Chairs and seats – Body or occupant restraint or confinement – Safety belt or harness; e.g. – lap belt or shoulder harness
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-24
2004-08-10
White, Rodney B (Department: 3636)
Chairs and seats
Body or occupant restraint or confinement
Safety belt or harness; e.g., lap belt or shoulder harness
C297S216100, C297S216120, C297S216130, C297S478000, C242S379100, C242S378400
Reexamination Certificate
active
06773075
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a four-point seat belt system for restraining a vehicle occupant in a vehicle seat.
It is known in the vehicle art to provide various types of seat belts or restraint systems for restraining an occupant in his or her seat and providing controlled deceleration of portions of the body to limit the forces applied to the occupant's body during rapid deceleration of a vehicle from a cause such as a collision. Various types of seat belts and restraint systems have been used in automobiles, trucks, and other vehicles and are commonly known today.
Known seat belt systems typically used in commercially available production vehicles are three-point restraint systems with a lap belt and a shoulder belt extending over one shoulder of the occupant and connecting with the lap belt. The lap belts are anchored at one end, to the seat or to the vehicle adjacent the seat. The shoulder belts are connected at one end to the vehicle and at the other end to the lap belt or lap belt buckle mechanism.
Four, Five, and Six-point restraint systems are among some of the seat belt and restraint systems that are particularly utilized in off-road type vehicles and other sport-type vehicles in order to provide additional restraint for occupants over two and three-point restraint systems. These seat belt systems tend to have multiple adjustable cinching mechanisms and are awkward and difficult to operate and properly position on an occupant.
A need exists today for improved four-point seat belt restraint systems for use in vehicles. A need particularly exists for four-point seat belt systems having proper belt alignment and routing during use and crash events, as well as controlled decelerations to limit the forces applied to the occupant's body during crash and load events regardless of the direction of the forces and loading.
A need also exists for a 4-point restraint that prevents “submarining” by shifting of the lap-belt portion of the belt system from the pelvis to the abdomen during a crash event or other means.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The present invention provides a four-point seat belt system mounted on a vehicle seat, which maintains proper belt alignment and routing for the four-point system during normal use and crash events, as well as properly reducing and distributing forces applied to the body of the occupant during rapid deceleration conditions. The mechanism includes separate spools for the shoulder belts connected to a common retractor mechanism. The mechanism is preferably located in the rear of the vehicle seat and enables the shoulder belts to act in unison during normal use and share common load limits for optimum and symmetric payout during crash events. A load limiting mechanism is provided in the retractor mechanism. The common retractor also eliminates redundant parts for potential weight, cost, and package space savings.
The lap belt includes a pair of straps, one extending from either side of the seat. A two-piece buckle latches the lap belt straps together. Each of the shoulder belts are attached to one-half of the buckle or latch mechanism so that the four-point seat belt system is completed when the lap belt buckle is fastened.
With the present invention, the shoulder and lap belts join at a central buckle located at the center of the occupant's lower abdominal region, in front of the pelvis. The load limiting of the shoulder belt is controlled through a single energy management system, which acts simultaneously on both of the shoulder belts.
With separate spools for the belts and a common retractor mechanism, the angle of the seat belts over the top of the vehicle seat, through guides in the head restraint, or through the seat back remains the same throughout the extension of the seat belts. The payout of the two spools remains in unison with a common retractor mechanism. This also allows the shoulder belt to share common load limits under all circumstances.
The present invention also limits the ability of an occupant from submarining, may be applicable to commercially available high-volume production vehicles, and is relatively easy to operate.
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Bedewi Paul George
Rouhana Stephen William
Ford Global Technologies LLC
Smith Gary A.
White Rodney B
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