Motor vehicles – With belt or harness for restraining occupant – and means...
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-09
2001-07-10
Swann, J. J. (Department: 3611)
Motor vehicles
With belt or harness for restraining occupant, and means...
C280S802000, C280S807000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06257363
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automotive passenger restraint and protection apparatus for automotive vehicles such as automobiles, which uses an electric retractor for retracting and protracting a seatbelt for protection of an occupant (driver or passenger).
2. Prior Art
An automotive passenger restraint and protection apparatus is conventionally known, which has an electric retractor which protracts and retracts a seatbelt. The electric retractor has driving means formed, e.g. of an electric motor (hereinafter referred to as “motor” or “DC motor”) for driving the electric retractor.
In the conventional automotive passenger restraint and protection apparatus of this type, fault diagnosis of the apparatus is carried out by pulling out or releasing a seatbelt by the occupant to ascertain whether the seatbelt can be actually protracted or retracted.
The above manner of fault diagnosis is unable to accurately detect faults in a DC motor for driving the electric retractor and its peripheral parts.
There have been proposed many other fault diagnosis methods for automotive passenger restraint and protection apparatuses.
One of these conventional methods is a method of detecting temperature in the vicinity of the motor by a temperature sensor or detecting current flowing to the motor by a current detecting circuit, and determining by an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) of the apparatus that there is is a fault in the apparatus when the detected temperature value or current value continuously exceeds a predetermined value over a predetermined time period. Upon determination that there is a fault in the apparatus, the MPU causes the motor to be stopped to prevent firing of the motor.
According to the above fault diagnosis method, however, if an abnormality occurs in a power transmission mechanism which transmits a driving force from the motor to a reel shaft which has the seatbelt wound thereon such that the power transmission cannot transmit the driving force and accordingly the motor runs idle, the temperature in the vicinity of the motor rises and the current flowing to the motor increases but not to such a degree that the MPU can determine that there is a fault or abnormality. Consequently, such a kind of abnormality cannot be detected by the conventional fault diagnosis method.
Further, if no countermeasure is taken to eliminate such an abnormality of the power transmission mechanism, the motor may have a shortened effective life.
On the other hand, if the motor for driving the electric retractor is continuously operated for a long time, the temperature of the motor rises and can exceed the withstand temperature so that the motor can become faulty.
The conventional automotive passenger restraint and protection apparatus, however, is not provided with a function of preventing such a kind of fault.
The conventional automotive passenger restraint and protection apparatuses include a type which has a function of carrying out a seatbelt slackening operation for giving a predetermined amount of looseness to the seatbelt if seatbelt attaching detecting means detects that the seatbelt has shifted from a state disconnected from the occupant to a state attached to the occupant, and carrying out a seatbelt storing operation for storing the seatbelt into a retracted position if the seatbelt attaching detecting means detects that the seatbelt has shifted from the attached state to the disconnected state.
Further, the conventional automotive passenger restraint and protection apparatuses include a type which has a function of carrying out a seatbelt slackening operation of retracting the seatbelt to a retraction limit position (hereinafter merely referred to as “limit” unless otherwise specified) if the seatbelt is protracted by the occupant in attaching the seatbelt to his body, and then protracting the seatbelt so as to give a predetermined amount of looseness to the seatbelt.
If, however, the seatbelt attaching detecting means becomes faulty such that it always determines that the seatbelt is disconnected from the occupant even when the seatbelt is attached to the occupant, the seatbelt slackening operation cannot be performed even when the seatbelt has been attached to the occupant, whereby a predetermined amount of looseness cannot be given to the seatbelt, failing to providing a comfortable seatbelt wearing feeling for the occupant. Further, even if the seatbelt has shifted to the disconnected state from the attached state with the seatbelt attaching detecting means being faulty, the seatbelt storing operation cannot be performed, so that the seatbelt is held in the disconnected or protracted state.
Conversely, if the seatbelt attaching detecting means becomes faulty such that it always determines that the seatbelt is attached to the occupant even when the seatbelt is disconnected from the occupant, the seatbelt slackening operation can be carried out while the seatbelt is in the stored state, failing to keep the seatbelt in a proper stored state. Further, in this state, if the seatbelt is attached to the occupant' body, a determination is made that the seatbelt has been protracted from a state attached to the occupant, so that the seatbelt slackening operation is carried out. However, if then the seatbelt is disconnected from the occupant, a determination is made that the seatbelt is attached to the occupant, so that the seatbelt storing operation cannot be performed, whereby the seatbelt is held in the protracted state.
Moreover, in the above type of automotive passenger restraint and protection apparatus, the seatbelt is always given a fixed amount of looseness irrespective of whether there is a fear of collision of the automotive vehicle. Therefore, the above function is not perfect to properly protect the occupant.
Further, in the conventional automotive passenger restraint and protection apparatus, the power consumption of the MPU is not contemplated. As a result, for example, the MPU operates so as to exhibit its full function even in the case where the full function of the MPU need not be exhibited.
On the other hand, an automotive passenger restraint and protection apparatus is conventionally known, which is provided with driving/traveling state detecting means which detects a collision danger state and a collision unavoidable state of the automotive vehicle, and a dozing state of the driver.
According to this type of automotive passenger restraint and protection apparatus, if the driving/traveling state detecting means detects the collision danger state of the automotive vehicle or the dozing state of the driver, protraction and retraction of the seatbelt are alternately carried out at irregular time intervals so as to alert the occupant or driver to the danger. Further, if the collision unavoidable state of the automotive vehicle is detected, the seatbelt is retracted with a predetermined magnitude of retracting force so as to properly protect the occupant upon a collision of the automotive vehicle.
In the conventional automotive passenger restraint and protection apparatus, however, once the ignition switch of the automotive vehicle is turned on, electric power is supplied from the power supply all the time thereafter, so that the electric power is consumed even when the driving/traveling state detecting means need not be operated.
Further, the electric retractor is constructed such that once disconnection of the seatbelt from the occupant is detected, it retracts the seatbelt into its fully retracted position.
Therefore, if the occupant once releases a tongue of the seatbelt from a buckle secured to the seat into a disconnected state and immediately then attaches the tongue of the seat to the buckle, he has to manually protract the seatbelt against the retracting force of the electric retractor. Thus, a large force is required for protracting the seatbelt, and therefore a weak occupant who has degraded physical ability such as an advanced-age occupant takes long to mount the seatbelt onto his body.
Further, an automotive pa
Kawai Osamu
Midorikawa Yukinori
Bottorff Christopher
Frishauf, Holtz Goodman, Langer & Chick, P.C.
NSK Ltd.
Swann J. J.
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