Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-08
2001-08-21
Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S805000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06276714
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inflatable belt and an inflatable belt device for protecting a vehicle occupant during a vehicle collision and, more particularly, to an inflatable belt which can be inflated with gas introduced from a gas inlet and an inflatable belt device having such an inflatable belt.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inflatable belt device of this type is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication H05-85301 and is shown in FIGS.
3
(
a
) and
3
(
b
). This passenger protective device
1
includes a shoulder belt
2
extending diagonally from the right side to the left side of a passenger, a lap belt
3
extending from the right side to the left side of the passenger, 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 passenger wears the 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 shoulder belt retractor
7
with an emergency locking mechanism (ELR), which is fixed to the vehicle body. The webbing
2
a
is arranged such that it is wound into the shoulder belt retractor
7
.
The inflatable belt
2
b
is positioned so that it contacts the passenger and is connected to the tongue
5
at an end opposite to the end connected to the webbing
2
a
. The lap belt
3
is composed of a webbing, which is the same as a typical conventional seat belt, having one end is connected to the tongue
5
and the other end connected to a lap belt retractor
8
(ELR), which is fixed to the vehicle body. A gas generator
9
is connected to the buckle
4
. The gas generator
9
is actuated in emergency situations, e.g., vehicle collisions, to generate high-pressure gas. The tongue
5
and the buckle
4
are each provided with passages for introducing gas from the gas generator
9
into the inflatable belt
2
b.
The inflatable belt
2
b
of the shoulder belt
2
includes a belt body
2
c
formed in an envelope-like shape and a cover
2
d.
The belt body
2
c
is folded, shown in solid lines in FIG.
3
(
b
), and then covered by the cover
2
d.
The ends of the cover
2
d
are then connected to each other by stitching
2
e
so that the inflatable belt
2
b
is maintained in a band-like configuration. The stitching
2
e
of the cover
2
d
is easily torn by the force of the shoulder belt
2
expanding when the gas generator
9
is actuated so that the inflatable belt
2
b
is deployed, shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.
3
(
b
).
The belt body
2
c
is made of, for example, rubber coated fabric and the cover
2
d
is made of a flexible knit with excellent stretchability.
FIGS.
4
(
a
) through
4
(
d
) are perspective views illustrating the manufacturing process of a conventional inflatable belt. Conventionally, two pieces of base fabrics
11
,
12
are first cut to correspond to the configuration of a belt body being manufactured. The base fabrics
11
,
12
are then superposed on each other (FIG.
4
(
a
)) and sewn together along their peripheries to make an envelope-like or elongated belt body
14
(FIG.
4
(
b
), numeral
13
designates stitching). After that, the belt body
14
is longitudinally folded into a band-like configuration (FIG.
4
(
c
)). Last, the belt body
14
is accommodated in a knit cover
15
(FIG.
4
(
d
)), thereby making the inflatable belt
16
.
The inside of the conventional inflatable belt is composed of only a single chamber. A gas inlet is provided only at one end side of the belt body, thus, the belt body is inflated from the one end side toward the other end side when gas is introduced from the gas generator. To ensure that a portion on the other end side is filled with the gas so that the belt body is inflated as a whole before the occupant bends over the inflatable belt, the gas generator must have a capacity that is large enough to generate a large amount of gas in a short period of time.
These difficulties or problems with the current alternatives are not intended to be exhaustive, but are many which tend to reduce the desirability of known seat belts. Other notable problems may exist; those presented above, however, should be sufficient to demonstrate that devices appearing in the past are amenable to worthwhile improvement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a general object of the invention to provide a method of manufacturing an inflatable belt that will obviate or minimize the above difficulties.
It is a specific object of the invention to provide an inflatable belt, and an inflatable belt device having such an inflatable belt, that can be inflated from one end side to the other end side within a sufficiently short period using a gas generator having a smaller capacity.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an inflatable belt and an inflatable belt device that enables the vicinity of the longitudinal middle of the belt to be quickly inflated without increasing the capacity of a gas generator.
A preferred embodiment of the invention intended to accomplish at least some of the foregoing objects includes a gas inlet at one end of the inflatable belt; a first chamber communicating with the gas inlet; and a second chamber separated from the first chamber, wherein, when a gas pressure inside the first chamber reaches a predetermined value, the first chamber and the second chamber fluidly communicate with each other.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the following description of the preferred embodiments and, in part, will be obvious from the description or through practicing the invention. The objects and advantages may be realized through the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3146460 (1964-09-01), Henderson
patent: 3430979 (1969-03-01), Terry et al.
patent: 3801156 (1974-04-01), Granig
patent: 3830519 (1974-08-01), Lewis
patent: 3888503 (1975-06-01), Hamilton
patent: 3900210 (1975-08-01), Lohr et al.
patent: 3933370 (1976-01-01), Abe et al.
patent: 3975037 (1976-08-01), Hontschik et al.
patent: 5456491 (1995-10-01), Chen et al.
patent: 5466003 (1995-11-01), Tanaka et al.
patent: 5833265 (1998-11-01), Seymour
patent: 5941564 (1999-08-01), Acker
patent: 2046426 (1972-03-01), None
patent: 3232946 (1984-03-01), None
patent: 0765780 (1997-04-01), None
patent: 5-85301 (1993-04-01), None
patent: 258239 (1998-10-01), None
patent: 11189117 (1999-07-01), None
patent: 11348721 (1999-12-01), None
patent: 11342827 (1999-12-01), None
Fischmann Bryan
Foley & Lardner
Johnson Brian L.
Takata Corporation
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