Patent ID: 8109460

Claim:
A seatbelt apparatus of a vehicle comprising: a seatbelt; a belt reel on which the seatbelt is wound; a motor that rotatably drives the belt reel; a motor current detector that detects an amount of current being supplied to the motor; a rotational position sensor that detects a winding position of the belt reel; a controller that receives detected motor current signals from the motor current detector and belt reel winding position signals from the rotational position sensor and controls a current supplied to the motor in response thereto, said controller also being operable to calculate a winding speed based upon a change in the winding position signal from the rotational position sensor; wherein during winding of the seatbelt, the seatbelt is wound on the belt reel according to a first control mode until a first predetermined winding position is detected by the rotational position sensor, and then is wound according to a second control mode, and wherein in the first control mode, the controller monitors the current signals from the current sensor, and if the current supplied to the motor is smaller than a predetermined initial value, then the controller adjusts the current so as to be substantially equal to the predetermined initial value to wind the seatbelt on the belt reel at a variable speed, while if the current supplied to the motor is equal to or greater than the predetermined initial value, then the controller makes no adjustment to the current, and in the second control mode, the controller sets a target winding speed to be equal to a calculated winding speed based upon winding position signals detected by the rotational position sensor at the first predetermined winding position and adjusts the current supplied to the motor so as to wind the seatbelt on the belt reel at a generally constant speed that is substantially equal to the target winding speed.