Patent Abstract:
A vehicle restraint adjuster has a guide and a support for a vehicle restraint. The support is moveable along the guide. A securing member is provided to secure the guide to a vehicle body. The securing member is selectively actuable between a first position interfering with movement of the support past a predetermined point on the guide and a second position permitting movement of the support through the predetermined point.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     This invention relates to an adjustable turning loop for a vehicle restraint system.  
         [0002]     A safety belt for a vehicle restraint may include a shoulder belt that secures the upper body of a passenger to his seat in the event of an accident. The shoulder belt is supported above the shoulder of a seated passenger by a loop, commonly known as a web guide or D-ring. To accommodate varying shoulder heights of potential passengers, vehicle manufacturers may use an adjustable turning loop that permits the shoulder belt to be supported at different heights.  
         [0003]     The adjustable turning loop may comprise a rail mounted to the B-pillar of a vehicle by bolts as well as a slide that acts as a carrier for the adjustable turning loop on the rail. The adjustable turning loop is raised or lowered by moving the slide up or down on the rail. To facilitate assembly of the adjustable turning loop into the vehicle, vehicle manufacturers may require the slide to be shipped already assembled on the rail. While the rail may have its bottom closed to prevent the slide from passing out this end, the other end of the rail is often left open to permit the vehicle manufacturer to later install cosmetic fittings to the assembly. Consequently, during shipping, the slide may slip out of the open end of the rail, requiring the vehicle manufacturer to reinstall the slide on the rail.  
         [0004]     Manufacturers of adjustable turning loops have overcome this problem by placing cardboard inserts into the rail to secure the slide. However, inserting and subsequently removing this additional packaging is time consuming. This packaging thereby adds cost to the assembly  
         [0005]     Alternatively, some manufacturers have added stops to the open end. A pop rivet or other hard stop is added during the manufacturing process. This pop rivet or stop must be subsequently removed to install the cosmetic fittings. This additional operation also adds cost to the final assembly.  
         [0006]     A need therefore exists for an adjustable turning loop assembly that retains the slide within the rail without additional cost and effort.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The invention comprises a vehicle restraint adjuster, such as an adjustable turning loop assembly. The adjustable turning loop assembly has a rail and a slide like other assemblies. In addition, a securing member, such as a bolt, secures the rail to a vehicle body. In contrast to existing assemblies, however, the inventive assembly uses the bolt as a stop.  
         [0008]     The bolt has one position preventing movement of the slide past the bolt and another position permitting movement of the slide past the bolt. The inventive assembly is shipped to the manufacturer with the bolt in a position to prevent the slide from passing out of open end of the rail. When the assembly is received by the manufacturer, the bolt is pushed into the second position to allow the slide to travel over the bolt. In this way, the slide may be retained within the rail by using existing components and then quickly assembled into the vehicle without having to remove any packaging.  
         [0009]     A unique feature of the assembly controls the position of the bolt on the rail. This control member has a first condition that maintains the bolt in an obstructing position and also has a second condition that permits the bolt to move to a non-obstructing position. The control feature may be part of a track surface of the rail. Accordingly, the control feature maintains the bolt above the track surface in the first condition and allows the bolt to pass beneath the track surface in the second condition. The control feature may control the position of the bolt within a hole of the track surface. The hole may have a shoulder to support the bolt in the non-obstructing position. The control member may support the bolt above the shoulder in the obstructing condition and then allow the bolt to rest on the shoulder in the non-obstructing position.  
         [0010]     The invention also includes a method of manufacturing an adjustable turning loop. A slide is supported on a rail to move along a path of the rail. A bolt is inserted into a hole of the rail. The bolt is then selectively supported between a first position in the hole, which blocks the slide along the path of the rail and a second position in the hole, which unblocks the slide along the path. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]     The various features and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the currently preferred embodiment. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows:  
         [0012]      FIG. 1  illustrates the inventive vehicle restraint adjuster.  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  illustrates a securing member of the inventive vehicle restraint adjuster in a blocking position.  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  illustrates the securing member of  FIG. 2  in an unblocked position.  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the securing member of  FIG. 2 , highlighting control member for selectively controlling the position of the securing member.  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  illustrates an overhead view of the control member of  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0017]      FIG. 1  illustrates vehicle restraint adjuster  10 . As shown, vehicle restraint adjuster  10  comprises guide  14 , a rail, which slideably receives slide  18 , a support for a vehicle restraint such as a web guide for a safety belt. Web guide  19  is shown by dashed lines. Here, vehicle restraint adjuster  10  is shown schematically mounted to vehicle body  26 , such as a B-pillar of an automobile. Vehicle restraint adjuster  10  is mounted to vehicle body  26  by securing members  22 ,  23 , here bolts.  
         [0018]     As known, by actuation of support actuator  20 , slide  18  may move along path  24  of guide  14 . Path  24  is shown here horizontally for illustration purposes only. In a vehicle, path  24  is generally vertical. Slide  18  slides on track surface  54  of track  56 . Track  56  may be a plastic insert attached to guide  14 , which has a coefficient of friction lower than guide  14 . Track  56  is installed between slide  18  and guide  14 . Movement of slide  18  allows for adjustment of, say, the height of web guide  19 , which is mounted to support  18 . These features of vehicle restraint adjuster  10  are well known.  
         [0019]     Typically, vehicle restraint adjuster  10  has end portion  66  and end portion  70 . End portion  66  is open. Without a stop, slide  18  may travel along path  24  past end portion  66 . End portion  70  is typically provided with stop  74 , which prevents slide  18  from sliding out of end portion  70 . During shipment, slide  18  may become disassembled from vehicle restraint adjuster  10  by passing out of end portion  66 . In the past, manufacturers have prevented this disassembly by placing a hard stop, such as a pop rivet, at end portion  66 . Such a metal rivet requires labor to install as well as additional time to remove. Manufacturers prefer to keep end portion  66  open so as to allow the later installation of cosmetic end fittings at end portion  66 .  
         [0020]     In contrast to other vehicle restraint adjusters, inventive vehicle restraint adjuster  10  has control feature  42  (shown in  FIG. 4 ), which permits securing member  22  near end portion  66  to have two positions.  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3  show securing member  22  in both positions. As shown in  FIG. 2 , for purposes of shipping vehicle restraint adjuster  10  to a vehicle manufacturer, securing member  22  is in first position  30 , which is raised above track surface  54 . Securing member  22  is raised sufficiently high enough to interfere and block movement of slide  18  on rail  14 . Because securing member  22  is raised above track surface  54 , securing member  22  acts as a stop for slide  18 , which rides on track surface  54 .  
         [0021]     Following shipment of vehicle restraint adjuster  10 , securing member  22  is pressed in the direction of arrow A so that securing member  22  is now beneath track surface  54 . In this way, securing member  22  serves as a stop for slide  18  during shipment only. Securing member  22  may then easily be pushed into second position  34  so as to no longer obstruct movement of slide  18  on guide  14  during normal operation.  
         [0022]      FIGS. 4 and 5  illustrates how control feature  42  controls the position of securing member  22  relative to track surface  54 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , control feature  42  comprises a finger having two conditions. First condition  46  supports securing member  22  in first position  30 , which obstructs movement of slide  18  past predetermined point  38 , the edge of securing member  22 . By pressing securing member  22  in the direction of arrow A, control feature  42  is deformed to second condition  50  (shown by dashed lines) in the direction of arrow B so as to permit securing member  22  to rest on shoulder  62  of track  56 . Securing member  22  is then no longer in a position to obstruct movement of slide  18  on track surface  54  as shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , three control features or fingers  42  may ring hole  58  so as to provide support to securing member  22  at three different points.  
         [0023]     The aforementioned description is exemplary rather that limiting. Many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. The preferred embodiments of this invention have been disclosed. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. Hence, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. For this reason the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1