Vehicle seat belt assembly
AssigneeVolvo Car Corporation
InventorPeter SETTERBERG
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle seat belt assembly that ensures proper lap belt and shoulder belt restraint even when an occupant substantially reclines his or her seat. A primary shoulder belt that runs from a buckle member across the chest and shoulder of the occupant and engages a routing device and/or retraction/tensioning device coupled to a pillar, such as a B-pillar, of the body of the vehicle is coupled with a substantially coincident secondary shoulder belt that also runs from the buckle member across the chest and (same) shoulder of the occupant and engages a secondary routing device and/or secondary retraction/tensioning device coupled to a top portion of the seat back, adjacent to the heat rest of the seat and head of the occupant, on the same side of the seat as an anchor point associated with the lap belt.
Claims22
A buckle member for providing restraining forces to belts of a seat belt assembly, the buckle member comprising body means adapted to receive a lap belt configured to be selectively disposed across a waist of a vehicle occupant, a primary shoulder belt configured to be selectively disposed across a chest and shoulder of the vehicle occupant, and a secondary shoulder belt configured to be selectively disposed across the chest and same shoulder of the vehicle occupant.
A belt assembly for use in a seat belt assembly, the belt assembly comprising:
- a unitary belt having a primary lap belt portion adapted to be coupled to a body of a vehicle on one side of a seat at one end and to a detachable anchor point disposed on an opposite side of the seat at an opposite end and a primary shoulder belt portion adapted to be coupled to the detachable anchor point at one end and to the body of the vehicle at an opposite end;
- and
- a secondary shoulder belt adapted to be coupled to one of the detachable anchor point and the one end of the primary shoulder belt portion of the unitary belt in proximity to the detachable anchor point at one end and to a top portion of a seat back of the seat adjacent to the body of the vehicle at an opposite end.
A seat belt assembly for use in a vehicle including a seat configured to receive a vehicle occupant, the seat belt assembly comprising:
- a buckle member adapted to selectively engage a receptacle device disposed on one side of the seat and anchored to a body of the vehicle;
- a lap belt adapted to be coupled to the body of the vehicle on an opposite side of the seat at one end and coupled to the buckle member at an opposite end, where the lap belt is configured to be selectively disposed across a waist of the vehicle occupant in use;
- a primary shoulder belt coupled to the buckle member at one end and adapted to be coupled to the body of the vehicle at an opposite end, where the primary shoulder belt is configured to be selectively disposed across a chest and shoulder of the vehicle occupant;
- and
- a secondary shoulder belt coupled to the buckle member at one end and adapted to be coupled to a top portion of a seat back of the seat adjacent to the body of the vehicle at an opposite end, where the secondary shoulder belt is configured to be selectively disposed across the chest and same shoulder of the vehicle occupant.
A method of applying a restraining force to an occupant in a seat of a vehicle upon the occurrence of the braking and/or impact event, the method comprising:
- applying a restraining force to a waist of the occupant using a lap belt coupled to a body of the vehicle on one side of the seat at one end and to a buckle member engaging a receptacle device disposed on an opposite side of the seat and anchored to the body of the vehicle at an opposite end;
- applying a restraining force to a chest and shoulder of the occupant using a primary shoulder belt coupled to the buckle member at one end and to the body of the vehicle at an opposite end;
- and
- applying a restraining force to the chest and same shoulder of the occupant using a secondary shoulder belt coupled to the buckle member at one end and to a top portion of a seat back of the seat adjacent to the body of the vehicle at an opposite end.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.