Seat belt retractor system
First Claim
1. A vehicle safety apparatus comprising:
- a first seat for an occupant of a vehicle;
a first seat belt retractor having a first spool on which belt webbing is wound and which is rotatable in a first belt withdrawal direction and in an opposite first belt retraction direction and a first locking means for blocking belt webbing withdrawal from said first spool in response to an electrical signal;
mounting means for mounting said first seat belt retractor on said first vehicle seat;
sensor means for sensing vehicle deceleration exceeding a predetermined deceleration and for providing a control signal indicative thereof;
an RF transmitter electrically connected with said sensor means and actuatable in response to the control signal to transmit an RF signal; and
first RF receiver means for receiving the RF signal and for providing a first output signal indicative of the RF signal, said first locking means of said first seat belt retractor including means actuatable in response to the first output signal for locking said first seat belt retractor.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle seat belt retractor system (10) includes two seats (16, 18) each having its own integrated seat belt webbing retractor (60, 112). Each retractor (60, 112) includes a locking assembly (76, 80) for blocking belt withdrawal in response to an electrical signal. At a central location in the vehicle spaced from the seats (16, 18), a sensor (24) is disposed for sensing vehicle deceleration exceeding a predetermined deceleration and for providing a control signal indicative thereof. An RF transmitter (42) is electrically connected with the sensor (24) and is actuatable in response to the control signal to transmit an RF signal. An RF receiver (100, 114) on each vehicle seat (16, 18) receives the RF signal and provides an output signal to actuate the locking assembly (76, 80) of the two seat belt retractors (60, 112). Each vehicle seat (16, 18) also has (a) a battery (98) for supplying electric power to actuate the locking assembly (76, 80) of the retractors (60, 112) and (b) a piezoelectric member (90) responsive to an occupant sitting on the seat for generating an electric current to charge the battery (96). In a second embodiment, a separate deceleration sensor (24a) is mounted on each vehicle seat for electrically actuating its associated retractor. In a third embodiment, the transmitted signal provides the power for actuating a vehicle occupant restraint (178).
36 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A vehicle safety apparatus comprising:
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a first seat for an occupant of a vehicle; a first seat belt retractor having a first spool on which belt webbing is wound and which is rotatable in a first belt withdrawal direction and in an opposite first belt retraction direction and a first locking means for blocking belt webbing withdrawal from said first spool in response to an electrical signal; mounting means for mounting said first seat belt retractor on said first vehicle seat; sensor means for sensing vehicle deceleration exceeding a predetermined deceleration and for providing a control signal indicative thereof; an RF transmitter electrically connected with said sensor means and actuatable in response to the control signal to transmit an RF signal; and first RF receiver means for receiving the RF signal and for providing a first output signal indicative of the RF signal, said first locking means of said first seat belt retractor including means actuatable in response to the first output signal for locking said first seat belt retractor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A vehicle safety apparatus comprising:
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a seat for an occupant of a vehicle; vehicle occupant protection means connected with said seat and responsive to an electrical signal for restraining movement of an occupant of said seat relative to said seat in response to vehicle deceleration exceeding a predetermined deceleration; means for connecting said vehicle occupant protection means with said seat; sensor means for sensing vehicle deceleration exceeding a predetermined deceleration and for providing a control signal indicative thereof; an RF transmitter electrically connected with said sensor means and actuatable in response to the control signal to transmit an RF signal; and RF receiver means connected with said seat for receiving the RF signal and for providing an output signal indicative of the RF signal, said vehicle occupant protection means being actuatable in response to the output signal for restraining movement of the vehicle occupant relative to said seat.
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11. A vehicle safety apparatus comprising:
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a seat for an occupant of a vehicle; vehicle occupant protection means on said seat and responsive to an electrical signal for protecting a vehicle occupant in response to vehicle deceleration exceeding a predetermined deceleration; a battery mounted on said seat for supplying electric power to actuate said vehicle occupant protection means; a piezoelectric member associated with the vehicle seat and responsive to an occupant sitting on the seat for generating an electric current; and means for electrically connecting said piezoelectric member with said battery to charge said battery with the electric current generated by said piezoelectric member. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A vehicle safety apparatus comprising:
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a seat for an occupant of a vehicle; vehicle occupant protection means on said seat and responsive to an electric current for protecting a vehicle occupant in response to vehicle deceleration exceeding a predetermined deceleration; sensor means for sensing vehicle deceleration exceeding a predetermined deceleration and for providing an electrical control signal indicative thereof; and a battery mounted on said vehicle seat for supplying electric current to actuate said vehicle occupant protection means in response to said sensor means providing said electrical control signal; wherein said sensor means for sensing vehicle deceleration is fixedly connected with a portion of the vehicle spaced apart from the vehicle seat, and further comprising (i) an RF transmitter electrically connected with said sensor means and actuatable in response to the sensor means control signal to transmit an RF signal and (ii) an RF receiver for receiving the RF signal and for providing an output signal indicative thereof, said vehicle occupant protection means being actuatable in response to said output signal for protecting the vehicle occupant. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A vehicle safety apparatus comprising:
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a seat for an occupant of a vehicle; vehicle occupant protection means on said seat and responsive to an electrical signal for protecting a vehicle occupant in response to vehicle deceleration exceeding a predetermined deceleration; a battery mounted on said seat for supplying electric power to actuate said vehicle occupant protection means; a piezoelectric member associated with the vehicle seat and responsive to an occupant sitting on the seat for generating an electric current; and means for electrically connecting said piezoelectric member with said battery to charge said battery with the electric current generated by said piezoelectric member; wherein said vehicle occupant protection means comprises a seat belt retractor having a spool on which belt webbing is wound and which is rotatable in a belt withdrawal direction and an opposite belt retraction direction and a locking means for blocking rotation of said spool in the belt withdrawal direction in response to an electrical signal. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A vehicle safety apparatus comprising:
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a seat for an occupant of a vehicle; vehicle occupant protection means on said seat and responsive to an electrical signal for protecting a vehicle occupant in response to vehicle deceleration exceeding a predetermined deceleration; a battery mounted on said seat for supplying electric power to actuate said vehicle occupant protection means; a piezoelectric member associated with the vehicle seat and responsive to an occupant sitting on the seat for generating an electric current; means for electrically connecting said piezoelectric member with said battery to charge said battery with the electric current generated by said piezoelectric member; sensor means on said vehicle at a location remote from said vehicle seat for sensing vehicle deceleration exceeding a predetermined deceleration and for providing a control signal indicative thereof; an RF transmitter electrically connected with said sensor means and actuatable in response to the control signal to transmit an RF signal; and RF receiver means on said vehicle seat for receiving the RF signal and for providing an electrical signal indicative of the RF signal to said vehicle occupant protection means to actuate said vehicle occupant protection means.
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Specification