Safety system for protection of automotive seat occupant

In combination with an automobile the body of which includes a seat supported on a floor, a door adjacent the outboard side of the seat, a first body member located forwardly of and distant from the seat and a second body member located substantially upwardly of the door, a safety system for protecting an occupant of the seat, comprising:

• a frame member secured to the first body member and a cushioning member attached to and covering a surface of said frame member facing the front edge of the seat, said cushioning member being shaped and arranged such that the knees and legs of the occupant in the seat come into contact with said cushioning member when the lower half of the occupant's body moves forwards;
• a passive safety belt assembly comprising (a) a guide rail secured to the second body member and located generally upwardly of the door, the front and rear ends of said guide rail being located forwardly of the front edge of the seat at a first position and rearwardly of the rear end of the seat at a second position, respectively, (b) a carrier member slidably engaged with said guide rail, (c) a safety belt coupled with said carrier member and supported at a first end thereof on the floor at a location close to the rear end of the inboard side of the seat, a second end of said belt being held substantially on the axis of said guide rail, (d) a retractor stationarily arranged to hold said first end of said belt, said retractor being of a type capable of automatically retracting and locking said belt in a collision of the automobile, a guide ring fixed to said carrier member, said belt being passed through said guide ring, said second end of said belt being secured to the vehicle body at a location rearward of said second position and a buckle secured to the vehicle body at a location rearward of said second position and an anchor member connected to said second end of said belt and detachably coupled with said buckle, (e) drive means for selectively bringing said carrier member to first and second positions respectively close to said front and rear ends of said guide rail, and (f) control means for controlling the operation of said drive means such that said carrier member is brought to said first position when the door is opened and to said second position when the door is closed, said first and second positions and the length of said belt being arranged such that said belt is slackened when said carrier member is in said first position and passed diagonally around the upper half of the seated occupant's body to extend from the waist of the occupant on the inboard side to the shoulder on the other side when said carrier member is in said second position, wherein said drive means comprises a reversible motor, a drive pulley, an idler pulley located forwardly of said first position, and a rope tensioned and passed around said drive pulley to extend therein towards said guide rail, one end of said rope being connected to said carrier member, the other end of said rope being connected to said carrier member after being passed around said drive pulley and said idler pulley, and wherein said control means comprise a first power circuit having first contacts to revolve said motor in the positive direction when said first contacts are closed, a second power circuit having second contacts to revolve said motor in the negative direction when said second contacts are closed, a first control circuit having in series with one another a first solenoid coil causing said first contacts to close when excited, a first door switch closing only when the door is open and a first limit switch opening only when said carrier member is in said first position, a second control circuit having in series with one another a second solenoid coil causing said second contacts to close when excited, a second door switch opening only when the door is open and a second limit switch opening only when said carrier member is in said second position.