Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-02
2001-01-09
Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S807000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06170863
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a seat belt device for protecting a vehicle occupant in a vehicle collision, and more particularly to an air belt device comprising an envelop-like or bag-shaped belt as a part of the seat belt which is inflated with gas from a gas generator.
One air belt device is described in Japanese Patent Unexamined Published Application No. H05-85301. FIG.
9
(
a
) is a perspective view of an air belt device of the application and FIG.
9
(
b
) is a sectional view taken along line B—B of FIG.
9
(
a
).
The air belt device
1
comprises a shoulder belt
2
to be extended at an angle from the right side to the left side of an occupant, a lap belt
3
to be extended from the right side to the left side of the occupant, a buckle device
4
disposed at, for example, a vehicle floor, a tongue
5
to be inserted into and engaged with the buckle device
4
when the occupant wears the belt, and an intermediate guide
6
for guiding the shoulder belt
2
.
The shoulder belt
2
comprises a normal belt
2
a
which is the same as a typical conventional seat belt, and an envelop-like belt
2
b
connected to an end of the normal belt
2
b
. The normal belt
2
a
is guided by and freely slides against the intermediate guide
6
. The other end of the normal belt
2
a
is connected to a seat belt retractor
7
with an emergency locking mechanism (ELR) which is fixed to the vehicle body. The normal belt
2
a
is provided in such a manner as to be wound into the seat belt retractor
7
.
The envelop-like belt
2
b
is positioned to be in contact with the occupant and is connected to the tongue
5
at an end opposite to the end connected to the normal belt
2
a.
The lap belt
3
comprises a normal belt which is the same as a typical seat belt, of which one end is connected to the tongue
5
and the other end is connected to a seat belt retractor
8
with an emergency locking mechanism (ELR) which is fixed to the vehicle body. Connected to the buckle device
4
is a gas generator
9
which acts in case of emergency such as a vehicle collision to generate high-pressure gas.
The tongue
5
and the buckle device
4
are provided with paths for introducing gas from the gas generator
9
to the envelop-like belt
2
b.
The envelop-like belt
2
b
of the shoulder belt
2
comprises a belt body
2
c
formed in an envelop shape and a cover
2
d
. The belt body
2
c
is folded as shown by solid lines in FIG.
9
(
b
) and covered by the cover
2
d
. The both ends of the cover
2
b
are then connected by stitching
2
e
so that the envelop-like belt
2
d
is normally kept in a band-like shape. The stitching
2
e
of the cover
2
d
is easily torn by expansion force of the shoulder belt
2
when the gas generator
9
is actuated so that the envelop-like belt
2
b
is developed as shown by a two-dot chain line.
Disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. S63-39462 is an air belt device in which an inflatable cushion similar to an air belt is attached to a webbing of a seat belt device. The inflatable cushion is made of nylon sheets coated with neoprene rubber. The joint of the nylon sheets is made by suitably stitching in such a manner as to allow gas leak through the joint. The gas leak can reduce the impact applied to a vehicle occupant.
In the above structure for reducing the impact by allowing gas to leak through the joint between the sheets as described in S63-39462, there is a possibility that the gas leaked through the joint directly hits the vehicle occupant. The control of the amount of gas leaked through the joint is quite difficult in practice so that the amount of gas to be leaked can not be controlled to suitably reduce the impact.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate a presently preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, and, together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an air belt device which, after an air belt is deployed, can discharge gas in a suitable amount toward a suitable position outside the air belt.
An air belt device of the present invention comprises: an air belt which is inflatable; a gas generator for supplying gas into the air belt to inflate the air belt; and a belt engagement device including a tongue to which the air belt is connected and a buckle which the tongue is engaged with. The belt engagement device further includes a gas discharge means which, after the gas generator is actuated and the air belt is inflated, gradually discharges gas out of the air belt.
The air belt device according to the present invention has the gas discharging means which, after the gas generator is actuated to inflate the air belt, gradually discharges gas out of the air belt. Therefore, when an occupant is pushed strongly by the inflated air belt, the gas within the air belt is gradually discharged, thereby reducing the impact applied to the occupant.
Since, in the present invention, the belt engagement device composed of the tongue and the buckle includes the gas discharging means, the discharged gas is discharged to a lower portion of the cabin of the vehicle so that the gas never directly hits the occupant.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the buckle is provided with a first gas path into which gas is upwardly supplied from the gas generator and through which the gas is jetted out of a spout portion at the top of the buckle, and a second gas path into which gas from the air belt is downwardly introduced and through which the gas is discharged out of the buckle downwardly or laterally, and the tongue is provided with a first guide path connecting the first gas path and the inside of the air belt, and a second guide path connecting the inside of the air belt and the second gas path, and that the gas discharging means is composed of the second guide path and the second gas path. As the gas discharging means is composed of the second guide path and the second gas path as mentioned above, the amount of discharge gas can be controlled in a predetermined amount.
In this case, the second gas path is formed to open beneath the buckle so that the gas discharged from the air belt is discharged beneath the buckle, thereby securely preventing the gas from directly hitting the occupant.
In the present invention, the tongue and the buckle have seal members closing. The seal members prevent the ingress of foreign materials (such as refuse or dirt, dust, and sand particles) into the paths.
Additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
FIG.
1
(
a
) is a perspective view of a seat on which an air belt device according to an embodiment is mounted and FIG.
1
(
b
) is a perspective view of the air belt device.
FIGS.
2
(
a
) through
2
(
e
) are structural views of the air belt.
FIGS.
3
(
a
) through
3
(
d
) are structural views of the air belt in the deployed state.
FIGS.
4
(
a
) and
4
(
b
) are structural views of a tongue and a buckle of the air belt device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS.
5
(
a
) through
5
(
c
) are structural views of the buckle.
FIGS.
6
(
a
) through
6
(
d
) are structural views of the tongue.
FIGS.
7
(
a
) and
7
(
b
)are a front view and a sectional view of the buckle and the tongue in the engaged state.
FIGS.
8
(
a
) through
8
(
d
) are perspective views showing alternatives of the buckles.
FIGS.
9
(
a
) and
9
(
b
) are structural views of a conventional air belt device.
FIGS.
10
(
a
) and
10
(
b
) are structural views of a knit cover.
FIGS.
11
(
a
) and
11
(
b
) are struc
Suyama Yoji
Takeuchi Hiroyuki
Draper Deanna
Foley & Lardner
Johnson Brian L.
Takata Corporation
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