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US 4,364,584 AGranted
Junction ring for continuous-loop passive seat belt system
AssigneeGeneral Motors Corporation
InventorsLloyd W. Rogers, Jr., James A. Winnale
Life of this patent
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AssigneeGeneral Motors Corporation
InventorsLloyd W. Rogers, Jr., James A. Winnale
Estimating the term…
A junction device is connected to an anchor belt retractably mounted inboard an occupant seat and slidably encircles a continuous-loop belt having upper and lower ends mounted on the door to define lap and shoulder belt portions. A yieldable spring, preferably a rubber O-ring, is sewn to the anchor belt and hooked over the junction device to establish the junction device at a normal angular position relative the anchor belt in which the junction device assumes a streamlined lie-flat position with respect to the occupant torso to thereby facilitate low interference travel of the junction device across the occupant torso during movement of the door from the closed position to the open position.
In vehicle seat belt system including a continuous-loop belt having ends mounted on the vehicle door, an anchor belt having an inboard end mounted inboard the occupant seat and an outboard end, and a junction device connected to the outboard end of the anchor belt and slidably encircling the continuous-loop belt to define variable length lap and shoulder belt portions thereof, the improvement comprising:
In combination with a vehicle seat belt system including a continuous-loop belt having ends mounted on the vehicle door and an anchor belt having a first end mounted inboard the occupant seating position and a second end;
In combination with vehicle seat belt system including a continuous-loop belt having ends mounted on the vehicle door and an anchor belt having a first end mounted inboard the occupant seating position and a second end, a junction device adapted to couple the second end of the anchor belt with the continuous-loop belt, said junction device comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Safety belts or body harnesses in vehicles: passive restraint systems, i.e. systems both applied and removed automatically, e.g. by movement of…
Sliding part of wedge: looped strap
Vehicle fittings and parts
Technical subjects covered by former us classification
Term ended 15 Apr 2001 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
The invention relates to a locking junction ring for joining a door mounted continuous-loop lap and shoulder belt with a retractably mounted anchor belt to provide a passive belt system and more particularly to provide an improved junction ring for low interference travel across the occupant torso during opening and closing of the door.
It is well known in motor vehicles to restrain an occupant in the seat by a lap belt disposed across the lap and a shoulder belt disposed diagonally across the chest.
It is also known to provide a passive lap and shoulder belt system wherein the outboard ends of the continuous-loop belt are mounted on the vehicle door. The inboard anchor belt end is retractably mounted on the vehicle body inboard the seat and the outboard anchor belt end is connected to the continuous-loop by a junction ring which is slidable along the continuous-loop to divide the loop into varied length lap belt and shoulder belt portions to fit the particular seated occupant.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent on consideration of the description of the preferred embodiment, and the appended drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle body showing a passive seat belt system having a locking junction ring according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a view taken in the direction of arrows 2--2 of FIG. 1 and showing the junction ring frame connected to the control belt by a yieldable O-ring spring so that the junction ring device is streamlined for low interference travel across the torso of seated occupant;
Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a vehicle body 10 having a seat 12 located laterally adjacent a door opening 14. A door 16 is hingedly mounted on the vehicle body 10 for swinging movement between an open opposite shown in FIG. 1 and a closed position.
A three-point continuous-loop passive occupant restraint system for restraining an occupant in the seat 12 includes a continuous-loop belt 20 having an upper end 22 attached to the upper rear corner of the door by an anchor plate 24 and a lower end 26 attached to the lower rear corner of the door by an anchor plate 28. A disconnect buckle 29 is interposed in the belt 20 adjacent the anchor plate 28.
An anchor belt 32 has an inboard end which is retractably mounted by a retractor 30 suitably mounted on the vehicle 10 inboard the occupant seating position. The retractor 30 is preferably of the vehicle inertia sensitive type having a lockbar which is engaged with a belt reel by a pendulum or other inertia responsive member upon the occurrence of a predetermined level of vehicle deceleration.