Emergency release mechanism for passive seat belt systems

In a passive seat belt system including a seat belt adapted to automatically be positioned about an occupant in a seat in a vehicle, said seat being located adjacent to a door of said vehicle, said seat belt normally attached to said door, and an emergency release means for releasing said seat belt from said door to permit egress of the occupant from said vehicle in an emergency situation, the improvement comprising:

• said emergency release means comprising:
• a housing mounted on said door;
• a retaining lever pivotally mounted in said housing and adapted to communicate with said seat belt, said lever being movable from a first position at which it retains said seat belt in its operative mode to permit automatic positioning about said occupant to a second position at which it releases said seat belt;
• latch means in said housing located at a first position at which it holds said lever in its first position, said latch means being movable in said housing to a second position at which it no longer holds a lever in its first position;
• means automatically moving said lever from its first position to its second position upon movement of said latch means to its second position;
• and
• actuator means supported in said housing and in contact with said latch means, said actuator means being movable from a first lock position to a second release position, movement of said actuator means from its first to second positions resulting in movement of said latch means from its first to second positions, whereby said lever is moved to its second position to release said seat belt.