American Safety Equipment Corporation

Cyril Henderson

Albert R Close

Akira Tanaka

William M Hollowell

John N Broughton

An improvement in automated passive vehicle restraint systems of the type having a power-driven upper torso restraining belt moving between stowed and wearing positions is disclosed. The upper end of the belt is attached to the driven cable by a fastener having a stiffener attached. The fastener is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the cable as the fastener moves between the stowed and wearing positions. As the fastener is rotated, the stiffener maneuvers the belt away from the head and face of an occupant in the seat with which the belt is associated and correctly positions the belt on the occupant's shoulder at the wearing position.

Cam guide for passive shoulder harness

A safety belt retractor has a belt storage spool and a spool rewind spring for biasing the spool in a belt rewind direction, means for reducing the tension applied to the belt when in use due to the bias of the rewind spring, means for activating such means for reducing in response to spool rotation in a predetermined manner and means for deactivating such means for reducing in response to spool rotation in a belt rewind direction of more than one full revolution of the spool under the influence of said reduced tension. The means for reducing the resultant effect of the rewind bias of the spring in an exemplary embodiment includes means for selectively applying a portion of the rewind torque of the spool rewind spring back on to the spool through a gearing arrangement in one version, and through a pulley means in another arrangement, in a belt unwinding direction to produce a reduced torque or 'comfort zone' effect upon the spool.

Emergency locking retractor with comfort belt tension

A safety belt retractor having a belt storage spool biased toward a belt storage position is provided with means for selectively applying a portion of the rewind torque of the spool rewind spring back on to the spool in a belt unwinding direction to produce a reduced torque effect upon the spool.

Tension relieving means for safety belt retractors having biasing means for normally biasing an associated safety belt storage means toward a belt retracted condition when the associated safety belt is protracted are provided for restricting the retractive movement of the storage means when the belt is in use to provide a limited low tension travel for the belt which is automatically established on a slight retractive movement of the protracted belt and is maintained within the limits of a predetermined extent of low tension travel for the belt. Pawl means are pivotally mounted on a lower end of a tension arm pivotally mounted to the retractor frame having a free end roller engaging laterally against protracted portions of the webbing with a belt storage reel associated ratchet wheel adapted to be selectively engageable with the pawl whereby the retractive force of the biasing means for the belt storage means is reacted through the ratchet wheel, pawl means and tension arm with a mechanical lever disadvantage such that a resultant low tension retractive effect is applied to the belt automatically when the belt is placed into use.

Dual tension retractor

A seat belt webbing retractor for a vehicle prevents protraction of the webbing when the vehicle undergoes changes in momentum above a predetermined level. The retractor includes a retractor frame, a lockable belt storage reel and associated reel lock actuating means including a lever movable in response to movement of an associated inertia sensing pendulum. The invention includes the improvement of providing a pendulum body which includes a light weight base of cup-like configuration which has two interiorly formed actuator camming surfaces, a hollow cylindrical inertia sensing mass of a material relatively heavier than the base and means for securely attaching the mass to the base with the hollow mass and the apertured base providing a vertical axial bore through the pendulum body. An actuator shaft is disposed in the axial bore of the pendulum body and includes a thrust flange intermediate its upper and lower ends, the flange being contained within the pendulum body and normally resting on the primary actuator camming surface with the upper end of the actuator shaft extending outwardly of the pendulum. Support means on the retractor are provided for supporting the pendulum and the actuator shaft in an operative relationship for moving the lever to cause lock-up of the retractor upon movement of the pendulum body on the support and relative to said actuator shaft, the actuator shaft being moved first by engagement between the thrust flange and the primary camming surface. A secondary camming surface adjacent to and inclined upward from the primary camming surface is provided for supplying additional force to the actuator during the final stages of locking engagement. The pendulum support means are further provided with lever mounting means for mounting the locking lever to the support whereby the pendulum body, the actuator shaft, the support and the lever form a self-contained inertia sensing retractor reel lock actuating assembly.

Vehicle inertia sensors

A single continuous loop safety belt harness assembly for a vehicle has a retractor which is attached to a first end of a safety belt harness for retractably storing and adjustably anchoring the safety belt, and which is mounted in a rearward position upon the vehicle door. A belt guide is provided for receiving the belt extending upward from the retractor, and for directing the belt in a downward direction diagonally across the torso of the occupant seated in the vehicle. A second end of the belt is attached to a lower portion of the door by means of an anchor. A releasable connector is mounted upon the belt between the belt guide and the anchor, for connecting a central portion of the belt to a floor-mounted buckling member on the opposite side of the occupant's seat from the door, thereby forming a safety harness assembly wherein a portion of the belt is directed diagonally downward across the torso of the occupant from the belt guide on the door and a second portion of the belt is directed horizontally across the pelvic region of the occupant from the anchor. The entire safety belt harness assembly is mounted upon the vehicle door such that, when the assembly is not in use, the entire belt is retracted to a position adjacent the door and is swung completely out of the way of the occupant upon the opening of the door, thereby allowing unimpeded entrance to and egress from the vehicle.

Vehicle door mounted continuous loop system

A safety belt system includes a continuous loop of webbing which is anchored at one end to the vehicle floor and anchored at the other end to the roof or upper part of the vehicle. A buckle is mounted on the other side of the seat from the first-mentioned floor anchor, and a connector which is positionable along the webbing includes a tongue plate which mates with the buckle. The system has been improved by the provision of the combination of including limiting means on the connector for allowing the webbing to pass only in a direction to shorten the portion between the floor anchor and the buckle over the lower torso of the user and to lengthen the portion of the webbing between the retractor and the connector over the upper torso. The retractor is more powerful than a normal retractor to pull the webbing through the limiting means. The retractor may further include a tensionless feature to relieve the force from the retractor on the webbing. The system may further include override means to override the limiting means and allow the webbing to pass through the connector in both directions. The override means includes a grip which is held when the connector is held and which releases the override means when the connector is inserted in the buckle. The grip means may include a bar extending between part of the connector. The webbing passes between the bar and the part of the connector to be gripped thereby. The bar is movable to override the gripping of the webbing.

Single retractor continuous loop restraint system

A reel on which seat belts are stored about a rotatable shaft. The reel includes spring means for retracting the belt and a ratchet tooth gear fixed for rotation with the shaft. Upon rapid unreeling of the belt off of the shaft, means which may be inertia responsive activates a pair of lockbars to engage the ratchet tooth gear and stop its rotation. Each lockbar includes a pawl tip and when one of the pawl tips is radially aligned with one of the tooth tips on the gear, the other of the pawl tips is aligned midway between a pair of adjacent gear teeth. When the lockbars are moved into engagement with the ratchet tooth gear, the combination of the two pawl tips and their orientation with respect to the teeth of the gear assures that at least one of the tips will be in proper position to engage the tooth gear should the other tip break off or not engage upon contact with the gear. Differential lever means may be provided for moving the pawl tips into engagement with the gear. This latter means thus forces one of the pawl tips into engagement with the gear should a first pawl tip slip or otherwise not engage.

Reel for storing belts or the like

A child safety seat for use in vehicles is provided with a safety harness mounted to the seat with releasable buckling parts positioned and maintained in a buckle-receiving cavity formed in the child safety seat base beneath the portion thereof a child passenger is seated upon to place and maintain such buckling parts in a generally inaccessible location relative to a child seated in the child safety seat. The buckle-receiving cavity is formed integrally of a pedestal-type base with a forwardly opening aperture having a guide fitting for guiding a crotch strap to the cavity and maintaining one of the buckling parts thereunder and a rear webbing slot for introduction of a strap associated with harness shoulder straps which is connected to a mating buckling part also positioned and maintained within the cavity.

Growing community of inventors

Woodland Hills, CA, United States of America

Cyril Henderson