Guide rail mounting assembly for automotive passive seat belt system

A mounting assembly comprises a rigid bracket having an essentially U-shaped portion and an elastic plate, the tip of which is fixed to the tip of the bracket. A guide rail of a passive seat belt system is inserted into a space between the inner surface of the shaped portion and the elastic plate to be secured to a vehicle body by a bolt.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a mounting assembly for mounting a member 
on a stationary base, particularly to a mounting assembly for mounting a 
long member, such as a guide rail for an automotive passive seat belt 
system which can automatically cause a seat belt to move between a fitted 
position, in which the occupant is restricted by means of a seat belt, and 
a release position, in which the occupant is released from the seat belt, 
when the occupant is getting in and out of a vehicle. 
2. Description of the Background Art 
In passive seat belt systems, the occupant is automatically restricted by 
means of the seat belt after the occupant sits down in the seat. In some 
passive seat belt systems, a guide rail is mounted on the roof side rail 
of the vehicle body. The guide rail has the front end located adjacent a 
front pillar and the rear end terminating adjacent a center pillar of the 
vehicle body. A sliding block can slidably engage the guide rail. The 
sliding block slides along the guide rail between the front and rear ends 
of the guide rail to carry one end of a seat belt. The other end of the 
seat belt is connected to a retractor which is fixedly secured to the side 
of a seat near the longitudinal center of the vehicle body, so that the 
seat belt may be wound onto the retractor. The sliding block is also 
secured to one end of an actuation wire and the other end of the actuation 
wire is drivingly accociate with a drive motor for driving the sliding 
block along the guide rail. Therefore, one end of the seat belt can move 
along the guide rail according to the movement of the sliding block which 
is driven by the drive motor via the actuation wire. The movement of the 
sliding block is controlled by means of a control circuit. In addition, a 
latch base is provided at the rear end of the guide rail. When the sliding 
block is moved from the front end of the guide rail, i.e. the release 
position, to the position of the latch base, i.e. the fitted position, an 
engaging portion, which is provided at the tip of the sliding block, is 
latched by means of the latch base. The movement of the sliding block is 
finished at this position, so that the occupant is restricted by means of 
the seat belt. 
In the background of the present invention, a guide rail mounting bracket 
for mounting the guide rail on the vehicle body comprises a gripping 
portion having an essentially C-shaped cross section. The guide rail to be 
mounted on the vehicle body is clamped by the gripping portion. The 
gripping portion is formed by bending a resilient spring steel plate. In 
order to secure the mounting bracket to the vehicle body, the mounting 
bracket is provided with an essentially U-shaped mounting portion. The 
mounting portion is formed by making an essentially U-shaped split at 
essentially the center of the gripping portion and by bending a part of 
the gripping portion upwardly along the line connecting the both ends of 
the split. In addition, an opening is formed in the mounting portion. A 
bolt or the like is inserted into the opening, so that the mounting 
bracket is secured to the vehicle body. This kind of guide rail mounting 
member is described in the Japanese Patent Second Publication (Tokko) 
Showa 61-61263. In cases where the guide rail is mounted on the vehicle 
body by means of this mounting member, there are the following 
disadvantages. When a strong pull is given to the seat belt at positions 
other than the rear end of the guide rail where the sliding block is 
latched on the latch base, the gripping portion of the mounting member 
opens so that the guide rail is released from the bracket since the 
bracket is made of a resilient material. It is also noted that a trimming, 
which covers the guide rail, is caused to protrude. 
Therefore, the mounting member has to be formed by a high-rigidity member 
so that the gripping portion can not open easily. however, when the 
mounting member is rigid, the clamping of the guide rail is complicated 
and it is required that the accuracy of the mounting member is as high as 
possible. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to eliminate 
the aforementioned disadvantages and to provide a mounting assembly for 
mounting a member on a stationary base, which can firmly secure the member 
to the stationary base. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mounting 
assembly for mounting a guide rail of a seat belt system on a vehicle 
body, which can firmly secure the guide rail to the vehicle body. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mounting 
assembly in which the guide rail can be easily mounted on the vehicle body 
to decrease man-hours used in assembly. 
it is a still further object of the present invention to provide a mounting 
assembly which does not require a higher degree of manufacturing accuracy. 
In order to accomplish the aforementioned and other specific objects, a 
mounting assembly for mounting a member on a stationary base, according to 
the present invention, comprises a rigid bracket having an essentially 
U-shaped bending portion and an elastic plate, one end of which is 
provided with an engaging portion. The tip of the bracket engages the 
engaging portion to clamp the member between the bending portion and the 
elastic plate so as to secure the member together with the mounting 
assembly to the stationary base by means of a bolt which passes through an 
opening provided in the end of the bracket and the elastic plate. 
According to one aspect of the present invention, the mounting assembly 
comprises: 
a rigid bracket including a bending portion, the inner surface of which 
comes into contact with surfaces of the member other than the surface 
thereof where the member is brought into contact with the stationary base, 
and a first plate portion extending parallel to the surface of the 
stationary base, on which the member is to be secured; and 
an elastic member including a second plate portion extending parallel to 
the surface of the first plate portion of the bracket, and an engaging 
portion which is provided at one end of the second plate portion thereof 
and which engages the end of the first plate portion of said bracket so as 
to form a space, in which the member is inserted to be fixed, between the 
inner surface of the bending portion of the bracket and the plate portion 
of the elastic member. 
The bracket is preferably provided with at least one rib at the verge 
thereof in order to reinforce the bracket. The first and second plate 
portions are secured to the stationary base by means of a bolt. The 
bending portion may have an essentially U-shaped section so as to form the 
space. The member has an essentially rectangular section. In this case, 
the bracket is preferably provided with a projecting portion at an 
opposing end to the engaging portion so that the projecting portion 
extends essentially perpendicular to the second plate portion to form the 
space. The member may be a guide rail, on which a sliding block can be 
slid. In this case, the tip of the projecting portion is preferably 
located at a predetermined distance from the tip of the bending portion so 
as to allow the sliding block to slide on the guide rail. The guide rail 
may be secured to the stationary base by means of a plurality of mounting 
assemblies. The mounting assembly may mount a guide rail for a seat belt 
system, such as a passive seat belt system, on a vehicle body. 
According to another aspect of the present invention, the process for 
mounting a member on a stationary base comprises the steps of: 
preparing a mounting assembly including a rigid bracket, which has a 
bending portion and a first plate portion, and an elastic member, which 
has a second plate portion and and engaging portion, each of the first and 
second plate portions being provided with an opening in which a bolt is 
inserted; 
engaging the tip of the first plate portion with the engaging portion so 
that opening of the first plate portion corresponds to that of the second 
plate portion; 
inserting the member into a space between the inner surface of the bending 
portion and the second plate portion of the elastic member so as to bring 
the outer surface of the member into contact with the inner surface of the 
bending portion and the second plate portion; and 
engaging the bolt with the opening to secure the mounting assembly to the 
stationary base. 
The bracket is preferably provided with at least one rib at the verge 
thereof so as to reinforce the bracket. The member may have an essentially 
rectangular section. In this case, the bracket may be provided with a 
projecting portion at opposing end to the engaging portion, the projecting 
portion extending essentially perpendicular to the second plate portion, 
so as to form the space. The member may also be a guide rail, on which a 
sliding block is slid. In this case, the tip of the projecting portion is 
preferably apart from the tip of the bending portion at a predetermined 
distance so as to allow the sliding block to slide on the guide rail. The 
first and second plate portions may be secured to the stationary base by 
means of a bolt. The guide rail may be secured to the stationary base by 
means of a plurality of mounting assemblies. The guide rail may be used in 
a seat belt system, such as a passive seat belt system.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawings, particularly to FIG. 1, a seat belt system, 
in which amounting assembly of the present invention is used, is described 
below. 
As shown in FIG. 1, a guide rail 12, which is, for example, made of an 
aluminum, on the roof side rail of a vehicle body 10. The guide rail 12 
has the front end located adjacent a front pillar 14 and the rear end 
terminating adjacent a center pillar 16 of the vehicle body 10. The guide 
rail 12 is secured to the vehicle body 10 by means of a plurality of 
mounting assemblies 20. A sliding block 22 can slidably engage the guide 
rail 12. The sliding block 22 slides along the guide rail 12 between the 
front and rear ends of the guide rail 12. The sliding block 22 is 
connected to one end of a seat belt 24 to carry the one end thereof. The 
other end of the seat belt 24 is connected to a retractor 30 which is 
fixedly secured to the side of a seat 32 near the longitudinal center of 
the vehicle body 10. The seat belt 24 may be wound onto the retractor 30 
in per se well known manner. The sliding block 22 is also secured to one 
end of an actuation wire 26, for example, a spiral wire. The actuation 
wire 26 is movable along the guide rail 12. The other end of the actuation 
wire 26 is drivingly cooperated with a drive motor not shown. Various 
driving mechanism may be taken for drivingly coupling the actuation wire 
26 to the drive motor. For example, the portion of the actuation wire 26 
may be disigned to mesh with a drive pinion or gear to be driven in axial 
direction of the actuation wire 26. Therefore, one end of the seat belt 24 
can move along the guide rail with the sliding block 22 when the actuation 
wire 26 is driven by the drive motor. When the vehicular door opens, the 
sliding block 22 is positioned at the front end of the guide rail 12. At 
this sliding block position, the seat belt 24 is held away from the 
corresponding seat to allow a passager to get in and out of the vehicle 
cabin. On the other hand, when the door is closed, the sliding block 22 is 
held at the rear end of the guide rail 12. At this position, the seat belt 
24 is held to be fitted on a vehicular seat occupant. In addition, a latch 
means 28 is provided at the rear end of the guide rail 12. When the 
sliding block 22 arrives at the rear end of the guide rail 12, the sliding 
block 22 engages the latch means 28 to be fixed at the rear end of the 
guide rail 12. 
In this system, when the occupant opens the door 34 of the vehicle body 10, 
the sliding block 22 is moved toward the front end of the guide rail 12 by 
means of the drive motor so that the occupant can easily get in the 
vehicle to sit down on the seat 32. When the sliding block 22 arrives at 
the front end of the guide rail 12, electrical current is supplied to the 
drive motor, so that the sliding block is stopped. In this state, when the 
occupant gets in the vehicle and closes the door, the sliding block 22 
begins to move toward the rear end of the guide rail 12. When the sliding 
block 22 arrives at the rear end of the guide rail 12, the electrical 
current supplied to the drive motor is cut off, so that the sliding block 
22 is stopped. At this position, the sliding block 22 engages the latch 
means 28 to be fixed, so that the occupant can be restricted by means of 
the seat belt 24. 
FIG. 2 shows the preferred embodiment of a guide rail mounting assembly 
according to the present invention. The mounting assembly 20 comprises a 
bracket 34 and an elastic member 36. The bracket 34 is made of spring 
steel and comprises a plate portion 34a and a shaped or bent portion 34b 
which covers the upper surface 12a, the side surface 12b and a part of the 
lower surface 12c of the guide rail 12. In addition, the bracket 34 is 
provided with a pair of ribs 38 on both verges thereof in order to 
reinforce or strengthen the bracket 34. The elastic member 36 comprises a 
plate portion 36a, an engaging portion 36b which engages the upper end of 
the plate portion 34a of the bracket 34, and a projecting portion 36c 
which covers a part of the lower surface 12c of the guide rail 12. The 
upper surface 12a, the side surfaces 12b and 12d and a part of the lower 
surface 12c of the guide rail 12 are covered with the bracket 34 and the 
elastic member 36. The bracket 34 and the elastic member 36 are mounted on 
a side roof rail 40 of the vehicle body 10 by means of a bolt 42, which 
passes through an opening formed in the plate portion 34a of the bracket 
34 and the plate portion 36a of the elastic member 36, so that the plate 
portion 36a of the elastic member 36 comes into contact with an inner 
panel 40a of the side roof rail 40. 
The installation of the guide rail is described bellow. 
The previously mentioned engagement between the engaging portion 36b of the 
elastic member 36 and the upper end of the plate portion 34a of the 
bracket 34 is performed so that they are fixed to each other. Next, the 
elastic member is bent as expressed by the phantom line in FIG. 3 so that 
the distance between the lower ends of the bracket 34 and the elastic 
member 36 is increased in order to insert the guide rail 12 into a space 
between the bracket 34 and the elastic member 36. After the guide rail 12 
is inserted into the space to engage the bracket 34, the elastic member 36 
is moved toward the bracket 34 due to the elastic force of the elastic 
member 36. Similar to the operation, the guide rail 12 is inserted into 
the spaces of a plurality of mounting assembles 20. Thereafter, the plate 
portion 34a of the bracket 34 and the plate portion 36a of the elastic 
members 36 are fixed to the side roof rail 40 by means of a bolt 42. After 
the mounting assembly 20 is fixed to the side roof rail 40, the 
displacement of the elastic member 36 can not be performed since the 
elastic member 36 is fixed between the side roof rail 40 and the bracket 
34. In addition, the guide rail 12 can be firmly fixed to the vehicle body 
10 so as not to be able to move since the rigidity of the bracket 34 is 
high.