Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-05
2001-07-17
Dickson, Paul N. (Department: 3618)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C297S480000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06260884
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of seat belt restraining systems, and more specifically, to a device that is useful to grip a web belt of a three point belt restraining system in response to a load being applied to the web belt.
2. Background Art
A standard three point belt system includes a retractor, and a web belt having one end that is attached to and wound around a shaft of the retractor, and another end that is attached to a component of a vehicle, e.g. a seat, a floor, etc. The retractor and the web belt are designed to decelerate the forward acceleration of a restrained occupant in an attempt to impede any forward displacement of the restrained occupant. However, as a load is applied to the web belt by a forwardly accelerating restrained occupant, the retractor shaft will lock and a portion of the web belt will spool off of the locked retractor shaft. Concurrently, the web belt will begin to stretch over a substantial portion of its length. Presently, three point belt systems may further comprise or the retractor may further include a clamping device to reduce the amount of web spooling and/or web stretch in response to a load being applied to the web belt. Such clamping devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,281; U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,593; U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,623; U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,062; U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,343; U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,112; U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,540; U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,422; U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,873; U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,791; U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,253; U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,902; U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,769; U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,575; UK Patent No. 2 085 709; and UK Patent No. 2 167 643. While such prior clamping devices are an improvement over a standard three point belt system, there is still a need to further reduce the amount of web spooling and the amount of web stretch when a load is being applied to a web belt.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a D-loop web belt gripper that addresses the aforementioned drawbacks associated with a standard three point belt assembly. Various aspects of the present invention are novel, non-obvious, and provide various advantages. While the actual nature of the present invention described in detail herein can only be determined with reference to the claims appended hereto, certain features which are characteristic of the present invention disclosed herein can be described briefly.
In accordance with the present invention, a web belt gripper for installation in a vehicle including a belt restraining system having a web belt comprises a frame and a web belt gripping component. The frame is mountable to the vehicle and includes a base member. The web belt gripping component is spatially biased from the base member of the frame. A first portion of the web belt is disposable between the web belt gripping component and the base member of the frame. The web belt gripper further comprises a web belt actuating component. The web belt actuation component is movably adjoined to the frame, and adjoined to the web belt gripping component. A second portion of the web belt is arcuately disposable upon the web belt actuating component to form an arcuation in the second portion of the web belt. When a forcible tension is applied to the second portion of the web belt to unbend the arcuation, the web belt actuating component moves causing the web belt gripping component to be displaced in a direction of the base member of the frame.
It is an object of the present invention to minimize an increase in the length of a web belt that is under a significant load to thereby minimize the effect that web spooling has on the forward displacement of a restrained occupant.
A further object of the present invention is to sectionally limit a stretching of a web belt under a significant load to thereby minimize the effect that web stretching has on the forward displacement of a restrained occupant.
Related objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment.
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Bittner Douglas Wayne
Jessup Chris P.
Dickson Paul N.
Indiana Mills & Manufacturing Inc.
Woodard Emhardt Naughton Moriarty & McNett
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