Webbing guide device

A webbing device for use in a seatbelt system for automatically fastening a webbing to protect an occupant in an emergency of a vehicle to the occupant after his entering the vehicle, wherein the intermediate portion of the webbing is moved forward in the vehicle when the occupant enters or leaves the vehicle, comprising:

• (a) a shaft supported on an occupant's seat, the axis of which is held substantially horizontally and shifted through a predetermined angle from the lateral axial line of the vehicle;
• (b) an arm rotatably secured near one end thereof to said shaft, disposed at the inboard side of said seat and rotatable in the forward and rearward directions in the vehicle, said arm being provided at an intermediate portion thereof with a bent portion for preventing said arm from interfering with said seat when said arm is rotated in the forward and rearward directions in the vehicle;
• (c) a guide ring provided at the other end of said arm for longitudinally movably supporting the intermediate portion of said webbing, said guide ring being disposed more outboardly in the vehicle when it is moved along with the rotation of the arm in the forward direction in the vehicle than when the arm is rotated in the rearward direction in the vehicle due to the presence of said shaft being shifted from the lateral axial line of the vehicle, whereby said guide ring is prevented from interfering with a shift knob;
• and
• (d) a motor connected to said shaft for rotating said arm forward in the vehicle, when the occupant enters or leaves the vehicle, to bend the intermediate portion of the webbing forward in the vehicle, thereby enlarging a space for the occupant to enter or leave the vehicle.