Safety apparatus including an air bag and a safety belt supported on a vehicle with a deformable coupling

• US 5,211,694 A
• Filed: 05/21/1992
• Issued: 05/18/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/1989
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
• Inventors: Iwamoto, Yasunori, Sakakida, Masafumi, Manabe, Toshiyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): FERRITER, KARIN L
• Application Number:
  US07/887,377
• Time in Patent Office: 362 Days
• Field of Search: 280/805, 280/806, 280/807, 280/801, 280/808, 188/371-374, 188/376, 297/472, 297/471, 297/475
• US Class Current: 280/806
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/16 Inflatable occupant restraints or confinements designed to inflate upon impact or impending impact, e.g. air bags protective garments with automatically inflatable shock-absorbing means A41D13/018; connection of valves to inflatable elastic bodies B60C29/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 22/28 incorporating energy-absorbing devices belt anchors provided with energy-absorbing means for protecting the occupants in case of physical contact therewith B60R21/055; belt retractors comprising energy-absorbing means B60R22/341, B60R22/4676
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 22/341 comprising energy-absorbing means

Abstract

A safety apparatus is installed in a vehicle provided with an air bag system having an air bag which is housed, when empty, in a container in front of a driver'"'"'s seat. The air bag is inflated to protect the driver during a collision. The safety apparatus is provided with an impact diminishing mechanism for preventing a shoulder belt from being increasingly tensioned by the body of the driver any time before the inflated air bag acts on the driver with a maximum impact.

Claims

1. A safety apparatus for an automotive vehicle, comprising:

an air bag system including an air bag which is housed, when empty, in a container in front of a seat of the vehicle and inflatable to protect an occupant of said seat during a collision of said vehicle;

a safety belt system having at least a shoulder belt engaged with a retractor for preventing forward plunging of said occupant of said seat to hold said occupant in said seat during the collision of said vehicle; and

impact diminishing means associated with said safety belt system for restraining said shoulder belt and preventing said shoulder belt from applying a pressure impact above a particular value to said occupant before said air bag acts on said occupant with a maximum pressure impact, the impact diminishing means thereby limiting a total impact applied to the occupant during the collision by said air bag and said shoulder belt; and

stopper means for preventing excessive upward movement of said retractor once said shoulder belt is subjected to a vertical force exceeding a specific tension.

2. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein an impact applied to the occupant by said shoulder belt is maximized before said air bag acts on said occupant with said maximum impact.

3. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said impact diminishing means is associated with said retractor.

4. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said impact diminishing means comprises coupling means for coupling said retractor to part of a body of said vehicle, said coupling means being capable of deforming so as to allow said retractor to move when said shoulder belt is subjected to a vertical force exceeding said specific tension, thereby preventing said shoulder belt from being increasingly tensioned.

5. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said coupling means comprises a deformable U-shaped bracket with a pair of arms, one arm secured to said retractor and the other arm secured to said part of said body.

6. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said coupling means comprises a deformable L-shaped bracket secured to said retractor and a deformable tab secured to said part of said body, said tab being partly integrated into said deformable L-shaped bracket and being able to be ripped away from said bracket when said shoulder belt is subjected to said vertical force exceeding said specific tension.

7. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said impact diminishing means is associated with said retractor.

8. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein said impact diminishing means comprises coupling means for coupling said retractor to part of a body of said vehicle, said coupling means being capable of deforming so as to allow said retractor to move when said shoulder belt is subjected to a vertical force exceeding said specific tension, thereby preventing said shoulder belt from being increasingly tensioned.

9. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said coupling means comprises a deformable U-shaped bracket with a pair of arms, one arm secured to said retractor and the other arm secured to said part of said body.

10. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said coupling means comprises a deformable L-shaped bracket secured to said retractor and a deformable tab secured to said part of said body, said tab being partly integrated into said deformable L-shaped bracket and being able to be ripped away from said bracket when said shoulder belt is subjected to said vertical force exceeding said specific tension.

11. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said coupling means comprises an elastically deformable member directly secured between said retractor and said part of said body.

12. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein said elastically deformable member is adapted to be stretched when said shoulder belt is subjected to said vertical force exceeding said specific tension.

13. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 12, wherein said elastically deformable member is formed with a number of transverse score lines, each being transversely discontinuous so as to allow said elastically deformable member to be stretched when said shoulder belt is subjected to said vertical force exceeding said specific tension.

14. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 12, wherein said elastically deformable member is folded so as to be stretched when said shoulder belt is subjected to said vertical force exceeding said specific tension.

15. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein said elastically deformable member is a stud bendable when said shoulder belt is subjected to said vertical force exceeding said specific tension.

16. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein said stud has a center shank portion having a length for spacing apart said retractor from said part of said body at a desired distance and threaded end boss portions extending from both ends of said center shank portion.

17. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein said stud comprises a fastening bolt and a cylindrical spacer fitted on said fastening bolt, said cylindrical spacer having a length for spacing apart said retractor a desired distance from said part of said body.

18. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 17, wherein said cylindrical spacer is formed with a plurality of circumferential score lines.

19. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein said cylindrical spacer is formed with a plurality of axial slots.

20. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein said impact diminishing means comprises coupling means for coupling said retractor to part of a body of said vehicle, said coupling means being capable of torsionally deforming so as to absorb an external force applied to said retractor when said shoulder belt is drawn with a specified tension load, thereby preventing said shoulder belt from being increasingly tensioned.

21. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 20, wherein said coupling means comprises two brackets, said brackets separately secured at respective first ends to said part of said body and said retractor and at respective second ends to a torsionally deformable rod, said two brackets being fixedly coupled by said second ends to said torsionally deformable rod.

22. A safety apparatus as defined in claim 21, wherein each of said two brackets is coiled at said second end around said torsionally deformable rod by less than a single turn.

23. A safety apparatus for an automotive vehicle, comprising:

an air bag system including an air bag which is housed, when empty, in a container in front of a seat of the vehicle and inflatable to protect an occupant of said seat during a collision of said vehicle;

a safety belt system having at least a shoulder belt engaged with a retractor for preventing forward plunging of said occupant of said seat to hold said occupant in said seat during the collision of said vehicle;

impact diminishing means associated with said retractor for restraining said shoulder belt and preventing said shoulder belt from being increasingly tensioned by said occupant at a time before said air bag is inflated and acts on said occupant with a maximum impact so as to decrease a total impact applied to the occupant during the collision by said air bag and said shoulder belt, said impact diminishing means comprising coupling means for coupling said retractor to part of a body of said vehicle, said coupling means being capable of deforming so as to allow said retractor to move when said shoulder belt is drawn with a specified tension load, thereby preventing said shoulder belt from being increasingly tensioned, said coupling means comprising a deformable U-shaped bracket with a pair of arms, one arm secured to said retractor and the other arm secured to said part of said body; and

guide means for guiding upward movement of said retractor.