Vehicle seat belt device

• US 8,579,066 B2
• Filed: 02/25/2011
• Issued: 11/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Odate, Shotaro, Kojima, Takeshi, Ito, Yo
• Primary Examiner(s): Fleming, Faye M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Freedman, Laura
• Application Number:
  US13/582,218
• Publication Number:
  US 20120325574A1
• Time in Patent Office: 991 Days
• Field of Search: 180/268, 180/275, 180/282, 242/374, 242384-3844, 242/390.8, 242/390.9, 280/806, 280/807, 297474-480, 701/45, 701/48, 701/70
• US Class Current: 180/268
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2022/4666 characterised by electric actuators
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2022/468 characterised by clutching means between actuator and belt reel
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2022/4685 with means to adjust or regulate the tensioning force in relation to external parameters
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 22/46 Reels with means to tension the belt in an emergency by forced winding upelectrical circuits for triggering safety arrangements B60R21/01 ; tensioners using reels only guiding the belt during normal use, e.g. splitted reels B60R22/195
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 17/18 Safety devices; Monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/1755 Brake regulation specially adapted to control the stability of the vehicle, e.g. taking into account yaw rate or transverse acceleration in a curve road vehicle drive control systems for control of driving stability otherwise than by controlling a particular sub-unit B60W30/02

Abstract

This seat belt device of a vehicle includes a webbing, a belt reel, a motor, a clutch, detection unit, brake control unit and motor control unit. The motor control unit includes a waiting current control unit configured to conduct a current that can maintain the clutch to be in the connection state in the motor when the brake control unit outputs the operation signal and variable current control unit configured to proceed from current control performed by the waiting current control unit when a change in the movement state of the vehicle is detected by the detection unit during the current control performed by the waiting current control unit and adjusts the amount of conduction in the motor based on the movement state of the vehicle that is detected by the detection unit.

Claims

1. A vehicle seat belt device comprising:

a webbing configured to retain a vehicle occupant seated on a seat of a vehicle;

a belt reel around which the webbing is wound;

a motor that delivers a rotational driving force to the belt reel;

a clutch that maintains a connection state between the motor and the belt reel in a case where rotation torque in a webbing winding direction of the motor, which is equal to or larger than a set value, is received;

a detection unit configured to detect a movement state of the vehicle;

a brake control unit configured to control a vehicle behavior by compressing or decompressing liquid placed inside a wheel cylinder of a brake device that brakes vehicle wheels of the vehicle; and

a motor control unit configured to control an amount of conduction in the motor when the brake control unit outputs an operation signal representing that control of the vehicle behavior is in middle of process or when the movement state of the vehicle is detected by the detection unit to be in a movement state set in advance,

wherein the motor control unit includes;

a waiting current control unit configured to conduct a current that maintains the clutch to be in the connection state in the motor when the brake control unit outputs the operation signal; and

a variable current control unit configured to adjust the amount of conduction in the motor based on the movement state of the vehicle that is detected by the detection unit

wherein the variable current control unit proceeds from current control performed by the waiting current control unit to current control performed by the variable current control unit when a change in the movement state of the vehicle is detected by the detection unit during the current control performed by the waiting current control unit, and

wherein the brake control unit outputs an operation signal that differs in accordance with an operating state.

2. The vehicle seat belt device according to claim 1,

wherein the brake control unit includes a precompressing unit configured to perform precompressing control of pressure of the liquid placed inside the wheel cylinder in a non-operating state of an acceleration pedal of the vehicle, and

wherein the current control performed by the waiting current control unit is performed also when the motor control unit outputs a precompressing operation signal that represents that the precompressing unit is in an operating state.

3. The vehicle seat belt device according to claim 1, wherein the brake control unit includes a first control unit configured to compress or decompress the liquid placed inside the wheel cylinder in accordance with a steering operation not based on a slippage state of the vehicle and outputting the operating signal.

4. The vehicle seat belt device according to claim 3,

wherein the brake control unit further includes second control unit configured to compress or decompress the liquid placed inside the wheel cylinder in accordance with a degree of the slippage state of the vehicle and outputting the operating signal, and

wherein the variable current control unit compares a target current to be supplied to the motor, which is determined based on the movement state of the vehicle that is detected by the detection unit, and an actual current that flows through the motor with each other, changes the actual current based on a comparison result such that the actual current of the motor approaches the target current, and, in a case where an amount of control performed by the first control unit is equal to or larger than a first set value, decreases an amount of change at that time more than that of a case where an amount of control performed by the second control unit is equal to or larger than a second set value.

5. The vehicle seat belt device according to claim 4, wherein the variable current control unit sets the amount of change to be maximum in a case where the degree of the slippage state of the vehicle is equal to or larger than a reference that is set in advance.

6. The vehicle seat belt device according to claim 4, wherein the brake control unit outputs the operating signal by performing control performed by the first control unit only when the vehicle is driven at low speed.