Seat belt tension sensor

A seat belt tension sensing assembly comprising:

• a housing;
• a slider slidably received within said housing, said slider being capable of movement between a first position and a second position within said housing, said slider having a first opening for allowing a portion of a seat belt to pass therethrough;
• at least one magnet operatively supported by said slider to generate a magnetic field;
• a sensor to sense a strength of the magnetic field corresponding to a position of said slider with respect to said housing and providing a signal thereof;
• a controller for receiving said signal, said controller suppressing a vehicle safety device if said signal meets or exceeds a threshold value;
• and
• a biasing member for providing an urging force to said slider to urge said slider into said first position.

A seat belt tension sensing assembly comprising:

• a housing;
• a slider slidably received within said housing, said slider being capable of movement between a first position and a second position within said housing, said slider having a first opening for allowing a portion of a seat belt to pass therethrough;
• a sensor providing a signal corresponding to a position of said slider with respect to said housing;
• a controller for receiving said signal, said controller suppressing a vehicle safety device if said signal meets or exceeds a threshold value;
• a biasing member for providing an urging force to said slider to urge said slider into said first position;
• and
• wherein said sensor is a Hall effect device and said Hall effect device provides a signal to said controller.

A seat belt tension sensing assembly comprising:

• a housing;
• a slider slidably received within said housing, said slider being capable of movement between a first position and a second position within said housing, said slider having a first opening for allowing a portion of a seat belt to pass therethrough;
• a sensor providing a signal corresponding to a position of said slider with respect to said housing;
• a controller for receiving said signal, said controller suppressing a vehicle safety device if said signal meets or exceeds a threshold value;
• a biasing member for providing an urging force to said slider to urge said slider into said first position;
• an anchor plate adapted to be fixedly secured to a portion of a vehicle and said housing being secured to said anchor plate;
• and
• wherein said anchor plate and said housing each have a second opening aligning with each other, said second openings being configured, dimensioned, and positioned to allow a portion of said second openings to align with said first opening of said slider as said slider moves from said first position to said second position.

A seat belt tension sensing assembly comprising:

• a) a housing;
• b) a slider slidably received within said housing, said slider being capable of movement between a first position and a second position within said housing, said slider having a first opening for allowing a portion of a seat belt to pass therethrough;
• c) a magnet being secured to said housing;
• d) a sensing device being fixedly secured to said housing and being in a facing relationship with respect to said magnet;
• e) a shunting member being fixedly secured to said slider, said shunting member being disposed in between said sensing device and said magnet when said slider is in said first position, said shunting member being in a shunting position to shunt a magnetic field of said magnet when said slider is in said first position and said shunting member moves away from said shunting position as said slider moves towards said second position;
• and
• f) a biasing member for providing an urging force to said slider to urge said slider into said first position.

A tension sensing assembly for use in a seat restraint system in a vehicle comprising:

• a plate member for operative connection to a portion of the vehicle;
• a housing operatively supported by said plate member;
• a sliding member disposed in said housing for movement therein and cooperating with belt webbing;
• a spring disposed in said housing for cooperating with said sliding member;
• and
• a sensor disposed in said housing and cooperable with said sliding member to indicate a first tension level and a second tension level in the seat restraint system when said spring is deflected.

A method for suppressing a vehicle safety device, comprising:

• determining a threshold seat belt tension, the threshold seat belt tension corresponding to a child safety seat being secured by a seat belt;
• sensing a seat belt tension by monitoring a strength of a magnetic field corresponding to movement of a movable member of an anchor assembly of the seat belt, the movable member being biased in a non-tension position by a biasing member providing an urging force, the urging force corresponding to the threshold seat belt tension, the urging force being overcome when the seat belt tension overcomes the threshold seat belt tension;
• and
• providing a signal when the threshold seat belt tension has been overcome;
• and
• suppressing a vehicle safety device when the signal is received by a controller of the vehicle safety device.

A tension sensing assembly for a seat restraint system in a vehicle comprising:

• an anchor plate adapted to be secured to vehicle structure of the vehicle;
• a housing mounted to said anchor plate;
• a slider disposed in said housing for sliding movement therein and cooperating with belt webbing;
• a first magnet and a second magnet secured to said slider;
• at least one spring disposed between said slider and said housing for cooperating with said slider;
• and
• a Hall effect device disposed in said housing and cooperable with said slider to indicate a first tension level and a second tension level in the seat restraint system when said spring is deflected.