Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-28
2002-01-01
Culbreth, Eric (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S808000, C297S481000, C297S483000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06334628
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a seat belt system for use in a vehicle. More specifically, it is directed to a ceiling retractable seat belt system for use in a vehicle. Even more specifically, it is directed to a ceiling retractable seat belt system for use in a center seat of a motor vehicle.
2. Prior Art
In current seat belt systems, motor vehicles often use three passenger seats, in which a center passenger must be belted in as safely as an outside passenger. Normally, in a motor vehicle, a three point seat belt, among other things, is used to restrain a passenger in place in the event of an accident or other unusual motion of the motor vehicle. In most motor vehicles, an outside passenger, that is a passenger immediately adjacent the right or left hand side of the motor vehicle, will use a three point seat belt which is retracted into the side of the vehicle nearest that passenger. Most commonly in use today is a single latch member which slides along a loop of seat belt webbing which is anchored on one end at an upper portion of the vehicle (generally near the ceiling) and at the other end at a lower portion of the vehicle (generally near the floor). A retractor is positioned at one end of the loop. As the latch member is pulled across the passenger's body and buckled into the buckle, the lap belt stretches across the passengers lap or hips and the shoulder belt thus extends from the latch member up across the front torso of the passenger, between the passenger's shoulder and head, and into a retractor.
A problem occurs with the seat belt for the center passenger. The upper part of the seat belt loop will normally be anchored in the ceiling. However, in this case, the seat belt webbing will stretch down from the ceiling and be in the way, when not in use.
In vehicles such as a sport utility vehicle (SUV), a van or minivan, a station wagon, or any other type of vehicle, a second or third row of seats often have the ability to fold down to increase cargo capacity. In such a vehicle, the center passenger in a second or third row seat will usually retrieve his shoulder belt from a mounting position in the ceiling of the vehicle. In such arrangement, it is preferable to have the belt retracted into the ceiling in order to be out of the way when not in use, and to allow the seat to be conveniently folded away when so desired. Thus, in the past, it has been difficult to make a three point seat belt for the center passenger convenient to use.
For example, a conventional type of three point seat belt for passenger in a center seat is illustrated in FIGS.
1
(
a
)-
1
(
e
). Specifically, as seen in FIG.
1
(
a
), seat
11
includes a seat cushion
12
and a seat back
14
. The three point seat belt
15
includes lap belt
16
and shoulder belt
18
. Lap belt
16
is anchored on one end thereof at anchor
30
. The opposing end of the lap belt has a latch member
27
with tongue plate
26
. The lap belt is adjustable with respect to latch member
27
by pulling end strap
17
of the lap belt.
As also seen in FIGS.
1
(
b
)-
1
(
e
), the shoulder belt
18
is biased into a retracted state by a retractor (not shown) located above the ceiling of the vehicle, or in some other convenient place. A shoulder belt cover
32
provides an opening through which the shoulder belt
18
extends into the passenger compartment from the retractor (not shown). The hook plate
22
, connected to the end of should belt
18
is stowed in the shoulder belt cover
32
when not in use. When this three point seat belt is to be used, the shoulder belt
18
is pulled down from its stowed position by hook plate
22
. Hook plate
22
is then hooked into eye plate
28
of lap belt
16
. Eye plate
28
extends rearwardly from the main portion of latch member
27
of lap belt
16
. Once hook plate
22
is properly hooked into eye plate
28
, latch member
27
of lap belt
16
is then drawn across the body of the passenger (see FIG.
1
(
d
)) and tongue plate
26
is latched into buckle
24
which is anchored to the floor of the vehicle or some other appropriate place.
As shown in FIG.
1
(
e
), the end strap
17
of lap belt
16
is pulled away from the buckle
24
to provide tension on the lap belt
16
for a proper fit for the passenger. Tension is provided on shoulder belt
18
by the retractor (not shown). Thus, this prior art belt system enables the shoulder belt stowed in the ceiling. The lap belt is not retracted and thus causes clutter on the seat cushion when not in use. Furthermore, the use of this three point seat belt system includes at least pulling the shoulder belt
18
down from the cover
32
; latching hook plate
22
with eye plate
28
; pulling latch member
27
across the passenger's body; latching it into buckle
24
; and then tightening the lap belt by pulling on end strap
17
. This conventional system is cumbersome to put on and is thus less likely to be used by the passenger.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The instant invention is intended to overcome the inconvenience of use of the conventional three point seat belt described above. Specifically, a three point seat belt system is provided which is convenient to use and yet retracts into the ceiling when not in use.
A three point seat belt system in accordance with the instant invention is ideal for use with a center seat in a second, third or another row of seats in a motor vehicle. For the purposes of this discussion, a center seat is any seat that t is not immediately adjacent the side of the vehicle. For example, in a van with seats for four passengers, the two seats in the middle,would be considered to be center seats. Me three point seat belt system in accordance with the instant invention includes a seat belt webbing having a first end connected to a retractor secured to the body of the motor vehicle, a first buckle anchored to the vehicle and disposed on one sidle of a passenger, and a second buckle disposed on the opposite side of the passenger. A first latch member is connected to seat belt webbing, remote from the end, wherein the first latch member has a tongue plate engageable with the first buckle. A second latch member has a webbing loop, through which said seat belt webbing is threaded, is slidable along the seat belt webbing from the first latch member toward said retractor, and a second tongue plate engageable with the second buckle.
It is preferable that the first tongue plate of the f first latch member is engageable only with the first buckle and the second tongue plate is engageable only with the second buckle, since, in this three point seat belt system, the first tongue plate is first latched into the first buckle and then the second tongue plate is drawn across the passenger's body and latched into second buckle. It is thus preferable that the first and second tongue plates be different in shape so that there is no possibility of buckling the first tongue plate into the second buckle and the second tongue plate into the first buckle, thus causing an improper arrangement of the three point seat belt which would not properly protect the passenger.
It is an object of the instant invention that a ceiling retractable three point seat belt be convenient for a passenger to put on. According to the instant invention, the passenger simply pulls the first and second latch members from their respective stowed positions in the belt cover, and pulls the first latch member down and latches it into the first buckle. Next, the second latch member is pulled across the passenger's body (along with the seat belt webbing) and latches it into the second buckle. There is no need to do any further tightening of the belt as in the prior art, described above.
It is an object of the instant invention that the three point seat belt system be easily stowable when not in use. In accomplishing this, the seat belt webbing is retracted by a retractor into a belt cover positioned in the vehicle ceiling. In the belt cover, two slots are provided, one each for the first tongue pl
Lathrop Kathleen
Newball Albert
Armstrong Westerman Hattori McLeland & Naughton LLP
Culbreth Eric
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
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