DEVICE FOR VEHICLE SAFETY BELTS

Abstract: A device for vehicle safety belts of the roller-type, comprising a belt strap (7), one end (10) of which being connected to a lower mounting point (1), the other end (12) running from an upper mounting point (2), e.g. a guide buckle (13). The part of the belt strap extending between said mounting points is arranged to be connected to a connecting device (6) on the side of the vehicle seat opposite to that of the mounting points. The lower mounting point being constructed as an extended bracket (15) allowing for movement of one end of the belt strap and in operating position absorbing forces created in abnormal variations of vehicle velocity and acting on the safety belt. A stop (21) arranged to discontinue the pulling-in of the belt strap (7) after disconnection of the belt and in such a position that one end (11) of the belt strap at the lower mounting point (1) is then released from the pull-in force of the reeling device (14). This will allow the movement of the belt strap from the operating position to the moved side position by the effect of some force other than the pull-in force, e.g. the force of gravitation.

Description: DEVICE FOR VEHICLE SAFETY BELTS This invention refers to a. device for vehicle safety belts according to the introduction to the sub- sequent claim 1. For certain vehicle types, such as vehicles where access to a rear seat is through a front door, a con¬ flict develops between the requirement of a correct force geometry for the safety belt in the operating position and the desire for the belt to be completely able to be moved aside to allow access to the rear seat. • Previously, attempts were made to solve this problem by anchoring the belt strap in a pivoted arm able to be reset between a forward and a backward folded posi- tion. However, certain difficulties have been associated with the resetting of the arm, e.g. when parking on steep inclines. The introduction of a pivoted arm. also meant problems of absorbing loads in the pivot axle, as lateral forces are produced during high belt loads. By means of a device shown in the Swedish Patent Application No. 7709451-4 attempts have been made to solve the earlier problems referred to above. This solution is based on the fact that the lower mounting point on the door side is constructed as an extended bar along which one end of the belt " strap is movable. The resetting of the belt strap from the operating position to the moved aside position is done by means of the pull-in force of the reeling device, this force being based on a certain geometry in such a way that the belt strap pull-in force forms a component force striving to move the end of the belt strap along the rod to a moved aside position. However, it has been sfrown that, after a period of use, this component force will not be sufficient to return the belt strap due to th-e rod friction, e.g. by dirt accumulation on the rod. The- purpose of the present invention is to arrive at a device by means of . which the problems indicated above are avoided. This purpose is achieved by means of .a device in accordance with the present invention the characteris¬ tics of which appear from the subsequent claim 1. The invention will be described below, with refer¬ ences made to the appended drawings of which FIG 1 shows ' a safety belt according to the inven- tion in the operating position, FIG 2 shows the safety belt in. the moved aside position, FIG 3 shows in an enlarged scale part of the safety belt in the operating position as well as in an intermediate position following the disconnection of the safety belt, FIG 4 shows a corresponding view of part of the safety belt in the moved aside position, and FIG 5 shows in an enlarged scale and from the side part of the safety belt at its upper mounting point, A safety belt according to the invention, therefore, is .intended for vehicles where access to the rear seat is through the front door openings. FIGS 1 and 2 show by means of dot and dash lines the interior of such a vehicle while the safety belt is shown drawn in unbroken lines. This safety belt is a so called three-point belt having two mounting positions on the door side of the vehicle, i.e. a lower mounting point 1 and an upper mounting point 2 as well as a third mounting point 3 low down on the opposite side of vehicle seat 4 designed to support the wearer of the belt 5. At the third mount¬ ing point the belt is anchored by means of a device 6, divided into a gripping and locking first connection component 30 and a second connecting component 8 locking into the component mentioned. Between mounting points OM ' & ■ >.. WIP 1 and 2 and the connecting device 6 runs a belt strap 7 divided into a hip strap 9 and a chest strap 10. ' The hip strap 9 stretches from the lower mounting point 1 on the door side and the connecting device 6, while the chest strap runs from an upper mounting point 2 and the connecting device 6. Both the hip strap 9 and the chest strap 10 are fixed to the second connecting part 8 which, therefore, is detachable from the connect¬ ing part 30 and, it follows, from the mounting point 3. This is the functional run of the belt strap 7 while, in practice, it is constructed as a single, integral • strap to be redirected in a way known as such at the connecting part 8 consisting of a so called locking tongue. The belt strap 7 has a lower end 10 by means of which the belt is anchored to the mounting point 1 and an upper end 12 by means of which it is anchored to the mounting point 2. The upper mounting point 2 in the example shown consists of a guide buckle 13 where the belt strap is redirected to run to a reeling device 14. The expression "belt strap end" thus means functionally that part of the belt. strap utilized on each occasion, and to be found at the guide buckle. The reeling device 14 is thus arranged to pull in and to release, respect¬ ively, the belt strap in order to adapt it to the size of the wearer and the position of the vehi c e ^^ seat 4 and in order to allow resetting of the safety belt be¬ tween the moved aside position and the operating posi¬ tion. The reeling device 14 has a detent mechanism known as such which is arranged under certain circumstances to arrest the belt strap 7 in order to prevent its un¬ rolling, e.g. at abnormal vehicle velocity variations and excessive strap acceleration, i.e. too great an acceleration in the unrolling ' movement of the reeling e ice. The lower mounting point for belt strap 7 consists -g\JRE^_ OMPI l °o of an extended bracket .15 positioned basically in the longitudinal vehicle direction and consisting of a rod, a plastic covered length of . wire rope or similar anchored at both ends to the inside of .the vehicle side panel 17 by means of two screws -16 or similar in such a way that the bracket 15 runs at a distance from this inside panel allowing a space to be formed between bracket 15 and. the panel. In addition, the bracket is positioned below the vehicle door opening 18, partially extending in front of the rear edge 19 of the door opening and partially behind the rear edge 19. At the front end of • the bracket 15 an end stop is formed, for instance, by the screw 16 or by a sleeve surrounding the lower end 11 of the belt strap 7. This end is designed to move along bracket .15 between a forward end position shown in FIG 1 a-nd forming the belt operating position and a rear end position being the moved aside position of the safety belt and shown in FIGS 2 and 4. In the example shown the lower strap end 11 is constructed as an eye fitted round bracket 15 and formed by sewing together by means of seams 20 parts of the belt straps positioned against one another. The eye may be reinforced In the operating position of the safety belt, with the lower end 11 of the safety belt in its forward posi- tion, the safety belt displays its correct geometry, with the lower mounting point correctly positioned from the point of view of load, i.e. in order to produce a correct force geometry to retain the wearer of the belt 5 securely and with minimum injuries at abnormal vehicle velocities, such as in a collision. In order to facilitate access to the rear seat of the vehicle through the door opening 18 the safety belt is able to be-moved aside to a stored position taken up in conditions of release, i.e. when the safety belt is not used. The belt strap 7 is then pulled in as far as possible by means of .the reeling device 14 so that basically the hip strap- part 9 of the belt runs along the inside of the vehicle from the upper mounting pόa t 2 to the lower mounting point 1, or more exactly, basi- cally straight down along, and in the example shown slightly inside, the rear edge 19 of the door opening 18. This is made possible by the fact that the lower end 11 of the belt strap 7 is arranged to be movable along the bracket 15 to a rear position shown in FIGS 2 and 4. This is achieved according to the invention by the sa.fety belt having a stop 21 arranged to discontinue the pulling in of the safety belt by means of the reel¬ ing device 14 in such a position that, after releasing the locking tongue 8 from the connecting component 30 and pulling in the locking tongue towards the upper mounting point 2, . i.e. the guide buckle 13, the pull-in force applied to the belt strap by the reeling device will no longer affect the belt strap 7 at the lower mounting point 1. In the example shown the stop 21 consists of a thickened member fixed to the belt strap 7 in an accurately determined position and adjusted so as not to be able to pass through the locking tongue 8 and, hence, not through the guide buck-le 13. This can best be seen from FIG 5. The stop may, for instance, consist of a plastic member stretching across the strap and hav ng a thickness exceeding the thickness of one of the slots 22 in the locking tongue 8. In the example shown the belt strap is redirected in the locking tongue by two slots 22 and 23 and in the guide buckle by a slot 24, the belt strap being arranged to run compara¬ tively freely through all three slots while being pulled in by the reeling device 14, the locking tongue being brought along to the position shown in FIG 5 after which the belt strap continues to run through the slots until its stop 21 contacts the locking tongue which is held against the guide buckle 13. by the pull-in force of the belt strap. By means of .a s ' crew ' 25 and washer 26 the guide buckle 13 is anchored to the inside of the vehicle side panel 27. By means of a suitably adjusted clearance the guide buckle 13 will obtain a pivoted bearing in relation to the screw 25 enabling the guide buckle to adopt a position adjusted to the direction of the belt strap. FIG 3 shows the belt strap 7 drawn in dot and dash lines in the operating position, the lower end 11 of the belt strap being held at the front end of the bracket. When the wearer of the belt releases the lock¬ ing tongue 8 from the connecting component 30 the belt strap 7 will be pulled in by means of the reeling device as described above, the lower end 11 of the belt strap initially remaining at the front end of the bracket 15, i.e. in the position drawn in unbroken lines in FIG 3, and the pulling in movement continues until the stop 21 discontinues it by contacting the locking tongue 8 at the guide buckle 13. This position is so adjusted that the hip strap part 9 just becomes stretched in the position shown causing the lower end of the belt strap to become released from the pull-in force of the reel- ing device 14. Thus, this pull-in force is not applied to the bracket 15 in the unlocked position of the belt strap and the inside of the eye of the belt strap at most being in slight contact with the bracket 15. This allows the lower end 11 of the belt strap to fall ' from its sloping position shown in FIG 3 to the position shown in FIG 4 through the gravitational force. This is made possible because the eye 11 is at such a height that the bracket 15 will not come into appreciable con¬ tact with the inside of the upper part of the eye. Dur- ing the resetting movement of .the belt strap 7 in the intermediate position shown in FIG 3 immediately after the stop contacting the ' up.per mounting point 1 the strap will execute a pivoting movement, with -the mounting screw 25 of the guide buckle 13 as the pivot axle. The stop is then so positioned that the pulling in movement is dis¬ continued before, or at the latest when the reeling ά e - vice tries to pull in the- strap to a distance shorther than the distance 'a' between the pivot axle mentioned and the inner surface of the eye. Thus, in the example shown the distance, from the stop 21 to the surface of the eye active during load absorption should equal or exceed the distance from the stop to the surface of the bracket 15 active for load absorption in the operating position. The height of the eye must be not less than the sum of the thickness of the bracket 15 and the level reduction 'b' to which the inside of the forward point¬ ing edge of the eye may be exposed. This presupposes that the bracket 15 runs basically horizontally. When entering in other vehicle positions the belt strap may easily be moved aside manually. Locking the safety belt in the operating position is done in the conventional manner by gripping the .lock¬ ing tongue 8 with the hand and bringing it together with the other connecting component 30 causing both components to lock together. As the distance 'a' created in the moved aside position is normally less than the length of the hip strap 9 required a movement of the lower end ' 11 of the belt strap along the bracket 15 to the operat¬ ing position takes place automatically, the required strap length being made to run through the slots 22 and 23 in the locking tongue. The lower strap end 11 , there¬ fore, is held in the operating position by the effect of the pull-in force of the reeling device 14 in normal use while, under conditions of abnormal velocity varia- tions, the detent device in the reeling device is acti- ' OMPI ^ WIPO . . vated and the wearer of .the belt restrained due to the fact that the load, acting on the .belt strap is absorbed at all three mounting points 1, 2 and 3 as well as in the reeling device. 5 The basic principle of . the present invention is that the resetting of the safety belt to the moved aside position is made possible by the discontinuation at a preset point of the reeling action by means of a stop so that the lower end.11 of the belt strap is released 0 from the pull-in force and thus allowed to pivot to a moved, aside position by the effect of some other force, ■ such as the force of gravitation. It is also .essential- that the lower strap end 11 is designed to allow this movement without hindrance. 5 ' _ The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings but may be varied in a number of ways within the scope of the claims. For instance, the stop may be arranged differ¬ ently. It may consist of a member stopping the pulling Q in movement by contact against the reeling device 14. The reeling device itself may then be fitted with a member- stopping the reeling action at a predetermined point. It is- also possible for the return of the belt strap to the moved aside position to be effected by 5 means of some auxiliary power in the form of spring power, e.g. a helical spring, rubber band, elastic or similar. It is also possible for the lower end of the belt strap to be constructed as a runner bearing movab- ly on the bracket 15, the runner, for instance, being 0 constructed with a weight and the bracket 15 being mounted sloping to enable the weight to move along the bracket under the effect of the force of gravitation. OMP

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A device for vehicle safety belts comprising a belt strap (7). one end (10)- of which is connected to a lower mounting- point (1) next to the lower part of a seat (4) intended to carry the person (5) who is to use . the belt and the other end of which (12) runs from an upper mounting point (2) next to the upper part of the vehicle seat, e.g. a guide buckle (13), said other end being arranged to be pulled in automatically by means of. a reeling device (14) when released, with the part of the belt strap running between the mounting points arranged to.be connected to a connecting device (β) on the side of the vehicle seat opposite to that of the mounting points, one end of the belt strap being movable at the lower mounting point between a forward position, as seen in the normal travel direction of the vehicle, the operating position in which the belt strap is designed to be connected to the connecting device and a rear moved aside position for the unconnected and pulled in belt strap, the lower mounting point being constructed as an extended bracket (15) arranged to allow for the movement mentioned of one end of the belt strap and, in ' the operating position, arranged to absorb the forces being created in conditions of abnormal variations of vehicle velocity and acting on the safety belt, c h a r a c t e r i z e d ' by the device being fitted with a stop (21) arranged to discontinue the pulling in of the belt strap (7) after the disconnection of the belt and in such a position that one end (11) of the belt strap at the lower mounting point (1) is then re- leased from the pull-in force of the reeling device (14) for the purpose of allowing the movement mentioned of the belt strap from the operating, position to the moved aside position to be performed by the effect of some force other than the pull-in force, e.g. the force of gravitat on. 2. A device according to claim ^ c h a r a c ¬ t e i z e by one end (11) of the belt strap having an eye encompassing the. bracket- (15) and dimensioned so as to be allowed to effect a movement along the line of ' a circular arc during the movement of the belt strap from the operating position to the moved aside position. 3. A device according to claim 2, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d by the height of the eye being not less than equal to the sum of the level variation (b) in rela- tion to the bracket (15) which the eye is exposed to during the movement mentioned and the thickness of the bracket (c). 4. A device according to claim 3, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d by the stop (21) being positioned on the belt strap (7) and arranged to discontinue the pulling in movement by contact against a contact face at the upper mounting position (2) possibly with the locking tongue (8) in an intermediate position, the stop being so positioned that, in the contact position, the distance from the stop to the eye surface designed to absorb loads equals or slightly exceeds the distance from the stop to the surface of the bracket (15) designed to absorb loads.

Inventors: SYLVEN H
Applicants: STIL IND AB, SYLVEN H
Application year: 1981
Main classification: A62B35
IPC codes: A62B35, B60R21, B60R22