Seat belt positioning apparatus and method of use
First Claim
Patent Images
1. Apparatus comprising:
- a field effect device;
a field source device which, when energized, provides a field that energizes said field effect device; and
,seat belt webbing which is movable to a predetermined position in which said webbing extends into said field to affect said field in a predetermined manner;
said field effect device having a first output when said webbing is not in said predetermined position and having a second, different output when said webbing is in said predetermined position.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle occupant protection apparatus (10) includes seat belt webbing (12), a field effect device (50) and a field source device (48) which, when energized, provides a field that energizes the field effect device (50). The webbing (12) is movable to a predetermined position in which it extends into the field to affect the field in a predetermined manner. The field effect device (50) has a first output when the webbing (12) is not in the predetermined position and has a second, different output when the webbing (12) is in the predetermined position. The output of the field effect device (50) thus indicates whether or not the webbing (12) is in the predetermined position.
21 Citations
21 Claims
-
1. Apparatus comprising:
-
a field effect device; a field source device which, when energized, provides a field that energizes said field effect device; and
,seat belt webbing which is movable to a predetermined position in which said webbing extends into said field to affect said field in a predetermined manner; said field effect device having a first output when said webbing is not in said predetermined position and having a second, different output when said webbing is in said predetermined position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. Apparatus comprising:
-
a source of light; a photosensitive device responsive to said light; seat belt webbing; and
,a height adjuster which is actuatable to move a shoulder belt section of said webbing to a predetermined position in which said shoulder belt section shields said photosensitive device from said light; said photosensitive device having a first output when said shoulder belt section is not in said predetermined position and having a second, different output when said shoulder belt section is in said predetermined position. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A method comprising the steps of:
-
energizing a field effect device with a field provided by a field source device; moving seat belt webbing between a plurality of positions including a predetermined position; and
,indicating whether or not said webbing is in said predetermined position; said indicating step comprising switching said field effect device between differently energized conditions by moving said webbing into said field when moving said webbing between said positions. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
-
Specification