Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-23
2001-06-26
Dickson, Paul N. (Department: 3618)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S808000, C297S483000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06250680
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to passenger safety belt restraint arrangements for a center seat in a vehicle including a shoulder belt with an adjustable support in the seat backrest.
It is generally known to use lap belts as restraint devices for center seats in motor vehicles. On the other hand, additional safety belts in the form of shoulder belts are provided for the outside seats. The combination of a shoulder belt and a lap belt provides far greater safety for the user than does a lap belt alone.
British Patent No. 2,278,535 discloses a passenger restraint arrangement in which a mount incorporating a belt guide element can move relative to a seat frame between a neutral position and a working position. The mount, which is slidable by a guide element along the seat frame, can be locked in various positions. In the working position, the mount projects beyond the upholstery of the seat and thus permits easy positioning of the shoulder belt across the body of the occupant.
German Patent No. 37 40 937 discloses an arrangement for mounting safety belts in which a belt guide element is associated with a rear shelf of the vehicle. This mount, which is supported on a sliding rod, is adjustable in height relative to the rear shelf and can be locked in various positions.
German Patent No. 34 01 529 describes an arrangement for adjusting an articulation point for a safety belt which can be located, for example, at approximately shoulder height in the vicinity of the B pillar or C pillar on the inside of the vehicle body. Depending on the height of the user, the articulation point for the safety belt can be moved upward or downward so that the shoulder belt is positioned correctly, not too high and not too low, on the user's body.
A shoulder belt can only have the desired safety effect if the belt can be put on correctly, which is to say that the upper articulation point of the shoulder belt must be adjustable in height to adapt to the body height of the user. Since appropriate options for attachment often are lacking in the vicinity of the center seats of a vehicle, shoulder belts frequently are not provided there. In some vehicle models, a third three-point belt is known having an upper articulation point which is connected either through a guide to a rear vehicle pillar or directly to the vehicle roof.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a passenger safety belt restraint arrangement which overcomes disadvantages of the prior art.
Another object of the invention is to provide a safety belt restraint arrangement which includes a safety belt for the occupants of center seats and provides the convenience of a belt while assuring a high degree of safety with good operability.
These and other objects of the invention are attained by providing a passenger safety belt restraint arrangement for a center seat having a mount for a shoulder belt which is adjustably supported from the frame of the passenger seat.
The safety belt arrangement thus includes a shoulder belt that is received in the upper region of the backrest of the center seat in a mount that is attached to the frame of the center seat so as to be adjustable in height and that extends above the upholstery of the center seat. Thus, the position of the shoulder belt can be adapted to the shoulder height of each individual user, providing a restraint arrangement in the vicinity of a center seat that assures a high degree of safety. Furthermore, the mount has an adjustable-height guide element about which the shoulder belt is guided to an automatic belt retractor of a conventional type in which, in the event of an accident, the automatic belt retractor locks the take-up mechanism so that the safety belt cannot unwind from the belt retractor. In order to be freely accessible to the user, the mount is attached by an adapter to a lockable slide which can be released from a locked condition by a compressive force exerted on the adapter through the guide element. The adapter is pivotable relative to the slide and can release the slide from the locked position by a tilting motion.
Therefore, it is possible to adjust the mount, which constitutes an adjustable-height articulation point for the shoulder belt, using light pressure on the mount while simultaneously sliding the mount vertically until it is released in a desired vertical position and thereby locked. The shoulder belt passing over the shoulder of a belt user exerts a constant tensile force on the mount as a result of the tensile force produced by the automatic belt retractor. This constant tensile force additionally counteracts any unintended release of the mount from the locked condition.
Preferably, an elongated adapter is attached to the slide and projects upward so that the mount projects forward from the backrest at the upper end of the adapter. The adapter makes it possible to use a conventional height adjustment element with a lockable, adjustable-height slide arranged on the adapter. The slide can engage locking slots at various height positions and can be tilted by a compressive force exerted on the upper end of the adapter in such a way that it is released from the locking slots.
The adjustable-height mount can also be designed so that it is locked in the height position in which it has been set by the tensile force exerted on the belt by the automatic belt retractor. However, additional spring elements can also be provided in the vicinity of the slide that press the slide into the current locked position, as is the case in the aforementioned German Patent No. 34 01 529.
A passenger safety belt restraint arrangement in accordance with the invention has the advantages that it permits three child seats to be arranged next to each other on the rear bench seat of a vehicle and it also permits a child seat to be placed in the center seat in the rear-facing position. Furthermore, accident-related forward displacement of an occupant of the center seat is reduced to a minimum.
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Botts L.L.P. Baker
Dickson Paul N.
Volkswagen AG
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