MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY DEVICE

• US 3,650,542 A
• Filed: 07/18/1969
• Issued: 03/21/1972
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/1968
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Akira Shimano, Hiromichi Ochiyama, Katsuzi Ohyama, Shin Maki
• Original Assignee: Akira Shimano, Hiromichi Ochiyama, Katsuzi Ohyama, Shin Maki
• Inventors: Maki, Shin, Ohyama, Katsuzi, Ochiyama, Hiromichi, Shimano, Akira
• Primary Examiner(s): Hersh, Benjamin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Song, Robert R.
• Application Number:
  US04/843,067
• Time in Patent Office: 977 Days
• Field of Search: 280/15B 296/84K
• US Class Current: 280/749
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/017 including arrangements for providing electric power to safety arrangements or their actuating means, e.g. to pyrotechnic fuses or electro-mechanic valves
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/08 automatically movable from an inoperative to an operative position, e.g. in a collision electrical circuits for triggering safety arrangements B60R21/01

Abstract

A motor vehicle safety device to avoid whip-lash injuries of the vehicle occupants. The device has a stored netting which is automatically positioned in front of the occupants by trigger mechanism responsive to deceleration of a given magnitude of the motor vehicle. The netting is constructed to hold the occupant'"'"''"'"'s head firmly without injury to the neck of the occupant and preclude the head from reverse or backward movement.

Claims

1. A safety device for protecting occupants in a motor vehicle from injury in the event of deceleration of the motor vehicle comprising, stored netting, means responsive to deceleration of a given magnitude for automatically positioning said netting in a protective position in a stretched condition to protect the occupant from injury including a whip-lash injury, said means responsive to deceleration including a line connected with said netting, a releasable trigger mechanism connected with said line and normally in a locked condition to keep said netting in a stored condition, spring connected to said trigger mechanism for moving said line to position said netting in a protective position immediately when said trigger mechanism responds to said deceleration, said trigger mechanism including a one-way locking means permitting said line to pass therethrough in a direction to position said netting in a protective position and prohibiting the line from moving in the opposite direction, a terminal rod connected at one end with said line and at the other end thereof with said spring and normally held in a locked position to keep said line slack, lock-control means for locking and releasing said terminal rod, and a solenoid device responsive to said deceleration for controlling said lock-control means.

2. A safety device according to claim 1, wherein said one-way locking means comprises an axially resilient conical inner member provided having a threaded axial bore for passing said line therethrough, and an outer member provided with a conical axial bore for axially, slidably receiving said conical inner member, whereby the line in said threaded bore of said inner member is permitted to move in a direction away from a reduced end of said conical inner member and prohibited from moving in the opposite direction due to the contraction of said inner member.

3. A safety device according to claim 1, wherein said terminal rod has a circumferential groove and in which said lock-control means comprises a ball sized to engage with said circumferential groove and a rotatably mounted lever operated by said solenoid device engaging said ball with said groove and disengaging said ball from said groove.

4. A safety device according to claim 3, wherein said solenoid device comprises a plunger for rotating said lever, a solenoid coil actuating said plunger, a silicon-controlled rectifier connected to said solenoid coil, a power source connected in series with said solenoid coil and said rectifier, and a switch mechanism connected between said rectifier and said power source and normally in an open position to keep said solenoid coil deenergized, said switch mechanism closing said switch mechanism in response to said deceleration to energize said solenoid coil, whereby said plunger actuates said lever.

5. A safety device according to claim 4, wherein said switch mechanism comprises an electrically conductive base member connected with said power source, a supporting rod anchored at one end to said base member, a rockable weight carried by said supporting rod and having on its periphery an annular projection, a flexible electrical conductor connecting said base member and said rockable weight, said rockable weight having at an end opposite to the end fixed to said supporting rod with a recess, a ball member held in said recess by a regulated spring action, a spring holding said ball in said recess and an electrically conductive cylinder surrounding said annular projection at a suitable spacing therefrom and connected with said silicon-controlled rectifier, said annular projection being disposed for hitting said metallic cylinder as said weight rocks in response to said deceleration whereby said power source is electrically connected to said silicon-controlled rectifier.

6. A safety device according to claim 1, wherein said netting comprises a number of substantially vertical strands spaced from each other to allow the occupant'"'"''"'"'s to be admitted in betweeN the strands as the occupant'"'"''"'"'s head is forcibly pressed against said strands.

7. A safety device according to claim 6, wherein said netting further comprises a plurality of substantially horizontal strands spaced from each other and disposed relative to said vertical strands.

8. A safety device according to claim 7, wherein said vertical and horizontal strands are interlaced at intersections

9. A safety device according to claim 7, wherein said vertical and horizontal strands are knotted to each other at intersections.

10. A safety device for protecting a vehicle occupant from injury in the event of a collision of a vehicle comprising, a netting stored in a folded condition in a vehicle in use and extendable from said folded condition to a protective position for protecting a vehicle occupant, said netting having means for catching the head of an occupant and retaining it engaged with the netting when in said protective position thereby to avoid injury including a whip-lash injury, sensing means to sense deceleration of said vehicle during an impact, means responsive to the sensing means to automatically extend said netting and position it in said protective position, said means responsive to said sensing means comprising a line connected to said netting, a trigger mechanism having one-way locking means receiving therethrough said line for permitting said line to move therethrough in a direction to position said netting in said protective position and for prohibiting said line from moving in the opposite direction, a terminal rod connected at one end to said line, spring means connected to another end of said spring, and lock-control means operative to hold said terminal rod in a locked position for keeping said line slack and to release said terminal rod for movement together with said line by the action of said spring means, and said sensing means comprising a solenoid device sensing a sudden deceleration due to an impact for controlling the locking and releasing operations of said lock-control means.

11. A safety device for protecting a vehicle occupant from injury in the event of a collision of a vehicle comprising, a netting stored in a folded condition in a vehicle in use and extendable from said folded condition to a protective position for protecting a vehicle occupant, said netting having means for catching the head of an occupant and retaining it engaged with the netting when in said protective position thereby to avoid injury including a whip-lash injury, sensing means to sense deceleration of said vehicle during an impact, means responsive to the sensing means to automatically extend said netting and position it in said protective position, said means for catching the head of an occupant comprising strands of said netting defining an opening for receiving the head of the occupant therethrough, and reinforcement means about the boundary of said opening.

12. A safety device according to claim 11, in which said reinforcement means comprises additional strands of material closer spaced than the remainder of said netting.

13. A safety device for protecting a vehicle occupant from injury in the event of a collision of a vehicle comprising, a netting stored in a folded condition in a vehicle in use and extendable from said folded condition to a protective position for protecting a vehicle occupant, said netting having means for catching the head of an occupant and retaining it engaged with the netting when in said protective position thereby to avoid injury including a whip-lash injury, sensing means to sense deceleration of said vehicle during an impact, means responsive to the sensing means to automatically extend said netting and position it in said protective position, and said means for catching the head of an occupant comprising netting strands disposed relative to each other defining an opening in the netting for receiving and retaining the head of the occupant therein.