Seat and seat belt restraint assembly

A motor vehicle and bench seat assembly combination, said combination comprising:

• a motor vehicle having a passenger compartment and a floor in said passenger compartment;
• a bench seat having a backrest cushion and a seat cushion disposed in said passenger compartment;
• a stanchion for supporting said bench seat above said vehicular floor;
• a seat belt buckle for restraining an occupant in said bench seat during sudden deceleration of said vehicle;
• a primary anchor for connecting said seat belt buckle to said bench seat;
• and characterized by a supplemental anchor for establishing a secondary path of restraint directly between said seat belt buckle and said floor and for transferring restraint loads directly to said vehicular floor in the event said bench seat yields under restraint loads imposed during sudden deceleration;
• said stanchion including a a decoupler for disconnecting said bench seat from said floor;
• said bench seat including a collapsing mechanism for converting said bench seat between a use position wherein said seat cushion is generally perpendicular to said backrest cushion and a non-use position wherein said seat cushion is generally parallel to said backrest cushion;
• said supplemental anchor including a detachment mechanism for automatically disengaging said seat belt buckle from said floor when said bench seat is moved to said non-use position to facilitate removal of said bench seat and said connected seat belt buckle from said passenger compartment of said vehicle.

A bench seat and seat belt restraint assembly of the type disposed in a motor vehicle, said assembly comprising:

• a bench seat having a backrest cushion and a seat cushion, said seat cushion including a tubular frame member, said bench seat including a collapsing mechanism for converting said bench seat between a use position wherein said seat cushion is generally perpendicular to said backrest cushion and a non-use position wherein said seat cushion is generally parallel to said backrest cushion;
• a stanchion for supporting said bench seat above a vehicular floor, said stanchion including a decoupler for disconnecting said bench seat from the vehicular floor;
• a seat belt element for restraining an occupant in said bench seat during sudden deceleration of the vehicle;
• a seat bracket fixedly attached to said frame member of said seat cushion;
• a strap interconnecting said seat belt element and said seat bracket;
• a shank extending from said seat bracket;
• a floor bracket for fixed attachment to the vehicle floor;
• and characterized by one of said floor bracket and said shank including a male coupling end and the other of said floor bracket and said shank including a female coupling interlockable with said male coupling when said bench seat is in said use position for establishing a secondary path of restraint directly between said seat belt element and the vehicular floor to transfer restraint loads directly to said vehicular floor in the event said bench seat yields under restraint loads imposed during sudden deceleration, said male coupling automatically disengaging from said female coupling when said bench seat is moved to said non-use position.