Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Patent
1985-10-09
1987-10-06
Love, John J.
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
B60R 2100
Patent
active
046978267
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention is related to a locking device for a band in a safety belt of a passive vehicle safety belt system. A passive vehicle safety belt system comprises a movable fastening means for the band in the safety belt; a guide rail for the movable fastening means attached to the car body; a power transmission means attached to the fastening means for moving the fastening means; and reversible motor means for driving the power transmission means for moving the fastening means backward and forward between a neutral position and a locking position on the guide rail. The locking device comprises a lock casing attached to the car body adjacent the guide rail at the locking position of the fastening means for keeping the fastening means. The purpose of a passive vehicle safety belt system is to automatically secure a person, e.g. the driver, who takes a seat in the car, before the car is started.
2. Background Art
Passive vehicle safety belt systems of the type set forth above are previously known, for example through U.S. Nos. 3,830,518, 4,256,331, 4,345,781 and 4,354,696.
An essential problem in the design of passive systems is the braking of the driving motor, normally an electric motor, used for moving the fastening means between the neutral position and the locking position, when the fastening means is moved into the lock casing and stopped in the casing. The fastening means is stopped very abruptly in the lock casing by striking a stop surface, and this causes a heavy shock load on the power transmission means and the reversible motor means due to the kinetic energy accumulated in the reversible motor means. This shock load can cause damage to the reversible motor means and the power transmission means leading to functional disorder and need of repair, and thus reducing the reliability of the system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The main object of the invention is to provide a passive vehicle safety seat belt system in which the locking of the fastening means in the lock casing can occur without exposing the reversible motor means and the power transmission means to any shock loads, so that the reliability is improved. According to the invention, the above object is basically obtained in that in a passive vehicle safety seat belt system of the type including a safety belt having at least one band, at least one movable fastening means for the band, a guide rail attached to a vehicle body for guiding each movable fastening means, a power transmission means for moving each movable fastening means along the guide rail, reversible motor means for driving the power transmission means for moving each fastening means forward and backward between a common neutral position and a respective locking position, and a respective lock casing for each fastening means which is attached to the vehicle body adjacent the guide rail at the respective locking position of the respective fastening means and into which the respective fastening means can be inserted and kept; each fastening means is adapted to be released from the power transmission means when inserted into its respective lock casing, and the power transmission means can continue its movement after the release of the last fastening means and the interruption of the power supply to the motor means, so that the kinetic energy accumulated in the reversible motor means can decay gradually during the continued movement of the power transmission means.
By the disconnection of the fastening means from the power transmission means when the fastening means is moved into the lock casing, the power transmission means can move on a bit, until the movement of the reversible motor means has decayed. The electric driving motor can then easily be stopped by means of a microswitch that is positioned in the lock casing and actuated by the fastening means when the fastening means is moved into the lock casing. The kinetic energy accumulated in the reversible motor means including possible gear changing devices, for example worm g
REFERENCES:
patent: 3830518 (1974-08-01), Silber
patent: 4070040 (1978-01-01), Igeta
patent: 4256331 (1981-03-01), Schwanz et al.
patent: 4345781 (1982-08-01), Suzuki et al.
patent: 4354696 (1982-10-01), Volk et al.
patent: 4521034 (1985-06-01), Takada
Autoliv Development Aktiebolag
Love John J.
Weaver Ross
LandOfFree
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