US Patent 6965231 Belt buckle and use thereof in magnetic resonance imaging

In an embodiment, a belt buckle comprises a housing and locking member that are secured by a pair of locking levers. The housing includes the locking levers along with a base plate to which the locking levers are individually mounted in association with a spring bias. In another embodiment, a belt buckle comprises a housing, a locking member and an optical switch that provides and indication of when the locking member is secured to the housing. In another aspect of the invention, the buckle assemblies are magnetically translucent.