SAFETY BELT ARRANGEMENT FOR INDIVIDUALS

• US 3,822,760 A
• Filed: 09/09/1971
• Issued: 07/09/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/1970
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Oskar Lennart Lindblad
• Original Assignee: Oskar Lennart Lindblad
• Inventors: Lindblad, Oskar Lennart
• Primary Examiner(s): Song, Robert R.
• Application Number:
  US05/179,134
• Time in Patent Office: 1,034 Days
• Field of Search: 280/15SB 180/82C
• US Class Current: 280/804
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 22/04 Passive restraint systems, i.e. systems both applied and removed automatically, e.g. by movement of the vehicle door

Abstract

Safety belt arrangement for vehicles which includes belts positions for extending across the body of a person sitting on a seat in the vehicle with one end of the strap secured to the vehicle on a side of the seat opposite a side wall of the vehicle and the other end of the strap slideably connected on the inside of a door of the vehicle and means for automatically displacing the belt along said door upon operation of the ignition circuit from in front of the seat to across the person.

Claims

1. A safety belt arrangement for vehicles having at least one door and seat, comprising at least one belt part which in use extends from one side to the other of the seat in the vehicle across a person sitting in said seat, means securing one end of said belt part to an inboard structural portion of the vehicle at the inner side of said seat, guide means provided to the opposite side of said seat and extending from a forward point to a rear point of the vehicle door, means havng other end of said belt part slideably extending therethrough and being slideably mounted in said guide means for moving said other belt part from a rear position of the door to a front position thereof allowing entrance by a person to and exit from the seat and back to said rear position in which the safety belt is tightened around the passenger and vice versa, springs mounted on said guide means, an electric motor mounted on said springs and capable of pivoting against the action of said springs around an axis parallel to the output axis of said motor, an electrical circuit, a pair of switches in said circuit positioned for being actuated by the pivoting movement of said motor, one of said switches being capable of reversing the direction of rotation of said motor, the second of said switches capable of cutting off the supply of current to said motor and means operatively connecting said motor to said attachment means and capable of pivoting said motor when said attachment means reaches said front and rear positions.

2. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 1 including retainer means connected to the chassis of the vehicle and capable of locking said slideable attachment means in its rear end position.

3. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 2, including movement transmitting means connected to the handle of the door and said retainer means for causing said moveable attachment means to be released from said retainer means upon operation of the door handle.

4. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 3, including means operable by the door handle for closing the supply circuit to said motor for moving said moveable attachment means to its front position.

5. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 2, including switch means in the current supply circuit for said motor capable of reversing the direction of current through said motor and thereby the direction of rotation of said motor and means for actuating said switch means for reversing the rotational direction of said motor upon said moveable attachment means reaching its rear end position and locking with said retainer means.

6. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 5, wherein said current reversing switch means are constituted by switch contacts of a relay provided with two relay coils, said switch actuated by the pivoting movement of said motor for reversing the direction of current being connected in the circuit to one of said relay coils.

7. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 2, including a yoke attached to the door for surrounding the moveable attachment means in its rear position.

8. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein said safety belt is of the three point type with a shoulder belt portion and a lap belt portion formed by a single belt extending through an eyelet carried by said displaceable attachment means.

9. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 1 and for use in the front seat of a vehicle characterized in that said guide means is provided on the inner side of the door of the vehicle and extends from an upper point at the forward edge of the door to a lower point at the rear edge of the door.

10. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 9, wherein said guide means extends in an arc from said forward upper point of the door to said lower rear point so that the front portion of the guide is nearly horizontal whereas its lower portion is nearly vertical.

11. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein said guide means has a C-shaped cross-section.

12. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein said moveable attachment means is in the form of a slide slideable along a said guide means and said operatively connecting means includes an endless line, wheels journalled at the ends of said guide and having said line passing therearound, and said line being connected at one point to said slide for moving said slide.

13. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 12 wherein said endless drive is in driving connection with said spring mounted electric drive motor.

14. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 12, wherein said line being in the form of a toothed belt which engages in corresponding teeth on said wheels.

15. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 1, said moveable attachment means being in the form of a slide displaceable along said guide means and having said electric drive motor for effecting movement of said slide attached thereto, said drive motor being in driving connection with said guide by means of wheels rotatably journalled on said slide and running on wheel tracks provided on said guide means.

16. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 15, wherein the power transmission from said drive motor to said wheels is by means of a worm gear.

17. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 15, wherein the axes of rotation of said wheels are disposed in a common plane at right angles to said guide means, said wheels being pressed against said wheel tracks by means of the force with which the wheels press against one another.

18. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 1, said moveable attachment means being in the form of a slide displaceable along the said guide means and having said electric drive motor attached thereto, said motor being in driving engagement with said guide by means of a worm gear arranged on said slide and engaging a gear rack extending along said guide means.

19. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 18, wherein said worm gear is formed by the casing of an outer rotor motor, the inner stator part of which is non-rotatably secured to said slide.

20. A safety belt arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the current supply to the motor is by means of contact strips on said slide lying against said strips.