Safety-belt arrangement
First Claim
1. A safety-belt arrangement for use in a motor vehicle, the safety-belt arrangement comprising a safety-belt, one end of which is connected to a retractor, a sensor adapted to generate a signal representative of the amount of the safety-belt paid-out from the retractor, a force limiter associated with the retractor adapted to permit the safety-belt to be paid-out with a variable force limiting effect, means to change the level of force applied by the force limiter, and a control unit to receive a signal from the sensor and to generate, at least partially in response to said signal, an output signal to control the means which change the level of force, and wherein means are provided to lock the safety-belt in response to a sensed parameter and wherein the control unit generates said output signal at least partly in response to a predetermined amount of safety-belt being paid-out in excess of a reference length, wherein the sensor determines the reference length at or shortly after the instant of locking of the safety-belt.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A safety-belt arrangement for use in a motor vehicle has a safety-belt (5), one end of which is connected to a retractor (8), a sensor (11) generates a signal representative of the amount of safety-belt paid-out from the retractor. A force limiter (10) is associated with the retractor to permit safety-belt to be paid-out with a variable force limiting effect. A control arrangement (12) changes the level of force applied by the force limiter (10) in dependence upon the length of safety-belt paid-out from the retractor.
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Citations
23 Claims
- 1. A safety-belt arrangement for use in a motor vehicle, the safety-belt arrangement comprising a safety-belt, one end of which is connected to a retractor, a sensor adapted to generate a signal representative of the amount of the safety-belt paid-out from the retractor, a force limiter associated with the retractor adapted to permit the safety-belt to be paid-out with a variable force limiting effect, means to change the level of force applied by the force limiter, and a control unit to receive a signal from the sensor and to generate, at least partially in response to said signal, an output signal to control the means which change the level of force, and wherein means are provided to lock the safety-belt in response to a sensed parameter and wherein the control unit generates said output signal at least partly in response to a predetermined amount of safety-belt being paid-out in excess of a reference length, wherein the sensor determines the reference length at or shortly after the instant of locking of the safety-belt.
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18. A safety-belt arrangement for use in a motor vehicle, the safety belt arrangement comprising:
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a safety-belt having an end; a retractor capable of paying out the safety belt, the end of the safety-belt connected to the retractor; a sensor capable of measuring an amount of safety-belt paid-out from the retractor, the sensor generating a corresponding signal; a force limiter associated with the retractor, the force limiter permitting the safety-belt to be paid-out with a variable force limiting effect, the force limiter having a force changing mechanism capable of changing the level of force applied by the force limiter; a control unit able to receive the signal from the sensor, the control unit generating an output signal to control the force changing mechanism in response to the sensor signal; and a locking mechanism for locking the safety-belt in response to a sensed parameter; wherein the sensor determines a reference length at or shortly after the instant of locking the safety-belt, and the control unit generates the output signal in response to a predetermined amount of safety-belt paid-out in excess of the reference length. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification