Inboard buckle attachment for a four-way seat
First Claim
1. A variable buckle guide for attaching an inboard buckle to a seat, the seat being mounted on a pair of upper rails, the variable buckle guide comprising:
- an upright portion and a base portion adapted to be connected to an upper rail;
a slot formed in the upright portion; and
a fastener passing through the slot and attaching the inboard buckle to the seat, whereby the inboard buckle moves with the seat, and whereby occupant loads on the inboard buckle in a crash event are transferred to the upper rail by the variable buckle guide.
20 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The inboard buckle for a four-way seat is attached to the seat through a variable buckle guide. Attaching the inboard buckle to the seat allows the buckle to move with the seat and obviates the need for a long buckle which introduces undesirable slack into the seat belt system during a crash event. Since the buckle moves with the seat, it remains in a location that is convenient for the occupant and provides the maximum occupant protection. The variable buckle guide is attached to the upper rail supporting the seat, and in a crash event, the variable buckle guide transfers the occupant load on the belt to the upper rail, avoiding distortion of the seat or the height adjusting levers supporting the seat, and thus precludes slack in the belt caused by such distortion.
42 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A variable buckle guide for attaching an inboard buckle to a seat, the seat being mounted on a pair of upper rails, the variable buckle guide comprising:
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an upright portion and a base portion adapted to be connected to an upper rail;
a slot formed in the upright portion; and
a fastener passing through the slot and attaching the inboard buckle to the seat, whereby the inboard buckle moves with the seat, and whereby occupant loads on the inboard buckle in a crash event are transferred to the upper rail by the variable buckle guide. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An inboard buckle attachment for a four-way seat, the seat being mounted on upper and lower rails for adjusting the position of the seat fore and aft and on a mechanism for adjusting the height of the seat up and down, the attachment comprising:
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a mounting post engaging the inboard buckle and connecting the inboard buckle to the seat;
a variable buckle guide attached to the upper rail and having a slot with a shape corresponding to the path of the seat as the seat is adjusted up and down; and
a gear positioned in the slot and engaged by the mounting post, the gear moving freely in the slot as the seat is adjusted up and down and binding in the slot in response to occupant loads on the inboard buckle cased by a crash event, whereby occupant loads in a crash event are transferred from the inboard buckle to the upper rail by the variable buckle guide. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of attaching an inboard buckle to a seat to enable the inboard buckle to move with the seat and to enable occupant loads in a crash event to be transferred away from the seat, the method comprising the steps of:
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attaching the inboard buckle to the seat; and
,selectively connecting the inboard buckle to a support for the seat through a buckle guide so that during a crash event loads applied to the inboard buckle are primarily transferred through the buckle guide to the support for the seat and not to the seat. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification