Seatbelt device

A seatbelt device, comprising:

• a seatbelt retractor mounted on a seat back of a reclining seat and that winds up a seatbelt when necessary;
• and a cable advancing/retracting mechanism disposed on a coupling part of the seat back and a seat cushion of the reclining seat, and having a cable for detecting a recline angle when the seat back reclines in the front-back direction of the seat and transmitting the recline angle to the seatbelt retractor, the cable advancing or retracting in a length direction of the cable at a distance corresponding to the recline angle of the seat back;
• wherein the seatbelt retractor comprises:
• a retractor frame secured to the seat back, inclining in a left-right direction of the seat with regard to a straight line extending in a vertical direction through a center of the seat back in the left-right direction;
• a spindle supported by the retractor frame for winding the seatbelt;
• an acceleration sensor mounted on the retractor frame and that detects acceleration in the front-back direction of the seat;
• a locking mechanism that locks a pull-out operation of the seatbelt based on the acceleration in the front-back direction of the seat detected by the acceleration sensor;
• and a inclination controlling mechanism that keeps a sensor reference plane of the acceleration sensor horizontal;
• the acceleration sensor comprises:
• a sensor cover secured to the retractor frame;
• an inertial body that moves in the front-back direction of the seat when an acceleration that is greater than a predetermined value acts in the front-back direction of the seat;
• a sensor housing having a pivot shaft along the left-right direction of the seat, that is maintained in the sensor cover, and having an inertial body supporting surface where the inertial body is mounted;
• and an actuating member that actuates the locking mechanism to a locking side in conjunction with the inertial body moving in the front-back direction of the seat;
• the inclination controlling mechanism comprises:
• a pulley that converts the advancing/retracting movement of the cable advancing/retracting mechanism into a rotational motion;
• a drive gear synchronized with rotation of the pulley;
• and a driven gear mounted around the pivot shaft of the sensor housing so as to move in conjunction with the rotation of the sensor housing;
• wherein the rotation shaft of the pulley and pivot shaft of the sensor housing intersect at a predetermined angle such that the pivot shaft of the sensor housing is provided in a horizontal direction with regard to the left-right direction of the seat;
• the inertial body supporting surface of the sensor housing is maintained in a horizontal condition by pivoting the sensor housing in the front-back direction even if the seat back is reclined in the front-back direction of the seat;
• and the drive gear and driven gear engage with each other in a condition where a rotational track surface of the drive gear and rotational track surface of the driven gear intersect at the predetermined angle.

A seatbelt retractor mounted on a seat back of a reclining seat that winds up a seatbelt when necessary, comprising:

• a retractor frame secured to the seat back, inclining in a left-right direction of the seat with regard to a straight line extending in a vertical direction through a center of the seat back in the left-right direction;
• a spindle supported by the retractor frame for winding the seatbelt;
• an acceleration sensor mounted on the retractor frame and that detects acceleration in a front-back direction of the seat;
• a locking mechanism that locks a pull-out operation of the seatbelt based on the acceleration in the front-back direction of the seat detected by the acceleration sensor;
• and
• an inclination controlling mechanism that keeps a sensor reference plane of the acceleration sensor horizontal;
• the acceleration sensor comprises:
• a sensor cover secured to the retractor frame;
• an inertial body that moves in the front-back direction of the seat when an acceleration that is greater than a predetermined value acts in the front-back direction of the seat;
• a sensor housing having a pivot shaft along the left-right direction of the seat, that is maintained in the sensor cover, and having an inertial body supporting surface where the inertial body is mounted;
• and
• an actuating member that actuates the locking mechanism to a locking side in conjunction with the inertial body moving in the front-back direction of the seat;
• the inclination controlling mechanism comprises:
• a pulley case arranged on a side plate of the retractor frame;
• a pulley stored in the pulley case and that is rotatable in accordance with a movement where the seat back reclines in the front-back direction of the seat;
• a drive gear mounted around a rotation shaft of the pulley and synchronized with a rotation of the pulley;
• and
• a driven gear is mounted around the pivot shaft of the sensor housing so as to move in conjunction with the rotation of the sensor housing;
• wherein
• the rotation shaft of the pulley and pivot shaft of the sensor housing intersect at a predetermined angle such that the pivot shaft of the sensor housing is mounted in a horizontal direction with regard to the left-right direction of the seat;
• the inertial body supporting surface of the sensor housing is maintained in a horizontal condition by pivoting the sensor housing in the front-back direction even if the seat back is reclined in the front-back direction of the seat;
• and
• the drive gear and driven gear engage with each other in a condition where a rotational track surface of the drive gear and rotational track surface of the driven gear intersect at the predetermined angle.