Method and system for controlling the position of a seat belt relative to an occupant of a vehicle
OwnerJohn R. Lichtwardtinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and system for generating a minimal amount of slack in a shoulder portion of a seat belt secured over a vehicle occupant to provide comfort and safety to the occupant without interfering with the function and operation of the seat belt. A signal processor is provided for processing control signals, some of which are generated in response to actions taken by the occupant. A pair of fingers grasp, extend, retract and release a shoulder portion of the seat belt in response to a first control signal. The fingers then re-grasp and re-extend the shoulder portion of the seat belt to a fully extended position, thereby providing the minimal amount of slack.
Claims19
A method for controlling the position of a shoulder portion of a seat belt relative to an occupant of a vehicle, the method comprising:
- generating a first control signal in response to a first action taken by the occupant;
- and
- in response to the first control signal,
- (a) grasping the shoulder portion of the seat belt;
- (b) extending the grasped shoulder portion away from the occupant;
- (c) retracting the extended shoulder portion back towards the occupant;
- (d) releasing the shoulder portion of the seat belt;
- and
- (e) repeating steps (a) and (b) to thereby re-extend the shoulder portion.
A system for controlling the position of a shoulder portion of a seat belt relative to an occupant of a vehicle, the system comprising:
- means for generating a first control signal in response to a first action taken by the occupant;
- signal processing means for processing the first control signal to provide an actuating signal in response thereto;
- actuating means responsive to the actuating signal;
- and
- grasping means having a fully retracted position and a fully extended position and being actuated by the actuating means to cause the grasping means to:
- grasp a shoulder portion of the seat belt in the fully retracted position;
- extend the grasped shoulder portion away from the occupant to the fully extended position;
- retract the extended shoulder portion back towards the occupant;
- release the retracted shoulder portion of the seat belt in the fully retracted position;
- re-grasp the shoulder portion of the seat belt in the fully retracted position;
- and
- re-extend the re-grasped shoulder portion away from the occupant to the fully extended position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.