Energy absorbing shoulder anchor structure

A shoulder anchor structure comprising:

• a shoulder anchor body disposed at an upper portion of a center pillar of a vehicle and supporting an intermediate portion of an occupant restraining webbing which passes through said shoulder anchor body;
• an energy absorbing member disposed between a pillar inner panel and a pillar outer panel of the center pillar;
• load transmission means having two sides for transmitting a large load to said energy absorbing member when such a large load acts on said shoulder anchor body from an interior of a passenger compartment to an exterior of the passenger compartment,
• said energy absorbing member fixed to the pillar inner panel on the two sides of said load transmission means,
• deformation amplifying portions provided in the vicinity of fixing portions where said energy absorbing member is fixed to the pillar inner panel so that a portion of said energy absorbing member located between the fixing portions is allowed to displace within a predetermined stroke toward an exterior side,
• a support member disposed on an exterior side of said energy absorbing member and having opposing ends mounted at points between opposing ends of said energy absorbing member and adapted to bear a large load transmitted from said load transmission means, and
• adjusting means for adjusting the position of mounting points between said ends of said support member and the ends of said energy absorbing member.

A shoulder anchor structure comprising:

• a shoulder anchor body disposed at an upper portion of a center pillar of a vehicle and supporting an intermediate portion of an occupant restraining webbing which passes through said shoulder anchor body;
• an energy absorbing member disposed between a pillar inner panel and a pillar outer panel of the center pillar;
• and
• load transmission means have two sides for transmitting a large load to said energy absorbing member when such a large load acts on said shoulder anchor body from an interior of a passenger compartment to an exterior of the passenger compartment,
• said energy absorbing member having opposing ends fixed to the pillar inner panel on the two sides of said load transmission means,
• deformation amplifying portions provided in the vicinity of fixing portions where said energy absorbing member is fixed to the pillar inner panel so that a portion of said energy absorbing member located between the fixing portions is allowed to displace within a predetermined stroke toward an exterior side,
• a support member having opposing ends disposed between and mounted onto an exterior side of the opposing ends of said energy absorbing member and adapted to bear a large load transmitted from said load transmission means, and
• adjusting means for adjusting the position of said mounting between the ends of said support member and the ends of said energy absorbing member,
• wherein each of said deformation amplifying portions is bent to have a wavy cross section, and
• said adjusting means including a plurality of holes formed in a plurality of rows on upper and lower ends of said support member and said energy absorbing member, respectively, and bolts and nuts for fixing said support member to said energy absorbing member using selected ones of said plurality of holes, thereby allowing a change in the mounting position between said ends of said support member and the ends of said energy absorbing member.

A shoulder anchor structure comprising:

• a shoulder anchor body disposed at an upper portion of a center pillar of a vehicle and supporting an intermediate portion of an occupant restraining webbing which passes through said shoulder anchor body;
• an energy absorbing member including a plate having a substantially C-shaped cross section disposed between a pillar inner panel and a pillar outer panel of the center pillar;
• load transmission means having two sides for transmitting a large load to said energy absorbing member when such a large load acts on said shoulder anchor body from an interior of a passenger compartment to an exterior of the passenger compartment,
• said energy absorbing member fixed to the pillar inner panel on the two sides of said load transmission means, and deformation amplifying portions including bent portions in said plate provided in the vicinity of fixing portions where said energy absorbing member is fixed to the pillar inner panel so that a portion of said energy absorbing member located between the fixing portions is allowed to displace within a predetermined stroke toward an exterior side.