Seat belt tongue

• US 20100244541A1
• Filed: 03/31/2009
• Published: 09/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Joyson Safety Systems Acquisition, LLC
• Original Assignee: TK Holdings Incorporated (Ningbo Junsheng Investment Group Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Gray, Mark Francis, Dennis, Nathaniel James
• Granted Patent: US 8,052,220 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 297/476
• CPC Class Codes: A44B 11/2561 Tongue elements
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2022/1812 Connections between seat belt and buckle tongue
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 22/18 Anchoring devices

Abstract

A seat belt system for use in a vehicle, which includes a seat belt webbing for restraining an occupant of the vehicle, wherein the webbing includes a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of the webbing is attached to a retractor for either retracting the webbing or permitting withdrawal of the webbing, and wherein the second end of the webbing is connected to an anchor; a tongue mechanism connected to the webbing and positioned to separate the webbing into a lap portion and a shoulder portion; and a buckle mechanism configured to detachably couple with the tongue mechanism. The tongue mechanism is configured so that the tongue mechanism is slideably coupled to the webbing when the tension in the webbing is less than a cinching load, and when the tension in the webbing is equal to or greater than the cinching load the tongue mechanism applies a cinching force on the webbing to prevent the webbing from changing position relative to the tongue mechanism. The tongue mechanism is further configured so that when the tension in the webbing is less than the cinching load there is no cinching force applied to the webbing.

Claims

1. A seat belt system for use in a vehicle, comprising:

a seat belt webbing for restraining an occupant of the vehicle, wherein the webbing includes a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of the webbing is attached to a retractor for either retracting the webbing or permitting withdrawal of the webbing, and wherein the second end of the webbing is connected to an anchor;

a tongue mechanism connected to the webbing and positioned to separate the webbing into a lap portion and a shoulder portion;

a buckle mechanism configured to detachably couple with the tongue mechanism;

wherein the tongue mechanism is configured so that the tongue mechanism is slideably coupled to the webbing when the tension in the webbing is less than a cinching load, and when the tension in the webbing is equal to or greater than the cinching load the tongue mechanism applies a cinching force on the webbing to prevent the webbing from changing position relative to the tongue mechanism; and

wherein the tongue mechanism is configured so that when the tension in the webbing is less than the cinching load there is no cinching force applied to the webbing.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the tongue mechanism includes a tongue plate and a cinch plate and wherein the cinching force on the webbing is applied by changing the position of the cinch plate relative to the tongue plate.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the tongue mechanism further includes a blocking member located in a first position to prevent relative movement between the cinch plate and the tongue plate and wherein the tongue mechanism is configured so that the position of the blocking member changes from the first position to a second position when the tensile force on the webbing meets or exceeds the cinching load to thereby permit relative movement between the cinch plate and the tongue plate.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the tongue mechanism includes a first biasing member for biasing the blocking member from the second position into the first position.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the tongue mechanism includes a second biasing member for biasing the cinch plate into a position that permits relative movement between the webbing and the tongue mechanism and wherein the tongue mechanism is configured so that when the tensile force on the webbing drops below the cinching load after having previously exceeded the cinching load the second biasing member forces the cinch plate into a position wherein the blocking member can be forced into the first position by the first biasing member.