receive a seatbelt latch plate therein. A retainer is carried by the frame and movable between a latched position and an unlatched position. A resilient member is positioned between the frame and the retainer to urge the retainer toward the unlatched position. An actuator is positioned to lock the retainer in the ...