Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2002-11-01
2004-06-08
Dickson, Paul N. (Department: 3616)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C024S641000, C280S735000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06746048
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a buckle device for holding a webbing belt in a state in which the webbing belt restrains the body of a vehicle occupant, in a seat belt device of a vehicle.
2. Background Technology
The proximal end of a webbing belt, which forms a seat belt device for restraining the body of a vehicle occupant seated in a seat of avehicle, is anchored on the take-up shaft of a retractor provided, for example, at the side of the seat. In contrast, the distal end of the webbing belt is fixed to an anchor plate provided in a vicinity of the retractor.
Further, an intermediate portion of the webbing belt in the longitudinal direction thereof passes through an insert-through hole formed in a through-anchor above the retractor, e.g., at an upper end side of the center pillar of the vehicle, and is folded back downwardly.
The webbing belt between the portion folded over at the through-anchor and the other end passes through an insert-through hole of a tongue plate. Accordingly, due to the tongue plate being pulled, the webbing belt, which is taken-up on the take-up shaft of the retractor, is pulled out. In the state in which the webbing belt is pulled-out in this way, by connecting the tongue plate to a buckle device, which is provided at the side of the seat opposite the side at which the retractor is provided, the webbing belt is set in an applied state.
On the other hand, when an infant or a child who has not yet reached a given age rides in a vehicle, a so-called child seat must be attached to the vehicle, and the infant or child must ride in the child seat.
As a structure for attaching this type of child seat to the vehicle, there is a structure in which the child seat is placed on the seat, and which fixes the child seat by the webbing belt being engaged with and connected to the child seat and the tongue plate being connected to the buckle device as described above.
However, in vehicles of recent years, in addition to the above-described seat belt device, a so-called air bag device is mounted which, at the time when the vehicle rapidly decelerates, expands and unfolds a bag body at the front side of the vehicle occupant such that the vehicle occupant, who attempts to move toward the front of the vehicle due to the inertia at the time of the rapid deceleration of the vehicle, is caught by the bag body. In a vehicle in which this type of air bag device is mounted, when a child seat is attached onto the seat, it is preferable to make the air bag device, which corresponds to that seat, not operate.
As a mechanism for making the air bag device not operate when a child seat is attached, there is a method in which a load sensor is mounted to a vehicle seat, and which, on the basis of the load applied to the seat, judges whether a general vehicle occupant is seated on the seat or a child seat is attached, and which controls the air bag device on the basis of the results of judgement.
However, there is a great dispersion of body weights of vehicle occupants who sit on the seat. Thus, in a method which judges whether or not a child seat is attached on the basis of the load applied to the seat, it is difficult to set a threshold value which becomes the criterion for this judgement.
Further, a method has been thought of in which a device for detecting a child seat is provided separately at the vehicle, and which reliably detects and judges whether or not a child seat is mounted. However, it is difficult to newly provide a special device within the extremely limited space within the vehicle interior, and the costs of requiring a new vehicle design and the like increase. Thus, it is desirable to add a mechanism which can reliably detect whether a child seat is or is not attached, to an existing device or member such as the above-described buckle device or the like.
In view of the aforementioned, an object of the present invention is to provide a buckle device which enables various detections which are based on the pulling-out of the webbing belt, such as the attachment of a child seat or the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention recited in claim 1 is a buckle device holding a tongue plate mounted to an elongated, strip-shaped webbing belt which is taken-up and accommodated from a proximal end side toward an accommodating direction side which is opposite to a pull-out direction, by an accommodating urging force which increases and decreases in accordance with an amount by which the webbing belt is pulledout toward a pull-out direction side, said buckle device comprising: a device main body into which the tongue plate is inserted from a distal end side; a latch which is provided at the device main body so as to be movable so as to approach and move away from the tongue plate inserted in the device main body, and which, by moving to approach the tongue plate, mechanically engages with the tongue plate, and limits movement of the tongue plate in a separating direction which is opposite to an insertion direction into the device main body; an anchor member which is mounted to a predetermined position of a vehicle, and which supports the device main body such that the device main body is relatively movable in a predetermined range in the insertion direction and the separating direction; urging means for urging the device main body in the insertion direction with respect to the anchor member, by urging force which is greater than the accommodating urging force in a state in which the webbing belt is pulled out by a predetermined length; a force sensor which is mounted to one of the anchor member and the device main body, and which outputs a load detection signal which is based on pushing force applied from one of the insertion direction and the separating direction; and a pushing member applying pushing force to the force sensor in accordance with relative movement of the device main body in the separating direction with respect to the anchor member.
The present invention recited in claim 2 has the feature that, in the buckle device recited in claim 1, the force sensor has a strain gauge whose electrical resistance value varies in accordance with application of external force and cancellation of applied external force, and, on the basis of a change in the electrical resistance value, the force sensor detects one of that the pushing force is applied and that application of the pushing force is cancelled.
The present invention recited in claim 3 has the feature that, in the buckle device recited in claim 2, the force sensor has: a case accommodating a diaphragm to which the strain gauge is mounted; and a transfer rod whose proximal end contacts the diaphragm, and whose other end side projects from a hole formed in a side wall of the case, and which receives the pushing force at an exterior of the case, and the transfer rod, which has received the pushing force, one of pushes the strain gauge directly and pushes the strain gauge indirectly via the diaphragm.
The present invention recited in claim 4 has the feature that, in the buckle device recited in claim 3, the force sensor has a gel-like sealing means which is provided at an interior of the case and which seals the strain gauge at an interior.
The present invention recited in claim 5 has the feature that, in the buckle device recited in claim 4, a plate spring is the urging means and the pushing member, and the plate spring is structured so as to include: a mounting piece fixed to one of the anchor member and the device main body to which the force sensor is not mounted; and a plate portion formed integrally with the mounting piece and pressed into contact with the force sensor, and due to relative movement of the device main body in the separating direction with respect to the anchor member, pushing force which the plate portion applies to the force sensor increases.
The present invention recited in claim 6 has the feature that the buckle device recited in claim 5 further comprises a rivet which passes through a long ho
Hara Takayuki
Itoigawa Kouichi
Kanbe Masakata
Koide Teruhiko
Muraki Hitoshi
Dickson Paul N.
Fleming Faye M.
Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai-Rika-Denki-Seisakusho
Nixon & Peabody LLP
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