Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-05
2003-06-24
Culbreth, Eric (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S805000, C280S808000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06581968
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicular safety devices, and more particularly, to a seat belt system comprising a lap belt that can be used independently of an associated shoulder belt.
2. Background of the Invention
FIG. 1
shows a prior art seat belt system that is designed to protect a person, passenger or a driver, who is seated on seat
10
of a vehicle. The system comprises webbing
102
, sliding latch plate
140
and buckle
150
. First end
112
of webbing
102
is secured to the vehicle at an area at about the level of the person's shoulder. Second end
114
of webbing
102
is secured to the vehicle at an area at about the level of the person's hip. A seat belt pretensioner (not shown) can be installed at either first end
112
or second end
114
to provide tension on webbing
102
. Inertia reels can also be placed at any vehicle mount to provide tension. In addition, pretensioners (including buckle pretensioners which can provide tensioning in both the lap and shoulder webbing) can be equipped with the seat belt system.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, first end
112
and second end
114
are secured to the vehicle on one side of the person while buckle
150
is secured to the vehicle on the opposite side. Sliding latch plate
140
comprises slot
142
and tongue
144
. Webbing
102
is fed through slot
142
such that sliding latch plate
140
can slide along the full length of webbing
102
. Buckle
150
is secured to the vehicle at an area at about the level of the person's hip, but on the opposite side of second end
114
. When in use, tongue
144
of sliding latch plate
140
is engaged in buckle
150
, thus allowing shoulder belt portion
110
of webbing
102
to rest over one shoulder of the person and across his or her body, and lap belt portion
130
of webbing
102
to rest over the lap of the person. When the vehicle experiences a sudden deceleration, the body of the person leans forward and causes a tensile force to exert on shoulder belt portion
110
. Since slot
142
is free to slide along webbing
102
, the tensile force is transferred to lap belt portion
130
as well.
While this seat belt system is common to ground vehicles such as automobiles, it is less desirable for airborne vehicles such as airplanes. In the aviation industry, particularly for airplanes having side facing seats, it is preferable to have a safety belt system comprises a lap belt that can be worn independently of an associated shoulder belt. Such a system allows a passenger to be secured by the lap belt, without being restricted by the shoulder belt during normal level flight.
FIG. 2
shows another prior art system that is used in the aviation industry today. System
200
comprises shoulder belt webbing
210
, shoulder belt latch plate
220
, lap belt webbing
230
, lap belt latch plate
240
, and buckle
250
. Manual lap belt and shoulder belt adjusters are often used.
First end
212
of shoulder belt webbing
210
is secured to the vehicle. A shoulder belt pretensioner (not shown) can be provided to exert tension on shoulder belt webbing
210
. Second end
214
of shoulder belt webbing
210
is attached to shoulder belt latch plate
220
. Shoulder belt latch plate
220
comprises snap slot
222
. The safety belt system can be equipped with supplemental safety device
216
. An example of supplemental safety device
216
is the Inflatable Tubular Torso Restraint (ITTR) manufactured by Simula Technology, Inc. of Phoenix, Ariz. The ITTR is fully disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,753 (issued to Yaniv et al.), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
First end
232
of lap belt webbing
230
is attached to lap belt latch plate
240
, while second end
234
of lap belt webbing
230
is secured to the vehicle, on the same side of seat
20
where shoulder belt webbing
210
is secured. Lap belt latch plate
240
comprises snap stud
242
, slot
246
, and tongue
244
. Snap stud
242
is adapted to receive snap slot
222
. Tongue
244
is adapted to fit into buckle
250
. Buckle
250
is secured to the vehicle.
A tensile force can be exerted on shoulder belt webbing
210
in one of several ways. For example, if seat
20
is in a forward-facing orientation, when the vehicle experiences a sudden deceleration, the body of the passenger leans forward and causes a tensile force to be exerted on shoulder belt webbing
210
. In addition, the tensile force can be exerted when supplemental safety device
216
is deployed. Unlike in the system of
FIG. 1
, however, the tensile force exerted on shoulder belt webbing
210
in this system is not transferred to lap belt webbing
230
. There is no transfer of tensile force in this system because shoulder belt webbing
210
and lap belt webbing
230
are independent of each other. In other words, since lap belt webbing
230
is permanently attached to lap belt latch plate
240
, and lap belt latch plate
240
is attached to buckle
250
that is secured to the vehicle, the tension in shoulder belt webbing
210
cannot be transferred to lap belt webbing
230
. This allows the passenger's lower torso to move, thereby increasing the possibility of occupant injury during crashes. As a result, lap belt webbing
230
does not receive any benefit from supplemental safety device
216
or the shoulder belt pretensioner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a seat belt system that allows transfer of tension from a transferor belt, e.g., the shoulder belt, to a transferee belt, e.g., the lap belt. A preferred embodiment of the present invention can be used with a supplemental safety device such as the ITTR referenced above.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a shoulder belt webbing (the transferor belt), a shoulder belt latch plate (the transferor plate), a lap belt webbing (the transferee belt), a lap belt latch plate (the transferee plate), a buckle, and a tension transfer latch plate. During normal use, the lap belt latch plate and the tension transfer latch plate act as one unitary component. When the shoulder belt webbing is pulled and/or the supplemental safety device is deployed by a tensile force that is greater than or equal to a design predetermined value, the tension transfer latch plate separates from the lap belt latch plate and pulls the lap belt webbing. This invention allows the tension transfer latch plate to act as a fixed latch plate until the shoulder belt webbing receives a sufficient tensile force to pull the tension transfer latch plate such that it separates from the lap belt latch plate and tightens the lap belt webbing. It is noted that in another embodiment the shoulder belt webbing can be adapted to become the transferee belt and the lap belt webbing can be adapted to serve as the transferor belt.
A preferred embodiment of a tension transfer latch plate assembly of the present invention comprises a transferee plate and a tension transfer latch plate. Each of the plates preferably has, for example, an injection molded plastic cover or other device to prevent webbing tears and to keep the plates together during normal everyday use. The tension transfer latch plate assembly can also guide, position, and retain the tension transfer latch plate via detents in both the injection molded plastic covers. The transferee belt can be routed so that the tension transfer latch plate pulls from the assembly at a predetermined load when the transferor belt is pulled and/or when the supplemental safety device is deployed.
FIGS. 3
,
3
a,
and
3
b
are schematic diagrams of a preferred embodiment of the present invention in which a shoulder belt is the transferor belt. Lap belt webbing
330
loops through lap belt latch plate assembly
340
and tension transfer latch plate assembly
360
. Tension transfer latch plate assembly
360
is attached to lap belt latch plate assembly
340
. Lap belt latch plate assembly
340
has tongue
344
that is adapted to engage with buckle
350
. Shoulder belt latch plate
320
is adapted to engage with tension transfer
Grace Gregory Brian
Hurley Todd Richard
Culbreth Eric
Shaw Pittman LLP
Simula Inc.
LandOfFree
Safety belt tension transfer system does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Safety belt tension transfer system, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Safety belt tension transfer system will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3154073