Safety belt
First Claim
1. A safety belt comprising a length of webbing having a first end portion, an intermediate portion and a second end portion, said intermediate portion providing lap and diagonal parts of said safety belt, said lap part being provided for restraining the major body weight of a seat occupant and said diagonal part being provided for restraining the upper torso of said occupant, said first end portion being coupled to said second end portion such that as said first end portion is paid out, said second end portion is taken up and vice versa, the rate of take up and pay out of said first end portion being different from the rate of pay out and take up said second portion, whereby during an accident, said rates of pay out and take up of said end portions cooperate with the loads applied to said lap and diagonal parts to restrain said occupant in a substantially upright seated posture during deceleration.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A safety belt including a length of webbing which is entrained across the torso of a seat occupant, has its ends coupled such that as one is paid out the other is taken up at a different rate and vice versa. The webbing at each anchorage member may be turned through an angle greater than 270°. One of the webbing ends may be fixed to the vehicle and the webbing then entrained around a pulley and back upon itself, the other webbing end being fixed to a yoke supporting the pulley. Alternatively, one webbing end is attached to and wound up on a first drum and the other webbing end is attached to and wound up on a second drum, the first and second drums being coupled for rotation at the same or different angular speeds. The drum may be biased to ensure excess webbing take up. The webbing may be stored on the drums so that it can be initially paid out by both drums until the end of the webbing is reached on one drum, whereupon the webbing is paid out by one drum and taken up by the other.
18 Citations
27 Claims
- 1. A safety belt comprising a length of webbing having a first end portion, an intermediate portion and a second end portion, said intermediate portion providing lap and diagonal parts of said safety belt, said lap part being provided for restraining the major body weight of a seat occupant and said diagonal part being provided for restraining the upper torso of said occupant, said first end portion being coupled to said second end portion such that as said first end portion is paid out, said second end portion is taken up and vice versa, the rate of take up and pay out of said first end portion being different from the rate of pay out and take up said second portion, whereby during an accident, said rates of pay out and take up of said end portions cooperate with the loads applied to said lap and diagonal parts to restrain said occupant in a substantially upright seated posture during deceleration.
Specification