Chairs and seats – Body or occupant restraint or confinement – Safety belt or harness; e.g. – lap belt or shoulder harness
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-25
2001-09-25
Nelson, Jr., Milton (Department: 3624)
Chairs and seats
Body or occupant restraint or confinement
Safety belt or harness; e.g., lap belt or shoulder harness
Reexamination Certificate
active
06293626
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for protecting an occupant in a motor vehicle during a collision, more particularly, the invention relates to a tongue of an inflatable belt device and to the inflatable belt device itself.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inflatable belt device of this type is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication HO5-85301. As shown in FIGS.
11
(
a
) and
11
(
b
), the inflatable belt device
1
includes a shoulder belt
2
extending diagonally from the right side to the left side of an occupant, a lap belt
3
extending from the right side to the left side of the occupant, a buckle
4
fixed to, for example, a vehicle floor, a tongue
5
to be inserted into and engaged with the buckle
4
when the occupant wears the seat belt, and an intermediate guide
6
for guiding the shoulder belt
2
.
The shoulder belt
2
includes a webbing
2
a
, which is the same as a typical conventional seat belt, and an inflatable belt
2
b
connected to an end of the webbing
2
a
. The webbing
2
a
. is slidably hung in the intermediate guide
6
. The other end of the webbing
2
a
is connected to a seat belt retractor
7
, which has an emergency locking mechanism (ELR) and is fixed to the vehicle body. The webbing
2
a
is arranged so that it may be wound into the seat belt retractor
7
.
The inflatable belt
2
b
is positioned so that it contacts the occupant, and is connected to the tongue
5
at an end opposite to the end connected to the webbing
2
a
. The lap belt
3
includes a webbing, which is the same as a typical conventional seat belt, having one end connected to the tongue
5
and the other end connected to a seat belt retractor
8
(ELR), which is fixed to the vehicle body.
A gas generator
9
, which is actuated to generate high pressure gas in emergency situations, e.g., a collision, is connected to the buckle
4
. The tongue
5
and the buckle
4
have passages allowing gas from the gas generator
9
to flow into the inflatable belt
2
b.
The inflatable belt
2
b
of the shoulder belt
2
has a belt body
2
c
, which is formed in an envelope shape, and a cover
2
d
. As shown by the solid lines in FIG.
11
(
b
), the belt body
2
c
is folded and covered by the cover
2
d
. Both ends of the cover
2
d
are then connected, by stitching
2
e
, so that the inflatable belt
2
b
maintains a band-like shape during normal operation. The stitching
2
e
of the cover
2
d
is easily torn by expansion force of the shoulder belt
2
when the gas generator
9
is actuated so that the inflatable belt
2
b
is deployed as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.
11
(
b
).
The inflatable belt
2
b
, however, has a tent-like portion in the vicinity of the connection between the inflatable belt
2
b
and the tongue
5
. Similar to what is shown in
FIG. 7
, the tent-like portion spreads, that is, it gradually thickens in the proximity of the tongue. This tent-like portion has a flabby structure of which the inside is vacant and has a poor feeling when touched.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a general object of the invention to provide a tongue for an inflatable seat belt device, and an inflatable seat belt device, which will obviate or minimize the aforementioned difficulties.
It is a specific object of the invention to provide an inflatable seat belt device in which the inflatable belt assumes a flat band-like shape at the portion adjacent to the tongue.
It is another object of the invention to provide a tongue for an inflatable seat belt device that allows the inflatable seat belt to have a flat band-like shape in an area adjacent to the tongue.
A preferred embodiment of the invention intended to accomplish at least some of the foregoing objects includes a belt conforming member adapted to conform an end of the inflatable belt to the rear end surface of said tongue.
Another preferred embodiment includes a cover covering an outside of the tongue, wherein the belt conforming member includes a flange extending inward from the cover and formed integrally with the cover.
In yet another preferred embodiment, the tongue includes a groove provided along a corner portion between the belt conforming member and the cover.
In a further preferred embodiment, the belt conforming member includes at least one tear line extending outward from an inner periphery of said belt conforming member, such that the flange tears along the at least one tear line.
Additional objects and advantages will be set forth in the following description, and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practicing the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained through the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3801156 (1974-04-01), Granig
patent: 5383713 (1995-01-01), Kamiyama et al.
patent: 5466003 (1995-11-01), Tanaka et al.
patent: 5474326 (1995-12-01), Cho
patent: 5765869 (1998-06-01), Huber
Foley & Lardner
Jr. Milton Nelson
Takata Corporation
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