Method, system and apparatus for stabilizing vehicle occupant's shoulder during side collision impact
AssigneeHonda Patent & Technologies North America LLC
InventorCraig A. Markusic
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle occupant restraint method, system, and apparatus. The system includes a seat belt associated with a seat of a vehicle and a shoulder belt portion of the seat belt comprising a shoulder stabilizing zone and a thorax belt portion, wherein the shoulder stabilizing zone includes a larger width dimension than the thorax belt portion. The system also includes a pretensioning device associated with the shoulder belt portion of the seat belt. The pretensioning device is configured to cinch and lock the shoulder stabilizing zone around a shoulder region of the occupant, thereby preventing forward rotation of the shoulder region, in response to a side impact collision.
Claims18
A method of restraining an occupant on a vehicle seat comprising:
- providing a seat belt associated with the vehicle seat;
- activating a pretensioning device associated with a lap belt portion of the seat belt and a shoulder belt portion of the seat belt in response to a side impact collision, the shoulder belt portion of the seat belt including a wide shoulder stabilizing zone and a thorax belt portion, the wide shoulder stabilizing zone wider than the thorax belt portion and configured to cover a shoulder region of the occupant;
- preventing substantial forward rotation of the shoulder region of the occupant by cinching the wide shoulder stabilizing zone of the seat belt about the shoulder region of the occupant with the activated pretensioning device;
- and
- locking the pretensioning device in place to prevent substantial motion of the shoulder region and a pelvis region of the occupant.
A vehicle occupant restraint system comprising:
- a seat belt associated with a seat of a vehicle;
- a shoulder belt portion of the seat belt comprising a shoulder stabilizing zone and a thorax belt portion, the thorax belt portion for extending across an occupant's thorax, wherein the shoulder stabilizing zone includes a larger width dimension than the thorax belt portion;
- and
- a pretensioning device associated with the shoulder belt portion of the seat belt, the pretensioning device configured to cinch and lock the shoulder stabilizing zone around a shoulder region of the occupant, thereby preventing forward rotation of the shoulder region, in response to a side impact collision.
An apparatus for restraining a vehicle occupant comprising:
- a seat belt associated with a seat of a vehicle;
- a shoulder belt portion of the seat belt comprising a shoulder stabilizing zone and a thorax belt portion, the thorax belt portion for extending across an occupant's thorax, wherein the shoulder stabilizing zone includes a larger width dimension than the thorax belt portion, the shoulder stabilizing zone configured to spread across a shoulder region of the occupant;
- a lap belt portion of the seat belt for extending across a waist of the occupant;
- and
- a lock portion associated with the lap belt portion and the shoulder belt portion of the seat belt;
- and
- a pretensioning device associated with the lap belt portion and the shoulder belt portion of the seat belt, the pretensioning device configured to cinch and lock:
- the shoulder stabilizing zone about the shoulder region of the occupant in order to substantially prevent rotation of the shoulder region;
- the lap belt portion about the pelvis of the occupant;
- and
- the thorax belt portion of the seat belt across the thorax of the occupant in response to a side impact collision.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.