Chairs and seats – Body or occupant restraint or confinement – Safety belt or harness; e.g. – lap belt or shoulder harness
Patent
1982-09-30
1985-09-24
McCall, James T.
Chairs and seats
Body or occupant restraint or confinement
Safety belt or harness; e.g., lap belt or shoulder harness
297468, 297475, 297482, B60R 2100
Patent
active
045429391
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to vehicle seat belt systems and more specifically to a seat belt positioning device for maintaining a seat belt in a position accessible to vehicle occupants in a vehicle in which a seat back moves pivotally from a seating position to a load floor position.
BACKGROUND ART
In vehicles in which a seat is employed which provides for pivotal movement of the seat back between an upright position for seating and a substantially horizontal position for defining a load floor, it has been found that when, as is customary, seat belt components are inserted in the space between the seat cushion portion of the seat and the pivotally mounted seat back, those seat belt portions are urged toward the horizontal position during forward pivotal movement of the seat back and some means must be provided for repositioning for ready occupant access to the components when the seat back is in the upright position. When it is the seat buckle component that is positioned between the seat back and the cushion, auxiliary spring members have been employed to load the component carrying the seat belt buckle toward the upright position. Exemplary of such systems is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,556 to Glinski. The position of the belt carrying components of seat belt assemblies has also been effected by the use of auxiliary spring-like members such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,279,851 to Hinchcliff. In vehicles utilizing seats of the type described above, however, the most common practice in repositioning seat belt components in which the seat belt is carried has been to require manual repositioning of the seat belts by occupants upon returning the pivotally mounted seat back to the upright position.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
Responsive to the deficiencies in the prior art, the present invention provides a seat belt positioning device which operates to urge the seat belt carrying component of the seat belt assembly toward an upright position by normal operation of the retracting mechanism of the seat belt without the use of any auxiliary spring mechanisms.
In accordance with this invention, a positioning device is provided which includes a flexible boot member which guides the travel of the seat belt between the pivotally mounted seat back and the seat cushion of the vehicle and includes a hinge positioned below the plane of travel of the seat belt and a guide aperture which limits the retracting movement of the seat belt in cooperation with the enlarged latch member on the free end of the seat belt such that upon certain retracting movement of the seat belt, the latch member engages the end of the boot and urges the boot member pivotally against a frontal surface of the seat back.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a motor vehicle body including a seat adjacent which the seat belt positioning device of the present invention is installed (certain portions broken away for clarity);
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the seat belt positioning device of the present invention in the position assumed when the vehicle seat back is in the upright position; and
FIG. 3 is a cross section view similar to FIG. 2 wherein the vehicle seat back is in the load floor position.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Referring now to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, a vehicle seat 10 is illustrated as being installed in the body 12 of a motor vehicle. A seat belt positioning device 14 according to the present invention is illustrated as being installed on the body 12 of the vehicle in a position adjacent the seat 10 and having a portion inserted through the interspace between the seat back 16 and the seat cushion 18.
Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the seat belt positioning device 14 is illustrated as including a retractor assembly shown diagrammatically at 20. The retractor assembly 20 includes a body 22 which is secured to a portion of the vehicle body 12 as by conventional fasteners such as that illustrated at 2
REFERENCES:
patent: 3279851 (1966-10-01), Hinchcliff
patent: 3287063 (1966-11-01), Nicholas
patent: 4118068 (1978-10-01), Fohl
patent: 4133556 (1979-01-01), Glinski
patent: 4372613 (1983-02-01), Kitakami et al.
patent: 4400015 (1983-08-01), Ryu
patent: 4431233 (1984-02-01), Ernst
Ford Motor Company
McCall James T.
Sadler Clifford L.
Stock Daniel M.
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