Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Patent
1993-03-22
1995-04-25
Culbreth, Eric D.
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
280748, 280751, B60R 2104
Patent
active
054092604
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a passenger retaining system intended to retain the passengers in a vehicle in the event of a crash of the vehicle. Seat belts are an example of such systems. More recently, air bags, which are installed in the driving direction in front of the passengers and which are inflated in crash situations, have come into use to retain passengers. A disadvantage of the prior-art seat belts is that they are not fastened in many instances and, therefore, are not effective when not fastened. In the case of air bags, there is the risk that; due to their explosion-like expansion and the high pressure which is brought about, the potential for panic by the passengers is increased. Moreover, both prior-art measures will not, in all instances, avoid the possibility of the passenger sliding through the belt or the air bag to below the seat and into the foot space of the vehicle and against an interior vehicle surface without protection.
In German patent application published without examination, No. 2,537,212, a retaining system is disclosed which, at the moment the driver gets into the vehicle, is extended into a position at a convenient distance from the knee or shin bone of the driver by means of an appropriate sensing device and is left there to prevent the driver from sliding down into the space in front of the seat in the event of a crash. Among the disadvantages of a system of this kind are the constant appearance of the retaining system and the constant limited freedom of movement of the passengers, with the likelihood that, during the whole service life of the vehicle, the dangerous situation to be prevented may very well never occur at all.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present, therefore, has as an object to improve the state-of-the-art retaining systems.
This object is achieved, in accordance with the present invention, by an impact element which is only swung out in case of a dangerous situation and an elevated acceleration. This swinging motion, which involves only slight movement of the impact element requires comparatively low energy consumption, since lower forces of acceleration will be needed. In addition, the movement of the impact element takes place only at the moment of an imminent dangerous situation, so that during the rest of the time the passenger has freedom of motion. Also, the extending motion of the retaining system is not influenced by the passenger, so that human failure will not prove to be of disadvantage.
The present invention prevents passengers from hitting the front window of the vehicle and the well-known effect of "submerging" (i.e. the passenger sliding down into the space in front of the seat).
According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the impact element undergoes translatory movement toward the passenger as well as swinging movement. This permits shaping the impact element to adapt it to the stature of a human being.
The two movements of the impact element (i.e. extending and swinging) can take place successively when, for example, the geometric structure of the vehicle is such that the impact element must be first moved into a position before it has room to swing, or, else, the two movements of the impact element can take place simultaneously if the geometric structure of the vehicle permits.
The impact element is preferably configured in the shape of a continuous plate in order to achieve the desired protection regardless of the seating position of the passenger. The design of the vehicle may, however, make it expedient to provide a plurality of smaller-size impact elements.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the impact plate can serve as the bottom of the instrument section in the vehicle, including a glove box or the like.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the swivel axis lies in a plane above the passenger's knees.
By including an appropriate energy-consuming damping component in the retaining system of the present invention, the impact against the body part to be
REFERENCES:
patent: 2883123 (1959-04-01), Finnigan
patent: 3776359 (1973-12-01), Breitschwerdt
patent: 4023643 (1977-05-01), Bagley, Jr.
patent: 4198075 (1980-04-01), Kob et al.
patent: 4951963 (1990-08-01), Behr et al.
Baier Siegfried
Braun Achim
Reuber Gerhardt
Alfred Teves GmbH & Co. OHG
Culbreth Eric D.
Lewis J. Gordon
Seitter Robert P.
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