DOOR LOCK ASSEMBLY AND DOOR RETRACTOR INTERLOCK

• US 3,770,078 A
• Filed: 06/25/1971
• Issued: 11/06/1973
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/1971
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Charles M. Keppel, Irwin K. Weiss
• Original Assignee: Charles M. Keppel, Irwin K. Weiss
• Inventors: Keppel, Charles M., Weiss, Irwin K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Betts, Kenneth H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Silverstrim, John P.
• Application Number:
  US05/156,808
• Time in Patent Office: 865 Days
• Field of Search: 280/15SB 180/111,112,113,103,82C 297/385,386,387,388,389
• US Class Current: 280/803
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 22/04 Passive restraint systems, i.e. systems both applied and removed automatically, e.g. by movement of the vehicle door
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 77/48 by electrical means

Abstract

A vehicle body defines an occupant compartment and includes a seat mounted within the compartment and accessible through a side door opening selectively opened and closed by a side door, a belt arrangement with lap and shoulder belts whose first ends are secured adjacent an inboard portion of the seat and whose second ends are respectively received by a door mounted locking retractor and a vehicle body mounted inertia retractor, door and roof rail mounted carriers slidably receiving respective intermediate portions of the lap and shoulder belts, drive mechanisms for moving the carriers between forward and rearward positions in response to an operative condition of the vehicle to move the belts between easy-enter and occupant restraining positions, a door lock assembly mounted on the rear edge of the door and having a latch mechanism movable to a latched position to maintain the door in closed position and a lock mechanism movable to a locked position to prevent movement of the latch mechanism from latched position to unlatched position, a solenoid connected to the lock mechanism by a linkage and actuatable in response to the operative vehicle condition to move the lock mechanism to locked position, and a linkage connecting the solenoid and a locking bar of the locking retractor to move the locking bar to a locked position concomitant with the movement of the lock mechanism to locked position and thereby locking the retractor to prevent extending movement of the lap belt when the vehicle is in the operative condition.

Claims

1. In a vehicle body defining an occupant compartment, the combination comprising, a seat mounted within the occupant compartment and accessible through a vehicle body side door opening, a door for selectively opening and closing the door opening, latch means mounted on the door and selectively movable between latched and unlatched positions with respect to a vehicle body mounted keeper to selectively maintain the door in closed position, inside and outside door mounted latch release means for selectively moving the latch means from latched position to unlatched position to allow movement of the door from closed position to open position, locking means selectively movable between locked and unlocked positions to selectively prevent movement of the latch means from latched position to unlatched position, inside and outside door mounted lock control means for controlling the position of the locking means, a solenoid for moving the locking means to locked position in response to an operative condition of the vehicle, a locking retractor mounted on the door and including a locking bar movable between locked and unlocked positions to selectively lock and unlock the retractor against belt extending movement, a belt having one end received by the retractor, means for securing the other end of the belt adjacent an inboard portion of the seat to dispose the belt across a seated occupant in a restraining position when the door is in closed position, and interlocking linkage means connecting the solenoid and the locking bar to move the locking bar to locked position concomitant with the movement of the locking means to locked position and thereby maintaining the belt in the restraining position against extending movement when the vehicle is in the operative condition.

2. In a vehicle body defining an occupant compartment, the combination comprising, a seat mounted within the occupant compartment and accessible through a vehicle body side door opening, a door for selectively opening and closing the door opening, latch means mounted on the door and selectively movable between latched and unlatched positions with respect to a vehicle body mounted keeper to selectively maintain the door in closed position, inside and outside door mounted latch release means for selectively moving the latch means from latched position to unlatched position to allow movement of the door from closed position to open position, locking means selectively movable between locked and unlocked positions to selectively prevent movement of the latch means from latched position to unlatched position, inside and outside door mounted lock control means for controlling the position of the locking means, a solenoid for moving the locking means to locked position in response to an operative condition of the vehicle, a locking retractor mounted on the door and including a locking bar movable between locked and unlocked positions to selectively lock and unlock the retractor against belt extending movement, a lap belt having one end received by the retractor, means for securing the other end of the belt adjacent an inboard portion of the seat, means responsive to the operative condition of the vehicle and connected to the belt to move the belt forwardly to an easy-enter position upon cessation of the operative condition of the vehicle and to allow the retractor to move the belt rearwardly to a restraining position when the vehicle is placed in the operative condition with the door in closed position, and interlocking linkage means connecting the solenoid and the locking bar to move the locking bar to locked position concomitant with the movement of the locking means to locked position and thereby locking the retractor to maintain the belt in the restraining position against extending movement when the vehicle is in the operative condition, the solenoid unlocking the locking means and the retractor when the vehicle ceases to be in the operative condition to allow opening movement of the door and extending movement of the belt to the easy-enter position.

3. In a vehicle body defining an occupant compartment, the combination comprising, a seat mounted within the occupant compartment and accessible through a vehicle body side door opening, a door for selectively opening and closing the door opening, latch means mounted on the door and selectively movable between latched and unlatched positions with respect to a vehicle body mounted keeper to selectively maintain the door in closed position, inside and outside door mounted latch release means for selectively moving the latch means from latched position to unlatched position to allow movement of the door from closed position to open position, locking means selectively movable between locked and unlocked positions to selectively prevent movement of the latch means from latched position to unlatched position, inside and outside door mounted lock control means for controlling the position of the locking means, a solenoid for moving the locking means to locked position in response to an operative condition of the vehicle, a locking retractor mounted on the door and including a locking bar movable between locked and unlocked positions to selectively lock and unlock the retractor against belt extending movement, a lap belt having one end received by the retractor, means for securing the other end of the belt adjacent an inboard portion of the seat, door mounted means connected to an intermediate portion of the belt to move the belt forwardly to an easy-enter position upon cessation of the operative condition of the vehicle and to allow the retractor to retract the belt to an occupant restraining position in response to the operative condition of the vehicle, and interlocking linkage means extending between the solenoid and the locking bar of the retractor to move the locking bar to locked position concomitant with the movement of the locking means to locked position and thereby locking the retractor to maintain the belt in the restraining position against extending movement when the vehicle is in the operative condition, the solenoid unlocking the locking means and the retractor when the vehicle ceases to be in the operative condition to allow door opening movement and extendIng movement of the belt to the easy-enter position.